I recently enjoyed a little lunchtime flurry on Twitter after asking about when the “Long” 18th century ended, in people’s opinion. That’s because The Day Parliament Burned Down makes the case for 1834 as one of the possible dates when the 18th century comes to a halt for various reasons. (In fact, I also argue that 1834 […]
The 1834 Fire
Picture Perfect
Things are moving on quickly now. I’ve signed three copies of the contract, and have filled in an author publicity form. Now I have to choose pictures for the book and send a list to OUP before the end of the month, so they can start getting licences for those which I’m not getting from […]
On the Burning of Parliaments
I’m just back from Berlin where I was attending a conference run by the ECPRD – the association of European Parliamentary libraries. Usually I don’t go to these events as they’re not often about archival stuff; however, this year the theme was “Parliamentary history and its communication to the public” which was right up my street. […]
The Man Who Saved Westminster Hall
Today is the 150th anniversary of the death of Superintendant James Braidwood. He was the man who saved Westminster Hall in the great fire of 1834 through the innovative firefighting techniques he had first developed when fire chief in Edinburgh. His death was both tragic and horribly ironic. He died at the enormous Tooley Street […]
Talking Titles
A yummy lunch today with Lady Antonia Fraser at the Whistler Restaurant at Tate Britain. Tate sits on the site of the Millbank Penitentiary where Joshua Cross (one of the labourers who started the fire) did time. And of course it houses the Turner watercolours of the 1834 fire, along with the rest of the Turner bequest, so […]
The Parish of St John’s Smith Square
More strolling round Westminster of a lunchtime, on the way back from Pret (mine’s a Hoisin Duck wrap, a mango pot and diet coke, since you’re asking). I like finding pockets of the borough which are pretty much as they would have been in 1834 (except for the cars) … First up, Lord North […]
