England

Charles Dickens born 1812

Novelist and philanthropist? Follow the Charles Dickens Trails via Charles Dickens and our Intrguing Snippets for a fast easy to use overview to the wider picture..

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Oliver Twist published 1837

Charles Dickens was born on the 7th February 1812 in Portsmouth, Hampshire, UK. He endured a grim childhood after the imprisonment of his father and the rest of his family in Marshalsea for bad debt. Charles was sent to work in Warren’s boot blacking factory,just off the Strand in London. Here he endured terrible conditions.…

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The new London Bridge opened 1831

The old London bridge was a bridge like no other bridge in the world. It was a thoroughfare, jammed full of houses and shops and passable only with caution and if you had time to spare. The old bridge was not able to cope with growing demands of an expanding city  A new bridge was…

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George IV 1820 – 1830

George IV was the son of George III, his mother was Queen Charlotte. He was born on 12th August 1762 at St Jame’s Palace London. He acceded to the throne on 29th January 1820 and was crowned at Westminster Abbey on 19th July 1821. George IV was made Prince Regent in 1811 when it became…

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George III 1760 – 1820

George III was the son of Frederick the Prince of Wales, his mother being Augusta of Saxe-Gotha-Altenburg. He was born at Norfolk House in London on the 4th June 1738 and was therefore the first Hanoverian king to be born and bred an Englishman. He acceded to the throne on 25th October 1760 and was…

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Defining the English Yard 1824

The unit of measurement ‘the yard’ has been in English usage for hundreds of years. Quite how it’s length came to be a unit of measurement is lost but various theories abound, it roughly equates to a man’s stride or it has been suggested that it is the girth of a man. The need to…

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The Athenaeum Pall Mall

The Athenaeum is a club in London’s Pall Mall. It was founded in 1824 by a chap called John Crocker. He encouraged scientists, writers and artists to join the club and amongst it’s notable members are Charles Darwin, Charles Dickens, T.S Eliot, J.M.W Turner and Keats to name but a few. The importance of ‘the…

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Edmund Halley died 1742

Halleys Comet Astronomer who again is contributing to the observations of the natural world and universe that free-up and discard old thinking , creating the climate that would foster the period of enlightenment that was to follow.

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Robert Walpole died 1745

Robert Walpole survived for three years after his resignation in 1742 but he had been very ill with kidney disease for a number of years. His last few months were spent in great pain and eventually under heavy sedation. He died on 18th March 1745.

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