Category: History

Peter Calvocoressi

Often there is unfinished business in these posts. In September there was mention of five families from Chios, in A Greek Island. The greatest of these families was Ralli. The Ralli brothers, five of them, were probably the most successful Greek merchant-traders in the 19th century.

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A King in Soho

I had supposed that the Church of England is busy selling off vicarages and closing churches. Now I have found a new church, opened on St Anne’s Day in July 1991 and it has a link to a mountainous Mediterranean island.

The Invention of Memory

I was given The Invention of Memory for Christmas three years ago by Alan Higgs. It is by Simon Loftus and traces the story of his family from their arrival in Ireland in 1560 until Mount Loftus burned down in 1934.

Down Your Way

I am going to play you something by Yorkshire-born composer, Haydn Wood. If you are my age it may sound familiar.

An Ambassador in the Family

Nigel Farage has, it seems, struck up a rapport with President-elect Trump; an unlikely friendship as Trump doesn’t drink. Might Farage be a suitable UK ambassador to the United States?

The Wall That Donald Built

This is where I put my friend Edward (Ned) York after his mis-reading of the likely outcome of the American Presidential election. Anyway, I have relented and let him out this morning with another rather interesting guest-blog.

Remembrance Sunday

This is the interior of Les Invalides chapel in Paris. Funny to call it a chapel when it is such a monumental edifice. Louis XIV started building Les Invalides in 1670 as a retirement home and hospital for his old soldiers.

Lord Mayor’s Show

It rained yesterday morning in London. Derek, who came to clean the windows, got drenched. Last time he came we worried about Brexit and this time about Trump.

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