There have been many dates dubbed 'Black Monday', but the first was EasterMonday, 14th April 1360, 'so full dark of mist and hail, and so bitter cold that many men died on their horsebacks with the cold.' The day on which a number of English were slaughtered at a village near Dublin in 1209. The day of panic in 1745 when the Scottish rebels were reported to have arrived at Derby, and the Bank of England paid in sixpences. Research Black Monday
British Boroughs originated as Anglo-Saxon, Viking and Norman towns from the ninth century. The Anglo-Saxon invaders who arrived in Britain in the fifth to seventh centuries were farmers, not interested in repairing the roads or maintaining the Roman towns which fell into partial disuse. The Angle-Saxons at first regarded towns as 'the defences of slavery and the graves of freedom... the work of giants seen from afar'. However, when the Vikings from Scandinavia overran the east and north of the country in the ninth century, they turned to town life in the area which they conquered, the Danelaw. The commercial life of York, their headquarters from 876, was revived by Vikingenterprise, the Roman walls of Chester were rebuilt by a Viking chief, and the East Midlands came under the jurisdiction of the five newly-created Scandinavian boroughs of Nottingham, Derby, Leicester, Stamford and Lincoln.
The Angle-Saxons, under their kings Alfred the Great and Edward the Elder, not to be outdone, also created boroughs similar to those of the Scandinavian invaders, at places such as Northampton, Huntingdon, Bedford and Tamworth, and despite many setbacks, re-conquered all the territory which the Scandinavians had acquired. In 1066, the Normans in their turn came to Britain as conquering invaders, and also built new boroughs and enlarged old ones.
The Anglo-Saxon, Scandinavian and Norman borough had varied functions. It was foremost a defended place or strong point surrounded by an earthen bank of oval or square shape, or by the patched-up wall of an older Roman town. In each new borough, the King settled a permanent garrison with ample reserves, sustained by landowners on whom was laid the obligation of defending the borough in time of need. In return for this, the borough and its burgesses were protected by the King's special peace. The borough was also a trading centre, with a market place and often a mint for coins. When King Edward the Elder ordained that all buying and selling should take place in a market town in the presence of a town-reeve, he ensured the concentration of trading in the growing boroughs. The borough was also an administrative centre. Indeed, many British modern counties came into being as the territories allocated by the King to the support of the defences and trading facilities of a borough, e.g. Nottinghamshire was the support for the county town of Nottingham, as its name shows. Research Boroughs
Chinaware is a name given to porcelain (pottery made from kaolin), so called from China being the first country to supply it to Europeans. It is thought that the Chinese produced porcelain from ancient times, but it wasn't until around 500 AD that they perfected the art. Chinaware first came to Europe in the beginning of the 16th century and won immediate popularity for its beauty and novelty.
The European consumers thought it impossible to match the whiteness of Chinaware, until John Frederick of Saxony, an alchemist, discovered a means of producing a porcelain equal in whiteness to the Chinaware. This led to the establishment by the Government of a factory at Meissen which started to produce porcelain rivalling the Chinaware in beauty and quality.
In France also about the middle of the 18th century the celebrated factory at Sevres was set up and soon acquired a great renown. In England a porcfaiain work was established at Chelsea some years prior to 1745; it was made at Stratford-le-Bow about the same time, at Derby as early as 1750, at Worcester in 1751. About 1755 kaolin or porcelain clay was discovered in Cornwall, and this contributed greatly to improve the quality of English porcelain, which began to be largely manufactured in Staffordshire under the auspices of Josiah Spode and Thomas Minton.
Chinaware, when broken, presents a granular surface with a compact, dense, firm, hard, vitreous and durable texture. It is semi-transparent, with a covering of white glaze, clear, smooth, unaffected by all acids except hydroflouric acid, and able to withstand sudden changes of temperature. Research Chinaware
Chinese red (also known as American vermillion, chrome red, Derby red and Persian red) is a red pigment comprised of chromate of lead. Research Chinese Red
Derby-day is the former great annual London holiday, on which the horse-race for the stakes instituted by LordDerby in 1780 (Derby Stakes) is run. It always falls on a Wednesday, being the second day of the grand race meeting which takes place in the week after TrinitySunday. Research Derby-day
The Society of Friends, commonly known as Quakers - after their founder suggested to Justice Bennet of Derby that he 'quake and tremble at the word of the Lord' - , is a small Christian body that began about the middle of the 17th century, as a revolt of mystical Christianity against the ecclesiasticism and bibliolatry of the Reformed Churches, both Anglican and Non-conformist. Groups of dissatisfied 'seekers' were at that time meeting together, waiting for some authentic revelation from God; and this many of them believed that they received through the preaching of George Fox.
All the distinctive views and practices of the Quakers flow from the root principle of the 'inward light' - the belief that everyone has, or may have, some direct experience of God in the soul. In public worship they discard all professional ministry and arranged services except among the Pastoral body of America, and meet in silent fellowship waiting on God, giving freedom to anyone who is believed to be moved by the Spirit to preach or lead the company in vocal prayer. They do not practise the outward sacraments of Baptism and the Lord's Supper, believing that the whole emphasis of Jesus Christ and His Apostles was not upon symbolic acts, but upon inward experience and rightness of life.
They have a unique form of marriage, in which human priesthood finds no place, the man and woman simply taking one another in the presence of God and the congregation. They refuse to take judicial oaths, believing that anyone who walks in the Light will always and everywhere do his best to speak the truth. In church government every member, male or female, has a an equal voice. No question is decided by a vote; but after a time of silent worship matters are discussed in a reverent spirit and the 'clerk' or president gathers what he believes to be the sense of the meeting.
From the earliest days the conviction that the Light of God is in some measure present in everyone has given the Quakers a special sense of human brotherhood, and made them pioneers of philanthropy.
The Society Of Friends was the first Christian body in America to forbid its members to hold slaves, and in England, Quakers led by Elizabeth Fry took the lead in prison reform and also in the kindly treatment of mental patients. The same spirit is at the root of their opposition to war, which involves the double conviction unique to the Society Of Friends within the Christian church, that: 1) war is always contrary to the spirit of Christ and 2) that war is always unnecessary for a nation that will persistently act with justice to all. This twofold conviction was put into practice in Penn's 'holy experiment' - the colony of Pennsylvania having been maintained under Quaker rule for over 70 years without armed defence against Indian marauders, and without being attacked by them. Research Society Of Friends
The eland is either of two African antelope, comprising the genus Taurotragus, that are the most massive of all true antelope. The common eland (Taurotragus oryx), of central and southern Africa has a fawn-coloured coat; it develops a broad, deep-fringed dewlap extending to the knees. Its strong horns spiral straight upward and are usually about 70 centimetres long in large males; in females the horns are longer but more slender. The derby eland, (Taurotragus derbianus), of southern Africa attains a height of about 1.8 metres at the shoulder and has longer horns. Elands are gregarious, relatively slow-moving animals with no definite breeding season; they live for up to 20 years. Hunted for their meat, they are potentially valuable as domestic animals. Research Eland
Benjamin Disraeli (LordBeaconsfield) was a British statesman and writer. He was born in 1804 at London and died in 1881. Of Jewish extraction, he was the eldest son of Isaac D'Israeli, author of the Curiosities of Literature. He attended for a time a private school, and was first destined for the law, but showing a decided taste for literature he was allowed to follow his inclination. In 1826 he published Vivian Grey, his first novel; and subsequently travelled for some time, visiting Italy, Greece, Turkey, and Syria, and gaining experiences which were afterwards reproduced in his books. His travels and impressions are embodied in a volume of letters addressed to his sister and his father. In 1831 another novel, The Young Duke, came from his pen. It was followed at short intervals by Contarini Fleming, Alroy, Henrietta Temple, Venetia, The revolutionary Epic (a poem), etc.
In 1832, and on two subsequent occasions, he appeared as candidate for the representation of High Wycombe, with a programme which included vote by ballot and triennial parliaments, but was unsuccessful. His political opinions gradually changed: in 1835 he unsuccessfully contested Taunton as a Tory. In 1837 he gained an entrance to the House of Commons, being elected for Maidstone. His first speech in the house was treated with ridicule; but he finished with the prophetic declaration that the time would come when they would hear him. During his first years in parliament he was a supporter of Peel; but when Peel pledged himself to abolish the corn-laws, Benjamin Disraeli became the leader of the protectionists.
About this time he became a leader of what was known as the 'Young England' party, the most prominent characteristic of which was a sort of sentimental advocacy of feudalism. This spirit showed itself in his two novels of Coningsby and Sybil, published respectively in 1844 and 1845. Having acquired the manorpf Hughenden in Buckinghamshire, he was in 1847 elected for this county, and he retained his seat until raised to the peerage nearly thirty years later.
His first appointment to office was in 1852, when he became chancellor of the exchequer under Lord Derby. The following year, however, the ministry was defeated. He remained out of office until 1858, when he again became chancellor of the exchequer, and brought in a reform bill which wrecked the government. During the time the Palmerston government was in office Benjamin Disraeli led the opposition in the lower house with conspicuous ability and courage. In 1866 the Liberals resigned, and Derby and Benjamin Disraeli came into power, the latter being again chancellor of the exchequer. They immediately brought in, and carried, after a violent and bitter struggle, a reform Bill on the basis of household suffrage.
In 1868 he became premier on the resignation of Lord Derby, but his tenure of office was short. In 1874 he again became prime-minister with a strong Conservative majority, and he remained in power for six years. This period was marked by his elevation to the peerage in 1876 as Earl of Beaconsfield, and by the prominent part he took in regard to the Eastern question and the conclusion of the Treaty of Berlin in 1878. In 1880 parliament was rather suddenly dissolved, and the new parliament showing an overwhelming Liberal majority, he resigned office, though he still retained the leadership of his party. Within a few months of his death the publication of a novel called Endymion (his last, Lothair, had been published ten years before) showed that his intellect was still vigorous. Among others of his writings besides those already mentioned are: A Vindication of the English Constitution, 1834; Alarcos; a Tragedy, 1839; and Lord George Bentinck, a Political Biography, 1852. Research Benjamin Disraeli
Edward Geoffrey Smith Stanley (Fourteenth Earl Of Derby) was an English statesman. He was born in 1799 at Knowsley Park, Lancashire and died in 1869. In 1820 he was returned to the House of Commons as member for Stockbridge. At first inclining to the Whig party he joined Canning's ministry in 1827, and in 1830 became chief secretary for Ireland in Lord Grey's government, greatly distinguishing himself by his speeches in favour of the Reform Bill in 1831-1832. The opposition led by O'Connell in the House of Commons was powerful and violent, but Edward Stanley, while supporting a bill for the reform of the Irish Church and the reduction of ecclesiastical taxation, was successful in totally defeating the agitation for the repeal of the Union.
He warmly advocated the abolition of slavery, and passed the act for this purpose in 1833; but in the following year a difference of opinion with his party as to the diversion of the surplus revenue of the Irish Church led him to join the Tories.
In 1841 he became colonial secretary under Sir Robert Peel, but resigned on Robert Peel's motion for repeal of the corn-laws. In 1851 and 1858 he formed ministries which held office only for a short period; and again in 1866, when his administration signalized itself by the reform of the government in India, the conduct of the Abyssinian war, and the passing of a bill for electoral reform in 1867. Early in 1868, owing to failing health, he resigned office, recommending Benjamin Disraeli as his successor. Edward Stanley joined to great ability as a statesman, and brilliant oratorical powers, a high degree of scholarly culture and literary ability. Among other works he published a successful translation of Homer's Iliad in 1864. Research Edward Stanley
The Probert Encyclopaedia was designed, edited and programed by
Matt and Leela Probert
Abbreviations
Research Black Monday
