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Early 1711: At Walkern in Hertfordshire Jane Wenman rather...

Building and people item

Early 1711

At Walkern in HertfordshireJane Wenmanrather bravely went to lawyer Sir Henry Chauncy to complain that neighbours were accusing her of witchcraft; the results show how opinion was poised between belief and disbelief.
Oman, Carola, and Sir Henry Chauncy. “Introduction”. The Historical Antiquities of Hertfordshire, Kohler and Coombes, 1975, p. 1: iii - xviii.
xv

January 1799-April 1800: According to Peter Cockburn, the price of...

Building and people item

January 1799-April 1800

According to Peter Cockburn , the price of grain in Edinburgh rose during these months by 358 percent.
Macleod, Emma Vincent. “A city invincible? Edinburgh and the war against Revolutionary France”. Journal for Eighteenth-Century Studies, Vol.
23
, No. 2, 1 Sept.–30 Nov. 2000, pp. 153-66.
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15 July 1937: The first 149 inmates (members of the resistance,...

National or international item

15 July 1937

The first 149 inmates (members of the resistance, Jehovah's Witnesses , previously convicted criminals and a few homosexuals) were delivered to the new concentration camp built by the German Nazi party near Weimar...

1844: The first directory of the British Press...

Building and people item

1844

The first directory of the British Press was compiled and published.
Hindley, Diana, and Geoffrey Hindley. Advertising in Victorian England 1837-1901. Wayland, 1972.
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24 January 1874: Amelia Lewis edited the first issue of Woman's...

Writer or writing item

24 January 1874

Amelia Lewis edited the first issue of Woman's Opinion, which was published weekly, then fortnightly, in London.
Doughan, David, and Denise Sanchez. Feminist Periodicals, 1855-1984. Harvester Press, 1987.
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January 1837: The East London Democratic Association was...

National or international item

January 1837

The East London Democratic Association was founded.
Thompson, Dorothy, 1923 - 2011, editor. The Early Chartists. Macmillan, 1971.
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Goodway, David. London Chartism, 1838-1848. Cambridge University Press, 1982.
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Royle, Edward. Chartism. Longman, 1980.
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January 1924: Women Members of Parliament stopped wearing...

National or international item

January 1924

Women Members of Parliament stopped wearing hats in the House of Commons . Nancy Astor 's hats had garnered more attention than her politics during her first years in the House.
Harrison, Brian. “Women in a Men’s House: The Women M.P.s, 1919-1945”. The Historical Journal, Vol.
29
, No. 3, Sept. 1986, pp. 623-54.
628

27-29 April 1994: The first democratic general election in...

National or international item

27-29 April 1994

The first democratic general election in South Africa made Nelson Mandela the first president of the new, non-apartheid, republic.
South African History online. 30 Mar. 2005, http://www.sahistory.org.za/.
Hall, Florence Howe. “Back to the Garden”. Women’s Review of Books, Vol.
25
, No. 5, Sept.–Oct. 2006, pp. 30-1.
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1960: The Society for the Prevention of Cruelty...

Building and people item

1960

The Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Pregnant Women , later the Association for the Improvement of Maternity Services (AIMS), was founded in Britain to campaign for the right to have a baby free...

Laura Riding

LR , an American who spent crucial years of her astonishingly productive life in England and Europe, was an important modernist poet, critic, and theorist, who regarded her poetry as a tool in the search...

November 1896: The Publishers Council sent a letter cautioning...

Writer or writing item

November 1896

The Publishers Council sent a letter cautioning the press—especially editors of literary periodicals—not to publish unauthorized quotations of excessive extracts from copyright books in articles purporting to be reviews.
Kingsford, Reginald John Lethbridge. The Publisher’s Association, 1896-1946. Cambridge University Press, 1970.
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Kingsford, Reginald John Lethbridge. The Publisher’s Association, 1896-1946. Cambridge University Press, 1970.
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Margaret Minifie

MM was a minor eighteenth-century sentimental novelist. Her literary career was bound up with that of her sister, and the account reflected in standard reference books has rendered her nearly invisible by assimilating a number...

1796: Another Watch Act extended the London night-time...

Building and people item

1796

Another Watch Act extended the London night-time peace-keeping force to sixty-four watchmen, plus beadles, inspectors, constables, and further reinforcements for the winter months only.
Henderson, Tony. Disorderly Women. Longman, 1999.
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5 January 1895: The Lancet published a feature on an anorectic...

Building and people item

5 January 1895

The Lancet published a feature on an anorectic who had died from her emaciated condition; the article was accompanied by a sketch of a skeletal, topless young woman. This is considered the first reported death...

By 1705: The number of printers in London reached...

Writer or writing item

By 1705

The number of printers in London reached nearly seventy (although the number for the whole kingdom had in 1695 been officially limited to twenty-four).
McDowell, Paula. “Women and the business of print”. Women and Literature in Britain, 1700-1800, edited by Vivien Jones, Cambridge University Press, 2000, pp. 135-54.
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Susan Miles

SM (who began publishing under her birth name of Ursula Roberts) was a poet and novelist of the earlier twentieth century, who also published a suffrage pamphlet, an admiring biography of her Christian-socialist husband, and...

1949: Monica Baldwin published I Leap Over the...

Building and people item

1949

Monica Baldwin published I Leap Over the Wall, an account of her life in, and successful leaving of, a strictly enclosed Roman Catholic religious order.
British Book News. British Council.
(1950): 202
British Library Catalogue. http://explore.bl.uk/primo_library/libweb/action/search.do?dscnt=0&tab=local_tab&dstmp=1489778087340&vid=BLVU1&mode=Basic&fromLo.

November 1698: The first of eighteen parts appeared of Edward...

Writer or writing item

November 1698

The first of eighteen parts appeared of Edward Ward 's The London Spy, likely the first piece of original fiction in serial form.
Hughes, Linda K., and Michael Lund. The Victorian Serial. University Press of Virginia, 1991.
280

3 May 1915: The League of Nations Society was founded...

National or international item

3 May 1915

The League of Nations Society was founded in London to study proposals to create a league of nations.
Ceadel, Martin. Pacifism in Britain, 1914-1945 : The Defining of a Faith. Clarendon, 1980, http://U of A HSS.
Appendix I
Harvey, Kathryn. "Driven by War into Politics": A Feminist Biography of Kathleen Innes. University of Alberta, 1995.
245

Late 1753: William Hogarth published The Analysis of...

Building and people item

Late 1753

William Hogarth published The Analysis of Beauty, addressed to ladies as well as gentlemen of unprejudiced judgement.
Griffiths, Ralph, 1720 - 1803, and George Edward Griffiths, editors. Monthly Review. R. Griffiths.
10: 100

December 1807: A French army occupied Lisbon; Napoleon had...

National or international item

December 1807

A French army occupied Lisbon; Napoleon had ordered the invasion of Portugal because it was defying the Berlin Decrees which prohibited trade with Britain.
Collier, Simon. “Old Iron-Arse”. London Review of Books, 9 Aug. 2001, pp. 30-1.
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1851: Johann and Bertha Ronge established at Hampstead...

Building and people item

1851

Johann and Bertha Ronge established at Hampstead the first kindergarten in England, a school designed to foster physical and mental development in young children.
Storey, Graham et al., editors. The Letters of Charles Dickens, Volume Seven 1853-1855. Vol. 7, Clarendon Press, 1993.
520

1560: The complete Geneva Bible appeared, translated...

Writer or writing item

1560

The complete GenevaBible appeared, translated by English Protestant exiles from the reign of Mary : the first accessible or mass-circulation edition of the Bible in English, with small format and roman (not gothic) print.
Bible. Cambridge University Press, 1997.
MacCulloch, Diarmaid. “How good is it?”. London Review of Books, Vol.
33
, No. 3, 3 Feb. 2011, pp. 20-2.
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1881: Marianne Caroline Patmore and her husband,...

Writer or writing item

1881

Marianne Caroline Patmore and her husband, Coventry Patmore , published their translation Saint Bernard on the Love of God.
British Library Catalogue. http://explore.bl.uk/primo_library/libweb/action/search.do?dscnt=0&tab=local_tab&dstmp=1489778087340&vid=BLVU1&mode=Basic&fromLo.

2 October 1862: Dion Boucicault wrote to The Times pointing...

Writer or writing item

2 October 1862

Dion Boucicault wrote to The Times pointing out the widely varying rents for West End theatres.
Booth, Michael R. Theatre in the Victorian Age. Cambridge University Press, 1991.
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