This blog is a selection of interesting things I've come across during my history research. I have a wide interest in history ranging from Wars of the Roses, country houses, Stuarts, Georgians, Louis XIV, Napoleon and criminals. So expect to see a bit of everything on here, with a focus on little known stories.
In this latest guest post, I’m delighted to welcome Tami Richards.Tami Richards is a long time history enthusiast. She lives in Oregon, United States, where she thrives on day hikes and Sunday drives, and lives for a good read. Tami loves finding out about little known historical persons and bringing their lives forward into the present. Her newest historical profiles can be read on her blog.
The scramble for Africa took place in the late nineteenth and early twentieth century. Every European nation foisted itself onto the massive continent to divvy up the many resources, chief among the spoils was a tremendous amount of gold. The Ashanti (Asante; Asa means war, nte means because of) people of the area known as Ghana took advantage of this European drive by trading gold for arms and ammunition. The Ashanti used their abundance of weapons to make war against their neighbors and increase the size of their empire. They used their abundance of gold to unify their country when they mixed it with the tradition of the golden stool.
Golden Stool from https://www.blackpast.org/. The golden stool is formed from a single curved piece of wood. The seat is crescent-shaped, it has a flat base and a decorative backrest. It approximates 18 inches (46 cm) in height, 24 inches (61 cm) in width, and 12 inches (30 cm) in depth.
The legend of the golden stool begins when the supreme god, Nyame, decided to bring all the local tribes of the Ashanti regions together under one chief. Nyame sent a magician/healer, Anotchi, to the chiefs and along with him followed a dark cloud. In the midst of the cloud, all could clearly see a golden stool. When Anotchi instructed the stool to fall from the cloud and land before he who would be king, the stool landed before chief Osai Tutu, making him the first king of the unified kingdom and solidifying the stool as a sacred object to be protected at all cost. According to legend, within the golden stool was the assurance of health and prosperity. It held the souls of all the Ashanti people, living, dead, and unborn. To maintain its purity, it was to never touch the ground, no one was ever to sit on it, no one could touch it, and only a few select persons were even permitted to see it.
In 1900, King Prempeh, the thirteenth king of the Ashanti, was sent into exile in the Seychelles Islands when he refused to hand the golden stool over to the British. The governor, Sir Frederick Mitchell Hodgson, demanded he be brought the golden stool so that he may sit upon it, but the people would not allow it. On March 28, 1900, the British governor spoke at Kumasi, the Capital. “Your King, Prempeh 1, is in exile and will not return to Ashanti.” During this speech, he continued to tell them of the Queen’s authority, his power as the queen’s representative, and the amount of taxation the Ashante will be required to pay as a colony under British rule, as per the 1874 peace treaty, which the Ashante had yet to pay one iota.
He also insisted they forfeit their Golden Stool. “What must I do to the man, whoever he is, who has failed to give to the Queen, who is the paramount power in the country, the stool to which she is entitled? Where is the Golden Stool? Why am I not sitting on the Golden Stool at this moment? I am the representative of the paramount power in this country; why have you relegated me to this chair? Why did you not take the opportunity of my coming to Kumasi to bring the Golden Stool and give it to me to sit upon?”
Kofi Tene was king of the Ashanti and his grandmother, Nana Yaa Asantawaa,was the Queen Mother. Nanawas a word which indicated her high position. She became Queen Mother when her brother Afrane Panin became chief of Ejisu around 1884. With the exile of so many leaders to Seychelles, Nana Yaa Asantewaa assumed the position of Chief. She was a courageous woman with a strong sense of integrity and justice who did not take kindly to the governor’s proclamation that he should be brought the sacred stool, a golden representation of Ashanti strength.
Yaa Asantewaa gathered the leaders together and they hid the stool away from the invaders. The governor’s demand for the stool and payment for his self proclaimed overlordship was the last straw, she wanted to fight them and send them away from her home. While the British searched everywhere for the Golden Stool, Yaa Asantewaa noticed the solemn faces and weak wills of the fellow chiefs who seemed ready to meet the demands of the British. She stood to summon their solidarity in order to keep the stool from falling into enemy hands. “How can a proud and brave people like the Ashanti sit back and watch while white men take away their king and chiefs, and humiliate them with demand for the Golden Stool? The Golden Stool only means money to the white man; they have searched and dug everywhere for it. I shall not pay one predwan to the Governor. If you, the chiefs of Ashanti, are going to behave like cowards and not fight, you should exchange your loincloths for my undergarments.”
Map of Africa with Ghana to the top left, next to Cote D’Ivoire and Togo.
Encouraged to protect their very sense of self and nation by Nana Yaa Asantewaa, the Ashanti fought to save the stool. In the six month battle, more than 2,000 Ashanti perished and 1,000 British, but the Ashanti prevented the theft of their precious heritage. They safely hid the stool from would-be thieves until 1920 when it was found by African railroad builders who stripped it of the golden ornaments. The thieves were tried by the Ashanti for their heinous crime and sentenced to death, but the British Colonial authorities intervened and exiled them from the Gold Coast. The Golden Stool has been restored to its ceremonial place, and remains a cherished symbol of the Ashanti people.
Happy New Year and welcome to the first blog post of 2023! As I get closer to my book deadline, I will probably be posting less over the next few months. In the meantime, I hope you enjoy this post.
Recently I was having a conversation with a ninety-year-old family friend about her experiences of World War Two. She started off with explaining about Dunkirk and D-Day, including her late husband’s role in D-Day and why he would never go on a ship ever again after that. One thing came up that I had never heard of before and that was the famous actress, Audrey Hepburn, had been involved in the Dutch Resistance during the war. After doing a bit of initial digging online, I found that she was right. The whole story had been unknown until 2019, when Dutch Girl: Audrey Hepburn and World War II written by Robert Matzen, following extensive research and interviews with those who had known Audrey during her time in Holland.
Audrey Hepburn photographed by Bud Fraker for Modern Screen, November 1953, Wikimedia Commons
Audrey Hepburn was born in Brussels in 1929 to Joseph Rushton, a British banker and Ella van Heemstra, a Dutch baroness. During the 1930s, the family spent a lot of time in London and became supporters of the Oswald Mosley, leader of the British Fascists. In 1935, they were invited to Munich to meet members of the Fuhrer.[1] In that same year, Joseph left the family when Audrey was six-years-old. Following the split, Audrey was initially sent to be schooled in London, but was later sent to Arnhem once her mother had settled back in Holland. Whilst there, she trained to be a ballerina at the Arnhem City theatre.[2]
Following the move back to Holland, Ella continued her support for the Nazis. In Matzen’s book, he admits that he believed this support was to help them to survive, particularly after the German’s invaded Holland in 1940.[3] However, Ella’s opinion changed after her brother-in-law, Otto, was executed for not cooperating with the Germans.[4] Perhaps that means that Matzen’s view was right but it is clear that it is neither black nor white.
HD0N6C Audrey Hepburn, right, greets her mother, Baroness Ella van Heemstra, as she arrives in the US, December 17, 1953, Everett Collection Inc / Alamy Stock Photo
The now teenage Audrey did not agree with her mother’s views and sympathised with the occupied people who had known immense hardship, violence and abject poverty they were subjected to. Instead she decided to become involved in the Resistance by becoming acquainted with the local doctor Hendrik Visser’t Hooft, who was a leader in the underground movement. Her main role was to carry messages to downed allied airmen and bring them food. It was thought that her young age would mean she could be undetected and her fluent English was also a bonus.[5] Dr Hooft was a good choice for a Resistance leader as doctors had some immunity from suspicion from the Nazis due to their much needed skills.
One instance she was sent to give a message to an airman who was hiding in woods near her village of Velp, where they had moved to following the execution of her uncle. After having delivered the message, she noticed Nazi guards who asked her what she was doing and to show her papers. She managed to cover up the truth by pretending to pick wildflowers and offer them to the men.[6] Audrey also danced in performances held to raise money for the resistance, despite the fact that she was suffering from symptoms of malnutrition.[7] This malnutrition affected her for the rest of her life as she always remained slender and had a strange relationship with food thereafter.
The Battle for Arnhem in 1944 helped to liberate the part of Holland that Audrey Hepburn lived in, but she would never forget the things that she saw during the four years of occupation. This was something she admitted on numerous occasions.
Whilst this post has not used all the ins and outs of Audrey Hepburn’s involvement with the Resistance, I hope it has shown the immense bravery that a young teenager had in very dangerous and life threatening circumstances. It was for this reason that she spoke very little of her involvement. She also never revealed her mother’s Nazi sympathies because of the anger she felt for them, but also she wanted to distance herself from for the sake of her career.[8]
As we reach the end of black history month, I thought it would be a good time to share a rather inspiring woman that I only found out about recently. Delilah Beasley was a black female journalist and historian who never gave up on her goal to promote improved inter-racial relations, alongside her Christian faith. Her story is one of hope and determination but as one recent article in the New York Times wrote, despite her efforts to write black history back into the history books, she herself has also been brushed out.[1] For this reason, I hope this blog post goes some way towards sharing Delilah’s story and the effort she put into creating a positive outlook on black history and unity in not just California, where she spent over twenty years of her life, but across America.
Photograph of Deliliah Bearsley from the Frontispiece of her book, Negro Trailblazers of California (1919), Wikimedia Commons
Delilah Leontium Beasley was born on 9 September 1867 in Cincinnati, Ohio, to parents Daniel and Margaret Beasley. At the age of 12, Delilah began to write short pieces about local church activities for the Cleveland Gazette newspaper, as well some other local newspapers.[2] With these small pieces, she grew to dream of becoming a professional journalist. When she was high school age, she began to learn about journalism by working for a newspaper called the Coloured Catholic Tribune, which once again mixed her love of journalism with her Christian faith.[3] However, this would soon change as in the 1880s, both of her parents died, leaving Deliliah an orphaned teenager. The death of her parents separated her from her siblings, as all of them had to now find work to fend for themselves. Sadly, it looked as if her dream of becoming a journalist would be over without the support of her parents.
Delilah initially became a maid, before moving to Chicago to train to be a hairdresser. However, she eventually decided that nursing would be more suited to her caring nature. Once she was trained, she moved across various parts of America to find work at sanitoriums, which were a type of convalescent hospital. In 1910, she moved to Oakland in California to care for a former patient.[4] Whilst there, she decided that during her spare time, she should to get back into researching. She researched black history and became a member of various different societies and associations that promoted issues such as black rights, black women and black Christianity. Despite not finishing her formal schooling, she enrolled onto history courses so she could understand how to research black history, as well as conducting oral interviews of elderly black residents in the local area. Her aim was to learn about those that had been left out of the history books and to right the wrongs of that.
Cover of The Negro Trail-Blazers of California (1919), California State University Northridge University Library, F870.N38 B3
Delilah’s research was very meticulous. She became well known for her archival research and ability to track down personal letters and diaries.[5] All of this research conducted did not go to waste as she successfully did manage to write about pioneering black people of California in her book, Negro Trail Blazers of California, which was published in 1919. The book gave examples of black pioneers dating back to the Spanish exploration of the Americas.[6] It was a success and proved a platform to positively influence the way the black community was perceived.[7] After writing this, she also travelled around giving talks on her research and her beliefs about black rights, peace and the hope of positive inter-racial relations at a time when America was still segregated. All of these trips, whether for research purposes, or to hold events and talks, was always paid for at her own expense. It was this determination that allowed her to make some high powered friends.
Following the publication of Negro Trail Blazers of California, Delilah came to know William Knowland, a white man who was a Californian politician and the assistant publisher for the Oakland Tribune newspaper. The pair knew each other well and Knowland invited Delilah to write a column for the newspaper. She accepted and the column became known as Activities Among Negroes, which promoted outstanding black people. This was a popular column and one which Deliliah would write until her death in 1934. Her friendship with William Knowland also allowed the first anti-lynching bill to passed in California.[8]
Delilah’s faith played a huge role in her life. She regularly attended the Cathedral of Saint Francis de Sales in Oakland, where she was noted for her attitude of others first and self last.[9] It was this attitude that saw drove her missions as she believed she could help the plight of suffering that all black people across America had to endure. As Deliliah herself put it, she always thought she was doing God’s work, which explains why nearly all of her talks were given in churches.[10] Many of the organisations she was a member of also overlapped with the church, so it is fitting that her funeral, held at St Francis de Sales, was well attended by presidents of these organisations.[11]
Historic American Buildings Survey, C. (1933) St. Francis de Sales Church, Martin Luther King, Jr. Way, Oakland, Alameda County, CA. Oakland California Alameda County, 1933. Documentation Compiled After. [Photograph] Retrieved from the Library of Congress, https://www.loc.gov/item/ca1797/
I hope this post has gone someway to showing just what a remarkable woman Deliliah Beasley really was. It is a shame that since her death, she herself as been somewhat removed from the history books, even though she tried to counteract this of other black pioneers who had gone before her. Hopefully one day that can be remedied. For that reason, I feel it very fitting to end with a quote from Deliliah herself, taken from a letter she wrote in 1932 to Dr W. E. B. Du Bois, a fellow black historian and one of the founders of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People:
“We are deserving of receiving not only human treatment, but equal rights with other United States Citizens”.[12]
[12]Beasley, Delilah L. (Delilah Leontium), 1871-1934. Letter from Delilah L. Beasley to W. E. B. Du Bois, May 16, 1932. W. E. B. Du Bois Papers (MS 312). Special Collections and University Archives, University of Massachusetts Amherst Libraries
During the lockdowns of 2020, the world became aware of the inspiring feats of Sir Captain Tom Moore as he did laps of his garden to raise money for charity. Whilst what Tom did was totally commendable and I, along with everyone else, fell in love with him and his story, let’s not forget that their whole generation made, and many have continued to make, amazing sacrifices in the name of others. I have immense respect for that generation as they have seen things that many of us cannot imagine, and yet many are so humble and do so much for others. One of those was Harry Billinge, who sadly died at the age of 96 at the beginning of April. His funeral was held in Charleston, Cornwall, this week. For those of you who don’t know Harry, particularly my foreign readers, Harry had played a large part in fundraising for military charities for the last sixty years, particularly the British Legion.
Harry was perhaps most well-known for helping to raise over £50,000 for a British memorial to commemorate the 22,442 people killed on during D-Day and the Battle of Normandy, the military actions that helped pave the way towards an Allied victory at the end of the Second World War. Harry was only 18 when he landed on Gold Beach, one of the five beaches used by British, American, Canadian, Australian and other Allied nations. He was only one of four men from his unit to survive.[1] Before the memorial was officially opened by Charles, the Prince of Wales, via video link on the 6th June 2021, the anniversary of D-Day, the British were the only allied force not to have a Normandy memorial.[2] Harry, alongside other veterans and the BBC broadcaster, Nicholas Witchell, campaigned for one to be built.
Harry was a common sight raising money for the memorial in St Austell, his hometown, where he had moved seventy years ago on advice for a better quality of life. Many have commented on how they befriended him during his fundraising campaigned. Throughout it all, Harry has never taken the praise for himself, even when he collected his MBE from the Queen in 2020. Instead, he always dedicated his achievements to those men and boys who lost their lives in Normandy. When a train was named after him in October 2020 to commemorate the 75th anniversary of the end of World War Two, he again said the same thing. A short snippet from that particular interview can be viewed here: https://www.itv.com/news/westcountry/2020-10-07/cornwall-d-day-hero-harry-billinge-has-train-named-in-his-honour.
This short post is in memory of Harry Billinge and I hope now that he can rest in peace with those men who he has fought so long for. May we never forget the ultimate sacrifice that Harry, along with all those others who fought and died, gave for us. In the words of Margot Billinge, Harry’s daughter, let us go forward with values Harry taught: “honesty, kindness, generosity and not to judge.”
An empty field in the middle of the countryside. Kneeling before a freshly-dug grave with a gun to his head, notorious Birmingham gangster Tommy Shelby, leader of the Peaky Blinders, closes his eyes and utters what he thinks will be his final few words before death. In that incredibly tense, heart-stopping moment, what does this infamous criminal choose to say?
“In the Bleak Midwinter.”
Yes, the title of a Christmas carol. [1]
But why? More importantly, what’s the history behind this much-loved festive tune?
Christina Rossetti’s poem as it appears in Scribner’s Monthly (1871)
Part 1: Christina Rossetti
To examine the history of the carol, we first have to look at the poem it was based on. A poem that will be celebrating its 150th birthday in January 2022.
It was in late 1871 that Scribner’s Monthly (or to give its full name; Scribner’s Monthly: An Illustrated Magazine for the People), a relatively new American literary publication founded in 1870, approached famous British poet Christina Rossetti asking for a contribution for their winter 1871/1872 edition. Rossetti herself was experiencing increased periods of illness at this time, something that had plagued her for much of her life and would continue to do so till her final days, but still wrote back with an offering for publication. Simply titled ‘A Christmas Carol’, the poem featured on page 278 with an illustration of the nativity above it. [2]
Frontispiece of Scribner’s Monthly
After this initial appearance in Scribner, it took another 3 years before the poem was first released as part of a book of Rossetti’s assorted poetry in 1875, published, as with much of her work, by the now-iconic Macmillan’s of London [3]. At this point, it was simply one of many poems in her back catalogue and it would take several more years before the evolution into musical hymn and rise to household status would begin.
Part 2: Gustav Holst
In Edwardian England around the years 1904 to 1905, composer Gustav Holst, in his mid-30’s and happily married to wife Isobel since 1901, was approached by his close friend and colleague Ralph Vaughan Williams to contribute to a new project he was working on.
In 1904, Vaughan Williams was himself approached by clergyman Percy Dearmer, tasked with helping to assemble a new Church of England hymnbook. There was already a hymnbook in wide circulation throughout the Church of England at this time, Hymns Ancient & Modern, first published in 1863, but its latest edition in 1904 had been met with much criticism. Hymn numbers were jumbled around, wording had been altered and some much-loved hymns of the time had been left out altogether. Dearmer and several other discontented voices within his parish had decided that they would commission something new to take its place.
Initially named English Hymns and written simply for local use, this idea quickly grew in scale with the involvement of Oxford University Press and became The English Hymnal, intended for widespread publication throughout the nation. Being a clergyman and not a composer, Dearmer reached out to Vaughan Williams to assist him with the musical side of editing the final publication. Dearmer, having heard of Vaughan Williams and his musical prowess from English folk song collector Cecil Sharp (who was also a friend and collaborator of Holst), was confident that the 32-year-old composer would hopefully accomplish this task in just 2 months; it actually ended up taking 2 years! [5]
As well as In the Bleak Midwinter, Gustav Holst would go on to submit two other hymns for The English Hymnal; From Glory to Glory Advancing and Holy Ghost, but In the Bleak Midwinter has definitely become the more well-known to contemporary and secular audiences. It is highly likely that Holst first came upon Rossetti’s words thanks to a publication of her collected works released in 1904. The tune he wrote to accompany them is known as ‘Cranham’, named for the Gloucestershire village where Holst spent many years of his life. (4). The exact time and place where ‘Cranham’ was created remains unclear, although it’s perhaps unsurprising that many residents of Cranham village like to stake a claim that the tune was composed in the very place from which it takes its name! [6][7]
The English Hymnal (1906) by Oxford University Press, edited by Percy Dearmer and Ralph Vaughan Williams, Wikimedia Commons
After years of work, The English Hymnal was finally published in 1906; the words/lyrics edition appearing in May of that year, followed by the tunes/sheet music edition some weeks later. The end product that Dearmer and Vaughan Williams had delivered radically divided opinions within the Church of England. The book’s more Catholic undertones, especially regarding the Virgin Mary and the Intercession of Saints, drew the ire of several Bishops and members of the clergy.
The Bishop of Bristol, George Forrest Browne, banned the book in his Diocese, stating “I cannot reconcile it to my conscience, or to my historical sense, to do less than prohibit a book which would impress upon the Church of England tendencies so dangerous.”. This caused further outrage in the press, and eventually the Archbishop of Canterbury, Randall Davidson, got involved by censuring The English Hymnal. [8]
Throughout this discourse, Dearmer remained steadfast and defended his creation. Oxford University Press, worried that the drama may cause sales to dip, eventually agreed a compromise with Dearmer and released an ‘abridged’ version of The English Hymnal in 1907, with the ‘controversial elements’ removed. This seemed to satisfy the critics, yet the revised version quietly seemed to fade into obscurity over the following years, not seeing any further reprints following the initial production run. In fact the only major revision to The English Hymnal after this was in 1933, when Vaughan Williams made some changes to the Tunes edition (no changes were made to the original lyrical/word edition). This 1933 version is the one that has remained in circulation through to the present day. [5]
Part 3: Harold Darke
From its initial release in 1906, Holst’s ‘In the Bleak Midwinter’ has become a firm favourite with carol singers and choirs around the world. The tune, although labelled as ‘dreary’ by some, has become as iconic as Rossetti’s words, and can be regularly heard in a smorgasbord of places during the Christmas season. But Gustav Holst was not the only one inspired to combine the words of Christina Rossetti’s poem with music to create a festive hymn. Just 5 years later than Holst, another composer would add his own unique take on this Christmas classic.
In 1911, 23-year-old Harold Darke was a student at the Royal College of Music and also the resident organist at Emmanuel Church in West Hampstead. The exact circumstances surrounding the conception of his tune are hard to fathom, but it was in that year that London-based publishers Stainer and Bell first printed the music for his creation. [9][10]
It’s a distinctive melody, quite different from Holst’s tune. Performances naturally vary between different choirs and carol singers, but in many performances of Darke’s tune the first verse is usually performed by a soprano as a solo, Rossetti’s fourth stanza is omitted altogether, and the final line is often repeated.
This version, noted for its higher degree of complexity, has become the more popular with professional choirs around the world. Fittingly reflecting Harold Darke’s tenure as organist of King’s College, Cambridge, during the Second World War, this version is still a firm favourite with the King’s College Choir and still regularly appears in their famous Christmas Eve ‘Nine Lessons and Carols’ service, enjoyed by radio listeners and television viewers around the globe. (11)
The appeal of this tune remains strong well into the 21st century; A 2008 BBC poll to find the ‘best’ Christmas carol was conducted with 51 directors of music across the UK and US, and they voted Darke’s version of In the Bleak Midwinter into the top slot at number 1. (12)
Part 4: Midwinter’s Legacy
Sadly, Christina Rossetti and Gustav Holst were plagued by severe health complications throughout their life, and both would die relatively young, never truly seeing the scale of the legacy of their work.
Rossetti died in 1894 at the age of 64 after a bout of breast cancer, over a decade before Holst’s adaption of her words. One can only wonder what she’d have made of a Christmas carol being created out of her poetry.
Holst himself died in 1934 at the age of 59 owing to heart failure, in part caused by an unsuccessful operation to treat an ulcer. He lived to see the release of The English Hymnal, but sadly not to observe the lasting popularity of his work throughout the latter half of the 20th century. Fittingly, Ralph Vaughan Williams conducted the music at his memorial service.
Harold Darke had a far longer life, finally passing away at the age of 88 in 1976. However, his lasting views on In the Bleak Midwinter were less than positive; despite bearing witness to the success of his creation, he allegedly grew to dislike it, becoming irritated that he wasn’t better known or recognised for his other pieces of work.
So, what of Tommy Shelby, leader of the Peaky Blinders? Why do the main characters of Stephen Knight’s highly successful period crime-drama series seem so obsessed with a Christmas carol?
Shelby himself explains in one episode that the family’s shared love for the carol goes back to their time serving in the First World War, and a particularly gruelling winter’s night when they all widely believed, and accepted, that they were to be rushed and killed by enemy forces. The group’s Padre, Jeremiah (played by poet Benjamin Zephaniah) suggested that they all sing the carol in that moment. When they survived the night and the enemy forces never came, they concluded that they had been spared by an act of divine mercy, and that everything in their lives from that moment until their actual deaths would be considered ‘extra’. [13] The carol goes on to appear multiple times throughout the show’s story, popping up in multiple episodes, often in the moments when various characters think that their death is imminent.
Author’s own image
Conclusion
Christina Rossetti’s beautiful poem turns 150 years old this winter and it’s a tribute to her skill as a writer that her words, be it sung or spoken, remain so popular with so many people over 100 years after her passing.
I could have written a blog post about the history of any number of fascinating Christmas carols, as they each have their own amazing stories. From the inspired last-minute improvisation behind the creation of ‘Silent Night’ through to the violent end of the life of Wenceslas I of Bohemia (‘Good King Wenceslas’), itself easily worthy of starring in an episode of Horrible Histories.
But I have a big soft spot for In the Bleak Midwinter. It’s a poignant carol. It’s delicate, melancholy and yet simultaneously comforting at the same time. It remains my favourite carol and I have no doubt that it will remain a regular fixture of carol concerts and church services for many years to come.
Thank you for reading! A big thank you to Danie for giving me this spot in her wonderful blog! She’s absolutely brilliant, please do go back through her older posts and give them a look. It was lovely to write this piece and research an area of history I don’t normally delve into.
It only remains to say that I hope you all had a safe, peaceful Christmas and I wish you all a prosperous, trouble-free New Year.
Andrew, a MA Museum & Heritage Development graduate from Nottingham Trent University
It can be hard to know what to get the history lovers in your life when it comes to Christmas, especially if, like me, they’re interested in more than one period. If you need a bit of inspiration this year, then here’s a list of my top five history books that I’ve read this year. It’s a mixture of different periods and some fiction and non-fiction, so hopefully there’s something for everybody there.
Jane Austen Investigates: The Abbey Mystery, by Julia Golding
Whilst this is technically a children’s fiction book, it is well suited for Jane Austen fans of all ages. A teenage Jane Austen turns supersleuth when mysterious goings-on happen at Southmoor Abbey, where she has been sent to be a companion of Lady Cromwell for a week. It’s written in a very entertaining way and is a satirical version of a Gothic novel, full of many hints of the real Jane which will be recognised by hardened fans. It’s also a good way to introduce younger readers to the world of Jane Austen. This has definitely been one of my favourite books and I found it quite hard to put down! If you would like to know a bit more, I recently wrote a review for Love British History, which can be found here.
The Real Falstaff: Sir John Fastolf and the Hundred Years War by Stephen Cooper
This book places the Hundred Years War in the context of John Fastolf, the man Shakespeare used as inspiration for his Falstaff character. It successfully blends military history and social history with the personal life of John Fastolf. It gives you a great understanding of how Fastolf fit in and influenced the world around him until his death in the 1450s, including a focus on the homes he built for himself. All in all, a very interesting read and shows just why Fastolf isn’t recognised enough.
Sitting Bull: His Life and Legacy by Ernie LaPointe
In this book, Ernie LaPointe, great-grandson of the legendary Chief Sitting Bull, tells the real story of his famous ancestor. This is a biography with a difference. It’s written in the traditional style of Lakota oral history. This makes it read very differently to other books, but feels true to the person of Sitting Bull. It also makes it easy to read. Again this is up there with one of my favourite books of all time as it is full of emotion but is also education in the respect it shows just how complicated history has portrayed Sitting Bull. I wrote a review of this earlier in the year, so please do take a look here if you’re interested.
Before the Crown by Flora Harding
This is another fiction book, but this time an adult one. I was recently given this by a friend as a gift, so I would definitely recommend gifting this one. It tells the story of how Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip fell in love during the war and the lead up to their wedding on the 20th November 1947. Whilst this isn’t my usual time period, my friend obviously remembered that I have a personal connection to the Queen’s wedding day as my mum was born on the exact same day. I feel this has captured a young Elizabeth and Philip well and is also a very easy read. This would definitely be a good choice for any Royal fan!
Saving Mona Lisa: The Battle to Protect the Louvre and Its Treasures from the Nazis
Again this isn’t my usual time period, but I read this mainly because I have been a regular visitor to the Louvre, but was unaware of the troubles the museum had had during the Second World War. Whilst this is a non-fiction book, it does read more like an action or thriller story as the museum staff risked their lives to protect the treasures in their care. Again this makes it an enjoyable read and really focuses on the individuals involved and their sacrifices, as well as the personal achievements and recognition they had after the war ended. I recently wrote a review of this, which can be found here.
I’m not usually a fan of World War Two, although I know many others are, so this book was an unusual choice for me. I really brought it as I have visited the Louvre many times and didn’t know the story of how the museum had dealt with keeping the priceless treasures safe during a time of war. After reading this book, which describes the dangerous situations, often at the threat of the lives of museum staff, as well as the many times the art was nearly taken by the Nazis, has made me realise just how much we take these amazing institutions for granted. It does try and focus on a good mixture of the fate of the curators and other museum staff, as well as their families. There is a keen focus on Jacques Jaujard, the Director of the Musee Nationaux, who was instrumental to the evacuation process and dealing with the Nazis once they occupied France. This gives the book a very personal feel and at some points, makes the reader feel very connected with those involved.
Whilst the book doesn’t instantly talk about the evacuation, I thought the background on how the Louvre became a museum, as well as explanations as to why the staff had learnt from previous threats to the museum, all contribute to a greater understanding of the challenges and logistics required to organise such a venture.
Despite the title, the book does cover all the art evacuated from the Louvre, and other French museums in preparation for the Second World War, which had to be spread across many different chateaus for safety reasons. I do like though that it covers all the art works, with mentions of the Mona Lisa sprinkled throughout. Personally I liked this as I felt a bit disappointed at easing the Mona Lisa, as I much preferred other paintings in the museum. This also helps to demonstrate the enormous challenges the staff faced in such an evacuation, especially with the larger paintings and sculptures. Whilst I enjoyed this part, I feel others would find this hard to get into as it is more background context than specifically focuses on the World War Two topic promised. However, if this isn’t to your taste, once you get a few chapters in, you won’t be disappointed.
There are some graphic description of violence and war, which is to be expected considering the topic, but I must admit these parts were hard to read. Although these are important to the narrative and explain the genuine dangers the museum staff had to contend with. I would be prepared for these as I had to take a break from reading at this point. These, alongside mentions of wider war issues, such as food shortages, the difference between Occupied and Vichy France, could have used with better context, but I understand this wasn’t necessarily the scope of this book. However, it could easily be used as a platform for further learning about the period.
I do especially like the epilogue, which mentions what happened to the main people after the end of the war, including the awards given in recognition for the courage, bravery and can do attitude that all museum staff had in the face of great adversity. This was a touching tribute and I must admit I was quite emotional to see the recognition the staff had received. It was a very fitting way to end what is a very fascinating and easy read. Thank you to Gerri Chanel for writing this book in acknowledgment for the achievements of the staff.
I would definitely recommend this book as the easy writing style made it very hard to put down. Whilst it’s a nonfiction book, it very much reads like a novel in its easy style, reading much like an adventure story. This has definitely been one of my favourite books that I’ve read this year. Whenever I am finally able to go back to Paris, especially the Louvre, I will now look on it in a new and grateful light for the sacrifice the staff and their families made at the time to keep the art protected for the world, not just for France.
In June of this year, a statue was unveiled in Newark in Nottinghamshire to a Polish woman who played a hugely important role during World War Two. The woman was Irena Sendler, who helped to rescue an estimated 2,500 children from the Jewish Ghetto in Warsaw. It may sound a little odd that Newark was chosen for the site of the statue, but Newark has had many Polish connections. The statue itself is in a park close to the Polish cemetery in the town, where the bodies of many Polish airmen who were stationed in Newark during the Second World War.[1] I had never heard of the brave and heroic efforts of Irena and her colleagues, but after looking more into her story, I feel it should be shared more. The statue in Newark also aims to share her amazing story.
Irena was born as Irena Krzyzanowska on the 15th of February 1910 to Dr Stanislaw Krzyzanowski and his wife, Helen. Stanislaw died of typhus when Irena was 7, after contracting it from patients he was treating. He had decided to treat the patients, many of them Jews, as other doctors had refused to treat them for fear of catching typhus.[2] In recognition for the treatment offered, Jewish community leaders offered to pay for Irena’s education.[3] This was politely turned down, but Irena did go on to study Literature at Warsaw University. Whilst at university, she became opposed to the Jewish segregation policy that existed in some pre-war Polish universities. In protest, she defaced her grade card and was suspended for three years.[4]
Irena Sendler in 1942, Wikimedia Commons
Following her suspension, she tried to apply for teaching roles, but was always rejected due to Warsaw University warning of her previous behaviour.[5] Instead, she chose to become a social worker and wanted to improve people’s standards of living. When the Germans invaded Poland in 1939, she began offering food and shelter to Jews at risk. This was only able to continue until 1940, when the Jewish Ghetto in Warsaw was erected, which completely segregated the Jewish community. As she couldn’t openly assist the Jewish community as she had done previously, she decided to help orphaned Jewish children, which was a common occurrence with disease rife in the Ghetto. As a social worker, she was able to get papers to enter the Ghetto, with much assistance from a worker within the Contagious Disease Department.[6]
She became a member of the Zegota, a code name for the Council to Aid Jews, a secret organisation set up by the exiled Polish Government to help Jews in Poland find safety.[7] The organisation was the most consistently organised resistance group in operation throughout the Second World War, and encouraged Christians and Jews alike to offer whatever aid they could to Jews at risk of their lives.[8] Irena quickly became the person in charge of the children’s division of the Zegota. Her and her network devised many different methods to smuggle the children out of the Ghetto, including hiding children in ambulances and in trunks or sacks, or through sewers and other secret passageways.[9] One of the main ones used was a church that was next to the Ghetto. It was known as a ‘sealed’ entrance, or a sort of barrier, as it had two gates, one that led to the Ghetto, and another that led to other parts of Warsaw. Children would be smuggled in if they had good enough Polish and could recite some Christian prayers.[10]
The children who were smuggled out of the Ghetto were handed over by their families with the hopes of saving them from death. Irena ensured that all the families the Jewish children lived with during the war knew their birth families had been promised the children would be returned to them when the war ended.[11] Children who could not be found a family were housed in orphanages run by nuns, which was the next safest place for them.[12] The children were given a new identity with Christian names to hide them from the Germans and Irena had kept coded information on their birth identities and families buried in jars and bottles underneath a neighbours’ apple tree to hide them from discovery.[13] The hiding place was only just across the road from a German barracks.[14]
Irena Sendler in 2005, Wikimedia Commons
Irena’s life was just as in danger as the families who had taken the Jewish children in. In October 1943, she was arrested by the Gestapo. She was constantly questioned and tortured in order to give up information on the Zegota network. Despite having her legs and feet broken, she only ever gave up false information her and her associates had agreed upon if they were ever captured.[15] Once she had given this information, she was told she would be shot to death. On the day of her execution, she was taken into a room by her execution on the basis of last minute questioning, but in reality he let her go as he had been bribed by the Zegota.[16] The next day, posters were put up all over Warsaw saying she had been killed, so the man who helped her escape must have convinced the Germans that he had done his duty. I hope he was able to survive as he would have been killed for what he had done.
For the rest of the war, Irena had to live in hiding, just has the children she had saved had had to do. When the war ended, she dug up the bottles with the children’s identities and tried to trace their a living parent. Unfortunately, the vast majority of them had been killed at Treblinka death camp, but the amount of children she had saved had been great.[17] Her compassionate nature continued with her career as a social worker. She continued to help set up and run care homes and orphanages.[18]
Tree honouring Irena in The Garden of the Righteous Among the Nations, Yad Vashem, in Jerusalem, Wikimedia Commons
Her work rescuing Jewish children had been largely forgotten, other than the immediate recognition from the Polish government straight after the war, and a tree planted in The Garden of the Righteous Among the Nations, Yad Vashem, in Jerusalem, in 1965, which honours individuals who helped the Jews during the Holocaust.[19] It wasn’t until 4 students from America contacted Irena in 2001 about her story that the truth in its entirety was discovered. Irena’s response was emotion, but she admitted it had been overshadowed by the fact she was one of the only ones among her colleagues left who was left to receive the recognition and honour given to their life saving work.[20] Irena died in 2008 at the age of 98, but I hope this, alongside other attempts, such as the statue in Newark, raise the profile of the importance and heroism of Irena and her network of colleagues and most significantly, the amount of gratitude they should be given for the lives they saved by risking their own.
Being an English person, I hadn’t heard of Madam C J Walker, the first self-made, black female millionaire in America. I came across her by pure accident Whilst scrolling through Netflix for something to watch, I found Self Made, the recent drama about Madam C J Walker’s success in creating hair products made for, sold by, and targeted at black women. I must admire her tenacity at a time when black women were trapped in hardworking roles in farm labour or laundry, she wanted to make a better life, not just for herself, but all black women.
Madam C J Walker was born as Sarah Breedlove on the 23rd of December 1867 as the fifth child of Owen and Minerva. She was the first of their children to be born after the emancipation following the American Civil War. From a young age, this meant she would have known exactly what hard work and racism was. Perhaps she would have even thought that through hard work, she could prove her worth. Sadly, this wasn’t the end of hardship in the early part of her life as she was orphaned at 6 and married Moses Williams at 14 to escape her abusive brother-in-law.[1] By the age of twenty, she was a young widow with a young daughter, A’Lelia.
After the death of Moses, she took on laundry to earn money, as well as balancing motherhood, so there is no doubt she led a busy and stressful life.[2] It was during this time that she developed a scalp problem, which made her lose a lot of her hair, and started trying various hair products to make her hair grow back. Her enterprising nature realised just how little hair products were available for black women. A lot of what was there was made by white businesses, who didn’t really have a clue how to market to a black audience. Instead, they appeared to conform to white ideas of beauty were, assuming that black women wanted the same look, especially as there was a desire to aspire to ‘whiteness’.[3] In that respect, Madam Walker was different. Her products focused on the benefits of healthy hair, rather than just for beauty. The products focused on scalp preparations and lotions aiming at promoting hair health.[4]
Sarah took on the name Madam C J Walker after her marriage to Charles J Walker in 1906 after they moved from St Louis to Denver, Colorado. Charles was initially supportive of the business venture and he was often involved in the marketing and advertising of products.[5] This lasted until the couple grew apart and eventually divorced. Sarah still went by the name Madam C J Walker until her death because her products used the same name.
Despite some innovations in the style of products, it was the way that the business was run that was truly innovative. When her business started to grow, Sarah’s business model changed from her selling direct to customers, she hired door-to-door sellers. These sellers were all black women who were purposefully trained to develop their skills, not just in selling Madam Walker’s products, but finding innovative ways to help the poor in their communities.[6] Sarah’s belief in the enterprising nature of black women is clear in her confrontation of Booker T. Washington’s business convention in 1912. He had denied both her, and anyone else attempting to speak on her behalf, any opportunity of presenting. It was claimed this was because he believed Madam C J Walker’s beauty products, as well any aimed at black women, were destructive to black women and instead encouraged white behaviours.[7] Sarah believed in her product and how the business could become a positive thing. Indeed, it was as it would go on to employ an estimated 20,000 sales agents across America and beyond.[8]
Madam C. J. Walker, c. 1914, Scurlock Studio (Washington, D.C.), Wikimedia Commons
The company became a safe “public sphere of leisure, labour, and politics” which black women could participate in.[9] Madam Walker herself did this through raising the profile of racism and inequality for black people during the early 20th century. Not only did she attend the White House in 1917 to protest against lynching, but she gave much of her wealth away to help black causes.[10] It helped to fund a scholarship for women at the Tuskegee Institute, just to name one.[11]
Sarah died of kidney failure caused by hypertension in 1919 at the age of 51, at one of her 3 large houses. In her will she left two-thirds of the company’s net profits to the charities and schools she had promoted in life.[12] Her main legacy is the promotion of black female talent by creating a female run business, purposefully designed to promote the health, happiness, and equality of black women. This certainly continues as the business has since passed on to the subsequent female generations of Sarah’s family.
Whilst this post is not an extensive example of Madam C J Walker’s achievements or life, I do hope that it has helped to raise her profile, particularly here in the UK. I hope that it serves as a reflection of what she was able to do, despite the barriers and prejudice that were in front of her. Both Madam Walker and her selling agents did a job that was ahead of their time. I utterly commend them and give them a standing ovation for what they managed to create. They deserved every success they had.
If you would like to find out more about Madam C. J. Walker, I would suggest that you read her biography, On Her Own Grounds, written by great-great granddaughter, A’Lelia Perry Bundles, who is also the current owner of the Madam C. J. Walker Company. It’s a very insightful book that often shows Sarah’s motivations and how she is remembered by her family.
[3] Baldwin, D. L., ‘From the Washtub to the World: Madam C. J Walker and the “Re-Creation” of Race Womanhood, 1900-1935’, in Weinbaum, A. E., Thomas, L. M., Ramamurthy, P., Poiger, U. G., Dong, M. Y. and Barlow, T. E. (eds), The Modern Girl Around the World: Consumption, Modernity, and Globalisation (Duke University Press: Durham, North Carolina, 2008), p. 56; History, ‘Madam C. J. Walker’, https://www.history.com/topics/black-history/madame-c-j-walker
This guest post has kindly been written by Laura Adkins, the creator of the For The Love of History Blog, which I have been able to do a few guests posts for myself. She has worked at many historical sites and mainly posts about ones found in Essex, her home county. Do check her blog out if you can, I promise you it’s a very enjoyable read.
One of the grandest houses in England, Audley End stands proudly in the countryside of Saffron Walden. Its origins date back to the 10th Century, where it began life as Walden Abbey, given to Thomas, Lord Audley, by Henry VIII, who converted the monastery into a house.
The rooms are high and hung with beautiful tapestries: the beds amply decorated with golden velvet and silk bed hangings and covers.’
From the account of the visit of Johann Ernst, Duke of Saxe-Weimar, to Audley End, September 1613
In this post, I will be exploring three parts of Audley’s history, those who lived there – the Howards, its beautiful gardens designed by the one and only Capability Brown and its role in WW2 and the polish resistance.
Aristocrats:
The creator of the current structure of Audley End was Thomas Howard, part of the infamous Howard family. He inherited the House in 1605 and set about transforming the site into a country estate fit enough for royalty as he wanted to show off his wealth. Unfortunately, not much survives of his transformations and what we know from his estate comes from archives and documentary evidence. We know work began in 1605 and completed around 1614. Along with his uncle Henry Howard and Bernard Janssen, a Flemish mason, the three set about creating one of the greatest houses in Jacobean England.[1] Audley End had all the parts one expects in a Jacobean Mansion including symmetrical inner court, lodgings for his guests, including one for both the King and a separate one for the Queen for when they would stay. Today the house is only half the size of what it once was.
Thomas Howard, 1st Earl of Suffolk by Unknown Artist, National Portrait Gallery
The Howard family’s rise to power began in 1483, when King Richard III created John Howard the Duke of Norfolk. This was the third time that the Title of Duke of Norfolk had been used, and John had blood links to the first ever Duke of Norfolk – Thomas Mowbray (made 1st Duke of Norfolk in 1397). The head of the Howards would not only hold the title of Duke of Norfolk, but that of Earl of Arundel, Earl of Surrey, and Earl of Norfolk in addition to holding six baronies. They were a powerful family, who in the reign of the Tudors were ones to watch out for. Thomas Howard, son of John would be successful in defeating the Scots at the Battle of Flodden with two of his nieces – Anne Boleyn and Catherine Howard being married to King Henry VIII. Charles Howard, 1st Earl of Nottingham, would hold the title of Lord Admiral and lead the English against the invasion of the Spanish Armada in 1588. For more on this infamous family, I suggest reading House of Treason by Robert Hutchinson.
In 1751, after the 10th Earl’s death, Elizabeth, Countess of Portsmouth brought Audley End which in turn would be inherited by her nephew, Sir John Griffin Whitwell, on the agreement that he took the surname of Griffin. John was a retired soldier and MP for Andover. He had fought and was wounded at the Battle of Kloster Kampen in 1760 during the Seven Years War.
Sir John, who became Lord Howard, would make more transformations to Audley End, most of which is what we can see today. He hired the architect Robert Adam to transform the house and Capability Brown the landscape. Adam’s work can be seen in the ground floor reception rooms on the south front today. Over time, Sir John started to pick up the architectural bug and his second wife, Katherine the decor. They both, respectively, became amateur architect and decorator and thus set about making many of their own changes to the house. The central range was rebuilt to reconnect the two wings of the house, along with a unique service gallery and detached service wing, all under the eye of Sir John.
Audley End would be one of the first houses to have a flushing water closet (installed in 1775) along with a bell system for the family of the house to call their domestic staff. Today, much of what can be seen at Audley End is a result of Richard Neville, who in the 1820s remodelled the house taking it back to its Jacobean roots.
Audley End, Wikimedia Commons
Avenues:
The beginnings of formal gardens at Audley End were started during the conversion of the monastery into house. It would be Elizabeth, Countess of Portsmouth, who would begin the transformation of the gardens into a more formal landscape. However, the landscape that we see today was mostly the result of one Capability Brown.
I mentioned above that in 1763, Griffin hired John Adam to assist with the interior development, he had Capability Brown do the same with the estate. Brown’s brief was to widen the river running through the estate, building a ha-ha and transforming the overall look of the gardens into Brown’s ‘naturalistic style’. He would create new roads towards the house, including one with a bridge, which was designed by Adam’s and is a Grade I listed structure. Brown was to be paid £660 (around £1,150,000 today) for his work in three payments, the last being on completion.
The two would eventually fall out with the result being Griffin dismissing Brown and getting the unknown Joseph Hicks to finish the work. However, the elements of Brown’s work are there for all to see and appreciate, including sweeps of grass, water flowing towards the house, long curving drives with stunning views for visitors and wooded areas to hide service buildings.
Espionage:
When I visited Audley End many years ago, I did not really pay much attention to a monument within the estate, remembering fallen soldiers from WW2. It was not until planning this post that Danielle mentioned the Polish secret missions that made me go back and re look at Audley End’s history in the 20th Century.
In 1941, like a number of other country estates, Audley End was requisitioned by the Army to be used as a training facility. By 1943, those who trained there was exclusively Polish Soldiers. They were undergoing training to assist them when they were secretly returned to German occupied Poland and assist the Polish resistance.
WWII Reenactment at Audley End
Code named station 43 (overseen by the Special Operations Executive), the Polish agents, under the command of Captain Alfons Mackowiak (Alan Mack). They would undergo various training in guerrilla warfare which included close combat, assignation, forgery, planting booby traps and of course learning how to parachute out of a plane. In total 527 soldiers passed the training and were sent into Poland. Sadly, 108 of these were either killed in action or at concentration camps and are remembered on the memorial I mentioned above. The soldiers would be known as the Cichociemni (the silent and Unseen). They would be involved in many missions, including recovering a German V2 rocket and smuggling into England.
Voyager of History 