Joseph Rowntree, a social hero...

Joseph Rowntree was born to a Quaker family in York on the 24th May 1834. Joseph's father was a grocer and when he was 14 he started work with him. His work took Joseph to London where he attended the Commons after becoming interested in politics. In 1869, he decided to change career and began working with his brother, Henry, at his factory; the Cocoa, Chocolate and Chicory Works in York. Joseph was very influential at the factory and under his supervision it expanded rapidly, especially after he introduced the fruit pastille in 1881.
In 1883, Henry Rowntree died leaving Joseph as owner of the business. Joseph was not only an excellent businessman but also a charitable man who did many good works during his lifetime, including teaching a class for adults on Sundays, helping set up the York Public Library and providing a park in York to be used as a First World War memorial. But what Rowntree is perhaps most famous for (apart from his delectable sweets) is his work to help the poor. After becoming influenced by a book written by his son, Benjamin Seebohn Rowntree, called 'Poverty, A Study of Town Life, Joseph installed a library in his factory and provided all workers under the age of 17 with free education.

Rowntree very generously provided his workers with a doctor and a dentist and, in 1906, set up a Pension Fund for his workers, donating £10,000 to it. But what Rowntree was most concerned with was finding ways of reducing poverty where he saw it. In 1863 he produced a statistical study linking crime and poverty and two years later published his second study; Pauperism in England and Wales. In 1901, Rowntree even purchased 123 acres of land to build homes for low-income families at New Earswick, York. Rowntree went on to be a lifelong advocate for social reform right up to his death in 1925. Today, The Joseph Rowntree Foundation continue what he started spending £10.5 million on research and development to put forward key messages (souce: JRF).

A Much Needed Return! A baby and a book review

It feels like an absolute age since I was on here blogging but I feel that I am more than ready to return. Needless to say I have been very busy since I last blogged way back in November-after leaving my humble teaching job to start maternity leave in late November I had a very restful December and in January gave birth to my beautiful daughter, Eleanor Faith. Since then I have been adjusting to becoming a mother whilst still trying (and mostly failing) to keep a tidy house! With Ellie turning ten weeks old yesterday and celebrating Mother's Day for the first time, I feel it's the right time to start up my blogging hobby again, especially as Ellie's colic has calmed down a lot!
You may or may not be surprised to find that I have managed to read just one book this year-those readers with children will understand how hard it really is to juggle normal day to day activities with a new baby, let alone find time to do anything for pleasure!

The book in question is 'The Lieutenant' by Kate Grenville, the best-selling Australian author. I must admit that I had not heard of the author before picking up this book in Tesco one Wednesday night. I was attracted to the book's very pretty cover-it is covered in tiny gold specks that represent stars, as the protagonist in the book, Daniel Rooke, is an Astronomer. I then read the back cover and was interested immediately-set in 1788, this work of historical fiction tells the story of a Lieutenant in the First Fleet who travels to New South Wales and sets up an observatory at Sydney Cove. The character Daniel Rooke is loosely based on a real member of the Royal Navy, William Dawes who was prosecuted for attempting to learn the language of the Aborigines. From the beginning of the story the reader soon learns that Rooke is the shy retiring type that just wants to be able to study-he has a firm love of mathematics, astronomy and the sciences. Rookes love of knowledge and his yearning for something new leads him to join the navy and to New South Wales. Keen to stay out of the way, Rooke convinces his superiors that an observatory is needed so that Rooke can keep watch for a foreseen comet.
It is while Rooke is living alone in his observatory that he is first approached by some of the natives, including a young girl called 'Tagaran'. After a couple of initial meetings Rooke and Tagaran begin this wonderful exchange of language set against a backdrop of colonisation. Right from their first meeting, Rooke and Tagaran seem to have this unique bond that enables them to understand what one another are saying, despite the fact that they are both speaking a different language to the other.
At first Rooke is more concerned with learning the native tongue from Taragan, so much so that he fastidiously writes down everything she says and what he thinks is the English equivalent. But pretty soon their union blossoms into something so much more than just wanting to learn a language. In a way, Grenville is wanting the reader to understand that while Taragan and Rooke's friendship is blossoming a way of life is coming to an end; the way of life of the aborigines. It seems the more Rooke and Tagaran get to know one another the more the British gain control of New South Wales and exert their power over the natives.
One very graphic part of the novel involves a native being made an example of when a British prisoner acting as gamekeeper for the colony is attacked. The innocent man is lashed in front of the Royal Navy and many of the natives. The British here are using a punishment that is extremely foreign to the natives. Taragan sees her fellow native being lashed and sees Rooke standing by and watching-not realising that if Rooke was to step in and rescue the man that it would mean Rooke might receive the same punishment or worse. It is at this point that both Rooke and Taragan realise that their flirtations with a foreign culture are to remain just that-they could not possibly be accepted as being friends by either side as they are so different.
The book ends with a beautiful moment where Rooke is being transported back to Britain and he is waving goodbye to Taragan who is stood on the shore. In my opinion, which is not a learned opinion by far, Grenville is making the point that it isn't just old friends waving goodbye to each other for last time, but that the world is waving goodbye to a whole way of life.
The book in three words; beautiful, tragic, wonderful.
If you have read the book or are planning to-let me know what you think!

Poppy Man!

As part of Great Wyrley History department's Remembrance Day activities, two of my year 9 groups took part in making a 'Poppy Man'. 9Asia and 9Pare were asked to write on a poppy why it was important to remember people who have fought for Britain and think of those people who are still fighting for Britain. I was really impressed with the responses from both groups-so I would like to say a big well done to those students! Pictured with the Poppy Man above are two of the students who contributed: Georgia and Kalyca!

Here is the top part of the poppy man-I couldn't fit him all on as he is quite tall! He is covered from top to toe with poppies carrying remembrance messages. At the minute he is in the foyer of the school for Remembrance Day tomorrow!
Also I visited the National Memorial Arboretum in Alrewas, Staffordshire on Remembrance Sunday to pay my respects. Below are just a few of the poppy wreaths that were left in remembrance of our brave heroes.

Remembrance Sunday

Today is Remembrance Sunday and I would like to remember some lost loved ones who played their part in war.
My Grandad O'Connor and Grandad Sid who were both in the Navy during the Second World War.
My Grandad Dent who worked long and hard hours in protected services down the pits.
My husband's Grandad Magee who was in the RAF during WW2 and his Grandad McLaughlin who was in protected services in the pits.
My Great Uncle Billy who was a Sergeant Major during the Second World War and who also served as an underage lad during World War One.
All of my relatives who served survived the horrors of war and,I am sure,if they were here today would be remembering their lost comrades.
My thoughts and thanks go out to all service men and women who have fought and who are still fighting on behalf of Britain.
If you would like to leave a message of remembrance please do...

The Man who REALLY Shouldn't have been Shot!

I've recently been teaching the causes of the First World War to my year 9 classes at Great Wyrley. Every time I teach the assassination of Franz Ferdinand it always amazes me as the assassination, although intended, was a comedy of errors and really should not have been able to come about!
It's the 28th June and the Arch Duke Franz Ferdinand is on a tour of Sarajevo, Bosnia, representing the Austro-Hungarian empire as heir. With him is his pregnant wife, Sophie, who, because of her low birth status, would not normally accompany the arch duke on an official outing but is this time as a special anniversary treat. Franz insists on riding in an open top limousine and refuses to have any army present to protect him, even though he knows his reception may be hostile. Instead, only 120 policemen line the arch duke's entire route-certainly not enough to give any kind of protection.
A small group of terrorists from Serbia, called the Black Hand, are in Sarajevo too-armed with pistols and hand grenades with orders to assassinate the arch duke (Serbia has a severe dislike of the Austro-Hungarian empire and thinks Austria-Hungary wants Serbia as part of their empire). The terrorists take their places along the route the arch duke intends to travel-known as the route had been published in the newspapers. One of the terrorists even asks which car the arch duke will be in and a policeman tells him that Franz will be in the third car in the procession.
Now, the errors are not just on the part of the Austro-Hungarians but also on the terrorists themselves. Firstly, when the arch duke's car passes the first of the terrorists he freezes and does not act. Secondly, as the arch duke's procession passes the next would be assassin, he throws his grenade towards the arch duke's car but it misses. To top it off, the assassin had forgotten that the grenade had a 10 second delay and so by the time the grenade goes off, Franz is well away in his car. This failed would be assassin sticks to the plan and downs his cyanide, intending to end his life. His cyanide, however, is very old and the most effect it has is to make the terrorist sick. Realising the cyanide isn't working the terrorist throws himself into the nearby river with the hope of drowning. This did not work either as the river was only 4 inches deep. The would be assassin is then apprehended.
The two would be assassins next in line to try to kill the arch duke heard the grenade go off. Expecting the arch duke to be dead, when they see the procession coming passed them they are surprised to see that Franz is still alive and are too shocked to act.

Meanwhile, Gavrilo Princip has momentarily left his spot on the route to get a sandwich. This, as well as the arch duke's driver taking a wrong turn off the intended route, means that Princip and the arch duke meet in a back street-a place neither were ever meant to be. After taking the wrong turn, the arch duke's driver is ordered to reverse and go back. As the driver attempts this his gear jams, giving Princip ample time to not only consider how lucky he is but to also fire two shots directly at the arch duke. One bullet hits Franz directly in his throat whilst the other strikes his poor wife Sophie in the stomach (and she wasn't even meant to be there!). Both bleed to death.
This event is what finally 'sparked' off the First World War. It is the story of the one bullet that killed over 9 million people.

Wild, Wild West!

On timelines.tv, an old favourite of mine, I have just discovered a new timeline dedicated to the history of the American West. There are seven eye-witness accounts of the West, including that of the pioneers, the homesteaders, and of course, the Native Americans-detailing Black Elk's (man pictured) story of life on the Plains, the struggle against white settlers, the Fort Laramie Treaty, and the Battle of Little Bighorn.
These videos are detailed and will make an excellent resource for revision for those students studying the American West as part of their History GCSE, including Great Wyrley's four GCSE groups!

Take a look and let me know what you think.

What's in a Portrait? A Challenge...

It's the new academic year and my year 8 classes are studying portraits. I have always found portraits to be fascinating-especially if they are of people I really like (Charles II and Georgiana, Duchess of Devonshire in particular).
One of the portraits we've been studying is the above 1588 portrait commemorating the defeat of the Spanish Armada. My challenge to you is to study this portrait and let me know what you see and what the symbolism in the portrait means-maybe you'll be able to tell me anything about it I may have missed! Also, let me know what your fave portrait is!

The Necessary Evil?

It is hard not to have some sort of opinion on Truman's decision to drop the Atomic bomb on Japan in 1945. The question is; what opinion should we have? What opinion is the PC one? Does what you think depend on whether you're an American or Japanese?
I have always felt immense sympathy for the residents of Hiroshima and Nagasaki-but then I think about the 'what ifs?' What if Truman had decided not to use the A-Bomb and had gone for full scale invasion instead?-it would have meant the death of an estimated 1/4 million to 1 million American troops. Would that have been the more humane alternative? I'm not quite sure. After all, the Japanese did attack the US first and, three months after the end of war in Europe, Japan was still carrying on the fight in the Pacific. The war needed to be put to an end and the Japanese were given ample time to surrender. But, the Japanese had always had a militaristic attitude; after all, they were fighting for an Emperor who they believed was a God on earth-they were fighting for their rights, their beliefs, and themselves. Even school children were being trained with bamboo spears to kill any enemy they may come across in an invasion of their land.
The atomic bomb was a new and immensely powerful weapon with a destructive force equivalent to a 2,000-bomber raid. One bomb of this capability had never been tested on humans before-just in the deserts of New Mexico. A select number of people knew what the bomb could do in terms of destruction but they were not fully sure of the after effects it would have on humans.

"In the first billionth of a second of the bomb impacting the temperature reaches 60 million degrees centigrade, 10,000 times hotter than the sun's surface. Within the first 3 seconds, thousands of people are incinerated, carbonised into charred smoking bundles. Birds ignite in mid-air. Steel-framed buildings liquefy like wax...Hundreds of radioactive isotopes spill out of the fireball [that followed], penetrating flesh and bone...Perhaps 80,000 people died in those first seconds after the blast. Thousands more would die later from burns and radiation poisoning".
It is the awful after effects of the bomb, like radiation sickness, that makes me think whether dropping the bomb was the right decision or not-I guess it's hard for me to have a worthy opinion on this with me being neither American nor Japanese.

But I would like to know what you all think about this topic...

Quote taken from BBC History Magazine, Vol 6, no 8, August 2005

Art or a little morbid?

I have recently discovered the 'art' of post-mortem photography-popular during the Victorian age.
These often disturbing photographs were popular with families who couldn't necessarily afford proper family portraits and so didn't have pictures of the deceased in order to remember them. Sometimes families would have post-mortem photographs taken to capture the deceased as they looked when they died to give to family members who lived far away-so that they could see the deceased as they looked, especially if the family members had not seen the deceased for a number of years.

These post-mortem photos have become a form of art that some people seem to want to collect. I have seen a number of these photos on auction websites-like the one to the right-that are being sold. I am not sure whether I would class such pictures as art but obviously there are people who do.
What do you think?
Some of the examples I found on the Internet are a little too disturbing, in my opinion, to put on a blog-as there are a number of post-mortem photographs of live children posing alongside their recently deceased sibling.

I'm an American President!

http://i42.tinypic.com/10idoxj.jpg
I was directed to really cool website where you can superimpose images onto ready-made pictures-and I found this one of Mount Rushmore and, as it is was the only vaguely historical photo on the website, I used it to superimpose myself on to! My rocky face looks great!