Duneira house and gardens at Mount Macedon.

 

(Extract from Macedon Ranges cultural heritage and landscape study/Trevor Budge and Associates. 4 v. 1994.).

Henry Suetonius Officer reputedly aquired the Duneira site from

1872-1877 (Blocks 4,5,10,11,14) paying some £84 for 38 acres but

rate listings give Robert Officer as the owner. .

.

Suetonius Henry Officer (1830-1883).

Officer was born in Hullgreen, New Norfolk, Tasmania 1830, the

son of Sir Robert & Lady Officer. He was educated in Edinburgh

with his brother, Charles, and returned to the colonies, seeking

gold in Victoria but eventually settling for pastoralism in

company with his brothers and Charles Miles{ ibid.}. They managed

stations in the Wimmera and the Riverina, James marrying in 1866

and commencing construction of a 20 room homestead at Murray

Downs & Willakool, two adjoining properties fronting the Murray

River. After experimentation with irrigation, via steam pumps and

windmills, he was able to develop extensive orchards and crops. He was also, like his brother, interested in

acclimatisation, having developed an ostrich farm on his property

(Charles was a council member of the Zoological & Acclimatisation

Society for 10 years, president in 1887). .

.

Blighted by illness, Suetonius reputedly moved to Leighwood,

Toorak (Melbourne) in 1881, having erected the first stage of

Duneira at Mount Macedon, but died two years later. However his son, Henry jnr. was

born at South Yarra in 1869 and his next child, Jessie, was born

at Macedon in 1877, indicating that he was in residence at both

places prior to the dates previously supposed..

.

Suetonius probably commissioned the first stage of Duneira to be

erected as a summer house between c1874-6. The architect Levi

Powell is thought to have designed a house for him there around

that date. The first improvements listed on the site were

stables in 1874 when Robert Officer was rated as owning the site. The house was reputedly not occupied regularly

until c1881 when Suetonius moved to Toorak.

However it appears he and his family were in residence at Duneira

by 1877..

.

When Suetonius died in 1883 his wife, Mary Lillias Rigg Officer

(nee Cairns), of Glenbervie, Glenferrie Road, Toorak was the

co-executor of the estate, with merchant Robert Harper; she is

the rate occupier in 1888. Mrs Officer was the

sister of Mrs Robert Harper (Huntly Burn) and Mrs John C lloyd

(Montpelier, later Timsbury): all three houses were reputedly

built in the same period... .

.

The house bricks for the first stage were said to have come from

the Macedon Brick Kiln (once near the Macedon railway station,

set up in c1888-9?) with external walls built in 14" Flemish bond

from slop-moulded bricks (9 inch by 2.1/2). The bricks were reputedly carted

from Macedon by Cogger. The footings were of bluestone

and reputedly dressed sandstone blocks also survive, suggesting

that the first stage was face brick with stone quoins and the

next renovation c1888 added wings and a cement coating to the

whole complex. Floor frames were reputedly supported on stone

dwarf walls and joists were 6x2.1/2 inch jarrah, with flooring

being 6 inch pine}. Seaweed was apparently used for

ceiling insulation..

.

The servants' wing verandah was skillion in form with timber

posts with classical capitals. The main verandah had coupled

posts (rebuilt with single posts) a panelled frieze and slimmer

capitals set just under the frieze rail}. The

balustrade may have been of single cast-iron balusters..

.

Just prior to the sale to the speculator, James Smith Reid in

1890, and during the occupation of Edward Dyer, major additions

were made to the house complex and a reputedly a caretaker's

lodge was placed at the gate (survives, altered c1920s) but this

appears to have been added by Reid in the early 1890s. .

.

The added rooms were reputedly: billiard (32'x24') and dining

rooms, kitchen, servants bathroom, service block with 5 rooms

(engine room, dairy, pantry, store, boiler room, built of

Northcote machine made 9" brickwork). Damp proof coursing was

used in these additions compared to the slate of the first stage

and acetylene gas (engine room) was thought used for lighting

from this period, as reticulated in 1.1.2" mains and 1/2 inch

branches to internal and some external verandah lights.

Cast-iron elaborately detailed water radiators were also used,

with hot water pumped from the boiler room, and later a duplicate

boiler allowed hot water to be reticulated taps in the house{

ibid.}..

.

The description in rate books expands to villa and cottages (on

37 acres) for the first time under Reid in c1893 but the annual

valuation had already peeked in 1888 at £200 in the occupation of

Edward Dyer. An Edward Dyer was listed at that time as a fruiterer in

Burwood Road, Hawthorn..

.

The water supply is from a concrete tank fed by a spring.

Outbuildings include timber clad stables, storerooms,

blacksmith's shop, coachman's room, milking bails, hay shed and a

green house. The stables (extended) were described as having had

a shingled gabled roof (rear skillion) with loft entered via an

external stair at the north end. It had a blacksmith's

shop (altered for garage c1941), carriage and coachman's rooms,

two stores and vertically boarded main doors{ ibid.,p24}. The

milking and hay sheds had hipped roof forms and timber cladding

and frame. The interior was white-washed. The greenhouse

in the secret hedged garden is of a later date, with a timber

frame built up on 11" cavity brickwork walls, with a brick floor

and heated water pipes under each shelf. The boiler is near the

entry..

.

The `Gisborne Gazette' reported on Duneira in 1903 under the

heading of `A Popular Health Resort':.

`Duneira certainly merits a few remarks though beautiful

residences and grounds are by no means rare in that locality..

(when Reid purchased it, it was `little better than a wilderness'

and he had spared no expense to restore it).. After passing the

lodge at the main entrance, a broad serpentine drive leads up to

the house and from there the grounds are laid out in broad

sloping lawns surmounted with choice borders and fringed with

trees which however do not interfere to any great extent with the

view. There is of course no lack of flowers which grow

luxuriantly on the mount but the great feature of Duneira is the

lawns, those open green expanses which delight the eye at all

times of the year. the secret of this perennial verdure is to be

found in the copious water supply with which Macedon is blessed

(spring at rear of house, tapped by tunnelling 40m into the hill,

ie. grass grows up to base of Monterey pines)..

.

During Reid's time there, the valuation increased marginally in

1899-1900 and again soon after, with Reid's address being given

as care of Rosstrevor Magill, South Australia, in c1909-10. JS Reid died in 1922, leaving

the property to the management of JS Reid jun..

.

The main garden elements are: sweeping lawns, box hedges, weeping beech and cherry, extensive hedges (holly, laurel), a hedged

`secret garden' with green house, mature firs, elm and chestnut ì

avenues. There is also a fountain and a wide spreading weeping elm to the rear of the house, near the tennis court..

.

Significant Trees:.

`Ulmus x hollandica'.

`Prunus' "shirotae".

`Albies procera'.

`Ilex kingiana'.

Texas Heros Monument... Maybe while in Galveston TX you’ve driven by it. You’ve probably even taken a picture of it. Do you know any more about the Texas Heroes Monument other than the name? Henry Rosenberg, a name that is associated with Galveston Island’s history, is the businessman and philanthropist that commissioned the monument. Recently the Texas Heroes Monument was restored to its original glory by Robert Alden Marshall. Galveston.com reported on the restoration in a blog recently written by Robert Stanton. In the will of Henry Rosenberg, clause 19 reads,

“I give fifty thousand dollars for the erection of an appropriate monument in the city of Galveston to the memory of the heroes of the Texas revolution of 1836. The execution of this bequest is charged upon my executors, who will adopt plans and have the monument erected under their immediate supervision.” (Henry Rosenberg 94)

The monument to the Heroes of the Texas Revolution of 1836 was unveiled with ceremonies of state-wide interest on April 21, 1900, the sixty-fourth anniversary of the battle of San Jacinto.

The original invitation for the unveiling of the monument read:

Sidney Sherman Chapter

Daughters of the Republic of Texas

On San Jacinto Day, April 21, 1900, the Monument will be unveiled which was presented by the great philanthropist, Henry Rosenberg, to the State of Texas, a memorial to the Heroes of the Texas Revolution. This Monument is the result of a bequest of fifty thousand dollars, left by Mr. Rosenberg for this purpose, the execution of which has been under the wise direction of his executor, Major A.J. Walker, of Galveston, who has done so much toward the successful realization of Mr. Rosenberg’s charities and benefactions to the City of Galveston. The bronze statuary for the completion of this splendid testimonial to the valor, honor, courage and patriotism of the founders and defenders of the Republic of Texas was all cast in Rome and was designed by Prof. Amateis of Washington, D.C., one of the noted sculptors of this country. In his symbolic design he achieved a success that is satisfying and gratifying to every patriotic Texan, and it is the earnest desire of the citizens of Galveston and of Sidney Sherman Chapter, Daughters of the Republic of Texas, that the people of Texas will come to Galveston at the time to pay homage to this great occasion in the history of our State. (Henry Rosenberg 126)

Sculptor Louis Amateis was born in 1855 in Turin, Italy. He immigrated to New York City in 1883, and eventually made his way to Washington D.C. where he founded what is now George Washington University. Five different sculptures erected and on display in Galveston were created by Louis Amateis. His works include: A Monument to the Heroes of the Texas Revolution, a Statue of Henry Rosenberg, A Monument over the Grave of Major General John Bankhead Magruder, a monument to the Confederate Soldiers of the Civil War, and the bust of Major A.J. Walker, executor of the Rosenberg estate. Other works on Galveston Island but not on display at Rosenberg Library include “Mother Love," a bas-relief sculpture in plaster; “The Confederate Flag,” which is a photograph of a clay model for the Confederate Heroes Monument.

There are four sides to the monument each pointing in a different cardinal direction and depicting moral qualities of the men who fought for Texas: Patriotism, Honor, Devotion, and Courage. The monument is 74 feet tall, including Lady Victory, and the base is 34 feet square. The bulk of the monument is the four columns standing fifty feet tall. Carved from a single block of granite, it weighs twelve tons. The monument is constructed of granite with bronze statues seated at the base. The sub-base is adorned with bronze reliefs measuring nine feet long and three feet tall. The statues and bas-reliefs tell the story of Texas’s fight for independence. The granite used for this monument is from Concord, New Hampshire, and is the same material used in the Library of Congress.

At the top of the monument stands Lady Victory at 22 feet tall. When she was cast, Victory was the second largest bronze sculpture in America, second to William Penn at thirty-seven feet on top of Philadelphia’s City Hall. Lady Victory stands proud looking north across the State of Texas towards the battlefield of San Jacinto. Victory is holding a sheathed cross hilted sword pointing toward the earth, entwined with roses, in her left hand. The symbolism of the roses and sword define the beginning of an era of peace taken from German poetry. In Victory’s right hand is a crown of laurels for the heroes of the war. Under Lady Victory’s feet is the date October 2, 1835, the date of the Outbreak of Hostilities.

Devotion - The base of the column has a medallion of Stephen F. Austin, known as the Father of Texas. Austin is flanked by allegorical figures representative of war and diplomacy. Below the medallion is a bas-relief commemorating “The Defense of the Alamo.”

Courage - The column facing east is symbolic of the revolt of Texas colonists and the beginning of the revolution. Atop the column, the word "courage" is inscribed. Seated at the base of the granite column is the bronze figure known as Defiance. Armor clad and bearing an unsheathed sword in her right hand, Defiance is draped with the pelt of a lioness over her head and shoulders. Apparent as the Lone Star on her chest is her uncompromising demeanor evident as she orders the Mexicans out of Texas territory. Beneath Defiance, the date October 2, 1835 is carved, significant as the day of the Goliad Massacre or the outbreak of hostilities. “The Massacre at Goliad” is referenced in the bas-relief on the base of the monument."

 

SLUrl: maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Acerbus%20Silva/204/167/52

Carte de visite by A.I. Blauvelt of Port Hudson, La.Major George Blight Halsted’s military service placed him in a variety of battles and other operations during the Civil War. He participated in the first combined army-navy operations against the batteries of Hatteras Inlet in August 1861. He fell into enemy hands at the Battle of Cedar Mountain in August 1862 and was held at Libby Prison for two months—for some of the time wearing a halter around his neck. He returned in time for the Battle of Fredericksburg in December 1862. He served in operations against Port Hudson in 1863. He organized colored troops. He distinguished himself in the Petersburg and Appomattox Campaigns in 1864-1865.

 

The list of men on whose staffs he served included navy officers Silas Stringham and Louis M. Goldsborough, and generals Phil Kearney, Nathaniel P. Banks, Christopher Columbus Augur, Augustus Louis Chetlain, Gouverneur K. Warren and Charles Griffin.

 

Acting as an aide to Maj. Gen. Warren at the Battle of White Oak Road on March 31, 1865, he suffered two wounds. A version of how he came to receive these injuries was written by Augustus Caesar Buell, a New York cavalryman who wrote several books after the war later found to be full of exaggeration, embellishment and outright falsehoods. The account of Halsted’s woundings makes for a good read, and lines up with the facts of his service. Buell wrote:

 

"Maj. Halsted was hit twice while helping Warren to rally the troops, but was not disabled. One bullet struck him on the thigh, cutting his trousers, and making a slight flesh wound. The other hit him just above the corner of his vest pocket, glancing from the ends of his ribs, and passing under the skin clear around to his back, where it lodged on the large muscle alongside his spine.

 

Halsted swayed a little in his saddle when this last ball struck him, and turned a bit white in his lips, but straightened up in a moment and said to me and the other Orderly with him, as we noticed his distress: “I’m not much hurt boys; come along!"

 

Buell added, "He was a game a man as I ever knew." The surgeon had to dress the back wound twice a day, "but he stuck to the saddle and never quit till Lee surrendered."

 

Halsted survived his wounds and the rest of the war.

 

Born in New Jersey in 1820, his mother descended from Abraham Clark, a signer of the Declaration of Independence. Halsted graduated from Princeton in 1839 and, three years later, joined his father in the practice of law. In 1845, he became a court reporter and served in this capacity until the Civil War—with the exception of a one-year adventure to California in 1849.

 

A Democrat who voted for Stephen Douglas in the 1860 presidential election, Halsted joined the military on April 20, 1861—motivated to fight for the Union after the Baltimore Riot, also known as the Pratt Street Riot, that occurred a day earlier.

 

A lieutenant at the beginning of his war service, he received a promotion to captain with the Adjutant General's Office in 1862 and the brevet rank of major on April 9, 1865—the day Lee surrendered to Grant. He mustered out of the army in March 1866.

 

His younger brother, Frank William Halsted of the U.S. Navy, praised Halsted in a letter endorsing a promotion to Secretary of War Edwin M. Stanton: Halsted, he wrote, "has always sustained a reputation for extreme bravery, gallantry, and a thorough performance of his duty."

 

A peacetime lawyer, Halsted traveled to Lake Minnetonka, Minn., in 1876, to attend to the estate of his late brother Frank, who had settled in a small cottage known as the Hermitage. Frank became known as “The Hermit of Lake Minnetonka.”

 

Halsted decided to remain in Minnesota and take his brother’s place as the new Hermit. He remained so until his death when the Hermitage caught fire and burned in 1906.

 

Here's a full account of his Minnesota experience:

 

Captain Frank William Halsted and his elder brother, Major George Blight Halsted, were the lonely occupants for nearly fifty years, one succeeding the other, of a picturesque dwelling called the "Hermitage." It was situated on Halsted's Bay, so named for Captain Halsted, at the head of Lake Minnetonka, ten miles west of Minneapolis, a popular summer home-site for Minnesota people. Both Captain and Major Halsted met tragic deaths.

 

At the age of twenty-three years in 1855, Frank William Halsted left a fine home, a cultured and well-to-do family, and bright prospects in cultivated society in New Jersey, for what reason is not now known, to build a cabin in a wilderness, and lived there alone for twenty odd years. Returning after service in the United States Navy in the Civil War, Captain Halsted replaced the cabin with a substantial house, in which he accumulated

books and historical relics, including a chair from the Mississippi home of Jefferson Davis, given him by Miss Winnie Davis. Although called a hermit, he did not have the traditional traits of one, for he was genial and sociable.

 

Sightseers, whom he welcomed, visited his unique home, and wrote their names on the walls, both inside and outside, until they were finally entirely covered with signatures and addresses.

 

Captain Halsted was drowned in the Lake Minnetonka in 1876, probably as a suicide, although there was some evidence of foul-play by robbers. He had constructed a boat, which he had named "Mary" in honor of his mother, that was a failure as a water-craft, and his disappointment is thought to have prompted self-destruction. In compliance with his wishes the body was placed in a coffin, which he had made and left ready, and was buried in the front yard of the "Hermitage" under a large maple tree with a boulder as a grave-stone.

 

Major Halsted came to the "Hermitage" at the time of his brother's death, was attracted to the place, and decided to remain and live there alone also. It is a legend that he left the furnishings in some parts of the house exactly as he had found them, even to the dining-table dishes, which had been laid out by his deceased brother for a meal. Major Halsted added to the library and the curios, and the stream of visitors continued.

 

About 1:00 o'clock in the night of September 51 1901, the "Hermitage" burned, and Major Halsted was destroyed in the flames. This was not known until the next afternoon. Neighbors who noticed the fire mistook it for the burning of a boat-house on the lakeshore. The Major had gone to the village of Excelsior in the afternoon, seemingly in good health and spirits, and had returned to his home in his rowboat as usual. It was supposed that a kerosene lamp at his bedside, by which he was known to read at night, had been overturned, perhaps when he

had fallen asleep. His will contained this unique section:

 

It is my wish and desire and I hereby order, desire, and direct my executors hereinafter named, that when I am dead I shall be buried in the simple box, as was my brother, which I have made for this occasion years ago. It will be found behind the front door entrance to the "Hermitage", requiring no hammer or nail to prepare it for its intended use, viz., to carry me into the grave to be laid beside my brother, Frank, under the maple. Let the large army flag be placed on it from the "Hermitage" to the grave and if the ladies of Mary Halsted Circle of the

G.A.R. are present, or absent, let the flag be given to the circle as a memento of mother and sons. The ashes of Major Halsted were placed in a simple black box, instead of the coffin he had made for his body, and were buried under the maple tree beside his brother, and the spot was marked with a second large boulder. The ladies of Mary Halsted Circle of the G.A.R. were present at the funeral, and received the flag.

 

Some years afterwards the maple tree was blown down in a cyclone. The "Hermitage" property was purchased by C. A. Loring, of Minneapolis, President of the Pillsbury Flour Mills Company, a friend of Major Halsted, who erected a modern dwelling on the site.

 

I encourage you to use this image for educational purposes only. However, please ask for permission.

An elegant starship - Lego Ultimate Collector Series RZ-1 A-Wing interceptor I got from my wife :)

 

Designed by Ralph McQuarrie, they were originally colored blue but had to be changed due to the limited bluescreen technology at the time.

 

Thanks for your comments!

St Peter’s Church, Parham is one of the five Wildbrooks Churches

Recent archaeological investigations indicate that the south wall of the church probably dates from c.1150, but the north wall, with its thirteenth-century arcades, had a north aisle, which was demolished when the building was largely rebuilt in the early 1800s

The tower, which dates from the rebuild, is a strange mixture of architectural styles.

 

At the south east corner is a mortuary chapel, built from recycled stone. Robert Palmer, who died on 14th May 1544, had asked to be buried in Parham Church and “that a chapel should be built adjoining [ the] choir there or chancel and over me a tomb be made as mine executors shall think meet and honest for a remembrance of me to be had”. That chapel still exists and is now the vestry. No trace of his monument remains.

 

The church seats nearly 80 people in high box-pews. These, the pulpit and the screen are Georgian. The Squire’s pew is recognisable by its private fireplace.

 

The original church had a steeple, recorded in 1665, and was roofed with Horsham stone, as mentioned in a presentment of 1641. In 1662 it had no pews but only a pulpit.

 

The mid fourteenth-century lead font has horizontal rectangular panels, enclosing the legend “+ IHC Nazar” [Jesus of Nazareth] in Lombardic letters. In the spaces between the panels are small shields bearing gyronny within a bordure charged with roundels – the arms of Andrew Peverell, knight of the shire in 1351. Lead fonts are exceptionally rare – there are only 29 in England – but Sussex has two more, at Edburton and Pyecombe.

  

www.parhaminsussex.co.uk/other-information/st-peters-church/

1987 Nissan Bluebird 1.8LX 5-door.

 

Supplied by Dan Perkins (Dan Dan The Nissan Man). Anglia Car Auctions, King's Lynn -

 

"Executor sale. Originally suppled as a company car but retained by the one private owner as part of his retirement package. 25 old MoT certificates, comprehensive service history.

 

V5 present

MoT November 2016

2 owners

Recorded mileage 55,676

Full Service History

Estimate: £800 - 1,200

 

Result: £700."

It's easy to pick holes in the legend of Thomas the Rhymer. Many of the references to him and his predictions were written centuries after his death, but folklore is not necessarily unreliable just because it's verbal, and there's a good argument that in this case, where there's smoke there may once have been fire!

 

The problem is that the historical reality of True Thomas has been almost completely submerged in the tidal wave of myth and legend that has grown up around him over the centuries since. While it seems reasonable to dismiss the story that he "disappeared for seven years to live with the Queen of Elfland and returned to Ercildoune with the gift of prophecy", there are plenty of predictions attributed to him that may either be genuine or may have contained some degree of truth.

 

Popular lore recounts that he prophesied some of the great events in Scottish history, including the death of Alexander III of Scotland in 1286. He is said to have told the Earl of Dunbar:

 

"On the morrow, afore noon, shall blow the greatest wind that ever was heard before in Scotland."

 

There having been no significant change in the weather by the time his lordship sat down for his lunch the following day, a "please explain" was sent to Thomas, who replied that the appointed hour had not yet come, shortly after which, news arrived from Fife of the king's death.

 

Another of the Rhymer's predictions is said to go like this:

 

"When the Yowes o' Gowrie come to land,

The Day o' Judgment's near at hand"

 

A "Yowe" in the country parts of Scotland, is a ewe and the Yowes of Gowrie were two large rounded ovine looking rocks in the Tay estuary, just off the shore from Invergowrie, close to the outlet of the Fowlis Burn. Why and how should two large rocks ever come ashore you might well wonder? Well they had been observed over a period of many years to be getting slowly but surely closer to the shoreline! Or to be more precise, the shoreline was getting closer to them! Then in the 19th century they finally did come ashore. The Dundee to Perth railway line was built along that part of the coast line, seemingly just offshore of the yowes, after which the area to landward of the railway was used as a rubbish dump - supposedly burying the yowes in the process. So technically the yowes have "come to land", without triggering the Day of Judgement, although there are parts of Dundee where it probably can't come soon enough!

 

Perhaps my favourite of the Rhymer's prophecies, concerns Fyvie Castle in Aberdeenshire. He is said to have said:

 

"Fyvie, Fyvie thou'se never thrive,

lang's there's in thee stanes three :

There's ane intill the highest tower,

There's ane intill the ladye's bower,

There's ane aneath the water-yett,

And thir three stanes ye'se never get."

 

What does that mean when translated loosely into understandable English?

 

It is believed that there were three special stones at Fyvie - weeping stones. They remained permanently damp, whatever the weather and the whereabouts of two of them are unknown. The Rhymer's prediction is interpreted as meaning that until all three were located, no eldest son would succeed to his father at Fyvie. The 'Ladye's bower' is the castle's charter room, and the one surviving stone is kept there to this day. Whether there is another one built into the castles 'highest tower', nobody seems to know, but the biggest problem is the one said to be underneath the water-gate. This would place it in the River Ythan, which runs around the castle, and trying to identify a damp stone is a river is of course a difficult task!

 

So what about the prediction, that no oldest son would inherit? I have known this story, without questioning it, for most of my life, having been solemnly told that indeed, no eldest son had ever inherited the castle. But in the interests of science, I though I would spend some time now trying to find out whether that's true!

 

Fyvie was originally (before the time of the Rhymer a royal castle. We know that King Alexander II signed charters here in February 1222 and The Bruce stayed here in the early years of the 14th century. Since then, it has been owned by five families - the Prestons, the Meldrums, the Setons, the Gordons and the Forbes-Leiths.

 

Actually, technically, there were six families! In 1370, King Robert II granted Fyvie to his son and heir John (later Robert III), who in turn passed the castle to his cousin, Sir James Lindsay. However, in 1388 the Scots had a rare victory over the English at the Battle of Otterburn, during which Ralph de Percy was captured by Sir Henry Preston, the brother-in-law of Sir James Lindsay. When Robert III came to the throne two years later in 1390 he purchased the rights to Ralph de Percy's ransom by transferring ownership of Fyvie Castle from Sir James Lindsay to Sir Henry Preston. This would seem rather unfair, although I imagine Sir James would have been adequately compensated, but it does of course set the prophesy off in the right direction - Sir James' heir never inherited Fyvie!

 

So leaving Sir James Lyndsay to one side, the first effective owner of Fyvie in the post royal era, was Sir Henry Preston. When he died around the year 1433, he wasn't succeeded by his son, because he didn't have any! Fyvie went to Sir Alexander Meldrum of that ilk, who had married one of Sir Henry's two daughters.

 

Fyvie remained in the hands of the Meldrums for about 160 years, passing through the hands of several (probably five) generations of the family, but as we don't know the genealogy of this part of the Meldrum family, we can't say whether an eldest son ever inherited. Probably yes, but the accuracy of the prophesy can't be disproved! In 1596, Fyvie was sold by the Meldrums to Alexander Seton, later Chancellor of Scotland.

 

Alexander Seton, 1st Earl of Dunfermline and Chancellor of Scotland, was born in 1555. His first wife, to whom he was already married when he bought Fyvie, was Lillias Drummond and after producing five children for him, all girls, it is said that Lord Seton, blaming his wife for the lack of a son and heir, began an affair with her cousin (and future wife) Grizel Leslie. Betrayed and heartbroken Lillias died not long after learning of the affair, .

 

Lillias Drummond died in May 1601 and Lord Seton married Grizel Leslie a few months later in October 1601. On their wedding night at Fyvie it is said that they were both distracted by a 'mournful moaning' from outside their bedroom window. A search for the source of the noises produced no results but the next morning the words D. LILLIAS DRUMMOND were found carved into the stone sill outside their bedroom window, in letters three inches high and upside down, the window being over 50 feet above ground level. The letters remain visible to this day and since that time, Fyvie Castle is said to have been haunted by a lady in green, roaming the corridors of the castle, crying at her betrayal by her husband and leaving behind the scent of Rose petals!

 

How much of that is true, I don’t know, but what is true is that before her death in 1606, Grizel Leslie produced two daughters and a son Charles, and that Charles died young! It was up to Lord Seton's third wife to produce his successor, another Charles.

 

The eldest son and heir of Charles Seton, 2nd Earl of Dunfermline, also named Charles, died in 1672, just before his father! Alexander, the 2nd son became 3rd Earl of Dunfermline, but dying unmarried, the title passed to his brother James.

 

James Seton, 4th Earl of Dunfermline, died in 1694, also unmarried - which was somewhat immaterial because, having supported the Jacobite cause in the 1689 Rising, his castle and estate had already been confiscated by the crown. Fyvie remained a crown property until it was sold in 1733.

 

The purchaser in 1733 was William Gordon, 2nd Earl of Aberdeen. His wife at the time was Anne Gordon, daughter of the 2nd Duke of Gordon and their eldest son William inherited Fyvie from his father. But those that have read this far and are hoping the Rhymer's prophesy will hold true will be delighted to learn that Lord William Gordon had already been married, twice and had two sons by his 2nd wife. So once again, the eldest son and heir didn't inherit Fyvie.

 

General William Gordon, 1st of Fyvie died in 1816 when, unfortunately for Thomas the Rhymer, who now can never be taken seriously again, was succeeded by his only son William Gordon, 2nd of Fyvie Castle. He died without children in 1847, whereupon Fyvie passed to his nephew, Charles Gordon 3rd of Fyvie.

 

When the 3rd laird died in 1851, Fyvie passed to his son and heir, for the 2nd (and last) time that we know of in five centuries, William Cosmo Gordon. Either he or his executors put Fyvie up for sale and it sold in 1889 to the 5th and last family to own it.

 

Fyvie's new owner was Alexander John Forbes-Leith, later 1st Baron Leith of Fyvie. He was a local boy who had made his fortune in the steel industry in the US of A and used Fyvie to house his huge collection of paintings, tapestries, armour and furniture. His only son and heir, Percy Forbes-Leith, 2nd Lt Royal Dragoons, was killed aged 19 in 1900 during the Boer War.

 

In 1982 Fyvie Castle was once again placed on the market, and in 1984 it was purchased by the National Trust for Scotland.

 

So could Thomas the Rhymer predict the future? Well it's my belief he could do so every bit as accurately as Nostradamus!

Detail picture about the hyper engines with on lights

The Grade II* Listed Church of St Michael, Mavis Enderby, East Lindsey, Lincolnshire.

 

The church dates from the 14th and 15th centuries, the church was restored by James Fowler 1875. The tower was rebuilt by C. Hodgson Fowler in 1894. The exterior is of squared greenstone rubble, with limestone ashlar dressings. It has Welsh and Westmorland slate roofs with decorative tiled ridges. The church interior comprises a nave, western tower, south aisle and porch, and a chancel. At the threshold of west door to the tower is set part of a coped or round-topped 11th century Saxon grave slab, possibly placed here in 1894. The churchyard has the remains of a 14th-century churchyard cross. In the porch is a Norman pillar piscina, a stone basin for draining water used in the rinsing of the chalice. The churchyard has a sundial erected by a former rector

 

An alternative spelling for the town may be "Malvyssh Enderby", as seen in a legal record in 1430, where the plaintiffs are the executors of a man whose surname is Enderby, and the defendant lives in Malvyssh Enderby.

 

Mavis Enderby had a peal of bells named after it, called The Brides of Enderby, which is mentioned in Jean Ingelow's poem The High Tide on the Coast of Lincolnshire 1571: in the poem the ringing of the Enderby bells is the generally recognised signal of approaching danger to the neighbouring countryside: "Came down that kindly message free, the Brides of Mavis Enderby". An extract from the poem is at the head of Rudyard Kipling's short story, At the Pit's Mouth.

 

Douglas Adams used the name "Mavis Enderby" in his spoof The Meaning of Liff dictionary "of things that there aren't any words for yet". Adams assigned meanings to place names based on what he imagined them to mean, Mavis Enderby becoming "The almost-completely-forgotten girlfriend from your distant past for whom your wife has a completely irrational jealousy and hatred".

 

Located in Bergenfield, Bergen County, New Jersey, the Cooper Mill Lot encompasses 5.17 acres of ground extending across the outlet of Cooper’s Pond including (a) the Mill Lot, 1.7 acres, (b) the Dwelling-House Lot, 2.02 acres and (c) part of the Barn Lot, 1.45 acres. The Mill Pond (commonly called Cooper’s Pond), having a surface area of 3.80 acres, is formed by impoundment of Long Swamp Brook where it descends Teaneck Ridge onto a river plain (8-foot fall) on its northerly descent towards the Hackensack River. The premises and improvements comprise four associated, two–story, frame buildings on sandstone foundations situated northeast of the outlet of the pond: (1) a Dwelling–House (c1802) of Late Federal style with Greek Revival improvements (c1840/50) and Craftsman alterations (c1910/40; (2) a board–and–batten Gothic Revival farm barn; (3) a stable or carriage–house; and (4) a frame mill from the turn of the Twentieth–Century occupying the foundation of the Demarest Gristmill (1783), subsequently the Cooper Chair Factory (1840/95), Martin Toy Factory (1897-1908) and Bergman Piano Factory (1908/48). After destruction by fire about 1900, the extant mill building was erected and successively used as a toy and piano factory. The Marchbanks, owners since 1949, restored part of the mill building damaged by fire in 1965. The four buildings, occupying the grassy slope of a hollow, well-shaded in summer by deciduous trees, are connected by a narrow lane that descends from the barnyard past a rectangular garden plot and well-house to the dwelling house and mill. The remainder of the Barn Lot to the east is a post-1908 suburban subdivision. A suburban subdivision on the former Christie Farm abuts the north boundary of the Mill Lot.

 

The Mill House is still a private residence while two outbuildings (mill and barn) are occupied by an art studio, by the shop of a furniture-maker and repairer and by storage. The Mill House furnishings include a significant collection of Cooper chairs manufactured at the site.

 

SIGNIFICANCE OF THE DEMAREST-COOPER MILL LOT

by Kevin Wright Copyright 1994

 

The Demarest-Cooper Mill Lot was a small industrial plantation that provided residence, sustenance and employment to a succession of owner/managers and laborers who operated a mill advantageously situated upon Long Swamp Brook with a sufficient flow, pondage and fall of water for manufacturing purposes. The farm maintained draught animals necessary for carting raw materials and finished products. While such mill farms were formerly a feature of the agrarian landscape of Bergen County, they largely vanished under the intensive suburbanization of the past century. From 1783 to 1840, during the heyday of cereal farming in the Hackensack Valley, water power at this location processed feed and flour, the principal products of an agricultural community known as the Bergen Dutch. The Demarest-Cooper Mill Lot, however, possesses singular significance as the site where Richard Cooper and his son, Tunis R. Cooper, introduced a prototypical “factory system” of relatively high-volume production and wholesale/retail merchandising, conducted largely by wage-earners for an interregional market, to what had previously been a folk craft suited to the tastes and demands of a localized rural clientele.

Originally, Bergen Dutch chairmakers had used traditional skills, a folk knowledge of materials and forms, and hand-methods to craft wood and reeds into matted, turned chairs. By operating their own lathes, chairmakers elaborated upon traditional patterns of wood turning so as to create a measure of individual style and artistic expression while generally conforming to basic folk forms. The industry was able to expand beyond local market demands through the proximity of city markets, convenient by water and land carriage, and through the naturally renewing resource of extensive cattail marshes, seasonally cut for matting seats. Beginning about 1820, however, water-driven lathes were added to several local sawmills which began to mechanically mass-produce several grades of chair stuff according to patterns. Certain local farmers then specialized in assembling chair stuff and matting seats in the fallow season, purchasing specific quantities of various grades to fill orders. Beginning about 1840, Richard Cooper and his son, Tunis R. Cooper, brought these seasonal chairmakers into the “factory” and paid them a wage to manufacture and assemble chair stuff and to mat or cane the seats. The production was sold wholesale and retail through local “furniture dealers” and through the company’s own showroom on Pearl Street in New York City. Thus, the Coopers controlled the quantity and quality of the product from purchasing raw materials in bulk through manufacturing and marketing their productions at competative prices in interregional markets to suit general standards of “taste” and quality. To stimulate demand for their output, the Coopers employed professional designers, painters, carvers and salesmen to mold and market Cottage chairs that cultivated changing popular tastes during a sequence of pseudohistorical Romantic Revivals of Greek, Gothic, Renaissance and Chinoiserie (principally a bamboo-turned ballroom chair) styles. Their success endured until railroads greatly extended their reach beyond Atlantic tidewater, creating a national market and feeding the growth of the industrial city through cheap, reliable transport of fuel, materials and products among an ever-widening network of producers and consumers.

Alec Marchbank and his wife, the late Catherine Leiby Marchbank, have been generous over many years in making the site available for archaeological and historical studies and have contributed to historical exhibits, tours and publications regarding the Cooper Chair Factory. Their participation has increased knowledge and public appreciation of a significant historic site and era as a vital component of the community.

 

THE DEMAREST-COOPER MILL LOT occupies the western part of Lot #21, originally belonging to Benjamin D. Demarest, in the Second Allotment of the French Patent. The Second Allotment covered that portion of the French Patent extending between the Patent Line (now Prospect Avenue) and Chesche Brook (Tienekill). Benjamin Demarest may have occupied his lot about the time of his marriage to Elizabeth DeGroot in November 1713. In 1717, a four-rod road (now West Church Street) was laid out along the southern boundary of Benjamin Demarest’s lot, where it abutted Lot #22 (then belonging to Abraham Brower).

Benjamin D. Demarest, born about 1691, married Elizabeth DeGroot at Hackensack on November 7, 1713. They produced nine children between 1715 and 1737. David B. Demarest,their second son, was baptized December 4, 1720. On January 22, 1743, he married Marrityn Ackerman, daughter of Johannes D. and Jannetje (Lozier) Ackerman. The couple had twelve children, six boys and six girls, born between 1743 and 1778, all baptized at Schraalenburgh. Tory Refugees burned David B. Demarest’s house, barn and cow-house at Schraalenburgh on June 24, 1789.

On May 21, 1785, Benjamin P. Demarest, weaver, Peter P. Demarest, mason, David P. Demarest, farmer, John P. Demarest, carpenter, and Jacob P. Demarest, mason, all of Hackensack Township, released two tracts of land at Schraalenburgh to David B. Demarest, Esq., for 10 shillings. These grantors (sons of David’s older brother, Peter B. Demarest) were Loyalists during the Revolution; most departed Schraalenburgh soon after signing this quit-claim, relinquishing any interest they held in their grandfather Benjamin’s lands. The first tract, comprising 47.75 acres, commenced by the road at the southwest corner of John W. Christie’s farm and was further bounded by the Schraalenburgh Main Road (Washington Avenue), by the road (West Church Street) leading to Schraalenburgh South Church and by the road from South Church to Colonel Nicoll’s Mill (North Prospect Avenue). A second tract, comprising 69.50 acres, lay along the east side of the road from Schraalenburgh to Teaneck (i. e., Washington Avenue) and bounded on the farm of Thomas Campbell. Excepted from the conveyance, however, were 15-acre parcels of land reserved by prior contract between David B. Demarest, Peter B. Demarest and their father, Benjamin Demarest, dated September 14, 1784, whereby Peter B. Demarest was to have 15 acres in the two lots or farm of David B. Demarest and David B. Demarest was to have 15 acres in the farm of Peter B. Demarest.

The last will and testament of David Demarest of Hackensack Precinct was written July 12, 1784 and probated November 19, 1795. Therein, he devised 15 acres off the northwest corner of a lot of land at Schraalenburgh near the church, including the grist mill, to his son Benjamin. The remainder of his real estate was divided equally among his sons, Johannes, Abraham, Jacob, David and Petrus. He also bequeathed legacies to his daughters, Elizabeth, wife of Cornelius Van Zaan; Jannetje; Leah, wife of Jacobus Quackenbos; and Maria. Jannetje and Maria were to receive an out-set upon their marriages. His wife, Maria, was entitled to the use of his personal property during her widowhood.

Benjamin Demarest was born March 31, 1749. He married Catrina Van Orden, daughter of Peter and Geertje (Snyder) Van Orden, at Schraalenburgh on December 24, 1768. The couple had nine children between 1770 and 1793, all baptized at Schraalenburgh. He served in the Bergen Militia during the Revolution. His father’s last will and testament, written in July 1784, provided him with 15 acres near the Church, including a gristmill. He was first listed as owner of a gristmill on the tax assessment records of Hackensack Township in July 1785. Upon his father’s death in 1795, Benjamin inherited the mill lot. His name appears on the tax lists as a mill owner until July–August 1802, when his son, Peter B. Demarest, is listed as proprietor of a gristmill and 10 acres. Peter B. Demarest, then 30 years old, married Hannah Volk at South Schraalenburgh church on September 4, 1802. It is probable the dwelling house near the mill was constructed for Peter at the time of his marriage. He and his family removed to New York City at sometime between 1807 and 1813, where he became a milk dealer.

On January 3, 1804, Benjamin and Catherine Demarest of Hackensack Township received a mortgage from Peter Dey of Cayuga County, New York, for 250 acres along Singack Brook in Saddle River Township. He settled upon this tract, where he died March 30, 1817. Benjamin D. Demarest of Saddle River Township, farmer, composed his last will and testament on August 7, 1816. He provided Catrina, his wife, with the use, comfort and benefit of his estate during her widowhood, including two milch cows and her choice of whatever household and kitchen furniture she needed. His three sons were to provide her maintenance. His real estate was to be equally divided among his three sons, Peter, David and Benjamin. His son Benjamin’s share was to included the dwelling house and other buildings where Benjamin, Senior, then lived. He also provided a legacy of $250 to be equally divided among his six daughters: Maria, wife of Richard Banta; Elizabeth, wife of William Bogert; Geertje, wife of Cornelius Doremus; Anna, wife of Cornelius Van Saun; Jane, wife of Hessel Doremus; and Leah, wife of Adrian Onderdonk. Benjamin’s widow died February 13, 1839. Both were buried in the Dey Burying Ground at Preakness.

There is no recorded conveyance, either by will or by deed, whereby Benjamin or Peter Demarest disposed of the 15-acre Mill Lot near the Church after their relocation to Preakness about 1804. The tax assessment list of Hackensack Township for July-August 1813, lists John W. Christie, a neighbor, as owner of a grist and saw mill and 150 acres. He was again listed as a mill owner in July-August 1814. On February 27, 1804, John Quackenbush and his wife, Sally, conveyed seven acres to John W. Christie, bounded west by the road leading to John W. Christie’s Mills, south by the road leading to Old Bridge and north and east by the Mill Pond. The boundary survey for this lot began “near the Saw Mill of James W. Christie.” These mills, therefore, were located in present-day New Milford, downstream of Benjamin Demarest’s gristmill. Consequently, there is no listing for the Demarest mill in this interval of time. It is probable, however, that Peter B. Demarest remained upon the mill lot at Schraalenburgh until his removal to New York about 1813. The gristmill may have been idled by Thomas Jefferson’s Embargo Act (1807-1809) or possibly incapacitated by fire.

Frederick Mabie first appears as owner of a gristmill in the Hackensack Township tax records in 1814, corresponding with Peter B. Demarest’s departure for New York. In June-August 1817, Frederick Mabie is listed as owner of a gristmill and 40 acres. Benjamin Demarest’s last will and testament, probated after his death March 1817, divided his real estate equally among his three sons, Peter, David and Benjamin, with Benjamin receiving his father’s homestead at Preakness. No mention is made of the Mill Lot at Schraalenburgh. In June-August 1820, Frederick Mabie is listed as owner of a gristmill and 15 acres. His neighbors included Dr. George Chapman, Reverend Solomon Froeligh and Ralph Christie, leaving no doubt that Mabie owned and operated the mill on Cooper’s Pond. He was listed as mill owner in the assessment of June-August 1822.

Frederick Mabie and his wife, Bailey, mortgaged the mill lot at Schraalenburgh to Jaspar Demarest of Old Bridge (now River Edge) for $1,000 on May 5, 1825. The mortgage was taken on “all that tract or parcel of land and premises...beginning on the east side of the road leading from Schraalenburgh Church to Nicholas Kipp’s Mill and at the northwest corner of the Parsonage Lot, thence running easterly along the Parsonage Lot as far as the same may go, thence southerly along the Parsonage Lot to land of Doctor Chapman, then easterly along Chapman’s land to land of Roelof Christie, thence westerly along Christie’s lot of land as far as it may go, thence easterly along Christie’s land to land of Peter Christie, thence westerly along same to the aforesaid road, thence southerly along the same to point of beginning, containing about 15 acres.” Frederick Mabie paid off this mortgage on April 21, 1828. On May 2, 1831, Frederick and Bailey Mabie took another mortgage of $500 from Peter Westervelt. They mortgaged two tracts, the first being “a certain Mill lot, House, piece or parcel of land...containing about 15 acres, and the second being a parcel of woodland on the east side of the road to Simon Demarest’s Mill containing 5.78 acres. This woodland was bounded west by the road, north by land of John Quackenbush, east by land of David Kipp and south by land of James Kipp. Frederick Mabie paid off this mortgage on May 8, 1839. On April 12, 1838, Frederick Mabie again mortgaged the 15-acre Mill Lot, this time to Maria Bogert for $220. He paid this mortgage on May 8, 1839. Finally, on April 5, 1839, Mabie mortgaged his two tracts to Jaspar Demarest for $2,400. This mortgage was canceled on May 13, 1840.

Jaspar Demarest’s mortgages to Frederick Mabie, the first in 1825 for $1,000 and the second in 1839 for $2,400, are probably indicative of some business relationship between these men. On December 12, 1823, Jaspar Demarest of Hackensack Township purchased a lot of one acre fronting on the Hackensack River, abutting a road and land of Abraham Van Buskirk, from James O’Conner, chair maker, of New York City for $280. When he sold this same lot to James Pearsell on June 10, 1831, Jaspar Demarest described himself as a “Merchant.” His store and dwelling were situated on the west bank of the Hackensack River at Old Bridge (now River Edge).

On May 2, 1840, Frederick Mabie and his wife, Bailey, of Hackensack Township conveyed the 15-acre mill lot to Richard T. Cooper for $4,050. Again, Jaspar Demarest issued a mortgage. According to the deed description, the property began on the east side of the road leading from Schraalenburgh South Church to Samuel Demarest’s Mill and at the northwest corner of the Parsonage Lot, running from thence east along the Parsonage Lot, thence southerly along the same to Dr. Chapman’s land, thence easterly along the Chapman lot to land of Ralph Christie, thence west along Ralph Christie’s land as far it runs, thence east along the same to the land of David Kipp, thence north along David Kipp’s land to land of Peter Christie, thence west along the same to the beginning, containing about 15 acres. Subsequent deed transactions indicate that Richard Cooper remained a resident of New Barbadoes Township. Richard Cooper, eldest son of Tunis and Margaret (Banta) Cooper, married Effme Huyler and had the following children: Tunis, born August 9, 1809; William, born April 20, 1812; Margaretta, born March 30, 1814; Tyne, born November 7, 1816; George, born August 19, 1814; and John, born June 19, 1827. Richard Cooper resided at New Milford (now Oradell) upon part of the Cooper farm included in the purchase by his great-grandfather, Cornelius Claes Cooper, from John Demarest, Sr., and John Demarest, Jr., on October 31, 1716. According to a biographical sketch written in 1889, Richard Cooper was “a carpenter by occupation and eventually manufactured chairs for the New York market.” When he wrote his last will and testament on May 11, 1842, he mentioned his farm “on which I now live” at New Milford (now Oradell) in New Barbadoes Township. An inventory of his possessions, made on September 13, 1854, included $86.50 worth of “Carpenter and chair maker’s tools” and $178.54 worth of “Chairs and chair stuff.” He died August 28, 1854, aged 67 years, 10 months and 19 days. By his last will and testament, Richard devised $1,000 to his son, Tunis. Effe (Huyler) Cooper died June 14, 1862, aged 76 years and 7 months.

On January 2, 1849, Richard T. Cooper and his wife, Eve, conveyed the 15-acre mill lot and 5.78-acre wood lot to their son, Tunis R. Cooper, for $4,050. The mill lot was bounded north by land Peter Christie, south by the Parsonage Lot and lands of Dr. Chapman and Ralph Christie, east by lands of Ralph Christie and Cornelius L. Blauvelt, and west by the road leading from Schraalenburgh South Church to Samuel Demarest’s Mill. The deed included provision for raising the waters of the mill pond at any future period to their usual height. The lot of woodland included in the sale was situated on the east side of the public road leading from South Church to Demarest’s Mill. It was bounded north by land lately belonging to John Quackenbush, south and east by land of James Kipp and west by the public road.

The 1850 Census for Hackensack Township lists Tunis R. Cooper, aged 40 years, as a “Chair manufacturer.” His eldest son, Richard, aged 16 years, was listed as a chair maker. Three chair makers also resided at the Cooper Millhouse: Gregory Leatherman, aged 25 years, a German; and two Irishmen, John Thisan, aged 13 years, and Daniel O’Connel, aged 20 years. Two other chair makers resided in the immediate neighborhood, namely, Daniel Terhune, aged 27 years, and Jacob Earle, aged 28 years.

On June 6, 1852, James W. Christie of Hackensack Township conveyed an undivided half interest in a lot of Brackish Meadow on the east side of Teaneck Creek to Tunis R. Cooper for $60. On June 26, 1852, James W. Christie and David W. Christie, executors of John W. Christie, conveyed the other half-interest in this meadow lot to Tunis R. Cooper for $60. Cattail rushes were harvested annually from this meadow lot for matting chair seats.

Tunis Richard Cooper married Sarah Vanderbeck at the South Church, Schraalenburgh, on August 20, 1829. Their six children were named: Anna, born 1830, Richard, born 1834; Henry, born 1837; Euphemia, born 1839; Rachel, born 1849; and Margaretta, born 1853. Anna Cooper married Peter W. Banta at North Church (Dumont) on December 20, 1849 and had two children: Sarah Ann and Hellena. Richard Cooper died October 11, 1867, aged 33 years. Henry Cooper married Margaret Milk of Englewood and had children: John W., Ira, Joseph, Amelia and Anna. Euphemia Cooper married William T. Bogert and had children: Anna, Tunis and Emma. Rachel Cooper married James D. Christie of River Edge and died July 5, 1881, aged 32 years, 2 months and 13 days.

Tunis Cooper became a successful chair manufacturer. According to advertisement placed in the Bergen Journal in 1858, he not only manufactured chairs, but was a wholesale and retail dealer in “Cottage, Office, Dining & Rocking Chairs.” Workmen in his enterprise resided in a neighborhood along Prospect Avenue known as Coopertown. In 1860, the Cooper Chair Factory utilized a six-horsepower overshot waterwheel to produce 100 dozen rush-bottom or cane-seated chairs with an estimated value of $7,500. The factory operated for nine months out of the year. In 1870, Tunis Cooper employed about 25 workers in producing $20,000 worth of furniture. Woods used included: maple (12,000 feet), walnut (3,00 feet), oak (1,000 feet) and all others (25 feet).

Tunis Cooper operated a sales room on Pearl Street, New York, between 1859 and 1862. He financed this expansion in production and sales by heavily mortgaging various properties: (1) 15.81 acres in New Barbadoes Township mortgaged to Albert J. Voorhis on May 1, 1859, for $800, paid June 15, 1862; (2) the 15-acre mill property and woodland at Schraalenburgh mortgaged to John D. Demarest for $700 (according to conditions of a bond or obligation for $1,400), paid January 1, 1870; (3) the 5-acre mill property and woodland at Schraalenburgh mortgaged to Thomas J. Gildersleve on May 1, 1861, for $7,947 (according to conditions of a bond or obligation for $15,894), canceled by satisfaction on May 6, 1874; (4) a lot in Hackensack Township mortgaged to Cornelius Quackenbush on July 2, 1861 for $350 plus interest, paid May 30, 1866; (5) a tract in New Barbadoes along road from Kinderkamack to New Milford mortgaged to his brothers and sisters, William R. Cooper, John R. Cooper, George R. Cooper, Margaret Christie and Caroline Bogert, wife of Albert Bogert, on July 1, 1862, for $800 (according to conditions of a bond or obligation for $1,600), paid April 22, 1863; (6) 22 acres on the Hackensack River in New Barbadoes Township and 5 acres of woodland mortgaged to John R. Cooper for $1,250 (according to conditions of a bond or obligation for $2,500).

In the 1860 Census for Hackensack Township, Tunis R. Cooper listed his occupation as “Farmer.” Three daughters, Euphemia, Rachel and Margaret, lived at home. Tunis’ son, Richard, aged 25 years, who also resided in his parents’ household, listed his occupation as “Chair maker.” Two apprentices, namely, Philip Lynn, aged 14 years, and John Woods, aged 13 years, both born in New York, also resided in the Cooper household. Eleven other chair makers resided in the immediate neighborhood of the Cooper Chair Factory, occupying dwellings at Coopertown: Michael Ryan, aged 30 years; David Guildersleve, aged 20 years; Gilbert Demarest, aged 51 years; John W. Voorhis, aged 22 years; Daniel Terhune, aged 37 years; Peter Terhune, aged 42 years; David Pearsall, aged 36 years; Garret F. Hillyer, aged 44 years; Nelson Palmer, aged 21 years; John Lee, aged 21 years; and Henry Stallion, aged 20 years. John Dubois, aged 30 years, is listed as a “Turner.” Richard T. Cooper died of pneumonia at Schraalenburgh on October 11, 1867, aged 33 years, 2 months and 22 days. Since he was listed as a chair maker in the 1860 Census, the business may have declined as a consequence of his death.

Tunis R. Cooper died May 18, 1887, aged 76 years. His widow, Sarah, died January 6, 1890. In February 1893, Richard W. Cooper leased the house of the late Henry Van Buskirk at Oradell while plans were made to demolish the old Cooper residence at New Milford (Oradell) and to build a fine new mansion in its place. He also proposed to erect a large edifice to accommodate a carpentry shop for himself and chair factory to be conducted by Teunis Bogert of Schraalenburgh. The foundation was built on the banks of the Hackensack River by the middle of April 1893 and carpenters then raised the superstructure for a large building. Upon completion of the building, chair-making at Schraalenburgh ceased and operations shifted to the new factory at Oradell. On Saturday, September 23, 1893, auctioneer William E. Taylor offered to sell, by order of the executors, Henry Cooper and William S. Bogert, the following properties in order to settle the estate of the late Teunis R. Cooper:

 

FIRST: 4 NICE, COMFORTABLE COTTAGES,

Each with a large plot of ground.

 

SECOND: THE MILL PROPERTY

Formerly used as chair factory, large mill buildings, in good order, with one acre and seven-tenths of high land, and three acres and nine-tenths of water. A fortune for some one.

 

THIRD: THE HOMESTEAD DWELLING

Large house and about two acres of land.

 

FOURTH: ABOUT EIGHT ACRES,

Suitable for cutting up in Building Lots, adjoining the railroad and near Bergenfield depot.

 

ALSO, SIXTEEN ACRES ON PUBLIC ROAD

leading from South Church to Madison avenue in Schraalenburgh, suitable for small farm or for cutting up.

 

The purchasers and purchase prices were as follows:

 

Henry Cooper, 7 84 -100 acres $1,999.20

“ mill property 1,000.00

“ 4 acres meadow land 600.00

Mrs. Ann Banta, dwelling house, 2 acres 1,500.00

“ double house 500.00

“ cottage 635.00

“ cottage 500.00

Mrs. W. S. Bogert, dwelling house 550.00

“ 10 07 - 100 acres 1,650.00

“ 5 3 10 acres 622.75

James A. O’Gorman 15 acres woodland 64.42

Total $9,612.45

 

On January 3, 1894, Henry Cooper and William Schuyler Bogert, executors of Tunis R. Cooper’s estate, conveyed Cooper Lot #7 (Dwelling House and 2.02 acres), Cooper Lot #2 (on Prospect Avenue), and Cooper Lot #1 (on Prospect Avenue) to Ann Cooper Banta for $2,500. On January 3, 1894, Henry Cooper and William Schuyler Bogert, executors of Tunis R. Cooper’s estate, conveyed several tracts to John W. Cooper. On the following day, January 4, 1894, John W. Cooper, single, of Englewood Township conveyed these several tracts to Henry Cooper of Englewood Township for $3,000. The sale comprised: Cooper Lot #8 (Barn and 7.84 acres); Cooper Lot # 6 (Mill and 1.7 acres); Cooper Lot #9 (Mill Pond Lot, 3.8 acres), and a four-acre lot of Brackish Meadow in Ridgefield Township, lying between Teaneck Creek and the Overpeck Creek.

On January 1, 1897, Henry Cooper and his wife, Margaret, residents of the City of Englewood, deeded Cooper Lots #6 (Mill Lot) and #9 (Mill Pond Lot) to Helen Otillie Martin, wife of Oskar Martin, for $1,750. On January 8, 1897, Ann Cooper Banta of Bergenfield conveyed Lot #7 (Dwelling House) to Helene Otillie Martin, wife of Oskar Martin, for $1,750. Oskar Martin was a toy manufacturer.

By several deeds dated July 6, 1903, Helene O. Martin and her husband, Oskar Martin, conveyed Cooper Lots #7, #6, and #9 to Walter Christie. On the same date, Walter Christie and his wife, Maria, conveyed the same lots to Oskar Martin. The purpose of these transactions was to transfer title from Helene Martin to her husband, Martin.

On October 28, 1905, Henry Cooper and his wife, Margaret, of Englewood Township deeded Cooper Lot #8 (Barn Lot) to Oskar Martin of Bergenfield.

On February 5, 1908, Oskar Martin and his wife, Helene O. Martin, conveyed the property to Amos C. Bergman of Manhattan. The sale comprised Cooper Lot #7 (Dwelling House), Cooper Lot #6 (Mill Lot), Cooper Lot #9 (Mill Pond Lot), and part of Cooper Lot #8 (Barn Lot). The Atlas of Bergen County, New Jersey, published in 1912 by G. W. Bromley & Co., identifies the mill property as the “Bergman Piano Factory.” Reportedly, the Bergmans produced “Soundless Pianos” for professional practice.

On March 19, 1931, Amos Bergman and his wife, Antha Minerva Virgil Bergman, conveyed four tracts of land in Bergenfield to Anna E. Friedlander, single. These tracts comprised: Cooper Lot #7 (Dwelling House), Cooper Lot # 6 (Mill Lot), Cooper Lot #9 (Mill Pond Lot), Part of Cooper Lot #8 (Barn Lot), Cooper Lot #27, and Lot #3 (on south side of lane leading to Mill Pond from Prospect Avenue) in the subdivision of Euphemia Bogert’s property. On the same date, Anna E. Friedlander conveyed the same lots to Amos C. Bergman.

Amos C. Bergman died July 16, 1948. His resident housekeeper, Daisy Coringrato, was appointed executrix of his estate. Daisy Coringrato of Bergenfield, executrix of the Last Will and Testament of Amos C. Bergman, sold the property to Alec C. and Catherine (Leiby) Marchbank on April 18, 1949 for $13,000. The sale comprised Lots #7 (Dwelling House), #6 (Mill Lot), #9 (Mill Pond Lot), and part of Lot #8 (Barn Lot).

 

The historic South Church and Grave Yard stand southwest of Cooper’s Pond and northeast of the intersection of Prospect Avenue and West Church Street in Bergenfield.

  

The Burgtheater at Dr.-Karl -Lueger-Ring (from now on, Universitätsring) in Vienna is an Austrian Federal Theatre. It is one of the most important stages in Europe and after the Comédie-Française, the second oldest European one, as well as the greatest German speaking theater. The original 'old' Burgtheater at Saint Michael's square was utilized from 1748 until the opening of the new building at the ring in October, 1888. The new house in 1945 burnt down completely as a result of bomb attacks, until the re-opening on 14 October 1955 was the Ronacher serving as temporary quarters. The Burgtheater is considered as Austrian National Theatre.

Throughout its history, the theater was bearing different names, first Imperial-Royal Theater next to the Castle, then to 1918 Imperial-Royal Court-Burgtheater and since then Burgtheater (Castle Theater). Especially in Vienna it is often referred to as "The Castle (Die Burg)", the ensemble members are known as Castle actors (Burgschauspieler).

History

St. Michael's Square with the old K.K. Theatre beside the castle (right) and the Winter Riding School of the Hofburg (left)

The interior of the Old Burgtheater, painted by Gustav Klimt. The people are represented in such detail that the identification is possible.

The 'old' Burgtheater at St. Michael's Square

The original castle theater was set up in a ball house that was built in the lower pleasure gardens of the Imperial Palace of the Roman-German King and later Emperor Ferdinand I in 1540, after the old house 1525 fell victim to a fire. Until the beginning of the 18th Century was played there the Jeu de Paume, a precursor of tennis. On 14 March 1741 finally gave the Empress Maria Theresa, ruling after the death of her father, which had ordered a general suspension of the theater, the "Entrepreneur of the Royal Court Opera" and lessees of 1708 built theater at Kärntnertor (Carinthian gate), Joseph Karl Selliers, permission to change the ballroom into a theater. Simultaneously, a new ball house was built in the immediate vicinity, which todays Ballhausplatz is bearing its name.

In 1748, the newly designed "theater next to the castle" was opened. 1756 major renovations were made, inter alia, a new rear wall was built. The Auditorium of the Old Burgtheater was still a solid timber construction and took about 1200 guests. The imperial family could reach her ​​royal box directly from the imperial quarters, the Burgtheater structurally being connected with them. At the old venue at Saint Michael's place were, inter alia, several works of Christoph Willibald Gluck, Ludwig van Beethoven, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart as well as Franz Grillparzer premiered .

On 17 February 1776, Emperor Joseph II declared the theater to the German National Theatre (Teutsches Nationaltheater). It was he who ordered by decree that the stage plays should not deal with sad events for not bring the Imperial audience in a bad mood. Many theater plays for this reason had to be changed and provided with a Vienna Final (Happy End), such as Romeo and Juliet or Hamlet. From 1794 on, the theater was bearing the name K.K. Court Theatre next to the castle.

1798 the poet August von Kotzebue was appointed as head of the Burgtheater, but after discussions with the actors he left Vienna in 1799. Under German director Joseph Schreyvogel was introduced German instead of French and Italian as a new stage language.

On 12 October 1888 took place the last performance in the old house. The Burgtheater ensemble moved to the new venue at the Ring. The Old Burgtheater had to give way to the completion of Saint Michael's tract of Hofburg. The plans to this end had been drawn almost 200 years before the demolition of the old Burgtheater by Joseph Emanuel Fischer von Erlach.

The "new" K.K. Court Theatre (as the inscription reads today) at the Ring opposite the Town Hall, opened on 14 October 1888 with Grillparzer's Esther and Schiller's Wallenstein's Camp, was designed in neo-Baroque style by Gottfried Semper (plan) and Karl Freiherr von Hasenauer (facade), who had already designed the Imperial Forum in Vienna together. Construction began on 16 December 1874 and followed through 14 years, in which the architects quarreled. Already in 1876 Semper withdrew due to health problems to Rome and had Hasenauer realized his ideas alone, who in the dispute of the architects stood up for a mainly splendid designed grand lodges theater.

However, created the famous Viennese painter Gustav Klimt and his brother Ernst Klimt and Franz Matsch 1886-1888 the ceiling paintings in the two stairwells of the new theater. The three took over this task after similar commissioned work in the city theaters of Fiume and Karlovy Vary and in the Bucharest National Theatre. In the grand staircase on the side facing the café Landtmann of the Burgtheater (Archduke stairs) reproduced ​​Gustav Klimt the artists of the ancient theater in Taormina on Sicily, in the stairwell on the "People's Garden"-side (Kaiserstiege, because it was reserved for the emperor) the London Globe Theatre and the final scene from William Shakespeare's "Romeo and Juliet". Above the entrance to the auditorium is Molière's The Imaginary Invalid to discover. In the background the painter immortalized himself in the company of his two colleagues. Emperor Franz Joseph I liked the ceiling paintings so much that he gave the members of the company of artists of Klimt the Golden Cross of Merit.

The new building resembles externally the Dresden Semper Opera, but even more, due to the for the two theaters absolutely atypical cross wing with the ceremonial stairs, Semper's Munich project from the years 1865/1866 for a Richard Wagner Festspielhaus above the Isar. Above the middle section there is a loggia, which is framed by two side wings, and is divided from a stage house with a gable roof and auditorium with a tent roof. Above the center house there decorates a statue of Apollo the facade, throning between the Muses of drama and tragedy. Above the main entrances are located friezes with Bacchus and Ariadne. At the exterior facade round about, portrait busts of the poets Calderon, Shakespeare, Moliere, Schiller, Goethe, Lessing, Halm, Grillparzer, and Hebbel can be seen. The masks which also can be seen here are indicating the ancient theater, furthermore adorn allegorical representations the side wings: love, hate, humility, lust, selfishness, and heroism. Although the theater since 1919 is bearing the name of Burgtheater, the old inscription KK Hofburgtheater over the main entrance still exists. Some pictures of the old gallery of portraits have been hung up in the new building and can be seen still today - but these images were originally smaller, they had to be "extended" to make them work better in high space. The points of these "supplements" are visible as fine lines on the canvas.

The Burgtheater was initially well received by Viennese people due to its magnificent appearance and technical innovations such as electric lighting, but soon criticism because of the poor acoustics was increasing. Finally, in 1897 the auditorium was rebuilt to reduce the acoustic problems. The new theater was an important meeting place of social life and soon it was situated among the "sanctuaries" of Viennese people. In November 1918, the supervision over the theater was transferred from the High Steward of the emperor to the new state of German Austria.

1922/1923 the Academy Theatre was opened as a chamber play stage of the Burgtheater. On 8th May 1925, the Burgtheater went into Austria's criminal history, as here Mentscha Karnitschewa perpetrated a revolver assassination on Todor Panitza.

The Burgtheater in time of National Socialism

The National Socialist ideas also left traces in the history of the Burgtheater. In 1939 appeared in Adolf Luser Verlag the strongly anti-Semitic characterized book of theater scientist Heinz Kindermann "The Burgtheater. Heritage and mission of a national theater", in which he, among other things, analyzed the "Jewish influence "on the Burgtheater. On 14 October 1938 was on the occasion of the 50th anniversary of the opening of the Burgtheater a Don Carlos production of Karl-Heinz Stroux shown that served Hitler's ideology. The role of the Marquis of Posa played the same Ewald Balser, who in a different Don Carlos production a year earlier (by Heinz Hilpert) at the Deutsches Theater in the same role with the sentence in direction of Joseph Goebbels box vociferated: "just give freedom of thought". The actor and director Lothar Müthel, who was director of the Burgtheater between 1939 and 1945, staged 1943 the Merchant of Venice, in which Werner Kraus the Jew Shylock clearly anti-Semitic represented. The same director staged after the war Lessing's parable Nathan the Wise. Adolf Hitler himself visited during the Nazi regime the Burgtheater only once (1938), and later he refused in pure fear of an assassination.

For actors and theater staff who were classified according to the Reich Citizenship Law of 1935 as "Jews ", were quickly imposed stage bans, within a few days, they were on leave, fired or arrested. The Burgtheater ensemble ​​between 1938 and 1945 did not put up significant resistance against the Nazi ideology, the repertoire was heavily censored, only a few joined the Resistance, as Judith Holzmeister (then also at the People's Theatre engaged) or the actor Fritz Lehmann. Although Jewish members of the ensemble indeed have been helped to emigrate, was still an actor, Fritz Strassny, taken to a concentration camp and murdered there.

The Burgtheater at the end of the war and after the Second World War

In summer 1944, the Burgtheater had to be closed because of the decreed general theater suspension. From 1 April 1945, as the Red Army approached Vienna, camped a military unit in the house, a portion was used as an arsenal. In a bomb attack the house at the Ring was damaged and burned down on 12th April 1945 completely. Auditorium and stage were useless, only the steel structure remained. The ceiling paintings and part of the lobby were almost undamaged.

The Soviet occupying power expected from Viennese City Councillor Viktor Matejka to launch Vienna's cultural life as soon as possible again. The council summoned on 23 April (a state government did not yet exist) a meeting of all Viennese cultural workers into the Town Hall. Result of the discussions was that in late April 1945 eight cinemas and four theaters took up the operation again, including the Burgtheater. The house took over the Ronacher Theater, which was understood by many castle actors as "exile" as a temporary home (and remained there to 1955). This venue chose the newly appointed director Raoul Aslan, who championed particularly active.

The first performance after the Second World War was on 30 April 1945 Sappho by Franz Grillparzer directed by Adolf Rott from 1943 with Maria Eis in the title role. Also other productions from the Nazi era were resumed. With Paul Hoerbiger, a few days ago as Nazi prisoner still in mortal danger, was shown the play of Nestroy Mädl (Girlie) from the suburbs. The Academy Theatre could be played (the first performance was on 19 April 1945 Hedda Gabler, a production of Rott from the year 1941) and also in the ball room (Redoutensaal) at the Imperial Palace took place performances. Aslan the Ronacher in the summer had rebuilt because the stage was too small for classical performances. On 25 September 1945, Schiller's Maid of Orleans could be played on the enlarged stage.

The first new productions are associated with the name of Lothar Müthel: Everyone and Nathan the Wise, in both Raoul Aslan played the main role. The staging of The Merchant of Venice by Müthel in Nazi times seemed to have been fallen into oblivion.

Great pleasure gave the public the return of the in 1938 from the ensemble expelled Else Wohlgemuth on stage. She performaed after seven years in exile in December 1945 in Clare Biharys The other mother in the Academy Theater. 1951 opened the Burgtheater its doors for the first time, but only the left wing, where the celebrations on the 175th anniversary of the theater took place.

1948, a competition for the reconstruction was tendered: Josef Gielen, who was then director, first tended to support the design of ex aequo-ranked Otto Niedermoser, according to which the house was to be rebuilt into a modern gallery theater. Finally, he agreed but then for the project by Michael Engelhardt, whose plan was conservative but also cost effective. The character of the lodges theater was largely taken into account and maintained, the central royal box but has been replaced by two balconies, and with a new slanted ceiling construction in the audience was the acoustics, the shortcoming of the house, improved significantly.

On 14 October 1955 was happening under Adolf Rott the reopening of the restored house at the Ring. For this occasion Mozart's A Little Night Music was played. On 15 and on 16 October it was followed by the first performance (for reasons of space as a double premiere) in the restored theater: King Ottokar's Fortune and End of Franz Grillparzer, staged by Adolf Rott. A few months after the signing of the Austrian State Treaty was the choice of this play, which the beginning of Habsburg rule in Austria makes a subject of discussion and Ottokar of Horneck's eulogy on Austria (... it's a good country / Well worth that a prince bow to it! / where have you yet seen the same?... ) contains highly symbolic. Rott and under his successors Ernst Haeusserman and Gerhard Klingenberg the classic Burgtheater style and the Burgtheater German for German theaters were finally pointing the way .

In the 1950s and 1960s, the Burgtheater participated (with other well-known theaters in Vienna) on the so-called Brecht boycott.

Gerhard Klingenberg internationalized the Burgtheater, he invited renowned stage directors such as Dieter Dorn, Peter Hall, Luca Ronconi, Giorgio Strehler, Roberto Guicciardini and Otomar Krejča. Klingenberg also enabled the castle debuts of Claus Peymann and Thomas Bernhard (1974 world premiere of The Hunting Party). Bernhard was as a successor of Klingenberg mentioned, but eventually was appointed Achim Benning, whereupon the writer with the text "The theatrical shack on the ring (how I should become the director of the Burgtheater)" answered.

Benning, the first ensemble representative of the Burgtheater which was appointed director, continued Klingenberg's way of Europeanization by other means, brought directors such as Adolf Dresen, Manfred Wekwerth or Thomas Langhoff to Vienna, looked with performances of plays of Vaclav Havel to the then politically separated East and took the the public taste more into consideration.

Directorate Claus Peymann 1986-1999

Under the by short-term Minister of Education Helmut Zilk brought to Vienna Claus Peymann, director from 1986 to 1999, there was further modernization of the programme and staging styles. Moreover Peymann was never at a loss for critical contributions in the public, a hitherto unusual attitude for Burgtheater directors. Therefore, he and his program within sections of the audience met with rejection. The greatest theater scandal in Vienna since 1945 occurred in 1988 concerning the premiere of Thomas Bernhard's Heldenplatz (Place of the Heroes) drama which was fiercly fought by conservative politicians and zealots. The play deals with the Vergangenheitsbewältigung (process of coming to terms with the past) and illuminates the present management in Austria - with attacks on the then ruling Social Democratic Party - critically. Together with Claus Peymann Bernhard after the premiere dared to face on the stage applause and boos.

Bernard, to his home country bound in love-hate relationship, prohibited the performance of his plays in Austria before his death in 1989 by will. Peymann, to Bernhard bound in a difficult friendship (see Bernhard's play Claus Peymann buys a pair of pants and goes eating with me) feared harm for the author's work, should his plays precisely in his homeland not being shown. First, it was through permission of the executor Peter Fabjan - Bernhard's half-brother - after all, possible the already in the schedule of the Burgtheater included productions to continue. Finally, shortly before the tenth anniversary of the death of Bernard it came to the revival of the Bernhard play Before retirement by the first performance director Peymann. The plays by Bernhard are since then continued on the programme of the Burgtheater and they are regularly newly produced.

In 1993, the rehearsal stage of the Castle theater was opened in the arsenal (architect Gustav Peichl). Since 1999, the Burgtheater has the operation form of a limited corporation.

Directorate Klaus Bachler 1999-2009

Peymann was followed in 1999 by Klaus Bachler as director. He is a trained actor, but was mostly as a cultural manager (director of the Vienna Festival) active. Bachler moved the theater as a cultural event in the foreground and he engaged for this purpose directors such as Luc Bondy, Andrea Breth, Peter Zadek and Martin Kušej.

Were among the unusual "events" of the directorate Bachler

* The Theatre of Orgies and Mysteries by Hermann Nitsch with the performance of 122 Action (2005 )

* The recording of the MTV Unplugged concert with Die Toten Hosen for the music channel MTV (2005, under the title available)

* John Irving's reading from his book at the Burgtheater Until I find you (2006)

* The 431 animatographische (animatographical) Expedition by Christoph Schlingensief and a big event of him under the title of Area 7 - Matthew Sadochrist - An expedition by Christoph Schlingensief (2006).

* Daniel Hoevels cut in Schiller's Mary Stuart accidentally his throat (December 2008). Outpatient care is enough.

Jubilee Year 2005

In October 2005, the Burgtheater celebrated the 50th Anniversary of its reopening with a gala evening and the performance of Grillparzer's King Ottokar's Fortune and End, directed by Martin Kušej that had been performed in August 2005 at the Salzburg Festival as a great success. Michael Maertens (in the role of Rudolf of Habsburg) received the Nestroy Theatre Award for Best Actor for his role in this play. Actor Tobias Moretti was awarded in 2006 for this role with the Gertrude Eysoldt Ring.

Furthermore, there were on 16th October 2005 the open day on which the 82-minute film "burg/private. 82 miniatures" of Sepp Dreissinger was shown for the first time. The film contains one-minute film "Stand portraits" of Castle actors and guest actors who, without saying a word, try to present themselves with a as natural as possible facial expression. Klaus Dermutz wrote a work on the history of the Burgtheater. As a motto of this season served a quotation from Lessing's Minna von Barnhelm: "It's so sad to be happy alone."

The Burgtheater on the Mozart Year 2006

Also the Mozart Year 2006 was at the Burgtheater was remembered. As Mozart's Singspiel Die Entführung aus dem Serail in 1782 in the courtyard of Castle Theatre was premiered came in cooperation with the Vienna State Opera on the occasion of the Vienna Festival in May 2006 a new production (directed by Karin Beier) of this opera on stage.

Directorate Matthias Hartmann since 2009

Since September 2009, Matthias Hartmann is Artistic Director of the Burgtheater. A native of Osnabrück, he directed the stage houses of Bochum and Zurich. With his directors like Alvis Hermanis, Roland Schimmelpfennig, David Bösch, Stefan Bachmann, Stefan Pucher, Michael Thalheimer, came actresses like Dorte Lyssweski, Katharina Lorenz, Sarah Viktoria Frick, Mavie Hoerbiger, Lucas Gregorowicz and Martin Wuttke came permanently to the Burg. Matthias Hartmann himself staged around three premieres per season, about once a year, he staged at the major opera houses. For more internationality and "cross-over", he won the Belgian artist Jan Lauwers and his Need Company as "Artists in Residence" for the Castle, the New York group Nature Theater of Oklahoma show their great episode drama Live and Times of an annual continuation. For the new look - the Burgtheater presents itself without a solid logo with word games around the BURG - the Burgtheater in 2011 was awarded the Cultural Brand of the Year .

  

steigiotto, kostybit und 6 weitere haben das als Favorite

www.youtube.com/watch?v=lodKSiWlgrg

 

Seven Pounds is a 2008 American drama film, directed by Gabriele Muccino, in which Will Smith stars as a man who sets out to change the lives of seven people. Rosario Dawson, Woody Harrelson, and Barry Pepper also star. The film was released in theaters in the United States and Canada on December 19, 2008, by Columbia Pictures. Despite receiving negative reviews, it was a box-office success, grossing US$168,168,201 worldwide.

 

Tim Thomas (Smith), while carelessly sending a text message while driving, veers across the center line into oncoming traffic and causes a multi-car crash in which seven people die: six strangers and his fiancée, Sarah Jenson (Robinne Lee).

 

Two years later, in a bid for atonement, Tim sets out to save the lives of seven good people by donating his own vital organs, a process that will be completed after his planned suicide. A year after the crash, having quit his job as an aeronautical engineer, Tim donates a lung lobe to his brother Ben (Michael Ealy), an IRS field agent. Tim then steals his brother's federal IRS identification badge and credentials, puts his picture over Ben's, identifies himself by his brother's name, and uses Ben's privileges to check out the financial backgrounds of further potential candidates for his donations. In each case, he "interviews" them first to determine if they are good people.

 

In one case, the director of a hospice nursing home facility, who had an unsuccessful bone marrow transplant, seeks a six-month extension on his back taxes. Tim, now going by his brother's name, is unsure of the man's ethics, because he claims to be insolvent, yet drives a new BMW. To resolve the issue, "Ben" passionately asks a resident patient, an elderly bedridden woman, to tell him whether he is a "good man", only to discover that the man is punishing the woman for refusing to take a new medication by not allowing the nurses to bathe her.

 

Six months later, "Ben" donates part of his liver to a child protective services social worker named Holly (Judyann Elder). He then finds George (Bill Smitrovich), a junior hockey coach and donates a kidney to him. He then donates bone marrow to a young boy named Nicholas (Quintin Kelley), opting to have no anesthesia during the procedure, an evident consequence of his desire for atonement. In each case, he does not tell the people what his intentions are for his donations, despite being repeatedly asked.

 

Two weeks before he dies, he contacts Holly and asks if she knows anyone "in the system" who needs and deserves help, but is too proud to ask for it. Holly suggests Connie Tepos (Elpidia Carrillo), who lives with her two kids and an abusive boyfriend, but cannot afford to leave. When "Ben" arrives to "interview" her under the guise of dealing with the IRS, Connie is embarrassed and humiliated that he knows what has been going on. She defends her boyfriend, is offended by "Ben"'s suggestion that she should leave with her kids, and kicks him out of her house. In the meantime, "Ben" moves out of his house and into a local motel, taking with him his pet box jellyfish, decidedly the most venomous creature on earth, with its sting causing death in three to five minutes. That night, after being beaten by her boyfriend again, Connie contacts "Ben". He meets her, tells her not to be weak, and gives her the keys and directions to his beach house. She takes her two children and they move into the house. Then, she reads a letter from "Ben" which includes the deed to the house, again giving no explanation, and asking for her to respect his wishes, not try to contact him, not tell anyone how she got the house, and "live life abundantly".

 

"Ben"'s sixth candidate is Ezra Turner (Harrelson), a blind telemarketer for a meat company, who plays the piano. "Ben" calls Ezra and harassed him at work weeks earlier, to see if he was quick to anger; when Ezra remains calm and humble through the abuse, "Ben" decides he is worthy.

 

"Ben" then contacts Emily Posa (Rosario Dawson), a wedding announcement/greeting card printer who has a congenital heart condition and rare blood type that has left her with only weeks to live. Ben interviews her at her home, again under the guise of an IRS investigation, and more or less stalks her at the hospital, but then he starts to spend time with her, walking her Great Dane called Duke, weeding her garden, and fixing her rare Heidelberg Windmill press. He visibly fights his affections for her, again seeking atonement for the death of his fiancée, but he slowly falls in love with her.

 

At one point, while comforting Emily (who is in the hospital after an emergency), he tells her the tale of a young boy named Tim, who wanted to fly and became a space engineer. Emily recognizes this is an actual story of his childhood and suggested the boy was named Ben, but he corrects her by sheer reflex, telling her that the boy is called Tim... obviously himself.

 

Tim's brother, the real Ben, finally tracks Tim down at Emily's house, saying that he must return his IRS credentials. After a passionate sexual interlude with Emily, and with Ben waiting outside her house, Tim disappears out the back door, leaving her sleeping. He returns on foot to the motel, first stopping by the hospital to ask the doctor if any chance exists that Emily will improve. Discovering that she will likely die before a donated organ becomes available, he decides "it's time".

 

Tim then fills the motel bathtub with ice water to preserve his vital organs, calls 9-1-1 emergency and reports his own suicide, climbs into the tub, and releases his box jellyfish into the water with him. The jellyfish wraps its tentacles around his arm, causing a quick but excruciatingly painful death.

 

At the hospital, his best childhood friend Dan (Pepper) acts as executor of Tim's living will to ensure that his organs are donated to Emily and Ezra. Ezra receives Tim's corneas, which cure his blindness, and Emily receives his heart.

 

Afterward, Ben finds letters from Tim that he is to give to each person explaining why he did what he did. This leaves Emily heartbroken. Emily finds Ezra (now a school teacher) at his kid's choir concert at a park and stops him as he passes by. Having never met before, Emily is fixated on Ezra's eyes, knowing they belonged to Tim. Emily begins to break down, which clues Ezra in to who she is. When he says, "You must be Emily," she breaks into tears and they share a heartfelt embrace out of mutual love and respect for Tim.

 

Before the film's release, the title Seven Pounds was considered a "mystery" which the studio refused to explain.

Early trailers for Seven Pounds kept the film's details a mystery. Director Gabriele Muccino explained the intent: "The [audience] will not know exactly what this man is up to." Will Smith is reported to have confirmed that the title refers to Shakespeare's The Merchant of Venice, in which a debtor must pay a pound of flesh. In this case, it amounts to seven gifts to seven individuals deemed worthy by Smith's character, to atone for seven deaths he caused.

  

... un dono per chi dona ...

   

Pà,

un anno senza te ...

 

Buon Vento.

 

brick count 7312, 132cm long, 47cm wide.

The first time I met her and played photographer. I knew this was going to be STRANGE.

Duneira house and gardens at Mount Macedon.

 

(Extract from Macedon Ranges cultural heritage and landscape study/Trevor Budge and Associates. 4 v. 1994.).

Henry Suetonius Officer reputedly aquired the Duneira site from

1872-1877 (Blocks 4,5,10,11,14) paying some £84 for 38 acres but

rate listings give Robert Officer as the owner. .

.

Suetonius Henry Officer (1830-1883).

Officer was born in Hullgreen, New Norfolk, Tasmania 1830, the

son of Sir Robert & Lady Officer. He was educated in Edinburgh

with his brother, Charles, and returned to the colonies, seeking

gold in Victoria but eventually settling for pastoralism in

company with his brothers and Charles Miles{ ibid.}. They managed

stations in the Wimmera and the Riverina, James marrying in 1866

and commencing construction of a 20 room homestead at Murray

Downs & Willakool, two adjoining properties fronting the Murray

River. After experimentation with irrigation, via steam pumps and

windmills, he was able to develop extensive orchards and crops. He was also, like his brother, interested in

acclimatisation, having developed an ostrich farm on his property

(Charles was a council member of the Zoological & Acclimatisation

Society for 10 years, president in 1887). .

.

Blighted by illness, Suetonius reputedly moved to Leighwood,

Toorak (Melbourne) in 1881, having erected the first stage of

Duneira at Mount Macedon, but died two years later. However his son, Henry jnr. was

born at South Yarra in 1869 and his next child, Jessie, was born

at Macedon in 1877, indicating that he was in residence at both

places prior to the dates previously supposed..

.

Suetonius probably commissioned the first stage of Duneira to be

erected as a summer house between c1874-6. The architect Levi

Powell is thought to have designed a house for him there around

that date. The first improvements listed on the site were

stables in 1874 when Robert Officer was rated as owning the site. The house was reputedly not occupied regularly

until c1881 when Suetonius moved to Toorak.

However it appears he and his family were in residence at Duneira

by 1877..

.

When Suetonius died in 1883 his wife, Mary Lillias Rigg Officer

(nee Cairns), of Glenbervie, Glenferrie Road, Toorak was the

co-executor of the estate, with merchant Robert Harper; she is

the rate occupier in 1888. Mrs Officer was the

sister of Mrs Robert Harper (Huntly Burn) and Mrs John C lloyd

(Montpelier, later Timsbury): all three houses were reputedly

built in the same period... .

.

The house bricks for the first stage were said to have come from

the Macedon Brick Kiln (once near the Macedon railway station,

set up in c1888-9?) with external walls built in 14" Flemish bond

from slop-moulded bricks (9 inch by 2.1/2). The bricks were reputedly carted

from Macedon by Cogger. The footings were of bluestone

and reputedly dressed sandstone blocks also survive, suggesting

that the first stage was face brick with stone quoins and the

next renovation c1888 added wings and a cement coating to the

whole complex. Floor frames were reputedly supported on stone

dwarf walls and joists were 6x2.1/2 inch jarrah, with flooring

being 6 inch pine}. Seaweed was apparently used for

ceiling insulation..

.

The servants' wing verandah was skillion in form with timber

posts with classical capitals. The main verandah had coupled

posts (rebuilt with single posts) a panelled frieze and slimmer

capitals set just under the frieze rail}. The

balustrade may have been of single cast-iron balusters..

.

Just prior to the sale to the speculator, James Smith Reid in

1890, and during the occupation of Edward Dyer, major additions

were made to the house complex and a reputedly a caretaker's

lodge was placed at the gate (survives, altered c1920s) but this

appears to have been added by Reid in the early 1890s. .

.

The added rooms were reputedly: billiard (32'x24') and dining

rooms, kitchen, servants bathroom, service block with 5 rooms

(engine room, dairy, pantry, store, boiler room, built of

Northcote machine made 9" brickwork). Damp proof coursing was

used in these additions compared to the slate of the first stage

and acetylene gas (engine room) was thought used for lighting

from this period, as reticulated in 1.1.2" mains and 1/2 inch

branches to internal and some external verandah lights.

Cast-iron elaborately detailed water radiators were also used,

with hot water pumped from the boiler room, and later a duplicate

boiler allowed hot water to be reticulated taps in the house{

ibid.}..

.

The description in rate books expands to villa and cottages (on

37 acres) for the first time under Reid in c1893 but the annual

valuation had already peeked in 1888 at £200 in the occupation of

Edward Dyer. An Edward Dyer was listed at that time as a fruiterer in

Burwood Road, Hawthorn..

.

The water supply is from a concrete tank fed by a spring.

Outbuildings include timber clad stables, storerooms,

blacksmith's shop, coachman's room, milking bails, hay shed and a

green house. The stables (extended) were described as having had

a shingled gabled roof (rear skillion) with loft entered via an

external stair at the north end. It had a blacksmith's

shop (altered for garage c1941), carriage and coachman's rooms,

two stores and vertically boarded main doors{ ibid.,p24}. The

milking and hay sheds had hipped roof forms and timber cladding

and frame. The interior was white-washed. The greenhouse

in the secret hedged garden is of a later date, with a timber

frame built up on 11" cavity brickwork walls, with a brick floor

and heated water pipes under each shelf. The boiler is near the

entry..

.

The `Gisborne Gazette' reported on Duneira in 1903 under the

heading of `A Popular Health Resort':.

`Duneira certainly merits a few remarks though beautiful

residences and grounds are by no means rare in that locality..

(when Reid purchased it, it was `little better than a wilderness'

and he had spared no expense to restore it).. After passing the

lodge at the main entrance, a broad serpentine drive leads up to

the house and from there the grounds are laid out in broad

sloping lawns surmounted with choice borders and fringed with

trees which however do not interfere to any great extent with the

view. There is of course no lack of flowers which grow

luxuriantly on the mount but the great feature of Duneira is the

lawns, those open green expanses which delight the eye at all

times of the year. the secret of this perennial verdure is to be

found in the copious water supply with which Macedon is blessed

(spring at rear of house, tapped by tunnelling 40m into the hill,

ie. grass grows up to base of Monterey pines)..

.

During Reid's time there, the valuation increased marginally in

1899-1900 and again soon after, with Reid's address being given

as care of Rosstrevor Magill, South Australia, in c1909-10. JS Reid died in 1922, leaving

the property to the management of JS Reid jun..

.

The main garden elements are: sweeping lawns, box hedges, weeping beech and cherry, extensive hedges (holly, laurel), a hedged

`secret garden' with green house, mature firs, elm and chestnut ì

avenues. There is also a fountain and a wide spreading weeping elm to the rear of the house, near the tennis court..

.

Significant Trees:.

`Ulmus x hollandica'.

`Prunus' "shirotae".

`Albies procera'.

`Ilex kingiana'.

Penrose's Almshouses are 17th-century almshouses in Litchdon Street, Barnstaple, in Devon, England, built in memory of John Penrose (1575–1624), a merchant and Mayor of Barnstaple. They have been a Grade I listed building since 1951.

History[edit]

 

Penrose's Almshouses shown on the detail of a small relief sculpture on the monument in St Peter's Church to Richard Beaple. The four men (and a woman behind at right, possibly a wife), may depict the four poor beneficiaries of his later benefaction known as "Beaple's Gift"

 

The courtyard with its Grade II listed pump

 

The Colonnade at the almshouses

Between 1624 and 1627[2] Richard Beaple and the four other co-executors of the will of his son-in-law John Penrose, Mayor of Barnstaple in 1620, built the large structure in Litchdon Street, Barnstaple, known today as Penrose's Almshouses. It consists of a cobbled courtyard around which are twenty almshouses, for forty poor residents, with chapel and board room and vegetable gardens behind. A small coloured relief-sculpted depiction of these almshouses with a group of four poor inmates (with a woman, perhaps a wife, behind), within a roundel survives on the right side of Richard Beaple's monument in St Peter's Church, to match one on the left side depicting a merchant pointing to a treasure chest with three sailing ships on the sea behind.

 

These almshouses were originally 20 dwellings, each one housing two people of the same sex. Above the doorway a plaque records "this howse was founded by Mr John Penrose, marchant, sometime maior of this towne. Ano Do 1627". John Penrose (1575–1624) was a dealer in woollen goods and was Mayor of Barnstaple in 1620.[3]

 

During the English Civil War Barnstaple changed hands four times, and signs of the skirmishes can still be seen at Penrose's Almshouses, where bullet holes can be found in the door to the far left of the entrance gate.[4]

 

The pump in the courtyard has been Grade II listed since 1999. Probably dating to the late 17th or early 18th-century, it consists of a simple wooden casing shaped like a box, with a lead roof and an iron spout and handle.[5] The 17th-century garden walls to the allotments at the rear of the almshouses have also been Grade II listed since 1999. wikipedia

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L'Euro è una moneta che è stata fondata per criteri politici e non economici ed è una moneta debole rispetto alle speculazioni finanziarie dalle quali doveva proteggerci.

La protezione si è mutata in trappola e in speculazione, associata al potere economico assunto dalla Germania, che non è un partner cooperativo ma un soggetto competitivo e aggressivo che sta strangolando i Paesi dell'Europa del Sud e del Mediterraneo.

Oggi la crisi finanziaria mette a nudo la mancanza di questo strumento, che è diventato un mezzo di controllo delle economie.

Quello che oggi stà avvenendo è il compimento di un piano di “Apartheid Globale” messo in opera dal 1971 con l'avvio della Globalizzazione.

Mario Monti in Italia e Mario Draghi in Germania sono gli esecutori testamentari per le nostre economie.

Stiamo assistendo alla realizzazione della Globalizzazione, delle politiche neo-liberiste e della finanza.

Questa situazione ha portato a un paradosso, non si può avere una moneta unica senza avere istituzioni comuni o un governo europeo.

Ma più che nel paradosso, siamo nel mondo dell`assurdo: in Europa abbiamo una moneta unica e al posto di un governo abbiamo una banca che governa, 27 paesi europei … se non è uno scherzo, è una follia.

L’Euro stesso non funziona bene, se pensiamo che i titoli in Euro dei paesi membri non hanno lo stesso valore sui mercati esteri.

Di fatto funziona come se esistesse l'Euro-italiano, l'Euro-greco, l'Euro Tedesco ecc ecc, con prezzi diversi … assurdo.

Oggi quando si stima il valore delle valute, mentre si insiste nella retorica della moneta comune, si togliere ai vari paesi la sovranità sulle proprie politiche economiche e mentre la maggior parte della gente sbraita contro un Berlusconi e i media ci riempiono la testa con la loro confusione politica infantile, il nostro amico Mario Monti stà distribuendo fondi ai suoi amici delle grandi banche invece di riattivare i flussi del credito produttivo per imprenditori e famiglie.

Certo Berlusconi ha sicuramente le sue frodi, ma a parte un giudice di Trani che ha aperto un procedimento contro una società di rating e il Tribunale di Pescara che ha condannato per frode Mario Draghi in quanto dirigente della Goldman Sachs per l`Europa, il quale ha patteggiato, nessuno si è sognato e si sogna di toccare i veri responsabili di quello che età accadendo.

Ora non possiamo dire di non sapere, quindi o continuiamo a farci prendere per il culo o è ora di spegnere le loro TV del cazzo e reagiamo.

 

The Euro is a currency that which was founded for political and non-economic criteria and is a weak currency compared to what was to protect us from financial speculation .

The protection has turned into a trap and into speculation , coupled with the economic power assumed by Germany , which is not a cooperative partner but a competitive and aggressive entity that is strangling the countries of southern Europe and the Mediterranean.

Today, the financial crisis lays bare the lack of this tool , which has become a means of control of economies.

What is happening today is the fulfillment of a plan of " Global Apartheid " put in place since 1971 with the launch of Globalization .

Mario Draghi Mario Monti in Italy and Germany are the executors for our economies .

We are witnessing the realization of globalization , the neo-liberal policies and finance.

This situation has led to a paradox, you can not have a single currency without common institutions or a European government.

But more than that in the paradox , we are the world `s absurd : in Europe we have a single currency and instead we have a government that governs a bank , 27 European countries ... if it is not a joke, it's crazy .

The Euro itself does not work well , if we think that the securities in Euro member countries do not have the same value in foreign markets.

In fact, it works as if there were the Italian - Euro , Euro - greek , Euro German etc etc, with different prices ... absurd.

Today when estimating the value of currencies , while insisting in the rhetoric of the common currency , you remove the various countries sovereignty over its economic policies and while most people's rants against Berlusconi and the media we fill their heads with their confusion child policy , our friend Mario Monti is distributing funds to his friends of the big banks instead of restoring the flow of credit to productive entrepreneurs and families.

Of course Berlusconi has certainly its fraud , but other than a court of Trani which opened a case against a company rating and the Court of Pescara who sentenced for fraud Mario Draghi as Goldman Sachs executive for Europe `s , which has bargained , no one has dreamed of and dreams of touching the real culprits of what age happening.

Now we can not say they did not know , so either we continue to take us for a ride or it's time to turn off their TV 's cock and we react .

My take on Vader's flagship from The Empire Strikes Back: the Star Destroyer Executor. Nineteen kilometers from stem to stern, Executor is over 11 times the length of a typical Imperial Star Destroyer (also shown, for scale).

 

The Lego Group sells an Executor set, but at $400 and four feet in length, it's a bit impractical. Though this 22-inch version has taken me weeks and countless revisions, I'm pretty happy with the result. I'll take better pictures when time permits.

Brass effigies of Sir Richard Fitzlewes c1446-1528 and 4 wives Alice Harleston, ..........., Elizabeth Shelton and Joan Hornby - 2 groups of children are lost

He was the son of Lewis Fitzlewis 1477-80 of West Horndon and London by Margaret Stonor. His father, a supporter of the Lancastrian cause and related to the de Vere family, was attainted and his Essex lands forfeited when Yorkist Edward IV seized the throne. Sir Richard lived in straitened circumstances at Bardwell for a time. Some of the Essex manors, including West Horndon, were, however, restored to him in 1480, and he later gained greater favour as a loyal supporter of Henry VII. He was knighted after the Battle of Stoke in 1487 and was made Banneret at the Battle of Blackheath in 1497. He is also recorded as Sheriff of Essex and Hertfordshire in 1493

He m1 Alice daughter of John Harleston of Shimpling by Margery Bardwell (through her he held a moiety of Chardacre Hall; other Harleston and Bardwell lands being divided between them and her sister Margaret Harleston wife of Sir RIchard Darcy)

Children

1. John (father of Sir Richard's heiress Eleanor 1st wife of Sir John Mordaunt 1571 flic.kr/p/hWEaFG eldest son of John, 1st Baron Mordaunt of Turvey by Elizabeth Vere www.flickr.com/photos/52219527@N00/11119977275/ )

2. Elizabeth bc1483 m Thomas Grey son of William de Grey & Mary Bedingfield (son Edmund m Elizabeth daughter of Justice Sir John Spelman & Elizabeth Frowyke at Narborough Norfolk www.flickr.com/gp/52219527@N00/C876r2

He m2 Maud (?) ......................... (the only wife not to wear a heraldic mantle)

He m3 Elizabeth 1523 daughter of Sir Ralph Shelton 1497 www.flickr.com/gp/52219527@N00/p6a1nj

Children - at least 1 daughter

 

He m4 Joan daughter of ....... Hornby

Children - 1 son & 5 daughters

1. Dorothy a nun at Barking

  

By his will of 4 Dec. 1527 he asked 'if I fortune to decease at my place in West Thorndon to be buried in the chancel of the parish church, in the midst of the chancel of the said church before the holy sacrament ... and that mine executors cause to be buried in the chancel of West Horndon church, before the sacrament. He made bequests to churches and religious houses in London and East Anglia, provided for his wife and family, and named her and his cousin Humphrey Wingfield executors. ;

His widow Joan / Jane m2 (3rd husband) Sir John Norton 1534 of Faversham (Joan has a tomb at Faversham flic.kr/p/bbTp38 , but in her will, dated 1535, asked to be buried at West Horndon, her second husband John having chosen to be buried at Milton with his first wife Jane Northwood daughter of John Northwood 1496 & Elizabeth Frogenail flic.kr/p/2DM92q ).

 

Heraldry - FitzLewes quartering Goshalm, head on crested helm, feet on dog - wives with heraldic mantles—(a) a leaping goat for Bardwell quartering 3 roundels for Heath, quarterly for Pagenham, and a bend between 2 dancetty cotices with an ermine tail on the bend, for Clopton, all impaling FitzLewes; (c) FitzLewes impaling a cross for Sheldon; (d) FitzLewes impaling 3 bugle-horns for Hornby quartering ermine,

Brass moved from West Horndon / Thorndon church in 1731

 

www.mbs-brasses.co.uk/page94.html

Ingrave church Essex

With the addition of Moff Gideon’s Light Cruiser, I just had to get pics with all three of my warships.

 

Instructions are now available at rebrickable.com/users/simplethinker/mocs/

this picture has been done 1 year before the statue was cleant and protected.

 

2 novembre 2000 - Heyoka said :

 

Hundreds of people are expected to visit Oscar Wilde's grave in the Père Lachaise cemetary in Paris, on the centenary of his death on 30th November. It's always been popular--gathering as many regular visitors and adornments as Jim Morrison's resting spot in the same graveyard.

 

But Wilde's grave is in danger of permanent damage--adoring fans have taken to leaving lipstick kisses on the gravestone, and, unlike paint, marker pen or candle flame scorches, the lipstick contains fats that work their way into the stone and leave traces that can't be removed.

 

The standard written and painted grafitti includes such pearls of wisdom as "You are the best! You can never die!" and "Oscar forever and more smack!" along with misquoted lines from Wilde's work.

 

The grave, with a quotation from 'The Ballad of Reading Gaol' carved into the back, was originally paid for by an anonymous 'lady'. It has always had a rough time. The rather handsome naked angel at the tomb was extremely well hung, until the head keeper of the cemetary decided that it was so offensive he castrated the winged guard (and for many years used the testicles as a paperweight). The angel's genitals were later replaced, but were swiped during the 1960s. The grave was restored by the family of Wilde and of Robert Ross (Wilde's friend and literary executor) in the 90s, and since then there has been a sign in place reminding people that it is a historic monument and protected by law. This has done little to deter the more ardent admirers.

---------------------------------------------------------------------

Kay said : as the monument is high, I asked my sweet friend 7erence to take the picture because he is very tall - so you can thank him to see this panoramic view of Oscar's monument :-)

 

Though many leave handwritten notes and flowers, the latest trend for leaving lip prints on the tomb is causing offence and worry. Wilde's grandson, Merlin Holland, is furious about this:

 

"It's been going on for decades, but the lipstick is the final straw. Unthinking vulgar people may have defaced Wilde's tomb for ever. If these people want to honour Oscar Wilde's memory, then they should leave the bloody tomb alone. It's made me very angry."

 

"...people would leave notes and bits of card which were elegant and touching. Then somebody thought it would be a nice idea to kiss the tomb. Then everybody joined in. I don't know what to do now. Perhaps I should write to L'Oréal asking them to print warnings on their lipsticks. But I've got to find a way to restore the tomb, and it's going to cost money. I don't mind because he's my grandpa and I love him."

 

Holland plans to mark the centenary of his grandfather's death with an exhibition at the British LIbrary.

 

most of this information was gleaned from The Observer

 

Ancient Trees (11th Century) @ Ripley Castle,England,UK

 

THE DEER PARK CONTAINS SEVERAL MAGNIFICENT TREES. SOME HAVE PROBABLY BEEN HERE SINCE THE 11TH CENTURY. CERTAINLY THESE OAKTREES MUST BE VERY OLD TO ACHIEVE A GIRTH OF 28.5'.

 

The Ingilby family celebrates 700 years at Ripley CastleThe Ingleby family can trace its history back to 1090, when Sir Robert Ingleby owned land in the village of Ingleby, near Saxelby, Lincs. Another branch of the family had extensive lands in and around Ingleby Greenhow and Ingleby Mill in North Yorkshire. When Sir Thomas Ingleby (c1290-1352) married the heiress Edeline Thwenge in 1308/9 she came with a very substantial dowry: Ripley Castle and its surrounding estates. Like most wedding presents, it has taken the family several generations to work out what to do with it! Life was far from easy: in 1318 the Scots, under Sir James ‘Black’ Douglas, plundered the region mercilessly, destroying 140 of the 160 houses in nearby Knaresborough. In the following year a bovine plague killed almost all of the cattle in the region, leaving thousands destitute and milk in short supply. In 1349 the Black Death struck, wiping out almost half of the local population and leaving numerous hamlets bereft of people.

 

The old village of Ripley was abandoned and the survivors built a new settlement on the site of the current village, on the doorstep of the castle. Sir Thomas was in great favour at the king’s court in London and was appointed as an Advocate in 1347. In 1351 he was appointed as a Justice of Assize. He died the following year and a magnificent tombchest in All Saint’s Church, Ripley, has the figures of Thomas and Edeline lying recumbent on the top, he in his armour and chain mail, she in a long robe and head dress. His oldest son, also called Thomas (1310-1369) also married well: Katherine Mauleverer was descended from Aelfwine, an Anglian of proud descent and one of the largest landowners in the North of England. He followed his father into the royal court, and accompanied Edward III on a hunting trip to the royal hunting forest of Knaresborough in 1357. The king found a wild boar and threw his spear at it, but only injured it. The boar charged the king’s horse, and the king was thrown to the ground. Thomas killed the boar, saving the king’s life. He was knighted, granted the boar’s head emblem as his family crest, and granted the right to hold a weekly market and annual horse fair in Ripley – both continued to be held until the early 1900’s. He was appointed as a justice of the King’s Bench in 1361, the only judge to hold that position apart from the Chief Justice. He could claim £40 pa for expenses, and a further £20pa for holding assizes in different counties.

 

Thomas’s brother, Sir Henry Ingleby, enjoyed an equally notable career. Rector of several parishes, he was appointed Master of the Rolls and Keeper of the Writs, serving under the Lord Chancellor William Edington: he had an office in the Tower of London and paid 40 shillings a year for the privilege of collecting the wool tax from the monasteries. He also oversaw the network of royal horse dealers who bought horses for the royal household, then sold them at a profit: the proceeds were used to build Windsor Castle. He died in 1375 and was buried in York Minster.

 

Sir John Ingleby (1434-1499) inherited the estate from his father at the age of five: his trustees had to testify to his correct date of birth in order to get the estates out of trust when he came of age. Their testimony paints a remarkable picture of an average day in the life of 15th century England. ‘Ralph Acclom remembers John’s birth because he was staying with John, Abbot of Fountains Abbey and rode across with him to baptize the baby. Ralph Apilton remembered John’s birth because he killed a deer between Ripley and Hampsthwaite. Robert Atkinson remembered the date because he rode with John Slingsby from Ripley to Sherburn and was robbed and beaten up, losing 28s and 8d.’John built the castle gatehouse – still there today – and married a wealthy heiress, Margery Strangeways of Harlsey Castle. She bore him a son and heir, William. In 1457 John abandoned his wife, son estates and earthly possessions to become a monk at Mount Grace Priory a Carthusian charterhouse near Northallerton which had been founded by his great grandfather – and was the last resting place for his parents.

 

He was appointed prior of Sheen in 1477 and first visitor of the English province between 1478 and 1496. The royal family worshipped at Sheen and John became the first of three executors for Queen Elizabeth, wife of Edward IV, in 1492. He was Henry VII’s special ambassador to Pope Innocent VIII, the king describing him as ‘my captain and envoy’ in one of the letters that John delivered to the Pope. Henry appointed him to oversee the conversion of priory at Sheen into the royal palace of Richmond between 1495 and 1499, and the Pope appointed him bishop of Llandaff on 27th June, 1496. He was buried at the church of St Nicholas in Hertford. His luckless wife, Margery, effectively became a widow when he took holy orders: she spent eleven years raising her son before marrying Richard, Lord Welles. Her luck was no better second time round: Edward IV reneged on a promise of safe keeping and had her husband beheaded in 1469, less than a year after their marriage.Sir William Ingleby (1518-1578) married the staunchly Catholic Ann Mallory and lived through a period of profound religious turbulence. When Henry VIII suppressed the smaller monasteries in 1536, Yorkshire’s old established Catholic families rose in revolt: the Pilgrimage of Grace was a populist and peaceful revolt that received such widespread support throughout the North that the king, heavily outnumbered, was forced to sue for peace. Reneging on a promise of safe keeping, Henry had the organizer, Robert Aske, arrested and put to death: 200 of his fellow pilgrims shared his fate. William received a reward for his staunch loyalty to the crown: Queen Mary wrote ‘For the opinion I have conceived of Sir William Ingleby…I have appointed him Treasurer of Berwick’. The Rising of the North in 1568 was potentially even more serious. The rebels set out from nearby Markenfield Hall and mustered an army that far outnumbered the king’s resources. Sir William, as High Sheriff of York, was obliged to muster additional troops but while doing so was surrounded in Ripon market square, by a group of rebels amongst whom were two of his sons, David and Francis. He had to fight his way out and, deciding that Ripley Castle was too weak to defend, took refuge in the duchy of Lancaster’s Knaresborough Castle until the troops under his command were strong enough to defeat the rebels. The earl of Sussex wrote to

 

William Cecil ‘Sir William Ingleby has served the Queen as truly and as chargeably from the first suspicion of this rebellion, as any man of his rank has done. He has delivered to me, from time to time, better intelligence than I have received from any others. He be such that her majesty may rest assured of his honesty and loyalty’. The rebellion was crushed: David and Francis fled into exile but Sir William’s own son in law,

 

Thomas Markenfield, was executed. Francis Ingleby (1550-1586) studied at Brasenose College, Oxford and read law at the Inner Temple. In 1583, having received a heavenly visitation while staying at Ripley, he emigrated to Reims and became ordained a Catholic seminary priest, returning to England in 1585. There are remarkable parallels with today: a native Englishman, passionately supporting a minority religion, goes abroad to receive militant training in his faith. He returns intent on spreading the word and overthrowing the established religion and government.

 

Francis was hung, drawn and quartered on York Knavesmire in 1586 and beatified by the Pope in 1987. His brother David (1547-1600) became known as ‘the Fox’ for his ability to outrun his pursuers. He was the man who guided the seminary priests around the North of England, leading them from one safe house to another. He married Lady Ann Neville, daughter of the exiled earl of Westmoreland – and another staunch Catholic. David was heavily implicated as a co-conspirator of John Ballard in the Babington treason, a conspiracy to remove Elizabeth I from the throne and replace her with Mary, Queen of Scots. He and Francis were described as ‘the most dangerous papists in the North’. A huge manhunt was launched to find them: a secret priest’s hiding hole, built to conceal them and other visiting priests while they were at Ripley, was only discovered by accident in 1964. A set of instructions written out for a spy being sent to the royal court in Scotland listed numerous things that the spy should and should not do: it ended with a very simple warning ‘ beware of David Ingleby’. David died in exile in Belgium: Elizabeth I, taking pity on his by now

impoverished widow, awarded her a pension provided she behaved herself. Their cousin Mary Ward spent several of her formative years staying with the Inglebys. In 1609 she founded a Catholic Society for Women, modeled on the Society of Jesus. They founded schools and taught in them, and the nuns were strongly encouraged to work in the community. Pope Urban VIII suppressed the order and it wasn’t until 1877 that her society was fully restored with papal blessing. The Bar Convent in York – which she founded - was the first teaching convent in the world. Sir William Ingleby (1546 - 1618) hosted a visit by James VI of Scotland en route to the king’s coronation as James I of England in 1603. Within two years William was heavily implicated in a plot to kill the king his family and hundreds of MP’s. The Ingilbys were related to or closely associated with, nine of the eleven principal conspirators of the infamous Gunpowder Plot. The mother of Robert and Thomas Wyntour, two of the leading conspirators, was an Ingleby. They had spent the week before the plot was unearthed at Ripley, buying horses from the surrounding district. Sir William and his son were arrested and charged with treason, but were, surprisingly, acquitted of all the charges. The third charge was that of bribing witnesses.

 

Sir William Ingleby (1594-1652) supported Charles I throughout the civil war, raising a troop of horse to fight under the generalship of Prince Rupert of the Rhine. He fought at the battle of Marston Moor, alongside his redoubtable sister, ‘Trooper’ Jane Ingleby, and somehow managed to escape the bloody rout that saw the king’s northern armies defeated for good. He made the safety of Ripley, but was his arrival was followed almost immediately by that of the victorious rebel general, Oliver Cromwell. Sir William leapt into the priest’s secret hiding place, leaving his sister to look after Cromwell. She at first refused to let him into the castle, swearing that she would defend it against all comers. After some negotiation, he was allowed to enter and spend the night there, guarded at pistol point by Jane, to prevent him from searching the castle for her brother. Cromwell, stunned at being held at gunpoint by a woman having just won the greatest victory of his career, did nothing and she saw him off the premises the following morning.

 

Sir William’s son, also called William (1620-1682) was deeply religious – and a closet ‘rebel’. He managed to get the family’s entire fortune captured by the rebels and his father, believing him to have done it on purpose, wrote him a blistering letter, threatening to disinherit him. The letter, signed ‘your loving father’, can be seen at the castle today.

 

William junior was not good looking: his portraits confirm that. In 1659 he employed a dating agent, a Mr E Pitt, to find him a wife, and again we have the correspondence: the mission was successful.Sir John Ingilby (1757 – 1835) married Elizabeth Amcotts, a Lincolnshire heiress. His father in law promised him funds to help the young couple rebuild the castle. Sir John had a row with his father in law half way through the project, and ended up so heavily in debt that he had to flee the country for eleven years while his land agent sold timber to pay off his debts. While he and his wife were abroad their oldest son died at the age of 18, and they were hustled from one European city to another as the Napoleonic wars consumed the continent. A bundle of frequently harrowing letters, written to his agent while he was in exile, survives. By the time he returned, his marriage was over: having had 11 children by his wife, he had a further 5 by Martha Webster, daughter of a local tenant farmer.

 

One son, Edward Webster, had problems involving a gamekeeper’s daughter near Skipton and was placed on board the RM Reynolds at Ramsgate with £200 and a supply of clean shirts: his stepbrother was ordered to remain on the dockside to ensure that he didn’t leave the vessel before it set sail for Sydney. This proved to be a life-changing experience and he and his successors thrived Down Under: Robert Webster was the minister of state for the Olympics in the NSW state government when Sydney won the bid for the games.

 

Sir John’s son Sir William Amcotts Ingilby (1783-1854) was the product of a broken home, and a great eccentric. He was a drinker, gambler and general reprobate: he became an MP, as many such people do. He was a leading Whig, and an outspoken supporter of the reform Act of 1832. His dress sense was spectacularly awful ‘’As to your friend, Sir William Ingilby I am told by a lady who saw him and absolutely took fright at it, that this eccentric baronet walks about Ripley and Ripon too, in his dressing gown, without smalls or loincloth on. The absence of the former was luckily disguised by the wrap of the gown, and is alleged on hearsay: but the naked throat, shirt collar displayed a la Milord Byron, had a striking effect, and produced the scarecrow impression.’ Believing that his tenants and workforce should be well housed in this age of industrial revolution, Sir William demolished the entire village of Ripley and rebuilt it as a model estate village, copying an idea that he had observed in Alsace Lorraine. Instead of a Town Hall, Ripley has a magnificent ‘Hotel de Ville’ – certainly the only one of its kind in England! He died without heir and left the estate to his cousin Henry, telling him that he was doing so because ‘ I don’t believe that you are any longer the canting hypocrite I took you for’. Sir William Ingilby (1829-1918) was a somewhat dictatorial Landlord. He disapproved of alcoholic drink being served on the Sabbath day and closed down the three pubs in the village when the Landlords refused to close on Sundays. The village remained dry for 71 years until the Boar’s Head opened in 1989. When a child ran out of the front door of one of the village houses and startled his horse, causing him to be deposited on the ground in the middle of the Main Street, he prevented further embarrassment by imposing an edict that the villagers should not use their front doors.

 

Having survived several plagues, invasions, civil wars, wars, religious turbulence, a plot to commit regicide, numerous periods of deep recession and everything else that has befallen this country in the last seven hundred years, the Ingilbys can justifiably breathe a sigh of relief that they have arrived safely at this astonishing landmark. Theirs is a story of how one family has been tossed around in the choppy waters of England’s stormy history – and somehow survived, despite being on the losing side more often than not. The history of the Ingilbys is a microcosm of the history of England and features a cast of extraordinarily brave, foolish, eccentric and courageous characters, black sheep and white. They have gone from high office in the court of kings and queens to running a wedding and conference venue and hotel, but they are still at Ripley and the story continues as they steer their family and business through these challenging times. Sir Thomas and Lady Ingilby have four sons and a daughter. A more detailed history of the family, complete with family trees not just of the Ingilby family but various families that became related to the Ingilbys by marriage over the centuries

Elvis Aaron Presley[a] (January 8, 1935 – August 16, 1977), often referred to mononymously as Elvis, was an American singer and actor. Dubbed the "King of Rock and Roll", he is regarded as one of the most significant cultural figures of the 20th century. His energized interpretations of songs and sexually provocative performance style, combined with a singularly potent mix of influences across color lines during a transformative era in race relations, led him to both great success and initial controversy.

 

Presley was born in Tupelo, Mississippi, and relocated to Memphis, Tennessee, with his family when he was 13 years old. His music career began there in 1954, recording at Sun Records with producer Sam Phillips, who wanted to bring the sound of African-American music to a wider audience. Presley, on rhythm acoustic guitar, and accompanied by lead guitarist Scotty Moore and bassist Bill Black, was a pioneer of rockabilly, an uptempo, backbeat-driven fusion of country music and rhythm and blues. In 1955, drummer D. J. Fontana joined to complete the lineup of Presley's classic quartet and RCA Victor acquired his contract in a deal arranged by Colonel Tom Parker, who would manage him for more than two decades. Presley's first RCA Victor single, "Heartbreak Hotel", was released in January 1956 and became a number-one hit in the United States. Within a year, RCA would sell ten million Presley singles. With a series of successful network television appearances and chart-topping records, Presley became the leading figure of the newly popular sound of rock and roll; though his performative style and promotion of the then-marginalized sound of African Americans[6] led to him being widely considered a threat to the moral well-being of the White American youth.

 

In November 1956, Presley made his film debut in Love Me Tender. Drafted into military service in 1958, Presley relaunched his recording career two years later with some of his most commercially successful work. He held few concerts, however, and guided by Parker, proceeded to devote much of the 1960s to making Hollywood films and soundtrack albums, most of them critically derided. Some of his most famous films included Jailhouse Rock (1957), Blue Hawaii (1961), and Viva Las Vegas (1964). In 1968, following a seven-year break from live performances, he returned to the stage in the acclaimed television comeback special Elvis, which led to an extended Las Vegas concert residency and a string of highly profitable tours. In 1973, Presley gave the first concert by a solo artist to be broadcast around the world, Aloha from Hawaii. Years of prescription drug abuse and unhealthy eating habits severely compromised his health, and he died suddenly in 1977 at his Graceland estate at the age of 42.

 

Having sold over 400 million records worldwide, Presley is recognized as the best-selling solo music artist of all time by Guinness World Records. He was commercially successful in many genres, including pop, country, rhythm & blues, adult contemporary, and gospel. Presley won three Grammy Awards, received the Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award at age 36, and has been inducted into multiple music halls of fame. He holds several records, including the most RIAA-certified gold and platinum albums, the most albums charted on the Billboard 200, the most number-one albums by a solo artist on the UK Albums Chart, and the most number-one singles by any act on the UK Singles Chart. In 2018, Presley was posthumously awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom.

 

Elvis Aaron Presley was born on January 8, 1935, in Tupelo, Mississippi, to Vernon Elvis (April 10, 1916 – June 26, 1979) and Gladys Love (née Smith; April 25, 1912 – August 14, 1958) Presley in a two-room shotgun house that his father built for the occasion. Elvis's identical twin brother, Jesse Garon Presley, was delivered 35 minutes before him, stillborn. Presley became close to both parents and formed an especially close bond with his mother. The family attended an Assembly of God church, where he found his initial musical inspiration.

  

A photo of Elvis's parents at the Historic Blue Moon Museum in Verona, Mississippi

Presley's father Vernon was of German, Scottish and English origins. He was a descendant of the Harrison family of Virginia through his ancestor Tunis Hood. Presley's mother Gladys was Scots-Irish with some French Norman ancestry. His mother and the rest of the family believed that her great-great-grandmother, Morning Dove White, was Cherokee. This belief was restated by Elvis's granddaughter Riley Keough in 2017. Elaine Dundy, in her biography, supports the belief.

 

Vernon moved from one odd job to the next, showing little ambition. The family often relied on help from neighbors and government food assistance. In 1938, they lost their home after Vernon was found guilty of altering a check written by his landowner and sometime-employer. He was jailed for eight months, while Gladys and Elvis moved in with relatives.

 

In September 1941, Presley entered first grade at East Tupelo Consolidated, where his teachers regarded him as "average". He was encouraged to enter a singing contest after impressing his schoolteacher with a rendition of Red Foley's country song "Old Shep" during morning prayers. The contest, held at the Mississippi–Alabama Fair and Dairy Show on October 3, 1945, was his first public performance. The ten-year-old Presley stood on a chair to reach the microphone and sang "Old Shep". He recalled placing fifth. A few months later, Presley received his first guitar for his birthday; he had hoped for something else—by different accounts, either a bicycle or a rifle. Over the following year, he received basic guitar lessons from two of his uncles and the new pastor at the family's church. Presley recalled, "I took the guitar, and I watched people, and I learned to play a little bit. But I would never sing in public. I was very shy about it."

 

In September 1946, Presley entered a new school, Milam, for sixth grade; he was regarded as a loner. The following year, he began bringing his guitar to school on a daily basis. He played and sang during lunchtime and was often teased as a "trashy" kid who played hillbilly music. By then, the family was living in a largely black neighborhood. Presley was a devotee of Mississippi Slim's show on the Tupelo radio station WELO. He was described as "crazy about music" by Slim's younger brother, who was one of Presley's classmates and often took him into the station. Slim supplemented Presley's guitar instruction by demonstrating chord techniques. When his protégé was 12 years old, Slim scheduled him for two on-air performances. Presley was overcome by stage fright the first time, but succeeded in performing the following week.

 

In November 1948, the family moved to Memphis, Tennessee. After residing for nearly a year in rooming houses, they were granted a two-bedroom apartment in the public housing complex known as the Lauderdale Courts. Enrolled at L. C. Humes High School, Presley received only a C in music in eighth grade. When his music teacher told him that he had no aptitude for singing, he brought in his guitar the next day and sang a recent hit, "Keep Them Cold Icy Fingers Off Me", to prove otherwise. A classmate later recalled that the teacher "agreed that Elvis was right when he said that she didn't appreciate his kind of singing". He was usually too shy to perform openly and was occasionally bullied by classmates who viewed him as a "mama's boy".

 

In 1950, he began practicing guitar regularly under the tutelage of Lee Denson, a neighbor two and a half years his senior. They and three other boys—including two future rockabilly pioneers, brothers Dorsey and Johnny Burnette—formed a loose musical collective that played frequently around the Courts. That September, he began working as an usher at Loew's State Theater. Other jobs followed at Precision Tool, Loew's again, and MARL Metal Products. Presley also helped Jewish neighbors, the Fruchters, by being their shabbos goy.

 

During his junior year, Presley began to stand out more among his classmates, largely because of his appearance: he grew his sideburns and styled his hair with rose oil and Vaseline. In his free time, he would head down to Beale Street, the heart of Memphis's thriving blues scene, and gaze longingly at the wild, flashy clothes in the windows of Lansky Brothers. By his senior year, he was wearing those clothes. Overcoming his reticence about performing outside the Lauderdale Courts, he competed in Humes' Annual "Minstrel" show in April 1953. Singing and playing guitar, he opened with "Till I Waltz Again with You", a recent hit for Teresa Brewer. Presley recalled that the performance did much for his reputation: "I wasn't popular in school ... I failed music—only thing I ever failed. And then they entered me in this talent show ... when I came onstage I heard people kind of rumbling and whispering and so forth, 'cause nobody knew I even sang. It was amazing how popular I became in school after that."

 

Presley, who received no formal music training and could not read music, studied and played by ear. He also frequented record stores that provided jukeboxes and listening booths to customers. He knew all of Hank Snow's songs, and he loved records by other country singers such as Roy Acuff, Ernest Tubb, Ted Daffan, Jimmie Rodgers, Jimmie Davis, and Bob Wills. The Southern gospel singer Jake Hess, one of his favorite performers, was a significant influence on his ballad-singing style. He was a regular audience member at the monthly All-Night Singings downtown, where many of the white gospel groups that performed reflected the influence of African-American spiritual music. He adored the music of black gospel singer Sister Rosetta Tharpe.

 

Like some of his peers, he may have attended blues venues—of necessity, in the segregated South—only on nights designated for exclusively white audiences. He certainly listened to the regional radio stations, such as WDIA-AM, that played "race records": spirituals, blues, and the modern, backbeat-heavy sound of rhythm and blues. Many of his future recordings were inspired by local African-American musicians such as Arthur Crudup and Rufus Thomas. B.B. King recalled that he had known Presley before he was popular when they both used to frequent Beale Street. By the time he graduated from high school in June 1953, Presley had already singled out music as his future.

 

Graceland is a mansion on a 13.8-acre (5.6-hectare) estate in Memphis, Tennessee, United States, which was once owned by the rock and roll singer Elvis Presley. His daughter, Lisa Marie Presley, inherited Graceland after his death in 1977. Following Lisa Marie Presley's death in 2023, the mansion is to be inherited by her daughters. In addition to being the final resting place of Elvis Presley himself, the property contains the graves of his parents, paternal grandmother and grandson, and contains a memorial to Presley's stillborn twin brother. In addition, Lisa Marie Presley will be buried there.

 

Graceland is located at 3764 Elvis Presley Boulevard in the Whitehaven neighborhood, about nine miles (14 kilometers) south of central Memphis and fewer than four miles (6.4 km) north of the Mississippi border.[5] It was opened to the public as a house museum on June 7, 1982. The site was listed in the National Register of Historic Places on November 7, 1991, becoming the first site recognized for significance related to rock music. Graceland was declared a National Historic Landmark on March 27, 2006, also a first for such a site. Graceland attracts more than 650,000 visitors annually.

 

Graceland Farms was originally owned by Stephen C. Toof, founder of S.C. Toof & Co., the oldest commercial printing firm in Memphis. He worked previously as the pressroom foreman of the Memphis newspaper, the Memphis Daily Appeal. The "grounds" (before the mansion was built in 1939) were named after Toof's daughter, Grace. She inherited the farm/property from her father in 1894. After her death, the property was passed to her niece Ruth Moore, a Memphis socialite. Together with her husband, Thomas Moore, Ruth Moore commissioned construction of a 10,266-square-foot (953.7 m2) Colonial Revival style mansion in 1939. The house was designed by architects Furbringer and Ehrman.

 

After Elvis Presley began his musical career, he purchased a $40,000 home for himself and his family at 1034 Audubon Drive in Memphis. As his success and fame grew, especially after his appearances on television, the number of fans who would congregate outside the house multiplied. Presley's neighbors, although happy to have a celebrity living nearby, soon concluded that the constant gathering of fans and journalists was a nuisance.

 

In early 1957, Presley gave his parents, Vernon and Gladys Presley, a budget of $100,000 and asked them to find a "farmhouse"-like property to purchase, with buffer space around it. At the time, Graceland was located in southern Shelby County, several miles south of Memphis' main urban area. In later years, Memphis would expand with residential developments, resulting in Graceland being surrounded by other properties. Presley purchased Graceland on March 19, 1957, for the amount of $102,500.

 

Later that year, Presley invited Richard Williams and singer Buzz Cason to the house. Cason said: "We proceeded to clown around on the front porch, striking our best rock 'n' roll poses and snapping pictures with the little camera. We peeked in the not-yet-curtained windows and got a kick out of the pastel colored walls in the front rooms with shades of bright reds and purples that Elvis most certainly had picked out." Presley was fond of claiming that the US government had mooted a visit to Graceland by Nikita Khrushchev of the Soviet Union, "to see how in America a fellow can start out with nothing and, you know, make good."

 

After Gladys died in 1958 aged 46, Presley's father Vernon remarried to Dee Stanley in 1960, and the couple lived at Graceland for a time. There was some discord between Presley and his stepmother Dee at Graceland, however. Elaine Dundy, who wrote about Presley and his mother, said that

 

"Vernon had settled down with Dee where Gladys had once reigned, while Dee herself – when Elvis was away – had taken over the role of mistress of Graceland so thoroughly as to rearrange the furniture and replace the very curtains that Gladys had approved of." This was too much for the singer, who still loved his late mother deeply. One afternoon, "a van arrived ... and all Dee's household's goods, clothes, 'improvements,' and her own menagerie of pets, were loaded on ... while Vernon, Dee and her three children went by car to a nearby house on Hermitage until they finally settled into a house on Dolan Drive which ran alongside Elvis' estate."

 

According to Mark Crispin Miller, Graceland became for Presley "the home of the organization that was himself, was tended by a large vague clan of Presleys and deputy Presleys, each squandering the vast gratuities which Elvis used to keep his whole world smiling." The author adds that Presley's father Vernon "had a swimming pool in his bedroom", that there "was a jukebox next to the swimming pool, containing Elvis' favorite records", and that the singer himself "would spend hours in his bedroom, watching his property on a closed-circuit television." According to the singer's cousin, Billy Smith, Presley spent the night at Graceland with Smith and his wife Jo many times: "we were all three there talking for hours about everything in the world! Sometimes he would have a bad dream and come looking for me to talk to, and he would actually fall asleep in our bed with us."

 

Priscilla Beaulieu lived at Graceland for five years before she and Presley wed in Las Vegas, Nevada, on May 1, 1967. Their daughter Lisa Marie Presley was born on February 1, 1968, and spent the first years of her life on the estate. After her parents divorced in 1972, her mother moved with the girl to California. Every year around Christmas, Lisa Marie Presley and all her family would go to Graceland to celebrate Christmas together. Lisa Marie often returned to Graceland for visits.

 

When Elvis would tour, staying in hotels, "the rooms would be remodeled in advance of his arrival, so as to make the same configurations of space as he had at home – the Graceland mansion. His furniture would arrive, and he could unwind after his performances in surroundings which were completely familiar and comforting." 'The Jungle Room' was described as being "an example of particularly lurid kitsch."[

 

On August 16, 1977, Presley died aged 42 at Graceland. The official cause of death was cardiac arrhythmia, although later toxicology reports strongly suggested that polypharmacy was the primary cause of death; "fourteen drugs were found in Elvis' system, with several drugs such as codeine in significant quantities. Presley lay in repose in a 900-pound (410 kg), copper-lined coffin just inside the foyer; more than 3,500 of his mourning fans passed by to pay their respects. A private funeral with 200 mourners was held on August 18, 1977, in the house, with the casket placed in front of the stained glass doorway of the music room. Graceland continued to be occupied by members of the family until the death of Presley's aunt Delta in 1993, who had moved in at Elvis's invitation after her husband's death. Elvis's daughter, Lisa Marie Presley, inherited the estate in 1993 when she turned 25.

 

Presley's tombstone, along with those of his parents Gladys and Vernon Presley, and his grandmother Minnie Mae Presley, are installed in the Meditation Garden next to the mansion. They can be visited during the mansion tours or for free before the mansion tours begin. A memorial gravestone for Presley's stillborn twin brother, Jesse Garon, is also at the site.

 

In 2019, the owners of Graceland threatened to leave Memphis unless the city provided tax incentives. The Memphis City Council subsequently voted on a deal to help fund a $100 million expansion of Graceland.

 

Constructed at the top of a hill and surrounded by rolling pastures and a grove of oak trees, Graceland is designed by the Memphis architectural firm, Furbringer and Erhmanis. It's a two-story, five-bay residence in the Colonial Revival style, with a side-facing gabled roof covered in asphalt shingles, a central two-story projecting pedimented portico, and two one-story wings on the north and south sides. Attached to the wing is an additional one-story stuccoed wing, which was originally a garage that houses up to four cars. The mansion has two chimneys; one on the north side's exterior wall, the second rising through the south side's roof ridge. The central block's front and side facades are veneered with tan Tishomingo limestone from Mississippi and its rear wall is stuccoed, as are the one-story wings. The front facade fenestration on the first floor includes 9x9 double-hung windows set in arched openings with wooden panels above, and 6x6 double-hung windows on the second floor.

 

Flanked by two marble lions, four stone steps ascend from the driveway to the two-story central projecting pedimented portico. The pediment has dentils and a small, leaded oval window in the center while the portico contains four Corinthian columns with capitals modeled after architect James Stuart's conjectural porticos for the "Tower of the Winds" in Athens, Greece. The portico's cornered columns are matched by pilasters on the front facade. The doorway has a broken arched pediment, full entablature, and engaged columns while its transom and sidelights contain elaborate and colorful stained glass. And above the main entrance is another rectangular window, completed with a shallow iron balcony.

 

Graceland is 17,552 square feet (1,630.6 m2) and has a total of 23 rooms, including eight bedrooms and bathrooms. To the right of the Entrance Hall, through an elliptical-arched opening with classical details, is the Living Room. The Living Room contains a 15-foot-long (4.6 m) white couch against the wall overlooking the front yard. To the left are two white sofas, a china cabinet and a fireplace with a mirrored wall. The painting that hangs in the room was Elvis' last Christmas present from his father, Vernon, and also displayed are photographs of Elvis' parents Vernon and Gladys, Elvis and Lisa Marie. Behind an adjoined doorway is the Music Room, framed by vivid large peacocks set in stained glass and contains a black baby grand piano and a 1950s style TV. And the third adjacent room is a bedroom that was occupied by Elvis' parents. The walls, carpet, dresser, and queen size bed are bright white with the bed draped in a velvet-looking dark purple bedspread along with an en-suite full bathroom done in pink.

 

To the left of the Entrance Hall, mirroring the Living Room, is the Dining Room, headlined by a massive crystal chandelier. It features six plush chairs in golden metal frames set around a marble table, all of which are placed on black marble flooring in the center with carpet around the perimeter. Connected to the Dining Room is the Kitchen, which was used by Elvis' aunt Delta until her death in 1993 before it was opened to the public two years later.

 

The original one-story wing on the north end of the residence includes a mechanical room, bedroom, and bath. In the mid-1960s, Presley enlarged the house to create a den known as the Jungle Room which features an indoor waterfall of cut field stone on the north wall. The room also contains items both related to and imported from the state of Hawaii because, after starring in the tropical film "Blue Hawaii" (1961), the musician wanted to bring some memorabilia from The Aloha State to his mansion, which gives visitors the same feeling. In 1976, the Jungle Room was converted into a recording studio, where he recorded the bulk of his final two albums, From Elvis Presley Boulevard, Memphis, Tennessee (1976) and Moody Blue (1977); these were his final known recordings in a studio setting.[27] During the mid-1960s expansion of the house, Presley constructed a large wing on the south side of the main house that was a sidewalk, between the music room in the original one-story wing and the swimming pool area, that connected to the house by a small enclosed gallery. The new wing initially housed a slot car track and to store his many items of appreciation, but was later remodeled to what is now known as the Trophy Building, which now features an exhibit about the Presley family, and includes Priscilla's wedding dress, Elvis' wedding tuxedo, Lisa Marie's toy chest and baby clothes and more.

 

The Entrance Hall contains a white staircase leading to the house's second floor with a wall of mirrors. However, the second floor is not open to visitors, out of respect for the Presley family, and partially to avoid any improper focus on the bathroom which was the site of his death. Still, it features Elvis' bedroom at the southwest corner that connects to his dressing room and bathroom in the northwest. His daughter Lisa Marie's bedroom is in the northeast corner, and in the southeast is a bedroom that served as a private personal office for the musician. The floor has been untouched since the day Elvis died and is rarely seen by non-family members.

 

Downstairs in the basement is the TV room, where Elvis often watched three television sets at once, and was within close reach of a wet bar. The three TV sets are built into the room's south wall and there's a stereo, and cabinets for Elvis' record collection. And painted on the west wall is The King's 1970s logo of a lightning bolt and cloud with the initials TCB, both of which represent 'taking care of business in a flash'. And the last room in the mansion opposite of the TV room is the billiard room; an avid billiards player, Elvis bought the pool table in 1960 and had the walls and ceiling covered with 350–400 yards of pleated cotton fabric after the two basement rooms were remodeled in 1974. The pool balls are arranged just the way they were in the musician's final days along with a strict warning sign to visitors that says "Please Do Not Touch! Thank You!" in capital letters. And in one corner of the pool table, there's a rip in the green felt, which was caused by one of Elvis' friends in a failed attempt of a trick shot.

 

Critics such as Albert Goldman write: "Though it cost a lot of money to fill up Graceland with the things that appealed to Elvis Presley, nothing in the house is worth a dime." In chapter 1 of his book, Elvis (1981), the author describes Graceland as looking like a brothel: "it appears to have been lifted from some turn-of-the-century bordello down in the French Quarter of New Orleans. Lulu White or the Countess Willie Piazza might have contrived this plushy parlor for the entertainment of Gyp the Blood. The room is a gaudy mélange of red velour and gilded tassels, Louis XV furniture and porcelain bric-a-brac..." And he dismisses the interior as "bizarre," "garish" and "phony," adding that "King Elvis's obsession with royal red reaches an intensity that makes you gag."

 

In similar terms, Greil Marcus writes that people who visited the inside of Graceland—"people who to a real degree shared Elvis Presley’s class background, and whose lives were formed by his music—have returned with one word to describe what they saw: ‘Tacky.’ Tacky, garish, tasteless—words others translated as white trash."

 

According to Karal Ann Marling, Graceland is "a Technicolor illusion. The façade is Gone With the Wind all the way. The den in the back is Mogambo with a hint of Blue Hawaii. Living in Graceland was like living on a Hollywood backlot, where patches of tropical scenery alternated with the blackened ruins of antebellum Atlanta. It was like living in a Memphis movie theater... Diehard fans are sometimes disappointed by the formal rooms along the highway side of Graceland. They’re beautiful, in a chilly blue-and-white way, but remote and overarranged." The Jungle Room's "overt bad taste" lets nonbelievers "recoil in horror and imagine themselves a notch or two higher than Elvis on the class scale."

 

After purchasing the property Presley spent in excess of $500,000 carrying out extensive modifications to suit his needs including a pink Alabama fieldstone wall surrounding the grounds that has several years' worth of graffiti (signatures and messages) from visitors, who simply refer to it as "the wall". Designed and built by Abe Sauer is the wrought-iron front gate shaped like a book of sheet music, along with green colored musical notes and two mirrored silhouettes of Elvis playing his guitar. Sauer also installed a kidney shaped swimming pool and a racquetball court, which is reminiscent of an old country club, furnished in dark leather and a functional bar. There is a sunken sitting area with the ever-present stereo system found throughout Graceland, as well as the dark brown upright piano upon which Elvis played for what were to be his last songs, Willie Nelson's "Blue Eyes Crying in the Rain" and "Unchained Melody".

 

However, reports conflict about which one was the last song. The sitting area has a floor-to-ceiling shatterproof window designed to watch the many racquetball games that took place there when Elvis was alive. In the early hours of the morning on which Elvis died, he played a game of racquetball with his girlfriend Ginger Alden, his first cousin Billy Smith and Billy's wife Jo before ending the game with the song on the piano before walking into the main house to wash his hair and go to bed. Today the two story court has been restored to the way it was when Elvis used the building.

 

Elsewhere on the estate is a small white building that served as an office for Vernon, along with an old smokehouse that housed a shooting range and a fully functional stable of horses.

 

One of Presley's better known modifications was the addition of the Meditation Garden, designed and built by architect Bernard Grenadier. It was used by the musician to reflect on any problems or situations that arose during his life. It is also where his entire family is buried: himself (1935–1977), his parents Gladys (1912–1958) and Vernon (1916–1979), and grandmother Minnie Mae Hood (1890–1980) while a small stone memorializes his twin brother Jesse Garon, who died at birth thirty minutes before Elvis was born on January 8, 1935. In late 2020, Lisa Marie's son Benjamin Keough was laid to rest on the opposite end of the Meditation Garden after his death from suicide in July of that year. Lisa Marie Presley died from sudden cardiac arrest in January 2023 and is buried next to her son.

 

After Elvis Presley's death in 1977, Vernon Presley served as executor of his estate. Upon his death in 1979, he chose Priscilla to serve as the estate executor for Elvis's only child, Lisa Marie, who was only 11. Graceland itself cost $500,000 a year in upkeep, and expenses had dwindled Elvis's and Priscilla's daughter Lisa Marie's inheritance to only $1 million. Taxes were due on the property; those and other expenses due came to over $500,000. Faced with having to sell Graceland, Priscilla examined other famous houses/museums, and hired a CEO, Jack Soden, to turn Graceland into a moneymaker. Graceland was opened to the public on June 7, 1982. Priscilla's gamble paid off; after only a month of opening Graceland's doors the estate made back all the money it had invested. Priscilla Presley became the chairwoman and president of Elvis Presley Enterprises, or EPE, stating at that time she would do so until Lisa Marie reached 21 years of age. The enterprise's fortunes soared and eventually the trust grew to be worth over $100 million.

 

An annual procession through the estate and past Elvis's grave is held on the anniversary of his death. Known as Elvis Week, it includes a full schedule of speakers and events, including the only Elvis Mass at St. Paul's Church, the highlight for many Elvis fans of all faiths. The 20th Anniversary in 1997 had several hundred media groups from around the world that were present resulting in the event gaining its greatest media publicity.

 

One of the largest gatherings assembled on the 25th anniversary in 2002 with one estimate of 40,000 people in attendance, despite the heavy rain. On the 38th anniversary of Elvis's death, an estimated 30,000 people attended the Candlelight Vigil during the night of August 15–16, 2015. On the 40th anniversary of Elvis's death, on August 15–16, 2017, at least 50,000 fans were expected to attend the Candlelight Vigil. No official figure seems to have been released, maybe because, for the first time, attendees had to pay at least the lowest tour fare, $28.75, to cover the extra security costs due to a larger than usual crowd.

 

For many of the hundreds of thousands of people who visit Graceland each year, the visit takes on a quasi-religious perspective. They may plan for years to journey to the home of the 'King' of rock and roll. On site, headphones narrate the salient events of Elvis's life and introduce the relics that adorn the rooms and corridors. The rhetorical mode is hagiographic, celebrating the life of an extraordinary man, emphasizing his generosity, his kindness and good fellowship, how he was at once a poor boy who made good, an extraordinary musical talent, a sinner and substance abuser, and a religious man devoted to the Gospel and its music. At the meditation garden, containing Elvis's grave, some visitors pray, kneel, or quietly sing one of Elvis's favorite hymns. The brick wall that encloses the mansion's grounds is covered with graffiti that express an admiration for Presley as well as petitions for help and thanks for favors granted.

 

The Graceland grounds include a new exhibit complex, Elvis Presley's Memphis, which includes a new car museum, Presley Motors, which houses Elvis's Pink Cadillac. The complex features new exhibits and museums, as well as a studio for Sirius Satellite Radio's all-Elvis Presley channel. The service's subscribers all over North America can hear Presley's music from Graceland around the clock. Not far away on display are his two aircraft including Lisa Marie (a Convair 880 jetliner) and Hound Dog II (a Lockheed JetStar business jet). The jets are owned by Graceland and are on permanent static display.

 

In early August 2005, Lisa Marie Presley sold 85% of the business side of her father's estate. She kept the Graceland property itself, as well as the bulk of the possessions found therein, and she turned over the management of Graceland to CKX, Inc., an entertainment company (on whose board of directors Priscilla Presley sat) that also owns 19 Entertainment, creator of the American Idol TV show.

 

Graceland Holdings LLC, led by managing partner Joel Weinshanker, is the majority owner of EPE. Lisa Marie Presley's estate retains a 15% ownership in the company.

 

In August 2018, Gladys Presley's headstone, which contained the Jewish star of David on one side and a cross on the other and was designed by Elvis himself, which become publicly displayed when it placed in Graceland's Mediation Garden after being stored for many years in the Graceland Archive.

 

Lisa Marie Presley's estate, which is being held in trust for her daughters Riley Keough and Harper and Finley Lockwood, retain 100% sole personal ownership of Graceland Mansion itself and its over 13-acre original grounds as well as Elvis Presley's personal effects – including costumes, wardrobe, awards, furniture, cars, etc. Prior to her death in 2023, Lisa Marie Presley had made the mansion property and her father's personal effects permanently available for tours of Graceland and for use in all of EPE's operations.

 

According to Elvis Presley's Enterprises, staff at Graceland informally kept a list of celebrities who had visited in the first years following Elvis's death. This practice was not formalized for a decade. Muhammad Ali was an early celebrity visitor in 1978, as was singer Paul Simon. He toured Graceland in the early 80s and afterward wrote a song of the same name; it was the title track of his Grammy-winning album Graceland.

 

During the Joshua Tree Tour in 1987, U2 toured Graceland. The footage was filmed for the film Rattle & Hum. During the visit, drummer, Larry Mullen Jr., sat on Elvis Presley's motorcycle -- against the rules for Graceland visitors.

 

On June 30, 2006, then US President George W. Bush hosted Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi for a tour of the mansion. It was one of the few private residences on United States soil to have been the site of an official joint-visit by a sitting US president and a serving head of a foreign government. On August 6, 2010, Prince Albert II, Head of State of the Principality of Monaco, and his fiancée (now Princess of Monaco) Charlene Wittstock, toured Graceland while vacationing in the US. On May 26, 2013, Paul McCartney of The Beatles visited Graceland. Prince William and Prince Harry, while in Memphis for a friend's wedding, visited Graceland on May 2, 2014.

 

The home has also been visited by former US President Jimmy Carter; the late Duchess of Devonshire, the sitting ambassadors of India, France, China, Korea and Israel to the United States; as well as several US governors, members of the US Congress, and at least two Nobel Prize winners, namely singer-songwriter Bob Dylan, a Literature Prize laureate, and the former President of Costa Rica, Oscar Arias, a Peace Prize honoree, who visited it on October 10, 2001.

 

In May 2016, Graceland welcomed a newlywed couple as its 20 millionth visitor.

 

In June 2022, actors Austin Butler and Tom Hanks visited the mansion and were interviewed virtually by the Good Morning America news program from the Jungle Room to talk about their biographical film Elvis.

 

In popular culture

Paul Simon named an album Graceland, as well as its title track. The song won the Grammy Award for Record of the Year in 1987.

The song "Walking in Memphis" by Marc Cohn mentions Graceland; in the second verse, he refers to the mansion and the Jungle Room. This song was later covered by Cher and Lonestar, among others.

The film 3000 Miles to Graceland is about a group of criminals who plan to rob a casino during an international Elvis week, disguised as Elvis impersonators. No scenes take place at or near the estate.

The film Finding Graceland stars Harvey Keitel with Johnathon Schaech. Keitel is an impersonator who claims to be the real Elvis after Schaech picks him up as a hitch-hiker.

In the rock music "mockumentary" This Is Spinal Tap, band members gather around Presley's grave at Graceland and attempt to sing a verse of "Heartbreak Hotel".

Pop punk group Groovie Ghoulies have a song called "Graceland" on their 1997 album Re-Animation Festival.

In the movie Zombieland: Double Tap, the protagonists venture to Graceland in hopes of shelter during a zombie apocalypse, but are distressed to find it in a ruined state.

During the credits of Lilo & Stitch, there's a photograph of Lilo, Nani, David and Stitch visiting the front gates of Graceland. Almost 20 years later, the original painting of that shot was put on display as part of the traveling Walt Disney Archives exhibition at Graceland.

In the season three episode of American Dad “The Vacation Goo”, Steve Smith asks Stan Smith if they can go to Graceland for their next vacation and Stan says “Steve, if you want to pay your respects to a fat man who died on the toilet, we can visit your Aunt Mary’s grave.”

Phoebe Bridgers has a song "Graceland Too" on her second studio album Punisher.

In the third episode of National Treasure: Edge of History, "Graceland Gambit," the main protagonist, Jess (portrayed by Lisette Olivera) is on a treasure hunt that leads her and her friends to Graceland.

Florence + The Machine reference Graceland and Elvis in their song "Morning Elvis" on their 2022 album Dance Fever.

Perseu - Antonio Canova.

Antonio Canova (1 November 1757 – 13 October 1822) was an Italian sculptor who became famous for his marble sculptures that delicately rendered nude flesh. The epitome of the neoclassical style, his work marked a return to classical refinement after the theatrical excesses of Baroque sculpture.

Antonio Canova was born in Possagno, a village of the Republic of Venice situated amid the recesses of the hills of Asolo, where these form the last undulations of the Venetian Alps, as they subside into the plains of Treviso. At three years of age Canova was deprived of both parents, his father dying and his mother remarrying. Their loss, however, was compensated by the tender solicitude and care of his paternal grandfather and grandmother, the latter of whom lived to experience in her turn the kindest personal attention from her grandson, who, when he had the means, gave her an asylum in his house at Rome.

His father and grandfather followed the occupation of stone-cutters or minor statuaries; and it is said that their family had for several ages supplied Possagno with members of that calling. As soon as Canova's hand could hold a pencil, he was initiated into the principles of drawing by his grandfather Pasino. The latter possessed some knowledge both of drawing and of architecture, designed well, and showed considerable taste in the execution of ornamental works. He was greatly attached to his art; and upon his young charge he looked as one who was to perpetuate, not only the family name, but also the family profession.

The early years of Canova were passed in study. The bias of his mind was to sculpture, and the facilities afforded for the gratification of this predilection in the workshop of his grandfather were eagerly improved. In his ninth year he executed two small shrines of Carrara marble, which are still extant. Soon after this period he appears to have been constantly employed under his grandfather. Amongst those who patronized the old man was the patrician family Falier of Venice, and by this means young Canova was first introduced to the senator of that name, who afterwards became his most zealous patron.

Between the younger son, Giuseppe Falier, and the artist a friendship commenced which terminated only with life. The senator Falier was induced to receive him under his immediate protection. It has been related by an Italian writer and since repeated by several biographers, that Canova was indebted to a trivial circumstance - the moulding of a lion in butter - for the warm interest which Falier took in his welfare. The anecdote may or may not be true. By his patron Canova was placed under Bernardi, or, as he is generally called by filiation, Giuseppe Torretto, a sculptor of considerable eminence, who had taken up a temporary residence at Pagnano, one of Asolo's boroughs in the vicinity of the senator's mansion.

This took place whilst Canova was in his thirteenth year; and with Torretto he continued about two years, making in many respects considerable progress. This master returned to Venice, where he soon afterwards died; but by the high terms in which he spoke of his pupil to Falier, the latter was induced to bring the young artist to Venice, whither he accordingly went, and was placed under a nephew of Torretto. With this instructor he continued about a year, studying with the utmost assiduity.

After the termination of this engagement he began to work on his own account, and received from his patron an order for a group, Orpheus and Eurydice. The first figure, which represents Eurydice in flames and smoke, in the act of leaving Hades, was completed towards the close of his sixteenth year. It was highly esteemed by his patron and friends, and the artist was now considered qualified to appear before a public tribunal.

The kindness of some monks supplied him with his first workshop, which was the vacant cell of a monastery. Here for nearly four years he labored with the greatest perseverance and industry. He was also regular in his attendance at the academy, where he carried off several prizes. But he relied far more on the study and imitation of nature. A large portion of his time was also devoted to anatomy, which science was regarded by him as the secret of the art. He likewise frequented places of public amusement, where he carefully studied the expressions and attitudes of the performers. He formed a resolution, which was faithfully adhered to for several years, never to close his eyes at night without having produced some design. Whatever was likely to forward his advancement in sculpture he studied with ardour. On archaeological pursuits he bestowed considerable attention. With ancient and modern history he rendered himself well acquainted and he also began to acquire some of the continental languages.

Three years had now elapsed without any production coming from his chisel. He began, however, to complete the group for his patron, and the Orpheus which followed evinced the great advance he had made. The work was universally applauded, and laid the foundation of his fame. Several groups succeeded this performance, amongst which was that of Daedalus and Icarus, the most celebrated work of his noviciate. The terseness of style and the faithful imitation of nature which characterized them called forth the warmest admiration. His merits and reputation being now generally recognized, his thoughts began to turn from the shores of the Adriatic to the banks of the Tiber, for which he set out at the commencement of his twenty-fourth year.

Before his departure for Rome, his friends had applied to the Venetian senate for a pension, to enable him to pursue his studies without embarrassment. The application was ultimately successful. The stipend amounted to three hundred ducats (about 60 pounds per annum), and was limited to three years. Canova had obtained letters of introduction to the Venetian ambassador, the Cavaliere Zulian, and enlightened and generous protector of the arts, and was received in the most hospitable manner.

His arrival in Rome, on 28 December 1780, marks a new era in his life. It was here he was to perfect himself by a study of the most splendid relics of antiquity, and to put his talents to the severest test by a competition with the living masters of the art. The result was equal to the highest hopes cherished either by himself or by his friends. The work which first established his fame at Rome was Theseus Vanquishing the Minotaur, now in the collections of the Victoria & Albert Museum, in London. The figures are of the heroic size. The victorious Theseus is represented as seated on the lifeless body of the monster. The exhaustion which visibly pervades his whole frame proves the terrible nature of the conflict in which he has been engaged. Simplicity and natural expression had hitherto characterized Canova's style; with these were now united more exalted conceptions of grandeur and of truth. The Theseus was regarded with fervent admiration.

Canova's next undertaking was a monument in honor of Clement XIV; but before he proceeded with it he deemed it necessary to request permission from the Venetian senate, whose servant he considered himself to be, in consideration of the pension. This he solicited, in person, and it was granted. He returned immediately to Rome, and opened his celebrated studio close to the Via del Babuino. He spent about two years of unremitting toil in arranging the design and composing the models for the tomb of the pontiff. After these were completed, other two years were employed in finishing the monument, and it was finally opened to public inspection in 1787. The work, in the opinion of enthusiastic dilettanti, stamped the author as the first artist of modern times.

After five years of incessant labor, he completed another cenotaph, to the memory of Clement XIII, which raised his fame still higher. Works now came rapidly from his chisel. Amongst these is Psyche, with a butterfly, which is placed on the left hand, and held by the wings with the right. This figure, which is intended as a personification of man's immaterial part, is considered as in almost every respect the most faultless and classical of Canova's works. In two different groups, and with opposite expression, the sculptor has represented Cupid with his bride; in the one they are standing, in the other recumbent. These and other works raised his reputation so high that the most flattering offers were sent to him from the Russian court to induce him to remove to St Petersburg, but these were declined, although many of his finest works made their way to the Hermitage Museum. "Italy", says he, in writing of the occurrence to a friend, "Italy is my country - is the country and native soil of the arts. I cannot leave her; my infancy was nurtured here. If my poor talents can be useful in any other land, they must be of some utility to Italy; and ought not her claim to be preferred to all others?"

Numerous works were produced in the years 1795-1797, of which several were repetitions of previous productions. One was the celebrated group representing the Parting of Venus and Adonis. This famous production was sent to Naples. The French Revolution was now extending its shocks over Italy; and Canova sought obscurity and repose in his native Possagno. Thither he retired in 1798, and there he continued for about a year, principally employed in painting, of which art also he had some knowledge. Events in the political world having come to a temporary lull, he returned to Rome; but his health being impaired from arduous application, he took a journey through a part of Germany, in company with his friend Prince Rezzonico. He returned from his travels much improved, and again commenced his labors with vigour and enthusiasm.

The events which marked the life of the artist during the first fifteen years of the period in which he was engaged on the above-mentioned works scarcely merit notice. His mind was entirely absorbed in the labors of his studio, and, with the exception of his journeys to Paris, one to Vienna, and a few short intervals of absence in Florence and other parts of Italy, he never quit Rome. In his own words, "his statues were the sole proofs of his civil existence."

There was, however, another proof, which modesty forbade him to mention, an ever-active benevolence, especially towards artists. In 1815 he was commissioned by the Pope to superintend the transmission from Paris of those works of art which had formerly been conveyed thither under the direction of Napoleon. By his zeal and exertions - for there were many conflicting interests to reconcile - he adjusted the affair in a manner at once creditable to his judgment and fortunate for his country.

In the autumn of this year he gratified a wish he had long entertained of visiting London, where he received the highest tokens of esteem. The artist for whom he showed particular sympathy and regard in London was Benjamin Haydon, who might at the time be counted the sole representative of historical painting there, and whom he especially honored for his championship of the Elgin marbles, then recently transported to England, and ignorantly depreciated by polite connoisseurs. Among Canova's English pupils were sculptors Sir Richard Westmacott and John Gibson.

Canova returned to Rome in the beginning of 1816, with the ransomed spoils of his country's genius. Immediately after, he received several marks of distinction: he was made President of the Accademia di San Luca, the main artistic institution in Rome, and by the hand of the Pope himself his name was inscribed in "the Golden Volume of the Capitol", and he received the title of Marquis of Ischia, with an annual pension of 3000 crowns.

He now contemplated a great work, a colossal statue of Religion. The model filled Italy with admiration; the marble was procured, and the chisel of the sculptor ready to be applied to it, when the jealousy of churchmen as to the site, or some other cause, deprived the country of the projected work. The mind of Canova was inspired with the warmest sense of devotion, and though foiled in this instance he resolved to consecrate a shrine to the cause. In his native village he began to make preparations for erecting a temple which was to contain, not only the above statue, but other works of his own; within its precincts were to repose also the ashes of the founder. Accordingly he repaired to Possagno in 1819. After the foundation-stone of this edifice had been laid, Canova returned to Rome; but every succeeding autumn he continued to visit Possagno, in order to direct the workmen, and encourage them with pecuniary rewards and medals.

In the meantime the vast expenditure exhausted his resources, and compelled him to labor with unceasing assiduity notwithstanding age and disease. During the period which intervened between commencing operations at Possagno and his decease, he executed or finished some of his most striking works. Amongst these were the group Mars and Venus, the colossal figure of Pius VI, the Pietà, the St John, the recumbent Magdalen. The last performance which issued from his hand was a colossal bust of his friend, the Count Cicognara.

In May 1822 he paid a visit to Naples, to superintend the construction of wax moulds for an equestrian statue of the perjured Bourbon king Ferdinand VII. This journey materially injured his health, but he rallied again on his return to Rome. Towards the latter end of the year he paid his annual visit to the place of his birth, when he experienced a relapse. He proceeded to Venice, and expired there at the age of nearly sixty-five. His disease was one which had affected him from an early age, caused by the continual use of carving-tools, producing a depression of the ribs. The most distinguished funeral honors were paid to his remains, which were deposited in the temple at Possagno on 25 October 1822. His heart was interred in a marble pyramid he designed as a mausoleum for the painter Titian in the church of Santa Maria Gloriosa dei Frari in Venice, now a monument to the sculptor.

Among Canova's heroic compositions, his Perseus with the Head of Medusa (photo, right) appeared soon after his return from Germany. The moment of representation is when the hero, flushed with conquest, displays the head of the "snaky Gorgon", whilst the right hand grasps a sword of singular device. By a public decree, this fine work was placed in one of the stanze of the Vatican hitherto reserved for the most precious works of antiquity.

In 1802, at the personal request of Napoleon, Canova returned to Paris to model a bust of the first consul. The artist was entertained with munificence, and various honors were conferred upon him. The statue, which is colossal and entitled Napoleon as Mars the Peacemaker, was not finished till four years after. On the fall of the great emperor, Louis XVIII presented this statue to the British government, by whom it was afterwards given to the Duke of Wellington.

Palamedes, Creugas and Damoxenus, the Combat of Theseus and the Centaur, and Hercules and Lichas may close the class of heroic compositions, although the catalogue might be swelled by the enumeration of various others, such as Hector and Ajax, and the statues of George Washington (commissioned by the State of North Carolina to be displayed in its Capitol Building), King Ferdinand of Naples, and others.

Under the head of compositions of grace and elegance, the statue of Hebe takes the first place in point of date. Four times has the artist embodied in stone the goddess of youth, and each time with some variation. The last one is in the Museum of Forlì, in Italy. The only material improvement, however, is the substitution of a support more suitable to the simplicity of the art. Each of the statues is, in all its details, in expression, attitude and delicacy of finish, strikingly elegant.

The Dancing Nymphs maintain a character similar to that of the Hebe. The Three Graces and the Venus are more elevated. The Awakened Nymph is another work of uncommon beauty. The mother of Napoleon, his consort Maria Louise (as Concord), to model whom the author made a further journey to Paris in 1810, the princess Esterhazy and the muse Polymnia (Elisa Bonaparte) take their place in this class, as do the ideal heads, comprising Corinna, Sappho, Laura, Beatrice and Helen of Troy.

Of the cenotaphs and funeral monuments the most splendid is the monument to the archduchess Archduchess Maria Christina, Duchess of Teschen, consisting of nine figures.

Besides the two for the Roman Pontiffs already mentioned, there is one for Alfieri, another for Emo, a Venetian admiral, and a small model of a cenotaph for Horatio Nelson, besides a great variety of monumental relieves.

 

A BRIEF HISTORY OF THE MUSEUM

The Metropolitan Museum of Art was founded in 1870 by a group of American citizens – businessmen and financiers as well as leading arists and thinkers of the day – who wanted to create a museum to bring art and art education to the American people.

 

The Metropolitan's paintings collection also began in 1870, when three private European collections, 174 paintings in all, came to the Museum. A variety of excellent Dutch and Flemish paintings, including works by such artists as Hals and Van Dyck, was supplemented with works by such great European artists as Poussin, Tiepolo, and Guardi.

 

The collections continued to grow for the rest of the 19th century – upon the death of John Kensett, for example, 38 of his canvases came to the Museum. But it is the 20th century that has seen the Museum's rise to the position of one of the world's great art centers. Some highlights: a work by Renoir entered the Museum as early as 1907 (today the Museum has become one of the world's great repositories of Impressionist and Post-Impressionist art)...in 1910 the Metropolitan was the first public institution to accept works of art by Matisse...by 1979 the Museum owned five of the fewer than 40 known Vermeers...the Department of Greek and Roman Art now oversees thousands of objects, including one of the finest collections in glass and silver in the world...The American Wing holds the most comprehensive collection of American art, sculpture, and decorative arts in the world...the Egyptian art collection is the finest outside Cairo...the Islamic art collection is without peer...and so on, through many of the 17 curatorial departments.

 

In 1880, the Metropolitan Museum moved to its current site in Central Park. The original Gothic-Revival-style building has been greatly expanded in size since then, and the various additions (built as early as 1888) now completely surround the original structure. The present facade and entrance structure along Fifth Avenue were completed in 1926.

 

A comprehensive architectural plan for the Museum approved in 1971 was completed in 1991. The architects for the project were Kevin Roche John Dinkeloo and Associates, and the overall aim was to make the Museum's collections more accessible to the public, more useful to the scholars and, in general, more interesting and informative to all visitors.

 

Among the additions to the Museum as part of the master plan are: the Robert Lehman Wing (1975), which houses an extraordinary collection of Old Masters, as well as Impressionist and Post-Impressionist art; the installation in The Sackler Wing of the Temple of Dendur (1978), an Egyptian monument (ca. 15 B.C.) that was given to the United States by Egypt; The American Wing (1980), whose magnificent collection also includes 24 period rooms offering an unparalleled view of American art history and domestic life; The Michael C. Rockefeller Wing (1982) for the display of the arts of Africa, Oceania, and the Americas; the Lila Acheson Wallace Wing (1987), which houses modern art; and the Henry R. Kravis Wing, devoted to European sculpture and decorative arts from the Renaissance to the beginning of the 20th century.

 

With the building now complete, the Metropolitan Museum continues to refine and reorganize the collections in its existing spaces. In June 1998, the Arts of Korea gallery opened to the public, completing a major suite of galleries – a "museum within the Museum" – devoted to the arts of Asia. In October 1999 the renovated Ancient Near Eastern Galleries reopened. And a complete renovation and reinstallation of the Greek and Roman Galleries is underway: the first phase, The Robert and Renée Belfer Court for early Greek art, opened in June 1996; the New Greek Galleries premiered in April 1999; and in April 2000 the Cypriot Galleries will open to the public.

  

Antonio Canova (Possagno, 1 de Novembro de 1757 — Veneza, 13 de Outubro de 1822) foi um desenhista, pintor, antiquário e arquiteto italiano, mas é mais lembrado como escultor, desenvolvendo uma carreira longa e produtiva. Seu estilo foi fortemente inspirado na arte da Grécia Antiga, suas obras foram comparadas por seus contemporâneos com a melhor produção da Antiguidade, e foi tido como o maior escultor europeu desde Bernini, sendo celebrado por toda parte. Sua contribuição para a consolidação da arte neoclássica só se compara à do teórico Johann Joachim Winckelmann e à do pintor Jacques-Louis David, mas não foi insensível à influência do Romantismo. Não teve discípulos regulares, mas influenciou a escultura de toda a Europa em sua geração, atraindo inclusive artistas dos Estados Unidos, permanecendo como uma referência ao longo de todo o século XIX especialmente entre os escultores do Academismo. Com a ascensão da estética modernista caiu no esquecimento, mas sua posição prestigiosa foi restabelecida a partir de meados do século XX. Também manteve um continuado interesse na pesquisa arqueológica, foi um colecionador de antiguidades e esforçou-se por evitar que o acervo de arte italiana, antiga ou moderna, fosse disperso por outras coleções do mundo. Considerado por seus contemporâneos um modelo tanto de excelência artística como de conduta pessoal, desenvolveu importante atividade beneficente e de apoio aos jovens artistas. Foi Diretor da Accademia di San Luca em Roma e Inspetor-Geral de Antiguidades e Belas Artes dos estados papais, recebeu diversas condecorações e foi nobilitado pelo papa Pio VII com a outorga do título de Marquês de Ischia.[1][2][3]

ntonio Canova era filho de um escultor de algum mérito, Pietro Canova, que faleceu quando o filho tinha cerca de três anos. Um ano depois sua mãe, Angela Zardo, também o deixou, casando com Francesco Sartori e entregando o menino aos cuidados de seu avô paterno, Passino Canova, também escultor, e de sua tia Caterina Ceccato. Teve um meio-irmão das segundas núpcias de sua mãe, o abade Giovanni Battista Sartori, de quem se tornou amigo íntimo, e que foi seu secretário e executor testamentário. Aparentemente seu avô foi o primeiro a notar seu talento, e assim que Canova pôde segurar um lápis foi iniciado nos segredos do desenho. Sua juventude foi passada em estudos artísticos, mostrando desde cedo predileção pela escultura. Com nove anos já foi capaz de produzir dois pequenos relicários em mármore, que ainda existem, e desde então seu avô o empregou para diversos trabalhos. O avô era patrocinado pela rica família Falier de Veneza, e através dele Canova foi apresentado ao senador Giovanni Falier, que se tornou seu assíduo protetor, e cujo filho Giuseppe se tornou um dos seus mais constantes amigos. Através de Falier, Canova, com cerca de 13 anos, foi colocado sob a orientação de Giuseppe Torretto, um dos mais notáveis escultores do Vêneto em sua geração. Seu estudo foi facilitado pelo acesso que teve a importantes coleções de estatuária antiga, como as mantidas pela Academia de Veneza e pelo colecionador Filippo Farsetti, que foi-lhe útil estabelecendo novos contatos com ricos patronos. Logo suas obras foram elogiadas pela precoce virtuosidade, capacitando-o a receber suas primeiras encomendas, entre elas duas cestas de frutas em mármore para o próprio Farsetti, muito admiradas. A cópia que fez em terracota dos célebres Lutadores Uffizi valeu-lhe o segundo prêmio na Academia.[4][5]

Com a morte de Torretto a continuidade da instrução de Canova foi confiada a Giovanni Ferrari, sobrinho do outro, mas permaneceu com ele apenas um ano. Então, com apenas dezesseis anos, decidiu iniciar o trabalho por conta própria, e logo recebeu de Falier a encomenda para estátuas representando Orfeu e Eurídice. O conjunto, acabado entre 1776-77, resultou tão bem e atraiu tanto aplauso que seus amigos já previam para ele um futuro brilhante.[5] Nele, e em outro grupo importante, representando Dédalo e Ícaro (1778-79), o escultor já mostrava grande maturidade. Seu estilo nessa fase, se tinha um caráter ornamental típico do Rococó, era também vigoroso, e ao mesmo tempo se distinguia da tradição naturalista da arte veneziana e evidenciava uma tendência à idealização que adquirira com seus estudos dos clássicos.[4]

O grande progresso de Canova levou Falier a organizar sua ida para Roma, a fim de que se aperfeiçoasse. Roma nessa época era o mais importante centro de peregrinação cultural da Europa e uma meta obrigatória para qualquer artista que aspirasse à fama. Com sua pletora de monumentos antigos e grandes coleções, numa fase em que estava em pleno andamento a formação do Neoclassicismo, a cidade era toda um grande museu, e oferecia inúmeros exemplares autênticos para estudo em primeira mão da grande produção artística do passado clássico. [4] Antes de sua partida seus amigos conseguiram-lhe uma pensão de 300 ducados anuais, que se manteria por três anos. Também obteve cartas de apresentação para o embaixador veneziano na cidade, o Cavalier Girolamo Zulian, um ilustrado patrono das artes, que o recebeu com grande hospitalidade quando o artista chegou ali em torno de 1779 (Cf. nota: [6]), e providenciou a primeira exibição pública, em sua própria casa, de um trabalho do artista, uma cópia do grupo de Dédalo e Ícaro que mandou vir de Veneza e que suscitou a admiração de quantos a viram. Segundo o relato do conde Leopoldo Cicognara, um de seus primeiros biógrafos, apesar da aprovação unânime da obra Canova sentiu enorme embaraço naquele momento, falando muitas vezes dele anos mais tarde como um dos episódios mais tensos de sua vida. Através de Zulian Canova foi assim introduzido, com um sucesso imediato, na populosa comunidade local de intelectuais, onde brilhavam o arqueólogo Gavin Hamilton, os colecionadores sir William Hamilton e o cardeal Alessandro Albani, e o antiquário e historiador Johann Joachim Winckelmann, o principal mentor do Neoclassicismo, entre tantos outros que partilhavam de seu amor aos clássicos.[5][7]

Em Roma Canova pôde aprofundar o estudo das mais importantes relíquias da Antigüidade, completar sua educação literária, aperfeiçoar sua fluência no francês e colocar-se na competição com os melhores mestres da época.[8] O resultado ficou além de suas próprias expectativas. Sua primeira obra produzida em Roma, patrocinada por Zulian, foi Teseu vencendo o Minotauro (1781), que foi recebida com grande entusiasmo, a ponto de ser declarada como o marco inaugural de uma nova era para as artes. Em seguida esculpiu um pequeno Apolo em ato de coroar a si mesmo (1781-82), para o senador Abondio Rezzonico, uma estátua de Psiquê (1793) para Zulian, e passou a contar com o apoio de Giovanni Volpato, que abriu-lhe outras portas, entre elas a do Vaticano. Nesse período estabeleceu uma ligação tumultuada com a filha de Volpato, Domenica.[9][7]

Sua próxima encomenda, acertada por intermédio de Volpato, foi um monumento fúnebre ao papa Clemente XIV, mas para aceitá-la decidiu pedir permissão ao Senado de Veneza, em consideração à pensão que lhe haviam conseguido. Sendo concedida, fechou sua oficina em Veneza e voltou imediatamente para Roma, onde abriu um novo atelier nas imediações da Via del Babuino, onde os dois anos seguintes foram passados para a conclusão do modelo, e outros dois gastos na realização da obra, que foi finalmente inaugurada em 1787, atraindo o elogio dos maiores críticos da cidade. Durante esse período se engajou paralelamente em projetos menores, alguns baixos-relevos em terracota e uma estátua de Psique. Mais cinco anos foram despendidos na elaboração de um cenotáfio para Clemente XIII, entregue em 1792, que levou sua fama a alturas ainda maiores.[9]

Nos anos seguintes, até o encerramento do século, Canova se aplicou com ingente empenho em produzir um significativo conjunto de novas obras, entre elas vários grupos de Eros e Psiquê, em atitudes diferentes, que lhe valeram um convite para que se instalasse na corte russa, mas declarando sua íntima ligação com a Itália, declinou. Outras foram a Despedida de Vênus e Adônis, o grupo Hércules furioso lançando Licas ao mar, uma estátua de Hebe, e uma primeira versão da Madalena penitente. Mas o esforço foi excessivo para sua saúde, e o uso continuado de um apetrecho de escultura chamado trapano, que comprime o peito, provocou o afundamento de seu esterno. Sentindo-se exausto após tantos anos de atividades intensas e ininterruptas, e em vista da ocupação francesa de Roma em 1798, retirou-se para Possagno, onde aplicou-se à pintura, e logo seguiu em uma excursão de recreio pela Alemanha em companhia de seu amigo o Príncipe Rezzonico. Também passou pela Áustria, onde recebeu a encomenda de um cenotáfio para a arquiduquesa Maria Cristina, filha de Francisco I, que resultou anos mais tarde em uma obra majestosa, a melhor que produziu nesse gênero. Nessa mesma ocasião foi induzido a enviar para a capital austríaca o grupo de Teseu matando o centauro, que havia sido destinado para Milão, e que foi instalado em um templo em estilo grego construído especialmente para esse fim nos jardins do Palácio de Schönbrunn.[9]

Em sua volta a Roma em 1800, revigorado, produziu em poucos meses uma das suas composições mais aclamadas, o Perseu com a cabeça da Medusa (1800-01), inspirado livremente no Apolo Belvedere e julgado digno de ombrear com ele, e que lhe valeu o título de Cavalier, concedido pelo papa. Em 1802 foi convidado por Napoleão Bonaparte para visitar Paris e criar uma estátua sua, e segundo o testemunho de seu irmão, que o acompanhara, o escultor e o estadista mantiveram conversações em um nível de grande franqueza e familiaridade. Também encontrou o pintor Jacques-Louis David, o mais importante dos neoclássicos franceses.[10]

Em 10 de agosto de 1802 o papa Pio VII indicou o artista como Inspetor-Geral das Antiguidades e Belas Artes do Vaticano, posto que conservou até sua morte. Além de ser um reconhecimento de sua obra escultórica, a indicação implicava que ele também era considerado um conhecedor, com a capacidade de julgar a qualidade das obras de arte e um interesse em preservar as coleções papais. Entre as atribuições do cargo estavam a responsabilidade pela emissão de autorizações para escavações arqueológicas e a supervisão dos trabalhos de restauro, aquisição e exportação de antiguidades, além da supervisão sobre a instalação e organização de novos museus nos estados papais. Ele inclusive comprou 80 peças antigas com seus próprios recursos e as doou para os Museus Vaticanos. Entre 1805 e 1814 foi quem decidiu sobre a vinda de todos os artistas bolsistas italianos para aperfeiçoamento em Roma. Em 1810 foi indicado para a presidência da Accademia di San Luca, a mais importante instituição artística da Itália em sua época, e permaneceu como um baluarte de estabilidade na esfera cultural romana ao longo do turbulento período da ocupação francesa, sendo confirmado em suas posições por Napoleão. Sua missão administrativa culminou com a incumbência de resgatar, em 1815, o espólio artístico arrebatado da Itália pelo imperador francês, e por seu zelo e esforço conseguiu resolver o difícil trabalho de acomodar interesses internacionais divergentes e recuperar diversos tesouros para sua pátria, entre eles obras de Rafael Sanzio, o Apolo Belvedere, a Vênus Medici e o Laocoonte.[11][12]

No outono deste ano pôde realizar o sonho há muito acalentado de viajar a Londres, onde foi recebido com grande consideração. Sua viagem tinha dois propósitos primários: agradecer a ajuda que o governo britânico lhe dera da recuperação do acervo italiano confiscado, e conhecer os Mármores de Elgin, um grande conjunto de peças removidas do Partenon de Atenas, criadas por Fídias e seus assistentes, conhecimento que para ele foi uma revelação, contribuindo para confirmar sua impressão de que a arte grega era superior pela qualidade de seu acabamento e pela sua atenção à natureza. Ele também foi solicitado a dar seu parecer de perito sobre a importância do conjunto, que estava sendo posto à venda por Lord Elgin para a Coroa, e expressou-se nos termos mais elogiosos, mas recusou-se a restaurá-las, conforme foi convidado a fazê-lo, considerando que deviam permanecer como testemunhos autênticos da grande arte grega.[13] Voltando a Roma em 1816 com as obras devolvidas pela França, foi recebido em triunfo e recebeu do papa uma pensão de 3 mil escudos, tendo seu nome inscrito no Livro de Ouro do Capitólio com o título de Marquês de Ischia.[3][14]

Então Canova começou a elaborar o projeto para uma outra estátua, monumental, representando a Religião. Não por servilismo, uma vez que era um devoto ardente, mas sua idéia de instalá-la em Roma acabou frustrado mesmo sendo financiado por ele mesmo e estando pronto o modelo em seu tamanho definitivo, que entretanto acabou sendo executado em mármore em tamanho muito reduzido por ordem Lord Brownlow e levado para Londres. Mesmo assim ele decidiu erguer um templo em sua vila natal que conteria aquela escultura conforme seu plano original e outras peças de sua autoria, e nele deveriam, no tempo, repousar suas cinzas. Em 1819 foi lançada a pedra fundamental, e em seguida Canova retornou a Roma, mas a cada outono voltava às obras para acompanhar o seu progresso e instruir os empregados, encorajando-os com recompensas financeiras e medalhas. Mas o empreendimento se revelou excessivamente custoso, e o artista teve de voltar ao trabalho com renovado empenho a despeito de sua idade e doenças. Desta fase são algumas de suas peças mais significativas, como o grupo de Marte e Vênus para a Coroa Inglesa, a estátua colossal de Pio VI, uma Pietà (somente o modelo), outra versão da Madalena penitente. Sua última obra acabada foi um enorme busto de seu amigo o Conde Cicognara.[15]

Em maio de 1822 visitou Nápoles para superintender a construção do modelo para uma estátua eqüestre do Rei Fernando IV de Nápoles, mas o trajeto cobrou caro de sua saúde. Voltando a Roma, recuperou-se, mas em sua visita anual a Possagno já chegou lá doente, e recusando o repouso seu estado piorou. Então foi levado a Veneza, onde faleceu lúcido e serenamente. Suas últimas palavras foram "Anima bella e pura" (alma bela e pura), que pronunciou várias vezes antes de expirar. Testemunhos de amigos presentes em seu transpasse dizem que seu semblante foi adquirindo uma crescente radiância e expressividade, como se estivesse absorvido em uma contemplação extática. A autópsia realizada em seguida revelou uma obstrução do intestino por uma necrose na altura do piloro. Seu funeral, realizado em 25 de outubro de 1822, foi cercado das mais altas honras, entre a comoção de toda a cidade, e os acadêmicos disputaram para carregar seu caixão. Seu corpo foi em seguida sepultado em Possagno e seu coração foi depositado em uma urna de pórfiro mantida na Academia de Veneza. Sua morte gerou luto em toda a Itália, e as homenagens fúnebres ordenadas pelo papa em Roma foram assistidas por representantes de várias casas reais da Europa. No ano seguinte começou a ser erguido um cenotáfio para ele, a partir de um modelo que havia sido criado pelo próprio Canova em 1792 por encomenda de Zulian, originalmente para celebrar o pintor Ticiano, mas que não havia sido realizado. Hoje o monumento pode ser visitado na Basílica de Santa Maria Gloriosa dei Frari, em Veneza.[15]

Segundo a Memória Biográfica sobre o artista deixada pelo seu amigo íntimo o Conde Cicognara, Canova manteve ao longo de toda sua vida hábitos frugais e uma rotina regular. Acordava cedo e imediatamente começava a trabalhar. Após o almoço costumava retirar-se para um breve repouso. Teve uma doença crônica de estômago que permanece não identificada, que causava dores severas em ataques que se sucederam ao longo de toda sua vida. Parece ter nutrido uma fé religiosa profunda e sincera. Não manteve uma vida social especialmente brilhante, embora fosse constantemente solicitado para frequentar os círculos de personalidades ilustres que o admiravam, mas era comum que recebesse amigos em sua própria casa após sua jornada de trabalho, à noite, quando se revelava um anfitrião de modos finos, inteligente, afável e caloroso. Segundo suas próprias palavras, suas esculturas eram a única prova de sua existência civil. Parece que em duas ocasiões esteve perto de contrair matrimônio, mas permaneceu solteiro por toda a vida. Seu grupo de amigos, porém, era grande e a eles dedicava um afeto intenso e elevado. Não manteve discípulos regulares, mas se notava talento superior em algum artista iniciante não poupava bons conselhos e encorajamento. Muitas vezes apoiou financeiramente jovens promissores e buscou-lhes encomendas. Mesmo sempre às voltas com muito trabalho, não hesitava em abandonar seu atelier assim que fosse chamado por outro artista para dar sua opinião sobre assuntos de arte ou oferecer conselhos técnicos.[16]

Alimentou um perene entusiasmo pelo estudo da arte antiga e pela arqueologia. Gostava da literatura clássica e fazia frequentes leituras, mas de hábito alguém lia para ele enquanto trabalhava. Considerava a leitura de bons autores um recurso indispensável para aperfeiçoamento pessoal e de sua arte. Não foi um escritor, mas manteve profusa correspondência com amigos e intelectuais, onde se evidencia um estilo de escrita claro, simples e vívido, que foi-se refinando ao longo dos anos sem perder sua força e espontaneidade. Uma de suas cartas de 1812 atesta que chegou a pensar em publicar algo sobre sua arte em seus princípios gerais, mas não o concretizou. Contudo, em segredo muitas de suas observações e idéias foram registradas por seu círculo de associados e tornadas públicas mais tarde. Parecia ser imune à inveja, à crítica e à bajulação, e nunca se afligiu com o sucesso alheio; ao contrário, não economizava elogios quando percebia grandeza na obra de seus colegas de ofício, e manifestava gratidão por conselhos ou reparos que julgava justos e apropriados. Quando uma crítica contundente apareceu publicada em um jornal de Nápoles, dissuadiu seus amigos que queriam prover uma réplica, dizendo que seu trabalho se encarregaria de dar a resposta adequada.[17] As relações de Canova com a política de seu tempo são exemplificadas nas obras que criou para a Casa da Áustria e a Casa de Bonaparte, onde os desejos de legitimação e glorificação dos governantes entraram em conflito com a postura politicamente neutra que o escultor desejava manter. Teve obras recusadas ou severamente criticadas por ambas por não se enquadrarem naqueles desejos, como o grupo de Hércules furioso que lança Licas ao mar (1795), rejeitado pelo imperador austríaco, e o mesmo acontecendo com o retrato alegórico que fez para Napoleão como Marte pacificador.[18] Sua opinião a respeito de Napoleão tem sido descrita como ambígua, sendo ao mesmo tempo um admirador, aceitando da sua família várias encomendas, e um crítico, especialmente pela sua invasão da Itália e o confisco de um grande acervo de obras de arte italianas.[19]

Apreciava o sucesso de suas obras e era vivamente grato por isso, mas nunca evidenciou que um desejo de glória pessoal fosse seu objetivo primário, apesar de ter sido um dos artistas de seu tempo mais expostos aos perigos da celebridade, pois recebeu diversas condecorações e a proteção de muitos nobres importantes, foi ele mesmo nobilitado em vários Estados da Europa, incumbido de altos cargos públicos e incluído como membro em muitas academias de arte mesmo sem jamais tê-lo solicitado. Gastou boa parte da fortuna que veio a acumular em obras de caridade, no fomento de associações de classe e no apoio aos jovens artistas. Em várias ocasiões adquiriu com recursos próprios obras de arte para museus públicos e coleções de livros para bibliotecas, não raro fazendo suas doações anonimamente. Também em vários momentos precisou ser alertado para não dissipar seus rendimentos com os problemas alheios.[20][8]

Seu permanente fascínio pela antiguidade clássica fez com que ele acumulasse uma significativa coleção de peças arqueológicas de mármore e terracota. Sua coleção de placas de terracota da Campania era especialmente interessante, embora nunca citada nas suas primeiras biografias. As peças eram em sua maioria fragmentárias, mas muitas estavam íntegras e eram de alta qualidade, e as tipologias que ele preferiu reunir evidenciam que ele estava à frente das tendências museológicas e colecionistas de seu tempo. O seu interesse pelo material estava ligado ao uso da argila para criar os modelos de suas obras em mármore, e ele a preferia antes do que o gesso por ser mais fácil de trabalhar, e a empregava também para a elaboração dos relevos que ele chamava "de recreação privada", onde representava cenas que encontrava em suas leituras de Homero, Virgílio e Platão.[21]

 

940 PDF pages of professional instruction manual. contact namaskaar@naver.com for purchase.

Pictured is the Bemis/Ransom House, located at 267 North St. Built in 1883, the house was designed by noted architect Joseph Lyman Silsbee, most famous for several iconic buildings in Syracuse, including the Syracuse Savings Bank Building, the Amos Building and the White Memorial Building. Silsbee is also noted for being a mentor to famed architect Frank Lloyd Wright, whom he employed in his Chicago office. This home was built for John M. Bemis and his wife, Mary. John was a lumber baron, profiting greatly off of the vast forests in the area. He relocated to Pennsylvania in 1891, selling the home to Thomas Thornton for $70,000 ($1.9 million in 2017 dollars). A wealthy Buffalo businessman in the milling industry, Thomas purchased the house for his daughter, Helen, and son-in-law, Dr. Robert Campbell, a Buffalo physician, whose patients included many of the city’s wealthiest residents. In 1901, Robert and his wife went through a messy divorce – one that was covered intensely by newspapers from Buffalo to New York City. The home remained in Helen’s possession, although she no longer lived there. From 1901 until her estate was settled in 1906 following her death in 1903, the home was occupied by Frank H. Goodyear, who, like the original owner of the home, John Bemis, was highly successful in the lumber industry. He formed a company with his brother, Charles, known as F. H. & C. W. Goodyear Co. (Charles’ home at 888 Delaware Ave was featured in a previous post). In 1906, the executors of Helen Campbell’s estate sold the home to Capt. Joseph T. Jones and his wife, Melodia. Joseph was a Civil War hero who would go on to become a pioneer in the oil and rail industries, accumulating a vast wealth. Melodia would become a philanthropic fixture in Buffalo, donating hundreds of thousands of dollars to local charities & educational institutions. The home would remain in the Jones family until 1953, when it was sold to its final residential owner, Philip Ransom, a descendant of one of the earliest settlers of Buffalo. Philip was a Dartmouth grad and World War I veteran who operated a real estate business in Buffalo. Today, 267 North St. is home to Collins & Collins Attorneys.

Designed by Onecase

Two of 4 sons of Sir Humphrey Bradbourne 1513-1581 and wife Elizabeth Turville on the side of their tomb www.flickr.com/gp/52219527@N00/1aXCnH their hands resting on shields of arms

"Here lieth the bodies of Sir Humpry Bradburn Knight died the 17 of April in the year of our God 1581 and Dame Elizabeth his wife and daughter of Sir William Turville of Newhall in the county of Leicester Knight who died May the 28th 1598"

The tomb was moved into this chapel c1840 after originally being in the family mausoleum in the south transept

The guide says a Spanish connection is alluded to by the pomegranate decorating the hilt of his dagger. www.flickr.com/gp/52219527@N00/mGR6Ek

Humphrey was the son & heir of John Bradbourne 1523 of Bradbourne and Lea by Isabella daughter and coheir of Richard Cotton of Ridware.

On his paternal side he was the great grandson of Sir John Bradbourne 1488 and Anne Vernon 1499 whose monument is nearby www.flickr.com/gp/52219527@N00/L9fq7m

On his mother's side he was the great grandson of Nicholas Longford & Joan Warren (whose arms are in the stained glass here www.flickr.com/gp/52219527@N00/XEE1W3

 

A minor on the death of his father, Bradbourne succeeded to an inheritance consisting of the manor of Bradbourne and other property in the west of Derbyshire, as well as the manor of Hough and a small amount of other land in Staffordshire, the whole being valued at £99 a year. It is not known who purchased his wardship or when he had livery of these lands. His appointment in 1538 to the Derbyshire commission of the peace marks the beginning of his career in shire administration, and six years later he was called upon to supply 20 men for the Earl of Hertford’s expedition against Scotland. He himself served as a captain and was knighted by Hertford, being the only member of his family so honoured. In 1557 he was one of the Derbyshire gentlemen who certified to the 5th Earl of Shrewsbury the number of men each could supply for service on the borders, his own quota being 12 billmen and three bowmen.

 

He m Elizabeth daughter of Sir William Turville of Aston Flamville Leics & Newhall, by 2nd wife Jane Warburton www.flickr.com/gp/52219527@N00/1M08C3

Children - 9 sons (4 in armour holding shields, 2 in civilian robes, 3 infants) & 6 daughters (4 holding shields indicating their marriage)

1. William 1547 m1 Joan Fleetwood ; m2 Tabitha www.flickr.com/gp/52219527@N00/540jQa daughter of Thomas Cockayne 1592 & Dorothy Ferrers www.flickr.com/gp/52219527@N00/kD33tB : m3 Frances Priest

2. George Bradborne b 1530

3. Francis Bradburne b 1532

4. John Bradburne b 1534

5. Hugh Bradburne b 1536

6. Nicholas Bradburne 1540 - 1553

7. Humphrey Bradbourne b 1545

8. Edward b 1547

9. Anthony b 1551

1. Ann 1542 - 1599 m (1st wife) Sir Humphrey 1607 son of John Ferrers & Barbara daughter of Francis Cockayne 1536 & Dorothy Marrow flic.kr/p/dBpGjH ; Humphrey m2 Elizabeth Longford widow of Humphrey Dethick of Hartshorne www.flickr.com/gp/52219527@N00/EP590F ( dispositions of the property by Sir Humphrey Ferrers after his own death and that of his wife, Lady Elizabeth, and his brother, William Bradbourne. It is Sir Humphrey's intention that after his death his wife will have the lands for her jointure; after her death, his "daughter Ferrers" will have them for her jointure; subsequently the lands shall descend unto his next male heir or, in the case of lack of issue, unto his wife's heirs)

2. Elizabeth m Sir John Cotton of Landwade 1620 son of John Cotton 1593 flic.kr/p/9CZ6h6

3. Jane m Henry Sacheverell

www.flickr.com/gp/52219527@N00/4jV2Ew

 

Although he remained a justice of the peace for over 40 years, for most of this time Bradbourne was not of the quorum, probably because of his religion. In the report to the Privy Council on the justices of Derbyshire compiled in 1564, he was named as one of the two ‘adversaries to religion’ in the shire. His disaffection is more likely to have been of a Catholic than of a Puritan kind, since Henry Vernon, the other justice so described, was a Catholic whereas Richard Blackwell, whom the signatories recommended for dismissal, was seemingly a Puritan and was defended by the bishop. Bradbourne was an executor of Vernon’s will of 1568. Although his religion had not prevented him from serving two terms as sheriff, it was only in his later years that he was entrusted with such special commissions as the investigation of 1578 into local animosity towards (Sir) John Zouche II.4

 

It was with Sir Thomas Cokayne that Bradbourne had sat in his first Parliament, that of March 1553 called under the aegis of the Duke of Northumberland: a man of his conservative views can hardly have felt at home in such an assembly. He would have found more congenial his next and last Parliament, the fourth of Mary’s reign, although the manoeuvres of the opposition would probably have offended him and it is not surprising that his name is absent from the list of them. His fellow-knight in that Parliament, Vincent Mundy, was to be one of those commissioned in 1556 and 1557 to investigate a dispute, which had already reached the Star Chamber, between Bradbourne and his cousin Aden Beresford over a brook which ran through their adjacent properties. Bradbourne was involved in a number of other suits in both Chancery and Star Chamber, including one in the reign of Henry VIII when he was charged with enclosing common land. In February 1557 he appeared before the barons of the Exchequer to meet an accusation of maintaining retainers in blue livery who accompanied him to the local sessions of the peace and the assizes. The case was brought by Thomas Gravenor, a husbandman of Bentley: Bradbourne asked for trial by jury but no further process is recorded.5

 

Humphrey's death gave suspicion of foul play. Three days after his death the Privy Council ordered an investigation of a ‘dangerous practice taken in hand by certain lewd persons, whereby is intended the destruction of the person of Sir Humphrey Bradbourne and conveying away of his goods’. A charge of murder was made against a yeoman of Lea, Richard Haughton, for allegedly having smeared Bradbourne’s right leg with an ointment containing poison which, after a lapse of 3 years proved fatal. - the result of this charge is not known.

 

By his will of 8 Oct. 1580 Humphrey had appointed as sole executrix his wife Elizabeth and as overseer Sir John Manners of Bakewell www.flickr.com/gp/52219527@N00/E1w2d2

Humphrey asked for a tomb of alabaster with ‘pictures of myself, my wife and all my children ... set thereupon’, This was made by Richard and Gabriel Royley of Burton on Trent who were "popular and inexpensive"

- Church of St Oswald, Ashbourne Derbyshire

 

www.historyofparliamentonline.org/volume/1509-1558/member...

www.wikitree.com/wiki/Bradbourne-4 ancestors.familysearch.org/en/LZ1S-CBL/anne-bradbourne-15...

with Coit Tower seem from Lombard Street

 

mit dem Coit Tower von der Lombard Street gesehen

 

Telegraph Hill (elev. 285 ft (87 m)) is a hill and surrounding neighborhood in San Francisco, California. It is one of San Francisco's 44 hills, and one of its original "Seven Hills".

 

The San Francisco Chronicle defines the Chinatown, North Beach, and Telegraph Hill areas as bounded by Sacramento Street, Taylor Street, Bay Street, and the water.

 

The neighborhood is bounded by Vallejo Street to the south, Sansome Street to the east, Francisco Street to the north and Powell Street and Columbus Avenue to the west, where the northwestern corner of Telegraph Hill overlaps with the North Beach neighborhood.

 

Originally named Loma Alta ("High Hill") by the Spaniards, the hill was then familiarly known as Goat Hill by the early San Franciscans and became the neighborhood of choice for many Irish immigrants. From 1825 through 1847, the area between Sansome and Battery, Broadway and Vallejo streets was used as a burial ground for foreign non-Catholic seamen.

 

The hill owes its name to a semaphore, a windmill-like structure erected in September 1849, for the purpose of signaling to the rest of the city the nature of the ships entering the Golden Gate. Atop the newly built house, the marine telegraph consisted of a pole with two raisable arms that could form various configurations, each corresponding to a specific meaning: steamer, sailing boat, etc. The information was used by observers operating for financiers, merchants, wholesalers and speculators. Knowing the nature of the cargo carried by the ship they could predict the upcoming (generally lower) local prices for those goods and commodities carried. Those who did not have advance information on the cargo might pay a too-high price from a merchant unloading his stock of a commodity—a price that was about to drop. On October 18, 1850, the ship Oregon signaled to the hill as it was entering the Golden Gate the news of California's recently acquired statehood.

 

The pole-and-arm signals on the Telegraph Hill semaphore became so well known to townspeople of San Francisco that, according to one story, during a play in a San Francisco theater, an actor held his arms aloft and cried, "Oh God, what does this mean?", prompting a rogue in the gallery to shout, "Sidewheel steamer!", which brought down the house.

 

Sailing ships brought cargo to San Francisco but needed ballast when leaving. Rocks for ballast were quarried from the bay side of Telegraph Hill. Exposed rock from this quarrying is still visible from the Filbert Steps and from Broadway, where there was a large landslide on February 27, 2007, that damaged property and forced the evacuation of many residents.

 

In September 1853, the first telegraph in California, which extended eight miles to Point Lobos, San Francisco, was set up on the hill and replaced the semaphore, therefore giving the hill the name of "Telegraph Hill." This telegraph was known as the Marine Telegraph Station, and was destroyed by a storm in 1870.

 

In 1876, The hilltop land of the original Marine Telegraph Station was purchased by George Hearst, who donated it to the city under the stipulation that the land be dubbed as the Pioneer Park. In 1932-1933, Coit Tower was built where the semaphore and telegraph once stand. Telegraph Hill retained its name and is now registered as California Historical Landmark #91, marking the location of the original signal station, in the lobby of Coit Tower.

 

In the 1920s, Telegraph Hill became, along with adjacent North Beach, a destination for poets and bohemian intellectuals, dreaming of turning it into a West Coast West Village.

 

Telegraph Hill is primarily a residential area, much quieter than adjoining North Beach with its bustling cafés and nightlife. Aside from Coit Tower, it is well known for its gardens flowing down Filbert Street down to Levi’s Plaza.

 

(Wikipedia)

 

Coit Tower is a 210-foot (64 m) tower in the Telegraph Hill neighborhood of San Francisco, California, offering panoramic views over the city and the bay. The tower, in the city's Pioneer Park, was built between 1932 and 1933 using Lillie Hitchcock Coit's bequest to beautify the city of San Francisco. It was added to the National Register of Historic Places on January 29, 2008.

 

The art deco tower, built of unpainted reinforced concrete, was designed by architects Arthur Brown, Jr. and Henry Howard. The interior features fresco murals in the American Social Realism style, painted by 25 different on-site artists and their numerous assistants, plus two additional paintings installed after creation off-site.

 

Also known as the Coit Memorial Tower, it was dedicated to the volunteer firemen who had died in San Francisco's five major fires. Although an apocryphal story claims that the tower was designed to resemble a fire hose nozzle due to Coit's affinity with the San Francisco firefighters of the day, the resemblance is coincidental.

 

Telegraph Hill, the tower's location, has been described as "the most optimal 360 degree viewing point to the San Francisco Bay and five surrounding counties." In 1849, it became the site of a two-story observation deck, from which information about incoming ships was broadcast to city residents using an optical semaphore system, replaced in 1853 by an electrical telegraph that was destroyed by a storm in 1870.

 

Coit Tower was paid for with money left by Lillie Hitchcock Coit (1843–1929), a wealthy socialite who loved to chase fires in the early days of the city's history. Before December 1866, there was no city fire department, and fires in the city, which broke out regularly in the wooden buildings, were extinguished by several volunteer fire companies. Coit was one of the more eccentric characters in the history of North Beach and Telegraph Hill, smoking cigars and wearing trousers long before it was socially acceptable for women to do so. She was an avid gambler and often dressed like a man in order to gamble in the males-only establishments that dotted North Beach.

 

Coit's fortune funded the monument four years following her death in 1929. She had a special relationship with the city's firefighters. At the age of fifteen she witnessed the Knickerbocker Engine Co. No. 5 in response to a fire call up on Telegraph Hill when they were shorthanded; she threw her school books to the ground and pitched in to help, calling out to other bystanders to help get the engine up the hill to the fire, to get the first water onto the blaze. After that Coit became the Engine Co. mascot and could barely be constrained by her parents from jumping into action at the sound of every fire bell. She frequently rode with the Knickerbocker Engine Co. 5, especially in street parades and celebrations in which the Engine Co. participated. Through her youth and adulthood Coit was recognized as an honorary firefighter.

 

In her will she specified that one third of her fortune, amounting to $118,000, "be expended in an appropriate manner for the purpose of adding to the beauty of the city which I have always loved." Two memorials were built in her name. One was Coit Tower, and the other was a sculpture depicting three firemen, one of them carrying a woman in his arms.

 

The San Francisco County Board of Supervisors proposed that Coit's bequest be used for a road at Lake Merced. This proposal brought disapproval from the estate's executors, who expressed a desire that the county find "ways and means of expending this money on a memorial that in itself would be an entity and not a unit of public development".[6] Art Commission president Herbert Fleishhacker suggested a memorial on Telegraph Hill, which was approved by the estate executors. An additional $7,000 in city funds was appropriated, and a design competition was initiated. The winner was architect Arthur Brown, Jr, whose design was completed and dedicated on October 8, 1933.

 

Coit Tower was listed as a San Francisco Designated Landmark in 1984 and on the National Register of Historic Places in 2008. Although Coit Tower is not technically a California Historical Landmark, the state historical plaque for Telegraph Hill is located in the tower's lobby, marking the site of the original signal station.

 

The San Francisco Arts Commission ordered the removal of the Statue of Christopher Columbus that has stood outside the entrance of the tower since 1957 on June 18, 2020, following numerous other removals of controversial statues during the George Floyd protests that began in May 2020.

 

Brown's competition design envisioned a restaurant in the tower, which was changed to an exhibition area in the final version. The design uses three nesting concrete cylinders, the outermost a tapering fluted 180-foot (55 m) shaft that supports the viewing platform. An intermediate shaft contains a stairway, and an inner shaft houses the elevator. The observation deck is 32 feet (9.8 m) below the top, with an arcade and skylights above it. A rotunda at the base houses display space and a gift shop.

 

(Wikipedia)

 

Der Telegraph Hill ist ein Hügel und Stadtteil in San Francisco. Er stellt eine von über 40 Erhebungen im Stadtgebiet dar und erreicht eine maximale Höhe von 83 m. Neben Russian Hill und Nob Hill prägt er am deutlichsten das Stadtbild von Downtown San Francisco.

 

Der Telegraph Hill verdankt seinen Namen einer hier vor Einführung der elektrischen Telegrafie seit September 1849 stehenden mechanischen Signalisierungseinrichtung (Semaphor), einem Mast mit zwei beweglichen Armen, deren Stellung den Anwohnern den Typ der einlaufenden Schiffe anzeigte.

 

Auf Telegraph Hill befinden sich einige der ältesten Häuser viktorianischer Architektur, wie sie für San Francisco üblich sind. Das große Feuer von 1906 erstreckte sich nicht auf den östlichen Teil des Hügels, so dass sich hier einige der ältesten Gebäude der Stadt San Francisco erhalten haben. So befinden sich beispielsweise in der Union Street einige viktorianische Häuser von vor 1860, die dem Carpenter-Gothic-Stil zuzurechnen sind. Am Alta Place befindet sich gar das mutmaßlich älteste erhaltene Gebäude San Franciscos von 1852.

 

Im Jahr 1934 wurde der Coit Tower auf dem Telegraph Hill gebaut. Der 64 m hohe Turm wurde von Arthur Brown Jr. und Henry Howard errichtet. In Auftrag gegeben wurde der Bau von der wohlhabenden Lillie Hitchcock Coit, die eine große Verehrerin der Feuerwehrleute von San Francisco war und den Turm zu Ehren der Feuerwehr bauen ließ. Des Weiteren sollte er das Stadtbild bereichern und als Aussichtsturm dienen. Von der Aussichtsplattform hat man bis heute eine Rundumsicht auf die Stadt und die Bucht von San Francisco sowie das Golden Gate.

 

(Wikipedia)

 

Der Coit Tower, ein 64 Meter hoher Aussichtsturm auf dem Telegraph Hill in San Francisco, wurde von Arthur Brown Jr. und Henry Howard 1933 erbaut.

 

Am 29. Januar 2008 wurde der Turm zum National Historic Site erhoben.

 

Lillie Hitchcock Coit, ein Kind der High Society, war eine große Verehrerin der Feuerwehrleute von San Francisco. Einer Legende nach half sie bei einem Brand in der Nähe von Telegraph Hill und wurde so das Maskottchen der Engine Company No. 5 of the Volunteer Fire Department (Freiwillige Feuerwehr). Bei ihrem Tod im Jahr 1929 hinterließ sie der Gemeinde 100.000 $ für die Verschönerung der Stadt. Mit dieser Spende wurde 1933 der 64 Meter hohe Aussichtsturm im Stil des Art déco zu Ehren der Freiwilligen Feuerwehr errichtet. Die Legende, dass der Coit Tower zu Ehren der Feuerwehrleute errichtet wurde, stimmt nur bedingt. Daneben sollte er auch die Schönheit der Stadt erhöhen und als Aussichtsturm dienen, von dem aus sich ein Panorama San Franciscos genießen lässt.[4] Falsch ist, dass die Form dem Ende eines Feuerwehrschlauchs entsprechen soll. Dies wurde nie von den Architekten beabsichtigt und ist der offiziellen Tafel am Coit Tower deutlich zu entnehmen.

 

Am etwa 3 m × 3 m großen Wandgemälde Library von Bernard Zakheim in der äußeren Lobby des Turms findet sich ein Bezug zur österreichischen Geschichte: Ein Mann liest eine Zeitung mit der Schlagzeile „Thousands Slaughtered in Austria“, „February 14, 1934“, vom Beginn des Februaraufstands in Linz in Österreich. 1934 war das Fresko „Man at the Crossroads“ von Diego Rivera im Rockefeller Center wegen der Abbildung Lenins von seinem Auftraggeber zerstört worden. Die Wandmaler im Coit Tower protestierten dagegen und bauten linke sozialkritische Elemente in ihre Bilder ein; auch die Bildzerstörung durch Rockefeller ist als Zeitungstext gemalt.

 

Die Wandgemälde wurden in den 1960er- und 1970er-Jahren sanft und 1989/1990 sowie (bis 14. Mai) 2014 grundlegend restauriert. Die Wandgemälde sind in verschiedenen Techniken entstanden: Fresko – gemalt auf feuchten Putz, eine rare Technik in den USA, Eiweiß-Farbe auf trockenen Putz und Öl auf Leinwand, die auf die Wand appliziert wurde.

 

In den Filmen The Enforcer (dt. Dirty Harry III – Der Unerbittliche) (1976) und Dr. Dolittle (1998) wird der Turm in Szene gesetzt.

 

(Wikipedia)

Duneira house and gardens at Mount Macedon.

 

(Extract from Macedon Ranges cultural heritage and landscape study/Trevor Budge and Associates. 4 v. 1994.).

Henry Suetonius Officer reputedly aquired the Duneira site from

1872-1877 (Blocks 4,5,10,11,14) paying some £84 for 38 acres but

rate listings give Robert Officer as the owner. .

.

Suetonius Henry Officer (1830-1883).

Officer was born in Hullgreen, New Norfolk, Tasmania 1830, the

son of Sir Robert & Lady Officer. He was educated in Edinburgh

with his brother, Charles, and returned to the colonies, seeking

gold in Victoria but eventually settling for pastoralism in

company with his brothers and Charles Miles{ ibid.}. They managed

stations in the Wimmera and the Riverina, James marrying in 1866

and commencing construction of a 20 room homestead at Murray

Downs & Willakool, two adjoining properties fronting the Murray

River. After experimentation with irrigation, via steam pumps and

windmills, he was able to develop extensive orchards and crops. He was also, like his brother, interested in

acclimatisation, having developed an ostrich farm on his property

(Charles was a council member of the Zoological & Acclimatisation

Society for 10 years, president in 1887). .

.

Blighted by illness, Suetonius reputedly moved to Leighwood,

Toorak (Melbourne) in 1881, having erected the first stage of

Duneira at Mount Macedon, but died two years later. However his son, Henry jnr. was

born at South Yarra in 1869 and his next child, Jessie, was born

at Macedon in 1877, indicating that he was in residence at both

places prior to the dates previously supposed..

.

Suetonius probably commissioned the first stage of Duneira to be

erected as a summer house between c1874-6. The architect Levi

Powell is thought to have designed a house for him there around

that date. The first improvements listed on the site were

stables in 1874 when Robert Officer was rated as owning the site. The house was reputedly not occupied regularly

until c1881 when Suetonius moved to Toorak.

However it appears he and his family were in residence at Duneira

by 1877..

.

When Suetonius died in 1883 his wife, Mary Lillias Rigg Officer

(nee Cairns), of Glenbervie, Glenferrie Road, Toorak was the

co-executor of the estate, with merchant Robert Harper; she is

the rate occupier in 1888. Mrs Officer was the

sister of Mrs Robert Harper (Huntly Burn) and Mrs John C lloyd

(Montpelier, later Timsbury): all three houses were reputedly

built in the same period... .

.

The house bricks for the first stage were said to have come from

the Macedon Brick Kiln (once near the Macedon railway station,

set up in c1888-9?) with external walls built in 14" Flemish bond

from slop-moulded bricks (9 inch by 2.1/2). The bricks were reputedly carted

from Macedon by Cogger. The footings were of bluestone

and reputedly dressed sandstone blocks also survive, suggesting

that the first stage was face brick with stone quoins and the

next renovation c1888 added wings and a cement coating to the

whole complex. Floor frames were reputedly supported on stone

dwarf walls and joists were 6x2.1/2 inch jarrah, with flooring

being 6 inch pine}. Seaweed was apparently used for

ceiling insulation..

.

The servants' wing verandah was skillion in form with timber

posts with classical capitals. The main verandah had coupled

posts (rebuilt with single posts) a panelled frieze and slimmer

capitals set just under the frieze rail}. The

balustrade may have been of single cast-iron balusters..

.

Just prior to the sale to the speculator, James Smith Reid in

1890, and during the occupation of Edward Dyer, major additions

were made to the house complex and a reputedly a caretaker's

lodge was placed at the gate (survives, altered c1920s) but this

appears to have been added by Reid in the early 1890s. .

.

The added rooms were reputedly: billiard (32'x24') and dining

rooms, kitchen, servants bathroom, service block with 5 rooms

(engine room, dairy, pantry, store, boiler room, built of

Northcote machine made 9" brickwork). Damp proof coursing was

used in these additions compared to the slate of the first stage

and acetylene gas (engine room) was thought used for lighting

from this period, as reticulated in 1.1.2" mains and 1/2 inch

branches to internal and some external verandah lights.

Cast-iron elaborately detailed water radiators were also used,

with hot water pumped from the boiler room, and later a duplicate

boiler allowed hot water to be reticulated taps in the house{

ibid.}..

.

The description in rate books expands to villa and cottages (on

37 acres) for the first time under Reid in c1893 but the annual

valuation had already peeked in 1888 at £200 in the occupation of

Edward Dyer. An Edward Dyer was listed at that time as a fruiterer in

Burwood Road, Hawthorn..

.

The water supply is from a concrete tank fed by a spring.

Outbuildings include timber clad stables, storerooms,

blacksmith's shop, coachman's room, milking bails, hay shed and a

green house. The stables (extended) were described as having had

a shingled gabled roof (rear skillion) with loft entered via an

external stair at the north end. It had a blacksmith's

shop (altered for garage c1941), carriage and coachman's rooms,

two stores and vertically boarded main doors{ ibid.,p24}. The

milking and hay sheds had hipped roof forms and timber cladding

and frame. The interior was white-washed. The greenhouse

in the secret hedged garden is of a later date, with a timber

frame built up on 11" cavity brickwork walls, with a brick floor

and heated water pipes under each shelf. The boiler is near the

entry..

.

The `Gisborne Gazette' reported on Duneira in 1903 under the

heading of `A Popular Health Resort':.

`Duneira certainly merits a few remarks though beautiful

residences and grounds are by no means rare in that locality..

(when Reid purchased it, it was `little better than a wilderness'

and he had spared no expense to restore it).. After passing the

lodge at the main entrance, a broad serpentine drive leads up to

the house and from there the grounds are laid out in broad

sloping lawns surmounted with choice borders and fringed with

trees which however do not interfere to any great extent with the

view. There is of course no lack of flowers which grow

luxuriantly on the mount but the great feature of Duneira is the

lawns, those open green expanses which delight the eye at all

times of the year. the secret of this perennial verdure is to be

found in the copious water supply with which Macedon is blessed

(spring at rear of house, tapped by tunnelling 40m into the hill,

ie. grass grows up to base of Monterey pines)..

.

During Reid's time there, the valuation increased marginally in

1899-1900 and again soon after, with Reid's address being given

as care of Rosstrevor Magill, South Australia, in c1909-10. JS Reid died in 1922, leaving

the property to the management of JS Reid jun..

.

The main garden elements are: sweeping lawns, box hedges, weeping beech and cherry, extensive hedges (holly, laurel), a hedged

`secret garden' with green house, mature firs, elm and chestnut ì

avenues. There is also a fountain and a wide spreading weeping elm to the rear of the house, near the tennis court..

.

Significant Trees:.

`Ulmus x hollandica'.

`Prunus' "shirotae".

`Albies procera'.

`Ilex kingiana'.

The days drag and the weeks fly by.

 

It has been a grim week at work, and yet the weekend is here once again.

 

The cold snap is still here; thick frosts and icy patches, but Sunday afternoon storms will sweep in from the west and temperatures will soar by day to 13 degrees.

 

But for now it is cold, and colder at nights, the wood burner makes the living room toasty warm, though the rest of the house seems like a fridge in comparison.

 

Even though we went to bed at nine, we slept to nearly half seven, which meant we were already later than usual going to Tesco.

 

We had a coffee first, then got dressed and went out into the winter wonderland.

 

Tesco was more crowded mainly because we were an hour later. There were no crackers for cheese, a whole aisle empty of cream crackers and butter wafers.

 

There is only so much food you can eat even over Christmas, so the cracker-shortage won't affect us, we have two Dundee cakes, filling for two lots of mince pies and pastry for five lots of sausage rolls.

 

We won't starve.

 

We buy another bag of stuff for the food bank, try to get two weeks of stuff so we wont need to go next weekend, just to a farm shop for vegetables, and the butcher for the Christmas order, though on the 25th we are going out for dinner to the Lantern.

 

Back home for fruit, then bacon butties and another huge brew. Yes, smoked bacon is again in short supply, with just the basic streaky smoked available, but we're not fussy, so that does the trick.

 

Also, Jools picked up her inhalers for her cough, and so, we hope, the road to recovery begins.

 

What to do with the day?

 

Although a walk would have been good, Jools can do no more than ten minutes in freezing conditions before a coughing fits starts, so a couple of churches to revisit and take more shots of.

 

First on the list was St Leonard in Upper Deal. A church I have only have been inside once. As it was just half ten, there should have been a chance it was open, but no. We parked up and I walked over the road to try the porch door, but it was locked.

 

No worries, as the next two would certainly be open.

 

Just up the road towards Canterbury is Ash.

 

Ash is a large village that the main roads now bypass its narrow streets, and buses call not so frequently.

 

The church towers over the village, its spire piercing the grey sky. We park beside the old curry hours than burned down a decade ago, is now a house and no sign of damage.

 

indeed the church was open, though the porch door was closed, it opened with use of the latch, and the inner glass door swung inwards, revealing an interior I had forgotten about, rich Victorian glass let in the weak sunlight, allowing me to take detailed shots. It was far better and more enjoyable than I remembered.

 

Once I took 200 or so shots, we went back to the car, drove back to the main road, and on to Wingham, where the church there, a twin of Wingham, would also be open too.

 

And it was.

 

The wardens were just finishing trimming the church up, and putting out new flowers, it was a bustle of activity, then one by one they left.

 

got my shots, and we left, back to the car and to home, though we did stop at he farm shop at Aylsham, and all we wanted was some sweet peppers for hash.

 

We went in and there was the bakery: I bought two sausage rolls, four small pork pies and two Cajun flavours scotch eggs. We got cider, beer, healthy snacks (we told ourselves) and finally found the peppers.

 

Three peppers cost £50!

 

Then back home, along the A2.

 

And arriving back home at one. We feasted on the scotch eggs and two of the pork pies.

 

Yummy.

 

There was the third place play off game to watch on the tellybox, the Football league to follow on the radio. We lit the woodburner and it was soon toasty warm.

 

At half five, Norwich kicked off, and hopes were high as Blackburn had not beaten us in over a decade.

 

And, yes you guessed it, Norwich lost. Played poorly, and in Dad's words, were lucky to get nil.

 

Oh dear.

 

Oh dear indeed.

 

We have Christmas cake for supper, and apart from the football, as was well with the world.

 

------------------------------------------------

 

A large and impressive church of mainly thirteenth century date over restored in 1847 by the irrepressible William Butterfield. The scale of the interior is amazing - particularly in the tower crossing arches which support the enormous spire. They are an obvious insertion into an earlier structure. The best furnishing at Ash is the eighteenth century font which stands on an inscribed base. For the visitor interested in memorials, Ash ahs more than most ranging from the fourteenth century effigy of a knight to two excellent alabaster memorials to Sir Thomas Harfleet (d 1612) and Christopher Toldervy (d 1618). Mrs Toldervy appears twice in the church for she accompanies her husband on his memorial and may also be seen as a `weeper` on her parents` memorial! On that she is one of two survivors of what was once a group of seven daughters - all her weeping brothers have long since disappeared.

 

www.kentchurches.info/church.asp?p=Ash+2

 

------------------------------------------

 

ASH

LIES adjoining to the last-described parish of Staple northward. It is written in Domesday, Ece, and in other antient records, Aisse, and is usually called Ash, near Sandwich, to distinguish it from Ash, near Wrotham.

 

The parish of Ash is very large, extending over a variety of soil and country, of hill, dale, and marsh lands, near four miles across each way, and containing more than six thousand acres of land, of which about one half is marsh, the river Stour being its northern bounday, where it is very wet and unwholesone, but the southern or upland part of the parish is very dary, pleasant and healthy. The soil in general is fertile, and lets on an average at about one pound an acre; notwithstanding, there is a part of it about Ash-street and Gilton town, where it is a deep sand. The village of Ash, commonly called Ash-street, situated in this part of it, on high ground, mostly on the western declivity of a hill, having the church on the brow of it, is built on each side of the road from Canterbury to Sandwich, and contains about fifty houses. On the south side of this road, about half a mile westward, is a Roman burial ground, of which further mention will be taken hereaster, and adjoining to it the hamlet of Gilton town, formerly written Guildanton, in which is Gilton parsonage, a neat stuccoed house, lately inhabited by Mr. Robert Legrand, and now by Mrs. Becker. In the valley southward stands Mote farm, alias Brooke house, formerly the habitation of the Stoughtons, then of the Ptoroude's and now the property of Edward Solly, esq. of London.

 

There are dispersed throughout this large parish many small hamlets and farms, which have been formerly of more consequence, from the respective owners and in habitants of them, all which, excepting East and New Street, and Great Pedding, (the latter of which was the antient residence of the family of solly, who lie buried in Ash church-yard, and bore for their arms, Vert, a chevron, per pale, or, and gules, between three soles naiant, argent, and being sold by one of them to dean Lynch, is now in the possession of lady Lynch, the widow of Sir William Lynch, K. B.) are situated in the northern part of the parish, and contain together about two hundred and fifty houses, among them is Hoden, formerly the residence of the family of St. Nicholas; Paramour-street, which for many years was the residence of those of that name, and Brook-street, in which is Brook-house, the residence of the Brooke's, one of whom John Brooke, esq. in queen Elizabeth's reign, resided here, and bore for his arms, Per bend, vert and sable, two eagles, counterchanged.

 

William, lord Latimer, anno 38 Edward III. obtained a market to be held at Ash, on a Thursday; and a fair yearly on Lady-day, and the two following ones. A fair is now held in Ash-street on Lady and Michaelmas days yearly.

 

In 1473 there was a lazar house for the infirm of the leprosy, at Eche, near Sandwich.

 

¶The manor of Wingham claims paramount over this parish, subordinate to which there were several manors in it, held of the archbishop, to whom that manor belonged, the mansions of which, being inhabited by families of reputation and of good rank in life, made this parish of much greater account than it has been for many years past, the mansions of them having been converted for a length of time into farmhouses to the lands to which they belong.

 

f this manor, (viz. Wingham) William de Acris holds one suling in Fletes, and there he has in demesne one carucate and four villeins, and one knight with one carucate, and one fisbery, with a saltpit of thirty pence. The whole is worth forty shillings.

 

This district or manor was granted by archbishop Lanfranc, soon after this, to one Osberne, (fn. 7) of whom I find no further mention, nor of this place, till king Henry III.'s reign, when it seems to have been separated into two manors, one of which, now known by the name of the manor of Gurson Fleet, though till of late time by that of Fleet only, was held afterwards of the archbishop by knight's service, by the family of Sandwich, and afterwards by the Veres, earls of Oxford, one of whom, Robert de Vere, earl of Oxford, who died anno 3 Edward III. was found by the escheat-rolls of that year, to have died possessed of this manor of Fleet, which continued in his descendants down to John de Vere, earl of Oxford, who for his attachment to the house of Lancaster, was attainted in the first year of king Edward IV. upon which this manor came into the hands of the crown, and was granted the next year to Richard, duke of Gloucester, the king's brother, with whom it staid after his succession to the crown, as king Richard III. on whose death, and the accession of king Henry VII. this manor returned to the possession of John, earl of Oxford, who had been attainted, but was by parliament anno I Henry VII. restored in blood, titles and possessions. After which this manor continued in his name and family till about the middle of queen Elizabeth's reign, when Edward Vere, earl of Oxford, alienated it to Hammond, in whose descendants it continued till one of them, in the middle of king Charles II.'s reign, sold it to Thomas Turner, D. D. who died possessed of it in 1672, and in his name and descendants it continued till the year 1748, when it was sold to John Lynch, D. D. dean of Canterbury, whose son Sir William Lynch, K. B. died possessed of it in 1785, and by his will devised it, with the rest of his estates, to his widow lady Lynch, who is the present possessor of it. A court baron is held for this manor.

 

Archbishop Lanfranc, on his founding the priory of St. Gregory, in the reign of the Conqueror, gave to it the tithe of the manor of Fleet; which gift was confirmed by archbishop Hubert in Richard I.'s reign. This portion of tithes, which arose principally from Gurson Fleet manor, remained with the priory at its dissolution, and is now part of Goldston parsonage, parcel of the see of Canterbury, of which further mention has been made before.

 

The other part of the district of Fleet was called, to distinguish it, and from the possessors of it, the manor of Nevills Fleet, though now known by the name of Fleet only, is situated between Gurson and Richborough, adjoining to the former. This manor was held in king John's reign of the archbishop, by knight's service, by Thomas Pincerna, so called probably from his office of chief butler to that prince, whence his successors assumed the name of Butler, or Boteler. His descendant was Robert le Boteler, who possessed this manor in king Ed ward I.'s reign, and from their possession of it, this manor acquired for some time the name of Butlers Fleet; but in the 20th year of king Edward III. William, lord Latimer of Corbie, appears to have been in the possession of it, and from him it acquired the name of Latimers Fleet. He bore for his arms, Gules, a cross flory, or. After having had summons to parliament, (fn. 8) he died in the begening of king Richard II.'s reign, leaving Elizabeth his sole daughter and heir, married to John, lord Nevill, of Raby, whose son John bore the title of lord Latimer, and was summoned to parliament as lord Latimer, till the 9th year of king Henry VI. in which he died, so that the greatest part of his inheritance, among which was this manor, came by an entail made, to Ralph, lord Nevill, and first earl of Westmoreland, his eldest, but half brother, to whom he had sold, after his life, the barony of Latimer, and he, by seoffment, vested it, with this manor and much of the inheritance above-mentioned, in his younger son Sir George Nevill, who was accordingly summoned to parliament as lord Latimer, anno 10 Henry VI. and his grandson Richard, lord Latimer, in the next regin of Edward IV. alienated this manor, which from their length of possession of it, had acquired the name of Nevill's Fleet, to Sir James Cromer, and his son Sir William Cromer, in the 11th year of king Henry VII, sold it to John Isaak, who passed it away to Kendall, and he, in the beginning of king Henry VIII.'s reign, sold it to Sir John Fogge, of Repton, in Ashford, who died possessed of it in 1533, and his son, of the same name, before the end of it, passed it away to Mr. Thomas Rolfe, and he sold it, within a few years afterwards, to Stephen Hougham, gent. of this parish, who by his will in 1555, devised it to his youngest son Rich. Hougham, of Eastry, from one of whose descendants it was alienated to Sir Adam Spracklin, who sold it to one of the family of Septvans, alias Harflete, in which name it continued till within a few years after the death of king Charles I. when by a female heir Elizabeth it went in marriage to Thomas Kitchell, esq. in whose heirs it continued till it was at length, about the year 1720, alienated by one of them to Mr. Thomas Bambridge, warden of the Fleet prison, upon whose death it became vested in his heirs-at-law, Mr. James Bambridge, of the Temple, attorney at-law, and Thomas Bambridge, and they divided this estate, and that part of it allotted to the latter was soon afterwards alienated by him to Mr. Peter Moulson, of London, whose only daughter and heir carried it in marriage to Mr. Geo. Vaughan, of London, and he and the assignees of Mr. James Bambridge last mentioned, have lately joined in the conveyance of the whole fee of this manor to Mr. Joseph Solly, gent. of Sandwich, the present owner of it. There is not any court held for this manor.

 

In this district, and within this manor of Fleet lastmentioned, there was formerly a chapel of cose to the church of Ash, as that was to the church of Wingham, to which college, on its foundation by archbishop Peckham in 1286, the tithes, rents, obventions, &c of this chapel and district was granted by him, for the support in common of the provost and canons of it, with whom it remained till the suppression of it, anno I king Edward VI. The tithes, arising from this manor of Fleet, and the hamlet of Richborough, are now a part of the rectory of Ash, and of that particular part of it called Gilton parsonage, parcel of the possessions of the see of Canterbury, of which further mention will be made hereafter. There have not been any remains left of it for a long time part.

 

Richborough is a hamlet and district of land, in the south-east part of this parish, rendered famous from the Roman fort and town built there, and more so formerly, from the port or haven close adjoining to it.

 

It was in general called by the Romans by the plural name of Rutupiæ; for it must be observed that the æstuary, which at that time separated the Isle of Thanet from the main land of Kent, and was the general passage for shipping,had at each mouth of it, towards the sea, a fort and haven, called jointly Rutupiæ. That at the northern part and of it being now called Reculver, and that at the eastern, being the principal one, this of Richborough.

 

The name of it is variously spelt in different authors. By Ptolemy it is written [Patapiaia (?)] urbem; by Tacitus, according to the best reading, Portus, Rutupensis; by Antonine, in his Itinerary, Ritupas, and Ritupis Portum; by Ammianus, Ritupiæ statio; afterwards by the Saxons, Reptacester, and now Richborough.

 

The haven, or Portus Rutupinus, or Richborough, was very eminent in the time of the Romans, and much celebrated in antient history, being a safe and commodious harbour, stationem ex adverso tranquillam, as Ammianus calls it, situated at the entrance of the passage towards then Thamas, and becoming the general place of setting sail from Britain to the continent, and where the Roman fleets arrived, and so large and extensive was the bay of it, that it is supposed to have extended far beyond Sandwich on the one side, almost to Ramsgate cliffs on the other, near five miles in width, covering the whole of that flat of land on which Stonar and Sandwich were afterwards built, and extending from thence up the æstuary between the Isle of Thanet and the main land. So that Antonine might well name it the Port, in his Itinerary, [Kat exochin], from there being no other of like consequence, and from this circumstance the shore for some distance on each side acquired the general name of Littus Rutupinum, the Rutupian shore. (fn. 9) Some have contended that Julius Cæsar landed at Richborough, in his expeditions into Britain; but this opinion is refuted by Dr. Hasley in Phil, Trans. No. 193, who plainly proves his place of landing to have been in the Downs. The fort of Richborough, from the similarity of the remains of it to those of Reculver, seems to have been built about the same time, and by the same emperer, Serveris, about the year 205. It stands on the high hill, close to a deep precipice eastward, at the soot of which was the haven. In this fortress, so peculiarly strengthened by its situation, the Romans had afterwards a stationary garrison, and here they had likewise a pharos, of watch tower, the like as at Reculver and other places on this coast, as well to guide the shipping into the haven, as to give notice of the approach of enemies. It is by most supposed that there was, in the time of the Romans, near the fort, in like manner as at Reculver, a city or town, on the decline of the hill, south-westward from it, according to custom, at which a colony was settled by them. Prolemy, in his geography, reckons the city Rutpia as one of the three principal cities of Kent. (fn. 10) Orosius. and Bede too, expressly mention it as such; but when the haven decayed, and there was no longer a traffic and resort to this place, the town decayed likewise, and there have not been, for many ages since, any remains whatever of it left; though quantities of coins and Roman antiquities have been sound on the spot where it is supposed to have once stood.

 

During the latter part of the Roman empire, when the Saxons prevented all trade by sea, and insefted these coasts by frequent robberies, the second Roman legion, called Augusta, and likewise Britannica, which had been brought out of Germany by the emperor Claudius, and had resided for many years at the Isca Silurum, in Wales, was removed and stationed here, under a president or commander, præpositus, of its own, who was subordinate to the count of the Saxon shore, and continued so till the final departure of the Romans from Britain, in the year 410, when this fortress was left in the hands of the Britons, who were afterwards dispossessed of it by the Saxons, during whose time the harbour seems to have began to decay and to swerve up, the sea by degrees entirely deserting it at this place, but still leaving one large and commodious at Sandwich, which in process of time became the usual resort for shipping, and arose a flourishing harbour in its stead, as plainly appears by the histories of those times, by all of which, both the royal Saxon fleets, as well as those of the Danes, are said to sail for the port of Sandwich, and there to lie at different times; (fn. 11) and no further mention is made by any of them of this of Rutupiæ, Reptachester, or Richborough; so that the port being thus destroyed, the town became neglected and desolate, and with the castle sunk into a heap of ruins. Leland's description of it in king Henry VIII.'s reign, is very accurate, and gives an exceeding good idea of the progressive state of its decay to that time. He says, "Ratesburg otherwyse Richeboro was, of ever the ryver of Sture dyd turn his botom or old canale, withyn the Isle of the Thanet, and by Iykelyhod the mayn se came to the very foote of the castel. The mayn se ys now of yt a myle by reason of wose, that has there swollen up. The scite of the town or castel ys wonderful fair apon an hille. The walles the wich remayn ther yet be in cumpase almost as much as the tower of London. They have bene very hye thykke stronge and wel embateled. The mater of them is flynt mervelus and long brykes both white and redde after the Britons fascion. The sement was made of se sand and smaul pible. Ther is a great lykelyhod that the goodly hil abowte the castel and especially to Sandwich ward hath bene wel inhabited. Corne groweth on the hille yn bene mervelous plenty and yn going to plowgh ther hath owt of mynde fownd and now is mo antiquities of Romayne money than yn any place els of England surely reason speketh that this should be Rutupinum. For byside that the name sumwhat toucheth, the very near passage fro Cales Clyves or Cales was to Ratesburgh and now is to Sandwich, the which is about a myle of; though now Sandwich be not celebrated by cawse of Goodwine sandes and the decay of the haven. Ther is a good flyte shot of fro Ratesburg toward Sandwich a great dyke caste in a rownd cumpas as yt had bene for sens of menne of warre. The cumpase of the grownd withyn is not much above an acre and yt is very holo by casting up the yerth. They cawle the place there Lytleborough. Withyn the castel is a lytle paroche chirch of St. Augustine and an heremitage. I had antiquities of the heremite the which is an industrious man. Not far fro the hermitage is a cave wher men have sowt and digged for treasure. I saw it by candel withyn, and ther were conys. Yt was so straite that I had no mynd to crepe far yn. In the north side of the castel ys a hedde yn the walle, now fore defaced with wether. They call it queen Bertha hedde. Nere to that place hard by the wal was a pot of Romayne mony sownd."

 

The ruins of this antient castle stand upon the point of a hill or promontory, about a mile north-west from Sandwich, overlooking on each side, excepting towards the west, a great flat which appears by the lowness of it, and the banks of beach still shewing themselves in different places, to have been all once covered by the sea. The east side of this hill is great part of it so high and perpendicular from the flat at the foot of it, where the river Stour now runs, that ships with the greatest burthen might have lain close to it, and there are no signs of any wall having been there; but at the north end, where the ground rises into a natural terrace, so as to render one necessary, there is about 190 feet of wall left. Those on the other three sides are for the most part standing, and much more entire than could be expected, considering the number of years since they were built, and the most so of any in the kingdom, except Silchester. It is in shape an oblong square, containing within it a space of somewhat less than five acres. They are in general about ten feet high within, but their broken tops shew them to have been still higher. The north wall, on the outside, is about twice as high as it is within, or the other two, having been carried up from the very bottom of the hill, and it seems to have been somewhat longer than it is at present, by some pieces of it sallen down at the east end. The walls are about eleven feet thick. In the middle of the west side is the aperture of an entrance, which probably led to the city or town, and on the north side is another, being an entrance obliquely into the castle. Near the middle of the area are the ruins of some walls, full of bushes and briars, which seem as if some one had dug under ground among them, probably where once stood the prætorium of the Roman general, and where a church or chapel was afterwards erected, dedicated to St. Augustine, and taken notice of by Leland as such in his time. It appears to have been a chapel of ease to the church of Ash, for the few remaining inhabitants of this district, and is mentioned as such in the grant of the rectory of that church, anno 3 Edward VI. at which time it appears to have existed. About a furlong to the south, in a ploughed field, is a large circular work, with a hollow in the middle, the banks of unequal heights, which is supposed to have been an amphitheatre, built of turf, for the use of the garrison, the different heights of the banks having been occasioned by cultivation, and the usual decay, which must have happened from so great a length of time. These stations of the Romans, of which Richborough was one, were strong fortifications, for the most part of no great compass or extent, wherein were barracks for the loding of the soldiers, who had their usual winter quarters in them. Adjoining, or at no great distance from them, there were usually other, buildings forming a town; and such a one was here at Richborough, as has been already mentioned before, to which the station or fort was in the nature of a citadel, where the soldiers kept garrison. To this Tacitus seems to allude, when he says, "the works that in time of peace had been built, like a free town, not far from the camp, were destroyed, left they should be of any service to the enemy." (fn. 12) Which in great measure accounts for there being no kind of trace or remains left, to point out where this town once stood, which had not only the Romans, according to the above observation, but the Saxons and Danes afterwards, to carry forward at different æras the total destruction of it.

 

The burial ground for this Roman colony and station of Richborough, appears to have been on the hill at the end of Gilton town, in this parish, about two miles south-west from the castle, and the many graves which have been continually dug up there, in different parts of it, shew it to have been of general use for that purpose for several ages.

 

The scite of the castle at Richborough was part of the antient inheritance of the family of the Veres, earls of Oxford, from which it was alienated in queen Elizabeth's reign to Gaunt; after which it passed, in like manner as Wingham Barton before-described, to Thurbarne, and thence by marriage to Rivett, who sold it to Farrer, from whom it was alienated to Peter Fector, esq. of Dover, the present possessor of it. In the deed of conveyance it is thus described: And also all those the walls and ruins of the antient castle of Rutupium, now known by the name of Richborough castle, with the scite of the antient port and city of Rutupinum, being on and near the lands before-mentioned. About the walls of Richborough grows Fæniculum valgare, common fennel, in great plenty.

 

It may be learned from the second iter of Antonine's Itinerary, that there was once a Roman road, or highway from Canterbury to the port of Richborough, in which iter the two laft stations are, from Durovernum, Canterbury, to Richborough, ad portum Rutupis, xii miles; in which distance all the different copies of the Itinerary agree. Some parts of this road can be tracted at places at this time with certainty; and by the Roman burial-ground, usually placed near the side of a high road, at Gilton town, and several other Roman vestigia thereabouts, it may well be supposed to have led from Canterbury through that place to Richborough, and there is at this time from Goldston, in Ash, across the low-grounds to it, a road much harder and broader than usual for the apparent use of it, which might perhaps be some part of it.

 

Charities.

A person unknown gave four acres and an half of land, in Chapman-street, of the annual produce of 5l. towards the church assessments.

 

Thomas St. Nicholas, esq. of this parish, by deed about the year 1626, gave an annuity of 11. 5s. to be paid from his estate of Hoden, now belonging to the heirs of Nathaniel Elgar, esq. to be distributed yearly, 10s. to the repairing and keeping clean the Toldervey monument in this church, and 15s. on Christmas-day to the poor.

 

John Proude, the elder, of Ash, yeoman, by his will in 1626, ordered that his executor should erect upon his land adjoining to the church-yard, a house, which should be disposed of in future by the churchwardens and overseers, for a school-house, and for a storehouse, to lay in provision for the church and poor. This house is now let at 1l. per annum, and the produce applied to the use of the poor.

 

Richard Camden, in 1642, gave by will forty perches of land, for the use of the poor, and of the annual produce of 15s. now vested in the minister and churchwardens.

 

Gervas Cartwright, esq. and his two sisters, in 1710 and 1721, gave by deed an estate, now of the yearly value of 50l. for teaching fifty poor children to read, write, &c. vested in the minister, churchwardens, and other trustees.

 

The above two sisters, Eleanor and Anne Cartwright, gave besides 100l. for beautifying the chancel, and for providing two large pieces of plate for the communion service; and Mrs. Susan Robetts added two other pieces of plate for the same purpose.

 

There is a large and commodious workhouse lately built, for the use of the poor, to discharge the expence of which, 100l. is taken yearly out of the poor's rate, till the whole is discharged. In 1604, the charges of the poor were 29l. 15s. 11d. In 1779. 1000l.

 

There is a charity school for boys and girls, who are educated, but not cloathed.

 

The poor constantly relieved are about seventy-five, casually fifty-five.

 

This parish is within the ecclesiastical jurisdiction of the dioceseof Canterbury, and deanry of Bridge.

 

The church, which is dedicated to St. Nicholas, is a handsome building, of the form of a cross, consisting of two isles and two chancels, and a cross sept, having a tall spire steeple in the middle, in which are eight bells and a clock. It is very neat and handsome in the inside. In the high or south chancel is a monument for the Roberts's, arms, Argent, three pheons, sable, on a chief of the second, a greybound current of the first; another for the Cartwrights, arms, Or, a fess embattled, between three catherine wheels, sable. In the north wall is a monument for one of the family of Leverick, with his effigies, in armour, lying cross-legged on it; and in the same wall, westward, is another like monument for Sir John Goshall, with his effigies on it, in like manner, and in a hollow underneath, the effigies of his wife, in her head-dress, and wimple under her chin. A gravestone, with an inscription, and figure of a woman with a remarkable high high-dress, the middle part like a horseshoe inverted, for Jane Keriell, daughter of Roger Clitherow. A stone for Benjamin Longley, LL. B. minister of Ash twenty-nine years, vicar of Eynsford and Tonge, obt. 1783. A monument for William Brett, esq. and Frances his wife. The north chancel, dedicated to St. Nicholas, belongs to the manor of Molland. Against the north wall is a tomb, having on it the effigies of a man and woman, lying at full length, the former in armour, and sword by his side, but his head bare, a collar of SS about his neck, both seemingly under the middle age, but neither arms nor inscription, but it was for one of the family of Harflete, alias Septvans; and there are monuments and several memorials and brasses likewise for that family. A memorial for Thomas Singleton, M. D. of Molland, obt. 1710. One for John Brooke, of Brookestreet, obt. 1582, s. p. arms, Per bend, two eagles.—Several memorials for the Pekes, of Hills-court, and for Masters, of Goldstone. A monument for Christopher Toldervy, of Chartham, obt. 1618. A memorial for Daniel Hole, who, as well as his ancestors, had lived upwards of one hundred years at Goshall, as occupiers of it. In the north cross, which was called the chapel of St. Thomas the Martyr, was buried the family of St. Nicholas. The brass plates of whom, with their arms, are still to be seen. A tablet for Whittingham Wood, gent. obt. 1656. In the south cross, a monument for Richard Hougham, gent. of Weddington, and Elizabeth his wife, daughter of Edward Sanders, gent. of Norborne. An elegant monument for Mary, wife of Henry Lowman, esq. of Dortnued, in Germany. She died in 1737, and he died in 1743. And for lieutenant colonel Christopher Ernest Kien, obt. 1744, and Jane his wife, their sole daughter and heir, obt. 1762, and for Evert George Cousemaker, esq. obt. 1763, all buried in a vault underneath, arms, Or, on a mount vert, a naked man, bolding a branch in his hand, proper, impaling per bend sinister, argent and gules, a knight armed on borjeback, holding a tilting spear erect, the point downwards, all counterchanged. On the font is inscribed, Robert Minchard, arms, A crescent, between the points of it a mullet. Several of the Harfletes lie buried in the church-yard, near the porch, but their tombs are gone. On each side of the porch are two compartments of stone work, which were once ornamented with brasses, most probably in remembrance of the Harfleets, buried near them. At the corner of the church-yard are two old tombs, supposed for the family of Alday.

 

In the windows of the church were formerly several coats of arms, and among others, of Septvans, alias Harflete, Notbeame, who married Constance, widow of John Septvans; Brooke, Ellis, Clitherow, Oldcastle, Keriell, and Hougham; and the figures of St. Nicholas, Keriell, and Hougham, kneeling, in their respective surcoats of arms, but there is not any painted glass left in any part of the church or chancels.

 

John Septvans, about king Henry VII.'s reign, founded a chantry, called the chantry of the upper Hall, as appears by the will of Katherine Martin, of Faversham, sometime his wife, in 1497. There was a chantry of our blessed Lady, and another of St. Stephen likewise, in it; both suppressed in the 1st year of king Edward VI. when the former of them was returned to be of the clear yearly certified value of 15l. 11s. 1½d. (fn. 13)

 

The church of Ash was antiently a chapel of east to that of Wingham, and was, on the foundation of the college there in 1286, separated from it, and made a distinct parish church of itself, and then given to the college, with the chapels likewise of Overland and Fleet, in this parish, appurtenant to this church; which becoming thus appropriated to the college, continued with it till the suppression of it in king Edward VI.'s reign, when this part of the rectory or parsonage appropriate, called Overland parsonage, with the advowson of the church, came, with the rest of the possessions of the college, into the hands of the crown, where the advowson of the vicarage, or perpetual curacy of it did not remain long, for in the year 1558, queen Mary granted it, among others, to the archbishop. But the above-mentioned part of the rectory, or parsonage appropriate of Ash, with those chapels, remained in the crown, till queen Elizabeth, in her 3d year, granted it in exchange to archbishop Parker, who was before possessed of that part called Goldston parsonage, parcel of the late dissolved priory of St. Gregory, by grant from king Henry VIII. so that now this parish is divided into two distinct parsonages, viz. of Overland and of Goldston, which are demised on separate beneficial leases by the archbishop, the former to the heirs of Parker, and the latter, called Gilton parsonage, from the house and barns of it being situated in that hamlet, to George Gipps, esq. M. P. for Canterbury. The patronage of the perpetual curacy remains parcel of the possessions of the see of Canterbury.

 

¶At the time this church was appropriated to the college of Wingham, a vicarage was endowed in it, which after the suppression of the college came to be esteemed as a perpetual curacy. It is not valued in the king's books. The antient stipend paid by the provost, &c. to the curate being 16l. 13s. 4d. was in 1660, augmented by archbishop Juxon with the addition of 33l. 6s. 8d. per annum; and it was afterwards further augmented by archbishop Sheldon, anno 28 Charles II. with twenty pounds per annum more, the whole to be paid by the several lessees of these parsonages. Which sum of seventy pounds is now the clear yearly certified value of it. In 1588 here were communicants five hundred; in 1640, eight hundred and fifty. So far as appears by the registers, the increase of births in this parish is almost double to what they were two hundred years ago.

 

www.british-history.ac.uk/survey-kent/vol9/pp191-224

I bought this card about 25 years ago for 50p. I had worked at Coventry Colliery so had a link with the area. Exhall Colliery, near Bedworth, Warwickshire. Mining in the Exhall area dates back to the 16th century. There was an Exhall Colliery in existence in 1774 consisting of 8 shafts.

The Exhall Mining Company incorporated in 1852 with a capital of £50,000 in £1 shares.

In 1857 a limited company was formed by Edward Wilson who died in 1895, then the colliery was run by his executors.

Traded as Exhall Colliery Co. Ltd. until 21 December 1906.

In 1913 Exhall Colliery took over Newdigate Colliery which had gone into liquidation

Exhall Colliery & Brickworks Ltd until May 1939.

Hawkesbury & Exhall Collieries Ltd.

The history of Exhall Colliery is complicated with workings in pits whose workings were absorbed into the later colliery back into the 18th century.

The brickworks closed in 1939.

The colliery closed on April 2nd 1938.

A new company was formed in April 1939 as Hawkesbury & Exhall Colliery Ltd.

A serious fire broke out in May 1943 and the mine was sealed on 29th May 1943

The mine was officially abandoned on May 9th 1944.

The NCB re-opened the workings in 1947 until another fire caused it to be abandoned again in February 1949.

The pithead was demolished in July 1968.

There was a major accident at the colliery on September 21st, 1915. 14 colliers died from carbon monoxide poisoning.

(From the excellent Nuneaton and North Warwickshire Local & Family History web site)

"The State Department also held against me my friendship with Einstein."

 

1952. Otto Nathan, a life-long pacifist and socialist, escaped Nazi Germany and then served as an economist in the Roosevelt administration. He was one of Albert Einstein's closest friends and the executor of his literary estate. At the height of the McCarthy period, Otto Nathan, along with Paul Robeson and others, was denied a passport by the State Department. Challenging the decision in court, he was finally successful in winning his passport. Later he was called before the House Committee on Un-American Activities, where, following Einstein's suggestion to those called before the Committee, he invoked the First Amendment at the risk of imprisonment.

 

From the set: "Portraits: Social Activists of the Last Century."

Its been a wild ride finishing this in the last few days of SHIPtember. This is Project NightHammer! This digital build is not structurlly sound enough to hold its own weight in real life (hence I dont think it really counts for SHIPtember lol). It is over 100 studs long and it was built start to finish in the month of September.

 

Night Hammer was a special Executor-Class "Super" Star Destroyer that was painted black and used special cloaking technology developed by the Empire. The Night Hammer met its fate in the hands of Admiral Natasi Daala in her attack on Yavin 4.

The first Ida Rentoul Outhwaite Children's Library Stained Glass Window, "Regatta" is taken from the story "Serana: The Bush Fairy", from the book "Fairyland", published by A. and C. Black in London in 1926. The original illustration was executed in pen and ink, so it is brought to colourful life in the pink, brown, green and golden yellow stained glass panel. Juvenile faeries, both male and female, naughty pixies and frogs ride down a river in everything from canoes to improvised vessels made of nutshells, cups and lily pads with paper sails. One of two water police frogs in the bottom right of the panel hooks a naughty pixie as he sails by with his silver topped cane, making the whole scene quite a chaotic one. The faerie girls all wear contemporary 1920s sun dresses, and have either fashionable Marcelle Wave or bobbed hairstyles, which is contrary to the little boy faerie, who seems to have what we may consider to be more traditional faerie garb. The faerie girl at the top right of the melee even has a 1920s stub handled parasol to shade her! The canoe rowed by a frog with two girl faeries in it also has a connection to 1920s modernity, with a Chinese lantern hanging from the stern of the boat: a common site on punts at the time.

 

In 1923 with Fitzroy still very much a working class area of Melbourne with pockets of poverty, the parish of St. Mark the Evangelist decided to address the need of the poor in the inner Melbourne suburb. Architects Gawler and Drummond were commissioned to design a two storey red brick Social Settlement Building. It was opened in 1926 by the Vicar of St. Mark the Evangelist, the Reverend Robert G. Nichols (known affectionately amongst the parish as Brother Bill). Known today as the Community Centre, the St. Mark the Evangelist Social Settlements Building looks out onto George Street and also across the St. Mark the Evangelist's forecourt. When it opened, the Social Settlement Building's facilities included a gymnasium, club rooms and children's library.

 

Opened in 1926, the children's library, which was situated in the corner room of the Social Settlements Building, is believed to be the first known free dedicated children's library in Victoria. The library was given to the children of Fitzroy by Mrs. T. Hackett, in memory of her late husband. The library contained over 3,000 books, as well as children's magazines and even comics. The Social Settlements Building was only erected because Brother Bill organised the commitment of £1,000.00 each from various wealthy businessmen and philanthropists around Melbourne. Mrs Hackett's contribution was the library of £1,000.00 worth of books. Another internationally famous resident of the neighbourhood, Australian children's book illustrator Ida Rentoul Outhwaite, then at the zenith of her career, was engaged by the relentless Brother Bill to create something for the library. Ida donated four stained glass windows each with a hand-painted panel executed by her, based upon illustrations from her books, most notably "Elves and Fairies" which was published to great acclaim in Australia and sold internationally in 1916 and "Fairyland" which had been published earlier that year. These four hand painted stained glass windows were equated to the value of £1,000.00, but are priceless today, as they are the only public works of Ida Rentoul Outhwaite ever commissioned that have been executed in this medium. Ida Rentoul Outhwaite was only ever commissioned to create one other public work; a series of four panels executed in watercolour with pencil underdrawing in 1910 for the Prince Henry Hospital's children's wards in Melbourne (now demolished). Of her panels, only two are believed still to be in existence, buried within the hospital archives. The four Ida Rentoul Outhwaite stained glass windows each depict faeries, pixies, Australian native animals and children, taken from her book illustrations. At the time of photographing, the windows - three overlooking George Street and one St. Mark the Evangelist's forecourt - were located in the community lounge, which served as a drop-in lounge and kitchen for Fitzroy's homeless and marginalised citizens. Today the space has been re-purposed as offices for the Anglicare staff who run the St. Mark's Community Centre, possibly as a way to protect the precious windows from coming to any harm. The only down-side to this is that they are not as easily accessed or viewed as when I photographed them, making my original visit to St. Mark the Evangalist in 2009 extremely fortuitous.

 

The Ida Rentoul Outhwaite Children's Library Stained Glass Windows are one of Australia's greatest hidden treasures, which seems apt when you consider that the pixies and faeries they depict are also often in hiding when we read about them in children's books and the faerie tales of our childhood. The fact that they are hidden, because it is necessary to enter a little-known and undistinguished building in order to see them, ensures their protection and survival. The windows are unique, not only because they are the only stained glass windows designed and hand-painted by Ida Rentoul Outhwaite, but because they are the earliest and only examples of stained glass art in Australia that deals with theme of childhood.

 

I am indebted to Peter Bourke who ran the St. Mark's Community Centre in 2009 for giving me the privilege of seeing these beautiful and rare windows created by one of my favourite children's book artists on a hot November afternoon, without me having made prior arrangements. I also appreciate him allowing me the opportunity to photograph them in great detail. I will always be grateful to him for such a wonderful and moving experience.

 

Ida Sherbourne Outhwaite (1888 - 1960) was an Australian children's book illustrator. She was born on the 9th of June 1888 in the inner Melbourne suburb of Carlton. She was the daughter of the of Presbyterian Reverend John Laurence Rentoul and his wife Annie Isobel. Her family was both literary and artistic, and as such, gifted Ida was encouraged from an early age to embrace her talent of drawing. Her elder sister, Annie Rattray Rentoul (1882 - 1978), was likewise encouraged to write, and both would later form a successful partnership. In 1903 six fairy stories written by Annie and illustrated by Ida were published in the ladies' journal "New Idea". The following year the Rentoul sisters collaborated on a book called "Mollie's Bunyip" which was received with instant success because it combined the idea of European faeries, witches and elves and the Australian bush. "Mollie's Staircase" followed in 1906. In 1908 the Rentoul sisters published their first substantial story book, "The Lady of the Blue Beads". On 9 December 1909 Ida married Arthur Grenbry Outhwaite (1875-1938), manager of the Perpetual Executors and Trustees Association of Australia Ltd. (Annie remained unmarried her entire life). After her marriage, Ida was known as Ida Rentoul Outhwaite, but did not publish anything substantial as she established her family and household until part way through the Great War. In 1916 she brought out her first coloured work; "Elves and Fairies", a de luxe edition produced entirely in Australia by Thomas Lothian. The success of the book, with its delicate watercolour plates, was due both to Ida's artistic talent and to the business acumen of her husband, who provided a £400.00 subsidy to ensure a high-quality production and consigned royalties to the Red Cross, thereby encouraging vice-regal patronage. "Elves and Fairies" is still her best known and loved work. Encouraged by her latest success, Ida travelled to Europe after hostilities ended and in 1920 exhibited in Paris and London. The critics compared her to other artists of the golden years of children's illustration such as Arthur Rackham and Edmund Dulac, thus sealing her international success. She signed a contract with British book publishers A. & C. Black who published five books for her over the next decade, including "The Enchanted Forest" (1921), with text by her husband, and, probably the most popular of all the Rentoul sisters' collaborations, "The Little Green Road to Fairyland" (1922). "The Fairyland of Ida Rentoul Outhwaite" (1926), another sumptuous volume, with text by her husband and sister, was less successful. A. & C. Black also produced a number of postcard series using her illustrations from "Elves and Fairies" as well as her other books published by them. In 1930 the last of her books published by A. & C. Black was released, but already times were changing, and the interest in Ida's work was rapidly fading. Angus & Robertson brought out two more books in 1933 and 1935 but they received relatively little attention. Her last two exhibitions, which between 1916 and 1928 were almost annual events, were held in 1933. The Second World War changed the world, and Ida and Annie's work was relegated to a bygone era, shunned and forgotten. Ida suffered the loss of both of her sons during the war, and she spent her last years sharing a flat in Caulfield with her sister, where, survived by her two daughters, she died on 25 June 1960. She did not live to see the resurgence of interest in her work some twenty-five years later, when in 1985, her picture of "The Little Witch" from "Elves and Fairies" was published on an Australian stamp, opening the fairy world of Ida Rentoul Outhwaite to a whole new generation of children and adults alike.

 

Duneira house and gardens at Mount Macedon.

 

(Extract from Macedon Ranges cultural heritage and landscape study/Trevor Budge and Associates. 4 v. 1994.).

Henry Suetonius Officer reputedly aquired the Duneira site from

1872-1877 (Blocks 4,5,10,11,14) paying some £84 for 38 acres but

rate listings give Robert Officer as the owner. .

.

Suetonius Henry Officer (1830-1883).

Officer was born in Hullgreen, New Norfolk, Tasmania 1830, the

son of Sir Robert & Lady Officer. He was educated in Edinburgh

with his brother, Charles, and returned to the colonies, seeking

gold in Victoria but eventually settling for pastoralism in

company with his brothers and Charles Miles{ ibid.}. They managed

stations in the Wimmera and the Riverina, James marrying in 1866

and commencing construction of a 20 room homestead at Murray

Downs & Willakool, two adjoining properties fronting the Murray

River. After experimentation with irrigation, via steam pumps and

windmills, he was able to develop extensive orchards and crops. He was also, like his brother, interested in

acclimatisation, having developed an ostrich farm on his property

(Charles was a council member of the Zoological & Acclimatisation

Society for 10 years, president in 1887). .

.

Blighted by illness, Suetonius reputedly moved to Leighwood,

Toorak (Melbourne) in 1881, having erected the first stage of

Duneira at Mount Macedon, but died two years later. However his son, Henry jnr. was

born at South Yarra in 1869 and his next child, Jessie, was born

at Macedon in 1877, indicating that he was in residence at both

places prior to the dates previously supposed..

.

Suetonius probably commissioned the first stage of Duneira to be

erected as a summer house between c1874-6. The architect Levi

Powell is thought to have designed a house for him there around

that date. The first improvements listed on the site were

stables in 1874 when Robert Officer was rated as owning the site. The house was reputedly not occupied regularly

until c1881 when Suetonius moved to Toorak.

However it appears he and his family were in residence at Duneira

by 1877..

.

When Suetonius died in 1883 his wife, Mary Lillias Rigg Officer

(nee Cairns), of Glenbervie, Glenferrie Road, Toorak was the

co-executor of the estate, with merchant Robert Harper; she is

the rate occupier in 1888. Mrs Officer was the

sister of Mrs Robert Harper (Huntly Burn) and Mrs John C lloyd

(Montpelier, later Timsbury): all three houses were reputedly

built in the same period... .

.

The house bricks for the first stage were said to have come from

the Macedon Brick Kiln (once near the Macedon railway station,

set up in c1888-9?) with external walls built in 14" Flemish bond

from slop-moulded bricks (9 inch by 2.1/2). The bricks were reputedly carted

from Macedon by Cogger. The footings were of bluestone

and reputedly dressed sandstone blocks also survive, suggesting

that the first stage was face brick with stone quoins and the

next renovation c1888 added wings and a cement coating to the

whole complex. Floor frames were reputedly supported on stone

dwarf walls and joists were 6x2.1/2 inch jarrah, with flooring

being 6 inch pine}. Seaweed was apparently used for

ceiling insulation..

.

The servants' wing verandah was skillion in form with timber

posts with classical capitals. The main verandah had coupled

posts (rebuilt with single posts) a panelled frieze and slimmer

capitals set just under the frieze rail}. The

balustrade may have been of single cast-iron balusters..

.

Just prior to the sale to the speculator, James Smith Reid in

1890, and during the occupation of Edward Dyer, major additions

were made to the house complex and a reputedly a caretaker's

lodge was placed at the gate (survives, altered c1920s) but this

appears to have been added by Reid in the early 1890s. .

.

The added rooms were reputedly: billiard (32'x24') and dining

rooms, kitchen, servants bathroom, service block with 5 rooms

(engine room, dairy, pantry, store, boiler room, built of

Northcote machine made 9" brickwork). Damp proof coursing was

used in these additions compared to the slate of the first stage

and acetylene gas (engine room) was thought used for lighting

from this period, as reticulated in 1.1.2" mains and 1/2 inch

branches to internal and some external verandah lights.

Cast-iron elaborately detailed water radiators were also used,

with hot water pumped from the boiler room, and later a duplicate

boiler allowed hot water to be reticulated taps in the house{

ibid.}..

.

The description in rate books expands to villa and cottages (on

37 acres) for the first time under Reid in c1893 but the annual

valuation had already peeked in 1888 at £200 in the occupation of

Edward Dyer. An Edward Dyer was listed at that time as a fruiterer in

Burwood Road, Hawthorn..

.

The water supply is from a concrete tank fed by a spring.

Outbuildings include timber clad stables, storerooms,

blacksmith's shop, coachman's room, milking bails, hay shed and a

green house. The stables (extended) were described as having had

a shingled gabled roof (rear skillion) with loft entered via an

external stair at the north end. It had a blacksmith's

shop (altered for garage c1941), carriage and coachman's rooms,

two stores and vertically boarded main doors{ ibid.,p24}. The

milking and hay sheds had hipped roof forms and timber cladding

and frame. The interior was white-washed. The greenhouse

in the secret hedged garden is of a later date, with a timber

frame built up on 11" cavity brickwork walls, with a brick floor

and heated water pipes under each shelf. The boiler is near the

entry..

.

The `Gisborne Gazette' reported on Duneira in 1903 under the

heading of `A Popular Health Resort':.

`Duneira certainly merits a few remarks though beautiful

residences and grounds are by no means rare in that locality..

(when Reid purchased it, it was `little better than a wilderness'

and he had spared no expense to restore it).. After passing the

lodge at the main entrance, a broad serpentine drive leads up to

the house and from there the grounds are laid out in broad

sloping lawns surmounted with choice borders and fringed with

trees which however do not interfere to any great extent with the

view. There is of course no lack of flowers which grow

luxuriantly on the mount but the great feature of Duneira is the

lawns, those open green expanses which delight the eye at all

times of the year. the secret of this perennial verdure is to be

found in the copious water supply with which Macedon is blessed

(spring at rear of house, tapped by tunnelling 40m into the hill,

ie. grass grows up to base of Monterey pines)..

.

During Reid's time there, the valuation increased marginally in

1899-1900 and again soon after, with Reid's address being given

as care of Rosstrevor Magill, South Australia, in c1909-10. JS Reid died in 1922, leaving

the property to the management of JS Reid jun..

.

The main garden elements are: sweeping lawns, box hedges, weeping beech and cherry, extensive hedges (holly, laurel), a hedged

`secret garden' with green house, mature firs, elm and chestnut ì

avenues. There is also a fountain and a wide spreading weeping elm to the rear of the house, near the tennis court..

.

Significant Trees:.

`Ulmus x hollandica'.

`Prunus' "shirotae".

`Albies procera'.

`Ilex kingiana'.

The village of Mavis Enderby in East Lindsey, Lincolnshire.

 

An alternative spelling for the town may be "Malvyssh Enderby", as seen in a legal record in 1430, where the plaintiffs are the executors of a man whose surname is Enderby, and the defendant lives in Malvyssh Enderby.

 

Mavis Enderby had a peal of bells named after it, called The Brides of Enderby, which is mentioned in Jean Ingelow's poem The High Tide on the Coast of Lincolnshire 1571: in the poem the ringing of the Enderby bells is the generally recognised signal of approaching danger to the neighbouring countryside: "Came down that kindly message free, the Brides of Mavis Enderby". An extract from the poem is at the head of Rudyard Kipling's short story, At the Pit's Mouth.

 

Douglas Adams used the name "Mavis Enderby" in his spoof The Meaning of Liff dictionary "of things that there aren't any words for yet". Adams assigned meanings to place names based on what he imagined them to mean, Mavis Enderby becoming "The almost-completely-forgotten girlfriend from your distant past for whom your wife has a completely irrational jealousy and hatred".

 

Information sources:

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mavis_Enderby

 

Building instructions and .ldr file available freely here. I strongly advise to have a look at it before doing anything.

 

Credits inside the building instructions. Enjoy!

JANGKA MILLENIUM

 

[TNK] X [TRV] - EXECUTOR BLADE

 

KNIFE PARTY // Gouched Face Cuts // Evo X

 

[GA.EG] Jade HDGenX Bento Head

Ightham Mote (/ˈaɪtəm ˈmoʊt/), Ightham, Kent is a medieval moated manor house. The architectural writer John Newman describes it as "the most complete small medieval manor house in the county". Ightham Mote and its gardens are owned by the National Trust and are open to the public. The house is a Grade I listed building, and parts of it are a Scheduled Ancient Monument.

 

The origins of the house date from circa 1340-1360. The earliest recorded owner is Sir Thomas Cawne, who was resident towards the middle of the 14th century. The house passed by the marriage of his daughter Alice to Nicholas Haute and their descendants, their grandson Richard Haute being Sheriff of Kent in the late 15th century. It was then purchased by Sir Richard Clement in 1521. In 1591, Sir William Selby bought the estate.

 

The house remained in the Selby family for nearly 300 years. Sir William was succeeded by his nephew, also Sir William, who is notable for handing over the keys of Berwick-upon-Tweed to James I on his way south to succeed to the throne. He married Dorothy Bonham of West Malling but had no children. The Selbys continued until the mid-19th century when the line faltered with Elizabeth Selby, the widow of a Thomas who disinherited his only son. During her reclusive tenure, Joseph Nash drew the house for his multi-volume illustrated history Mansions of England in the Olden Time, published in the 1840s. The house passed to a cousin, Prideaux John Selby, a distinguished naturalist, sportsman and scientist. On his death in 1867, he left Ightham Mote to a daughter, Mrs Lewis Marianne Bigge. Her second husband, Robert Luard, changed his name to Luard-Selby. Ightham Mote was rented-out in 1887 to American Railroad magnate William Jackson Palmer and his family. For three years Ightham Mote became a centre for the artists and writers of the Aesthetic Movement with visitors including John Singer Sargent, Henry James, and Ellen Terry. When Mrs Bigge died in 1889, the executors of her son Charles Selby-Bigge, a Shropshire land agent, put the house up for sale in July 1889.

 

The Mote was purchased by Thomas Colyer-Fergusson. He and his wife brought up their six children at the Mote. In 1890-1891, he carried out much repair and restoration, which allowed the survival of the house after centuries of neglect. Ightham Mote was opened to the public one afternoon a week in the early 20th century.

 

Sir Thomas Colyer-Fergusson's third son, Riversdale, died aged 21 in 1917 in the Third Battle of Ypres, and won a posthumous Victoria Cross. A wooden cross in the New Chapel is in his memory. The oldest brother, Max, was killed at the age of 49 in a bombing raid on an army driving school near Tidworth in 1940 during World War II. One of the three daughters, Mary (called Polly) married Walter Monckton.

 

On Sir Thomas's death in 1951, the property and the baronetcy passed to Max's son, James. The high costs of upkeep and repair of the house led him to sell the house and auction most of the contents. The sale took place in October 1951 and lasted three days. It was suggested that the house be demolished to harvest the lead on the roofs, or that it be divided into flats. Three local men purchased the house: William Durling, John Goodwin and John Baldock. They paid £5,500 for the freehold, in the hope of being able to secure the future of the house.

 

In 1953, Ightham Mote was purchased by Charles Henry Robinson, an American of Portland, Maine, United States. He had known the property when stationed nearby during the Second World War. He lived there for only fourteen weeks a year for tax reasons. He made many urgent repairs, and partly refurnished the house with 17th-century English pieces. In 1965, he announced that he would give Ightham Mote and its contents to the National Trust. He died in 1985 and his ashes were immured just outside the crypt. The National Trust took possession in that year.

 

In 1989, the National Trust began an ambitious conservation project that involved dismantling much of the building and recording its construction methods before rebuilding it. During this process, the effects of centuries of ageing, weathering, and the destructive effect of the deathwatch beetle were highlighted. The project ended in 2004 after revealing numerous examples of structural and ornamental features which had been covered up by later additions. The final year of construction was followed by the television series Time Team.

 

Originally dating to around 1320, the building is important because it has most of its original features; successive owners effected relatively few changes to the main structure, after the completion of the quadrangle with a new chapel in the 16th century. Pevsner described it as "the most complete small medieval manor house in the county", and it remains an example that shows how such houses would have looked in the Middle Ages. Unlike most courtyard houses of its type, which have had a range demolished, so that the house looks outward, Nicholas Cooper observes that Ightham Mote wholly surrounds its courtyard and looks inward, into it, offering little information externally. The construction is of "Kentish ragstone and dull red brick," the buildings of the courtyard having originally been built of timber and subsequently rebuilt in stone.

 

The house has more than 70 rooms, all arranged around a central courtyard, "the confines circumscribed by the moat." The house is surrounded on all sides by a square moat, crossed by three bridges. The earliest surviving evidence is for a house of the early 14th century, with the Great Hall, to which were attached, at the high, or dais end, the Chapel, Crypt and two Solars. The courtyard was completely enclosed by increments on its restricted moated site, and the battlemented tower was constructed in the 15th century. Very little of the 14th century survives on the exterior behind rebuilding and refacing of the 15th and 16th centuries.

 

The structures include unusual and distinctive elements, such as the porter's squint, a narrow slit in the wall designed to enable a gatekeeper to examine a visitor's credentials before opening the gate. An open loccia with a fifteenth-century gallery above, connects the main accommodations with the gatehouse range. The courtyard contains a large, 19th century dog kennel. The house contains two chapels; the New Chapel, of c.1520, having a barrel roof decorated with Tudor roses. Parts of the interior were remodelled by Richard Norman Shaw.

 

(Wikipedia)

 

Ightham Mote (sprich wie "item moot") ist ein mittelalterliches Herrenhaus mit Wassergraben in der Nähe des Dorfes Ightham bei Sevenoaks in der englischen Grafschaft Kent.

 

Ightham Mote und die umgebenden Gärten werden heute vom National Trust verwaltet und sind öffentlich zugänglich. English Heritage hat das Herrenhaus als historisches Gebäude I. Grades gelistet und Teile davon gelten als Scheduled Monument.

 

Die eigentliche Bedeutung des ursprünglich um 1320 entstandenen Gebäudes liegt in der Geringfügigkeit der Änderungen, die nachfolgende Besitzer nach der Fertigstellung des Vierseitgebäudes mit einer neuen Kapelle im 16. Jahrhundert an der Grundstruktur vornehmen ließen. Nikolaus Pevsner nannte es „(...) das kompletteste kleine mittelalterliche Herrenhaus auf dem Land.“ Es zeigt heute noch, wie solche Häuser im Mittelalter ausgesehen haben. Anders als die meisten anderen Hofhäuser dieses Typs, von denen jeweils Teile im Laufe der Zeit abgerissen wurde, sodass das Haus sich nach außen orientiert, besitzt Ightham Mote noch alle vier Gebäudeseiten um den Hof und orientiert sich so nach innen. Nach außen zeigt es wenig Details und Informationen.

 

Es gibt mehr als 70 Räume in dem Haus, alle arrangiert um den Hof in der Mitte. Auf allen Seiten umgibt ein Graben mit quadratischem Querschnitt das Gebäude. Drei Brücken überqueren ihn. Die früheste urkundliche Erwähnung eines Hauses an dieser Stelle datiert auf den Anfang des 14. Jahrhunderts. Es hatte einen Rittersaal, an dessen oberes Ende eine Kapelle, eine Krypta und zwei Solare angeschlossen waren. Der Hof wurde dann durch Zubauten in seiner begrenzten, grabenbewehrten Lage und den zinnenbewehrten Turm im 15. Jahrhundert vollständig umschlossen. Außen ist nach den Umbauten im 15. und 16. Jahrhundert nur wenig vom 14. Jahrhundert bis heute erhalten geblieben.

 

Das Grundgerüst enthält unübliche und einzigartige Elemente, wie z. B. der Portiersspion, ein schmaler Schlitz in der Mauer, der es dem Torwächter ermöglichte, das Beglaubigungsschreiben eines Besuchers zu prüfen, bevor er ihn einließ. Eine offene Loggia mit einer Galerie aus dem 15. Jahrhundert darüber verbindet die Hauptwohnräume mit dem Torhaustrakt. Eine große Hundehütte aus dem Ende des 19. Jahrhunderts für einen Bernhardiner namens Dido ist die einzige, die als historisches Gebäude I. Grades gelistet ist.

 

Man erzählt sich, dass im 19. Jahrhundert ein weibliches Skelett eingemauert hinter einer nicht benutzten Seitentüre gefunden wurde. Diese Türe in der Spezialsendung Nr. 21 der archäologischen Fernsehserie ‚‘Time Team‘‘ zu sehen. Tatsächlich handelt es sich dabei um einen Abstellraum. Es gibt keine Aufzeichnungen über den Fund eines Skeletts und so nahm man das Gerücht nicht in den 2004 verlegten Führer auf.

 

In der historischen Novelle A Rose for the Crown von Anne Easter Smith, die im 15. Jahrhundert spielt, ist Ightham Mote häufig erwähnt. Die Novelle Green Darkness von Anya Seton spielt auch hauptsächlich in Ightham Mote. Die Legende vom eingemauerten Skelett spielt darin eine wesentliche Rolle.

 

Das Haus blieb fast 300 Jahre lang in den Händen der Familie Selby. Sir William Selby kaufte es 1591 von Charles Allen. Ihm folgte sein Neffe, ebenfalls William Selby, nach, der bekanntermaßen die Stadtschlüssel von Berwick-upon-Tweed an Jakob I. übergab, als dieser auf dem Weg nach Süden war, um den Thron zu übernehmen. Dieser William Selby heiratete Dorothy Bonham aus West Malling, aber das Paar blieb kinderlos. Dennoch verblieb das Anwesen in den Händen der Familie, bis diese Linie Mitte des 19. Jahrhunderts mit Elizabeth Selby, der Witwe eines Thomas Selby, der seinen einzigen Sohn enterbte, endete. Das Anwesen ging an einen Vetter, Prideaux John Selby, einen ausgewiesenen Naturalisten, Sportler und Wissenschaftler, über. Nach dessen Tod 1867 vererbte er Ightham House an seine Tochter, Mrs Lewis Marianne Bigge. Deren zweiter Mann, Robert Luard, änderte seinen Namen in Luard-Selby. Sie starb 1889 und die Nachlassverwalter ihres Sohnes Charles Selby-Bigge, einem Makler aus Shropshire, boten das Anwesen im Juli 1889 zum Verkauf an.

 

Ightham Mote wurde von Thomas Colyer-Fergusson erworben, der seine sechs Kinder in dem Herrenhaus aufzog. In den Jahren 1890–1891 ließ er umfangreiche Reparatur- und Restaurierungsarbeiten ausführen und so ist das Haus trotz jahrhundertelanger Vernachlässigung bis heute erhalten. Er ließ die Rumpelkammer in ein Billiardzimmer umbauen, Badezimmer und Zentralheizung einbauen, arrangierte die Küche und das Speisezimmer neu und ließ ungezählte Reparaturen durchführen. Anfang des 20. Jahrhunderts wurde Ightham Mote einen Nachmittag pro Woche der Öffentlichkeit zugänglich gemacht.

 

Sir Thomas Colyer-Fergussons dritter Sohn, Riversdale, fiel 1917 im Alter von 21 Jahren in der dritten Flandernschlacht. Ihm wurde posthum ein Victoria Cross verliehen. In der neuen Kapelle erinnert ein Holzkreuz an ihn. Der älteste Bruder, Max, starb 1940 im Alter von 49 Jahren bei einem Bombenangriff auf eine Armeefahrschule bei Tidworth. Eine der drei Töchter, Mary (auch „Polly“ genannt), heiratete Walter Monckton.

 

Im Zweiten Weltkrieg schlief die dezimierte Dienerschaft in der Krypta, die Schutz vor Fliegerangriffen bot. Ein deutscher Pilot, der mit dem Fallschirm auf dem Anwesen landete, nachdem sein Flugzeug abgeschossen worden war, wurde eine Nacht dort eingesperrt.

 

Nach dem Tod von Sir Thomas 1951 fielen das Anwesen und der Titel eine Barons an Maxs Sohn James, der nie heiratete. Die Kosten für die Erhaltung und Reparatur des Herrenhauses zwangen ihn, das Haus zu verkaufen und den größten Teil des Inventars versteigern zu lassen. Die Versteigerung fand im Oktober 1951 statt und dauerte drei Tage. Man schlug vor, das Haus abzureißen und das Blei auf dem Dach wiederzuverwerten oder das Haus in Wohnungen aufzuteilen. Drei Männer aus der Gegend taten sich zusammen, um das Herrenhaus zu retten, weil es ihnen so gefiel: William Durling, John Goodwin und John Baldock. Sie zahlten £ 5500 für die Grundstücksrechte und hofften, dass sich weiterer, reicherer Wohltäter anschließen würde.

 

1953 kaufte der unverheiratete Charles Henry Robinson aus Portland in Maine das Haus. Aus steuerlichen Gründen konnte er das Haus nur 14 Wochen im Jahr bewohnen. Er ließ viele dringende Reparaturen durchführen und möblierte die Innenräume teilweise mit englischen Stücken aus dem 17. Jahrhundert. 1965 kündigte er an, dass er Ightham Mote und seinen Inhalt dem National Trust überlassen wollte. Er starb 1985 und seine Asche wurde außen an der Krypta eingemauert. Im selben Jahr übernahm der National Trust das Anwesen.

 

1989 begann der National Trust ein ambitioniertes Erhaltungsprojekt, das auch eine weitgehende Demontage der Gebäude umfasste, um deren Konstruktionsprinzip aufzunehmen. Danach wurden sie wiederhergestellt. Das Projekt endete 2004 nach der Entdeckung zahlreicher struktureller und ornamentaler Details, die von späteren Umbauten verdeckt waren. Die Kosten dieser Arbeiten werden auf mehr als £ 10 Mio. geschätzt.

 

(Wikipedia)

Spencer's Building:

 

The land at the site occupies part of allotments 4 and 5 of section 35 which were acquired respectively by James Donald in 1852 and the well-known Benjamin Cribb in 1854. Cribb and Donald co-operated in subdivision and resubdivision of the allotments with the land under study passing to William Hood in 1876. Hood was a principal of the firm Hood & Binnie whose iron foundry works were located at the site until 1888. In that year title to the land passed to Frances Sophia Jones wife of the Anglican clergyman Reverend Thomas Jones who had accompanied Brisbane's first Anglican Bishop, EW Tufnell on his arrival in 1860. It was unusual in those times for a married woman to have sole title to this kind of property, but Frances Jones probably did not have ultimate control over it. Until the Married Womens Property Act was introduced in Queensland in 1890, a husband was entitled to the income from such a property and could mortgage it without his wife's consent - unless her family had secured it to her through a trust. By May 1889 Frances Jones had mortgaged the property to a total of £5000, presumably to finance the erection of the building which Thomas Rees undertook during the year; FDG Stanley, the now former Colonial Architect, was the designer. Rees had also built the adjacent warehouse (now Water Board Building) several years earlier.

 

The building was complete by early 1890 and in February Benjamin Brothers Ltd occupied the western section (Nos 49-51) - using it as a bulk store. The building was flooded in the March 1890 floods and a photo taken at the time shows a 'To Let' sign advertising the eastern section. Leasing agent was the Queensland Trustees Executors Agency Co (QTEA), presumably acting for Frances Sophia Jones. Two floods (1890 and 1893), low occupancy rates and a severely depressed economy no doubt contributed to the repossession of the building in 1894. In the same year QTEA was struck off the companies register. The vacancy rates of the 1890s were relieved somewhat around the turn of the century with the first of a series of long-term tenancies. Leonard Spencer, coach builder and ironmonger began a twenty-odd year occupancy of Nos 45-47 in 1903. Another enduring tenancy, that of Roche & Dahl leather merchants (Nos 49-51), began in 1911.

 

In 1913 ownership of the property was transferred to James Milne and James Raff of the machinery firm Smellie & Co whose business premises were nearby and can still be seen today. In the late 1920s or early 1930s Leonard Spencer built his own building, Spencer Chambers, at 53 Edward Street and moved out of Nos 45-47. His place was taken by John Mitchell Hamilton, tent manufacturer who eventually bought the entire building, with his son, in 1941. In the mid 1940s Jolly & Batchelor carried on the leather tradition at the building, buying out Roche & Dahl and moving into their premises. For many years, Jolly & Batchelor operated their business there; in 1964 they left the central city area for South Brisbane where they continue to provide materials and equipment to the leather trade and to the public. Another Spencer, a typewriter dealer, bought Nos 45-47 in 1978, but sold it to the present owners in 1987. The present owners of Nos 47-51 acquired the property in 1965.

 

The South East Queensland Water Board Building:

 

This warehouse was built between 1885 and 1886, during the 1880s building boom. The site was purchased by Alexander Brand Webster and William Webster, importers of general merchandise, commission, insurance, and shipping agents and wholesale stationers in 1885. The warehouse was designed by Alex B Wilson and constructed by Thomas Rees, builder for £3021.11.0.

 

Largely as a result of its proximity to the river, the building was occupied by merchants and indent agents for 77 years. The first occupant, from 1887 - 1906, was Robert Martin, a prominent, wellrespected businessman in the ship chandlery trade. His business, R Martin & Co, ironmongers, sail makers, and riggers, was one of the largest in Queensland. From 1909 - 1912 the building was occupied by Sturmfels Stores and in 1913 - 1914 was listed as a Workman's Home run by the Salvation Army. In 1914, EF Broad (Qld Ltd) general merchant, indent agent, and supplier to various food manufacturers moved to this building. The company remained there until 1963, having purchased the property in 1956. In 1982 the Brisbane and Area Water Board acquired this site and converted the upper levels into office accommodation. The authority became the South East Queensland Water Board in 1991.

 

Source: Queensland Heritage Register.

Duneira house and gardens at Mount Macedon.

 

(Extract from Macedon Ranges cultural heritage and landscape study/Trevor Budge and Associates. 4 v. 1994.).

Henry Suetonius Officer reputedly aquired the Duneira site from

1872-1877 (Blocks 4,5,10,11,14) paying some £84 for 38 acres but

rate listings give Robert Officer as the owner. .

.

Suetonius Henry Officer (1830-1883).

Officer was born in Hullgreen, New Norfolk, Tasmania 1830, the

son of Sir Robert & Lady Officer. He was educated in Edinburgh

with his brother, Charles, and returned to the colonies, seeking

gold in Victoria but eventually settling for pastoralism in

company with his brothers and Charles Miles{ ibid.}. They managed

stations in the Wimmera and the Riverina, James marrying in 1866

and commencing construction of a 20 room homestead at Murray

Downs & Willakool, two adjoining properties fronting the Murray

River. After experimentation with irrigation, via steam pumps and

windmills, he was able to develop extensive orchards and crops. He was also, like his brother, interested in

acclimatisation, having developed an ostrich farm on his property

(Charles was a council member of the Zoological & Acclimatisation

Society for 10 years, president in 1887). .

.

Blighted by illness, Suetonius reputedly moved to Leighwood,

Toorak (Melbourne) in 1881, having erected the first stage of

Duneira at Mount Macedon, but died two years later. However his son, Henry jnr. was

born at South Yarra in 1869 and his next child, Jessie, was born

at Macedon in 1877, indicating that he was in residence at both

places prior to the dates previously supposed..

.

Suetonius probably commissioned the first stage of Duneira to be

erected as a summer house between c1874-6. The architect Levi

Powell is thought to have designed a house for him there around

that date. The first improvements listed on the site were

stables in 1874 when Robert Officer was rated as owning the site. The house was reputedly not occupied regularly

until c1881 when Suetonius moved to Toorak.

However it appears he and his family were in residence at Duneira

by 1877..

.

When Suetonius died in 1883 his wife, Mary Lillias Rigg Officer

(nee Cairns), of Glenbervie, Glenferrie Road, Toorak was the

co-executor of the estate, with merchant Robert Harper; she is

the rate occupier in 1888. Mrs Officer was the

sister of Mrs Robert Harper (Huntly Burn) and Mrs John C lloyd

(Montpelier, later Timsbury): all three houses were reputedly

built in the same period... .

.

The house bricks for the first stage were said to have come from

the Macedon Brick Kiln (once near the Macedon railway station,

set up in c1888-9?) with external walls built in 14" Flemish bond

from slop-moulded bricks (9 inch by 2.1/2). The bricks were reputedly carted

from Macedon by Cogger. The footings were of bluestone

and reputedly dressed sandstone blocks also survive, suggesting

that the first stage was face brick with stone quoins and the

next renovation c1888 added wings and a cement coating to the

whole complex. Floor frames were reputedly supported on stone

dwarf walls and joists were 6x2.1/2 inch jarrah, with flooring

being 6 inch pine}. Seaweed was apparently used for

ceiling insulation..

.

The servants' wing verandah was skillion in form with timber

posts with classical capitals. The main verandah had coupled

posts (rebuilt with single posts) a panelled frieze and slimmer

capitals set just under the frieze rail}. The

balustrade may have been of single cast-iron balusters..

.

Just prior to the sale to the speculator, James Smith Reid in

1890, and during the occupation of Edward Dyer, major additions

were made to the house complex and a reputedly a caretaker's

lodge was placed at the gate (survives, altered c1920s) but this

appears to have been added by Reid in the early 1890s. .

.

The added rooms were reputedly: billiard (32'x24') and dining

rooms, kitchen, servants bathroom, service block with 5 rooms

(engine room, dairy, pantry, store, boiler room, built of

Northcote machine made 9" brickwork). Damp proof coursing was

used in these additions compared to the slate of the first stage

and acetylene gas (engine room) was thought used for lighting

from this period, as reticulated in 1.1.2" mains and 1/2 inch

branches to internal and some external verandah lights.

Cast-iron elaborately detailed water radiators were also used,

with hot water pumped from the boiler room, and later a duplicate

boiler allowed hot water to be reticulated taps in the house{

ibid.}..

.

The description in rate books expands to villa and cottages (on

37 acres) for the first time under Reid in c1893 but the annual

valuation had already peeked in 1888 at £200 in the occupation of

Edward Dyer. An Edward Dyer was listed at that time as a fruiterer in

Burwood Road, Hawthorn..

.

The water supply is from a concrete tank fed by a spring.

Outbuildings include timber clad stables, storerooms,

blacksmith's shop, coachman's room, milking bails, hay shed and a

green house. The stables (extended) were described as having had

a shingled gabled roof (rear skillion) with loft entered via an

external stair at the north end. It had a blacksmith's

shop (altered for garage c1941), carriage and coachman's rooms,

two stores and vertically boarded main doors{ ibid.,p24}. The

milking and hay sheds had hipped roof forms and timber cladding

and frame. The interior was white-washed. The greenhouse

in the secret hedged garden is of a later date, with a timber

frame built up on 11" cavity brickwork walls, with a brick floor

and heated water pipes under each shelf. The boiler is near the

entry..

.

The `Gisborne Gazette' reported on Duneira in 1903 under the

heading of `A Popular Health Resort':.

`Duneira certainly merits a few remarks though beautiful

residences and grounds are by no means rare in that locality..

(when Reid purchased it, it was `little better than a wilderness'

and he had spared no expense to restore it).. After passing the

lodge at the main entrance, a broad serpentine drive leads up to

the house and from there the grounds are laid out in broad

sloping lawns surmounted with choice borders and fringed with

trees which however do not interfere to any great extent with the

view. There is of course no lack of flowers which grow

luxuriantly on the mount but the great feature of Duneira is the

lawns, those open green expanses which delight the eye at all

times of the year. the secret of this perennial verdure is to be

found in the copious water supply with which Macedon is blessed

(spring at rear of house, tapped by tunnelling 40m into the hill,

ie. grass grows up to base of Monterey pines)..

.

During Reid's time there, the valuation increased marginally in

1899-1900 and again soon after, with Reid's address being given

as care of Rosstrevor Magill, South Australia, in c1909-10. JS Reid died in 1922, leaving

the property to the management of JS Reid jun..

.

The main garden elements are: sweeping lawns, box hedges, weeping beech and cherry, extensive hedges (holly, laurel), a hedged

`secret garden' with green house, mature firs, elm and chestnut ì

avenues. There is also a fountain and a wide spreading weeping elm to the rear of the house, near the tennis court..

.

Significant Trees:.

`Ulmus x hollandica'.

`Prunus' "shirotae".

`Albies procera'.

`Ilex kingiana'.

This Executor-Class Star Dreadnought was given out at the Star Wars Days 2015 by IdS in LEGOLAND Germany. The model was limited to 220 copies.

It was designed by me, based on a version of markus1984.

More of the wonderful stained glass in the Beauchamp Chapel, which managed to survive the destruction of the Puritans, presumably because they couldn't reach it. (The glass in the east window wasn't so lucky.) They feature choirs of angels, playing a variety of instruments or singing the music that is also depicted. The contract for creating the glass was drawn up on 23rd June 1447, between the executors of Richard Beachamp and John Prudde of the town of Westminster, Prudde being an outstanding glazier and for seven years the king’s glazier. At Warwick he was asked to ‘glaze all the windows in the new chapel in Warwick with glass [made] beyond the seas, and with no glass of England, and that in the finest wise with the best, cleanest, and strongest glass of beyond the sea that may be had in England, and that of the finest colours’. The cost of glazing the chapel windows came to £106 18s. 6d., one of the most expensive glazing programmes carried out in England.