Addiscombe College was a college near Croydon, Surrey, which was purchased by the East India Company in 1809, for the education of candidates for scientific branches of the Indian army. It was closed in 1861. Research Addiscombe College
Blank Verse is verse without rhyme. It was first introduced into English from Italian by the Earl of Surrey in the 16th century. Blank verse was first employed in the English drama 'Gorboduc', written by Sackville in 1561. The most common form of English blank verse is the decasyllabic, such as that of Milton's Paradise Lost, or of the dramas of Shakespeare. Erom Shakespeare's time it has been the kind of verse almost universally used by dramatic writers, who often employ an additional syllable, making the lines not strictly decasyllabic. The term is not applied to the Anglo-Saxon and Early English alliterative unrhymed verse. Research Blank Verse
CO53 is the codename for the 'South East Region Police Air Support Unit' which is staffed jointly by Metropolitan and Surreypolice officers, and has two bases - one in northeast London and one in Surrey. Research CO53
Downs is a term given to undulating grassy hills or uplands, specially applied to two ranges of undulating chalk hills in England, extending through Surrey, Kent, and Hampshire, known as the North and South Downs. The word is sometimes used as equivalent to dunes or sand-hills. Research Downs
A surrey was a late 19th century four-wheeled, two-seated pleasure carriage somewhat like a phaeton, but having a straight bottom, named after the county Surrey. It could accommodate four people, and was sometimes fitted with a top. Research Surrey
The Surrey Theatre was a place of amusement in Blackfriars Road, Southwark, London. It was opened in 1782 as 'The Royal Circus' and was partly rebuilt in 1799 before burning down in 1805. In 1806 it was reopened after being rebuilt and became a home of melodrama and pantomime before becoming a music-hall and lastly a cinema in 1920 before being demolished in 1934. Research Surrey Theatre
The Swan Theatre was a former London theatre that stood near the Surrey end of Blackfriars Bridge. The Swan Theatre was opened in 1598 and was one of the largest Elizabethan playhouses in London. It was suppressed during the English Civil War and later demolished. Research Swan Theatre
The serotine is a large bat, about the size of the noctule, with a very limited distribution in Britain. The wing-span is about 38 cm, and the wings are considerably broader than are those of the noctule. The oval ears are longer than broad, spaced far apart, and the unnotched but sinuous hind margin ends between the base of the tragus and the angle of the mouth. The tragus is fairly long, bluntly rounded at its tip, and has a curved hind edge. The anterior premolar is absent from the upper jaw and small in the lower one. The fur is longer and less velvety than in the noctule; it does not extend far on to the upper surface of the wing nor on to the under surface of the interfemoral membrane both of which are, however, sparsely sprinkled with very fine hairs. A band of hair extends along the under side of the armbone towards the wrist. The colour is dark brown above and a lighter shade of brown beneath.
Bats of this or closely allied species have a very wide distribution throughout temperate Europe and Asia, but the British Isles are on the extreme limit of the range. The species is locally abundant in Kent, Surrey, Sussex, Hampshire including the Isle of Wight, and parts of Devon. Elsewhere it is either unknown or very rare, but it has been recorded from Cambridgeshire, Cornwall, Easer and Suffolk. The serotine lives in small colonies of up to twenty individuals, frequently in the roofs of houses. Research Serotine
The Levellers were a group of men that first appeared in Surrey in April 1649 and went about pulling down park palings and levelling hedges, especially those on Crown lands. Research Levellers
Augustus Montague Toplady was an English hymnwriter. He was born in 1740 at Farnham, Surrey and died in 1778. Educated at Westminster School and Trinity College, Dublin, he was ordained in 1762, and in 1768 he exchanged the living of Harpford with that of Broad Hembury, Devonshire. A convinced Calvinist, he embodied his views in 'The Historic Proof of the Doctrinal Calvinism of the Church of England', publsihed in1774, and engaged in bitter controversy on the subject with John Wesley. He also wrote a number of poems on sacred subjects. He is remembered, however, only for his hymns, these including the world-famous 'Rock of Ages' first published in 'The Gospel Magazine' in 1775, which was inspired while sheltering fromastorm in a cleft of limestone rock at Burrington Combe in the Mendips. Research Augustus Toplady
The Probert Encyclopaedia was designed, edited and programed by
Matt and Leela Probert
Abbreviations
Research Addiscombe College
