FEATURE ARTICLES
Parliament Act 1911
The Barons finally give way to democracy and yield their right of veto against democratically approved laws voted on and approved in the House of Commons. An Act of Parliament settles a bitter dispute from the 1909 Peoples Budget and a vital principle that had taken hundreds of years to establish.
Read MoreCrossbones Graveyard
Crossbones graveyard in Southwark is adorned with colourful ribbons, a tribute to those Winchester Geese and others who exist on the margins of society. This burial ground has been in existence since Medieval times.
Read MoreAgricultural Revolution Jethro Tull
Jethro Tull was called the father of the Agricultural Revolution and he should be ranked along with other great thinkers of his time who embraced the agricultural, scientific and industrial revolution.
Read MoreEdward Coke 1552 – 1634
Edward Coke, supreme barrister and politician of the C16th and C17th, whose belief and work in Common Law became part of the English and US Constitution whose name should be known by every child in the UK.
Read MoreArthur James Balfour Prime Minister 1902-1905
Arthur James Balfour was a Prime Minister cut from the old aristocratic mould, an intelligent man who perhaps lacked emotional intelligence to match. Educated at Eton and Cambridge, nephew of Lord Salisbury, his mother’s brother. He would serve in coalition during WWI alongside Lloyd George more than strange bed-fellows. It was then that his now infamous Balfour Declaration would be declared and continues to cited as the root cause of the troubles between the Arab and Zionist causes in Palestine. and modern Israel. Unsuccessful Prime Ministers can be even more important it would seem than those that succeed and the failures may also be greatest when they are no longer in the top job.
Read MoreConstitutional Crisis People’s Budget 1909
What would cause a king to contemplate the end of the Monarchy and that his son might be the last King? When his Barons, the Lords would rise-up and revolt against the rule of democracy and seek to reinvent the will of the people via its commons from being fulfilled. Lloyd George and Winston Churchill would be the advocates for the poor and common man. Asquith would seek to calm the rage and the King would plead with the Lords to let the Bill pass but it would take two General Elections and never again would this unwritten convention be relied upon without statute to support it.
Read MoreDuke of Windsor Sends his Best to Winston Churchill
A British King had abdicated for the woman he loved, some 18 years later he would make a rare and awkward film appearance on the occassion of Winston Churchill’s 80th. Had the political climate thawed after the tragedy of a family divided and the Duke wanted to pay tribute and honour an old friend and loyal servant of the nation. An intriguing moment that might be repeated, see he video and follow our new Windsor period on Intriguing History.
Read MoreAct of Settlement 1701
Act of Settlement 1701 ensures that preference is given to Sophia and her issues as Elector of Hanover if William or Anne die without a surviving heir. In effect it bypasses the stronger hereditary claim of the Stuarts and ensues that the Enligh Monarch will remain Protestant.
Read MoreWinston Churchills Legacy a balanced perspective
How can you get a balanced view and perspective about this British Prime Minister and what his real legacy is on this (2015) the 50th Anniversary of Winston Churchill’s state funeral. The historians and politician’s literature never mind Winston’s own writings are huge. He never did a single TV interview Professor Vernon Bogdanor does us all proud with this excellent video lecture, in his roles as Emeritus Professor of Law and Visiting Professor of Political History at the excellent Gresham College find a little time and get an excellent balanced view and appraisal of the legacy left to us all by Winston Churchill.
Read MoreKing John vs the Church
King John vs the church, is this what was behind King Johns road towards Magna Carta? Was this a King who did not fear God and a country little bothered by its isolation from Rome?
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