A BRIEF HISTORY OF ENGLAND

A BRIEF HISTORY OF ENGLAND

BY BIKRANT ROY

Prehistoric and Ancient England

About 4,500 BC farming was introduced into England. Using stone axes the farmers began clearing the forests that covered England. They grew crops of wheat and barley and they raised herds of cattle, pigs and sheep. However as well as farming they also hunted animals such as deer, horse, and wild boar and smaller animals such as beavers, badgers and hares. They also gathered fruit and nuts.

At the same time the early farmers mined flint for making tools. They dug shafts, some of them 15 meters (50 feet) deep. They used deer antlers as picks and oxen shoulder blades as shovels. They also made pottery vessels but they still wore clothes made from skins. They erected simple wooden huts to live in.

Moreover the early farmers made elaborate tombs for their dead. They dug burial chambers then lined them with wood or stone. Over them they created mounds of earth called barrows. Although stone was easily available they made mounds of stones called cairns.

From about 2,500 BC England the Neolithic (new stone age) farmers made circular monuments called henges. At first they were simple ditches with stones or wooden poles erected in them. The most famous henge is, of course, Stonehenge. It began as a simple ditch with an internal bank of earth. Outside the entrance stood the Heel Stone. The famous circles of stones were erected hundreds of years later. Stonehenge was altered and added to over a thousand year period from 2250 BC to 1250 BC before it was finished.

Bronze Age England

At any rate about 2,000 BC English society was changed by the invention of Bronze. Metal artifacts appeared in England as early as 2,700 BC although it is believed they were imported. By about 2,000 BC bronze was being made in England. The Bronze Age people also rode horses and they were the first people in England to weave cloth. Bronze age women held their hair with bone pins and they wore crescent shaped necklaces.

In the late Bronze Age (1,000 BC-650 BC) forts were built on hills so warfare was, it seems, becoming common. This may have been because the population was rising and fertile land was becoming harder to obtain.

Meanwhile the Bronze Age people continued to build barrows. The dead were buried with useful artifacts. Presumably the living believed the dead would need these in the afterlife.

Bronze Age people lived in round wooden huts with thatched roofs but nothing is known about their society or how it was organised. However there were almost certainly different classes by that time. Tin and copper were exported from Britain along with animal hides. Jet and amber were imported for the rich.

Celtic England

Then about 650 BC iron was introduced into England by a people called the Celts and the first swords were made.

Warfare was common during the Iron Age and many hill forts (fortified settlements) were built at that time. (Although there were also many open villages and farms). The Celts fought from horses or light wooden chariots. They threw spears and fought with swords. The Celts had wooden shields and some wore chain mail.

Most of the Celts were farmers although were also many skilled craftsmen. Some Celts were blacksmiths (working with iron), bronze smiths, carpenters, leather workers and potters. Celtic craftsmen also made elaborate jewelry of gold and precious stones. Furthermore objects like swords and shields were often finely decorated. The Celts decorated metal goods with enamel. The Celts also knew how to make glass and they made glass beads.

The Celts grew crops in rectangular fields. They raised pigs, sheep and cattle. They stored grain in pits lined with stone or wicker and sealed with clay. The Celts also brewed beer from barley.

The Roman Conquest of Britain

In 55 BC when Julius Caesar led an expedition to Britain. Caesar returned in 54 BC. Both times he defeated the Celts but he did not stay. Both times the Romans withdrew after the Celts agreed to pay annual tribute.

The Romans invaded Britain again in 43 AD under Emperor Claudius. The Roman invasion force consisted of about 20,000 legionaries and about

20,000 auxiliary soldiers from the provinces of the Roman Empire. Aulus Plautius led them. The Romans landed somewhere in Southeast England (the exact location is unknown) and quickly prevailed against the Celtic army. The Celts could not match the discipline and training of the Roman army. A battle was fought on the River Medway, ending in Celtic defeat and withdrawal. The Romans chased them over the River Thames into Essex and within months of landing in England the Romans had captured the Celtic hill fort on the site of Colchester.

Meanwhile other Roman forces marched into Sussex, where the local tribe, the Atrebates were friendly and offered no resistance. The Roman army then marched into the territory of another tribe, the Durotriges, in Dorset and southern Somerset. Everywhere the Romans prevailed and that year 11 Celtic kings surrendered to Claudius. (Normally if a Celtic king surrendered the Romans allowed him to remain as a puppet ruler). By 47 AD the Romans were in control of England from the River Humber to the Estuary of the River Severn.

However the war was not over. The Silures in South Wales and the Ordovices of North Wales continued to harass the Romans. Fighting between the Welsh tribes and the Romans continued for years.

Meanwhile the Iceni tribe of East Anglia rebelled. At first the Romans allowed them to keep their kings and have some autonomy. However the Romans easily crushed it. In the ensuing years the Romans alienated the Iceni by imposing heavy taxes. Then, when the king of the Iceni died he left his kingdom partly to his wife, Boudicca and partly to Emperor Nero. Soon, however Nero wanted the kingdom all for himself. His men treated the Iceni very badly and they provoked rebellion. This time a large part of the Roman army was fighting in Wales and the rebellion was, at first, successful. Led by Boudicca the Celts burned Colchester, St Albans and London. However the Romans rushed forces to deal with the rebellion. Although the Romans were outnumbered their superior discipline and tactics secured total victory.

After the rebellion was crushed the Celts of what is now southern and eastern England settled down and gradually accepted Roman rule. Then in 71-74 AD the Romans conquered the north of what is now England. In 122-126 AD the Emperor Hadrian built a great wall across the northern frontier of Roman Britain to keep out the people the Romans called the Picts.

The End of Roman Britain

By the middle of the 3rd century the Roman Empire was in decline. In the latter half of the 3rd century Saxons from Germany began raiding the east coast of Roman Britain. The Romans built a chain of forts along the coast,

which they called the Saxon shore. The forts were commanded by an official called the Count of the Saxon shore and they contained both infantry and cavalry.

Then in 286 an admiral named Carausius seized power in Britain. For 7 years he ruled Britain as an emperor until Allectus, his finance minister, assassinated him. Allectus then ruled Britain until 296 when Constantius, Emperor of the Western Roman Empire invaded. Britain was then taken back into the Roman fold.

In the 4th century the Roman Empire in the west went into serious economic and political decline. The populations of towns fell. Public baths and amphitheaters went out of use.

In 367 Scots from northern Ireland, Picts from Scotland and Saxons all raided Roman Britain. They overran Hadrian's Wall and killed the Count of the Saxon shore. However the Romans sent a man named Theodosius with reinforcements to restore order.

Yet the last Roman troops left Britain in 407. In 410 the leaders of the Romano-Celts sent a letter to the Roman Emperor Honorius, appealing for help. However he had no troops to spare and he told the Britons they must defend themselves.

Roman Britain split into separate kingdoms but the Romano-Celts continued to fight the Saxon raiders. Roman civilization slowly broke down. People stopped using coins and returned to barter. Roman towns continued to be inhabited until the mid-5th century. Then town life came to an end. Roman civilization in the countryside also faded away.

Life in Roman Britain

The Anglo-Saxon Conquest of England

By the 5th century the Romano-Celts had broke up into separate kingdoms but a single leader called the Superbus tyrannus had emerged. At that time and possibly earlier they were hiring Germanic peoples as mercenaries. According to tradition the Superbus tyrannus brought Jutes to protect his realm from Scots (from northern Ireland) and Picts (from Scotland). He was also afraid the Romans might invade Britain and make it part of the Empire again. The Superbus tyrannus installed the Jutish leader, Hengist, as king of Kent. In return the Jutes were supposed to protect Britain.

However after about 7 years the Jutes and the Romano-Celts fell out. They fought a battle at Crayford and the Jutes won a decisive victory. The war

went on for several more years but the Celts were unable to dislodge the Jutes.

In the late 5th century Saxons landed in Sussex and after about 15 years the Saxons had conquered all of Sussex. They gave the county its name. It was the kingdom of the south Saxons.

Meanwhile at the end of the 5th century or the very beginning of the 6th century more Jutes landed in eastern Hampshire and the Isle of Wight. At the same time Saxons landed in western Hampshire. They founded the kingdom of Wessex (the West Saxons).

Then in the late 5th century a great leader and general arose among the Celts. We know him as Arthur. Very little is known about him but he defeated the Saxons in several battles. His victories culminated in the battle of Mount Badon, about 500 AD. (We do not know exactly where the battle took place). The Saxons were crushed and their advance was halted for decades.

Meanwhile in the early 6th century the West Saxons, of western Hampshire, annexed the Jutes of eastern Hampshire. About 530 they also took over the Isle of Wight.

Then in 552 the West Saxons won a great victory somewhere near modern Salisbury and they captured what is now Wiltshire. In 577 they won another great victory. This time they captured Bath, Cirencester and Gloucester. They also cut off the Celts of southwest England from the Celts of Wales.

Meanwhile in the mid-6th century other Saxons invaded Essex. (The kingdom of the East Saxons). A people called the Angles landed in East Anglia. Obviously they gave East Anglia its name. They also gave England its name (Angle land).

Other Angles landed in Yorkshire. Also in the later 6th century Saxons sailed up the Thames and landed in what is now Berkshire. They gave Middlesex its name. (The land of the middle Saxons). They also landed on the south bank of the River Thames. They called the area suth ridge, which means south bank. In time the name changed to Surrey.

The Conquest of Western England

So by the late 6th century eastern England was in the hands of Angles and Saxons. In the 7th century they continued their relentless advance. In 656 the Saxons of the east Midlands won a battle on the River Wye and captured the west Midlands.

Further South in 658 the West Saxons won a great battle and drove the Celts back to the River Parret in Somerset. In 664 they won yet another battle. This time they captured Dorset.

By about 670 AD the West Saxons had captured Exeter.

Then in 710 Saxons from eastern Somerset invaded western Somerset. At the same time Saxons from southeast Devon marched north and west. The two groups advanced in a pincer movement and soon occupied Devon and western Somerset.

However the Saxons never gained effective control of Cornwall. So Cornwall kept its own Cornish language.

The English Kingdoms

By the 7th century there were 9 kingdoms in what is now England. In the south there were Kent, Sussex and Wessex (Hampshire and Wiltshire). In the early 9th century Wessex gained control of Sussex and Kent.

Eastern England was divided into Essex, East Anglia and a kingdom called Lindsey roughly modern Lincolnshire.

The Midlands was ruled by a kingdom called Mercia. In the late 8th century a great king called Offa ruled Mercia. He built a famous dyke (ditch) to keep out the Welsh. He also absorbed the kingdom of Lindsey (roughly Lincolnshire).

In 600 the north was divided into two kingdoms. Deira (roughly modern Yorkshire) and Bernicia further north. However in 605 the two were united to form one powerful kingdom called Northumbria.

So by the mid-9th century England was divided into just four kingdoms, Northumbria in the north, Mercia, East Anglia in the east and Wessex in the south.

The Conversion of England to Christianity

In 596 Pope Gregory sent a party of about 40 men led by Augustine to Kent. They arrived in 597.

Aethelberht permitted the monks to preach and in time he was converted. Furthermore his nephew, Saeberht, the king of Essex was also converted.

Meanwhile in 627 King Edwin of Northumbria (the North of England) and all his nobles were baptized. (He may have been influenced by his wife,

Ethelburgh, who was a Christian). Most of his subjects followed. A man named Paulinius became the first Saxon Bishop of York. Paulinius also began converting the kingdom of Lindsey (Lincolnshire).

However things did not go smoothly in Northumbria. King Edwin was killed at the battle of Hatfield in 632 and afterwards most of Northumbria reverted to paganism. They had to be converted all over again by Celtic monks from Scotland.

Further south in 630 a Christian called Sigeberht became King of East Anglia. He asked the Archbishop of Canterbury to send men to help convert his people. Meanwhile Pope Honorious sent a man named Birinus to convert the West Saxons (who lived in Hampshire).

Missionaries also preached in the kingdom of Mercia (The Midlands) In 653 King Paeda of Merica was converted and baptized and gradually the realm was converted.

The last part of England to be converted to Christianity was Sussex. It was converted after 680 by St. Wilfrid.

Finally by the end of the 7th century all of England was at least nominally Christian.

The Vikings In England

In 793 when Norsemen (possibly Norwegians) raided a monastery at Lindisfarne (northeast England). There followed a respite until 835 when the Danes descended on the Isle of Sheppey in Kent.

Although the Viking raiders were fearsome they were not invincible. In 836 the Danes joined forces with the Celts of Cornwall. However they were defeated by Egbert, king of Wessex, at Hingston Down.

Nevertheless the Danes continued raiding England. In 840 a force of Saxons from Hampshire crushed a Danish force at Southampton. However the same year Saxons from Dorset were defeated by the Danes at Portland.

In 841 the Danes ravaged Kent, East Anglia and what is now Lincolnshire. In 842 they sacked Southampton. Further Viking raids occurred in 843 and 845. In the latter year the Saxons defeated the Danes in a battle at the mouth of the River Parret in Somerset.

Then in 850-51 the Vikings spent the winter of the Isle of Thanet. In the spring they attacked the Mercians and defeated them in battle. However they were later defeated by an army from Wessex.

In 854 another Danish force wintered on the Isle of Sheppey before raiding England.

There then followed a relatively peaceful period in which the Vikings raided England only once.

However the Danes eventually stopped raiding and turned to conquest. In the autumn of 865 an army of Danes landed in East Anglia. In the following year, 866, they captured York. The Northumbrians attacked the Vikings occupying York in 867 but they were defeated. The Danes then installed a man named Egbert as puppet ruler of Northumbria.

The Danes then marched south and they spent the winter of 867 in Nottingham. In 869 they marched to Thetford in East Anglia. In the spring of 870 they crushed an army of East Anglians.

The Danes were now in control of Northumbria, part of Mercia and East Anglia. They then turned their attention of Wessex. At the end of 870 they captured Reading. The men of Wessex won a victory at Ashdown. However the Danes then won two battles, at Basing and at an unidentified location.

Then in the spring of 871 Alfred became king of Wessex. He became known as Alfred the Great. The Saxons and the Danes fought several battles during 871 but the Danes were unable to break Saxon resistance so they made a peace treaty and the Danes turned their attention to the other parts of England. In 873 they attacked the unoccupied part of Mercia. The Mercian king fled and was replaced by a puppet ruler. Afterwards Wessex remained the only independent Saxon kingdom.

In 875 a Danish army invaded Wessex again. However they were unable to conquer Wessex so in 877 they withdrew to Gloucester. In 878 they launched a surprise attack on Chippenham. King Alfred was forced to flee and hide in the marshes of Atheleney. Alfred fought a guerrilla war for some months then took on the Danes in battle. The Danes were routed at the battle of Edington. Afterwards Guthrum, the Danish leader, and his men were baptized and made a treaty with Alfred. They split southern and central England between them. Guthrum took London, East Anglia and all the territory east of the old Roman road, Watling Street. Later this Danish kingdom became known as the Danelaw. Alfred took the land west of

Watling Street and southern England. However in 886 Alfred’s men captured London.

Moreover the wars with the Danes were not over. In 892 some Danes who had been attacking France turned their attention to Kent. In 893 the Saxons defeated them and they withdrew into Essex (part of the Danelaw). Meanwhile in 893 another group of Danes sailed to Devon and laid siege to Exeter. They withdrew in 894. They sailed to Sussex and landed near Chichester. This time the local Saxons marched out and utterly defeated them in battle.

War with the Danes continued in 895-896. Danes from the Danelaw marched into what is now Shropshire but they were forced to withdraw. There then followed a few years of peace.

During his reign Alfred reorganized the defense of his realm. He created a fleet of ships to fight the Danes at sea. (It was the first English navy). He also created a network of forts across his kingdom called burhs. Finally Alfred died in 899. And he was succeeded by his son Edward.

Late Saxon England

In the mid-9th century there were 4 Saxon kingdoms, Northumbria, Mercia, East Anglia and Wessex. By the end of the century there was only one left, Wessex. In the 10th century Wessex gradually expanded and took over all the Danish territory. So a single united England was created.

The process began under King Edward. The treaty of Wedmore in 879 gave King Alfred control over western Mercia. However the people of that area still saw themselves as Mercians not Saxons or Englishmen. In time they merged with the people of Wessex. Meanwhile in 915-918 King Egbert defeated the Danes of Eastern England. He took control of all England south of the River Humber. By 954 all of England was ruled by Alfred the Greats descendants.

In the late 10th century England enjoyed a respite from Danish raids. England was peaceful although a young king, Edward, was murdered at Corfe in Dorset in 978. His brother Aethelred replaced him.

Despite this in the late 10th century there was a religious revival in England. A man named Dunstan (c.1020-1088) was Archbishop of Canterbury. He reformed the monasteries. Many new churches and monasteries were built.

Then in 980 the Danes started raiding England again. The Saxons paid the Danes to stop raiding and return home. However the amount the Danes demanded increased each time. In 991 they were paid 10,000 pounds to go home. In 1002 they were paid 24,000 pounds in 1007 they were paid 36,000 pounds. England was drained of its resources by paying these huge sums of money called Danegeld (Dane gold).

King Aethelred or Ethelred also, stupidly, enraged the Danes by ordering the massacre of Danes living in his realm. He was persuaded they were plotting against him and he ordered his people to kill them on 13 November 1002. This terrible crime, the St Brices Day Massacre ensured that the Danes had a personal hostility towards him.

Eventually the Danes turned to conquest. In 1013 the Danish king Swein invaded England. His fleet sailed up the River Humber and along the River Trent to Gainsborough. The people of northern England welcomed him. Swein marched south and captured more and more of England. King Ethelred fled abroad. Swein was on the verge of becoming king of England when died in February 1014.

Incredibly some of the English invited Ethelred back (provided he agreed to rule more justly). When he arrived the Danes withdrew.

However they were soon back. In 1015 Swein's son Canute or Cnut led an expedition to England and occupied southern England. Ethelred finally died in April 1016.

There was then a struggle between Canute and Ethelred's son Edmund, known as Edmund Ironside. The people of the Danelaw accepted Canute as king but London supported Edmund. England was split between the two contestants. They fought at Ashingdon in Essex. Canute won the battle but he was not strong enough to capture all of England. Instead he made peace with Edmund. Canute took the north and midlands while Edmund took the south. However Edmund conveniently died in November 1016 and Canute became king of all England.

Canute turned out to be a good king. Under him trade grew rapidly and England became richer. When Canute died in 1035 England was stable and prosperous.

Canute divided England into four Earldoms, Northumbria, East Anglia, Mercia and Wessex. Each earl was very powerful.

Unfortunately after Canute's death there were seven years of fighting over who would rule England.

Then in 1042 Edward, known as Edward the Confessor became king. During his reign, which lasted until 1066 England grew increasingly prosperous. Trade grew and English towns flourished. England was stable and well governed. Edward also built Westminster Abbey.

However Edward's mother was Norman and Norman influence was increasing in England. The next king, Harold, was to be the last Saxon king.

The Norman Conquest

Edward the Confessor died without leaving an heir. William Duke of Normandy claimed that Edward once promised him he would be the next king of England. He also claimed that Harold had sworn an oath to support him after Edward’s death. If Harold ever swore such an oath it was only because he had been shipwrecked off the Norman coast and was coerced into swearing an oath.

In Anglo Saxon times the crown was not necessarily hereditary. A body of men called the Witan played a role in choosing the next king. Nobody could become king without the Witan’s support. In January 1066, after Edward's death, the Witan chose Harold, Earl of Wessex, to be the next king. Duke William of Normandy would have to obtain the crown by force.

However William was not the only contestant for the throne. Harald Hardrada, king of Norway, also claimed it. He sailed to Yorkshire with 10,000 men in 300 ships. The Earls of Northumbria and Mercia attacked him but they were defeated. However King Harold marched north with another army. He took the Norwegians by surprise and routed them at Stamford Bridge on 25 September 1066. That ended any threat from Norway.

Meanwhile the Normans built a fleet of ships to transport their men and horses across the Channel. They landed in Sussex at the end of September. the Normans then plundered English farms for food. They also burned houses. Harold rushed to the south coast. He arrived with his men on 13 October.

The Anglo Saxon army was made up of the housecarles, the king's bodyguard. They fought on foot with axes. They wore coats of chain mail called hauberks. Kite shaped shields protected them. However

most Anglo Saxon soldiers had no armor only axes and spears and round shields. They fought on foot. Their normal tactic was to form a 'shield-wall' by standing side by side. However the Anglo Saxons had no archers.

The Norman army was much more up to date. Norman knights fought on horseback. They wore chain mail and carried kite shaped shields. They fought with lances, swords and maces. Some Normans fought on foot protected by chain mail, helmets and shields. The Normans also had a force of archers.

The battle of Hastings was fought on 14 October 1066. The Anglo Saxons were assembled on Senlac Hill. The Normans formed below them. Both armies were divided into 3 wings. William also divided his army into 3 ranks. At the front were archers, in the middle soldiers on foot then mounted knights.

The Norman archers advanced and loosed their arrows but they had little effect. The foot soldiers advanced but they were repulsed. The mounted knights then charged but they were unable to break the Anglo Saxon shield wall. Then the Anglo Saxons made a disastrous mistake. Foot soldiers and knights from Brittany fled. Some of the Anglo Saxons broke formation and followed them. The Normans then turned and attacked the pursuing Anglo Saxons. They annihilated them. According to a writer called William of Poitiers the Anglo Saxons made the same mistake twice. Seeing Normans flee for a second time some men followed. The Normans turned and destroyed them.

The battle was now lost. Harold was killed with all his housecarles. The surviving Saxons melted away. William captured Dover and Canterbury. Finally he captured London and he was crowned king of England on 25 December 1066. The Anglo Saxon era was over.

William, Duke of Normandy, was crowned King of England on 25 December 1066. However at first his position was by no means secure. He had only several thousand men to control a population of about 2 million. Furthermore Swein, king of Denmark also claimed the throne of England. At first the Normans were hated invaders and they had to hold down a resentful Saxon population.

One method the Normans used to control the Saxons was building castles. They erected a mound of earth called a motte. On top they erected a wooden stockade. Around the bottom they erected another stockade. The area within was called the bailey so it was called a motte and bailey castle. The Normans soon began building stone castles. In 1078 William began building the Tower of London.

William stayed in Normandy from March to December 1067. When he returned to England his first task was to put down an uprising in the Southwest. He laid siege to Exeter. Eventually the walled town surrendered on honourable terms.

Although Southern England was now under Norman control the Midlands and North were a different matter. In 1068 William marched north through Warwick andNottingham to York. The people of York submitted to him- for the moment and William returned to London via Cambridge and York.

However in January 1069 the people of Yorkshire and Northumberland rebelled. William rushed north and crushed the rebellion However the rising in the north fanned the flames of rebellion elsewhere. There were local risings in Somerset and Dorset. There was also rebellion in the West Midlands. Furthermore a Saxon called Edgar, the grandson of Edmund Ironside, a previous Saxon ruler led a force of Irishmen to North Devon. However local Norman commanders crushed the uprisings and drove out the Irish.

It was not over yet. In the autumn of 1069 King Swein of Denmark sent an expedition to England. When the Danes arrived in Yorkshire the people of Yorkshire and rose in rebellion once again. William marched north and captured York. The Danes withdrew from northern England. This time William adopted a scorched earth policy. William was determined there would not be any more rebellions in the north. In 1069-1070 his men burned houses, crops and tools between the Humber and Durham. They also slaughtered livestock. There followed years of famine in the north when many people starved to death. This terrible crime was called the harrying of the north and it took the north of England years to recover.

Meanwhile the Danes sailed south. They plundered Peterborough and took the Isle of Ely as a base. Many Saxons joined the Danes. These Saxon rebels were led by a man called Hereward the Wake.

Changes in Society

However in June 1070 King William made a treaty with King Swein and the Danes left. The Saxons kept on fighting in the Fens but by 1071 they were

forced to surrender. Hereward escaped. William was now in control of all of England

After the Norman Conquest almost all Saxon nobles lost their land. William confiscated it and gave it to his own followers. They held their land in return for providing soldiers for the king for so many days a year.

William also changed the church in England. In those days the church was rich and powerful and the king needed its support. William replaced senior Saxon clergymen with men loyal to himself. Lanfranc, an Italian, replaced Stigand, the Saxon Archbishop of Canterbury. (With the agreement of the Pope). Lanfranc then deposed Saxon bishops and abbots and replaced them with Normans.

Among the lower ranks of society there were also changes. In late Saxon times the peasants were losing their freedom. This process continued under the Normans. On the other hand slavery declined. (It died out by the middle of the 12th century).

In 1085 William decided to carry out a huge survey of his kingdom to find out how much wealth it contained. The result was the Domesday Book of 1086.

William died in 1087 and he was succeeded by his son, also called William (he is sometimes called William Rufus because of his reddish complexion). His brother Robert became Duke of Normandy.

William the Conqueror was a ruthless man. However a writer of the time did say this about him; 'he kept good law'. The eleventh century was a lawless age when a strong ruler who kept order was admired.

William Rufus

Rufus was definitely not a supporter of the church and was deeply unpopular with the clergy. Among other things they criticized him and his courtiers for having long hair. (In his father's day short hair was the fashion). The clergy thought long hair was effeminate.

However in many ways Rufus was a capable king. Under him the barons were in an awkward position because most of them held land in Normandy as well as in England. Many of them wanted a single man to rule both. So in 1088 there was a rebellion in eastern England. The rebels hoped to dispose of Rufus and make his brother Robert ruler of both England and Normandy. However Rufus crushed the rebellion. A second rebellion in 1095 was also crushed.

Meanwhile Rufus captured the area we now called Cumbria from the Scots (until his reign it was part of Scotland). Rufus also forced the Scottish king to submit to him as his feudal overlord.

William Rufus was hit by an arrow while hunting in the New Forest. We will never know for certain if it was an accident or (as seems more likely) he was murdered.

England in the 12th Century

Following the 'accidental' death of William Rufus his brother Henry seized the royal treasure in Winchester and was crowned king of England. His brother Robert became Duke of Normandy.

Henry I was born in 1068 and he was well educated. When he seized the throne he issued a charter promising to rule justly. He also gained favor with his Saxon subjects by marrying Edith, a descendant of Edmund Ironside. Very importantly he also had the support of the church.

Henry proved to be a capable monarch. He also had many illegitimate children but he only had one legitimate son called William. In 1119 the king of France recognized William as the heir to the English throne and heir to the Dukedom of Normandy. However William drowned in 1120 when his ship, the white ship, sank. Henry was left without an heir. Before he died in 1135 Henry made the barons promise to accept his daughter Matilda as queen.

When Henry died of food poisoning at the age of 67 many barons felt a woman could not rule England and they supported Henry's nephew Stephen. So Stephen was crowned king of England. Yet Matilda would not give up her claim to the throne and she had many supporters too. As a result a long civil war began in 1135, which went on till 1154. These years were called the 'nineteen long winters'.

Fighting only ended when, shortly before his death, Stephen agreed to recognize Matilda's son Henry as his heir. Following Stephen's death in 1154 Matilda's son became King Henry II. He proved to be a strong and capable ruler.

Henry II was the first Plantagenet king. He was born at Le Mans in France in 1133. He was a highly educated man known for his violent temper.

However Henry did not just rule England. He also ruled large parts of France. From 1150 he was Duke of Normandy. From 1151 he was Count of Anjou. By marrying Eleanor of Aquitaine he became the Lord of that part

of France. Later he also became ruler of Brittany. As an adult Henry spent more time in France than he did in England.

Henry proved to be a strong king. During the long civil war many barons had built illegal castles. Henry had them demolished. Furthermore Henry reformed the law. He appointed judges who traveled around the country holding trials called assizes for serious offences.

However clergymen had the right to be tried in their own courts. The penalties were often very lenient. Henry felt that was unfair and he tried to force the clergy to allow themselves to be tried in his courts. Not surprisingly they resisted. So Henry made his friend Thomas Becket Archbishop of Canterbury. However as soon as Becket was appointed he refused to submit to the king's wishes.

In 1170, while Henry was in Normandy he lost his temper and shouted 'will no-one rid me of this turbulent priest?'. Four knights took him at his word and they went to England and killed Becket in Canterbury Cathedral. Public opinion was horrified by the murder. Eventually Henry was forced to do penance. He walked barefoot through Canterbury while monks lashed his bare back.

Henry also had trouble from his sons because he refused to give them any real power. In 1173-74 Henry faced a rebellion by his four eldest sons assisted by their mother. Henry put down the rebellions and he forgave his sons. However his wife was held a prisoner for the rest of Henry's reign.

In 1189 Henry faced another rebellion. This time his youngest son, John joined the rebellion. That broke his heart and Henry died in 1189.

Richard I was born in 1157. In his own time he was a popular king because he was a successful warrior. However he neglected his kingdom to fight in foreign wars.

Saladin had captured Jerusalem in 1187 and Richard was determined to win it back. He left England as soon as he could in 1190. He arrived in the Holy Land in 1191. Richard had some success but he failed to capture Jerusalem, the main prize. In 1192 he made a treaty with Saladin.

However on his journey home he was imprisoned by the Duke of Austria. Richard's subjects were forced to pay a huge ransom to release him (in 1194). After his release Richard returned to England but he soon left for Normandy. He never saw England again. While besieging a castle Richard was hit by a crossbow bolt. He died in 1199 and was followed by his brother John.

England in the 13th Century

John proved to be a failure. Between 1202 and 1204 the king of France managed to capture most of the lands in France held by John. Afterwards John was given the nickname soft sword. He also, in 1205, began an argument with the Pope over who should be the new Archbishop of Canterbury, John's choice or the Pope's. As a result in 1208 the Pope place England under an interdict, which meant that religious services could not be held. In 1209 he excommunicated John. Finally, in 1213, John was forced to submit.

Meanwhile John alienated many of his subjects. They claimed that he ruled like a tyrant ignoring feudal law. He was accused to extorting money from people, selling offices, increasing taxes and creating new ones whenever he wished. Matters came to a head after John tried to recapture his lost lands in France in 1214 but failed. The barons patience was exhausted. Finally in 1215 civil war broke out. In June 1215 John was forced to accept a charter known as Magna Carta. The charter was meant to stop the abuses. It stated that the traditional rights and privileges of the church must be upheld. It also protected the rights and privileges of the aristocracy. Merchants who lived in towns were also mentioned. However ordinary people were overlooked.

However Magna Carta did uphold an important principle. English kings could not rule arbitrarily. They had to obey English laws and English customs the same as other men. Furthermore Magna Carta laid down that no free man could be arrested, imprisoned or dispossessed without the lawful judgment of his peers or without due process of law.

A history of English government

John had no intention of keeping the terms of Magna Carta so he appealed to the Pope who declared he was not bound by it. Rebellion broke out again and this time the rebel barons invited a French prince to come and rule England. However John conveniently died in October 1216.

However John did achieve something during his reign. He founded the port of Liverpool.

John was succeeded by his nephew Henry. He was crowned in great haste in Gloucester by the Bishop of Winchester. (The Archbishop of Canterbury was in Rome). Henry III was only 9 years old in 1216 and at first two regents ruled on his behalf. The first problem was the French prince Louis, who had been invited by rebel barons to come and be king of England. However in 1217 Louis was forced to leave.

Henry began to rule in his own right in 1227 and he soon alienated the barons by ignoring their traditional rights and privileges. Worse, in 1254 the pope was fighting in Sicily. Henry III offered to fund the pope's wars if the pope agreed to let his son, Edmund, become king of Sicily. The pope agreed but Henry failed to provide the promised money.

In 1258 he turned to his barons for help. They were infuriated by his scheming and refused to do anything unless Henry agreed to a new charter known as the provisions of Oxford.

At first Henry reluctantly agreed but in 1260 he renounced the provisions. Civil war resulted and in 1264 rebels led by Simon de Monfort defeated and captured the king at the battle of Lewes. They also captured his eldest son Edward. Simon de Monfort called a parliament made up of representatives from each county and each borough. It was the first English parliament.

However Edward escaped and in 1265 he defeated the barons at the battle of Evesham in Worcestershire.

By then Henry was becoming senile so Edward took control of the government until his father's death in 1272.

Although he was not a great king politically Henry III was a patron of the arts. He rebuilt Westminster Abbey. Furthermore during his reign England's first university,Oxford, was founded.

Edward I was 33 when he became king. He had already taken part in a crusade in 1270-71 and was gaining a reputation as a warrior. However Edward was determined to rule not only England but also all of Britain.

Llewellyn the Prince of Wales was summoned to pay homage to King Edward several times but each time he made some excuse. In 1276 Edward declared him a rebel and sent an army to Wales. In 1277 Llewellyn was forced to accept a peace treaty by which he lost much of his territory. In 1282 the Welsh rebelled but in 1283 the rebellion was crushed and Edward became the ruler of Wales. In 1301 Edward made his son Prince of Wales.

In 1290 Edward expelled all Jews from England. Also in 1290 Queen Eleanor died at Harby in Nottinghamshire. Edward erected crosses at each of the places where her coffin rested on its way to Westminster Abbey.

Meanwhile in 1286 King Alexander III of Scotland died. His heir was his 2-year-old granddaughter. However she died in 1290 leaving the Scottish throne vacant. There were two claimants, John Balliol and Robert Bruce.

King Edward (also known as long shanks because of his height) offered to mediate and decide who should rule. He chose John Balliol. However Edward was determined to make the Scottish king his vassal. Naturally the Scots objected. So in 1296 Edward invaded Scotland. He defeated the Scots and deposed John.

William Wallace led another rebellion in Scotland in 1297 but he was captured and executed in 1305.

Meanwhile in England Edward called the model parliament in 1290. As well as lords it contained 2 knights from each shire and 2 representatives of each borough.

Edward I died of dysentery in 1307. He was 68.

England in the 14th Century

From the start Edward II alienated the barons by showering gifts and honors on his or lover Piers Gaveston. As soon as he became king Edward made Gaveston Earl of Cornwall (a title with rich estates). Normally a member of the royal family was given the title and the barons were very annoyed.

Furthermore in 1307 Gaveston married the king's niece.

In 1308 Edward II married Princess Isabella of France in Boulogne. However before he left the country for France Edward made Gaveston regent to rule England in his absence.

Twice the barons forced Edward to banish Gaveston but both times he returned. Finally in 1312 some barons kidnapped Gaveston and had him beheaded.

The in 1314 Edward II suffered a total defeat at the hands of the Scots at Bannockburn. The battle assured Scottish independence and in 1323 Edward was forced to make a truce with the Scots.

Finally Isabella fled to France. With her lover Roger Mortimer, a rebel English Earl she plotted her husband's downfall. In 1326 Isabella and Roger led an army from France. The English people welcomed them and King Edward II was taken prisoner. In January 1327 Edward abdicated in favor of his son. Edward II was murdered in September 1327.

Meanwhile on 1 February 1327 his son Edward III was crowned. However he did not rule until 1330 when he staged a coup. In October, with friends,

he entered Nottingham Castle through a secret tunnel. He entered his mother's bedroom and arrested her lover Mortimer.

In 1337 Edward claimed the throne of France. War began in 1338. The French raided Southampton. Then on 24 July 1340 the English annihilated the French fleet off Sluys. English longbow men rained arrows down onto the French sailors. Men with swords, axes and spears fought hand to hand.

To finance his wars the king had to raise taxes and to do that he needed parliament's co-operation. As a result parliament became more powerful during his reign. In 1340 the Commons and the Lords began meeting separately.

Edward continued to have success in war. On 26 August 1346 the French were crushed by English longbow men at Crecy. Then on 17 October 1346 the Scots were severely defeated at Neville's Cross near Durham. The English army was led by William La Zouche, Archbishop of York and David II of Scotland was captured.

However in 1348-49 disaster struck. The Black Death reached England and it killed about 1/3 of the population. Afterwards there was a severe shortage of labor and as a result wages rose. Men began to move from village to village to get better wages, undermining the institution of serfdom. Parliament tried to peg wages at their 1349 level. The measure did not work and only caused resentment among the peasants.

One of the victims of the plague was the king's daughter, Princess Joan, who died in Bordeaux. The Black Death was no respecter of persons.

Despite his loss King Edward continued to beat the French. On 19 September 1346 the English won another great victory at Poitiers and the French king was captured. In 1360 the French were made to accept a humiliating peace treaty and pay a ransom for their king. Finally Edward III died in 1377.

Richard II was just 10 years old when he was crowned. In 1381 he was faced with the peasants revolt. It was sparked off by a poll tax.

On 13 July the rebels marched on London and sympathizers opened the gates to them. The king and his ministers took refuge in the tower of London while the rebels opened the prisons and looted the house of John of Gaunt, an unpopular noble. On 14 July the king met the rebels at Moorfield and made them various promises, none of which he kept.

The next day the king went to mass at Westminster and while he was away the rebels broke into the tower of London and killed the Archbishop of Canterbury and several royal officials who had taken refuge there. They confronted the king on his way back from mass. The mayor of London stabbed the leader of the rebels, fearing he was going to attack the king. Afterwards the king managed to calm the rebels and persuaded them to go home by making various promises.

The rebels demanded the end of serfdom. At first the king promised to grant it. However as soon as the rebels dispersed he broke all his promises. About 200 of the ringleaders were hanged.

However serfdom continued to decline of its own accord and by the 15th century it had virtually disappeared.

However the powerful men in England hated Richard's close friends. In 1388 the so-called Merciless Parliament had several of them executed. However in 1397 Richard II got his revenge. He executed two of his enemies. In 1398 he banished Henry Bolingbroke, Earl of Hereford. However in 1398 Richard went to Ireland and while he was away Bolingbroke staged a coup. Richard II was deposed and Bolingbroke then became Henry III. Richard II died in 1400. (He was probably murdered).

England in the 15th Century

Henry IV reigned until 1413. It was a troubled reign. Henry IV faced a major revolt in Wales at the beginning of the 15th century, which he eventually crushed.

His son, Henry V, succeeded him in 1413. This king claimed the throne of France and in 1415 he went to war. On 25 October 1415 the English longbow men won a great victory over the French at Agincourt. In 1416 the Battle of the Seine gave the English control of the Channel. Henry was a hero to his people. However he was cruel. He used cruelty to try and force the French into submission. In 1418 Henry captured Caen and his men massacred 2,000 civilians. Henry once said 'war without fire is like sausage without mustard'.

In 1419 Henry V captured Rouen, the capital of Normandy and by the treaty of Troyes, 1420, he was recognized as heir to the French throne. However Henry died in 1422.

Moreover after his death the French began to win the war. In 1429 the French lifted the siege of Orleans. This proved to be a turning point and afterwards English fortunes waned.

In 1443 Henry VI sent the Duke of Somerset to France with an army and told him to 'use most cruel and mortal war'. However by 1453 the English had been driven out of all of France except Calais.

The Wars of The Roses

Worse England was plunged into a series of civil wars called the Wars of the Roses. In 1454 Edward VI was mentally ill and was incapable of ruling. The Duke of York became regent. However at the end of 1454 Edward VI recovered and in January 1455 York was forced to step down as regent. However York was unwilling to give up power and he gathered an army. On 22 may 1455 the forces of York (known as Yorkists) and the forces of the King (known as Lancastrians) fought a battle at St Albans. Afterwards the king was taken prisoner and the Yorkists ruled in his name.

(The Yorkist symbol was the white rose and the Lancastrian symbol was the red rose hence the name of the wars).

However in 1459 the queen gathered an army to fight the Yorkists. The two sides clashed in September 1459. Afterwards the Yorkists took Ludlow. However when they were offered a pardon most of the Yorkist soldiers deserted and their leaders fled abroad. In November 1459 Parliament condemned the Yorkist leaders as traitors (meaning the crown would confiscate their property).

Not surprisingly the Yorkist leaders returned to England with an army in June 1460. They landed at Sandwich and many people in Kent and London went over to their side. They fought a battle at Northampton on 10 July 1460 and captured Henry VI. However in 1461 Queen Margaret, Henry's wife, won a battle at Wakefield on 30 December 1460. The Duke of York was killed. Edward of March took over the Yorkist cause and he proclaimed himself Edward IV on 4 March 1461. He won a great victory at Towton on 29 March 1461 and for some years his rule was secure.

However Edward alienated his supporter the Earl of Warwick (The Kingmaker) by not allowing him enough power. Warwick turned against him and won a battle at Edgecote on 26 July 1469. In 1470 Edward was forced to flee abroad but he returned the next year.

Yorkists and Lancastrians fought at Tewkesbury on 10 May 1471. The battle proved to be a great Yorkist victory. Afterwards Edward ruled unchallenged until his death in 1483.

He was succeeded by his 12-year-old son Edward V. However before he could be crowned the Bishop of Bath and Wells announced that his parents

marriage was invalid. Edward was therefore illegitimate and he could not inherit the throne. Both Edward and his younger brother Richard were imprisoned in the tower and later murdered.

Meanwhile the throne was offered to his uncle who became Richard III. However Richard's position was undermined when his only son Eustace died. Henry Tudor landed in Wales and led his army to Bosworth field where Richard III was killed in battle. A new dynasty began.

In the late 15th century England was torn by a series of civil wars between two dynasties, the Yorkists and the Lancastrians. The wars ended in 1485 when Henry Tudor won the battle of Bosworth and gained the throne of England.

Henry Tudor (1457-1509) was crowned Henry VII on 30 October 1485 beginning a new dynasty. In January 1486 he married Elizabeth of York, daughter of Edward IV, uniting the dynasties of York and Lancaster.

However the Yorkists were unwilling to accept the situation. In 1487 they attempted a rebellion. They claimed that a man named Lambert Simnel was Earl of Warwick and tried to put him on the throne. The Yorkists gathered an army in Ireland and landed in Cumbria. However they were crushed at the battle of Stoke on 16 June 1487. Simnel was captured. Henry VII could have executed him but instead he made Simnel a menial servant in the royal kitchens.

Henry VII invaded France in 1492 but the French were preoccupied elsewhere and they quickly made peace. By a treaty of November 1492 they agreed to pay the English money and the French king agreed not to support any pretenders to the English throne.

Afterwards Henry VII followed a policy of peace with France. Wars were expensive and Henry was a prudent man who avoided extravagant expenditure.

Henry also strengthened government by creating the Court of Star Chamber (so called because it met in a room with stars painted on the ceiling). The court dealt with 'unlawful maintenance, giving of licences, signs and tokens, great riots, unlawful assemblies'.

Then in 1497 Henry VII faced two rebellions. First rebels from the West Country marched on London. However they were crushed by a royal army at Blackheath on 17 June 1497.

Later that year a man named Perkin Warbeck claimed to be Richard, the nephew of Richard III (one of the two princes who was murdered in the Tower of London). He called himself Richard IV. He landed in Cornwall in September 1497. However royal forces quickly defeated the rebellion and Warbeck was captured in October. He was finally executed in 1499.

Life in the Middle Ages

Meanwhile Henry VII was keen to make an alliance with Spain. In 1501 his oldest son Arthur married Catherine of Aragon. However Arthur died in April 1502.

Henry VII's son Henry now became heir to the throne. Henry married Catherine of Aragon, his brother's widow on 11 June 1509. Normally such a marriage would not have been allowed but the Pope gave a special dispensation. Meanwhile in 1503 Henry VII's daughter Margaret married James IV of Scotland.

Among his other achievements Henry VII began the dockyard in Portsmouth. He also financed an expedition by Cabot to the New World. In 1497 Cabot found rich fishing grounds off Newfoundland.

Henry VII died on 21 April 1509.

England in the 16th Century

Henry VIII was a clever and active young man. He spoke Latin and French fluently. He also performed and composed music. He was good at tennis, wrestling, and casting the bar (throwing an iron bar). Henry also enjoyed hunting, jousting and hawking. He also liked archery and bowling.

Henry was also keen to revive the glories of the previous centuries when England conquered much of France. In 1511 he launched a warship the Mary Rose. In 1514 he launched the Henry Grace a Dieu.

Meanwhile in 1512 he went to war with the French. In August 1513 the English won the Battle of the Spurs. (It was so called because the French cavalry fled without fighting). However in 1514 Henry made peace with the French and his sister Mary married the king of France.

Meanwhile the Scots invaded England to support their French allies. However the Scots were crushed at the battle of Flodden and their king was killed.

In 1515 the Pope made Thomas Wolsey (1474-1530) a Cardinal. The same year the king made him Chancellor.

In 1520 Henry met the king of France at the Field of the Cloth of Gold. Determined to impress the French King Henry had a temporary palace made and it was decorated with very expensive velvet, satin and cloth of gold. Not to be outdone the French king erected tents of gold brocade.

At the beginning of 1511 Henry had a son. Unfortunately the boy died after only 7 weeks. Catherine had four miscarriages and she only had one child who lived - a girl named Mary born in 1516. Henry was desperate to have a son and heir and Catherine could not give him one.

Henry came to believe that God was punishing him for marrying his brother's widow. Normally that would not have been allowed but the Pope granted him a special dispensation. Henry now argued that the marriage to Catherine was not valid and should be annulled (declared null and void). Not surprisingly Catherine was totally opposed to any move to dissolve the marriage.

Henry asked the Pope to annul the marriage. However the Pope would not co-operate. (He could not because Catherine's uncle Charles V of Spain had captured Rome and the pope was his prisoner). In 1529 he formed an ecclesiastical court headed by Cardinals Wolsey and Campeggio to look into the matter. However the court could not reach a verdict. (Campeggio had orders from the Pope to see that it didn't).

In the autumn of 1529 Henry sacked Wolsey and banished him to York. In 1530 Wolsey was accused of treason and was summoned to London to answer the charges but he died on the way.

Thomas More replaced him as chancellor. More ruthlessly persecuted Protestants. Thomas More also strongly opposed the proposed relaxation of the anti-heresy laws. In 1530 a Protestant named Thomas Hitton was burned at Maidstone. Thomas More called him 'the Devil's stinking martyr'. However More resigned in 1532 and was replaced by Thomas Cromwell.

Meanwhile in 1527 Henry began a relationship with Anne Boleyn. Henry was keen to get rid of Catherine and marry Anne. In 1529 Henry called the 'Reformation Parliament'. Ties between England and Rome were cut one by one. Finally he lost patience with the Pope and rejected his authority. In 1533 he obtained a decree of nullity from Thomas Cranmer, Archbishop of Canterbury. (He had already secretly married Anne Boleyn).

However Anne had two miscarriages. Henry tired of her and in April 1536 she was accused of committing adultery with 5 men, including her own brother. Anne and the five men were all executed in May 1536. Immediately afterwards Henry married Jane Seymour.

Jane did give Henry one son, Edward, but she died on 23 October 1537, leaving Henry devastated.

The Henrician Reformation

Meanwhile in 1534 the Act of Supremacy made Henry the head of the Church of England. The same year the Act of Succession was passed. It declared that Anne Boleyn’s child would be heir to the throne.

Although Henry broke with Rome he kept the Catholic religion essentially intact. However in 1538 Chancellor Thomas Cromwell did make some minor reforms. In 1538 he ordered that every church should have an English translation of the Bible. He also ordered that any idolatrous images should be removed from churches.

Nevertheless in 1539 Henry passed the Act of Six Articles, which laid down the beliefs of the Church of England. The Six Articles preserved the old religion mainly intact.

However from 1545 Latin was replaced by English as the language of church services.

Meanwhile Henry dissolved the monasteries. Parliament agreed to dissolve the small ones in 1536. The large ones followed in 1539-1540.

The monks were given pensions and many of them married and learned trades. many monastery buildings became manor houses. Others were dismantled and their stones were used for other buildings. The vast estates owned by the monasteries were sold and fearing foreign invasion Henry used the wealth to build a network of new castles around the coast.

Changes made by Henry caused resentment in some areas. In 1536 a rebellion began in Louth. (Although it was sparked off by religion the rebels had other grievances). The rebels marched to Doncaster but no pitched battles were fought between them and the royal forces. Instead Henry persuaded them to disperse by making various promises. However in 1537 Henry hanged the leaders.

Meanwhile Henry looked for another wife. Chancellor Cromwell suggested making an alliance with the Duchy of Cleves. The Duke of Cleves had two sisters and Henry sent the painter Holbein to make portraits of them both. After seeing a portrait of Anne of Cleves Henry decided to marry her.

However when Henry met Anne for the first time he was repulsed. Nevertheless Henry married her in January 1540 but the marriage was not

consummated. Henry divorced Anne six months later but she was given a generous settlement of houses and estates. Anne of Cleves lived quietly until her death in 1557.

However Cromwell was accused to treason and executed in July 1540.

Next, in 1540, Henry married Catherine Howard. However in December 1541 Henry was given proof that Catherine was unfaithful. Catherine was beheaded on 13 February 1542. Then in 1543 Henry married Catherine Parr (1512-1548).

Meanwhile in 1536 Henry had an accident jousting. Afterwards he stopped taking exercise and became obese. Worse a painful ulcer appeared on his leg, which his doctors could not cure.

Nevertheless Henry went to war again. In 1542 he crushed the Scots at Solway Moss. In 1543 Henry went to war with the French. He captured Boulogne but was forced to return to England to deal with the threat of French invasion. The French sent a fleet to the Solent (between Portsmouth and the Isle of Wight). They also landed men on the Isle of Wight. In a naval battle the Mary Rose was lost but the French fleet were forced to withdraw.

Henry VIII died on 28 January 1547. He was 55.

Henry was succeeded by his 9-year-old son Edward. Since he was too young to rule his uncle, Edward Seymour, Duke of Somerset, was made protector and ruled in his stead.

Somerset was a devout Protestant as was Archbishop Cranmer. They began to turn England into a truly Protestant country. The Act of Six Articles was repealed and in 1549 the first Book of Common Prayer, the first Anglican prayer book was issued. Meanwhile priests were allowed to marry and pictures or statues of Mary or the saints were removed from churches.

Unfortunately England now faced an economic crisis. There was rapid inflation in the mid-16th century. Also the population was rising. In the 15th century there was a shortage of workers, which pushed wages up. In the 16th century the situation was reversed and laborer's wages fell.

In 1549 Edward faced two rebellions. In parts of the Southwest the changes in religion provoked the so-called Prayer Book Rebellion. In Norfolk economic grievances led to a rebellion led by Robert Kett (the rebels took control of Norwich). However both rebellions were crushed.

The rebellions led to the fall of Somerset. He was replaced by the ruthless John Dudley, Earl of Warwick (Later Duke of Northumberland). The unfortunate Somerset was sent to the tower and in January 1552 he was executed on a trumped up charge of treason. In 1552 a second prayer book was issued. This one was more radical than the first.

Meanwhile England fought the Scots again. Henry VIII had suggested that his son Edward should marry the king of Scotland's daughter Mary. However the Scottish king rejected the idea. Somerset revived the plan and he sent an army to Scotland to force the Scots to agree. The English won a battle at Pinkie, near Edinburgh, in 1547. However the Scots simply sent 6-year-old Mary to France to marry the French kings son.

However Edward was sickly and it was clear he was not going to live long. The Duke of Northumberland was alarmed as the next in line for the throne, Henry's daughter Mary, was a Catholic.

Northumberland married his son to Lady Jane Grey, a descendant of Henry VII's sister Mary. When Edward died in 1553 Northumberland had Lady Jane Grey crowned Queen. However the people rose in favor of Mary and Lady Jane Grey was imprisoned.

Mary was Catherine of Aragon's daughter. Consequently when Catherine fell from favor Mary suffered. From 1531 she was kept separate from her mother. In 1533 when Anne Boleyn had a daughter, Elizabeth, Mary was asked to accept that her parent's marriage was not valid and so she was illegitimate. Not surprisingly she refused and so she was sent to be lady-in-waiting to her half-sister Elizabeth.

However in 1536, after her mother's execution, perhaps fearing for her life, she agreed her parents marriage was unlawful. Henry began to treat her more generously and in 1544 a statute restored her as heir to the throne after her half brother Edward.

Mary was a devout Catholic and she hated the religious changes of Henry VIII and Edward VI. When Edward became king she continued to attend Catholic mass in her own private chapel. When Edward ordered her to desist she appealed to her cousin, Emperor Charles V. He threatened war with England if she was not left alone.

When she became queen Mary was surprisingly lenient. The Duke of Northumberland was executed in August 1553. However Lady Jane was, at first, spared.

However Mary married Phillip of Spain in July 1554. The marriage was very unpopular and in Kent Sir Thomas Wyatt led a rebellion. He was defeated but Mary was forced to execute Lady Jane, fearing her enemies might try and place Jane on the throne.

Mary was determined to undo the religious changes of the two previous reigns. Catholic mass was restored in December 1553. In 1554 married clergy were ordered to leave their wives or lose their posts. Then, in November 1554 the Act of supremacy was repealed.

In 1555 Mary began burning Protestants. The first was John Rogers who was burned on 4 February 1555. Over the next 3 years nearly 300 Protestants were executed. (Most of them were from Southeast England where Protestantism had spread most widely). Many more Protestants fled abroad.

However Mary's cruelty simply gained sympathy for the Protestants and alienated ordinary people. She simply drove people away from Roman Catholicism.

Furthermore in 1557 England went to war with France. In 1558 the English lost Calais, which they had hung onto since the end of the Hundred Years War in 1453. It was a major blow to English prestige.

Mary died on 17 November 1558. She was 42.

ELIZABETH I

The Religious Settlement

Elizabeth I was crowned in January 1559. She restored Protestantism to England. The Act of Supremacy was restored in April 1559 and further Acts replaced Catholic practices.

All but one of the English bishops refused to take the Oath of Supremacy (recognizing Elizabeth as head of the Church of England) and were removed from their posts. About one third of the parish clergy were also removed.

However most of the population (not all) accepted the religious settlement. People could be fined for not attending church. Nevertheless some Catholics continued to practice their religion in secret.

A history of Christianity in England

In 1568 Mary Queen of Scots was forced to flee her country. She fled to England and Elizabeth held her prisoner for 19 years.

In November 1569 Catholics in the north of England rebelled. The Catholic rebels hoped to murder Elizabeth and replace her with Mary Queen of Scots. However the uprising was quickly crushed and the last battle took place on 19 February 1570. Afterwards many of the rebels were hanged.

Meanwhile in 1570 the pope issued a bull of excommunication and deposition. This papal document decreed that Elizabeth I was excommunicated (excluded from the church) and deposed. Her Catholic subjects no longer had to obey her.

In 1581 the fines for non-attendance at Church of England services (aimed at Catholics) were increased (although in some areas they were not imposed). In 1585 all Catholic priests were ordered to leave England within 40 days or face a charge of treason. Meanwhile in 1583 some Catholics attempted to murder the queen. However the Throckmorton Plot as it was called was foiled. In 1586 came another Catholic plot to kill the queen, called the Babington Plot. It was also foiled. However most English Catholics remained loyal to the Queen when the Spanish Armada sailed in 1588.

Elizabeth's Foreign Policy

In 1562 John Hawkins started the English slave trade. He transported slaves from Guinea to the West Indies.

However in 1568 the Spaniards attacked Hawkins and his men while their ships were in harbor in Mexico. Hawkins and his cousin Francis Drake then began an undeclared war against Spain. They attacked Spanish ships transporting treasure across the Atlantic and stole their cargoes.

In the years 1577-1580 Drake led an expedition, which sailed around the world. Drake also stole huge amounts of gold and silver from the Spanish colonies but Elizabeth turned a blind eye.

Meanwhile the Spanish king ruled the Netherlands. However the Dutch turned Protestant and in 1568 they rebelled against the Catholic king's rule. Elizabeth was reluctant to become involved but from 1578 onward the Spaniards were winning. In 1585 Elizabeth was forced to send an army to the Netherlands.

Then in 1586 there was a plot to murder the queen called the Babington Conspiracy. Because of her involvement Mary Queen of Scots was beheaded on 8 February 1587.

Meanwhile Phillip II of Spain was planning to invade England. However in April 1587 Drake sailed into Cadiz Harbor and destroyed part of the fleet that was preparing to invade. Drake boasted that he had 'singed the king of Spain's beard'.

Even so the next year the invasion fleet was ready and it sailed in July 1588. The Spanish Armada consisted of 130 ships and about 27,000 men. It was commanded by the Duke of Medina Sidonia.

At that time the Spanish king ruled a large part of Northeast Europe. The plan was to send the armada to Calais to meet a Spanish army grouped there. The armada would then transport them to England.

The English fleet was gathered at Plymouth. When the Spanish arrived they sailed in a crescent formation. The English harassed the Spanish ships from behind. In Drake's words they 'plucked the feathers'. However the English were unable to do serious damage to the armada until they reached Calais.

When the armada arrived the Spanish troops in Calais were not ready to embark and there was nothing the armada could do except wait at anchor in the harbor. However the English prepared fire ships. They loaded ships with pitch and loaded guns, which fired when the flames touched the gunpowder, and set them on fire then steered them towards the Spanish ships. In panic the armada broke formation. Spanish ships scattered.

Once the Spanish ships broke formation they were vulnerable and the English attacked doing considerable damage.

Finally the armada sailed north around Scotland and west of Ireland. However they sailed into terrible storms and many of their remaining ships were wrecked. Eventually the Spanish lost 53 ships. The English lost none.

Despite the failure of the armada the war went on until 1604 but neither side was able to gain a decisive advantage.

Meanwhile Elizabeth I died on 24 March 1603.

Life in the 16th Century

England in the 17th Century

In 1603 King James VI of Scotland became James I of England. He ended the long war with Spain in 1604. He was also responsible for a new translation of the Bible, the King James Version, which was published in 1611.

However James came into conflict with parliament. The cost of government (and of fighting wars) was rising but the government's income did not keep up. Rents from royal lands could only be raised when the lease ended. Parliament was therefore in a strong position. MPs could refuse to raise money for the king unless he bowed to their demands. So the king was forced to look for new ways to raise money.

The situation was complicated by disagreements over religion. Many MPs were puritans. They wished to 'purify' the Church of England of its remaining Catholic elements. Although he was a Protestant James disagreed with many of their views.

Furthermore James believed in the divine right of kings. In other words God had chosen him to rule. James was willing to work with parliament but he believed ultimateauthority rested with him. James I died in 1625.

Like his father Charles I was firm believer in the divine right of kings. From the start he quarreled with parliament.

At the beginning of his reign Charles I married a French Roman Catholic princess, Henrietta Maria. However marrying a Catholic was very unpopular move with the Puritans.

Charles also fought unsuccessful wars. In 1625 he sent an expedition to Cadiz, which ended in failure. Parliament strongly criticized his policies and refused to raise extra taxes to pay for the Spanish war.

Charles angrily dissolved parliament and raised money by levying forced loans. He imprisoned, without trial, anyone who refused to pay.

In 1627 an expedition was sent to La Rochelle in France. It was led by the king's favorite the Duke of Buckingham and it ended in failure.

By 1628 the cost of wars meant Charles was desperate for money and he was forced to call parliament. This time MPs drew up the Petition of Right, which forbade the levying of taxes without parliament's consent. It also forbade arbitrary imprisonment.

However king and parliament clashed over religion. By law everybody was supposed to belong to the Church of England (though in practice there were many Roman Catholics especially in the Northwest).

In 1629 William Laud was Bishop of London. He was strongly opposed to the Puritans and Charles supported him wholeheartedly.

Parliament criticized Laud and Charles called it impertinence. (He did not think parliament had any right to do so). In return parliament refused to grant the king taxes for more than one year. Charles sent a messenger to parliament to announce it was dissolved. However members of the Commons physically held the speaker down until they had passed three resolutions about Laud and religion. Only then did they disband.

In 1633 Laud was made Archbishop of Canterbury. Laud was determined to suppress the Puritans and he sent commissioners into almost every parish to make sure the local churches came into line.

Furthermore the Puritans had their own preachers called lecturers. These men were independent of the Church of England. Laud tried to put a stop to these preachers - with some success.

Most of all Laud emphasized the ceremony and decoration in churches. These measures were strongly opposed by the Puritans. They feared it was the 'thin edge of the wedge' and Catholicism would eventually be restored in England.

Meanwhile for 11 years Charles ruled without parliament. This period was called the eleven years tyranny. Charles had various ways of raising money without parliament's consent. In the Middle Ages men with property worth a certain amount of money a year were supposed to serve the king as knights. Under this old law Charles fined their descendants for not doing so. Furthermore all wasteland had once been royal land. In time some landowners had taken parts of it into cultivation. Charles fined them for doing so. Using these dubious methods by 1635 Charles was solvent.

However matters came to a head in 1637. In 1634 the king began levying ship money. This was a traditional tax raised in coastal towns to enable the king to build ships when more were needed. However in 1635 Charles began levying ship money in inland areas.

A Buckinghamshire squire called John Hampden refused to pay. In 1637 he was taken to court and although he lost his case he became a hero. Ship money was very unpopular with the propertied class.

Worse in 1637 Charles and Laud enraged the Scots by proposing religious changes in Scotland. Laud and Charles tried to introduce a new prayer book in Scotland. There were riots in Edinburgh. In February 1638 Scottish nobles and ministers signed a document called the National Covenant.

Charles made two attempts to bring the Scots to heel. Both were humiliating failures. The first Bishops War of 1639 ended with the peace of Berwick but it was only a breathing space for both sides.

In April 1640 Charles summoned parliament again, hoping they would agree to raise money for his Scottish campaign. Instead parliament simply discussed its many grievances. Charles dissolved parliament on 5 May and it became known as the Short parliament because it met for such a short time.

The Second Bishops War followed in 1640. In August 1640 the Scots invaded England and they captured Newcastle. Charles was forced to make peace with the Scots. By the treaty they occupied Durham and Northumberland. Charles was forced to pay their army's costs.

Finally in August 1641 Charles was forced to abandon all attempts to impose religious changes on Scotland. In return the Scots withdrew from northern England.

Meanwhile, desperate for money, Charles was forced to call parliament again in November 1640. This parliament became known as the Long Parliament.

Parliament passed the Triennial Act, which stated that parliament must be called every three years. A Dissolution Act stated that parliament could not be dissolved without its consent.

Fining people who had not obtained knighthoods was declared illegal. So was fining landowners who had encroached on royal land. Ship money was also abolished.

Parliament also took revenge on the king's hated adviser, Thomas Wentworth, Earl of Strafford. They passed a special act declaring Strafford was a traitor. The people of London took to the streets demanding his execution. Charles feared for his and his families safety and he was forced to sign the act. Strafford was executed on 12 may 1641.

Unfortunately parliament then divided. Opposition to the king was led by John Pym but many began to fear he was going too far.

In November 1641 a list of grievances called the Grand Remonstrance was drawn up but it was passed by only 11 votes. Pym then demanded that the king hand over control of the militia. For many that was a step too far. They feared that Pym might replace arbitrary royal government with something worse.

Meanwhile parliament and the country split cover religion. Some wanted to return the Church of England to the state of affairs before Laud. Others wanted to abolish bishops completely. The country was becoming dangerously divided.

In January 1642 Charles made the situation worse by highhandedly entering the Commons and attempting to arrest 5 MPs for treason. (They had already fled). No king had entered the Commons before and his actions caused outrage.

Once again Charles feared for his safety and he left London.

In March 1642 Parliament declared that its ordinances were valid laws and they did not require the royal assent.

In April 1642 king then tried to seize arms in Hull but he was refused entry to the town.

Meanwhile in London parliament began raising an army. (Although most of the House of Lords went over to the king). The king also began raising an army and he set up his standard at Nottingham in August.

The English Civil War

Parliament had several advantages. Firstly it held London and the customs dues from the port were an important source of money.

Secondly most of the Southeast and East of England supported parliament. In the 17th century they were the richest and most densely populated parts of the country. Wales, most of northern England and most of the Southwest supported the king but they were poor and thinly populated.

Thirdly the navy supported parliament and made it difficult for the king to receive help from abroad.

The first major battle took place at Edgehill near Banbury. On 23 October 1642 the parliamentarians started by firing artillery. Prince Rupert, the king's nephew then led a cavalry charge. They chased the parliamentary cavalry off the field. Then infantry then fought but neither side could gain

the upper hand. By the time the royalist cavalry returned to the field it was growing dark so the battle ended indecisively.

The king advanced towards London but he was stopped at Turnham Green on 13 November 1642.

In 1643 things went better for the king. His army won a victory at Adwalton Moor in Yorkshire in June 1643. They also won battles at Landsdown Hill near Bath and at Roundway Down in July 1643. However in September 1643 the first battle of Newbury proved indecisive. However the parliamentarians won a victory at Winceby in Lincolnshire on 11 October 1643.

Then, in September 1643, the parliamentarians persuaded the Scots to intervene on their behalf by promising to make England Presbyterian (a Presbyterian church is one organised without bishops). A Scottish army entered England in January 1644.

On 2 July 1644 the royalists were severely defeated at the battle of Marston Moor in Yorkshire. Following this battle the parliamentarians captured all of Northern England.

The parliamentarians then decided to reform their army. In December 1644 they passed the Self Denying Ordinance, which stated that all MPs (except Oliver Cromwell and his son-in-law Henry Ireton) must give up their commands. Early in 1645 parliamentary forces were reorganized and became the New Model Army.

The New Model Army crushed the royalists at the battle of Naseby in June 1645 and at Langport, near Yeovil in July 1645.

Afterwards the parliamentarians slowly gathered strength. Finally in May 1646 the king surrendered to the Scots.

The Scots eventually handed the king over to parliament. That left the problem what to do with the king? Most people did not wish to abolish the monarchy but it was difficult to keep the king but limit his power. Charles made things worse, as usual, by being obstinate and refusing to compromise.

Furthermore the army fell out with parliament. By the spring of 1647 the soldier's pay was heavily in arrears and they were not happy. In April 1647 parliament voted to disband the army and give them no more than 6 weeks pay. However the army refused to disband.

Meanwhile in December 1647 Charles made a secret agreement with the Scots. They agreed to invade England on his behalf. However Oliver Cromwell crushed an army of Scots and English royalists at Preston.

The army now felt that parliament was being too lenient with the king. They occupied London and Colonel Thomas Pride ejected about 140 members of the Commons. This action was called 'Pride's Purge'. It left a 'rump parliament' of about 60 members.

In January 1649 Charles was put on trial for treason. He was found guilty on 27 January 1649 and he was beheaded outside Whitehall on 30 January 1649.

On 17 March 1649 parliament passed an act abolishing monarchy and the House of Lords.

Under Charles I those who disagreed with the Church of England were persecuted. However following the civil war they flourished. Independent churches formed in England.

Most of parliament wanted to make the Church of England Presbyterian. Furthermore attendance at Church of England services would remain compulsory. The army disagreed. They wanted the freedom to worship as they pleased.

After the execution of Charles I the Rump Parliament continued to meet but the army effectively held power. The most powerful general was Oliver Cromwell.

However Charles II then started another war. He made an agreement with the Scots and in 1650 he landed in Scotland. Cromwell and his army advanced into Scotland and in September 1650 they crushed the Scots at Dunbar. Cromwell then crossed the Firth of Forth, leaving the road to England open.

In 1651, led by Charles II the Scots then invaded England. However very few Englishmen supported the invasion and Cromwell routed the Scottish army at Worcester in September 1651. Charles II fled. He managed to escape to France. Until 1660 Scotland was occupied by an English army.

The Rump parliament failed to undertake political and religious reforms so the army grew impatient. The army finally closed the Rump parliament in April 1653. The independent churches were asked to nominate men who they thought would be suitable MPs. The army then selected some of them to be MPs. This nominated parliament was called the Barebones

Parliament after a member called Praise-God Barbon. However it proved just as unsatisfactory as the old Rump Parliament and it was dissolved in December 1653.

A new constitution was drawn up called the Instrument of Government. Cromwell was made Lord Protector. At first he ruled with a council but in September 1654 a new parliament was called. However the Protectorate Parliament refused to accept the Instrument of Government so Cromwell dissolved it in January 1655.

Meanwhile in 1652-1654 England fought a war with the Dutch.

Then in 1655 the country was divided into 11 districts. Each district was ruled by a Major-General. However in 1656 another parliament was called. This time some members were excluded as 'unfit persons'.

In 1657 the remaining members drew up a Humble Petition and Advice to Cromwell. They suggested the old system of a parliament with two houses should be revived but this time the Lord Protector would appoint members of the upper house. They also offered Cromwell the crown. He refused but he accepted the rest of the agreement. The rule of the Major-generals ended in 1657.

However when parliament reconvened in January 1658 the members who were excluded in 1656 were allowed to take the seats. This time the members attacked the new arrangements (they would not accept the new nominated upper house) and Cromwell dissolved parliament again in February 1658.

Finally Cromwell died on 3 September 1658. He was 59.

Oliver Cromwell appointed his son Richard his successor. However Richard was a shy, unambitious man and he resigned in May 1659.

Finally in February 1660 General Monck, who commanded the English army stationed in Scotland marched south. He entered London in February 1660. Monck recalled the surviving members of the Long Parliament, which first met in 1640.

The Long Parliament voted to disband and hold fresh elections for a new parliament. This one became known as the Convention parliament.

Meanwhile, in April 1660 Charles II issued a declaration from the Dutch town of Breda. He promised a general pardon (except for the regicides who were responsible for the death of his father) and freedom of religion.

The Convention Parliament declared that the government of England should be King, Lords and Commons. Finally on 25 May 1660 Charles II landed at Dover.

Charles II was not particularly religious but as far as he had any religion he secretly leaned to Roman Catholicism. (He had to keep this very quiet as he feared the people would rebel if they found out).

Meanwhile parliament was determined to crack down on the many independent churches that had sprung up during the interregnum and make Anglicanism the state religion again.

They passed a series of acts called the Clarendon code, a series of laws to persecute non-conformists (Protestants who did not belong to the Church of England). The Corporation Act of 1661 said that all officials in towns must be members of the Church of England.

The Act of Uniformity 1662 said that all clergy must use the Book of Common Prayer. About 2,000 clergy who disagreed resigned. Furthermore the Conventicle Act of 1664 forbade unauthorized religious meetings of more than 5 people unless they were all of the same household.

Finally the Five Mile Act of 1665 forbade non-Anglican ministers to come within 5 miles of incorporated towns. (Towns with a mayor and corporation).

However these measures did not stop the non-conformists meeting or preaching.

Meanwhile England fought another was with the Dutch in 1665-1667.

In 1670 Charles made a secret treaty with Louis XIV of France. It was called the Treaty of Dover. By it Louis promised to give Charles money (so he was no longer dependent on parliament). Charles agreed to join with Louis in another war with Holland and to announce he was a Roman Catholic (Louis promised to send 6,000 men if the people rebelled when he did so).

However the war with Holland, which began in 1672, proved to be far more expensive than anticipated and the money from Louis XIV was not enough. Eventually Charles was forced to call parliament.

Meanwhile there was the question of exclusion. Charles II had no legitimate children and when he died his Catholic brother James was next in line for

the throne. Some people, led by the Earl of Shaftesbury, said James should be excluded from the succession.

Charles II was strongly opposed. In 1679 when parliament proposed to exclude James from the succession he simply dissolved parliament. In 1681 another parliament planned to exclude James. Once again Charles dismissed parliament and for the last 4 years of his reign ruled without it. Charles II died in 1685.

Despite the religious conflicts the English economy boomed in Charles II's reign. Trade and commerce thrived. Although most people still made their living from farming trade now became an increasingly important part of English life. Industries like coal and iron also expanded rapidly.

Furthermore in 1679 parliament passed the Act of Habeas Corpus forbidding imprisonment without trial.

In the late 17th century science flourished. From 1645 a group of mathematicians and philosophers began to meet to discuss scientific subjects. Charles II was interested in science so in 1662 he gave them a royal charter. They became the Royal Society of London for the advancement of Natural Knowledge.

Following the death of Charles II in 1685 his brother James became king. However Charles II's illegitimate son the Duke of Monmouth landed in Dorset and led a rebellion in Southwest England. He was proclaimed king in Taunton but his army was crushed at the battle of Sedgemoor. Afterwards George Jeffreys (1648-1689), known as the hanging judge presided over a series of trials known as the Bloody Assizes. About 300 people were hanged and hundreds more were transported to the West Indies.

James II promptly alienated the people by appointing Catholics to powerful and important positions.

In 1687 he went further and issued a Declaration of Indulgence suspending all laws against Catholics and Protestant non-Anglicans. In 1688 he ordered the Church of England clergy to read the declaration from the churches.

However in 1688 7 bishops wrote to James and asked to him to revise his policy on religion. They were arrested and put on trial for libel but they were acquitted to general rejoicing.

Worse in June 1688 James had a son. The people of England were willing to tolerate James as long as he did not have a Catholic heir. However his son would certainly be brought up a Catholic and would, of course, succeed his father.

Seven powerful nobles then stepped in. They invited the Dutchman William of Orange, husband of James's Protestant daughter Mary, to come to England with an army and promised to support him. William landed in Devon in November and in December James II fled to France.

Parliament declared that the throne was vacant. William and Mary were declared joint monarchs. (Although Mary died in 1694).

The Bill of Rights (1689) said that no Catholic could become king or queen. No king could marry a Catholic. Furthermore the king could not suspend laws or levy loans or taxes without parliament's consent.

Parliament also passed the Toleration Act in 1689. Non-conformists were allowed their own places of worship and their own teachers and preachers. However they could not hold government positions or attend university.

Life in the 17th Century

England in the 18th Century

In 1702 Queen Anne began her reign. In the same year the war of the Spanish succession began. In 1704 the great general the Duke of Marlborough, won a great victory over the French at Blenheim. Also in 1704 the British captured Gibraltar.

The Duke of Marlborough went on to win great victories at Ramillies in 1706, at Oudenarde in 1708 and at Malplaquet in 1709.

Meanwhile the Act of Union between England and Scotland was passed in 1707. From 1603 England and Scotland shared a king but they remained separate countries. The Act of Union made them one although the Scots kept their own legal system, church and educational system. Free trade was established between the two countries.

Queen Anne died in 1714. George I became king. He was also the ruler of Hanover (part of Germany) and he much preferred to stay there. George could not speak English and was content to leave the running of Britain to his ministers.

Meanwhile in September 1714 the Highlands of Scotland rose in rebellion. In an attempt to claim his throne James Stuart (son of James II, who was

deposed in 1688) landed at Peterhead in December 1714. The uprising failed after an indecisive battle was fought at Sheriffmuir near Stirling on 13 November 1715. James Stuart left Scotland in February 1716.

In 1711 the South Sea Company was formed. It was given exclusive rights to trade with the Spanish colonies in South America. (It transported many slaves from Africa to South America). In 1720 shares in the company became massively overpriced. Then the share price collapsed. (The South Sea Bubble burst) and many investors lost huge sums of money.

From 1721 Robert Walpole (1676-1745) became the king's chief minister. People began to call him Prime Minister (Originally it was a term of abuse not an official title). However Walpole resigned in 1742.

George I died in 1727 and was succeeded by his son George II. Like his father George II was content to leave government largely in the hands of his ministers. However he was the last British king to lead an army into battle. He led them to victory against the French at Dettingen in June 1743.

In July 1745 Charles Stuart landed in the Hebrides. He had promised his father, James Stuart, that he would capture the throne. The Highlanders rose to support him and Charles made rapid progress. In September 1745 his followers (known as Jacobites from the Latin for James, Jacobus) captured Edinburgh (except for the castle). The Jacobites then won the battle of Prestopans.

They invaded England and in November 1745 they captured Carlisle. The Jacobite army reached Derby in December 1745 but they then turned back. Charles Stuart then headed to Inverness. However the Jacobites were crushed at the battle of Culloden in April 1746. Charles Stuart fled to France.

Also in the early 18th century England suffered from an 'epidemic' of gin drinking. Gin was cheap and drinking it was easy way for the poor to forget their troubles. However in 1751 a duty was added to gin, which curtailed gin drinking.

The early 18th century was noted for its lack of religious enthusiasm. It was an age of reason rather then dogmatism and the churches lacked vigor. However in the mid-18th century things began to change. In 1739 the great evangelist George Whitefield (1714-1770) began preaching. Also in 1739 John Wesley (1703-1791) began preaching. He eventually created a new religious movement.

The Agricultural Revolution in England

In the 18th century there was an agricultural revolution in England. It began with Jethro Tull. In the 17th century seed was sown by hand. The sower simply scattered seed on the ground. However in 1701 Tull (1674-1741) invented the seed drill. This machine dropped seeds at a controllable rate in the straight lines. A harrow at the back of the machine covered the seeds to prevent birds eating them. Tull also invented a horse drawn hoe, which killed weeds between rows of seeds.

Furthermore new forms of crop rotation were introduced. Under the old system land was divided into 3 fields and each year one was left fallow. This was, obviously, wasteful, as one third of the land was not used each year. In the 17th century the Dutch began to use new forms of crop rotation with clover and root crops such as turnips and swedes instead of letting the land grow fallow. (Root crops restored fertility to the soil). In the 18th century these new methods became common in England. A man named Charles 'Turnip' Townshend (1674-1738) did much to popularize growing turnips.

Turnips had another advantage. They provided winter feed for cattle. Previously most cattle were slaughtered at the beginning of winter because there was not enough food to keep them through the season. Now fresh milk and butter became available all year round.

Moreover in the early 18th century farmers began to improve their livestock by selective breeding. One of the most famous pioneers of selective breeding was Robert Bakewell (1725-1795).

Finally in the 18th century there was a wave of enclosures. In the Middle Ages land in each village was divided into strips. Each farmer held some strips in each field. In the 16th and 17th centuries some enclosures took place. Many more followed in the 18th century. When an act of enclosure was passed commissioners divided up the land in the village so each farmer had all his land in one place, which was an inefficient way of doing things.

In 1756 Britain became embroiled in the Seven Years War (1756-1763) with France. In 1759 the British, led by General Wolfe, won a great victory at Quebec. That ensured that Canada became a British colony rather than a French one. Meanwhile in 1757 Clive won the battle of Plassey, which ensured that India became British rather than French.

Meanwhile in 1760 George II died at the age of 77. George III succeeded him. The first two George's were content to leave government in the hands of their ministers. However, according to his enemies, George III tried to gain more power for himself.

During his reign Britain lost her colonies in North America. Fighting began in 1775 and the colonists declared themselves independent in 1776. George was determined to suppress the colonists, ignoring the wishes of those who wanted reconciliation. However the Americans won a decisive victory at Yorktown in 1781, which ensured their independence. That caused George's crony, Prime Minister Lord North to fall from power.

Meanwhile London was rocked by the anti-Catholic Gordon riots in 1780. Riots were common in the 18th century. The workers could not vote and there were no trade unions so if the workers were disaffected they rioted.

The Gordon riot was the worst. Lord George Gordon (1751-1793) was an MP who led a huge crowd to parliament to present a petition demanding the repeal of a 1778 act, which removed certain restrictions on Roman Catholics. The demonstration became a riot. With cries of 'No Popery!' the rioters held London for several days until the army restored order. About 300 people died in the rioting.

At the end of the 18th century a group of Evangelical Christians called the Clapham Sect were formed. They campaigned for an end to slavery and cruel sports. They were later called the Clapham Sect because so many of them lived in Clapham.

The Industrial Revolution

In the late 18th century everyday life in Britain was transformed by the industrial revolution. Towns, industry and trade had been growing for centuries but about 1780 economic growth took off.

Economic growth was helped by vast improvements in transport. In the early and mid 18th century many turnpike roads were built. Local turnpike trusts were formed. They maintained a road and charged people to travel on it.

In the late 18th century a network of canals was built. One of the first was built for the Duke of Bridgewater by James Brindley. It opened in 1761 from Worsley to Manchester.

A number of technological advances made the revolution possible. In 1709 Abraham Darby (1677-1717), who owned an iron works, began using coke instead of charcoal to melt iron ore. (It was a much more efficient fuel). Darby and his family kept the new fuel secret for a time but in the late 18th century the practice spread.

Meanwhile in 1698 Thomas Savery made the first steam engine. From 1712 Thomas Newcomen made steam engines to pump water from coalmines. Then, in 1769, James Watt patented a more efficient steam engine and in the 1780s it was adapted to power machinery.

The first industry to become mechanized was the textile industry. In 1771 Richard Arkwright opened a cotton-spinning mill with a machine called a water frame, which was powered by a water mill. Then, in 1779, Samuel Crompton invented a new cotton-spinning machine called a spinning mule. Finally in 1785 Edmund Cartwright invented a loom that could be powered by a steam engine. As a result of these new inventions cotton production boomed.

Iron production also grew rapidly. In 1784 a man named Henry Cort (1740-1800) invented a much better way of making wrought iron. Until then men had to beat red hot iron with hammers to remove impurities. In 1784 Cort invented the puddling process. The iron was melted in an extremely hot furnace and stirred of 'puddled' to remove impurities. The result was a vast increase in iron production.

Life in the 18th Century

England in the 19th Century

During the 19th century Britain was transformed by the industrial revolution. In 1801, at the time of the first census, only about 20% of the population lived in towns. By 1851 the figure had risen to over 50%. By 1881 about two thirds of the population lived in towns.

Furthermore in 1801 the majority of the population still worked in agriculture or related industries. Most goods were made by hand and very many craftsmen worked on their own with perhaps a laborer and an apprentice. By the late 19th century factories were common and most goods were made by machine.

The early 19th century was an era of political and social unrest in Britain. In the early 19th century a group of Evangelical Christians called the Clapham Sect were active in politics. They campaigned for an end to slavery and cruel sports. They gained their name because so many of them lived in Clapham.

Then on 11 May 1812 a man named John Bellingham shot Tory prime minister Spencer Perceval. He was the only British prime minister ever to be assassinated.

Bellingham was a lone madman but in 1820 there was a plot to kill the whole cabinet. Arthur Thistlewood led the Cato Street Conspiracy but the conspirators were arrested on 23 February 1820. Thistlewood and 4 of his companions were hanged.

Meanwhile in 1811-1816 textile workers in the Midlands and the north of England broke machines, fearing they would cause unemployment. The wreckers were called Luddites and if caught they were likely to be hanged.

Then on 16 August 1819 a crowd of about 60,000 people gathered at St Peter's Field in Manchester to hear a man named Henry Hunt. Even though the crowd were unarmed and the peaceful the authorities sent in soldiers. As a result 11 people were killed and hundreds were wounded. Afterwards people called the event 'The Peterloo Massacre' in a grim mockery of Waterloo.

In 1830 farm laborers in Kent and Sussex broke agricultural machinery fearing it would cause unemployment. The riots were called the Swing Riots because a man named Captain Swing supposedly, led them. As a result of the riots 4 men were hanged and 52 were transported to Australia.

In 1834 6 farm laborers in Tolpuddle, Dorset tried to form a trade union. However they were prosecuted for making illegal oaths. (Not for forming a union, which was legal). They were sentenced to transportation to Australia. The case caused an outcry and they returned to Britain in 1838.

Political Reform

In 1822 a Tory government was formed which introduced some reforms. At that time you could be hanged for over 200 offences. (Although the sentence was often commuted to transportation). In 1825-1828 the death penalty was abolished for more than 180 crimes. Peel also formed the first modern police force in London in 1829.

In the early 19th century there were two types of parliamentary constituency, country areas and towns or boroughs. In the countryside only the landowners could vote. In boroughs the franchise varied but was usually limited. However the constituencies had not been changed for centuries and they no longer reflected the distribution of the population. Industrial towns like Birmingham and Manchester did not have MPs of their own. On the other hand some settlements had died out but they were still represented in parliament! In 'rotten' or 'pocket' boroughs there might be only one or two voters!

In the early 19th century there were increasing demands for reforms. Most people wanted constituencies distributed more fairly and they also wanted the franchise extended but Wellington's party, the Tories, resisted.

However in 1830 the Whigs formed a government and they tried to introduced reform. The House of Commons eventually voted for a reform bill but the House of Lords rejected it. The King, William IV, warned that he would create more peers, who favored the bill unless the Lords agreed to accept it. Eventually the House of Lords backed down and passed the Great Reform Bill. It received the royal assent on 7 June 1832.

The franchise was only extended slightly but much more importantly the new industrial towns were now represented in parliament. Before 1832 Britain was ruled by an oligarchy of landowners. After 1832 the urban middle class had an increasing say.

However the working class were excluded from the reforms. From 1838 a working class protest movement called the Chartists was formed. (They were named after their People's Charter). The Chartists had several demands. They wanted all men to have the vote. Furthermore at that time you had to own a certain amount of property to become an MP. Chartists wanted the property qualification abolished. They also wanted MPs to be paid. Chartists also wanted all constituencies to be equal in size and they wanted voting to be by secret ballot.

The first Chartist rally was held in Manchester in 1838. In 1839 the Chartists delivered a petition to parliament, which was rejected out of hand. Another petition delivered in 1842 was also rejected. Finally in 1848 another great petition was sent to parliament but it turned into a farce. Some of the signatures were obvious fakes.

Chartism then fizzled out. However further reform did eventually follow. In 1867 more men were given the vote and in 1872 the Ballot Act introduced voting by secret ballot. From 1884 the majority of men in Britain could vote. However not all men in Britain could vote until 1918.

The first passenger railway opened in 1825 between Stockton and Darlington. In 1830 a line was opened between Manchester and Liverpool. William Huskisson MP for Liverpool was killed but nothing could stop the growth of the railways.

By 1848 there were 5,000 miles of railways in Britain and the network continued to expand rapidly in the later 19th century.

Railways provided a great boost to other industries such as iron. They also revolutionized transport. Journeys that would have taken days by stagecoach took hours by train.

The industrial revolution created an unprecedented demand for female and child labor. Children had always worked alongside their parents but before the 19th century they usually worked part time. In the new textile factories women and children were often made to work very long hours (often 12 hours a day or even longer).

The government was aware of the problem and in 1819 they passed an act that made it illegal for children under 9 to work in cotton mills. However the act lacked 'teeth' as there were no factory inspectors to check the mills. Another act was passed in 1833 but this time inspectors were appointed. Children under 9 were banned from working in textile mills. Children aged 9 to 13 were not allowed to work for more than 12 hours a day or a total of more than 48 hours a week. Children aged 13 to 18 must not work for more than 69 hours a week. Furthermore nobody under 18 was allowed to work at night (from 8.30 pm to 5.30 am).

In 1844 another act banned women from working more than 12 hours a day (although it also reduced the minimum age for working in a mill to 8). Then in 1847 women and children were banned from working more than 10 hours a day in textile factories.

In 1850 the law was changed slightly. Women were allowed to work for 10 1/2 hours but textile factories could not be open for more than 12 hours a day. All workers, including men, were allowed 1 1/2 hours for meal breaks.

In 1867 the law was extended to all factories. (A factory was defined as a place where more than 50 people were employed in a manufacturing process). The 1878 Factory Act defined a factory as any place where machines were used in manufacturing.

Meanwhile in 1842 the Miners Act banned women and children under 10 from working underground in mines.

By the 1860s the 10 hour day was common, but not universal. In 'sweated industries' such as making matchboxes and lace people were paid piece rates (i.e. they were paid so much for each one they made). People often worked in their own homes and very often they had to work from dawn to dusk to make a living.

Nevertheless in 1871 bank holidays were created. In the 1870s some skilled workers were given a week's annual paid holiday. (Although it was

not until 1939 that everybody had annual paid holidays). However by the 1890s the weekend was common as many people had Saturday afternoon off.

In 1799 and 1800 the government passed laws called the Combination Acts, which made it illegal for men to combine to demand higher wages. The Combination Acts were repealed in 1824 but it was still doubtful if trade unions were legal.

It was not until 1871 that trade unions were definitely made legal. In 1875 the Conspiracy and Protection of Property Act made peaceful picketing legal.

In the 1850s and 1860s skilled workers formed moderate trade unions called New Model Unions. In return for subscriptions members were given sickness and unemployment benefits. However the New Model Unions were keen to be seen as 'respectable' and tried to negotiate rather than strike. The TUC was founded in 1868.

In the late 19th century unskilled workers began to form powerful trade unions. In 1888 a woman named Annie Besant managed to organize a strike among the girls who worked making matches for Bryant and May. The girls were very poorly paid and they suffered from an illness called 'phossy jaw' caused by working with phosphorous. The strike was successful and the employers were forced to raise their pay. In 1889 the match girls formed a trade union.

In March 1889 the Gas Workers and General Laborers Union was formed.

Then on 14 August 1889 the Great London Dock strike was held. It lasted 5 weeks and was a great success. The Dockers demanded a minimum wage of 6 pence an hour (the 'Docker's tanner').

Also in 1889 a Seaman's Union and the General Railway Workers Union was formed.

19th Century Housing

In the early 19th century much working class housing was appalling. It was overcrowded and unsanitary. Of course, poor people's housing had always been bad. However things grew much worse when vast numbers of people lived together in a small area.

In cities streets were often unpaved and unlit. There were no drains and when it rained streets turned to mud. People threw dirty water in the streets

and stagnant pools formed. Furthermore toilets were often shared by several houses and queues formed on Sunday mornings.

In the early 19th century in most towns there were no building regulations. Builders simply built as they pleased. Usually they tried to cram as many houses as possible onto every piece of land. Many houses were 'back-to-backs'. These houses were literally back to back. The back of one house joined the back of another. They usually consisted of two or three rooms. Worst of all were cellar dwellings. In cities like Liverpool families lived in cellars, which were damp and poorly ventilated as well as crowded. Very poor people slept on straw because they could not afford beds.

Skilled workers lived in 'through' houses, so called because you could walk through them from front to back. However in the 1840s town councils began to take action. Cellar dwellings were banned and new back-to-backs could not be built. It was impossible to demolish and replace existing back-to-backs all at once. It took decades and some people were still living in them in the 20th century.

In the early 19th century toilets were usually cesspits, which were infrequently emptied and sometimes overflowed. Or urine might seep through the ground into wells from which people drew drinking water.

Given these disgusting conditions it is not surprising there were outbreaks of cholera in many towns in 1831-32, 1848-49, 1854 and 1865-66.

In 1848 a Public Health Act was passed. The act made it compulsory to form local Boards of Health in towns if the annual death rate exceeded 23 per 1,000 or if 10% of the population wanted it. Local Boards of Health could demand that all new houses have drains and lavatories. They could

also organize a water supply, street cleaning and refuse collection.

In 1875 a Public Health Act strengthened previous acts. All local authorities were forced to appoint Medical Officers of Health who could prosecute people who sold food or drink unfit for human consumption. The councils were also required to provide refuse collection.

Town councils also began to provide public parks and most passed by-laws, which laid down minimum standards for new houses. Furthermore in

the 1860s and 1870s sewers were dug in most large towns. In the 1870s water supplies were created in most towns. As a result of these measures towns were much healthier and cleaner by the end of the 19th century than at the beginning.

In 1875 the Artisan's Dwellings Act was passed which gave councils the power to demolish slums but large scale slum clearance did not begin till the 20th century.

Furthermore in the second half of the 19th century living standards rose. Gradually houses grew larger. In the late 19th century 'two-up, two-downs' were common. (Houses with two bedrooms and a kitchen and 'front room'. Many skilled workers lived in houses with three bedrooms.

However even at the end of the 19th century there were some poor families still living in just one room.

The Poor Law

In 1792 well meaning magistrates met at Speenhamland in Berkshire and devised a system for helping the poor. Low wages were supplemented with money raised by a poor rate. Many areas of England adopted the system but it proved very expensive and the government decided to change things.

In 1834 they passed the Poor Law Amendment Act. In future the poor were to be treated as harshly as possible to dissuade them from seeking help from the state. In future able bodied people with no income were to be forced to enter a workhouse. (In practice some of the elected Boards of Guardians sometimes gave the unemployed 'outdoor relief' i.e. they were given money and allowed to live in their own homes).

For the unfortunate people made to enter workhouses life was made as unpleasant as possible. Married couples were separated and children over 7 were separated from their parents. The inmates were made to do hard work like breaking stones to make roads or breaking bones to make fertilizer.

The poor called the new workhouses 'Bastilles' (after the infamous prison in Paris) and they caused much bitterness. However as the century went on the workhouses gradually became more humane.

Living Standards in the 19th Century

At first the industrial revolution did cause much suffering to some people. However in the end it made a much higher standard of living possible for ordinary people. In the 18th century when goods were made by hand they were scarce and therefore expensive. Machines meant that goods could be mass produced and so they became much cheaper.

It is true that in the early 19th century many people worked very long hours and they lived in appalling conditions in overcrowded towns. However life in Victorian Britain gradually improved. By the late 19th century housing for most people was better than in the 18th century.

People were also better fed. Inventions like trains and steamships made it possible to import cheap food from abroad, wheat from North America and meat from Australia and New Zealand. For thousands of years bread was the staple diet of ordinary people. The poor lived mainly on bread. By the end of the century bread was ceasing to be the 'staff of life' and most people were eating a varied diet.

Furthermore a host of inventions made life more comfortable and convenient. Railways made travel much faster. Waterproof clothing also made life more comfortable. So did anesthetics. Furthermore today we take street lighting for granted but in the 19th century gas street lights made going out at night much easier and safer.

We also take photography for granted but people in the 19th century thought it was wonderful. For the first time ordinary people could have pictures of their loved ones to remember them by if they lived far away.

British Foreign Policy in the 19th Century

The 19th century was a relatively peaceful era for Britain. After the defeat of Napoleon in 1815 Britain only fought one war with another European power, the Crimean War against Russia (1854-1846). Other wars were colonial wars involving small numbers of soldiers.

During the 19th century Britain built up a great overseas empire including South Africa, Australia and New Zealand. In 1857-58 they crushed the uprising called the Indian Mutiny and in 1877 Queen Victoria was made Empress of India. In the late 19th century Britain took large swathes of Africa

Nevertheless by the end of the 19th century it was obvious that Britain was no longer as powerful as she had once been and needed allies in Europe.

Life in the 19th Century

England in the 20th Century

Liberal reforms

Life was hard for the working class at the beginning of the 20th century. In 1900 surveys showed that between 15% and 20% of the population were

living at subsistence (bare survival) level. Worse between 8% and 10% of the population were living below subsistence level.

In 1906 a Liberal government was elected and they introduced a number of reforms. From 1906 local councils were allowed to provide free school meals. In 1907 school medical inspections began.

In 1908 an act limited miners to working an 8 hour day and in 1909 the Trade Boards Act set up trade boards who fixed minimum wages in certain very low paid trades. Also in 1909 an Act set up labor exchanges to help the unemployed find work.

In 1908 an Old Age Pensions Act gave small pensions to people over 70. The pensions were hardly generous but they were a start. From 1925 pensions were paid to men over 65 and women over 60. Widows were also given pensions.

In 1911 the National Insurance Act was passed. All employers and employees made contributions to a fund. If a worker was ill he was entitled to free treatment by a doctor. (Normally you had to pay and it was expensive). If he could not work because of illness the worker was given a small amount of money to live on. However his family were not entitled to free medical treatment.

From 1911 workers in certain trades such as building and shipbuilding who frequently had periods of unemployment all contributed to a fund. If unemployed they could claim a small amount of money for a maximum of 15 weeks in any year. Again it was hardly generous but in 1920 the scheme was extended to most (not all) workers and they were given money for more than 15 weeks.

By 1912 most people had Saturday afternoon off work. However shop workers were usually forced to work all day Saturday. An act of 1912 compensated them by stating they must have half a day off during the week.

Meanwhile in 1902 Balfour's Education Act created state secondary education. In the early 20th century the upper class went to public schools. The middle class went to fee-paying grammar schools and the working class went to elementary schools. From 1907 grammar schools were given grants if they gave 25% of their places to poor pupils. Working class children could take an exam and if they passed could go to grammar school. However some children won a place but did not go because their parents could not afford to buy the school uniform and equipment.

In 1909 the House of Lords rejected Lloyd George's budget. In response the Liberals passed the Parliament Act, which stated the House of Lords, could not interfere with financial bills. The Lords could no longer veto any bills but only delay them for two years. In 1949 that was reduced to one year.

The Suffragettes

By 1884 the majority of men in Britain were allowed to vote but women were not allowed to. So in 1897 local groups of women who demanded the vote joined to form the National Union of Women's Suffrage Societies (NUWSS). The organisation was moderate and its members were called suffragists.

However in 1903 a more radical organisation was formed called the Women’s Social and Political Union (WSPU). Emmeline Pankhurst led it and its members were called suffragettes. Some suffragettes committed crimes like arson and vandalism. They also planted bombs. However the suffragettes halted their campaign when the war began in 1914.

Furthermore by no means all women were suffragettes. Many women were anti-suffragettes. They opposed women being allowed to vote. In Britain the Women's National Anti-Suffrage League was formed in 1908. Its president was Mary Humphry Ward, a famous novelist.

On the other hand many men supported the suffragettes and wanted women to be allowed to vote.

In 1918 in Britain women over 30 were allowed to vote. In 1928 they were allowed to vote at the age of 21 (the same as men). In 1919 Nancy Astor became the first female MP and in 1929 Margaret Bondfield became the first female cabinet minister. In 1979 Margaret Thatcher became the first female Prime Minister of Britain.

The First World War

Britain declared war on Germany on 4 August 1914. A British expeditionary force was sent to France, led by Sir John French. It fought the Germans at Mons on 23 August. The Germans continued to advance but the French and British halted them at the Battle of the Marne in September. The Germans tried to outflank the allies but were blocked. Both sides dug trenches to protect themselves and soon the trenches ran in a continuous line. The war became a stalemate.

In 1916 the British launched an attack on the Somme. Both sides suffered horrific losses. However during this battle the British unleashed a secret weapon - the tank. The first tanks were too unreliable and too few in number to affect the outcome of the battle but they were a sign of things to come.

In 1917 Germany began unrestricted submarine warfare. They sank any ships from any country attempting to reach Britain. As a result food in Britain ran very short but the crisis ended when the convoy system was introduced. Merchant ships traveled in groups protected by warships. Nevertheless in 1918 rationing of meat, butter and cheese began. Furthermore as a result of the German policy the USA entered the war.

In the Spring of 1918 Germany launched a series of offensives in northern France. The allies fought on with their 'backs against the wall' and in August the British launched a counter-attack using tanks. The Germans were gradually pushed back and on 11 November they signed an armistice (cease-fire).

By the early 20th century the trade unions had become powerful and they were increasingly militant. However they met with opposition. In 1901 came the Taff Vale case when a court decided that trade unions could be sued for damages if they held a strike. It was repealed by the Trade Disputes Act 1906. In 1909 came the Osbourne Judgement, which said that trade unions could not use members subscriptions to fund political parties. The case was brought by a man named W. V. Osborne, who was secretary of the Walthamstow branch on the Amalgamated Society of Railway Servants. It was repealed by the Trade Union Act 1913, which allowed individual trade union members to opt out of paying political fees.

From 1923 to 1929 Britain had a conservative government with Stanley Baldwin (1867-1947) as prime minister. During his time the general strike was held.

During the 1920s old industries like coal mining were declining. So in 1921 employers cut wages. In 1926 they proposed to cut wages and increase

working hours. The miners leader A.J. Cooke said 'Not a penny off the pay, not a minute on the day'. the miners went on strike and appealed to the other unions to help them. The result was a general strike from midnight on 3 May 1926.

However the government was prepared. Realizing trade unions might unite and call a general strike they formed the Organisation for the Maintenance of Supplies in 1925. Middle class volunteers helped to run services like buses and kept supplies moving. Troops and special constables also

helped. The general strike ended on 12 May although the miners remained on strike for another 6 months. In the end they miners went back to work defeated.

In 1927 the Trade Disputes Act made general strikes illegal.

Meanwhile in 1922 the BBC began broadcasting radio programs. Radio first became common in the 1930s. By 1933 about half the households in Britain had a 'wireless' and by 1939 most of them did. Television began in 1936. It was suspended during World War II but it began again in 1946.

In the 1920s some people went to see silent films but from about 1930 all films were 'talkies'. During the 1930s cinema-going became much more popular and many people went once or even twice a week.

In 1929 the world was plunged into a severe economic recession. In 1931 Prime Minister Ramsay MacDonald left the Labour Party to join a coalition called the National Government. It was made up of Conservative, Liberal and a small number of Labour MPs. However most Labour MPs refused to join so the Conservatives dominated the National Government. When MacDonald resigned in 1935 a Conservative, Stanley Baldwin, replaced him. He in turn was replaced by another Conservative Neville Chamberlain (1869-1940), in 1937.

Meanwhile by 1932 22.8% of insured workers were unemployed. However unemployment began to fall in 1933. By January 1936 it stood at 13.9%. By 1938 it stood at around 10%.

However in the late 1930s the North of England remained depressed and unemployment in the region remained very high. Traditional industries such as textiles and coal mining were severely affected by the depression. Yet in the Midlands and the South of England new industries brought some prosperity and unemployment was lower. New industries included making cars and aircraft and electronics.

During the 1920s and 1930s a series of 'hunger marches' were held from depression areas to London. The first was from Glasgow in 1922 but the most famous was the Jarrow march of 1936. MP Ellen Wilkinson led 200 shipyard workers in a march from Jarrow to London. The hunger marches gained a great deal of publicity for the plight of the unemployed but they did not succeed in their aim of actually reducing unemployment.

However because living standards had risen so much an unemployed man in 1936 was about as well off as an unskilled worker 30 years before.

Nevertheless life for the unemployed was grim. They lived in relative poverty.

Nevertheless despite the mass unemployment of the 1930s for most people with a job living standards rose substantially. That was partly due to a fall in prices. The price of essentials like food and rent fell 15% during the decade. So for most people life became steadily more comfortable during the 1930s.

Furthermore from 1939 all workers were entitled to a minimum of 1 weeks annual paid holiday. Before then the only paid holidays many people had were bank holidays.

World War II

When war began on 3 September 1939 it was feared that the Germans would bomb British cities causing great loss of life. So children from the cities were evacuated to the countryside. Altogether 827,000 schoolchildren with 103,000 teachers and helpers left the big cities. Furthermore 524,000 children below school age and their mothers left. However most of the 'evacuees' soon returned home. The bombing raid on British cities failed to materialize - at first. It became severe in 1940-41

Rationing in Britain began in September 1939 when petrol was rationed. As the war continued rationing became stricter and stricter. In January 1940 butter, sugar, bacon and ham were rationed. Tea was rationed from July 1940. Then in May 1941 cheese was rationed and from June 1941 eggs were rationed. From July 1941 clothes were rationed and you had to save up coupons to buy them. From July 1942 sweets were rationed.

From 1942 dried (powdered) egg arrived from the USA. Meanwhile the people were encouraged to 'dig for victory' and the amount of land under cultivation increased from 12 million acres in 1939 to 18 million acres in 1945.

On 7 September 1940 the Germans began bombing London and by 1 January 1941 over 13,000 Londoners were killed. Other cities heavily bombed during the 'blitz' included Birmingham, Coventry, Bristol, Portsmouth and Plymouth.

German bombing lessened after mid-1941 when Hitler invaded Russia. From then on most German armed forces were concentrated in the east. However in June 1944 the Germans unleashed a 'secret weapon'. It was kind of rocket called a VI flying bomb. (The British public called them 'doodlebugs'). From September 1944 V2 rockets were launched. altogether

1,115 V2s hit England and about half of them hit London. The last V2 was fired on 27 March 1945. At first the government claimed the explosions were caused by exploding gas mains (which didn't fool anybody!). They did not admit the truth until November 1944. Hitler called his new weapons vengeance weapons yet German bombing failed to dent British morale and it failed to seriously affect industrial output.

About 1 million houses were destroyed or severely damaged during World War II. About 40,000 civilians were killed. After the war Britain was left with a severe shortage of housing. The Housing Act of 1946 gave grants and subsidies for building houses. By 1951 900,000 new houses had been built.

Germany surrendered on 8 May 1945. Immediately afterwards a general election was held (the first since November 1935). The Labour party won by a landslide and Clement Attlee (1883-1967) became prime minister until 1951. The new government set about introducing a welfare state. By the National Insurance Act of 1946 everyone was entitled to unemployment benefit, sickness benefit, old age pensions and widows pensions. The National Health Service was introduced in 1948. (Many of the ideas for the welfare state were laid out by a Liberal named William Beveridge 1879-1963).

During World War II Britain was run by a coalition government. In 1944 it passed the Butler Education Act. (It was named after a Conservative, Richard Butler). In future all 11-year-old children would sit an exam (it became known as the 11+). Afterwards some went to grammar school to study academic subjects while others went to secondary modern schools to study technical subjects. In 1947 the school leaving age was raised to 15.

However the period 1945-1951 was one of 'national austerity' when many goods were in short supply and long queues were common. Rationing continued and it actually grew stricter than during the war. Conditions were hardest in 1947 when there was a severe winter. Bread was rationed in July 1946 and in November 1947 potatoes were rationed.

The Labour party also nationalized certain industries (made them state owned). Coal was nationalized in 1947. So were the railways. In 1948 gas and electricity were nationalized.

Meanwhile shortages gradually lessened. Clothes rationing ended in 1949 and petrol rationing ended in 1950. However rationing of butter and meat lasted until 1954.

However in the mid-1950s Britain became an affluent society. For the first time ordinary people had substantial amounts of money to spend on

luxuries. Consumer goods became common. By 1960 44% of homes owned a washing machine. In 1959 about 2/3 of homes owned a vacuum cleaner.

In the 1960s washing machines and vacuum cleaners became near universal. Cars and fridges became common. Foreign holidays became common for the first time. Central heating, electric blankets, electric kettles and toasters and a host of other goods became common in the 1960s. By 1975 90% of homes had a vacuum cleaner, 85% had a fridge and 70% owned a washing machine. Furthermore 52% had a telephone and 47% had central heating.

Meanwhile until the mid-1970s there was full employment in most areas of Britain. For most of the period 1945-1973 unemployment was less than 5%. By 1973 it was creeping upwards but it was still only 3%.

From 1951 to 1964 Britain was ruled by the Conservatives. From 1951 to 1955 Winston Churchill was Prime Minister. Anthony Eden who was Prime Minister till 1957 replaced him. He was followed by Harold Macmillan who was prime minister till 1963.

Sir Alec-Douglas Home was prime minister for a short period in 1963-64. However in 1964 The Labour party won a general election and Harold Wilson became prime minister. Labour won another election in 1966. Wilson remained prime minister until 1970.

Meanwhile in the 1960s and 1970s most secondary schools became comprehensives. Also in the 1960s there was a big expansion of further and higher education. In 1945 there were only 17 universities. By the 1970s there were 46. There were also 30 polytechnics. (In 1992 they were upgraded to universities).

In 1973 the school leaving age was raised to 16. In 1988 a national curriculum was introduced.

Meanwhile in the years after 1945 the trade unions grew very powerful. By 1970 their membership had almost doubled. Nearly half the workforce belonged to a union.

In the winter of 1972 the coal miners went on strike and the government was forced to give in to their demands. They went on strike again in the winter of 1974. This time Heath called an election in February 1974 on the issue 'who governs the country?'. However Heath lost the election and Wilson became prime minister again. Wilson won another election in October 1974.

Meanwhile in 1973 Britain joined the EEC (forerunner of the EU). The first elections for the European parliament were held in 1979.

By 1973 the long period of economic prosperity was coming to an end. By the spring of 1975 unemployment had climbed to 1 million. It was over 5% of the workforce. By 1977 it had risen to 5.5% and in 1979 it stood at 5.3%. Meanwhile there was also high inflation.

In 1978 in an effort to tackle inflation the government tried to persuade trade unions to limit pay rises to no more than 5%. The trade unions refused to accept the limit and Britain was hit by a wave of strikes. As a result the government's popularity diminished and in May 1979 the Conservatives won a general election. Margaret Thatcher became Britain's first woman prime minister.

In 1980-82 Britain suffered a severe recession. Unemployment rose sharply. By January 1982 it was 11.5%, double the May 1979 figure. Not surprisingly the government was deeply unpopular.

However in April 1982 Argentina invaded the Falkland Islands. The British sent a task force and on 14 June 1982 the Falklands were recaptured. The war greatly boosted the government's popularity and it contributed to the government's victory in the general election of 1983. (The Conservatives won a third election in 1987).

Meanwhile recession ended in the autumn of 1982 and recovery began. Furthermore unemployment leveled off. Unemployment remained very high until 1986. In the summer of that year the official figure was 14.1%. However unemployment then fell steadily. The government also succeeded in greatly reducing inflation.

Despite the mass unemployment of the 1980s most people with a job experienced a substantial rise in their living standards during the decade.

The Conservatives also sold council houses cheaply and the number of council houses fell significantly. The government also privatized industries. British Aerospace and Cable and Wireless were sold in 1981. Then in 1982-83 the National Freight Corporation and Associated Business Ports were sold. British gas was sold in 1986. British telecom was sold in 1984. British gas was sold in 1986.

A showdown between the government and the trade unions took place with the 1984-85 coal strike. The National Coal Board announced the closure of certain collieries. Some Yorkshire coal miners went on strike in March 1984. However the miner's trade union leader, refused to call a national

ballot to decide if all miners should go on strike. Instead it was left to each region to decide.

That was a fatal mistake because miners in Nottinghamshire (who were much less likely to lose their jobs) stayed at work. As long as some miners kept working the strike could not succeed.

Furthermore the government was in a strong position. For one thing they had stockpiled coal. For another generating stations that usually burned coal could burn a mixture of coal and oil. Also striking miners could not claim welfare benefits. So all the government had to do was wait until poverty forced the strikers back to work.

The miners strike began to crumble in November 1984 as miners drifted back to work. By January more than half of all strikers had returned to work and the strike ended in March 1985.

Furthermore during the 1980s the government passed a series of laws restricting the powers of the trade unions.

In 1990 the government introduced a new tax in England called the community charge (popularly known as the poll tax). It was very unpopular and in 1993 it was replaced by the council tax. Meanwhile Margaret Thatcher resigned in 1990. She was replaced by John Major.

In the middle of 1990 a long recession started and unemployment rose sharply. however economic recovery began in 1993. From 1993 onward unemployment fell steadily and by 2000 it was at a level not seen since 1979.

Meanwhile in April 1992 the Conservatives won another general election, even though the country was in recession. However in 1997 Labour finally won an election and Tony Blair became prime minister.

Life in the 20th Century

England in the 21st Century

Blair was followed by Gordon Brown in 2007. Then in 2010 a general election resulted in a hung parliament and a coalition government of Conservatives and Liberals was formed. However in 2009 Britain entered a recession and unemployment rose. However Britain soon recovered. Today Britain remains a rich country.

A TIMELINE OF ENGLISH HISTORY

PREHISTORIC ENGLAND

C. 8,500 BC

Following the end of the ice age the climate grows much warmer. Forests spread across England. Also the sea level rises and England is cut off from Europe.

C. 4,500 BC Farming is introduced into England

C. 2,500 BC Stone age farmers build monuments called henges

C. 2,000 BC Bronze is first used in England

C. 650 Iron tools and weapons are introduced by a people called the Celts

C. 150 BC The potters wheel is introduced into England

A history of Prehistoric England

ROMAN BRITAIN

55 BC Julius Caesar leads an expedition to Britain

54 BC Julius Caesar leads a second expedition

43 AD The Romans invade Britain. They land in Kent.

C. 50 A town grows up at London

51 Caractacus, a leader of British resistance to the Romans is captured

61 Boudicca leads an unsuccessful rebellion against the Romans. She burns the towns of Colchester, St Albans and London

78-85 Agricola is governor of Roman Britain

122-128 Hadrian's Wall is built in the north of England

C. 270

At this time a network of forts is built along the eastern coast of England, the Saxon shore. It is called that because fierce Saxons have begun raiding. Roman civilisation has begun to decline.

A Roman fort at Portchester

286-293

Admiral Carausius breaks away from the rest of the Roman Empire and makes himself emperor of an independent Britain

367 'The Great Barbarian Raid' takes place. A combined force of Irish, Scots and Picts attack Roman Britain.

388 The Roman army abandons Hadrian's Wall

407 The last Roman soldiers leave Britain

Life in Roman Britain

ANGLO-SAXON ENGLAND

C. 450 Invasions by Angles, Saxons and Jutes begin.

477 According to the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle Saxons led by Aella land in Sussex this year near Pevensey

C. 520

The Celts utterly defeat the Saxons at the battle of 'Mount Badon', somewhere in Somerset, halting their advance for decades

577

The Saxons defeat the Romano-Celts at the battle of Deorham. Afterwards the Saxons capture Bath, Cirencester and Gloucester. They cut the Celts in Wales off from the Celts in Southwest England.

597 St Augustine arrives in Kent and begins to convert the Saxons. (At this time England is divided into small kingdoms).

601 Augustine becomes the first Archbishop of Canterbury

604 The first Bishop of London is appointed

735 A writer called the Venerable Bede dies

757-796 Offa reigns in Mercia (a kingdom in central England).

793 The Vikings raid England for the first time. They sack the monastery at Lindisfarne in north east England.

865 The Danes invade eastern England

871

The Saxons defeat the Danes at Ashdown

Alfred the Great becomes king of Wessex (southern England).

878 Alfred crushes the Danes at the battle of Edington.

879

By the treaty of Wedmore England is split between the Saxons and the Danes. Watling Street forms part of the border. London is left in Danish hands.

886 Alfred recaptures London from the Danes

899 Alfred dies aged 50

899-924

The reign of Edward the Elder. In 901 Edward calls himself 'King of the Angles and Saxons'. In 913 he recaptures Essex from the Danes. Over time the Saxon kings take over all of the Danish territory (the Danelaw) and England becomes a single kingdom.

924-939

The battle of Brunanburh. The English defeat an army of Danes, Scots and Irish.

939-946 The reign of Edmund

946-955 The reign of Edred

955-959 The reign of Edwy

959-975 The reign of Edgar

975-978 The reign of Edward the Martyr. He is stabbed to death in Dorset.

978-1016 The reign of Ethelred

1016-1035 The reign of Canute

1035-1040 The reign of Harold I

1040-1042 The reign of Hardicanute

Life in Anglo-Saxon England

ENGLAND IN THE MIDDLE AGES

1042-1066 Reign of Edward the Confessor

1066

Harold becomes king, although William Duke of Normandy also claims the throne. Harald Hardrada, a Norwegian claims it as well. He invades England but his army is crushed at the battle of Stamford Bridge in September.

The Normans win the battle of Hastings in October. William The Conqueror is crowned king in December.

1069-1070

The 'harrying of the North' takes place. Enraged by rebellion in the north of England Norman soldiers burn houses and crops and kill livestock. The area north of the River Humber is left devastated.

1086 The Domesday Book is compiled. It lists all the manors of England and their value.

1074 William creates the New Forest in Hampshire where he can go hunting.

1087 William the Conqueror dies while at war. William Rufus becomes king.

1100

William Rufus is killed by an arrow while hunting in the New Forest. (It is not clear whether it was an accident or whether he was murdered). Henry I becomes king.

1120

The White Ship sinks in the English Channel. William, the heir to the English throne (Henry's only legitimate son) drowns.

1135

Henry I dies. There are now two contenders for the throne. Henry wanted his daughter Matilda to rule after him. However many barons refuse to accept a woman ruler and support Henry's nephew Stephen. 'The 19 long winters' of civil war between Matilda and Stephen begin.

1138 The English defeat the Scots at the battle of the Standard

1154 The civil wars end. Henry II becomes king.

1170

Thomas Becket is killed is Canterbury Cathedral. He is later canonized (made a saint) and pilgrims flock to his tomb.

1180 Rich people in England have glass windows for the first time since the Roman era

1189 Henry II dies. Richard I known as the Lionheart becomes king.

1199

Richard I dies when he is hit by a crossbow bolt while fighting in France. John becomes king.

Bargate in Southampton

1207 King John founds Liverpool

1215 King John seals Magna Carta

1216 John dies. Henry III becomes king.

1221 Dominican friars (known as black friars) arrive in England

1264 Battle of Lewes. Simon De Monfort and rebel barons defeat the king.

1265 Battle of Evesham. De Monfort is defeated and killed.

1272 Henry III dies. Edward I becomes king.

1290

King Edward expels all Jews from England

Queen Eleanor dies

1295 King Edward calls the Model Parliament

C. 1300

Glass windows and chimneys are becoming common among people who are well off but below the nobility such as rich merchants.

1307 Edward I dies. Edward II becomes king.

1314 The battle of Bannockburn is fought. The Scots utterly defeat the English. The battle guarantees Scotland will remain independent of England.

1315-1316 Famine stalks England

1324-1384 Life of John Wycliffe the religious reformer

1327 Edward II dies. Edward III becomes king.

1337 The Hundred Years War between England and France begins

1340

The English win the naval battle of Sluys against the French

Geoffrey Chaucer is born

1346 The battle of Crecy. English archers with longbows crush the French army.

1348

The Black Death comes to England. Perhaps a third of the population died over the next year.

1356 The battle of Poitiers is fought. Once again the English archers totally defeat the French.

1377 Richard II becomes king

1381

The Peasants Revolt takes place. Peasants in Essex and Kent rise up and march on London. The king manages to persuade them to disperse by making promises, none of which he intends to keep.

1382 Winchester College is founded by William of Wickham

1388 The Scots defeat the English at the battle of Otterburn

1399 Henry IV becomes king

1413 Henry V becomes king

1415 The battle of Agincourt. Once again the English win a great victory.

1422 Henry VI becomes king

1442 Edward IV becomes king

1453 The Hundred Years War with France ends. England loses all its territory in France except for Calais.

1455-1485 England suffers a series of civil wars known as the Wars of the Roses

1461 The battle of Towton is fought

1471 The battle of Tewkesbury is fought

1476 Caxton introduces the printing press into England

1483-1485 Reign of Richard III

1485 Henry VII wins the battle of Bosworth. Richard III is killed and Henry becomes the first Tudor king.

1497 John Cabot sails to North America

Life in the Middle Ages

ENGLAND IN THE 16th CENTURY

1509

Henry VII dies. Henry VIII becomes king.

Henry VIII marries Catherine of Aragon

1511 The warship Mary Rose is launched

1513 The English win the battle of Flodden against the Scots

1530 A Protestant named Thomas Hitton was burned at Maidstone. Thomas More calls him 'the Devil's stinking martyr'.

1533 Henry divorces Catherine of Aragon. He marries Anne Boleyn.

1534 Henry VIII makes himself head of the Church of England

1536

The Pilgrimage of Grace takes place. (An uprising in the North of England).

Anne Boleyn is beheaded

Henry marries Jane Seymour

1536-1540 Henry VIII closes the monasteries

1537 Jane Seymour dies

1540 Henry marries Anne of Cleves but quickly divorces her

Henry marries Kathryn Howard

1542

The battle of Solway Moss. The English defeat the Scots.

Kathryn Howard is beheaded

1543 Henry marries Catherine Parr

1545 The Mary Rose sinks

1547

Henry VIII dies. Edward VI becomes king

The Duke of Somerset is made Lord Protector

1549

The first Book of Common Prayer is introduced

The Duke of Northumberland becomes Lord Protector

1552 The Duke of Somerset is executed

1553 Edward VI dies. Mary becomes queen.

1554 Lady Jane Grey is beheaded

The Tower of London

1555-1558

Queen Mary persecutes Protestants. Nearly 300 people are burned to death for heresy.

1558 Queen Mary dies. Elizabeth I becomes queen.

C. 1560 to C. 1640

'The Great Rebuilding' takes place in England. Stone and brick replace most wooden houses. Chimneys and glass windows become common.

1564 William Shakespeare is born. So is Christopher Marlowe

1570 The Pope excommunicates Queen Elizabeth

1576 The first theatre opens in London

1577-1580 Francis Drake sails around the world

1583 The Throckmorton Plot, a Catholic plot to murder Queen Elizabeth is foiled

1586 The Babington Plot, another Catholic plot to murder the Queen is foiled

1587 Mary Queen of Scots is beheaded

1588 The Spanish Armada is defeated

1592 An Englishman named John Davis discovers the Falklands

1596 Francis Drake dies

Life in the 16th Century

ENGLAND IN THE 17th CENTURY

1600 The East India Company is founded

1601 The Poor Law is passed. People are made to pay a rate to support the poor.

1603 In March Queen Elizabeth dies. James I becomes king.

1605 The gunpowder plot, a Catholic conspiracy to blow up parliament, is discovered.

1607 Jamestown, the first successful British colony in North America, is founded

1608 John Milton is born

1611 The King James Bible is published

1625 James I dies. Charles I becomes king.

1628

William Harvey publishes his discovery of the circulation of the blood

The Petition of Right is presented to the king by parliament

George Villiers, the Duke of Buckingham is assassinated in Portsmouth

17th century houses in Portsmouth

1629-1640 The Eleven Years Tyranny. Charles I rules without parliament.

1632 The great architect Christopher Wren is born

1633 William Laud becomes Archbishop of Canterbury

1641 MP's draw up a list of grievances called the Grand Remonstrance.

1642

The English Civil War between king and parliament begins. They fight the indecisive battle of Edgehill.

Isaac Newton is born

1644 Parliament wins the battle of Marston Moor

1645

Parliament wins the battle of Naseby

William Laud is executed

1646 Charles I surrenders to the Scots and the first civil war comes to an end

1648

Charles I starts another civil war. The Scots intervene on his behalf. However the battle of Preston ends hopes of restoring Charles I to power.

Pride's Purge. Thomas Pride removes some Presbyterian MPs from parliament.

1649 King Charles I is beheaded

1651

A Scottish army invades England in an attempt to put Charles II on the throne. The Scots are defeated at Worcester and Charles flees abroad.

Thomas Hobbes publishes his work Leviathan

1652 Architect Inigo Jones dies

1652-1654 The first Anglo-Dutch war is fought

1653 Oliver Cromwell becomes Lord Protector of England

1655-1657 Rule of the Major-Generals in England

1658 Oliver Cromwell dies. His son Richard takes over.

1659 Richard Cromwell resigns. His fall from power is so swift he becomes known as 'Tumbledown Dick'.

1660 Charles II becomes king

1661 Robert Boyle publishes his great work The Sceptical Chemist

1662

The Royal Society (a scientific organisation) is given its charter by Charles II

Charles II marries a Portuguese princess, Catherine of Braganza

The Act of Uniformity is passed

1663

The first turnpike road is opened. (Turnpike roads were owned by turnpike trusts that maintained them. You had to pay to use them).

1665 Plague kills many people in London. This is the last outbreak of bubonic plague in England.

1665-1667 The second Anglo-Dutch war is fought

1666 The Great Fire of London. Much of the city is destroyed but it is soon rebuilt.

1667 John Milton publishes Paradise Lost

1670 Hudsons Bay Company is formed

1672-1674 The third Anglo-Dutch war is fought

1673

The Test Act is passed. Catholics and Protestant dissenters (who do not belong to the Church of England) are prevented from holding public office.

1670 The Ashmolean Museum in Oxford is founded

1679 The Act of Habeas Corpus. Imprisonment without trial is outlawed.

1685

Charles II dies. James II (a Roman Catholic) becomes king.

The Duke of Monmouth (Charles II's illegitimate son) leads an unsuccessful rebellion in Southwest England.

1686 'Hanging' Judge Jefferys sentences many of the rebels to death.

1687

Isaac Newton publishes his great work Principia Mathematica. He lays the

foundations of modern physics.

1688

The 'Glorious, Bloodless Revolution'. James II flees abroad and William and Mary become the new monarchs.

1689 The Bill of Rights is passed

1694

Queen Mary dies of smallpox aged 32

The Bank of England is founded

1698 Thomas Savery invents the first steam engine

Life in the 17th Century

ENGLAND IN THE 18th CENTURY

1701

The Act of Settlement is passed

Jethro Tull invents the seed drill

1702 William dies. Anne becomes queen.

1704

The Duke of Marlborough defeats the French at the Battle of Blenheim

The British capture Gibraltar

1706 The Duke of Marlborough defeats the French army at Ramillies

1707 The Act of Union joins England and Scotland

1708 The Duke of Marlborough defeats the army of Louis XIV at Oudenarde

1709

Abraham Darby uses coke instead of charcoal to smelt iron

The Duke of Marlborough wins the battle of Malplaquet against the French

1711 St Pauls Cathedral is finished

1712 Newcomen makes steam engines for pumping water out of mines

1714 Queen Anne dies. George I becomes king.

1715 The first Jacobite uprising takes place in Scotland. The Highlanders rise but the uprising ends in an indecisive battle near Stirling.

1719 Daniel Defoe publishes Robinson Crusoe

1720

The South Sea Bubble (stocks in the South Sea Company suddenly fall in price and many people lose huge sums of money.)

1721

Robert Walpole becomes the king's main minister. People call him the Prime Minister. (Originally it was a term of abuse).

1723 The great architect Christopher Wren dies.

1727

George I dies. George II becomes king.

Isaac Newton dies

1733 John Kay invents the flying shuttle

1735 The British Prime Minister moves into 10 Downing Street

1739

The highwayman Dick Turpin is hanged

John Wesley founds the Methodists

1742 Prime Minister Robert Walpole resigns

1745 The second Jacobite uprising takes place in Scotland. The Jacobites invade England and reach as far as Derby but then turn back.

1746 The Jacobites are crushed at the battle of Culloden

1756 The Seven Years War against France begins

1759 General Wolfe captures Quebec but is killed. His victory ensures Canada will be a British colony not a French one.

1761 The Bridgwater canal opens

1763 The Seven Years War ends

1769 James Watt patents an improved steam engine

1771 Richard Arkwright introduces a loom powered by a water mill

1773 The British Stock Exchange is founded

1775 Jane Austen is born

1779

The world's first iron bridge is built in Shropshire

Samuel Crompton invents the spinning mule

C. 1780

The Industrial Revolution begins to transform Britain

Lord George Gordon leads anti-Catholic riots in London

1783 Britain signs a treaty recognizing the independence of the American colonies

1784

Henry Cort invents the 'puddling' process. A new way of making wrought iron. As a result iron production booms.

1785

Edmund Cartwright invents the power loom (one worked by a steam engine). Cotton production grows very rapidly.

1787 The first convicts leave Britain from Portsmouth for Australia

1788 Lord Byron is born

1792 Gas light is invented

1796 Jenner invents vaccination against smallpox

1799 Income tax is introduced to pay for the war against France

Life in the 18th Century

BRITAIN IN THE 19th CENTURY

1801

The first census is held

Another Act of Union joins Ireland to England and Scotland

1805 The battle of Trafalgar is fought. Britain wins a great naval victory.

1806 The great engineer Isambard Kingdom Brunel is born

1807 The slave trade is abolished

1811 Prince George becomes Prince Regent as his father is insane

1812

The British Prime Minister Spencer Perceval is shot by John Bellingham

Charles Dickens is born

1813 The Duke of Wellington defeats the French army at the battle of Vitoria in Spain

1815

The battle of Waterloo is fought. Napoleon is defeated.

Humphrey Davy invents the miners safety lamp, which saves many lives

1817 Jane Austen dies

1819

The Peterloo Massacre. Cavalry charge unarmed people holding a meeting on St Peter's Fields at Manchester. Eleven people are killed.

Sir Stanford Raffles founds Singapore

1820 George III dies. George IV becomes king.

1821 John Constable paints The Haywain

1824 The poet Lord Byron dies

1825 The world's first public passenger railway opens (The Stockton and Darlington railway).

1829

The Catholic Emancipation Act gives Catholics civil rights

Sir Robert Peel forms the first modern police force (hence their nicknames 'bobbies' or 'peelers')

1830 George IV dies. William IV becomes king.

1832

The Great Reform Act is passed. Seats in parliament are distributed more fairly and more men are given the vote.

The writer Lewis Carroll is born

1833 Slavery is abolished throughout the British Empire

1835

Bull baiting is banned in Britain. This 'sport' consisted of chaining a bull to a post then using trained dogs to attack it.

1837 William IV dies. Victoria becomes queen.

1840

The penny black stamp is introduced.

The writer Thomas Hardy is born

Queen Victoria marries Albert

1842 A new law bans women and children from working underground in mines

1843

Charles Dickens publishes A Christmas Carol.

The first Christmas card goes on sale

1847

A new law bans women and children from working more than 10 hours a day in factories

Charlotte Bronte publishes Jane Eyre

Alexander Graham Bell is born

1848 There are cholera epidemics in British towns. The Public Health Act is passed.

1851 The Great Exhibition is held in London

1854-1856 The Crimean War is fought. Britain and France defeat the Russians.

1856 Henry Bessemer invents a way of converting pig iron to steel

1857-58 The Indian Mutiny takes place

1859 Charles Darwin publishes The Origin of Species. It outlines his theory

of evolution.

HMS Warrior launched 1860

1861 Prince Albert dies

1863 The first (steam driven) underground train in London runs

1865

Joseph Lister invents antiseptic surgery.

The Salvation Army is formed (it does not get its name till 1878).

Lewis Carroll publishes Alice's Adventures in Wonderland

1867 The second Reform Act increases the number of men allowed to vote

1868

First Trades Union Congress

The last public execution is carried out in England

1869 Richard Blackmore publishes Lorna Doone

1870

The Education Act to provide state education for all is passed.

Charles Dickens dies.

1871 The Bank Holiday Act is passed. (For most working class people bank holidays are their only paid holidays).

1872

The secret ballot is introduced.

The second Public Health Act is passed.

1874 The writer G K Chesterton is born

1875

A law bans the practice of sending small boys up chimneys to clean them. From now on you have to be over 21 to clean a chimney that way.

The third Public Health Act is passed. Conditions in towns and cities are slowly getting better. In the 1870s and 1880s networks of sewers are dug and water pipes are laid. Gas light becomes common even in the poorest homes.

Captain Matthew Webb swims the English Channel

1878 The Salvation Army is named

1881 Alexander Fleming is born

1884 The 3rd reform act gives more men the vote

1888 Girls who make match boxes successfully strike

1889

Gas workers successfully strike

London dockworkers successfully strike. For the first time unskilled workers are forming successful trade unions.

1890 The first electric underground trains run in London

1898 The writer Lewis Carroll dies

1899-1902 The Boer War is fought in South Africa

Life in the 19th Century

BRITAIN IN THE 20th CENTURY

1901 Queen Victoria dies. Her son becomes Edward VII.

1904 Britain signs the Entente Cordiale (friendly understanding) with France

1906 The first dreadnought, a new and powerful battleship is launched

1908 Kenneth Grahame published The Wind In The Willows

1909 The first old age pensions are paid

1910 Edward VII dies. George V becomes king.

1911

The National Insurance Act is passed. Some workers are allowed unemployment benefit and sickness benefit is created.

The Parliament Act greatly reduces the power of the House of Lords

1914 In August the First World War begins

1916

The Battle of the Somme is fought. Tanks are used in battle for the first time.

Conscription is introduced in Britain

The battle of Jutland is fought between British and German ships. It ends without a clear victor.

1917 The Battle of Passchendale is fought

1918

The First World War ends on 11 November

All men over 21 are allowed to vote. Women over 30 are allowed to vote.

The school leaving age is raised to 14

1922 The BBC is founded.

1926

Workers hold a General Strike but they are defeated

A. A. Milne publishes Winnie The Pooh

1928 Universal suffrage is introduced. (Everyone over the age of 21 is allowed to vote).

1930

Frank Whittle invents the jet engine

Following the Wall Street Crash the depression bites and unemployment rises sharply

1932 Unemployment in Britain reaches 22.8%

1933 Unemployment starts to fall. Britain starts to recover from the depression.

1936

In January unemployment in Britain is 13.9%. It continues to slowly fall.

George V dies. Edward VIII becomes king but soon abdicates. George VI becomes king.

Television begins in Britain

The Jarrow March is held. (A protest against unemployment).

The writer G K Chesterton dies

1939

The Second World War begins

All workers are given one weeks annual paid holiday

About 10% of households in Britain now own a car

1940

The British army is evacuated from Dunkirk

The Battle of Britain is fought

The Germans begin bombing British cities

1942

The Dieppe Raid is carried out. It is a failure.

The Battle of El Alamein is fought. The British army crush the Germans and Italians.

The Beveridge Report is published. It proposes a new welfare state.

1943

In May German forces in North Africa surrender.

In July the allies invade Sicily.

1944

Allied invasion of France

The Germans fire V I flying bombs at London from June and V II missiles from September

The Butler Education Act is passed. It reforms schools.

1945

The Second World War ends

George Orwell's novel Animal Farm is published

Labour win the general election

1947 The school leaving age is raised to 15

1948 The National Health Service is founded

1949 George Orwell's novel 1984 is published

1950 George Orwell dies

1951

The Festival of Britain is held

Conservatives win a general election

1952 George VI dies. Elizabeth becomes queen.

1953

Coronation of Elizabeth II

TV becomes increasingly common. (Many people buy a TV. to watch the coronation). By the end of 1953 approximately 25% of households in Britain have a TV.

1954 Food rationing ends

1955

ITV begins broadcasting

The Conservatives win a second general election

1956

The Suez crisis in Egypt. Britain sends troops but is soon forced to withdraw. The event proves that Britain is no longer a great power.

The first nuclear power station opens at Calder Hall

1959

The Conservatives win a 3rd election victory

Cars are becoming increasingly common. A survey shows 32% of households own one.

1960 Britain is becoming increasingly affluent. A survey shows 44% of households own a washing machine.

1963

Doctor Who is broadcast for the first time

Dr Beeching axes minor railways

1964

The Labour Party wins a general election. Harold Wilson becomes prime minister.

A survey shows 90% of households in Britain own a TV. It is now the main form of entertainment in Britain.

A third TV channel BBC 2 begins broadcasting

The last executions in Britain are carried out

1965 Capital punishment is abolished for an experimental period of 5 years

1966 Labour wins a second general election

1967 Colour TV begins

1969 Capital punishment is abolished permanently

1970

Conservatives under Edward Heath win the general election

The minimum age for voting is lowered from 21 to 18

1971 Britain switches to decimal currency

1972 The school leaving age is raised to 16

1973

Britain joins the EEC (forerunner of the EU)

Unemployment stands at 3%

1975

The Sex Discrimination Act is passed

Unemployment passes one million. It is over 5% for the first time since 1945.

1976

Prime Minister Harold Wilson resigns

In June and July a heat wave creates a very hot summer and water shortages

1978 The first test tube baby is born

1979 The Conservatives win a general election. Margaret Thatcher becomes Britain's first woman prime minister.

1980 Britain enters recession. Unemployment rises sharply and reaches 2 million.

1982

The Falklands War is fought against Argentina

The Mary Rose is raised from the sea bed

Channel 4 begins broadcasting

1983 The Conservatives win a second general election with a large majority

1984 The coal miners strike begins

1985 The coal miners strike ends. The miners are defeated.

1986 Unemployment in Britain reaches a peak. The official figure reaches 14.1%

1987 Corporal punishment ends in state schools

1990

Margaret Thatcher falls from power. She is replaced by John Major.

Britain enters a recession. Unemployment starts to rise rapidly.

The Conservatives win a 4th general election

1993 Britain starts to recover from the recession. Unemployment starts to fall.

1994

The Channel Tunnel opens

The National Lottery begins

1997 Labor wins the general election

Life in the 20th Century

The London Eye

ENGLAND IN THE 21st CENTURY

2001 The population of England reaches 52 million.

2007

Gordon Brown becomes prime minister

Jacqui Smith becomes the first female Home Secretary

2009 A recession afflicts Britain

2010 After a general election Conservatives and Liberals form a coalition government.

2012 The Olympic Games are held in London

A BRIEF HISTORY OF ST GEORGES DAY

'Cry God for England, Harry and St George!' Those immortal words are from Shakespeare's Henry V but who was St George and how did he become patron saint of England? St George was a Roman solider who lived in the 3rd century AD. At the end of the century the Emperor Diocletian persecuted Christians and St George was martyred in 303 AD.

The cult of St George was brought to England from the Middle East by the crusaders. (St George was popular with the crusaders because he was a soldier). He is supposed to have appeared to them at Antioch in 1098.

St Georges Day, 23 April was set by the synod of Oxford in 1222. Meanwhile he was growing in popularity in England. By the 14th century St George was seen as England's saint.

In the Middle Ages some people formed religious guilds. They prayed for dead members souls and provided charity. Many were dedicated to St George. On St George's day in many places effigies of St George were taken out of the local church and paraded around the parish. Furthermore in the Middle Ages the legend of St George and the dragon grew up. Many places also paraded a model dragon.

However after the Reformation the cult of the saints was swept away in England and St George lost much of his importance. Unlike many national saints St George has been neglected. However recently St Georges Day has been revived as a patriotic symbol.

St George is also the patron saint of Catalonia.

A BRIEF HISTORY OF HOMES IN ENGLAND

Celtic Homes

The Celts lived in round houses. They were built around a central pole with horizontal poles radiating outwards from it. They rested on vertical poles. Walls were of wattle and daub and roofs were thatched. Around the walls inside the huts were benches, which also doubled up as beds. The Celts also used low tables.

Roman Homes

After the Roman Conquest upper class Celts adopted the Roman way of life. They built villas modeled on Roman buildings and they enjoyed luxuries such as mosaics and even a form of central heating called a hypocaust. Wealthy Romans also had wall paintings called murals in their houses. In their windows they had panes of glass. Of course poorer Romans had none of these things. Their houses were simple and plain and the main form of heating was braziers.

For the wealthy furniture was very comfortable. It was upholstered and finely carved. People ate while reclining on couches. Oil lamps were used for light. Furthermore some people had a piped water supply. Water was brought into towns in aqueducts they went along lead pipes to individual houses.

However Roman rule probably made little difference to most poor Celts, especially in the north and extreme southwest of England. For them life went on much as it had before. Their houses remained simple huts.

Life in Roman Britain

Saxon Homes

Life was hard in Anglo-Saxon times and homes were rough. There were no panes of glass in windows, even in a thane's (noble's) hall and there were no chimneys. Floors were of earth or sometimes they were dug out and had wooden floorboards placed over them. There were no carpets.

Rich people's houses were rough, crowded and uncomfortable. Even a thanes hall was really just a large wooden hut although it was usually hung with rich tapestries. Thanes also like to show off any gold they owned. Any furniture must have been simple and heavy such as wooden chests.

A Peasants Hut In The Middle Ages

Peasants homes were simple wooden huts. They had wooden frames filled in with wattle and daub (strips of wood woven together and covered in a 'plaster' of animal hair and clay). However in some parts of the country huts were made of stone. Peasants huts were either whitewashed or painted in bright colors.

The poorest people lived in one-room huts. Slightly better off peasants lived in huts with one or two rooms. There were no panes of glass in the windows only wooden shutters, which were closed at night. The floors were of hard earth sometimes covered in straw for warmth.

In the middle of a Medieval peasant's hut was a fire used for cooking and heating. There was no chimney. Any furniture was very basic. Chairs were very expensive and no peasant could afford one. Instead they sat on benches or stools. They would have a simple wooden table and chests for storing clothes and other valuables. Tools and pottery vessels were hung on hooks. The peasants slept on straw and they did not have pillows. Instead they rested their heads on wooden logs.

The peasant's wife cooked on a cauldron suspended over the fire and the family ate from wooden bowls. Candles were expensive so peasants usually used rush lights (rushes dipped in animal fat).

At night in summer and all day in winter the peasants shared their huts with their animals. Parts of it were screened off for the livestock. Their body heat helped to keep the hut warm.

Rich People's Houses In The Middle Ages

The Normans, at first, built castles of wood. In the early 12th century stone replaced them. In the towns wealthy merchants began living in stone houses. (The first ordinary people to live in stone houses were Jews. They had to live in stone houses for safety).

In Saxon times a rich man and his entire household lived together in one great hall. In the Middle Ages the great hall was still the center of a castle but the lord had his own room above it. This room was called the solar. In it the lord slept in a bed, which was surrounded by curtains, both for privacy

and to keep out drafs. The other members of the lord's household, such as his servants, slept on the floor of the great hall.

At one or both ends of the great hall there was a fireplace and chimney. In the Middle Ages chimneys were a luxury. As time passed they became more common but only a small minority could afford them. Certainly no peasant could afford one.

About 1180 for the first time since the Romans rich people had panes of glass in the windows. At first glass was very expensive and only rich people could afford it but by the late 13th and early 14th centuries the middle classes began to have glass in some of their windows. Those people who could not afford glass could use thin strips of horn or pieces of linen soaked in tallow or resin which were translucent.

Furniture in the Middle Ages was very basic. Even in a rich household chairs were rare. Most people sat on stools or benches. Rich people also had tables and large chests, which doubled up as beds. Rich peoples homes were hung with wool tapestries or painted linen. They were not just for decoration. They also helped keep out drafts.

In a castle the toilet or garderobe was a chute built into the thickness of the wall. The seat was made of stone. Sometimes the garderobe emptied straight into the moat!

A knight's home was a smaller version of a castle. They lived in fortified manor houses often with moats around them. A manor house was usually divided into a great hall with at one end a kitchen and a solar above. A rich merchant's house was similar but without fortifications.

Medieval Merchant's House in Southampton

Life in the Middle Ages

16th Century Homes

In the Middle Ages rich people's houses were designed for defense rather than comfort. In the 16th century life was safer so houses no longer had to be easy to defend. It was an age when rich people built grand houses e.g. Cardinal Wolsey built Hampton Court Palace. Late the Countess of Shrewsbury built Hardwick Hall in Derbyshire.

People below the rich but above the poor built sturdy 'half-timbered' houses. They were made with a timber frame filled in with wattle and daub (wickerwork and plaster). In the late 16th century some people built or rebuilt their houses with a wooden frame filled in with bricks. Roofs were usually thatched though some well off people had tiles. (In London all houses had tiles because of the fear of fire).

Furniture was more plentiful in the 16th century than in the Middle Ages but it was still basic. In a wealthy home it was usually made of oak and was heavy and massive. Tudor furniture was expected to last for generations. You expected to pass it on to your children and even your grandchildren. Comfortable beds became more and more common in the 16th century and increasing numbers of middle class people slept on feather mattresses rather than straw ones.

Chairs were more common than in the Middle Ages but they were still expensive. Even in an upper class home children and servants sat on stools. The poor had to make do with stools and benches.

In the 15th century only a small minority of people could afford glass windows. During the 16th century they became much more common. However they were still expensive. If you moved house you took your glass windows with you! Tudor windows were made of small pieces of glass held together by strips of lead. They were called lattice windows. However the poor still had to make do with strips of linen soaked in linseed oil.

Chimneys were also a luxury in the 16th century, although they became more common. Furthermore in the Middle Ages a well to do person's house was dominated by the great hall. In the 16th century well off people houses became divided into more rooms.

In wealthy Tudor houses the walls of rooms were lined with oak paneling to keep out drafts. People slept in four-poster beds hung with curtains to reduce drafts. In the 16th century some people had wallpaper but it was very expensive. Other wealthy people hung tapestries or painted cloths on their walls.

In the 16th century carpets were a luxury only the richest people could afford. They were usually too expensive to put on the floor! Instead they were often hung on the wall or over tables. People covered the floors with rushes or reeds (or mats of woven reeds or rushes) which they strew with sweet smelling herbs.

In the 16th century prosperous people lit their homes with beeswax candles. However they were expensive. Other made used candles made

from tallow (animal fat) which gave off an unpleasant smell and the poorest people made do with rush lights (rushes dipped in animal fat).

In the 16th century the rich had clocks in their homes. The very rich had

pocket watches although most people relied on pocket sundials.

Rich Tudors were also fond of gardens. Many had mazes, fountains and topiary (hedges cut into shapes). Less well off people used their gardens to grow vegetables and herbs.

None of the improvements of the 16th century applied to the poor. They continued to live in simple huts with one or two rooms (occasionally three). Smoke escaped through a hole in the thatched roof. Floors were of hard earth and furniture was very basic, benches, stools, a table and wooden chests. They slept on mattresses stuffed with straw or thistledown. The mattresses lay on ropes strung across a wooden frame.

In 1596 Sir John Harrington invented a flushing lavatory with a cistern. However the idea failed to catch on. People continued to use chamber pots or cess pits, which were cleaned by men called gong farmers. (In the 16th century a toilet was called jakes).

Life in the 16th Century

Rich 17th Century People's Homes

In the late 17th century furniture for the wealthy became more comfortable and much more finely decorated. In the early 17th century furniture was plain and heavy. It was usually made of oak. In the late 17th century furniture for the rich was often made of walnut or (from the 1680s) mahogany. It was decorated in new ways. One was veneering. (Thin pieces of expensive wood were laid over cheaper wood). Some furniture was also inlaid. Wood was carved out and the hollow was filled in with mother of pearl. At this time lacquering arrived in England. Pieces of furniture were coated with lacquer in bright colors.

Furthermore new types of furniture were introduced. In the mid 17th century chests of drawers became common. Grandfather clocks also became popular. Later in the century the bookcase was introduced.

Chairs also became far more comfortable. Upholstered (padded and covered) chairs became common in wealthy people's homes. In the 1680s the first real armchairs appeared.

In the early 17th century the architect Inigo Jones introduced the classical style of architecture (based on ancient Greek and Roman styles). He designed the Banqueting Hall in Whitehall, which was the first purely classical building in England.

The late 17th century was a great age of building grand country homes, displaying the wealth of the upper class at that time.

Poor People's Homes in the 17th Century

However all the improvements in furniture did not apply to the poor. Their furniture, such as it was remained very plain and basic. However there were some improvements in poor people's houses in the 17th century.

In the Middle Ages ordinary people's homes were usually made of wood. However in the late 16th and early 17th centuries many were built or rebuilt in stone or brick. By the late 17th century even poor people usually lived in houses made of brick or stone. They were a big improvement over wooden houses. They were warmer and drier.

Furthermore in the 16th century chimneys were a luxury. However during the 17th century chimneys became more common and by the late 17th century even the poor had them. Furthermore in 1600 glass windows were a luxury. Poor people made do with linen soaked in linseed oil. However during the 17th century glass became cheaper and by the late 17th century even the poor had glass windows.

In the early 17th century there were only casement windows (ones that open on hinges). In the later 17th century sash windows were introduced. They were in two sections and they slid up and down vertically to open and shut.

Although poor people's homes improved in some ways they remained very small and crowded. Most of the poor lived in huts of 2 or 3 rooms. Some families lived in just one room.

18th Century Homes

In the 18th century a small minority of the population lived in luxury. The rich built great country houses. A famous landscape gardener called Lancelot Brown (1715-1783) created beautiful gardens. (He was known as 'Capability' Brown from his habit of looking at land and saying it had 'great capabilities'). The leading architect of the 18th century was Robert Adam (1728-1792). He created a style called neo-classical and he designed many 18th century country houses.

The wealthy owned comfortable upholstered furniture. They owned beautiful furniture, some of it veneered or inlaid. In the 18th century much fine furniture was made by Thomas Chippendale (1718-1779), George Hepplewhite (?-1786) and Thomas Sheraton (1751-1806). The famous clock maker James Cox (1723-1800) made exquisite clocks for the rich.

However the poor had none of these things. Craftsmen and laborers lived in 2 or 3 rooms. The poorest people lived in just one room. Their furniture was very simple and plain.

19th Century Homes

In the 19th century well off people in Britain lived in very comfortable houses. (Although their servants lived in cramped quarters, often in the attic). For the first time furniture was mass-produced. That meant it was cheaper but unfortunately standards of design fell. To us 19th century middle class homes would seem overcrowded with furniture, ornaments and nick-knacks. However only a small minority could afford this comfortable lifestyle.

In the early 19th century housing for the poor was dreadful. Often they lived in 'back-to-backs'. These were houses of three (or sometimes only two) rooms, one of top of the other. The houses were literally back-to-back. The back of one house joined onto the back of another and they only had windows on one side.

The bottom room was used as a living room cum kitchen. The two rooms upstairs were used as bedrooms. The worst homes were cellar dwellings. These were one-room cellars. They were damp and poorly ventilated. The poorest people slept on piles of straw because they could not afford beds.

Fortunately in the 1840s local councils passed by-laws banning cellar dwellings. They also banned any new back to backs. The old ones were

gradually demolished and replaced over the following decades.

In the early 19th century skilled workers usually lived in 'through houses' i.e. ones that were not joined to the backs of other houses. Usually they had two rooms downstairs and two upstairs. The downstairs front room was kept for best. The family kept their best furniture and ornaments in this room. They spent most of the their time in the downstairs back room, which served as a kitchen and living room. As the 19th century passed more and more working class people could afford this lifestyle.

The carpet sweeper was invented in 1876 by Melville Bissell.

In the late 19th century workers houses greatly improved. After 1875 most towns passed building regulations which stated that e.g. new houses must be a certain distance apart, rooms must be of a certain size and have windows of a certain size.

By the 1880s most working class Victorians lived in houses with two rooms downstairs and two or even three bedrooms. Most had a small garden.

At the end of the 19th century some houses for skilled workers were built with the latest luxury - an indoor toilet.

Most Victorian homes also had a scullery. In it was a 'copper', a metal container for washing clothes. The copper was filled with water and soap powder was added. To wash the clothes they were turned with a wooden tool called a dolly. Or you used a metal plunger with holes in it to push clothes up and down. Wet clothes were wrung through a device called a mangle or wringer to dry them.

At the beginning of the 19th century people cooked over an open fire. This was very wasteful as most of the heat went up the chimney. In the 1820s an iron cooker called a range was introduced. It was a much more efficient way of cooking because most of the heat was contained within. By the mid-19th century ranges were common. Most of them had a boiler behind the coal fire where water was heated.

However even at the end of the 19th century there were still many families living in one room. Old houses were sometimes divided up into separate dwellings. Sometimes if windows were broken slum landlords could not or would not replace them. So they were 'repaired' with paper. Or rags were stuffed into holes in the glass.

Gaslight first became common in well off people's homes in the 1840s. By the late 1870s most working class homes had gaslight, at least downstairs. Bedrooms might have oil lamps. Gas fires first became common in the 1880s. Gas cookers first became common in the 1890s.

Joseph Swan invented the electric light bulb in 1878. Edison invented an improved version in 1879. However electric light was expensive and it took a long time to replace gas in people's homes.

In the early 19th century only rich people had bathrooms. People did take baths but only a few people had actual rooms for washing. In the 1870s and 1880s many middle class Victorians had bathrooms built. The water was heated by gas. Working class people had a tin bath and washed in front of the kitchen range.

In the 1890s, for the well to do, a new style or art and decoration appeared called Art Nouveau. It involved swirling and flowing lines and stylized plant forms.

Life in the 19th Century

20th Century Homes

At the start of the 20th century working class homes in Britain had two rooms downstairs. The front room and the back room. The front room was kept for best and children were not allowed to play there. In the front room the family kept their best furniture and ornaments. The back room was the kitchen and it was where the family spent most of their time. Most families cooked on a coal-fired stove called a range, which also heated the room.

This lifestyle changed in the early 20th century as gas cookers became common. They did not heat the room so people began to spend most of their time in the front room or living room, by the fire. Rising living standards meant it was possible to furnish all rooms properly not just one. During the 20th century ordinary people's furniture greatly improved in quality and design.

In the 1920s and 1930s a new style of furniture and architecture was introduced. It was called Art Deco and it used geometric shapes instead of the flowing lines of the earlier Art Nouveau. The name art deco came from an exhibition held in Paris in 1925 called the Exposition Internationale des Arts Decoratifs.

At the beginning of the 20th century only rich people could afford electric light. Other people used gas. Ordinary people did not have electric light until the 1920s and 1930s.

In the early 20th century vacuum cleaners and washing machines were available but only rich people could afford them. They became more common in the 1930s, though they were still expensive. By 1959 about two thirds of British homes had a vacuum cleaner. However fridges and washing machines did not become really common till the 1960s.

The first practical electric fire was made in 1912 but they did not become common until the 1930s. Central heating became common in the 1960s and 1970s. Double glazing became common in the 1980s.

Plastic or pvc was first used in the 1940s. By the 1960s all kinds of household goods from drain pipes to combs were made of plastic.

In 1900 about 90% of the population rented their home. However home ownership became more common during the 20th century. By 1939 about 27% of the population owned their own house.

Meanwhile the first council houses were built before the First World War. More were built in the 1920s and 1930s and some slum clearance took place. However council houses remained rare until after World War II. After 1945 many more were built and they became common.

In the early 1950s many homes still did not have bathrooms and only had outside lavatories. The situation greatly improved in the late 1950s and 1960s.

In the 1950s and 1960s Large-scale slum clearance took place when whole swathes of old terraced houses were demolished. High-rise flats replaced some of them. However flats proved to be unpopular with many people. Some people who lived in the new flats felt isolated. The old terraced houses may have been grim but at least they often had a strong sense of community, which was usually not true of the flats that replaced them.

Furthermore in 1968 a gas explosion wrecked a block of flats at Ronan Point in London and public opinion turned against them. In the 1970s the emphasis turned to renovating old houses rather than replacing them.

Then, in 1979 the British government adopted a policy of selling council houses.

A BRIEF HISTORY OF ENGLISH SOCIETY

Celtic Society

Celtic society was hierarchical. At the top was a class of nobles headed by a king or chieftain. Below them were the craftsmen (of whom metalworkers were the most important). Then came the farmers who provided the food supply and also fought for the chief. There was also a class of slaves in Celtic England. However the Celts were divided into tribes. There was no political unity among them and a great deal of fighting.

Prehistoric Britain

Roman British Society

After the Roman Conquest upper class Celts adopted the Roman way of life. They built villas modeled on Roman buildings and they enjoyed luxuries such as mosaics and even a form of central heating called a hypocaust. Wealthy Romans also had wall paintings called murals in their houses. In their windows they had panes of glass.

However Roman rule probably made little difference to most poor Celts, especially in the north and extreme southwest of England. For them life went on much as it had before. Their houses remained simple huts.

Like the Celts before them and the Saxons after them the Romans kept slaves. A slave's life was, no doubt, horrid. He or she was simply a piece of property and could be bought and sold like an animal. Most people probably treated their slaves reasonably well simply to keep them working efficiently. However, no doubt some masters were cruel. Probably slaves who worked in mines were the worst off. However some slaves managed to gain their freedom or were given their freedom by their masters.

life in Roman Britain

Saxon Society

Kinship (family ties) were very important in Saxon society. If you were killed your relatives would avenge you. If one of your relatives was killed you were expected to avenge them. However the law did provide an alternative. If you killed or injured somebody you could pay them or their family compensation. The money paid was called wergild and it varied according to a persons rank. The wergild for killing a thane was much more than that for killing a churl. Thralls or slaves had no wergild. If the wergild was not paid the relatives were entitled to seek revenge.

At first Saxon society was relatively free. There were some slaves but the basis of society was the free peasant. However in time Saxon churls began to lose their freedom. They became increasingly dependent on their Lords and under their control.

Life in Saxon Times

English Society in the Middle Ages

In the Middle Ages society was like a pyramid. At the top of the pyramid was the king. Below him were the barons or tenants-in-chief. The king granted them land and in return they had to provide so many soldiers to

fight for so many days a year. They also had to swear an oath of loyalty to the king and they became his vassals. The barons granted land to knights. In return they had to fight for so many days a year.

However this system proved awkward. If a knight had to fight, say, 40 days a year when the 40 days were up he would return home even if the king were in the middle of a campaign. Kings began to allow the barons to pay 'shield money'. They used the money to pay soldiers when they needed them.

At the bottom of society were peasants. Most were serfs or villeins. They were not free and could not leave their land without the lord's permission. Furthermore, as well as working on their own land they had to farm the lord's land for 2 or 3 days a week. They also had to work extra days for him at busy times like harvest. (Although in time more and more lords allowed them to pay money rents instead of doing labor service).

Villeins also had other burdens. For instance when a villein died his son had to give the lord the best animal before taking over his father's land. Usually peasants had to grind their grain to flour in the lord's mill (and give him a portion of their grain). In some places they also had to bake their bread in the lord's oven.

However if you could escape from your village to a town for a year and a day you then officially became free. Moreover the Black Death severely weakened the villeinage system. At the time of the Domesday Book the population of England was around 2 million. By the end of the 13th century it had probably risen to about 6 million.

Medieval Merchant's House in Southampton

However in the early 14th century the climate deteriorated and there were a series of famines. The population began to fall. The Black Death of 1348-49 killed about one third of the population of England. So many people died there was a serious shortage of labor and lords were willing to 'poach' workers from other lords by offering them higher wages. Parliament tried to fix wages by law to prevent them rising but this was impossible to enforce. By the 15th century the system of serfdom or villeinage had broken down in England.

The Church also owned vast amounts of land and livestock. Furthermore the peasants had to give a tithe or one tenth of everything they produced (crops, eggs, animals) to the church. Many bishops and abbots were rich and powerful.

In the Middle Ages the king ruled by divine right. In other words people believed that God had chosen him to be king and rebellion against him was a sin. However that did not stop rebellions! Kings had limited power in the Middle Ages and rebellion was easy. A great deal depended on the personality of the king. If he was a strong character he could control the barons. If he were weak or indecisive the barons would often rebel. Warrior kings who fought successful wars were the most powerful as they were popular with the nobility.

Life in the Middle Ages

English Society in the 16th Century

Tudor society was divided into four broad groups. At the top were the nobility who owned huge amounts of land. Below them were the gentry and rich merchants. Gentlemen owned large amounts of land and they were usually educated and had a family coat of arms. Most important gentlemen never did any manual work that was beneath their dignity. Below the gentry were yeomen and craftsmen. Yeomen owned their own land. They could be as wealthy as gentlemen but they worked alongside their men. Yeomen and craftsmen were often able to read and write. Below the yeomen were the tenant farmers who leased their land from the rich. There were also wage laborers. They were often illiterate and very poor.

In the 16th century about 50% of the population lived at subsistence level. In other words they had just enough food, clothes and shelter to survive. For them life was very hard. Or it would seem hard to us, of course people

in the 16th century would have different attitudes. They would be content with a much lower standard of living.

However it was possible to move from one class to another. With hard work and luck a husbandman could become a yeoman. A yeoman could buy a coat of arms and become gentlemen. It was possible for an ambitious young man to rise in the world.

Life in Tudor England

English Society in the 17th Century

During the 17th century the status of merchants improved. People saw that trade was an increasingly important part of the country's wealth so merchants became more respected. However political power and influence was held by rich landowners.

At the top of society were the nobility. Below them were the gentry. Gentlemen were not quite rich but they were certainly well off. Below them were yeomen, farmers who owned their own land. Yeomen were comfortably off but they often worked alongside their men. Gentlemen did not do manual work! Below them came the mass of the population, craftsmen, tenant farmers and laborers.

At the end of the 17th century a writer estimated that half the population could afford to eat meat every day. In other words about 50% of the people were wealthy of at least reasonably well off. Below them about 30% of the population could afford to eat meat between 2 and 6 times a week. They were 'poor'. The bottom 20% could only eat meat once a week. They were very poor. At least part of the time they had to rely on poor relief.

By an act of 1601 overseers of the poor were appointed by each parish. They had power to force people to pay a local tax to help the poor. Those who could not work such as the old and the disabled would be provided for. The overseers were meant to provide work for the able-bodied poor. Anyone who refused to work was whipped and, after 1610, they could be placed in a house of correction. Pauper's children were sent to local employers to be apprentices.

On a more cheerful note in the 17th century in many towns wealthy people left money in their wills to provide almshouses where the poor could live.

Life in the 17th century

English Society in the 18th Century

In the early 18th century the population of Britain was about 6 1/2 million. In the late 18th century it grew rapidly and by 1801 it was over 9 million.

Owning land was the main form of wealth in the 18th century. Political power and influence was in the hands of rich landowners. At the top were the nobility. Below them were a class of nearly rich landowners called the gentry. In the early 18th century there was another class of landowners called yeomen between the rich and the poor. However during the century this class became less and less numerous.

However other middle class people such as merchants and professional men became richer and more numerous, especially in the towns.

Below them were the great mass of the population, craftsmen and laborers. In the 18th century probably half the population lived as subsistence or bare survival level.

In the early 18th century England suffered from gin drinking. It was cheap and it was sold everywhere as you did not need a license to sell it. Many people ruined their health by drinking gin. Yet for many poor people drinking gin was their only comfort. The situation improved after 1751 when a tax was imposed on gin.

Life in the 18th century

British Society in the 19th Century

In the early 19th century Britain was an oligarchy. Only a small minority of men (and no women) were allowed to vote. The situation began to change in 1832 when the vote was given to more men. Constituencies were also redrawn and many industrial towns were represented for the first time. The franchise was extended again in 1867 and 1884. In 1872 the secret ballot was introduced.

However in the 19th century at least 80% of the population was working class. In order to be considered middle class you had to have at least one servant. Most servants were female. (Male servants were more expensive because men were paid higher wages). Throughout the century 'service' was a major employer of women.

In the 19th century families were much larger than today. That was partly because infant mortality was high. People had many children and accepted that not all of them would survive.

Organised religion was much more important in Victorian times than it is today. Nevertheless in 1851 a survey showed that only about 40% of the population were at church or chapel on a given Sunday. Even allowing for those who were ill or could not make it for some other reason it meant that

half the population did not go to church. Certainly many of the poor had little or no contact with the church. In 1881 a similar survey showed only about 1/3 of the population at church on a given Sunday. In the late 19th century organised religion was in decline.

Life in the 19th Century

Poverty in the 19th Century

We know more about poverty in the 19th century than in previous ages because, for the first time, people did accurate surveys and they made detailed descriptions of the lives of the poor. We also have photographs and they tell a harrowing story.

At the end of the 19th century more than 25% of the population was living at or below subsistence level. Surveys indicated that around 10% were very poor and could not afford even basic necessities such as enough

nourishing food. Between 15% and 20% had just enough money to live on (provided they did not lose their job or have to take time off work through illness).

If you had no income at all you had to enter the workhouse. The workhouses were feared and hated by the poor. They were meant to be as unpleasant as possible to deter poor people from asking the state for help. However during 19th century workhouses gradually became more humane.

Life in the 19th century

British Society in the 20th Century

British society changed greatly during the 20th century. In 1914 only about 20% of the population was middle class. By 1939 the figure was about 30%. In the late 20th century the number of 'blue collar' or manual workers declined rapidly but the number of 'white collar' workers in offices and service industries increased rapidly.

In the 1950s large numbers of West Indians arrived in Britain. Also from the 1950s many Asians came. In the late 20th century Britain became a multi-cultural society.

There was another change in British society. In the late 20th century divorce and single parent families became much more common.

In the early 20th century it was unusual for married women to work (except in wartime). However in the 1950s and 1960s it became common for them to do so - at least part-time. New technology in the home made it easier for

women to do paid work. Before the 20th century housework was so time consuming married women did not have time to work. At the same time the economy changed. Manufacturing became less important and service industries grew creating more opportunities for women.

Also, in the 1950s young people had significant disposable income for the first time. A distinct 'youth culture' emerged, first with teddy boys, then in the 1960s with mods and rockers and in the late 1970s with punks and also with rock music. A revolution in music was led by Elvis Presley and Bill Hayley.

A BRIEF HISTORY OF ENGLISH GOVERNMENT

Saxon Government

The Saxons laid The foundations of English government. They divided England into shires. (The Normans called them counties). Each shire was divided into areas called hundreds. (Originally a hundred was one hundred families or one hundred hides, the amount of land needed to support a family). Hundreds were abolished in 1867. Each shire was ruled by a noble called an Earldorman (elder man).

The Saxons also had a council called the Witangemot or Witan made up of great nobles and senior clergymen. The Witan had considerable power.

Life in Saxon times

English Government in the Middle Ages

The Normans replaced the Earldorman with the Sheriff (shire reeve). From the late 14th century appointed magistrates called Justices of the Peace became increasingly important in local government.

In the Middle Ages the king ruled by divine right. In other words people believed that God had chosen him to be king and rebellion against him was a sin. However that did not stop rebellions! Kings had limited power in the Middle Ages and rebellion was easy. A great deal depended on the personality of the king. If he was a strong character he could control the barons. If he were weak or indecisive the barons would often rebel. Warrior kings who fought successful wars were the most powerful as they were popular with the nobility.

In those days the church was rich and powerful and the king needed its support. When he conquered England William I replaced senior Saxon clergymen with men loyal to himself.

William the Conqueror was a ruthless man. However a writer of the time did say this about him; 'he kept good law'. The eleventh century was a lawless age when a strong ruler who kept order was admired.

King John (1199-1216) alienated many of his subjects. They claimed that he ruled like a tyrant ignoring feudal law. He was accused to extorting money from people, selling offices, increasing taxes and creating new ones whenever he wished. Matters came to a head after John tried to recapture his lost lands in France in 1214 but failed. The baron's patience was exhausted. Finally in 1215 civil war broke out. In June 1215 John was forced to accept a charter known as Magna Carta at Runneymede. The charter was meant to stop the abuses. It stated that the traditional rights and privileges of the church must be upheld. It also protected the rights and privileges of the aristocracy. Merchants who lived in towns were also mentioned. However ordinary people were overlooked.

However Magna Carta did uphold an important principle. English kings could not rule arbitrarily. They had to obey English laws and English customs the same as other men. Furthermore Magna Carta laid down that no free man could be arrested, imprisoned or dispossessed without the lawful judgment of his peers or without due process of law.

Henry III began to rule in 1227 and he soon alienated the barons by ignoring their traditional rights and privileges. Worse, in 1254 the pope was fighting in Sicily. Henry III offered to fund the pope's wars if the pope agreed to let his son, Edmund, become king of Sicily. The pope agreed but Henry failed to provide the promised money.

In 1258 he turned to his barons for help. They were infuriated by his scheming and refused to do anything unless Henry agreed to a new charter known as the provisions of Oxford.

At first Henry reluctantly agreed but in 1260 he renounced the provisions. Civil war resulted and in 1264 rebels led by Simon de Monfort defeated and captured the king at the battle of Lewes. They also captured his eldest son Edward. Simon de Monfort called a parliament made up of representatives from each county and each borough. It was the first English parliament.

However Edward escaped and in 1265 he defeated the barons at the battle of Evesham in Worcestershire.

Edward I called the model parliament in 1290. As well as lords it contained 2 knights from each shire and 2 representatives of each borough.

In 1337 Edward claimed the throne of France. War began in 1338. To finance his wars the king had to raise taxes and to do that he needed parliament's co-operation. As a result parliament became more powerful during his reign. In 1340 the Commons and the Lords began meeting separately.

In the Middle Ages most towns were given a charter by the king or the lord of the manor. It was a document granting the townspeople certain rights. Usually it made the town independent and gave the people the right to form their own local government.

Life in the Middle Ages

English Government in the 16th and 17th Century

In the 16th century the parish became the basis of local government. The leading figure was an appointed magistrate called the Justice of the Peace.

In the 16th century the power of the monarchy increased. During the Middle Ages the barons held castles, which were very difficult to capture so it was easy for them to rebel. Cannons changed all that. (Guns were invented in the 14th century and they gradually became more efficient).

Henry VII also strengthened government by creating the Court of Star Chamber (so called because it met in a room with stars painted on the ceiling). The court dealt with 'unlawful maintenance, giving of licences, signs and tokens, great riots, unlawful assemblies'. The Court of Star Chamber was abolished in 1641.

The 17th century was dominated by the struggle between king and parliament. The question was: 'Who was the ultimate authority in the land?'.

King James I (1603-1625) believed in the divine right of kings. In other words God had chosen him to rule. James was willing to work with parliament but he believedultimate authority rested with him.

Like his father Charles I (1625-1649) was firm believer in the divine right of kings. From the start he quarreled with parliament.

Matters came to a head in 1642 when Charles raised his standard and a civil war began. The first civil war ended in 1646 and Charles was captured. However Charles managed to start another civil war in 1648.

In January 1649 Charles was put on trial for treason. He was found guilty on 27 January 1649 and he was beheaded outside Whitehall on 30 January 1649.

On 17 March 1649 parliament passed an act abolishing monarchy and the House of Lords. However it proved very difficult to find something to put in their place. Finally Cromwell died on 3 September 1658.

Oliver Cromwell appointed his son Richard his successor. However Richard resigned in May 1659. Finally in February 1660 General Monck marched to London. Monck recalled the surviving members of the Long Parliament, which first met in 1640.

The Long Parliament voted to disband and hold fresh elections for a new parliament. This one became known as the Convention parliament.

The Convention Parliament declared that the government of England should be King, Lords and Commons. In 1660 Charles II became king.

James II followed him in 1685 and he promptly alienated the people by appointing Catholics to powerful and important positions.

Worse in June 1688 James had a son. The people of England were willing to tolerate James as long as he did not have a Catholic heir. However his son would certainly be brought up a Catholic and would, of course, succeed his father.

Seven powerful nobles then stepped in. They invited the Dutchman William of Orange, husband of James's Protestant daughter Mary, to come to England with an army and promised to support him. William landed in Devon in November and in December James II fled to France.

Parliament declared that the throne was vacant. William and Mary were declared joint monarchs. (Although Mary died in 1694).

The Bill of Rights (1689) said that no Catholic could become king or queen. No king could marry a Catholic. Furthermore the king could not suspend laws or levy loans or taxes without parliament's consent.

Afterwards parliament was definitely the ultimate authority in England.

English Government in the 18th Century

The Act of Union of 1707 joined England and Scotland. They now had a common currency and Scottish MPs sat in the Westminster parliament.

Two kings George I (1714-1272) and George II (1727-1760) spent a great deal of time in Hanover (Germany) so government was often left in the hands of the king's ministers, the Cabinet. In 1721 Horace Walpole (1676-1745) became First Lord of the Admiralty and Chancellor of the Exchequer. Because he was the chief minister people began calling him the Prime Minister. After he resigned in 1742 the practice of having a chief or prime minister continued.

However things changed little during the 18th century. Britain was an oligarchy with power in the hands of the wealthy landowners and rich merchants.

George III 91760-1820) tried to control government more directly than his predecessors. However he lost support after the North American colonies were lost and later he went mad.

English Government in the 19th Century

In 1806 Thomas Hansard began producing reports of parliamentary debates in a journal published by William Cobbett called Parliamentary Debates. Hansard bought out Cobbett in 1811 and continued to publish the debates.

In the early 19th century there were two types of constituency, country areas and towns or boroughs. In the countryside only the landowners could vote. In boroughs the franchise varied but was usually limited. However the constituencies had not been changed for centuries and they no longer reflected the distribution of the population. Industrial towns like Birmingham and Manchester did not have MPs of their own. On the other hand some settlements had died out but they were still represented in parliament! In 'rotten' or 'pocket' boroughs there might be only one or two voters!

In the early 19th century there were increasing demands for reforms. Most people wanted constituencies distributed more fairly and they also wanted the franchise extended but Wellington's party, the Tories, resisted.

However in 1830 the Whigs formed a government and they tried to introduced reform. The House of Commons eventually voted for a reform bill but the House of Lords rejected it. The King, William IV, warned that he would create more peers, who favoured the bill unless the Lords agreed to accept it. Eventually the House of Lords backed down and passed the Great Reform Bill. It received the royal assent on 7 June 1832.

The franchise was only extended slightly but much more importantly the new industrial towns were now represented in parliament. Before 1832

Britain was ruled by an oligarchy of landowners. After 1832 the urban middle class had an increasing say.

Further reform eventually followed. In 1867 more men were given the vote and in 1872 the Ballot Act introduced voting by secret ballot. By 1884 the majority of men in Britain could vote. However not all men in Britain could vote until 1918.

Meanwhile in 1835 the Municipal Corporations Act reformed town governments. A uniform system of town government was formed. In 1888 another act created county councils.

Life in the 19th Century

English Government in the 20th Century

By 1884 the majority of men in Britain were allowed to vote but women were not allowed to. So in 1897 local groups of women who demanded the vote joined to form the National Union of Women's Suffrage Societies (NUWSS). The organisation was moderate and its members were called suffragists.

However in 1903 a more radical organisation was formed called the Women’s Social and Political Union (WSPU). Emmeline Pankhurst led it and its members were called suffragettes. Many suffragettes committed crimes like vandalism and arson. They also planted bombs. Some suffragettes went on hunger strike in prison but in 1913 the government

passed the Cat and Mouse Act which allowed them to release hunger strikers then arrest them again when they recovered. However the suffragettes halted their campaign when the war began in 1914.

Furthermore by no means all women were suffragettes. Many women were anti-suffragettes. They opposed women being allowed to vote. In Britain the Women's National Anti-Suffrage League was formed in 1908. Its president was Mary Humphry Ward, a famous novelist.

On the other hand many men supported the suffragists and wanted women to be allowed to vote.

In 1918 in Britain women over 30 were allowed to vote. In 1928 they were allowed to vote at the age of 21 (the same as men). In 1919 Nancy Astor became the first female MP and in 1929 Margaret Bondfield became the first female cabinet minister. In 1979 Margaret Thatcher became the first female Prime Minister of Britain.

Meanwhile in 1909 the House of Lords rejected Lloyd George's budget. In response the Liberals passed the Parliament Act, which stated the House of Lords, could not interfere with financial bills. The Lords could no longer veto any bills but only delay them for two years. In 1949 that was reduced to one year. In 1999 most hereditary peers in the House of Lords lost their seats.

In 1974 some British counties were reorganized. In the 1990s many English cities became unitary authorities.

A HISTORY OF THE DEATH PENALTY IN THE UK

Capital Punishment in England in the 18th Century

Hanging was the traditional form of capital punishment in England. However it was not the only one. In England beheading was normally reserved for the highborn and it was last used in 1747. (The last person to be beheaded in Britain was a Scot named Simon Fraser, Lord Lovat). In 1401 a law in England made burning

the penalty for heresy. In the 16th century during the reign of Mary (1553-1558) nearly 300 Protestants were burned to death in England. In the 18th century in Britain women found guilty of counterfeiting or murdering their husbands were burned. However burning as a punishment was abolished in Britain in 1790. (In England witches were hanged not burned).

In England the punishment for treason was hanging, drawing and quartering. The person was drawn on a hurdle pulled by a horse to the place of execution. They were hanged (strangled by being suspended by a rope) but when they were still alive and sometimes conscious they were cut down. The executioner cut open their stomach and 'drew out' their entrails. Finally the person was beheaded and his body was cut into quarters.

In the early 19th century the full sentence was no longer carried out. Instead the person was hanged until they were dead and then beheaded. They were not disemboweled. The last case was in 1820.

However hanging was the most common method of execution in England from Saxon times until the 20th century. At first the criminal stood on a ladder, which was pulled away, or on a cart, which was moved. From the 18th century he stood on a trapdoor. Sometimes the hanged man broke his neck when he fell but until the 19th century he was usually strangled by the rope. In the 18th century and the early 19th century hanging was the punishment for many crimes not just murder (although in reality people convicted to lesser crimes were often reprieved).

In 1752 a law in England stated that the body of a person hanged for any crime would be handed over to surgeons to be dissected. To us it would not seem a severe punishment. However to people of the time the idea that after their death their body would be cut up was terrifying. It added an extra punishment to hanging.

Capital Punishment in the UK in the 19th Century and 20th Century

During the early 19th century the number of crimes punishable by death was greatly reduced e.g. in 1829 a man named Thomas

Maynard was the last person in Britain to be hanged for forgery. (Hanging as a punishment for forgery was abolished in 1836). After 1861 capital punishment was only retained for 4 crimes, murder, piracy, arson in the Royal Dockyards and high treason.

The last hanging in public in Britain took place in 1868 when a man named Michael Barrett was hanged. Then in 1908 hanging was abolished for people under the age of 16. In 1933 the minimum age for hanging was raised to 18.

From the 1930s opposition to capital punishment was led by a wealthy woman named Violet Van der Elst. In 1937 she wrote a book called On the Gallows about the subject.

Furthermore in the mid-20th century public opinion in the UK gradually turned against capital punishment. An innocent man called Timothy Evans was hanged in 1950. ( Evans was supposed to have murdered his wife and baby daughter. In fact it was later found out that a man named John Reginald Christie murdered them and several other women. Evans was pardoned in 1966). Another innocent man called Derek Bentley was hanged in 1953. (Derek Bentley was pardoned in 1998). The last woman to be hanged in Britain was Ruth Ellis in 1955 and her case caused a great deal of controversy. Ruth shot her lover David Blakely but she probably wasn't in her right mind at the time. She suffered a miscarriage shortly before it happened. Then in 1956 Diana Dors starred in an anti-capital punishment film called Yield To The Night.

In 1957 a compromise was reached on capital punishment. The Homicide Act abolished hanging for certain kinds of murder. It was still allowed for murder during theft, by shooting or explosion. Capital punishment was also kept for the murder of a police officer or prison officer while on duty. (The last man to be hanged for killing a policeman in the UK was Gunther Podola in 1959). A person who murdered on more than one occasion could also be hanged. The Homicide Act also allowed people to plead not guilty to murder but guilty of manslaughter due to diminished responsibility.

The last men to be hanged in the UK were two men, Peter Allen and Gwynne Jones who were hanged on the same day in 1964. In Britain the death penalty for murder was abolished for an

experimental period of 5 years in 1965. It was abolished permanently in 1969. Free votes were held on the restoration of capital punishment in 1979 and 1994 but both times it was rejected.

However capital punishment could in theory still be used for other crimes. Capital punishment for arson in the Royal Dockyards was abolished in 1971. In 1998 it was abolished for treason and piracy with violence. (The last person actually hanged for treason in Britain was Theodore Schurch in 1946). In 1999 the British Home Secretary signed the 6th protocol of the European Convention of Human Rights, formally ending capital punishment in the UK.

A HISTORY OF ENGLISH POPULATION The Population of Ancient England

About 650 BC a people called the Celts migrated to England. Then in 43 AD the Romans invaded. It is impossible to accurately estimate the population of England before the Romans came. However the population of Roman Britain was probably about 4 million.

Roman towns would seem small to us. The largest town, London, may have had a population of only 35,000. The next largest town was probably Colchester with a population of around 12,000. Roman Cirencester may have had a population of 10,000.

In the 4th century Roman civilization declined and in 407 AD the last Roman soldiers left England. Afterwards the population shrank. (It may have fallen to less than half its Roman level). That may have been partly due to a terrible plague that struck Europe in the 6th Century).

The population of Ireland in 43 AD is not known but an educated guess is about 1/2 million. It was probably not more than 3/4 million.

The Population of England in the Middle Ages

After the Romans departed Germanic peoples, the Angles, Saxons and Jutes landed in England and they gradually conquered it. However many Celts survived and were assimilated into Saxon society. However the Saxons never gained effective control of Cornwall.

Another great wave of invasion came in the 9th century. The Danes conquered North and Eastern England. At that time England was divided into kingdoms and they only one left was the southern kingdom of Wessex led by Alfred the Great. Alfred eventually defeated the Danes and they made a treaty. They split southern and central England between them. The Danes took London, East Anglia and all the territory east of the old Roman road, Watling Street. Alfred took the land west of Watling Street and southern England. However in the 10th century Wessex gradually expanded and took over all the Danish territory. So a single united England was created. The Danish settlers were gradually assimilated into English society.

At the time of the Domesday Book (1086) England probably had a population of about 2 million. (Much less than in Roman times). However the population grew rapidly. It may have reached about 5 or 6 million by the end of the 13th century.

In the Middle Ages most people lived in the countryside and made a living from farming. However at the time of the Domesday Book (1086) about 10% of the population of England lived in towns. Moreover trade boomed in the following two centuries and many new towns were founded.

The first thing that would surprise us about those towns would be their small size. At the time of the Domesday Book in 1086 London had a population of about 18,000. By the 14th century it rose to about 45,000. Other towns were much smaller. York may have had a population of about 13,000 by 1400 but it then fell to about 10,000 by 1500. Most towns had between 2,000 and 5,000 inhabitants.

However disaster struck in 1348-49 when the Black Death reached England. It killed about 1/3 of the population. The plague returned again and again and the population of England was severely

reduced. In 1400 the population of England was probably about 2 1/2 million.

The Population of England 1500-1800

By 1530 the population of England and Wales had risen to around 3 million and by 1600 it was about 4 million. In Tudor times towns remained small (although they were a vital part of the economy). The only exception was London. From a population of only about 60,000 or 70,000 at the end of the 15th century it grew to about 250,000 people by 1600. Other towns in Britain were much smaller.

The next largest town was probably Bristol, with a population of only around 20,000 in 1600.

Nevertheless in the 16th century towns grew larger as trade and commerce grew. The rise in town's populations was despite outbreaks of plague. It struck all the towns at intervals in the 16th and 17th century but seems to have died out after 1665. Each time it struck a significant part of the town's population died but they were soon replaced by people from the countryside.

At the end of the 17th century it was estimated the population of England and Wales was about 5 1/2 million. The population of Scotland was about 1 million. The population of London was about 600,000.

In the mid 18th century the population of Britain was about 6 1/2 million. In the late 18th century it grew rapidly and by 1801 it was over 9 million. The population of London was almost 1 million.

During the 18th century towns in Britain grew larger. Nevertheless most towns still had populations of less than 10,000. However in the late 18th century new industrial towns in the Midland and the North of England mushroomed. Meanwhile the population of London grew to nearly 1 million by the end of the century. Other towns were much smaller. The population of Liverpool was about 77,000 in 1800. Birmingham had about 73,000 people and Manchester had about 70,000. Bristol had a population of about 68,000. Sheffield was smaller with 31,000 people and Leeds had about 30,000 people. Leicester had a population of about 17,000 in 1800. In the

south Portsmouth had a population of about 32,000 in 1800 while Exeter had about 20,000 people.

The Population of Britain After the Industrial Revolution

In the 19th century Britain became the world's first industrial society. It also became the first urban society. By 1851 more than half the population lived in towns.

The population of Britain boomed during the 19th century. In 1801 it was about 9 million. By 1901 it had risen to about 41 million. This was despite the fact that many people emigrated to North America and Australia to escape poverty. About 15 million people left Britain between 1815 and 1914.

However there were also many immigrants. In the 1840s many people came from Ireland, fleeing a terrible potato famine. In the 1880s the Tsar began persecuting Russian Jews. Some fled to Britain and settled in the East End of London.

During the 20th century the population of Britain grew more slowly. However by the beginning of the 21st century it had reached 60 million. In the 1950s large numbers of West Indians arrived in Britain. Also from the 1950s many Asians came. In the late 20th century Britain became a multi-cultural society. Meanwhile the population of London reached a peak of 8.7 million in 1939. It fell to just under 8.2 million in 1951 and it has since fallen to 7.2 million. Today the population of Britain is estimated to be 63.7 million.

A BRIEF HISTORY OF LIFE EXPECTANCY IN BRITAIN Life Expectancy before the Industrial Revolution

We do not know exactly what average life expectancy at birth was in the past (before the 19th century we can only give rough estimates). However historians think it was about 35 years in the Middle Ages or the 16th Century. (So 50% of the people born

reached that age). However that does not mean that people dropped dead when they reached 35! Average life expectancy at birth was around 35 but a great many of the people born died in

childhood. We don't know exactly what percentage died but if we say about 25% of people died before they were 5 years old we are probably not wide of the mark. Perhaps as many as 40% died before they reached adulthood. However if you could survive

childhood and your teenage years you had a good chance of living to your 50s or your early 60s and even in the Middle Ages in Western Europe there were some people who lived to 70 or 80.

Things improved in the 18th century in Britain. Life expectancy at birth rose to about 40 by the late 18th century. Nobody is sure why. Plague died out, which must have helped. (The last outbreak of plague in Western Europe was in Marseilles in 1720). Furthermore in the 18th century eating potatoes became common, which probably improved nutrition. Improvements in 18th century agriculture may also have helped.

Life Expectancy after 1800

Life expectancy rose further in Britain in the late 19th century. By 1900 in Britain it was about 47 for a man and about 50 for a woman. (That does not mean of course that people dropped dead in their late forties. The figures are skewed because death in childhood was still common in the early 20th century. That affected the average figure.) During the late 19th century living standards

rose substantially and most people were better nourished. There were also huge improvements in public health with sewers being dug under cities and clean water supplies created.

Things continued to improve in Britain in the early 20th century. In particular death in childhood became far less common and by the early 1930s life expectancy for a man at birth was about 60. By the 1950s it had risen to about 65. Things improved more slowly in the late 20th century but by 1971 life expectancy for a man in Britain was 68. For a woman it was 72. Today life expectancy at birth is 77 for a man in the UK and 81 for a woman.