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1952: Angus Wilson published Hemlock and After,...

Writer or writing item

1952

Angus Wilson published Hemlock and After, which Margaret Drabble in 2008 called one of the first gay novels to hit the postwar world.
“Back—due to popular demand”. The Guardian, 3 May 2008, pp. Review 4 - 6.
4
“Back—due to popular demand”. The Guardian, 3 May 2008, pp. Review 4 - 6.
4-6

4 September 1682: John Flamsteed observed from Greenwich the...

Building and people item

4 September 1682

John Flamsteed observed from Greenwich the perihelion of the comet which now bears the name of Edmond Halley .
The name is sometimes spelled Edmund.
Stephen, Sir Leslie, and Sidney Lee, editors. The Dictionary of National Biography. Smith, Elder, 1908–2026, 22 vols. plus supplements.
Gentleman’s Magazine. Various publishers.
28: 257; 29: 154

1852: Victoria Stuart-Wortley (later Welby), future...

Women writers item

1852

Victoria Stuart-Wortley (later Welby ), future philosopher, published her first book (which she wrote and illustrated) at the age of twelve: A Young Traveller's Journal of a Tour in North and South America During the...

5 February 1771: John Lingard, historian and Roman Catholic...

Writer or writing item

5 February 1771

John Lingard , historian and Roman Catholic priest, was born at Winchester in Hampshire.
Stephen, Sir Leslie, and Sidney Lee, editors. The Dictionary of National Biography. Smith, Elder, 1908–2026, 22 vols. plus supplements.

21 April 1958: Margery Fry died as almost a national celebrity:...

Building and people item

21 April 1958

Margery Fry died as almost a national celebrity: criminal justice reformer, prison reformer, campaigner for victims' compensation, educationalist (briefly Principal of Somerville College ), writer on children's care and development, and latterly broadcaster (a regular...

Elizabeth Jane Howard

EJH , a novelist of the later twentieth century, has also written short stories (some of them ghost stories), plays, film and television scripts, reviews and articles, biographies, a memoir, and she has edited several...
Elizabeth Jane Howard Black-and-white protrait photo of Elizabeth Jane Howard looking off-camera, circa 1956. She wears a dark turtleneck, beaded stud earrings, and has short hair that falls above her ear and is cut in bangs.

13 April 1848: The House of Commons rejected the third petition...

National or international item

13 April 1848

The House of Commons rejected the third petition for universal manhood suffrage.
Schwarzkopf, Jutta. Women in the Chartist Movement. St Martin’s Press, 1991.
247
Royle, Edward. Chartism. Longman, 1980.
134

18 June 1788: The Slave-Trade Regulation Bill was passed,...

National or international item

18 June 1788

The Slave-Trade Regulation Bill was passed, which for the first time applied controls to the slave trade.
Stephen, Sir Leslie, and Sidney Lee, editors. The Dictionary of National Biography. Smith, Elder, 1908–2026, 22 vols. plus supplements.
under Henry Grattan
Gentleman’s Magazine. Various publishers.
58 (1788): 1146

1823: The patent expired on John Heathcoat's net-making...

National or international item

1823

The patent expired on John Heathcoat 's net-making machine; the machine-made lace industry boomed.
Adburgham, Alison. Shops and Shopping 1800-1914: Where, and in What Manner the Well-Dressed Englishwoman Bought Her Clothes. Allen and Unwin, 1964.
11

August 1779-1783: Gibraltar sustained its longest blockade...

National or international item

August 1779-1783

Gibraltar sustained its longest blockade during its years as a British possession; writers like Mary Darwall and Catharine Upton chronicled this siege's acts of heroism, while Susanna Blamire gave voice to an ordinary soldier.
Messenger, Ann. Woman and Poet in the Eighteenth Century: The Life of Mary Whateley Darwall (1738-1825). AMS Press, 1999.
143-4

1963: The University of East Anglia was founded...

Building and people item

1963

The University of East Anglia was founded in Norwich.
Dent, Harold Collett. 1870-1970: Century of Growth in English Education. Longmans, 1970.
155
Whitaker’s Almanack. 119th ed., J. Whitaker, 1987.
506

21 August 1871: The Prevention of Crimes Act gave the state...

Building and people item

21 August 1871

The Prevention of Crimes Act gave the state substantial power to deprive women of their children.
Petrow, Stefan. Policing Morals: The Metropolitan Police and the Home Office 1870-1914. Clarendon Press, 1994, p. 343.
147-8
Zedner, Lucia. Women, Crime, and Custody in Victorian England. Clarendon, 1991, http://U of A HSS.
148
The Statutes of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland. Printed by J. Bentham, 1762–2026.

1861: Maria Rye established the Female Middle Class...

National or international item

1861

Maria Rye established the Female Middle Class Emigration Society in response to the scarcity of jobs in England for girls and women.
Wagner, Gillian. Children of the Empire. Weidenfeld and Nicolson, 1982.
40
Mitchell, Sally, editor. Victorian Britain: An Encyclopedia. Garland Press, 1988.
Parkes, Bessie Rayner. “A Review of the Last Six Years”. Barbara Leigh Smith Bodichon and the Langham Group, edited by Candida Ann Lacey, 2nd edition, Routledge, 2001, pp. 215-22.
220
Women’s Library. “Appendix 1.4 (1FME): Female Middle Class Emigration Society (FMCES)”. The Women’s Library, 1 Mar. 2006.
1

1868: The Anglican Sisters of Charity was founded...

Building and people item

1868

The Anglican Sisters of Charity was founded in Knowle, Somerset.
Anson, Peter F. The Call of the Cloister: Religious Communities and Kindred Bodies in the Anglican Communion. Editor Campbell, A. W., Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge, 1964.
414

2 August 1907: The War Office instituted the Territorial...

National or international item

2 August 1907

The War Office instituted the Territorial and Reserve Forces Act, which would allow for a volunteer force ready to be mobilised in case of invasion or national emergency.
Summers, Anne. Angels and Citizens: British Women as Military Nurses 1854-1914. Routledge and Keegan Paul, 1988.
238-9
Law Reports: Statutes. Eyre and Spottiswoode, 1866–2026.
1907: 17-41
Gould, Jenny. “Women’s Military Services in First World War Britain”. Behind the Lines: Gender and the Two World Wars, Yale University Press, 1987, pp. 114-25.
115

21 June 1824: A new Vagrancy Act tinkered further with...

National or international item

21 June 1824

A new Vagrancy Act tinkered further with regulating the public-nuisance aspects of prostitution in England.
Steedman, Carolyn. Policing the Victorian Community: The Formation of English Provincial Police Forces, 1856-80. Routledge and Kegan Paul, 1984.
56
Petrow, Stefan. Policing Morals: The Metropolitan Police and the Home Office 1870-1914. Clarendon Press, 1994, p. 343.
130
Nevett, Terry R. Advertising in Britain: A History. Heinemann, 1982.
126
Weeks, Jeffrey. Sex, Politics and Society: The Regulation of Sexuality since 1800. Longman, 1981.
85
The Statutes of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland. Printed by J. Bentham, 1762–2026.
(1824): 381
Mitchell, Sally, editor. Victorian Britain: An Encyclopedia. Garland Press, 1988.
618

March 1918: The second exhibition of C. R. W. Nevinson,...

Building and people item

March 1918

The second exhibition of C. R. W. Nevinson , now an Official War Artist, included a painting of dead British soldiers lying amid mud and barbed wire, entitled Paths of Glory, which the censor banned.
Laity, Paul. “Diary”. London Review of Books, 3 Feb. 2000, pp. 40-1.
41

By November 1805: Richard Payne Knight published his influential...

Building and people item

By November 1805

Richard Payne Knight published his influential Analytical Inquiry into the Principles of Taste; that month it had the lead review in the Critical.
Critical Review. W. Simpkin and R. Marshall, 5 series.
3rd ser. 6 (1805): 225-37
OCLC WorldCat. 1992–1998, http://www.oclc.org/firstsearch/content/worldcat/. Accessed 1999.

Nina Hamnett

NH , active during the earlier part of the twentieth century, was primarily a visual artist, but also published two books of memoirs (apparently based on diaries kept at the time) as well as a...
Nina Hamnett Painting of Nina Hamnett by Roger Fry, 1917. She is seated in a wooden chair with a yellow back and pink seat, wearing a long grey-green skirt and a black turtleneck whose sleeves leave her slender forearms bare. Her dark hair is short, with a fringe. Courtauld Institute.

31 August 1997: Diana, Princess of Wales, died in a late-night...

National or international item

31 August 1997

Diana, Princess of Wales , died in a late-night car accident in an underpass by the Pont d'Alma in Paris.
Matthew, Henry Colin Gray et al., editors. Oxford Dictionary of National Biography. http://www.oxforddnb.com/.

18 March 1958: The attendance of debutantes at Court for...

Building and people item

18 March 1958

The attendance of debutantes at Court for formal presentation to the Queen took place for the final time.
Hill, Rosemary. “Taunted with the Duke of Kent, she married the Aga Khan”. London Review of Books, 19 Oct. 2006, pp. 22-3.
22-3

Katharine S. Macquoid

Katharine S. Macquoid 's prolific writing career (over sixty books, as well as contributions to periodicals) spanned the last four decades of the nineteenth century and the first decade of the twentieth. She was chiefly...
Katharine S. Macquoid Faded black and white studio photograph of Katharine S. Macquoid by H. I. Mendelsohn of London. She is seen from the waist up against a backdrop of vegetation, turning with her face in profile. She wears a dark dress with a high collar closed with a brooch. Her smooth grey hair is pulled back and part covered by a black cap; she has a pearl stud in each ear. Her signature is written across the bottom of the picture.

1 August 1831: Old London Bridge was replaced by a new construction...

Building and people item

1 August 1831

Old London Bridge was replaced by a new construction of the same name, allowing easier traffic and river flow.
Bruno, Leonard. On the Move: A Chronology of Advances in Transportation. Gale Research, 1993.
85
Pudney, John. Crossing London’s River: The Bridges, Ferries and Tunnels Crossing the Thames Tideway in London. Dent, 1972.
77-8

1961: Janet Frame's novel Faces in the Water was...

Writer or writing item

1961

Janet Frame 's novel Faces in the Water was published in New Zealand and the USA. British publication followed early the next year.
OCLC WorldCat. 1992–1998, http://www.oclc.org/firstsearch/content/worldcat/. Accessed 1999.

1899: Rosa Mulholland published her self-considered...

Women writers item

1899

Rosa Mulholland published her self-considered best novel Nanno, a Daughter of the State, which promoted reform in Irish workhouses.
Blain, Virginia et al., editors. The Feminist Companion to Literature in English: Women Writers from the Middle Ages to the Present. Yale University Press; Batsford, 1990.
OCLC WorldCat. 1992–1998, http://www.oclc.org/firstsearch/content/worldcat/. Accessed 1999.