The bandbox plot was an attempt to assassinate the lord-treasurer during the reign of Queen Anne. A bandbox containing three charged and cocked pistols was sent to the lord-treasurer, a thread tied to their triggers in such a way that when the box lid was lifted the pistols would discharge and shoot the person opening the box. Apparently deanSwift was present when the box was delivered, and seeing the thread cut it, thereby disarming the device. Research Bandbox Plot
In terms of furniture, Queen Anne refers to a style of furniture popularised around the early 18th century of which there are a few distinctive features: the use of walnut; the use of the cabriole leg, which is a leg shaped in the form of a double curve with the upper part being convex and the lower part concave, and the leg ending in either a claw-and-ball or a paw foot and the use of marquetry, inlay, veneering, and lacquer work and carvings of scallop shells, scrolls, Oriental figures, animals, and plants to decorate furniture of the time. Chairs of the Queen Anne period often had a curved back (a splat back) so as to fit the small of the back. Research Queen Anne
The Screw Plot was an alleged plot to kill Queen Anne and her entourage in 1708. The allegation was that the plotters removed certain screws and bolts from the beams of St Paul's Cathedral so that while the Queen was attending a thanksgiving service, the roof might fall and kill her and her close supporters. Research Screw Plot
A tallboy is a double chest of drawers, placed one above the other, the upper chest usually being narrower and recessed. Tallboys were popular during the reign of Queen Anne. Research Tallboy
After a preliminary' agreement in London in 1711, a congress met at Utrecht in January, 1712. Great Britain, France, Savoy, Portugal, the Emperor, Prussia, and the Dutch Republic were represented, and later Spain. In March and April, 1713, the main treaties were signed. Others followed, that between Spain and Portugal being delayed until 1715.
The crown of Spain, with its American possessions, was given to the French claimant, Philip V. It was stipulated, however, that the same person should never be king of both France and Spain. Philip's Austrian rival, the emperor Charles, was consoled with Naples, Milan, Sardinia, and the Spanish, henceforward called the Austrian, Netherlands. All these had been Spanish. Prussia was recognized as a kingdom, and received part of Gelder-land, while France promised to secure the title of king for the duke of Savoy, who received Sicily.
The Treaty of Utrecht was bitterly denounced in England by the Whigs, and four of those responsible for it were impeached. Research Treaty of Utrecht
Black Beard (real name Edward Teach) was an English pirate. He was born at Bristol and died in 1718. He made frequent ravages along the New England coast and West Indies from his 40-gun warship, Queen Anne's Revenge. He was gladly received by the inhabitants of Charleston in the matter of trade. Black Beard's headquarters were in North Carolina. From thence he preyed upon the Spanish possessions in the south and traded as far north as Philadelphia, where prominent citizens were in league with him and with Evans, another pirate. He was finally driven away by Governor Johnson, of North Carolina, and was shot by Robert Maynard in 1718. Research Black Beard
Francis Atterbury was an English prelate. He was born in 1662 and died in 1731. Educated at Westminster and Oxford. In 1687 he took his degree of MA and appeared as a controversialist in a defence of the character of Luther, entitled, Considerations on the Spirit of MartinLuther, etc. He also assisted his pupil, the Honourable Mr. Boyle, in his famous controversy with Bentley on the Epistles of Phalaris. Having taken orders in 1691 he settled in London, became chaplain to William and Mary, preacher of Bridewell, and lecturer of St Bride's.
Controversy was congenial to him, and in 1706 he commenced one with Dr. Wake, which lasted four years, on the rights, privileges, and powers of convocations. For this service he received the thanks of the lower house of convocation and the degree of Doctor of Divinity from Oxford. Soon after the accession of Queen Anne he was made Dean of Carlisle, aided in the defence of the famous Sacheverell, and wrote A Representation of the Present State of Religion.
In 1712 he was made Dean of Christ Church, and in 1713 Bishop of Rochester and Dean of Westminster. After the death of the queen in 1714 he distinguished himself by his opposition to George I and having entered into a correspondence with the Pretender's party was apprehended in August, 1722, and committed to the Tower. Being banished the kingdom, he settled in Paris, where he chiefly occupied himself in study and in correspondence with men of letters. But even here, in 1725, he was actively engaged in fomenting discontent in the Scottish Highlands. He died in 1731, and his body was privately interred in Westminster Abbey. His sermons and letters are marked by ease and grace; but as a critic and a controversialist he is rather dexterous and popular than accurate and profound. Research Francis Atterbury
Henry St John Bolingbroke (ViscountBolingbroke) was an English statesman and political writer. He was born in 1678 at Battersea, London and died in 1751. Educated at Eton and at Oxford, where he had a reputation both for ability and libertinism. In 1700 he married a considerable heiress, the daughter of Sir Henry Winchcomb, but they speedily separated. In 1701 he obtained a seat in the House of Commons, attaching himself to Harley and the Tories. He at once gained influence and became secretary of war in 1706, though he retired with the ministry in 1708. He continued, however, to maintain a constant intercourse with the queen, who preferred him to her other counsellors, and on the overthrow of the Whig ministry in 1710, after the Sacheverell episode, he became one of the secretaries of state. In 1712 he was called to the House of Lords by the title of ViscountBolingbroke, and in 1713, against much popular opposition, concluded the Peace of Utrecht. At this period the Tory leaders were intriguing to counteract the inevitable accession of power which the Whigs would receive under the House of Hanover; but shortly after the conclusion of the peace a contention fatal to the party broke out between the lord high-treasurer (Harley, Earl of Oxford) and Bolingbroke.
Queen Anne, provoked by Oxford, dismissed him, and made Bolingbroke prime-minister, but died herself four days later. The Whig dukes at once assumed the power and proclaimed the elector king. Bolingbroke, dismissed by King George while yet in Germany, fled to France in March, 1715, to escape the inevitable impeachment by which, in the autumn of that year, he was deprived of his peerage and banished.
James III., the Pretender, invited him to Lorraine and made him his secretary of state, but dismissed him in 1716 on a suspicion of treachery. He remained for some years longer in France, where (his first wife having died) he married the Marquise de Villette, niece of Madame de Maintenon, occupying himself with various studies. In 1723 he was permitted to return to England, living at first retired in the country in correspondence with Jonathan Swift and Pope. He then joined the opposition to the Walpole ministry, which he attacked during eight years in the Craftsman and in pamphlets with such vigour and skill that in 1735 a return to France became prudent, if not necessary.
In 1742, on the fall of Walpole, he came back in the expectation that his allies would admit him to some share of power; but, being disappointed in this respect, he withdrew entirely from politics and spent the last nine years of his life quietly at Battersea, dying in 1751. He wrote an excellent and forcible style, his chief works being A Dissertation upon Parties; Letters on the Spirit of Patriotism, on the Idea of a Patriot King, and on the State of Parties at the Accession of George I; Letters on the Study of History (containing attacks on Christianity), and other works. Pope was indebted to him for suggestions for his Essay on Man. He was clever and versatile, but reportedly unscrupulous and insincere. Research Henry Bolingbroke
Jane Wenham was an English 'witch'. She was born in 1642 and died in 1730. She was the last person to be sentenced to death for witchcraft in England, her trial taking place in 1712, but was reprieved. At her trial she was accused by a 16 year old girl - Ann Thorn of Walkern, Hertfordshire - of taking the form of a cat and urging her to commit suicide. The vicar of Hitchin also testified that Wenham could fly, but couldn't recite the Lords Prayer. The judge, Mr Justice Powell, humorously observed that there was no law against flying and directed the jury towards an acquittal. However, the jury returned a guilty verdict and the judge had no choice but to pass sentence, accusing the accusers and jury of ignorance and superstition, though he then interceded with Queen Anne on Wenham's behalf and obtained a reprieve for her. It later transpired that Ann Thorn was unhappy because of her boyfriend's attitude towards her and when this improved she stopped spreading malicious rumours. The case was instrumental in the abolition of the death penalty for witchcraft in England. Research Jane Wenham
The Probert Encyclopaedia was designed, edited and programed by
Matt and Leela Probert
Abbreviations
Research Anne's Fan
