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UK & Ireland

UKI

Code
UKI
Country ID
0
Country Name
.UK & Ireland
Maintainer
Brian Randell
Maintenance level
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Language
English
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Place reference
UK and Ireland

Clone of Discussion Groups

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Discussion Groups and Mailing Lists

This page lists genealogy-related discussion groups for those with research interests in areas of the British Isles.

Important Notice: in the aftermath of the recent restoration of service by RootsWeb, all the links to RootsWeb mailing lists have changed. These changes have not been reflected in this page. For the time being, please start instead from the RootsWeb Mailing List Index.

There are several types of discussion group:

Please report any errors found on this page, no matter how small.

Mailing Lists

This list is arranged hierarchically, in keeping with the overall GENUKI structure. Most of these mailing lists are run by Rootsweb and Yahoo. Most lists have an open subscription policy, but those of family history societies generally accept subscriptions only from members, though the list archives are usually accessible to all.

Note (Dated 11 Jul 2016): Rootsweb's links to its mailing list archives are currently failing.

GENUKI is grateful to the late John Fuller who from 1995 until his death in June 2009 maintained web pages with details of genealogy mailing lists and who kept GENUKI informed about the creation of new mailing lists covering the United Kingdom and Ireland. John's pages are now maintained by Linda Lambert and Megan Zurawicz. Information on new mailing lists is posted by Megan Zurawicz to the NEW-GENLIST mailing list, from which details of those relating to the British Isles are taken for inclusion in this page.

Web Forums

There are a number of sites with web-based discussion forums for UK counties and places, including:

Each of these has a range of forums for different localities (usually county-based) and for other genealogical topics. In some cases, registration is required to read messages.

Newsgroups

There are two newsgroups relevant to the area covered by Genuki:

Both of these are gatewayed with mailing lists via RootsWeb, making them accessible via email, and RootsWeb also has an archive of past messages:

  • GENBRIT (soc.genealogy.britain)
  • GENIRE (soc.genealogy.ireland)

Facebook

Here is a listing of over six hundred UK genealogy-related Facebook pages and groups. It has been extracted from Katherine Wilson's Genealogy on Facebook List, and augmented with entries from further FFHS member societies.

RootsWeb notice

Recommended Books

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Recommended Books

This page lists a core selection of recommended books to help the family historian with an interest in the UK and Ireland. There are many good older books (and older editions of the books listed), but while these can still be useful for information about the original records and the general process of genealogical research, they will have little or no useful information about current online records or recent developments such as DNA testing.

  • Dan Waddell, Who Do You Think You Are?: The Genealogy Handbook, BBC Books (2018), 192pp. ISBN: 1785943421.*
  • Colin D. Rogers, The Family Tree Detective, 4th Revised edition, Manchester University Press (2008), 320 pp. ISBN 0719071267.
  • Anthony Adolph, Collins Tracing Your Family History, 3rd edition, Collins (2008), 350pp. ISBN 978-0-00-727492-5.*
  • Mark D. Herber, Ancestral Trails: The Complete Guide to British Genealogy and Family History, 2nd edition, History Press (2005), 873 pp. ISBN 0750941987.
    "No other publication gives such comprehensive and up-to-date guidance on tracing British ancestry and reseraching family history. Illustrated throughout withmore than ninety examples of of the major types of record." (Publisher)
  • David Hey, The Oxford Companion to Family and Local History, 2nd edition, Oxford University Press (2010). ISBN 0199532974.*
  • John Grenham, Tracing Your Irish Ancestors, 5th Revised edition, Gill Books (2019), 688 pp. ISBN 0717174654.
  • Bruce Durie, Scottish Genealogy , 4th edition, The History Press (2017), 376 pp. ISBN 0750984228.
  • Beryl Evans, Tracing Your Welsh Ancestors, Pen & Sword (2015), 192 pp. ISBN 1848843593.*
  • Helen Osborn, Genealogy: Essential Research Methods, Robert Hale (2012), 208pp. ISBN 0709091974.*
    "This book is the ideal companion for anybody researching their family tree. It provides advice and inspiration on methods and problem-solving and helps the amateur family historian understand what successful professionals do to get results, and why we should copy them. Over ten chapters, it examines the various themes that affect the success or failure of all genealogy research. This begins with an overview of common challenges genealogists encounter and continues with an examination of how to both search effectively and find the right documentary sources. Using examples from her own family history as well as client work, teacher and professional genealogist Helen Osborn demonstrates how to get the most from documents, analyze problems and build research plans. These subjects lead on to recording results, how to ensure relationships are correctly proved, organizing information and presenting your findings.".(Publisher)
  • Peter Christian, The Genealogist's Internet, 5th edition, Bloomsbury (2012), 448pp. ISBN 1408159570.*
    "This accessible guide, now in its fifth edition, is full of expert advice for researchers in a rapidly-changing field. Equally helpful if you’re just starting out or an experienced family historian, [it has] extensive coverage of online resources for all aspects of family history."(Publisher)

* Asterisked items are also available in electronic editions.

Dictionaries

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Dictionaries

Genealogy Terms

Note: Asterisked items are US-based — some of the older and particularly legal terms may have a different definition in British English or in Scots.

Legal Terms

There is also coverage of the most common legal terms in the sources listed above.

Heraldry

Dialects and Old Words

Latin

See GENUKI's Latin in Parish Records article.

Surnames

  • The Oxford Dictionary of Family Names in Britain and Ireland is the "ultimate reference work on family names of the UK, covering English, Scottish, Welsh, Irish, Cornish, and immigrant surnames". Some basic information is freely available, but holders of a library card from many UK public libraries have full access using their library card number to sign in. Consult your Local Authority's website to see if this is available for your area.

Abbreviations

Taxes in force in 1837

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Taxes in force in 1837

Extract from:

The history, gazetteer, and directory, of the West-Riding of Yorkshire,
with the City of York and Port of Hull.

By William White (printed 1837).

Assessed Taxes As They At Present Exist

DUTIES ON HORSES

Horses for Riding or Drawing Carriages
No Each Horse No Each Horse
  £ s. d.   £ s. d.
1 £1 8 9 11 £3 3 6
2 2 7 3 12 3 3 6
3 2 12 3 13 3 3 9
4 2 15 0 14 3 3 9
5 2 15 9 15 3 3 9
6 2 18 0 16 3 3 9
7 2 19 9 17 3 4 0
8 2 19 9 18 3 4 6
9 3 0 9 19 3 5 0
10 3 3 6 20 3 6 0
  £ s. d.
Horses let to hire without Post Duty, each 1 8 9
Race Horses, each 3 10 0
Horses ridden by Butchers, in their trade, each 1 8 9
Where two only are kept, the second at 0 10 6
Horse for riding & not exceeding the height of 13 hands, each 1 1 0
Other Horses, 13 hands & Mules, each 0 10 6

Clergymen & Dissenting Ministers, whose incomes are under £120. A year, are exempt from duty for one riding horse, "if only one be kept, and it be not used in drawing a taxable carriage."

Persons occupying farms under the value of £500. a year, may keep one riding horse free of duty, if only one be kept; but every such person must gain is livelihood principally by farming, and not derive an income from any other source exceeding £100 a year.

Horses used by market gardeners, solely in their business, are exempt from duty.

Husbandry horses, occasionally used in drawing burdens, or occasionally used or let for drawing for hire or profit, are exempt, if not used for drawing any carriage chargeable with duty.

Licensed postmasters are allowed to use their post-horses in husbandry, and in drawing manure, fodder, or fuel, free from duty.

Persons are exempt for one horse ridden by bailiffs, shepherds, or herdsmen.

DUTIES ON LEGACIES

Of the value of £20 or upwards, out of Personal Estate, or charged upon Real Estate, &c.; and upon every share of Residue.

To a child or parent, or any lineal descendant or ancestor of the deceased 1per cent - To a brother or sister, or their descendants, 3 per cent - To an uncle or aunt, or their descendants 5 per cent - To a great uncle or aunt, or their descendants 6 per cent - To any other relation, or stranger in blood, 10 per cent - Legacy to husband, or wife, exempt.

If the deceased died prior to the 5th April, 1805, the duty only attaches on Personal Estates, and by a lower scale.

DUTIES ON MALE SERVANTS

Rate per servant
No At per Servant Bachelors' ditto
1 £1 4 0* £ 2 4 0
2 1 11 0 2 11 0
3 1 18 0 2 18 0
4 2 3 6 3 3 6
5 2 9 0 3 9 0
6 2 11 6 3 11 6
7 2 12 6 3 12 6
8 2 16 0 3 16 0
9 3 1 0 4 1 0
10 3 6 6 4 6 6
11 3 16 6 4 16 6
All above 11 at the rates last mentioned.

* This rate of Duty (£1. 4s) is payable for every male person employed in any of the capacities. Sch. C, No. 1., and not being a servant to this employer, if the employer shall otherwise be chargeable to the above duties on servants, or for any carriage, or for more than one horse kept for riding, or drawing any carriage; and if the employer shall not be chargeable to such other duties, then the sum of 10s. is payable for every such male person employed.

The taxes on travellers, clerks, shopmen, &c,. are repealed.

Waiters in Taverns, &c., £1 10s each.
Male servants as above described, each being under the age of 21, and the son of the employer are exempt form duty.

Coachmen, &c. let on job, £1 5s each.
This duty is extended to coachmen kept for the purpose of driving any public stage coach or carriage, and to persons employed as guards to such stage coach or carriage.

Male servants under 18years of age, employed in any of the capacities, Sch. C. Nos. 1, 3, and 4, by persons residing in the parishes in which such servants have a legal settlement, are exempt from duty.

Roman Catholic clergymen are exempt from the additional duty chargeable on bachelors.

DUTIES ON CARRIAGES WITH
FOUR WHEELS OR MORE

  Per carriage 4-wheeled
  4 wheels, for Post Chaises
No private use  
1 £6 0 0 £5 5 0
2 6 10 0 each; but if drawn
3 7 0 0 by one horse only
4 7 10 0 £4 10 0
5 7 17 6      
6 8 4 0      
7 8 10 0      
8 8 18 0      
9 9 1 6      

For every additional body, £3 3s
Carriages let by coach makers, without horses, £6.
By 1 William IV. C. 35, for every carriage with four wheels, each being of less diameter than 30 inches, where the same shall be drawn by a pony or ponies, mule or mules, exceeding 12 hands, and not exceeding thirteen hands in height, per annum, £3 5s; (If with less than four wheels, and the ponies, &c., not exceeding 12 hands high, and not let for hire, it is exempt.) For every carriage with four wheels, drawn by one horse, mare, gelding, or mule, and no more, per annum, £4 10s.

DUTIES ON CARIAGES WITH TWO WHEELS

Carriages with 2 wheels, ea. £3 5s 0d.
Do. Drawn by two or more Horses of Mules £4 10s 0d
For every additional Body used on the same Carriage £1 11s 6d.

Exemption - By 6th & 7th Wm IV cap., 65 , sec, 2 and 3, carriages of any construction, if the price or value has never exceeded £21, and if marked with the name, address, and occupation of the owner, in the manner prescribed by the above statute, are exempted from duty, provided they are kept for party's own use, and not let out to hire. If a carriage be hired for the conveyance of prisoners or paupers only, such hiring does not render it liable to duty, whether it have two or four wheels.

STAMPS
Receipts

  s d
If £5 and under £10 0 3
£10........£20 0 6
£20........£50 1 0
£50.......£100 1 6
£100......£200 2 6
£220......£300 4 0
£300......£500 5 0
£500.....£1000 7 6
£1000 and upwards 10 0

For any sum expressed "in full of all demands" 10s
Penalty for giving receipts without a stamp £10 under £100 and £20 above that sum.

Probates of Wills, and Letters of Administration

WITH A WILL   WITHOUT A WILL
Above the
value of		 and under        
£ £ £   £ s
20 50 ..   0 10
50 100 ..   1  
100 200 2   3  
200 300 5   8  
300 450 8   11  
450 600 11   15  
800 1000 22   22  
1000 1500 30   45  
1500 2000 40   60  
2000 3000 50   75  
3000 4000 60   90  
4000 5000 80   120  

The scale continues to increase up to £1,000,000

Appraisements

  s. d.
Not exceeding £50 2 6
Above 50 not exceeding 100 5 0
Above 100 not exceeding 200 10 0
Above 200 not exceeding 500 15 0
Above 500 --- 20 0

Apprentices' Indentures

When the Premium is   £. s. d.
If Under £30 1 0 0
If £30 and under £50 2 0 0
  50 and under 100 3 0 0
  100 and under 200 6 0 0
  200 and under 300 12 0 0

The scale increases to £1000. and upwards. If no Premium £1 or £1. 15s. If more than 1080 words.

Agreement

Of the value of £20. and upwards, containing only 1080 words, £1. 15s.; and for every further 1080 words, £1. 5s.

ASSESSED TAXES

DUTIES ON WINDOWS

No of
Windows		 Duty per house
per year		 No of
Windows		 Duty per house
per year
  £ s d     £ s d
8 0 16 6   35 11 18 3
9 1 1 0   36 12 6 9
10 1 8 0   37 12 15 3
11 1 16 3   38 13 3 6
12 2 4 9   39 13 12 0
13 2 13 3 40 44 14 8 9
14 3 1 9 45 49 15 16 9
15 3 10 0 50 54 17 5 0
16 3 18 6 55 59 18 13 0
17 4 7 0 60 64 19 17 9
18 4 15 3 65 69 21 0 3
19 5 3 9 70 74 22 2 6
20 5 12 3 75 79 23 5 0
21 6 0 6 80 84 24 7 6
22 6 9 0 85 89 25 10 0
23 6 17 6 90 94 26 12 3
24 7 5 9 95 99 27 14 9
25 7 14 3 100 109 29 8 6
26 8 2 9 110 119 31 13 3
27 8 11 0 120 129 33 18 3
28 8 19 6 130 139 36 3 0
29 9 8 0 140 149 38 8 0
30 9 16 3 150 159 40 12 9
31 10 4 9 160 169 42 17 9
32 10 13 3 170 179 45 2 6
        180 upward   46 11 3

Farm houses belonging to Farms under £200. a year are exempt from window duty.

Transcribed by Colin Hinson ©1995 from
"A History, Directory & Gazetteer, of the County of York"
by Edward Baines (1823)

This page is copyright. Do not copy any part of this page or website other than for personal use or as given in the conditions of use.
Web-page generated by "DB2html" data-base extraction software ©Colin Hinson 2016

Landlords and Tenants

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Landlords and Tenants - Rent, 1823

The laws regarding Landlords and tenants, like almost every other branch of our civil code are very voluminous, but their leading features may be condensed into a narrow compass. In all contracts between a landlord or tenant the spirit of the agreement is, that the former shall give to the latter quiet enjoyment of his premises, in return for which the tenant agrees to pay a stipulated rent, at such periods as shall be agreed upon by the parties.

When the rent becomes due, it is indispensable, before the landlord can re-enter the premises, that he should demand the rent from the tenant, unless the necessity for such demand has been waived by express agreement, and unless, by statute 4, Geo. II. cap. 28 sec. 2, where six months rent is in arrears, and there is not sufficient property on the premises. The legal remedy for arrears of rent is a distress, and a distress is itself a demand, but on the rent being tendered, the distress must be withdrawn, and the tenant may remain in possession. Rent is demandable and payable at any time before sun-set, on the day on which it is made payable, so that there be light enough for the landlord to count it by. A tender of rent should be at the time and place where it is made payable, and in the current coin of the kingdom; but it has been determined that a tender in bank of England notes is good, by statute 52 Geo. III. If no particular place is mentioned in the lease contract where rent is to be paid, it must be tendered on the land or in the house or room for which it issued. By the act of 3O Geo. II. c. 2, sec. 15, tenants are required to pay such sums of money as may he rated on the premises, and to deduct an much of the same out of their rents as the landlord ought to have paid, so that the land-tax receipts may now be tendered as part payment of rent. A landlord accepting the last quarter or half year's rent where there are former arrears, precludes himself from demanding the arrears; and it is held that no proof will be admitted to shew that they are unpaid. --Acceptance of single rent is a waiver of double rent, by statute 4 Geo. II. c. 28. If a tenant holding under two tenants in common pay the whole rent to one, after notice from the other not to pay it, the other tenant in common may distrain for his share. By the statute 8 Ann, c. 14, no goods upon any tenement can be taken in execution, until the party at whose suit the execution is sued out shall, before the goods are removed, pay to the landlord of the premises one years rent, or as much rent as is due, not exceeding one year. Rent in arrears may be recovered, 1st by action at law; 2nd, by distress on the premises; and 3rd, by ejectment.

A tenant from year to year is entitled to half a year's notice, which must expire at the same time of the year as that on which the tenancy commenced -if a house or land be taken from Midsummer to Midsummer, the notice to quit must be given at Christmas, so as to expire at the next Mid. summer. By the 4 Geo. II. c. 28, if any tenant for life or years shall wilfully hold premises after the termination of the term, and after demand made, and notice by writing given for delivering the possession thereof, he shall, for the tern of such detention, pay after the rate of double the yearly value thereof. In order to charge a tenant with double rent, under this act, notice must be given to him to quit at the expiration of his term; but the tenant may be ejected at the end of his lease, without any previous notice to quit, as he cannot but be apprized of the expiration of the term. A parole notice to quit by a tenant on a parole lease, is good notice within the meaning of the statute.

With respect to lodgings, if they are taken for a less term than a year certain, any reasonable notice to quit is sufficient. What is considered a reasonable notice depends in some degree upon the nature of the tenure. In London, if no particular notice is mentioned, it is generally understood that a week's notice shall be given if the apartments be taken by the week; and a month's notice if taken by the month, but if taken for a week or a month, or any other time certain, no notice is expected or required, it being necessarily implied that when the period for which they were taken arrives, the tenant is to depart, unless he enters into some fresh agreement.

Where a notice is required by law to be given either to a landlord or a tenant it is generally sufficient to leave it at the dwelling house of the person on whom it is served.

If a lessor covenant to repair a house, but do not, the lessee may do it, and with-hold as much of the rent as will pay himself. Where a house is blown down by a tempest the law excuses the lessee, unless there is a covenant to repair and uphold. If a lessee covenant to pay rent, and to repair, with express exception of casualties by fire, he is liable upon the covenant for rent, though the premises are burnt down, and not rebuilt by the lessor, after notice. Removing wainscots, floors, windows, and other things once fixed to the freehold of a house, is a waste, and punishable accordingly. The fixtures put up by a tenant may be removed; and vats, coppers, tables, partitions, &c. for the convenience of trade, if purchased or fixed by the tenant, may also be removed by him; but it must be before the expiration of his term.

In taking a house on lease, it is necessary that a tenant should carefully examine the covenants in the original lease, and those in the under lease, if any; or he may possibly discover, when too late, that he is tied down by such restrictions, as to render the premises unfit for his purpose, or likely to involve him in difficulties. He should see that the rent reserved in the original lease and all taxes are paid up to the time he commences possession: for if they are not he must pay the arrears, and can only recover them by having recourse to the last tenant. Equal caution is necessary in taking unfurnished lodgings, for if the rent of the house be in arrears, either then or at any subsequent period, the furniture of the lodger, being upon the premises, will be liable to be seized.

A covenant to repair and deliver up premises at the end of a term extends to erections made during the demise, as well as to those in being at the time when the contract was made. Where a tenant covenants to keep a house in repair, and leaves it in as good condition as he found it, he is not answerable for the natural and inevitable decay on the premises; and though the tenant in covenant to keep in repair and yet suffers them to go to decay, still no action will lie till the end of the term, because he may repair before his term expires.

An action will lie against a tenant for not using the land he rents in a husbandlike manner, even though there is no covenant to that effect. In a covenant to use land in a husbandlike manner, the tenant is to use on the land all the manure made there; except that, when his time is out, he may carry away such corn and straw as he may not have used, and is not obliged to bring back the manure produced by it. In equity, a tenant may be restrained from converting pasture into arable land, though there is no express covenant against it. He may also be restrained from breaking up ancient meadow.

The assignment of a lease must he by deed or note in writing, signed by the party assigning. It is not necessary to be scaled or delivered, but it must be stamped. -Executors and administrators are assignees in law, and are therefore liable to perform all such covenant of their testators or intestates, being lessees, as runs with the land, though the deceased covenanted for himself and assigns only, and not for his executors and administrators.

Transcribed by Colin Hinson ©1995 from
"A History, Directory & Gazetteer, of the County of York"
by Edward Baines (1823)

This page is copyright. Do not copy any part of this page or website other than for personal use or as given in the conditions of use.
Web-page generated by "DB2html" data-base extraction software ©Colin Hinson 2016

Principal Tax Acts

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Abstract of the Principal Tax Acts, 1823

ARMORIAL BEARINGS.

  • Any person keeping a coach or other carriage, and using or wearing any armorial bearing, to pay annually £2-8s. Any person not keeping a coach, &c. but liable to the house and window duty, to pay annually £1-4s. and every other description of persons 12s. annually.

CARRIAGES.

  • Class I. --Four wheels, for pleasure, pay yearly:
    No. £. s. d. No. £. s. d.
    For 1, 12 -0- 0 For 6, 98 -8- 0
    For 2, 26 -0- 0 For 7, 119-0- 0
    For 3, 42 -0- 0 For 8, 123-16-0
    For 4, 60 -0- 0 For 9 &  
    For 5, 78 -15-0 upwards, 163 -7-0
  • Every additional body used on the same carriage the further sum of £6. 6s.
  • Class II. --Carriages drawn by one horse, with less than four wheels (taxed carts excepted) £6. 10s -If drawn by two or more horses, £9 -And every additional body used on the same carriage, £3. 3s.
  • Class III. -Carriages let to hire for less than one year £9. 9s. each. -If less than four wheels, the sum mentioned in Class II. according to the number of horses. --Every coach, chaise, or other carriage with four wheels or more, kept as a public stage coach, or as post-chaise, £10. 10s. To be paid by the person keeping the same. --Every four wheel carriage kept for letting to hire for less than one year, so that the stampoffice duty shall not be payable, £12. If less than four wheels, the sums mentioned in Class II. according to the number of horses. To be paid by the person keeping the same.
  • Class IV. --Carriages with less than four wheels, drawn by one horse, made of wood and iron, without any other than a tilted covering, and no lining or springs, or any ornament whatever, and with the words "A Taxed Cart," and the owner's name and place of abode, in letters an inch long, and which did not originally cost more than £15. -£1. 9s. yearly. If such carriage be built with springs, or have stuffed seat, and the original cost not more than £21. --£2. 15s. yearly. Taxed Carts used by persons assessed to the duty on carriages, £6. 10s. yearly for each.
  • Class V. --Makers of carriages chargeable by this act, the annual duty of 10s. For every four wheeled carriage made for sale, £1. 5s. --Every carriage with two wheels, 12s. 6d. Every maker of taxed carts, not assessed as a coach-maker, 3s. for every taxed cart.
  • Class VI. --Persons selling carriages by auction or commission, to pay 6s. annually. Every carriage sold with 4 wheels, £1. 2s. 6d. --with two wheels, 11s. 3d.

Persons making a livelihood solely by a farm, or trade, and clergymen not having an income of £100 per annum, are entitled to use horses to such carriages on payment of the cart-horse duty only; but such horse must not be at any time used for riding; or drawing any other carriage.

No person is entitled to keep such carriage at this reduced rate, if assessed to a four wheel carriage, or two male servants.

Carts used wholly in the affairs of husbandry or trade, are not chargeable with this duty, if used for no other purpose of riding thereon or therein, than as follows, viz. by reason of the owner or any of his servants riding thereon or therein, when laden; or when returning from or going for a load, in husbandry or trade; or conveying the owner or family to divine service, on Sundays; or conveying persons to or from elections.

On every waggon and cart, the owner must paint his christian and surname, and place of abode, and the words Common Stage Waggon or Cart, if used as such, or forfeit from 20s. to £5.

DOGS. --For every greyhound kept by any person, whether his property or not, £1. For every other species of dog, where more than one is kept, 14s.

And every person who shall inhabit any dwelling-house, assessed to any of the duties on inhabited houses, or on windows or lights, and shall keep one dog and no more, not being of the above description, 8s. for such dog.

But this duty is not to extend to dogs not six months old; the proof of which to lie on the owner, on an appeal to the commissioners.

Persons compounding for their hounds, to be charged £36.

GAME. --Every deputed gamekeeper must take a certificate from the clerk of the peace, and pay annually £1. 5s. --Every other person, £3. 13s. --Fee for the certificate, 1s.

--Any person killing game without a certificate, forfeits £20. --Persons refusing to show their certificates, or to tell their names and places of abode to a person having a certificate, forfeit £50.

Certificates do not exempt unqualified persons from the former laws.

Gamekeeper hunting out of his manor, is deemed to have no certificate.

HAIR-POWDER. --Every person who wears it to pay annually £1. 3s. 6d. This act does not extend to any of the Royal Family, or any servants serving immediately under them; nor any clergyman, dissenting minister, or any person in holy orders, not possessing the annual income of £100. (however arising); nor any person serving in the navy under the rank of commander; nor any subaltern or inferior in the army; nor any officer or private in any Corps of volunteers, enrolled in defence of the kingdom.

No person to pay for more than two unmarried daughters.

HORSES, used for riding or drawing carriages, pay annually for each--

No. £. s. d. No. £. s. d.
1 2 -17- 6 11 6 -7- 0
2 4 -14- 6 12 6 -7- 0
3 5 -4- 0 13 6 -7- 6
4 5 -10- 0 14 6 -7- 6
5 5 -11- 6 15 6 -7- 6
6 5 -16- 0 16 6 -7- 6
7 5 -19- 6 17 6 -8- 0
8 5 -19- 6 18 6 -9- 0
9 6 -1- 0 19 6 -10- 0
10 6 -7- 0 20 &
upwd		 6 -12- 0

And so on at the same rate for any number.

DRAUGHT HORSES. --For every horse, Mare, gelding, or mule, (not charged before with any duty) If 13 hands high, £1 1s. If under 13 hands, 17s.

Horses kept and used for the purposes of husbandry only, are exempt.

For every horse, &c. let to hire, the sum of £2-17s-6d. annually; and every horse kept for racing, the like sum.

HORSE DEALERS. Every horse dealer within London and Westminster, the Borough of Southwark, or Bills of Mortality, £25. yearly; and in any other part of England, Wales, or Berwick upon Tweed, £12. 10s.

HOUSES of £5 and under £20 a year, pay annually in the pound, 1s 6d. Twenty pounds to forty, 2s. 3d. Forty pounds and upwards, 2s. 1Od. No house pays, if left in the care of one servant.

Particular Exemptions. --Such ware-houses as are distinct and separate buildings, and not parts of such dwelling houses, or the shops attached thereto, but employed solely for the purpose of holding goods, wares, or merchandise, or for carrying on some manufacture (notwithstanding the same may adjoin to, or have communication with, the dwelling house or shops). --Every farm house, occupied by a tennant, and bona fide used for the purposes of husbandry only. -Every farm house, occupied by the owner thereof and bona fide used for the purposes of husbandry only, which, together with the household and other offices, shall be valued under this act at £10 per ann. or any less sum.

LETTERS pay,

  • if single, from any post-office in England to any place not exceeding 15 measured miles from such office, 4d.
  • Above 15, and not exceeding 20 miles, 5d,
  • Above 20, and not exceeding 30 miles, 6d
  • Above 30, and not exceeding 50 miles, 7d.
  • Above 50, and not exceeding 80 miles, 8d.
  • Above 80, and not exceeding 120 miles, 9d.
  • Above 120, and not exceeding 170 miles, 10d.
  • Above 170, and not exceeding 230 miles, 11d.
  • Above 230, and not exceeding 300 miles, 1s.
  • Above 300, for every 100 miles, or part thereof, 1d.

Letters between England and Ireland pay, over and above the common rates, a packet postage; viz. for every single letter, 2d. double, 4d. treble, 6d. ounce weight, 8d.

Packets of one ounce weight are charged as four single letters. If a single sheet exceeds one ounce, it is charged according to its weight.

SERVANT-MEN,

  • Masters to pay yearly for:
    • one, £2. 8s.
    • Two, £3. 2s. each.
    • Three, £3. 16s.
    • Four, £4. 7s.
    • Five, £4. 18s.
    • Six, £5. 3s.
    • Seven, £5. 5s.
    • Eight, £5. 12s.
    • Nine, £6. 2s.
    • Ten, £6. 13s.
    • Eleven and upwards, £7.13s.
  • Bachelors to pay annually additional for every man-servant, £2.
  • For every gardener, employed by persons chargeable to the above duties, or employed where the constant labour of one is not necessary, 10s.
  • For every rider or traveller, £3.; and where more than one, £5 each.
  • For every person (except apprentices under £20. premium) employed as clerk, book or office keeper, £2.; where more than one, £3. each.
  • For every shopman, warehouseman, or porter (except apprentices), £3.
  • For every waiter in any tavern, ale-house, eating-house, or lodging-house (being an eating-house), £2. 5s.
  • Every servant retained for husbandry, trade, or assisting as groom, &c. where not more than one horse is kept, 10s.
  • Every coachman, groom, &c. let to hire for any period less than one year, £2. 10s. To be paid by the person letting them out.
  • No servants to be paid for, if wholly employed in husbandry, manufactures, or trade.
  • Two parish apprentices to be allowed, unless wearing a livery.
  • Disabled officers on half-pay may keep one servant, duty free.
  • Every one to give in a list of all their servants in 14 days after notice given them, or forfeit £10. -The same to be done with respect to horses and carriages. --After the list is given in, they are to pay for their servants, &c, there specified, to April 5th following, whether they have them or not.

SERVANTS' CHARACTERS. --By an act passed in the year 1791, persons giving false characters are liable to a penalty of £20.

WILLS (Probate of) and LETTERS OF ADMINISTRATION. -Estates, or other property, above £20 and under £100 on a 10s. stamp.

  • --£100 and under £200, £2. --£200 and under £300, £5.
  • --£300 and under £450, £8. --£450 and under £600, £11.
  • --£600 and under £800, £15. --£800 and under £1,000, £22.
  • --£1,000 and under £l,500, £30. --£1,500 and under £2,000, £40.
  • --£2,000 and under £3,000, £50. --£3,000 and under £4,000, £60.
  • --£4,000 and under £5,000, £80. --£5,000 and under £6,000, £100.
  • --£6,000 and under £7,000, £120. --£7,000 and under. £8,000, £140.
  • --£8,000 and under £9,000, £160. --£9,000 and under £10,000, £180.
  • --£10,000 and under £12,00, £200. --£12,000 and under £14,000, £220.
  • --£14,000 and under £16,000, 250. --£16,000 and under £18,0001, £280.
  • --£18,000 and under £20,000, £3l0. --£20,000 and under £25,000, £350.
  • --£25,000 and under £30,000, £400. --£30,000 and under £35,000, £450.
  • --£35,000 and under £40,000, £525. --£40,000 and under £45,000, £600.
  • --£45,000 and under £50,000, £675. --£50,000 and under £60,000, £750.
  • --£60,000 and under £70,000, £900. --£70,000 and under £80,000, £1,050.
  • --£80,000 and under £90,000, £1,200. --£90,000 and under £100,000, £13,500
  • --£100,000 and under £120,000, £1,500. and advancing by a graduated scale to £1,000,000, on which sum the duty is £15,000.

To be proved six months after the demise of the testator, under the penalty of £50. -half to the king, and half to the informer.

WINDOWS. --Duties to be paid from and after April 5, 1808, for every dwelling-house in England, containing the following number of windows:--

No. Duty No. Duty No. Duty No. Duty No. Duty
  £. s. d.   £. s. d.   £. s. d.   £. s. d.   £. s. d.
1-6* 0 -6- 6 17 8 -14-0 28 17-19-0 39 27-4- 0 90to94 53-4- 6
Do** 0 -8- 0 18 9 -10-6 29 18-16-0 40-44 28-17-6 95 -99 55-9- 6
7 1 -0- 0 19 10-7- 6 30 19-12-6 45-49 31-13-6 100-109 58-17-0
8 1 -13-6 20 11-4- 6 31 20-9- 6 50-54 34-10-0 110-119 63-6- 6
9 2 -2- 0 21 12-1- 0 32 21-6- 6 55-59 37-6- 0 120-129 67-16-6
10 2 -16-0 22 12-18-0 33 22-3- 0 60-61 39-15-6 130-139 72-6- 0
11 3 -12-6 23 13-15-0 34 23-0- 0 65-69 42-0- 6 140-149 76-16-0
12 4 -9- 6 24 14-11-0 35 23-16-6 70-74 41-5- 0 150-159 81-5- 6
13 5 -6- 6 25 15-8- 6 36 24-13-6 75-79 46-10-0 160-169 85-15-6
14 6 -3- 6 26 16-5- 6 37 25-10-6 8O-84 48-15-0 170-179 90-5- 0
15 7 -0- 0 27 17-2- 0 38 26-7- 0 85-89 51-0- 0 180&up 93-2- 6
16 7 -17- 0                

* if not worth the rent of £5 a year

** if of £5 rent

And for every window exceeding 180, 3s.

Every window. that exceeds 11 feet, by 4 feet 6 inches, to be charged as 2 windows, except those so made before April 5, 1785 and shops, warehouses, &c.

Rules for charging Windows. --To include all sky-lights, windows in staircases, garrets, cellars, passages, and all other parts of dwelling-houses, whether adjoining or not, and to be charged yearly upon the occupier. Chambers in the Inns of Court or Chancery, &c. or any public hospital, shall be charged as an entire house, but every chamber which shall not contain more than 8 windows, shall be charged at the rate of 3s. each. Halls or offices belonging to public bodies, charged with any other taxes or rates, to be charged as dwelling houses. Windows giving light to more than one room, to be charged as separate windows.

Particular Exemptions. --The same as in houses.

WINE. --Persons removing more than three gallons of wine, must apply for a Permit to the Exciseman of their district, stating what and how much they intend to remove, to what place, and by what conveyance.

Allowance out of the Assessed Taxes. --Every person having more than two lawful children, maintained by him, and whose assessment does not amount to £40 is entitled to an allowance of £4 per cent, on such assessment for every child above two.

Transcribed by Colin Hinson ©1995 from
"A History, Directory & Gazetteer, of the County of York"
by Edward Baines (1823)

This page is copyright. Do not copy any part of this page or website other than for personal use or as given in the conditions of use.
Web-page generated by "DB2html" data-base extraction software ©Colin Hinson 2016

Queens of Kings of England

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Anne Boleyn,

or Bullen, queen of Henry VIII., was daughter of Sir Thomas Bullen (afterwards earl of Wiltshire), and was born in 1507. After a residence of some years at the French court, she became maid of honour to Catherine, queen of Henry VIII., and soon attracted the admiration of the king. In 1532 she was made marchioness of Pembroke, and in the following year married to Henry and crowned queen. In 1536 charges of conjugal infidelity were brought against her, on which she was tried and beheaded, May 19, 1536. Anne Boleyn was a promoter of the Reformation, and the king's determination to marry her was the occasion of the final separation of England from the Catholic church. She was the mother of Queen Elizabeth. Of her elder sister, Mary Boleyn, little is at present known except that the king had an intrigue with her before he married Anne; that she consequently played indirectly an important part in the divorce negotiations, and was twice married, first to William Carey, and afterwards (1535) to Sir William Stafford.

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Anne, of Cleves,

daughter of John, third duke of Cleves, became in 1540, at the age of 25, the wife of Henry VIII, of England, who fell in love with Holbein's portrait of her, but was disenchanted at first sight, and in a few months divorced her, She was of a dull, apathetic nature, contented herself with a pension, and died in England, 1557.

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Catherine of Aragon,

Queen of Henry VIII., was the daughter of Ferdinand and Isabella of Castile, and was born in 1483. In her 18th year she was married to Arthur, prince of Wales, eldest son of Henry VII. The young prince dying in a few months after his marriage, Henry's mercenary dread of losing the rich dowry of Catherine induced him to marry her to her brother-in-law, afterwards Henry VIII. The vast religious changes to which the dissolution of this marriage gave occasion belong rather to history than to biography. Suffice it, therefore, to say, that after years of anxiety and spirited resistance she was divorced. But though she was no longer called queen at court, her attendants at Kimbolton Castle, where she took up her residence, were never allowed to address her otherwise than as a queen, as she protested to the last that the divorce was unjust and illegal. Just before her death she wrote a pathetic letter to Henry in favour of Mary, their daughter, and he is said to have shed tears as he perused it. She possessed considerable literary ability, but some devotional pieces, which have been attributed to her pen, were the production of queen Catherine Parr. Died at Kimbolton, Jan. 1, 1536.

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Catherine Parr,

Queen of Henry VIII., was eldest daughter of Sir Thomas Parr, of Kendal, in Westmoreland. She was married early in life to Edward Burghe; and, surviving him, she was next married to John Neville, Lord Latimer. Her second husband, too, she survived; and, in 1543, was raised to the throne by King Henry VIII., being his sixth and last wife. Her attachment to the reformed religion gave deep offence to the still powerful popish party. Gardiner, Wriothesley, and others accused her to the king of heresy and treason, and so far wrought upon him that he signed a warrant for her committal to the Tower. But with her usual tact and good sense she did away at once with the king's suspicions; and when Wriothesley, attended by some guards, called to convey her to the Tower, he found her in high favour, and was sent from the presence of the king with knave, fool, beast, and the like gentle terms. Catherine retained her ascendancy over the king and at his death he left her £4000 in addition to her jointure, 'for her great love obedience chasteness of life, and wisdom.' She afterwards married Sir Thomas Seymour, uncle of Edward VI., but they lived by no means happily together; and when she died, though in childbed, it was currently reported that she was poisoned. Her letters, some of which have been printed, as well as some devotional treatises showed that she had considerable literary talent. Died, 1548.

Lady Elizabeth Grey,

Queen of Edward IV. was born circa 1437. She was the daughter of Jacquetta, duchess dowager of Bedford, by her second husband, Richard Woodville, afterwards Earl Rivers. She married Sir John Grey of Groby, a warm partizan of the Red Rose, who was killed at the battle of St. Albans in 1455. The youthful widow afterwards made personal suit to Edward IV. for the restoration of her husband's lands, and the king made proposals to her which she firmly rejected. She was soon after privately married to him; the marriage not being avowed till September, 1464. This alliance was offensive to the great Earl of Warwick, and the rapid elevation of the queen's relatives to places, and honours excited the resentment of the nobles and contributed to the temporary exclusion of Edward from the throne. In the following reigns several of her kindred were executed, she was driven to take sanctuary at Westminster, and was at last confined by Henry VII. in the convent at Bermondsey, where she died in 1492. She was the mother of two sons by Sir John Grey, and of three sons and seven daughters by Edward IV. The eldest son was Edward V., and one daughter, Elizabeth, was married to Henry VII.

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Henrietta Maria,

of France, Queen of England, was born at Paris in 1609. She was the daughter of Henry IV. and Mary de Medicis, and married the Prince of Wales, afterwards Charles I., in 1625. She was a beautiful and high-spirited woman, but her levity and her attachment to the Romish church made her very unpopular in England, and the suspicion that her influence led the King to take some of his most offensive measures made her more so. To escape impeachment she went abroad for a time, and returned with a supply of money and ammunition; but in 1644 she finally withdrew to France, only revisiting England for a short time at the restoration of her son Charles II, and dying at the convent of Chaillot in 1669. Her funeral oration was pronounced by Bossuet. Her 'Correspondence' with Charles I. has been published.

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Margaret of Anjou,

Queen of Henry VI. of England, was the daughter of René d'Anjou, King of Naples. She was born about 1425, and was married to Henry VI. in 1445, the marriage being negotiated by the Earl of Suffolk. It was offensive to the Duke of Gloucester, one of the young king's guardians, and unpopular because it was accompanied by the giving up of the English possessions in France. The king falling into a state of imbecility, the real power was in Margaret's hands, and to tell her story fully would be to give in great part the history of the civil war which soon broke out between the rival houses of York and Lancaster. Intrepid in the field, she signalized herself by heading her troops in several battles; and if she had not been the occasion of her husband's misfortunes, by putting to death the Duke of Gloucester, his uncle, her name would have been immortalized for the fortitude, activity, and policy with which she supported the rights of her husband and son. The fatal defeat at Tewkesbury, in 1471, however, put an end to all her enterprises; she with the king being taken prisoner, and Prince Edward, their only son, being killed. Margaret was ransomed by Louis XI. in 1475, for 50,000 crowns, and died in Anjou, 1482.

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Matilda,

wife of William the Conqueror, was the daughter of Baldwin V., Count of Flanders (a descendant of King Alfred the Great), and of Adela, Princess of France (daughter of Robert II., "the Pious", and sister of Henry I., King of France). Matilda was married to William while Duke of Normandy, in 1054, crowned Queen of England in 1068, and died in 1083. Of her eleven children, the best known are Robert, who became Duke of Normandy, William Rufus, and Henry Beauclerc, both of whom succeeded to the English crown. She had great influence with her husband, and brought about a reconciliation between him and his son Robert, who had taken up arms against him. To her is attributed the celebrated tapestry, preserved at Bayeux, representing the chief incidents in the Norman Conquest of England.

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The above information was gleaned from various sources and then put together by Colin Hinson ©1996.

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Queens of England

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Anne,

queen of Great Britain, second daughter of James II., by his first wife, Anne Hyde, was born in 1664; was married to Prince George of Denmark in 1683; and succeeded to the crown on the death of William III., 1702. Her reign is marked by the great war of the Spanish Succession and the achievements of Marlborough, the accomplishment of the legislative union of Scotland with England, and the dashing exploits of lord Peterborough in Spain. Anne was of a kind and yielding disposition, and was long entirely controlled, first by the imperious duchess of Marlborough, to whom she became warmly attached in childhood, and afterwards by her attendant, Mrs. Masham. Prince George died in 1708, and their six children died young. The contention of parties during the reign of Anne was extremely violent, in consequence of the hopes entertained by the Jacobites that she would be induced by natural feelings to favour the succession of her brother, the Pretender. Her reign was also distinguished for the number of eminent writers who then flourished, several of whom rose to high stations. Died, 1714, aged 50.

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Elizabeth I,

Queen of England; was daughter of Henry VIII., by his queen, Anne Boleyn, and was born at Greenwich, September 7, 1533. When three years of age she lost her mother, who was beheaded, and was herself immediately bastardized by Act of Parliament. By a later Act, however, the succession to the throne was conditionally secured to her. Elizabeth was carefully educated, attaining, under the direction of Roger Ascham, considerable proficiency in Latin, French, and Italian, and some knowledge of Greek. She was brought up in the Protestant faith. Marriage projects were early set on foot for her, and she entertained with more or less of sincerity numerous successive suitors; but she never married. She accompanied her sister Mary to London on her accession to the throne; but in the following year, immediately after the suppression of Wyatt's insurrection, she was arrested and sent to the Tower. She was kept in more or less close confinement during Mary's reign; and was removed from the Tower to Woodstock, and thence to Hatfield House.

At the age of 25 she succeeded Mary, and was received in London with immense joy, the bishops meeting her at Highgate, and the people in crowds escorting her through the city. The re-establishment of the Protestant faith and worship; conflicts in various forms with the adherents of the Romish system, who were also the enemies of Elizabeth as a Protestant sovereign; conflicts on the other hand with the Puritan party, ever growing stronger; these were the staple of home transactions during this reign. Foreign affairs also were almost entirely acts of the same drama, the great struggle between the two religions. Pope Paul IV. refused to acknowledge Elizabeth's title; Pius V. and Sixtus V. published bulls of excommunication against her, and absolved her subjects from their allegiance; the king of France supported the claim of Mary, Queen of Scots, to the crown of England, and Elizabeth assisted the Protestants in Scotland, in France, and the Netherlands; and above all, the struggle took outward shape and formidable dimensions in the threatened Spanish invasion and the 'Invincible Armada.' Elizabeth on her accession retained the principal advisers of her sister Mary, but added several eminent men to their number; among whom were Cecil, Lord Burleigh, who remained her first minister till his death, Sir Nicholas Bacon, and at a later period Sir Francis Walsingham.

The imprisonment and execution of Mary, Queen of Scots, has been a fruitful occasion of reproach against Queen Elizabeth; yet none can doubt that Mary sanctioned and took part in the plots and schemes which had for their object the dethroning of Elizabeth, and the elevation of Mary in her stead. The personal character of Elizabeth has naturally been depicted in very different colours by Romanists and Protestants; exaggeration made on both sides, and the truth probably lying between the two extremes. Recent inquiries have resulted in a less favourable view than has been usual in England. Vanity in excess, selfishness, unwomanly hardness, vacillation of temper, love of expense and display, indulgence in bursts of passion, indelicate speech and manners, and fondness for worthless favourites (especially the Earls of Leicester and Essex), are too obvious features of her character. Energy, and good sense, and a certain courage she had too; for though the prosperity and progress that marked her reign must be attributed to the wisdom and measures of her ministers, these ministers were her choice and had her support.

Her reign was one of the greatest periods in our literary history; the age of Shakespeare and Spencer, of Bacon and Raleigh and Hooker. It was an age too of great enterprises and discoveries; of Drake, Frobisher, and other maritime heroes. Elizabeth died at Richmond, March 24, 1603; her health and spirits having never recovered the shock they received by the execution of Essex, two years previously. She was buried in Henry VII's chapel at Westminster. A fine portrait of Queen Elizabeth, closely resembling that by Mark Garrard at Hampton Court, was presented in 1866 to the National Portrait Gallery, by the 'Mines Royal and Mineral Works Societies.' In the same collection is a miniature of the Queen, by Hilliard.

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Queen Elizabeth II (Monarch from 1952 onwards)

Queen Elizabeth II, the reigning monarch, was the daughter of King George VI and Elizabeth Bowes-Lyon. She acceded unexpectedly at the age of 25, has reigned for 57 years and has four children, including Charles, Prince of Wales. In a television age of increasing intrusion she has steered the monarchy through difficult times, holding to values which have sometimes been derided. And it started optimistically - with the British ascent of Everest.

From the start she pledged support to her 'Commonwealth' and visited it determinedly. But her reign opened with the Mau Mau risings in Kenya and her government was soon embroiled in Egypt with Colonel Nasser's nationalisation of the Suez Canal. The latter brought military action by France, Israel and Britain, which foundered and brought opposition from the USSR, the USA, the UN and a hostile British press. After Eden's resignation in 1957 Harold Macmillan had to face new European issues. In 1961 Britain's attempt to join the Common Market was vetoed by France and the issue of her membership remained a debating point through the reign, membership having been gained under Edward Heath in 1973. For Macmillan, nonetheless, joining the European Club was part of his 'wind of change' which predicted European withdrawal from African lands and the development of a European trading ideal. The burdens of Empire remained, however: Margaret Thatcher's resolve to win back the Falklands from unpredicted Argentinean occupation was successful, at a cost; but it displayed a militarily enfeebled Britain which was even less well prepared for the later (Tony Blair) support of the US deposition of the Iraqi president or contain the influence of the Taliban in Afghanistan. Britain was finding that its role and power in the world were not what it had thought. Increasingly apparent, too, was the advent and spread of nuclear energy capacity and its potentially destructive weaponry: whether Britain should retain a nuclear deterrent remains a debating point.

Elizabeth's state was also beset by economic cycles which brought high unemployment and industrial decline. Its economy was supported by windfall oil revenues from the North Sea fields which brought some relief to an ageing infrastructure; but it had to assimilate immigration at a previously unknown rate from the old Empire, and it experienced the see-saw of politics, from Harold Wilson's 'white heat' socialism to Margaret Thatcher's strident free-market. This post-war half century saw possibly the fastest changes in British history - in world-wide transport, the rise of the motor car, electronic communication, space adventure, educational experiment including the expansion of Higher Education, industrial restructuring, the demise of Empire, the decline in probity of political institutions (local and national), and the rise of a popular musical and entertainment industry with its many unwelcome side effects. Queen Elizabeth witnessed all of this; and few of the issues raised have been resolved. ['Elizabeth II' was written by Richard Miller, © 2009]

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Elizabeth Stuart,

Queen of Bohemia, daughter of James I. (James VI. of Scotland at the time of her birth), was born in 1596. She was married to the Elector Palatine Frederick V. in 1613; prevailed on him to accept the crown of Bohemia in 1619, reckoning on her father's aid to maintain them in the new kingdom; but at the battle of Prague, in the following year, the Imperialists were victorious, and Frederick lost not only Bohemia but his hereditary states. Elizabeth bravely followed her husband and shared his hardships, finding refuge at last in Holland. She was left a widow in 1632, saw her son reinstated in part of his father's dominions, came to England with Charles II. in 1660, and died at London two years later. Elizabeth was the mother of 13 children, among whom were the Princes Rupert and Maurice, and Princess Sophie, mother of George I.

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Lady Jane Grey,

whose accomplishments and misfortunes have rendered her an especial object of interest, was the daughter of Henry Grey, Marquis of Dorset (afterwards Duke of Suffolk), by the Lady Frances, daughter of Charles Brandon, Duke of Suffolk, and Mary, younger sister of Henry VIII. She was born in 1537 at Bradgate, her father's seat in Leicestershire and early in life gave proofs of talents of a superior order. She wrote an incomparable hand, played well on several instruments, and acquired a knowledge of the Hebrew, Greek, and Latin as well as of the French and Italian languages. Roger Ascham has given a beautiful and affecting narrative of his interview with him at Bradgate, where he found her reading Plato's Phædo in Greek, while the family were amusing themselves in the park. In 1551 her father was created Duke of Suffolk; and at this time Lady Jane Grey was much at court.

The ambitious Duke of Northumberland projected a marriage between her and his son, Lord Guilford Dudley, which took place on the 25th of May, 1553. Soon after this Edward VI died, having been prevailed upon in his last illness, to settle the crown upon the Lady Jane who reluctantly accepted it, and was proclaimed with great pomp. This gleam of royalty however, was of short duration; for the pageant reign lasted but nine days. The people were dissatisfied, and the nobility indignant at the presumption of Northumberland, so that Mary soon overcame her enemies, and was not backward in taking ample revenge. The Duke of Northumberland was beheaded, and Lady Jane and her husband were arraigned, convicted of treason, and sent to the Tower. After being confined some time, the council resolved to put them to death. Lord Guilford suffered first, and as he passed her window on his way to Tower Hill, his lady gave him her last adieu. Immediately afterwards she was executed on Tower Green; suffering with calm resignation, and a firm attachment to the Protestant religion, Feb. 12, 1554.

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Mary,

Queen of England, daughter of Henry VIII. and his queen, Catherine of Aragon, was born at Greenwich, in February, 1516. She was soon declared Princess of Wales, and was settled with a numerous household at Ludlow, where she was under the care of the Countess of Salisbury. Brought up in the Catholic faith, she took the part of her mother in the disputes respecting the divorce, and thereby estranged herself from her father. Many schemes for her marriage were projected, but they came to nothing. After the execution of the Queen, Anne Boleyn, in 1536, Mary was induced to acknowledge the king as head of the church in England, to confess that her mother's marriage was unlawful, and to express her sorrow for her resistance to his laws; and was then restored to his favour. She yielded an outward conformity to the successive changes in religion during Henry's reign, and the succession was secured to her by Act of Parliament passed in 1544.

During the reign of her brother, Edward VI., she steadily refused conformity to the Protestant religion, which led to the attempt to make Lady Jane Grey queen instead of her. This attempt failed, although Lady Jane was actually proclaimed on the death of Edward, July 6, 1553, and Mary entered London in triumph. She immediately set herself to the task of undoing the work of the preceding reign, and re-establishing the Catholic faith. She liberated the imprisoned Catholic bishops, imprisoned Cranmer, Latimer, and other leading Protestants, had Lady Jane Grey and her husband put to death on the charge of treason, and on the instigation of Gardiner procured the repeal of all the laws of Henry VIII. and Edward VI. respecting religion. An insurrection which was provoked by the proposal of her marriage with Philip of Spain, and was headed by Sir Thomas Wyatt, was immediately suppressed, and the marriage took place at Winchester, in July, 1554. Her chief advisers were Cardinal Pole and Bishop Gardiner, and the rest of her reign is filled with the relentless persecution of the adherents of reform. The number of victims is variously estimated, but at the lowest it was about three hundred. Bonner, Bishop of London, especially distinguished himself as a promoter of this persecution.

In 1557 war was renewed between France and Spain, and Mary took part with Spain; losing soon after the town of Calais, a blow felt as keenly by the queen as by the nation. Worn out with bodily and mental suffering, Mary died, November 17, 1558, and was buried in Westminster Abbey. The popular estimate of Queen Mary is expressed by the epithet 'Bloody;' but while the fitness of the term to characterize her reign is acknowledged, it is necessary, if we would be just, to consider many things besides the fact of her persecutions, and to make large allowance for her. She must at least be credited with sincerity in her attachment to the faith of her mother; and in her endeavour to establish it by persecuting its enemies, she shared the spirit and followed the example of all dominant churches of the age. With Queen Mary the last hope of a triumph of Romanism in England died out. Portraits of Mary were lent by the Queen (Victoria), the Society of Antiquaries, and Mr. W. B. Stopford, to the National Portrait Exhibition (1866). The two latter were painted by Lucas de Heere.

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Mary II.,

Queen of England, the wife of William III, was the daughter of James II. by his queen, Anne Hyde, daughter of the Earl of Clarendon, and was born in 1662. At the age of 15 she was married to William, Prince of Orange, whom she followed to England in 1689. The same year parliament having declared the crown vacant by the abdication of James, conferred it upon William and Mary. She died of the small-pox, Dec. 28,1694, aged 32. Her portrait, by Wissing, is in the National Portrait Gallery.

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Mary Stuart,

Queen of Scots, famous for her beauty and wit, her crimes and her fate, was daughter of James V., King of Scotland, and succeeded her father in 1542, eight days after her birth. In the following year she was crowned by Archbishop Beatoun, and before she was six years old she was sent to the court of France. In 1558 she married Francis, then dauphin, and, in the next year, King of France. On his death in 1560 she returned to Scotland, where during her absence Knox had preached, and the Reformation had been established. She had an interview with Knox soon after her arrival. After rejecting several proposals of marriage, she married her cousin, Henry Stuart, Lord Darnley, in 1565. Being excluded from any share of the government by the advice (as he suspected) of Rizzio, an Italian musician, her favourite and secretary, the king, by the counsel and assistance of some of the principal nobility, suddenly surprised them together, and Rizzio was slain, in the queen's presence, in 1566. An apparent reconciliation afterwards took place, a new favourite of the queen appeared in the Earl of Bothwell, and in February 1567, Darnley, who had continued to reside separately from the queen, was assassinated, and the house he occupied, called the Kirk of Field, near Edinburgh, was blown up with gunpowder. This murder was very imperfectly investigated; and in the month of May following, Mary wedded the Earl of Bothwell, who was openly accused as the murderer of the late king.

Scotland soon became a scene of confusion and civil discord. Bothwell, a fugitive and an outlaw, took refuge in Denmark; and Mary, made a captive, was committed to custody in the castle of Loch Leven. After some months' confinement she effected her escape, and, assisted by the few friends who still remained attached to her, made an effort for the recovery of her power. She was opposed by the Earl of Murray, the natural son of James V., who had obtained the regency in the minority of her son. The battle of Langside insured the triumph of her enemies; and, to avoid falling again into their power, she fled to England, and sought the protection of Queen Elizabeth; a step which created a very serious embarrassment for Elizabeth and her ministers.

For eighteen years Mary was detained as a state prisoner; and, during the whole of that time, she was recognised as the head of the Popish party, who wished to see a princess of their faith on the throne of England. Mary, despairing of recovering that of Scotland, countenanced, if she was not directly concerned in, their plots. She was accordingly tried for a conspiracy against the life of the Queen of England, condemned, and suffered decapitation, Feb. 8, 1587, in the castle of Fotheringay, where she had been long confined. Her body was interred, with great pomp, in Peterborough Cathedral, but subsequently removed by her son, James I., to Henry the Seventh's Chapel, Westminster Abbey, where a magnificent monument was erected to her memory.

The character and conduct of Mary, Queen of Scots, have been made the subject of much controversy; the popular view, both in Scotland and England, making her the 'unfortunate Mary', almost a suffering saint; sentimentally brooding over her calamities and refusing to admit her crimes and follies Mr Froude, who has told her story once more in the third volume of his 'History of the Reign of Queen Elizabeth,' has made this view no longer tenable. The verdict of Mr. Burton in his new 'History of Scotland' (1867) is no less severe and decisive. Among other recent Memoirs of Mary may be named those of Mignet Lamartine, Miss Strickland, and A. M'Neel Caird. The celebrated Fraser Tytler Portrait of this queen has been purchased for the National Collection. A very fine portrait by Clouet is in the Royal Collection at Hampton Court

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Victoria (Monarch 1837 - 1901)

Victoria did not expect to be Queen of England, and the role was not intended for her. But that she became, and her reign became synonymous with an era. She was on the throne for 64 years, the longest reign, and 'Victorian' became the descriptor for an artistic and architectural style, a philosophy and morality, a literature and its poetry, and the century.

Princess Victoria was born in 1819, the daughter of Edward Duke of Kent and Victoria of Saxe-Coburg-Saafeld. She was the niece of William IV (died 1837) and thereby became monarch at the age of 18, William's two children having pre-deceased him. Rarely had a monarch been so unprepared. She subsequently married Albert of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha, whom she adored and who was her guide and mentor; his early death in 1861 nearly broke her emotionally and, by virtue of her long mourning, nearly broke her relationship with her subjects too. She rebuilt this relationship with the unthanked though careful guidance of William Gladstone, her longest serving Prime Minister. With Albert she had four sons (including the future Edward 7) and five daughters and their marriages and children provided tentacles through the major royal families of Europe.

She was a proud and conscientious lady whose early and later popularity did much to rescue the monarchy from the upsets of the reigns of George III (her grandfather) and George IV and William IV. The length of her reign was such that she saw unprecedented transformations, in political systems, engineering, transport, social expectations, health and schooling, Empire, trade and intellectual endeavour and achievement. She saw 19 Prime Ministers, relating with difficulty to most (especially Gladstone) but relying heavily on some (none more so than Melbourne, her first). The Whig Melbourne provided experience to her inexperience, and compassion. Prince Albert replaced this guidance from 1840 and Albert helped her to reconcile herself to Tory premiership under Robert Peel (PM 1839 and 19841-46). Both Melbourne and Peel guided Queen and Parliament through the repeated demands for further Parliamentary by The Chartists (in 1836, 1842 and 1848) and Peel defused the demands of The Anti-Corn Law League by conceding the repeal of the Corn Laws in 1846. This repeal, contrary to landlord and farmer expectations, ushered in a period of prosperity for the land, lasting from 1846 to at least 1875; Peel had argued for this, his Tory party was split on the issue, the landed interest was hostile; but Peel was proved right, landed pockets bulged and prices of staple crops fell - to universal enjoyment. The Queen employed some of the political benefit. These 1840s saw other great campaigns and responses, some de-fusing the otherwise 'hungry forties'; there was legislation to limit Factory Hours, reform Municipal Corporations, further reduce capital crimes, limit working hours and employment ages in Mines, and expend the railway system. Much was made manifest in the Great Exhibition of 1851 in Hyde Park, which celebrated the material achievements of the country in a world context and brought together visitors, in their millions, from every location and background.

The great wealth of these mid-century 'Years of Equipoise' was needed to sustain Britain's Empire, promote this 'Workshop of the World' through its agents the Royal Navy and Merchant fleet, and defend its borders and world territories. But the wars of the century from 1853 proved that it was hopelessly ill-prepared. Support for Turkey, the 'Sick Man of Europe', drew Britain into the Crimean War to 1856. Facing up to Russia brought expense and disillusionment with the Army, only resolved somewhat by Disraeli's subsequent deal with the Russians in 1878; and out of these conflicts came military lessons (ill-learned), Florence Nightingale and her new nursing, and some epic verse ('The Charge of the Light Brigade', a celebration of disaster and incompetence). But at least the neutrality of Black Sea waters was temporarily secured. The Indian Mutiny subsequently broke up the East India Company and raised huge questions of Empire, not to be resolved for 100 years. It was a time of international stress, with Italian Unification, confirmation of a 'United' States of America after the Civil War, revolutions in European capitals and the consolidation of a German Empire from its myriad principalities. Disraeli's purchase of a controlling interest in The Suez Canal in 1875 seemed to put a stamp on Britain's place in the commercial and political world; it certainly reinforced the mutual admiration between the Queen and this minister, both of whom enjoyed 'Peace with Honour' with the Russian deal in 1878, the acquisition of Cyprus in that year and the Suez transaction.

Issues at home continued, of course. Parliamentary Reform Acts in 1832, 1867, 1872 and 1884 provided the vote for all adult males, by secret ballot; and the pressures to address schooling inadequacies, especially compared to Germany, the rival and unspoken mentor, led to the provision of universal elementary education by a process starting in 1870 (Forster's Education Act). Victoria's Jubilees of 1887 and 1897 celebrated these many events and undeniable achievements, highlighting the world role of the Mother Country under its long-standing monarch. The Empire had reached its height, from islands in the Pacific, Indian Ocean, Mediterranean and Atlantic, to vast tracts of Africa (an unintended Empire from Cape to Cairo), the Queen 'Empress of India' from 1877 (more Disraeli flattery - and it worked), ports and commercial stations in the Far East, including Singapore and Hong Kong, and consolidation in Australia and New Zealand. This was 'the largest Empire the world had ever seen', all owing homage to its Queen but soon to be fatally challenged by the Boers in South Africa and its adjacent republics in The Boer Wars to 1901.

The Queen gave her name to an era which saw this Empire rise to unprecedented scale, and be challenged; it saw the world and the home country reduced in travel time by a train transport revolution; it saw its children educated and its males represented in a representational parliament; it saw the works of Dickens and Eliot, Wordsworth and Darwin; it saw the motor car and it saw manned flight, just; and it experienced its population rise from 24 to 42 million. The nation went into mourning when the Queen died in 1901 - most of the nation had known no other monarch. They thought of themselves as 'Victorians'.

Victoria had 9 children and 42 grandchildren and arranged marriages for them across Europe, thus tying Europe together and earning her the nickname "The grandmother of Europe. On her death, she was interred beside Prince Albert in the Frogmore Mausoleum at Windsor Great park. She was succeded by her son Edward VII having outlived 3 of her children and 11 of her 42 grandchildren. ['Victoria' was written by Richard Miller, © 2009]

The above information except for Victoria & Elizabeth II was gleaned from various sources and then put together by Colin Hinson © 1996.

The Victoria & Elizabeth II information was written by Richard Miller © 2009.

This page is copyright. Do not copy any part of this page or website other than for personal use or as given in the conditions of use.

Princes of England

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Edgar Atheling,

or Prince Edgar, son of Edward Atheling, also called Edward the Outlaw, and grandson of Edmund Ironside, was probably born in Hungary, whither his father and uncle, then children, had been sent after the accession of Canute. He came to England with his father in 1057, but though he was rightful heir to the throne on the death of Edward the Confessor, his claims were passed over. After the fall of Harold at the battle of Hastings, he was actually proclaimed king at London, and appears to have been recognized for some time as such; however, he was one of the first to profess submission to the Conqueror, whom in the next year he followed into Normandy. In 1068 he was in Scotland, and his sister Margaret was married not long after to King Malcolm. He took part in the invasion of England and the storming of York Castle in 1069, and was induced on several occasions subsequently to make rash attempts of a similar kind, followed by formal reconciliation with William. In 1086 he went to Italy, and is said to have joined the Norman bands there. In 1098 his nephew Edgar, with his aid, was raised to the Scottish throne. In the civil war between Henry I. and his brother Robert, duke of Normandy, Edgar joined the latter, and was captured by Henry at the battle of Tinchebrai in 1106. The year of his death is unknown.

Edward,

prince of Wales, surnamed the Black Prince, son of Edward III., was born in 1330; and accompanying his father to France in 1346, took a leading part in gaining the victory of Crecy. During his stay in France he performed many other acts of heroism, till at length, in 1356, he won the great battle of Poitiers, when he took King John and his son prisoners, and distinguished himself as much by his courtesy to his captives as he had in the field by his unrivalled valour. In 1361 he married Joan, called the Fair Maid of Kent, daughter of the Earl of Kent, and widow, first, of Sir Thomas Holland, and then of the Earl of Salisbury, and was soon after created by his father Prince of Aquitaine. Bordeaux then became the seat of his government. In 1367 he went to the assistance of Pedro the Cruel, king of Castile, who had been dethroned by his brother, Henry of Trastamare. The latter was defeated, and Pedro re-established, but only for a short time. Prince Edward was soon after involved in disputes with his subjects, which occasioned the renewal of war between Francs and England. He died in 1376, aged 45.

George, Prince of Denmark,

consort of Queen Anne, was born in 1653. He was one of the sons of Frederick III. of Denmark, and married the Princess Anne at London in 1683. At the Revolution he went over to the Prince of Orange, and was soon after naturalised and made an English peer. When Anne succeeded to the throne, Prince George was named generalissimo and lord high admiral, but his indolence and incapacity left him without any influence on affairs. He died at Kensington, in 1708.

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Rupert, or Robert, Prince of Bavaria,

the third son of Frederick, Elector- palatine, by Elizabeth, daughter of James I, was born in 1619, and received a military education. He came to England in 1642 commanded the cavalry of Charles I during the civil war, and on various occasions manifested the most daring courage; but also great brutality and unscrupulous indulgence in pillage. He took part at the battle of Edgehill forced a passage through Birmingham; surprised the parliamentarians at Chalgrove, Hampden being mortally wounded; took Bristol; fought at Newbury; relieved Lathom House after it had been defended for several months by the Countess of Derby; raised the siege of York but immediately after was totally defeated at Marston Moor, July 2, 1644; commanded the right wing at Naseby; and three months later (Sept, 1645), having surrendered Bristol to General Fairfax, the king dismissed him from his service.

Between 1649-53 Prince Rupert led the life of a buccaneer in the West Indies. He won distinction as a naval commander, particularly after the Restoration, in the great Dutch war; took part, under Monk, in the four days battle with the Dutch, in 1665; served again in 1673; and on the conclusion of the war led a retired life, occupied wholly in scientific pursuits. He invented a composition called 'prince's metal,' improved the strength of gunpowder, found out a method of fusing black lead, and practised, if he did not invent, the art of engraving in mezzotinto. He was an active member of the Board of Trade, and a fellow of the Royal Society; and to his influence is ascribed the establishment of the Hudson's Bay Company, of which he was the first governor. His name is perpetuated in 'Rupert's Land.' Died, at London, in 1682, and was buried in Westminster Abbey. Portraits of Prince Rupert, by Mytens, Vandyck, and others, were lent to the National Portrait Exhibition (1866).

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The above information was gleaned from various sources and then put together by Colin Hinson ©1996.

This page is copyright. Do not copy any part of this page or website other than for personal use or as given in the conditions of use.

Popes

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Pope Gregory I.,

surnamed the Great, was born of a noble family at Rome, about the year 544. He discovered such abilities as a senator that the Emperor Justinus appointed him prefect of Rome; after which he embraced the monastic life, in a society founded by himself. Pope Pelagius II. sent him as nuncio to Constantinople, and on his return made him apostolical secretary. He was elected successor to that pontiff in 590; and a few years later sent over some monks under the direction of St. Augustine for the purpose of converting the Anglo-Saxons to Christianity. Pope Gregory was pious and charitable; had lofty notions of the papal authority, was a reformer of the clerical discipline, and after his death was canonized. He is, however, accused, but on slight and doubtful evidence, of burning a multitude of the works of ancient authors, lest attention to heathen literature should supersede the monkish and ecclesiastical studies of the age. His works are comprised in 4 vols. Died, 604.

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Ugolino, Pope Gregory IX.,

was a native of Campania, and a near relation of Innocent III. He became Bishop of Ostia and Cardinal, and in 1227 succeeded Honorius III. His coronation surpassed in magnificence any which had preceded it, and the ceremony lasted three days. The principal events of his pontificate were the various incidents of his contest with the great Emperor Frederick II., whom he repeatedly excommunicated, absolving his subjects from their allegiance, and proclaiming a crusade against him. In 1229 Gregory levied a tithe on all moveables in England towards the expenses of his war with Frederick. He established a few years later the Inquisition at Toulouse and Carcassonne excited by his haughty demeanour a revolt at Rome in 1234, and was driven from the city, to which he did not return for three years. St. Anthony of Padua, St. Dominic, and St. Elizabeth were canonized by Gregory IX. Died in 1241, at a very advanced age.

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The above information was gleaned from various sources and then put together by Colin Hinson ©1996.

This page is copyright. Do not copy any part of this page or website other than for personal use or as given in the conditions of use.

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