Category: History

Dukes & Dogs

There are twenty-nine non royal extant dukedoms in the Peerages of England, Scotland, Great Britain, Ireland and the United Kingdom. The Duke of Norfolk, 1483, is the oldest and The Duke of Fife, 1900, the newest creation.

Sword of Bone

Anthony Rhodes was born in 1916. He went to Rugby and the Royal Military Academy, Woolwich. The army sent him to Trinity College, Cambridge to study Mechanical Engineering. He graduated in 1939 just in time to join the Royal Engineers and serve in France as part of the British Expeditionary Force.

The Battle of Stonington

You are waking up and thinking only three days until the Grouse shooting opens, but 9th August is a significant anniversary and guest blogger, Edward (Ned) York returns to inform us of something not routinely on the History syllabus this side of the pond.  

Wodehouse in Swaledale

After dicing with death for almost five hours on the M1 it was good to change down a couple of gears and drive up the narrow, winding road to Swaledale and Keld. The cottage is old-fashioned with thick stone walls, a small stone-flagged kitchen and so on.

No Darkness but Ignorance

The Statues of London is a large, heavy and expensive coffee table book. It was recommended by a reader and in spite of its drawbacks I’m pleased to own the tome.

I Once Met Pius XII

I enjoy the I Once Met column in The Oldie. If you are a fan Richard Ingrams edited two anthologies. James Lees-Milne’s diary entry for Tuesday 14th September 1948 qualifies for, although I don’t think has appeared in, I Once Met. He was on holiday in Rome and was granted an audience with the Pope (Pius… Continue reading I Once Met Pius XII

Dear Father

I rather enjoy writing letters but it often takes me a while to get round to the task. It seems that it runs in the family judging by this one written by my great-great-great grandfather.

Partitions, a new play by Tom Stoppard

Mary Kenny’s Crown and Shamrock colours in the history of the relationship between Britain and Ireland in the 19th and 20th centuries, often producing unexpected quirky details – always popular here.

Chips

I reckon I have written more than 250,000 words here, a bagatelle compared to Chips Channon whose fifty or so volumes of diaries run to more than three million words.