Features Intriguing People

Joseph Priestley

Joseph Priestly
This entry is part [part not set] of 3 in the series Age of Reason and Enlightenment

Joseph Priestley radical dissenter and champion for the open and inquiring mind. Joseph Priestly was quite possibly one of the most important thinkers of the Enlightenment. His direct and open inquiry into both religious beliefs and ideas was also directed at science, politics and society. Who was Joseph Priestley? He was born on the 13th…

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Alexandra Feodorovna

Alexandra Feodorovna the last Russian Tsarina was she ultimately responsible for the downfall and murder of the Romanov family? She was ostracized by the Russian court, its people and many in Europe, what part did this play in forcing her towards Rasputin?

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WW1 Remembrance Poetry Art and Hope

Honoured guests Tower of London Chelsea Pensioners and their Beefeater guide

The Digital Archives of WW1 Poetry needs little introduction. Worthy of a reflective browse and full of deeply moving artefacts. When souls in the extremes of horrific wars raise themselves to such heights, in spite of all they face, it feels like the least we can do is to take inspiration from their art and…

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Rachel Wriothesley wife of Lord Russell

Rachel Wriothesley

Rachel Wriothesley played an interesting role in 17th Century intrigue but who was she? Rachel was born in 1636 in Titchfield Hampshire, the daughter of Thomas Wriothesley the 4th Earl of Southampton. The Wriothesley’s had an illustrious history, after the Reformation, the family grew more powerful and wealthier than ever before. Thomas Wriothesley, the 1st…

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Sarah Guppy an English Inventor

sarah guppy

Sarah Guppy an English inventor and a rare breed indeed. She was born in 1770 and developed a passion for engineering that culminated in a plethora of useful and esoteric inventions.

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Fair Rosamund

Fair Rosamund

Fair Rosamund, another intriguing woman of the Plantagenet period. Mistress of King Henry II but just why was she so important in his life?

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IT Livery Companies History and Dame Shirley

This entry is part 7 of 12 in the series Intriguing Women

Dame Stephanie Shirley, aka Steve computing pioneer, philanthropist and advocate for strategic projects in Autism and child escaping Nazi Germany via the British Kindertransport initiative. She survived and succeeded against the odds, one 10,000 against one and a half million that perished..She is part of history and very much alive and still making it happen, she is for me an inspiration and continues a long line of great contributions to British life that started with the story of a migration and the struggles of an immigrant trying to make the best of the cards life has dealt the, We can all learn something from Dame Shirley.

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Richard II King 1377-1399

Last Plantagenet King of England Richard II
This entry is part 1 of 7 in the series Plantagenet Monarchs

Richard II son of the Black Prince and Grandson of Edward III what kind of a King would he make coming to the throne at just 9 years old, confronting the Peasants Revolt and growing-up with the burden of kingship. Follow his timeline and chronology of the events that shape his life and impact on his kingdom.

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Edward Coke 1552 – 1634

Edward Coke and British Government and Democracy

Edward Coke, supreme barrister and politician of the C16th and C17th, whose belief and work in Common Law became part of the English and US Constitution whose name should be known by every child in the UK.

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