*Please note- This site search does not include the Vic. & Tas. BMD's, Lots o' Links & Worth a Look Books
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GEORGE ROBERT SIMS
JOURNALIST, CRIME NOVELIST, PLAYWRIGHT & POET
1847-1922
George Robert Sims, was born 2nd September 1847 in Kennington, London, England. His parents were George Sims (a prosperous merchant) & Louisa Amelia Ann Stevenson, president of the Women's Provident League.
Sims was the oldest of six children, who were exposed to their parents' cosmopolitan artistic and progressive friends, including suffragists.
Sims grew up in Islington, London, and his mother often took him to the theatre. He was educated in Eastbourne and then Hanwell Military College and the University of Bonn. He had begun to write poetry at the age of ten and at Bonn he started to write some plays, he then completed his studies in Germany and France.
Married three times, as twice he was made a widower. Marrying 26 yr old Sarah Elizabeth Collis in 1876,
29 yr old Annie Maria Harriss in 1888 & 28 yr old Elizabeth Florence Wykes in 1901 who was the only wife to survive him. Unfortunately, none of these marriages produced any children.
As a born journalist, Sims had the essential flair added to shrewd common sense, imagination, wide sympathies, a vivid interest in every side of life, and the most ardent patriotism, that was needed for his success. He was also a highly successful playwright, a zealous social reformer, an expert criminologist and had a wide range of interests including dogs & boxing. He worked briefly for his Father, but his interests lay in writing so he wrote stories & poetry, he also had his sporting interests.
In 1877, he began contributing to a new Sunday sports and entertainment paper, 'The Referee' (edited by Sampson) writing a weekly column of miscellany, "Mustard and Cress," under the pseudonym Dagonet. This was so successful that compilations of his verses from the paper, published as The Dagonet Ballads (1879) & Ballads of Babylon (1880), sold in hundreds of 1,000's of copies & were constantly in print during the following thirty years. He also wrote amusing and popular travelogues, also as Dagonet. He became editor of 'One and All' in 1879 and for various papers wrote about horse racing, showing dogs, boxing, and leisure. Although Sims published his "Mustard and Cress" column every week for 45 years without fail, each week the page read freshly and seemed always to have something extra added, the column being sprinkled with little epigrams in verse, patriotic songs or parodies, jokes, puns, conundrums & catch-words.
Sims is best-remembered for his dramatic monologue from The Dagonet Ballads- "It is Christmas Day in the Workhouse". It' s zealous social concern aroused public sentiment and made Sims a strong voice for reform, dramatising the plight of suffering Londoners. He also contributed numerous articles from 1879-1883 about the bad condition of the poor in London's slums in various newspapers. Many of these were later published in book form, such as 'The Theatre of Life' (1881), 'Horrible London' (1889), 'The Social Kaleidoscope' and 'The Three Brass Balls'. In 1881, Sims and Frederick Barnard wrote a series of illustrated articles entitled 'How the Poor Live' for a new journal, 'The Pictorial World'. This was published in book form in 1883. He also wrote many popular ballads about the predicament of the poor. These efforts were important in raising public opinion on the subject and led to reform legislation in the Act of 1885.
Sims was appointed as part of a study of social conditions in Southwark in 1882 and as a witness before the 1884 royal commission on working-class housing. Sims also raised public awareness on other issues, including white slave traffic, in a series of articles published in the 'Daily Telegraph' & later in book form as 'London by Night'(1906), 'Watches of the Night'(1907) and on the maltreatment of children, he wrote 'The Black Stain' (1907). Together with Mrs E. W. Burgwin, he founded the 'Referee Children's Free Breakfast and Dinner Fund' (1880), which became London's largest charity of this kind. He also worked to promote the boy's clubs movement and campaigned to open museums and galleries and permit concerts on Sundays as part of the National Sunday League.
His autobiography, My Life: 'Sixty Years, Recollections of Bohemian London' (1917) became very popular, he was also intrigued by the psychology of crime and he penned some ingenious detective stories, as well as writing over 30 plays (most of them were adapted from European pieces).
George R. Sims belonged to the 'Devonshire club', the 'Eccentric Club' & others, reporting earnings of nearly £150,000 in 1898, but he gambled most of his wealth away, or gave it to charities.
Sims invented a tonic, 'Tatcho', that was marketed to cure baldness, but his friends wondered when it did not stop his own hairline from receding.
The Daily Mail was used by Sims to wage a campaign to secure the pardon and release of a Norwegian, who had twice been imprisoned because of mistaken identity. This effort led to the establishment, in 1907, of the court of criminal appeal. For his assistance, the King of Sweden and Norway made him a knight of the order of St Olav, first class, awarded to him in 1905.
Sims died at his home in Regent's Park, London, just after his 75th birthday on September 4th 1922, from liver cancer.
Reference
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_Robert_Sims
Sims was the oldest of six children, who were exposed to their parents' cosmopolitan artistic and progressive friends, including suffragists.
Sims grew up in Islington, London, and his mother often took him to the theatre. He was educated in Eastbourne and then Hanwell Military College and the University of Bonn. He had begun to write poetry at the age of ten and at Bonn he started to write some plays, he then completed his studies in Germany and France.
Married three times, as twice he was made a widower. Marrying 26 yr old Sarah Elizabeth Collis in 1876,
29 yr old Annie Maria Harriss in 1888 & 28 yr old Elizabeth Florence Wykes in 1901 who was the only wife to survive him. Unfortunately, none of these marriages produced any children.
As a born journalist, Sims had the essential flair added to shrewd common sense, imagination, wide sympathies, a vivid interest in every side of life, and the most ardent patriotism, that was needed for his success. He was also a highly successful playwright, a zealous social reformer, an expert criminologist and had a wide range of interests including dogs & boxing. He worked briefly for his Father, but his interests lay in writing so he wrote stories & poetry, he also had his sporting interests.
In 1877, he began contributing to a new Sunday sports and entertainment paper, 'The Referee' (edited by Sampson) writing a weekly column of miscellany, "Mustard and Cress," under the pseudonym Dagonet. This was so successful that compilations of his verses from the paper, published as The Dagonet Ballads (1879) & Ballads of Babylon (1880), sold in hundreds of 1,000's of copies & were constantly in print during the following thirty years. He also wrote amusing and popular travelogues, also as Dagonet. He became editor of 'One and All' in 1879 and for various papers wrote about horse racing, showing dogs, boxing, and leisure. Although Sims published his "Mustard and Cress" column every week for 45 years without fail, each week the page read freshly and seemed always to have something extra added, the column being sprinkled with little epigrams in verse, patriotic songs or parodies, jokes, puns, conundrums & catch-words.
Sims is best-remembered for his dramatic monologue from The Dagonet Ballads- "It is Christmas Day in the Workhouse". It' s zealous social concern aroused public sentiment and made Sims a strong voice for reform, dramatising the plight of suffering Londoners. He also contributed numerous articles from 1879-1883 about the bad condition of the poor in London's slums in various newspapers. Many of these were later published in book form, such as 'The Theatre of Life' (1881), 'Horrible London' (1889), 'The Social Kaleidoscope' and 'The Three Brass Balls'. In 1881, Sims and Frederick Barnard wrote a series of illustrated articles entitled 'How the Poor Live' for a new journal, 'The Pictorial World'. This was published in book form in 1883. He also wrote many popular ballads about the predicament of the poor. These efforts were important in raising public opinion on the subject and led to reform legislation in the Act of 1885.
Sims was appointed as part of a study of social conditions in Southwark in 1882 and as a witness before the 1884 royal commission on working-class housing. Sims also raised public awareness on other issues, including white slave traffic, in a series of articles published in the 'Daily Telegraph' & later in book form as 'London by Night'(1906), 'Watches of the Night'(1907) and on the maltreatment of children, he wrote 'The Black Stain' (1907). Together with Mrs E. W. Burgwin, he founded the 'Referee Children's Free Breakfast and Dinner Fund' (1880), which became London's largest charity of this kind. He also worked to promote the boy's clubs movement and campaigned to open museums and galleries and permit concerts on Sundays as part of the National Sunday League.
His autobiography, My Life: 'Sixty Years, Recollections of Bohemian London' (1917) became very popular, he was also intrigued by the psychology of crime and he penned some ingenious detective stories, as well as writing over 30 plays (most of them were adapted from European pieces).
George R. Sims belonged to the 'Devonshire club', the 'Eccentric Club' & others, reporting earnings of nearly £150,000 in 1898, but he gambled most of his wealth away, or gave it to charities.
Sims invented a tonic, 'Tatcho', that was marketed to cure baldness, but his friends wondered when it did not stop his own hairline from receding.
The Daily Mail was used by Sims to wage a campaign to secure the pardon and release of a Norwegian, who had twice been imprisoned because of mistaken identity. This effort led to the establishment, in 1907, of the court of criminal appeal. For his assistance, the King of Sweden and Norway made him a knight of the order of St Olav, first class, awarded to him in 1905.
Sims died at his home in Regent's Park, London, just after his 75th birthday on September 4th 1922, from liver cancer.
Reference
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_Robert_Sims
1. Workhouse
2. Christmas- Tudor/Elizabethan/Victorian
3. Places & Organisations
4. Hair Product
5. Books & Articles
6. Sporting Activities
2. Christmas- Tudor/Elizabethan/Victorian
3. Places & Organisations
4. Hair Product
5. Books & Articles
6. Sporting Activities
Workhouse
To English people born before c1930, the word "Workhouse" carried terrific emotional power. Until the focus on Welfare in the mid-20th century, the Workhouse was the only place available to English people too poor or incapable to support themselves. Run by the local parish & financed by the "rates" (local property and business taxes),they were wretched places where the barest minimum of warmth, nourishment & clothing were provided to the poor and helpless. To "end up in the Workhouse" ("wuck-uss") was the saddest fate imaginable.
http://www.johnderbyshire.com/Readings/workhouse.html
http://www.johnderbyshire.com/Readings/workhouse.html
George R Sims was Best Remembered for his Poem-
In the Workhouse: Christmas Day (1879)
In the Workhouse: Christmas Day (1879)
Hear the whole poem read to you......
http://www.johnderbyshire.com/Readings/workhouse.html |
Christmas Day in the Workhouse
https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id |
Workhouse Christmas
By the middle of the century, Christmas Day (or more often Boxing Day) had become a regular occasion for local dignitaries to visit their union workhouse & dispense food & largesse. The workhouse dining-hall would be decorated & entertainment organised. Some saw this as condescending & patronising.
Largesse- Money or gifts given generously. Workhouses and Poor Law in Institutions & Organisations
http://search.findmypast.com.au/search-world |
Introduction to Workhouse Records and Archives The Workhouse was a major element of Britain's Poor relief system which, from the end of the 16th century, provided publicly funded and administered assistance for local residents who could not support themselves. In England and Wales, a major reform in the administration of Poor Relief took place in 1834. After 1834, Poor relief administration, was through groupings of Parishes known as 'Poor Law Unions' each of which had it's own Workhouse. Comparable changes took place in Ireland in 1838 and in Scotland in 1845. For more help, visit this award winning website- http://www.workhouses.org.uk/records/ Workhouse History
http://www.jenniewalters.com/history/workhouse.php Florence Nightingale Letters
The new workhouse infirmary at Chorlton, Lancashire, was described in 1866 by Florence Nightingale as, "a model for the country". In 1854, age 34, Florence Nightingale led the first team of British female nurses sent to the Crimea war. The Crimean mission was devastating for her health, she nearly died of ‘Crimean fever’, never fully recovered and became an invalid for the rest of her life by age 37. She described herself as ‘a prisoner of her own room’, but did not let illness burden her, instead, turning ‘imprisonment’ into massive correspondence. Nearly 600 Nightingale letters dating from 1829 to 1905 have been digitised are are now available to view online from the Collaborative website of 'The Wellcome Library', The Florence Nightingale Museum, The Royal College of Nursing and the Howard Gotlieb Archival Research Center. The Five letters from Florence Nightingale, written from 34 South Street, Park Lane,. London W., to the Manchester architect Thomas Worthington have been in the past, well sited, but apparently the letters have not survived. http://hgar-srv3.bu.edu/web/florence-nightingale/ Charlie Chaplin
In 1896 Charlie Chaplin aged 6, his half brother Sydney, who was four years his senior, and their mother Hannah were admitted to Lambeth Union Workhouse in South London. After three weeks in the workhouse, he and Sydney were transferred by horse-drawn bakery van to The Central London District Schools in Hanwell. Charlie returned to Hanwell 34 years later as the most successful and the most highly paid actor and movie maker in Hollywood. http://www.hanwellcc.co.uk/history/ Chaplin's childhood image from-
http://photo.charliechaplin.com/category/39/images?utf8
Irish Workhouse Centre - Portumna
13:53 The Workhouse Boy
4:10 |
A Survey of England and Wales in 1776-77 (before the Poorlaw Unions were set up in 1834), gave a report of almost 2,000 workhouses with a 90,000 person capcity. The Quakers (Society of Friends) had their own Workhouses in Bristol and Clerkenwell in london.
The first purpose-built Workhouse, was built in Abingdon, Berkshire in 1835 and the last English Union to provide a Workhouse, was Todmorden, West Yorkshire in 1877
The workhouse in Berkshire (Peter Higginbotham) https://www.berksfhs.org.uk/journal/Mar2001 A Bibliography of Local History for Abingdon
http://www.aaahs.org.uk/Harrison_bibliogra Workhouse Quiz
It's hard!, could be used more for general information http://www.workhouses.org.uk/quiz/ Sir Henry Morton Stanley
Famous for his rescue of the Scottish missionary and explorer David Livingstone. Stanley’s parents, John Rowlands and Elizabeth Parry, gave birth to him out of wedlock in 1841. He grew up partly in the charge of reluctant relatives, partly in St. Asaph Workhouse. Stanley's meeting with David Livingston on 10 November 1871 gave rise to the popular quotation "Dr. Livingstone, I presume?" http://www.britannica.com/biography/Henry In 1864 Livingstone returned to Africa and mounted an expedition through the central portion of the continent with the objective of discovering the source of the Nile River. As months stretched into years, little was heard from the explorer. George Bennett, publisher of the New York Herald, commissioned newspaper reporter Henry Stanley to find Livingstone. Leading an expedition of approximately 200 men, Stanley headed into the interior from the eastern shore of Africa on March 21, 1871. After nearly eight months he found Livingstone in Ujiji, a small village on the shore of Lake Tanganyika on November 10, 1871.
http://www.eyewitnesstohistory.com/stanley If you want to hear what the tune is like?
Most likely quite different than when it was written? but supposedly a true story.
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Christmas
Tudor Christmas
CHRISTMAS with The Tudors
http://www.thetudorswiki.com/page/CHRISTMAS Tudor Christmas http://www.historylearningsite.co.uk/tudor-england |
A Tudor Feast
http://hummingbirdminiatures.blogspot.com.au/2011 Tudor banquet http://www.tudor-history.com/a-tudor-banquet/ |
Elizabethan Christmas
In 1588, Elizabeth I, ordered the whole of England to eat goose for their Christmas Dinner to celebrate England's victory over the Armada, because it was the first meal she ate after the Navy had defeated Spain’s ships.
Elizabethan Christmas http://elizabethan.org/compendium/63.html An Elizabethan Christmas http://www.shakespeare-online.com/ |
Elizabethan Christmas Recipes http://www.elizabethfiles.com/elizabethan-christmas Elizabethan Banquet & Feast http://www.elizabethan-era.org.uk/elizabethan-ban |
Victorian Christmas
Kissing beneath the mistletoe, Santa, exchanging gifts, caroling, all wonderful traditions embraced by the Victorian Era, are some of our best loved traditions. The Nativity has been celebrated since the 4th century. "The Colonies", however, were slow to embrace the idea of Christmas, as the celebration of a Father Christmas in his long fur trimmed robes was seen as a heathenish notion. http://www.thecompletevictorian.com/chr |
The Project Gutenberg EBook of The Dogs' Dinner Party (children's book)
http://www.gutenberg.org/files/23290/23290 |
Royal feasts: What was eaten through the ages?
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-16659349 |
Peter Parley's Annual: A Christmas and New Year's Present for Young People. by William Martin , Darton & Co, Samuel G Goodrich Published 1844
https://archive.org/details/peterparleysann |
Christmas Under Fire (1941) | BFI National Archive
9:26 |
A Christmas Story, by George R. Sims
More.........................
https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=njp.32101064633934;view=1up;seq=178
https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=njp.32101064633934;view=1up;seq=178
Thomas Tusser
(1524 – 3 May 1580) Was an English poet and farmer, born in Essex. There are many references to Christmas, in his '500 Points of Husbandry' 1573, which includes his famous Christmas poem in chapter 28 & 32 https://archive.org/stream/fivehundredpoint08tussuoft#pa Christmas (page 70), '500 Points of Husbandry'
Good bread and good drinke, a good fier in the hall, Brawne, pudding and souse, and good mustard withall. Beefe, mutton, and porke, shred pies of the best, Pig, veale, goose and capon, and turkey well drest ; Cheese, apples and nuts, joly Carols to heare, As then in the countrie is counted good cheare. What cost to good husband is any of this ? Good houshold provision onely it is. Of other the like, I doo leave out a menie, that costeth the husbandman never a penie. John Stow’s Survey of London, 1598
http://www.themaphouse.com/SpecialistCatalogues/Lond |
According to John Stow's Survey of London, Cheape Ward, Thomas Tusser was buried in the now lost church of St Mildred in the Poultry.
http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?pag St Mildred, Poultry was a parish church in the Cheap ward, of the City of London. It was rebuilt after the Great Fire of London. The building was sold for £50,200 in 1871 under the Union of Benefices Act & demolished 1872. A City Corporation Plaque now marks the site.
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Places & Organisations
Devonshire Club, Eastbourne
Established in 1872 by a group of eminent Eastbourne residents and regular visitors as the "Devonshire Club, Eastbourne Ltd" by an issue of shares with the then Duke of Devonshire taking a substantial number and honoring them by becoming the first President of the Club. The share issue was so successful that they proceeded to build the club at Grand Parade, corner of Burlington Place.
http://www.devonshireclubeastbourne.co.uk/history/
Established in 1872 by a group of eminent Eastbourne residents and regular visitors as the "Devonshire Club, Eastbourne Ltd" by an issue of shares with the then Duke of Devonshire taking a substantial number and honoring them by becoming the first President of the Club. The share issue was so successful that they proceeded to build the club at Grand Parade, corner of Burlington Place.
http://www.devonshireclubeastbourne.co.uk/history/
History of Eastbourne
Edward II visited the village of East Burne in 1324 and the village began to grow. During the middle ages the area prospered as a major sheep farming and fishing area. In 1555 East Bourne was sold to three wealthy Sussex families-Burton, Gildredge and Selwyn. http://www.eastbourne.gov.uk/residents/leisure-and-events/art-culture/family The History of England
From the invasion of Julius Cæsar to the end of the reign of James the second, 1688 by David Hume https://ebooks.adelaide.edu.au/h/hume/david/history-of-england/complete.html |
There are nearly 130 listed buildings in the town and borough of Eastbourne, a seaside resort on the coast of East Sussex in England and De Walden Court is one of them
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Listed_buildings_in_E De Walden Court
"An impressive Italianate-style house" possibly inspired by Chatsworth, this is now flats and began as two houses—Little De Walden (1892) and Big de Walden (1884). F.G. Cooke and A.E. Thompson designed both. The building is mostly of brick and sandstone |
“LEWIS CARROLL’S” HOUSE IN EASTBOURNE
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The Story of Lewis Carroll, Isa Bowman
THE REAL ALICE IN WONDERLAND, MISS ISA BOWMAN. WITH A DIARY AND NUMEROUS FACSIMILE LETTERS WRITTEN TO MISS ISA BOWMAN AND OTHERS. ALSO MANY SKETCHES AND PHOTOS BY LEWIS CARROLL http://www.hellenicaworld.com/UK/Literature/IsaBowman/en |
Theatres & Halls in Eastbourne, on England's South Coast
*The Royal Hippodrome Theatre Formerly - The Theatre Royal and Opera House *The Devonshire Park Theatre *The Congress Theatre *The Eastbourne Pier, and Pier Theatre and Music Pavilion http://www.arthurlloyd.co |
The Devonshire Park Theatre is a Grade II Listed Building built in 1884 and widely considered to be one of the best surviving small Victorian theatres in the country. The Theatre has been host to many of the illustrious stars of the theatre world. Whilst great actors such as Henry Irving and Ellen Terry graced its stage in the past. Although mainly used as a live theatre, by 1911 it was screening films and was known as the Devonshire Park Pavilion. In 1912 it was showing some Kinemacolour films. The Devonshire Park Pavilion was the first cinema in Eastbourne to screen ‘talkies’ when “Broadway Melody of 1929” was screened on 7th October 1929.
http://cinematreasures.org/theaters/46242 |
Robert W. Paul
British inventor, film producer, Foremost pioneer of the British film industry in its formative years. Film Historian John Barnes, claims that Robert W. Paul was the first person to color a film. Some of his films may have been shown in Eastbourne theatres? http://www.victorian-cinema.net/paul |
'The Twins' Tea Party' Robert W Paul (1896)
0:43 |
A switchback railway Robert W Paul, 1898
0:47 |
Robert W. Paul: The Motorist (1906)
2:31 |
Electric Tram Rides- Forster Square, Bradford 1902
The making of a movie 2:35 |
1872 Wood Engraving Art William Cavendish Duke Devonshire Portrait
William Cavendish, 7th duke of Devonshire (1808-1891), styled as Lord Cavendish of Keighley between 1831 and 1834 and known as The Earl of Burlington between 1834 and 1858, was the great-grandson of the 4th Duke of Devonshire, grandson of the 1st Earl of Burlington, and son of William Cavendish. http://familypedia.wikia.com/wiki/William_Cavendis Letters to Duke of Devonshire
This record is held by Chatsworth House & not online yet. http://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/rd/N Kennington Common
Triangle of land between Brixton and Kennington Park Roads, which was used as a place of execution
Kennington Common
In the 18th and 19th centuries Kennington Common gained an evil reputation. Part of it, including the site of the church, burial ground and the triangle of land between Brixton and Kennington Park Roads, which was used as a place of execution & known as Gallows Common. Several Jacobites were executed here after the rising of 1745. Crowds came to the Common not only to witness executions, but also to hear itinerant preachers arguing upon their different religions and to see the cricket matches, so profitable to landlord of the Horns Tavern. http://www.british-history.ac.uk/survey-london/ Britain's working-class Chartist movement organised a mass meeting at Kennington Common on April 10th, 1848. Their campaign for universal manhood suffrage, vote by secret ballot in elections and other democratic reforms of the parliamentary system, as demanded in the People’s Charter of ten years before, enjoyed mass working-class support and the new 1840s railway system enabled working men from all over the country to assemble in one place far more easily than ever before.
read more at: http://www.historytoday.com/richard-cavendish/ |
In June 1780, the children of George III spent their summer holiday in the Round House (formerly a windmill), Eastbourne, which stood where the pier entrance is now situated. It was demolished in 1841 owing to the encroachment of the sea.
Assisted Immigrants 1848-1912 Arriving in Queensland on the Duke of Devonshire & Other Ships
http://www.archives.qld.gov.au/Researchers/Immigr The 18th century Eccentric Club is re-born
An unusual club which was founded in London back in the 18th century has re-opened its doors."The Eccentric Club" requires its members to conform to a certain style which many of us might regard as 'odd'. Watch very short bbc clip 1:47 http://news.bbc.co.uk/local/london/hi/people_and The club membership stands at present at just under 200 individuals (gentlemen and ladies), all of whom are carefully selected and include many prominent figures notable for their achievements in various fields of Art, Law, Politics, Science and Business. The Eccentric Club promotes “Good Fellowship” and “True Sociality” – “virtues which are now getting rare and eccentric; but which it is the wish and intent of this Society to cherish within their narrow circle to the utmost of their power... in the occasional enjoyment of ‘The feast of reason and the flow of soul’” (The Eccentric Society Rules and Regulations, 1808).
http://www.eccentricclub.co.uk/
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The University of Bonn was founded on 18th October 1818 by the Prussian King Friedrich Wilhelm. It is for this reason that the University was subsequently named after the king- The Rhenish Friedrich Wilhelm University of Bonn, is the official title & in the almost 200 years, the University has experienced many great moments but has also endured some difficult times.
In January 1933, the Nazis seized power. Tragically, this saw many professors and students have to leave the University due to their being Jews or dissidents. The loss of such high potential intellectuals was then followed by the physical destruction of the University. On 18 October 1944, Bonn was the subject of fierce aerial bombardment and this resulted in the main University building along with much of the city centre being destroyed. Rebuilt post ww2, now it is regarded as one of the leading German and international higher education institutions.
https://www.uni-bonn.de/the-university The composer Ludwig Van Beethoven, was born in Bonn, Germany, 17th December 1770 |
The Eton College register 1753-1790 : alphabetically arranged and edited with biographical notes https://archive.org/details/etoncollegeregis00austuoft Other College registers
https://archive.org/search.php?query=college |
The Eton crop was the shortest of the "bobbed" hairstyles. It was named after the famous English school whose boys wore their hair slightly longer than was usual for the day. It was indeed sometimes termed the "boyish bob" The sleek outline was achieved by the application of brilliantine, which was an early type of hair gel.
http://www.photodetective.co.uk/20s-Eton.html Vintage Fashion and Beauty Archive
http://glamourdaze.com/2011/09/1920s-flapper-hairstyle-revolution.html |
The Women's Trade Union League
Was founded as the Women's Protective and Provident League in 1874. It was dissolved in 1921 when its functions were merged with the TUC. BRITISH WOMEN'S HISTORY http://www.historyofwomen.org/sitemap.html Women's history: Journals and magazines
http://www.cardiff.ac.uk/insrv/libraries/scolar/specia |
The Royal Norwegian Order of St. Olav was founded by King Oscar I of Norway and Sweden in 1847, and named in honor of King Olav II. For many years the only order of chivalry in Norway, the Order of St. Olav is now the senior of two orders – the other being the Order of Merit. Other than foreign royalty and heads-of-state, the Order is only granted to Norwegian citizens.
http://www.unofficialroyalty.com/current-monarch |
Hanwell
Hanwell was an ancient village, dating back to the fifth and sixth centuries & is mentioned in the Domesday Book. The land was farmed & part of it was meadowland, where Pigs roamed, there was also a mill. Most of the villagers were peasants or villains, working on the land, but there were three craftsmen and two slaves as well. The total number of people was about 100. http://www.ealing.gov.uk/info/200758/area_history/ Cuckoo School
Hanwell Community Centre The Cuckoo School was a large school for children of destitute families which was built originally in 1856, as the Central London District Poor Law School by the City of London and the East London and St. Saviour Workhouse Unions in 1857. It was built on the land of Cuckoo Farm on Cuckoo Hill in 190 acres of Hanwell land. 20 acres were kept as a working farm to educate and feed the children. The school was closed down in 1933. http://www.mazefind.co.uk/cgi-bin/cms/ohra.pl?cont Charlie Chaplin and his brother, spent 18 months at the Central London District School in Hanwell, at a time when their mother could not adequately provide for them.
Historic information about Hanwell
http://www.mazefind.co.uk/cgi-bin/cms/ohra.pl?cont Referee Children's Free Breakfast and Dinner Fund From- In History and in Education: Essays Presented to Peter Gordon By Richard Aldrich
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Hanwell Lunatic Asylum The last of the open land in Hanwell was enclosed in 1816 and several terraces of houses appeared during the following decade. Hanwell Lunatic Asylum (later St Bernard’s Hospital)
The portraits of 76 male and 65 female patients from the Hanwell Lunatic asylum, are preserved among the “Galton Papers” at the Special Collections of University College London. The frontal, half-length portraits carry a number as well as family names. The archive at Bethlem holds the admission and discharge books as well as the medical files.
http://wellcomelibrary.org/item/b20624438#?c=0&m St Bernard's Hospital (Hanwell Asylum)
The Middlesex County Asylum in Hanwell was the first pauper lunatic asylum built in England following the Madhouse Act of 1828, which allowed the building of purpose-built asylums. http://ezitis.myzen.co.uk/stbernards.html HANWELL ASYLUM
http://www.aim25.ac.uk/cgi-bin/vcdf/detail?coll_id Asylum records, Australia (Cora Web)
http://www.coraweb.com.au/asylum.htm UK, Lunacy Patients Admission Registers, 1846-1912 http://search.ancestry.com.au/search/db.aspx Prestwich Asylum Admissions 1851-1901 http://search.findmypast.co.uk/search-united-kingdo Lunatic Asylum Records http://www.genguide.co.uk/source/lunatic-asylum Information on English and Welsh Lunatic Asylums and Mental Hospitals http://studymore.org.uk/4_13_ta.htm |
Hair Product
George R. Sims, registered the brand name 'Tatcho' in 1897.
In 1912, the British Medical Association examined his Hair Restorer preparation and found it to contain 2.7 parts Borax, 2-5 parts glycerine, and small parts of quinine, formaldehyde, alcohol, and perfume.
http://www.hairraisingstories.com/Products/TATCHO.html
In 1912, the British Medical Association examined his Hair Restorer preparation and found it to contain 2.7 parts Borax, 2-5 parts glycerine, and small parts of quinine, formaldehyde, alcohol, and perfume.
http://www.hairraisingstories.com/Products/TATCHO.html
Sims' friends became suspicious
when it did not stop his own hairline from receding
when it did not stop his own hairline from receding
Borax has many uses on its own, plus it is an ingredient in other products. Here are some uses of borax powder and pure borax in water:
In the Victorian era, Boracic acid (Borax) was believed to "purify" milk, removing the sour taste and smell from milk that had gone off. Small amounts of boracic acid can cause nausea, vomiting, abdominal pain and diarrhoea. The worse thing was, that milk very often contained bovine TB, which boracic acid was concealing. Bovine TB damages the internal organs and the bones of the spine, leading to severe spinal deformities. It is estimated that up to half a million children died from bovine TB from milk in the Victorian period.
http://www.bbc.com/news/uk-25259505 Most Products during the Victorian era
and beyond contained something toxic Quinine is a naturally occurring plant substance that is native to South America. Currently, treatment of malaria is the only approved use of quinine. Side effects may include, Hypotension, Cardiogenic Shock and life-threatening Cardiac Arrhythmias, Flushed or Sweaty Skin, Ringing in the Ears, Confusion, Blurred Vision, Abdominal Pain, Headache and a Decreased number of Platelets in the Blood. Quinine is also found in tonic water. A glass of tonic water contains roughly 20 mg of quinine and gives this drink its distinctive flavour.
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Formaldehyde has been used in a number of industries for various purposes such as: for the manufacturing of building materials – like pressed wood products (mostly as an adhesive resin), fiber board, plywood, cigarette smoke, fuel burning appliances and kerosene space heaters. Additional uses in household products include: additive for permanent –press, an ingredient in glues, and as a preservative in medical laboratories – as embalming fluid, and as a sterilizer, also in nail polish and some other beauty products. High levels of formaldehyde can trigger:
• asthma attacks • nausea • watery and/or burning eyes • difficulty breathing • headaches • respiratory irritation • sensitization Formaldehyde is toxic by inhalation, by skin contact, and by swallowing. https://www.nicnas.gov.au/communications/publicat |
Books and Articles
Among my autographs, By: Sims, George R., Published: (1904)
A collection of stories associated with Sims' first edition autographed books by famous authors, including Wordsworth and Dickens. http://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=uc2.ark:/13960/t26972r6j;view=1up;seq=9 |
September 24, 1889
More............
Assorted Sims Articles--Mustard & Cress
http://www.jtrforums.com/showthread.php?t=23181 Items from 1891 in Dagonet's "Mustard and Cress" column in "The Referee" 1891, speaking on Jack the Ripper
http://www.casebook.org/forum/messages/4920/5584.html The George R. Sims Collection
Lanarkshire Sunday Post October 15, 1922 http://www.jtrforums.com/showthread.php?t=17992 More.....THE "DAGONET BALLADS." NZ Truth , 5 Jan 1907
http://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/cgi-bin/paperspast?a=d Living London Vol. II- George R. Sims
https://archive.org/stream/livinglondonitsw02sims#page/ |
More............
More............
https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=njp.321010 Living London Vol. I - George R. Sims
A very informative book with plenty of illustrations, that covers just about every aspect of living in London during the late 1800's, including The Fire Brigage, Boarding Schools, The Poor, Police Force, Gardening, Italians and Chinese in London etc. https://archive.org/stream/livinglondonitsw01si |
This led to the view that there was a “criminal class” of people in society who were naturally inclined to commit crimes. Since there was a good deal of crime in poorer areas of cities, the criminal class was assumed to consist chiefly of poor people. This criminal class was believed to be irretrievably immoral and could not be reformed. An extreme version of this approach was the opinion that criminal tendencies were actually inherited, that crime was the result of a genetic failing rather than a moral one. With the growth of numbers of people living in city slums in appalling conditions, alarmist reports circulated that the criminal class was breeding more criminals than ever who would take over the cities.
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How the Poor Live, by George R. Sims, 1883
Sims visited these children at school in a poverty-stricken area of London. He aimed to encourage a better understanding in the general population of the wretchedly poor, by graphically illustrating the conditions in which the poor lived. His reaction to their conditions wavers between horror and a hope that social reform will achieve a change. Despite his natural sympathy, inevitably Sims makes judgements as to whether each child is ‘redeemable’ or not, based on their physical appearance. Late 1800's, It was a common belief that poor people could be divided into the “deserving poor” who suffered poverty through particular circumstances such as death of the wage earner, and those whose poverty was due to laziness, greed or some other moral weakness. It was considered important to give financial support and even education only to those poor people who were morally sound, or, as has been said, the result would simply be better educated criminals. |
Sporting Activities
Dogs arriving for a show at the Agricultural Hall, Islington, London, in 1865
(Mary Evans Picture Library http://www.maryevans.com/search.php )
(Mary Evans Picture Library http://www.maryevans.com/search.php )
Sims had a range of Sporting interests, which included Dogs & Boxing
Pedigree dog owning in Britain became popular from the mid-19th century. The first modern dog show, on 28–29 June 1859 in Newcastle-upon-Tyne, was an added attraction to the annual cattle show. Its country character was clear, as only setters and pointers – sporting breeds – were shown and the prizes were guns. It was a low key start to what would be, by the end of the century, a hugely popular pastime, with dog owning fashionable among all classes of society, and which had huge implications for canine breeding.
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The provincial phenomenon came to London in 1862 with the first show at the Agricultural Hall in Islington. In 1863 there was a week long extravaganza at Cremorne Gardens in Chelsea. The new respectable ‘Dog Fancy’ came of age with this event. There were 100,000 visitors, including the Prince of Wales, and it was the occasion of the season. The number and size of dog shows then grew rapidly.
http://www.historyextra.com/article/animals/
http://www.historyextra.com/article/animals/
Bare Knuckle Boxing or 'Fisticuffs' was popular during the Victorian era. It is the original form of boxing, closely related to ancient combat sports. It involves two individuals fighting without boxing gloves or other padding on their hands. The difference between a street fight and a bare-knuckle boxing match is an accepted set of rules, such as not striking a downed opponent.The first bare-knuckle champion of England was James Figg, who claimed the title in 1719 and held it until his retirement in 1730. Historically boxing also included grappling techniques like throws, arm locks, chokes as well as kicks. (wiki)
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Jack Broughton who was a British boxing champ in the early 1700's, is widely considered to be the inventor of the modern padded boxing gloves. However, these padded leather boxing gloves of the 1600's and 1700's were only used in practice and for informal boxing matches. The major public boxing matches were still bare-knuckle events. Boxing is said to be safer with bare fists, than with gloves.
http://EzineArticles.com/665616
http://EzineArticles.com/665616
1743 Broughton's Rules of Boxing Broadside
Victorian Era Sport: Playing by the Rules
Sport used to be a brutal, lawless affair frowned upon by the middle classes, but the Victorians changed all of that. http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/british/victorians |
AUSSIE RULES FOOTBALL
A Carlton and a Geelong player c1885
Some famous Australian footballers from 1858 to 1900
http://australianfootball.com/ The History of Australian Rules Football
https://museumvictoria.com.au/discove The Argus, Mon 27 Sept. 1858
Ladies at the Football Match 1877
Aussie Football's Rules were written by the Melbourne Football Club.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of http://museumvictoria.com.au/discover |
As early as 1841 there is documented evidence of "foot-ball" being played in metropolitan and country Victoria http://www.exploroz.com/Forum/Topic/76835/Sunday_History Bell's Life in Victoria and Sporting Chronicle (Melbourne, Vic.)
Sat 14 Aug 1858 An Australian rules football match at the Richmond Paddock (now Yarra Park), Melbourne, in about 1866. The building in the background is the Melbourne Cricket Ground pavilion.
http://emhs.org.au/gallery/yarra_park/history/1866_richmond_pa Football being played on the Melbourne Cricket Ground 1864
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VFA & VFL
The amateur Victorian Football Association (VFA) commenced in 1877, initially comprising a mixture of metropolitan and country clubs: Albert Park, Ballarat, Barwon, Beechworth, Carlton, Castlemaine, Geelong, Hotham, Inglewood, Melbourne, Rochester and St Kilda. In 1897 eight clubs broke away to form the professional Victorian Football League: Carlton, Collingwood, Essen-don, Fitzroy, Geelong, Melbourne, St Kilda and South Melbourne. Richmond and University joined the VFL in 1908, the latter withdrawing in 1915, while in 1925 three VFA clubs moved across to the VFL: Footscray, Hawthorn and North Melbourne. This brought to 12 the number of teams in the VFL, all based in Victoria http://www.emelbourne.net.au/biogs/EM00593b.htm |
History of how Aussie Rules Football developed, from the very first game & when teams were formed |
COULTHARD PORTRAIT
The colour portrait of some of the leading footballers was printed by Troedel & Co of Collins Street, for publishers Cooper & Wicks. In the centre of the picture is a large, faithful depiction of the late Carlton champion George Coulthard, surrounded by portraits of two representatives from each club. Carlton captain J. Baker is depicted on the right hand side and vice captain G. Smith on the left. Former Carlton player A. Shearwood (later Fitzroy) is also shown. |
ABOVE POSTER
Centre- George Coulthard (Carlton) who died after a long and lingering illness, leaving a wife and one child From top anti-clockwise- 1. J. Cordner (B - Bendigo?), 2. J. Shaw (Hotham), 3. A. McIntyre (Melbourne), 4. A. Alexander (Williamstown), 5. A. Shearwood (Fitzroy), 6. S. Elms (South Melbourne), 7. G. Smith (Carlton), 8. A. B. Berry (Ballarat), 9. J. Lyons (South Ballarat). From top clock-wise- 10. J. Barwise (Hotham), 11. W. Jones (Melbourne), 12. E. Cherry (Williamstown), 13. P. G. McShane (Fitzroy), 14. J. Young (South Melbourne), 15. J. Baker (Carlton), 16. M.T. Robinson (Ballarat), 17. J. Worrall (South Ballarat), 18. G. A. Miller (B - Bendigo?) Individual portraits. D. Sebire (Essendon) & J. R. Lawler (Essendon) Note: Without viewing the original poster, some guess work was necessary in the naming of players and teams. http://www.blueseum.org/George+Coulthard |
Age, Melbourne, Vic. Tuesday 29 May 1883
Evening Journal Adelaide, SA, 25 October 1883
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Earliest surviving Australian Rules footage: 1909 VFL Grand Final, South Melbourne vs Carlton (no sound) 10:28
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