Hudson Bay Company by Brian Hudson

The British Music Hall

 by Margaret Pearce

I wasn’t quite sure if my subject for an History group meeting would be of interest but having mentioned it to several of you it seems to have met with approval.

I do, in fact, have a vested interest in the subject and can claim to have had Grandparents who “trod the boards” so you can appreciate my enthusiasm for the subject.

I never knew my paternal grandparents but I believe my grandfather was one of 7 children but only 3 were theatrical.  I do know odd stories about them – they were never “top of the bill” but appeared with many of the Greats and my Grandfather and his brother wrote vast numbers of songs for them.  I do have several Bill Boards showing their many talents and we do have original sheet music that must be well over 100 years old.

Spencer Perceval

 by Ian Looker

The Right Honourable Spencer Perceval, Prime Minister of Great Britain, is late.  At 4.30 he was due to attend a debate in Parliament, but he is still at home in Downing Street.  The debate will discuss the effectiveness of Orders in Council that had previously imposed a naval blockade on France.  Spencer Perceval was responsible for their introduction and his authority is required to cancel them.

 A gentleman by the name of John Bellingham is also late, for an appointment that only he knows about.  At half past four, walking, he is a mile away from the Houses of Parliament in Sidney’s Alley on the north side of Leicester Square.

Alaska - the frozen North

 

 By JOHN PENNINGTON

Geography

Size 1.73M Sq Km (650K Sq Ml), borders on Canada (Yukon and BC)

Location on Arctic Circle, between Arctic and North Pacific Oceans,

Shape – State Map - Panhandle , Island Chains,

Population 750,000, Capital Juneau, Anchorage Largest City 50% Total.

Cities – Anchorage, Fairbanks, Nome, Sitka, Ketchikan, Valdez, Kodiak.

Main Rivers – Yukon River at 3,190km third longest river in N America. Starts BC.

Mountains – Denali (Mt McKinley) is the highest peak in N America at 6190m.

Volcanic Activity – Very active earthquake area, especially the island chains.

Climate is Arctic but with vegetation and crop areas.

            State Flag – The Plough Constellation and Polaris, golden stars on a dark background.

 

Edward Young Graphic Designer and wartime Submarine Captain

by Jenny Meader

Edward Preston "Teddy" Young, DSO, DSC & Bar (17 November 1913 – 28 January 2003), was a British graphic designer, submariner and publisher. In 1935, he joined the then new publishers Penguin Books  and was responsible for designing the cover scheme used by Penguin for many years as well as drawing the original penguin logo. During World War II he served in the Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve (RNVR) and became the first British RNVR officer to command a submarine. After the war he returned to the publishing world and eventually became managing director of the Rainbird Group. Having written his wartime biography, One of Our Submarines, in 1952, he later wrote several other books.

The Crimean War – Oct 1853 to Feb 1856

 by John Pennington

This was not only about Crimea, but there were also several other theatres around the world, making it almost a semi world war. It was a very complex war with many countries involved, so I will rather concentrate on the geopolitics of the day, rather than specific battles and people. There are many things in common with the Ukraine War today.

The war was fought between Russia on one hand and the alliance of Britain, France, the Ottoman Empire and later Piemonte-Sardinia on the other (an attempt to gain favour with the French regarding the Risorgimento/Unification of Italy). There were also several other players, Austria, Greece, Armenia, Georgia, Egypt and Persia.

The US War and Joshua Lawrence Chamberlain

 by Brian Hudson

EDWARD V

by Linda Hansford

EDWARD V                                             Ed iv reigned  1461-1470 & 1471-1483                                                                                                                                   

“We find but few historians of all ages, who have been diligent enough in their search for truth; it is their common method to take on trust what they deliver to the public, by which means a falsehood, once received from a famed writer, becomes traditional to posterity”.

 Written in 1668 by John Dayden, First Poet Laureate (lived 1631-1700)

 (very concise and brief history leading up to events regarding Edward v   – Wars of Roses ‘The Cousins War’, which are all well documented.  I wrote these notes before recent release of Channel 4 documentary and Phillipa Langley’s book ‘The Princes in the Tower’)

 Edward V was born at Westminster on 4 November 1470, the first son and 4^th of 10 children, 7 girls and 3 boys, from the controversial marriage of his father the Yorkist Edward IV and his queen consort mother Elizabeth Woodville (known as the ‘White Queen’ or the ‘Commoner Queen’).  Queen Elizabeth and his 3 older sisters were taking sanctuary within the precincts of the Abbey, during the brief restoration of King Henry VI from October 1470 – April 1471.  At this time Edward IV was in exile in Flanders.