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William Higgs (left) accompanies Arthur Kinoy, a civil rights attorney and Rutgers University professor, August 18 1966 to the Washington, D.C. Court of General Sessions after Kinoy was ejected from a hearing of the House Un-American Activities Committee (HUAC) on August 17th.
After a quick trial the next day Judge Harold Greene said that it appeared Kinoy was trying to “out-shout the chairman” and found Kinoy guilty.
Kinoy addressed the judge before sentencing “I make no plea for mercy. I have no regrets or remorse for what I have done. I would do it again and again and again.” Judge Greene fined Kinoy $50.
Kinoy was debating a legal issue with committee chair Rep. Joe Pool (D-TX) when he was seized by U.S. marshals and dragged choking and screaming from the hearing room and charged with disorderly conduct.
Attorneys for other witnesses denounced the arrest as “terror and intimidation” and walked out of the hearing creating a legal problem for the committee since witnesses were guaranteed legal counsel “of their own choice” and cannot be forced to testify in the absence of counsel.
A witness friendly to the committee, Phillip A. McCombs, assistant editor of the right-wing National Review, began testifying about pro-National Liberation Front figures in the anti-Vietnam War movement and mentioned the name of Walter Teague, an organizer of the U.S. Committee to Aid the National Liberation Front.
Kinoy and his law partner William Kunstler objected saying they were entitled to cross-examine the witness because the testimony would otherwise “defame” Teague.
Pool ruled against the objections, but Kinoy kept pressing the point and that’s when the marshals seized him.
Other attorneys denounced the “brutal,” “inexcusable,” “unprecedented” treatment of Kinoy.
It took two years and three court-proceedings, but Kinoy was exonerated by the U.S. Court of Appeals August 6, 1968. Over 1,000 lawyers had earlier submitted a friend-of-court brief on Kinoy’s behalf.
The Court ruled that Pool had violated the committee’s own rules by ordering the ejection on his own rather than obtaining concurrence from a majority of the committee.
The Court further held that the committee had not pursued a case against Kinoy at any stage for contempt and therefore it was “difficult to understand how or why an independent tribunal can lawfully proceed.”
The court noted that Kinoy had been charged under a statute that prohibits congregation and assembly and the “use of loud and boisterous talking.” However, the court said, “whatever groups may be included in the definition of unlawful assembly, a lawyer permitted to represent his clients at a hearing of a House subcommittee is not one of them.”
Arthur Kinoy biography:
Arthur Kinoy (September 29, 1920-September 19, 2003) was brought up in Brooklyn by Jewish immigrants. He graduated with honors from Harvard University in 1941 and served with the U.S. Army in North Africa and Italy where he was among the troops at Anzio that were nearly pushed back into the sea by German Nazi forces.
After the war, he graduated from Columbia University law school in 1947 where he was editor of its law review. He went to work for the United Electrical Workers (UE), a union that left the Congress of Industrial Organizations rather than be expelled as the Second Red Scare heated up.
Kinoy had a long career as a civil rights and civil liberties attorney from the early 1950s until shortly before his death in 2003.
He made the last legal appeal for Julius and Ethel Rosenberg in 1953. Kinoy lost and the Rosenberg’s were executed. He claimed he won the appeal legally, but was defeated by the judge’s cowardice.
He remembered that case in a 1982 interview, “We found some statutes that said even if a person were found guilty of espionage, capital punishment could not be applied unless the espionage was committed in a time of war. The judge, Jerome Frank, who was a liberal, a New Deal supporter, said, ‘I cannot go over the heads of my bosses.’ We were furious…And later we were listening to the car radio as the Rosenbergs were taken to the electric chair. This was just disastrous.”
He defended communists and others charged with advocating the overthrow of the U.S. government during the McCarthy era and represented clients before the HUAC and the Senate Internal Security Committee.
He became law partners with William Kunstler, another prominent defender of radical causes and civil rights.
Kinoy established an important legal principle in the struggle for Black civil rights when he persuaded a reluctant Virginia judge that plaintiffs could take civil rights complaints to federal court under laws passed after the U.S. Civil War.
He argued six cases before the U.S. Supreme Court, winning five.
These included a reversal of U.S. Rep. Adam Clayton Powell’s expulsion from Congress and a bar against U.S. President Richard Nixon from eavesdropping on antiwar activists for alleged national security reasons without a warrant.
In 1965 he successfully argued the case of Dombrowski v. Pfister before the Supreme Court establishing that federal district judges could stop enforcement of laws that had a “chilling effect” on free speech.
Perhaps his most famous case was that of the Chicago 7 where five of the defendants had been convicted for crossing state lines to incite a riot at the 1968 Democratic Convention. Kinoy won a reversal of the convictions on appeal.
He was a law professor at Rutgers from 1964-1991 and when he reached mandatory retirement age, his students waged a campaign to keep him on. When he was finally forced out Henry Furst, an attorney and former student, said “Over his 25 years he is the reason many students came to Rutgers—to study with him, it’s like killing Socrates.”
He was a co-founder of the Center for Constitutional Rights and his last case was a victory over New York City police on a racial profiling issue.
Kinoy, a man of small stature, was known for his aggressiveness in the courtroom.
He explained in a 1992 interview in the Progressive:
“When people are fighting back or fighting to extend their own immediate rights, we learned that when you took the offensive in the courtroom, you were saying, ‘We’re not running away!’ When people saw that you were challenging the conspiracy of the establishment against them and we said, ‘They’re going to be the defendants! They’re the ones who are violating the fundamental laws of the land.’ It had a morale effect. What mattered to the leaders was not whether we ultimately won, but whether it made the people fight harder and begin to demonstrate. That would have an effect upon the courts.”
Kinoy was active in attempting to establish a third party to challenge the establishment Democratic and Republic Parties and described himself as a “scientific socialist.” In 1983 he published a book on his life entitled Rights on Trial, The Odyssey of a People’s Lawyer.
For more information and related images, see flic.kr/s/aHsk72YVXD
Photo by Schmick. The image is courtesy of the D.C. Public Library Washington Star Collection © Washington Post.
The Liberties, Dublin.
September 2021.
Silberra Color 50.
Canon A-1.
Dev and scan by Take It Easy Lab, Leeds.
All Rights Reserved, as stated. Re-posts are with expressed permission only. You may not use this image, edit it or alter it in any way (and as a result, claim the image or the derivative as your own).
Nothing in Dublin is simple.
For a long time I had believed that the bell in St. Patrick's park was named after the Liberty Bell the iconic symbol of American independence but I was totally wrong.
It is known as ‘The Liberty Bell’ because it is located in an area of Dublin of Dublin known as "The Liberties". For those of you who are not interested in visiting public parks or churches there is a nearby pub known as the Liberty Belle.
One of my readers contacted me to draw my attention to the fact that the Liberty Bell is often confused with Dublin’s “freedom bell”, the first Catholic Church bell to ring in Dublin in breach of the Penal Laws 200 years ago.
Legend has it that The Liberator Daniel O’Connell rang the bell to celebrate emancipation in 1829, creating the crack in the bell which remains visible today. “This is Dublin’s, and Ireland’s, great freedom bell,” Smock Alley director Patrick Sutton said in an interview with the Irish Times. “In America the Liberty Bell is cased behind eight inches of plate glass, our bell was cased beneath eight inches of pigeon poop.”
The Liberties of Dublin, Ireland were manorial jurisdictions that existed since the arrival of the Anglo-Normans in the 12th century. They were town lands united to the city, but still preserving their own jurisdiction. The most important of these liberties were the Liberty of St. Sepulchre, under the Archbishop of Dublin, and the Liberty of Thomas Court and Donore belonging to the Abbey of St. Thomas (later called the Earl of Meath's Liberty).Today's "Dublin Liberties" generally refer to the inner-city area covered by these two liberties.
(7DOS Macro Monday
I am taking some liberties here as it isn't quite a macro although the size of the chair makes me feel small, but I had a good laugh about what I wrote on my last trip and thought you might enjoy it)
A large percentage of welsh people speak the local variant of the Celtic language, a peculiar sounding and looking language for sure.
Bear with me for I have some tales to tell, and many photos below as I couldn't choose which to show.
As I drove into Wales in the late morning, there was a steady stream of cars leaving as is the English tradition of being anywhere else but home for a weekend when it isn't raining.
Despite the forecast, the day turned out very nicely indeed, and the countryside looked stunning especially after the confusing bowl of spaghetti that passes for the Birmingham road network.
I am booked into a very old looking pub, in the small town of Llangollen, pronounced like Ffanffgloflan as if you have a buildup of phlem in your throat.
The lady owner spoke good English, a plus as I was to find out. As her pub was closed on a Sunday, she upgraded me to the top floor room in the pub, which has a separate lounge room, and her last words to me on ascending the stairs were "Mind your head now". Yeah right I have heard that many times before as England was obviously populated by dwarfs in the olde days.
When I got to the top, the door height amused me so I propped the camera on my bag at the top of the stairs, and took my photo to show how the door height was level with my mouth, in case I needed to amuse someone later. Then, of course I reached for the bag on the floor, cap on head just to carry it, and turned to enter, forgetting the door height and heard a loud crunch as top of my head slammed into the door top, the cap saved me a bit, but the last words of my landlady were ringing in my ears.
Not a good start, as I tried to stem the flow of blood.
Collecting my thoughts, and what was left of my brains, I went looking for a quick bite and coffee before heading of for the long 9 mile return walk along the canal to see the impressive aqueduct at Pontcysyllte.
I went into a pub near the lovely river that runs through the middle of town, and said to the young girl behind the counter, "can I have a coffee please?". She gave me a blank stare, and said something unintelligible, so I returned the blank stare.
There was a toothless guy next to me at the bar, and he said something in Welsh and she started making me a coffee.
So going for a stretch target, I said "Are you serving food?" Not a big ask. Same routine. Blank look, gibberish, toothless translates, got handed a menu. I won't say it again, but ordered soup and etc etc.
The canal walk was truly impressive, and it is hard to imagine the work and cost that must have gone into it. Apparently, in general terms, the old disused canals around England fell into disrepair decades ago, but with the formation of the Canal Trust, restoration went ahead, and now they are very busy with tourism and recreation.
I saw many long boats along the way, and everyone will chat to you on the way past. I had a lady step off and walk with me for a way for a chat, the. Got back on. There were fishermen as well.
As I neared the end of my walk at the aqueduct end, and feeling a bit legsore, there was an old guy on the side of the canal, fishing. He had no teeth (of course) and a long thin fishing rod, so I had a chat as he was obviously a local, and he spoke some English.
When I return from the aqueduct, he was still there, so I stopped and said
Me You aren't wearing yourself out there, I hope
He No not at all
Me Getting any fish
He Not since I last saw you
Me That's a log rod (his line was sweeping right against the far bank)
He Yes
Me Is that where the fish are on the far bank
He Yes
Me Always been there
He Been fishing on that side for years, that's where they be
Me You aren't getting any
He No no no
Me Do you think they know you have fished there for years and now live on the bank next to your feet
He (silence)
He You might have a point
I left and wished him a good day, enough damage done.
Feeling a bit dehydrated, I realized that medical intervention was needed, and had been warned that there 3 pubs along the walk, in which to imbibe. I had responded, that if I did that, I may not reach the aqueduct.
But in the interests of establishing good relations with the locals, I got the phone out, and set up my iPhone Translater ready for the challenge.
I entered the bar of this fine establishment, with chairs designed to stop you falling out of them if you stay too long, as you can see in th top photo, and the bartender said "what'll it be sir"
I held up my finger and pulled out the iPhone, and hit the speaker button and watched them listen to "Sal Wedi Beint Os Gwelwch Yn Dda"
When they got off the floor from laughing, I showed them what I typed in "I'll have a pint please"
They never did say how accurate it was, or whether I had just said "I just kissed a sheep in the field" but it went across well.
Enjoy the photos below, while I nurse my head and feet.
This drawing “It’s got to be uprooted” shows Uncle Sam looking angrily at a “The Treason Weed” that has handguns, an anarchist bomb, a German Pickelhaube helmet and a skull and crossbones referring to what Rogers believed were domestic enemies that would undermine the U.S. war effort.
The illustration was apparently drawn shortly after the U.S. entry into World War I in April 1917.
The anarchist bomb represents the so-called Galleanisti anarchists who believed in the propaganda of the deed and planted a number of bombs in first third of the 20th Century to spark revolution. But it also refers more broadly to the Industrial Workers of the World, other anarchists and left-wing socialists who opposed WWI as a contest between the ruling classes of different countries for world domination where the only people dying were workers.
The Pickelhaube referred to German nationals who Rogers believed would act as German agents within the U.S.
During World War I, the U.S. enacted the Sedition Act, the Conscription Act and Espionage Act that were used to suppress dissent during the war resulting in the imprisonment of thousands, and/or deportments and/or revocation of citizenship—overwhelmingly because of speech and not any overt acts. As with those of Japanese descent in World War II, several thousand people of German descent living in the U.S. were also rounded up and put into camps and prisons without charges against them.
Background and outcomes
The U.S. First Amendment protecting free speech was abandoned during World War I as several thousand people were arrested for speaking out against the war or conscription into the armed forces and these jailings in turn spurred an amnesty movement.
U.S. involvement in the war only lasted from April 2, 1917 until the armistice in November 1918.
An amnesty movement for all war resisters gained strength, particularly after the war was ended and after President Woodrow Wilson left office in January 1921.
Leading up to 1917 and the declaration of war against Germany, many labor unions, socialists, members of the so-called Old Right, and pacifist groups in the United States publicly denounced participation. However when the U.S. entered the war, most segments of American society rallied around the war.
However, left wing socialists, anarchists and the Industrial Workers of the World (IWW) denounced the war as an imperialist squabble between the wealthy of different nations over how to divide up the world. Quakers and other pacifists opposed the war on moral grounds
The military draft was introduced shortly after the U.S joined the war, which the anti-war movement bitterly opposed.
The Espionage Act of 1917 was passed to address spying but also contained a section which criminalized inciting or attempting to incite any mutiny, desertion, or refusal of duty in the armed forces, punishable with a fine of not more than $10,000, not more than twenty years in federal prison, or both.
Thousands of Wobblies (IWW members) and anti-war activists were prosecuted on authority of this and the Sedition Act of 1918, which tightened restrictions even more. Among the most famous was Eugene Debs, chairman of the Socialist Party of the USA for giving an anti-draft speech in Ohio. The U.S. Supreme Court upheld these prosecutions in a series of decisions.
An unknown additional number of people were prosecuted under state laws and jailed.
Conscientious objectors were punished as well, most of them Christian pacifist inductees into the armed services. They were placed directly in the armed forces and court-martialed, receiving log sentences and brutal treatment. A number of them died in Alcatraz Prison, then a military facility.
Vigilante groups were formed which suppressed dissent as well, such as by rounding up draft-age men and checking if they were in possession of draft cards or not.
Around 300,000 American men evaded or refused conscription in World War I. Immigrants, including naturalized citizens such as leading anarchist Emma Goldman, were deported, while native-born citizens, including Debs, lost their citizenship for their activities.
Perhaps 2,000 civilians convicted of sedition or under the Espionage law were held in military prisons at Fort Oglethorpe in Tennessee and Fort Douglas in Utah. They were mostly ordinary workers, including unemployed, and many whose only "crime" was to have been involved in radical politics or labor unrest. They were held along with German nationals suspected of disloyalty to the U.S. and German prisoners of war. Others convicted of political crimes were dispersed to the regular federal prison system.
After the war ended, other nations began to issue amnesty or commute the sentences of those convicted of political crimes during the war and pressure began to build in the U.S.
Delegations visited the White House in the ensuing years, including a 1920 group that included Basil M. Manly, former joint chair of the War Labor Board who said, “Washington pardoned the Tories and Lincoln pardoned the rebels. We believe President Wilson will not hesitate to grant general amnesty to the political prisoners of the world war.” Wilson, however, was unmoved.
The Sedition Act was repealed in 1921, but the Espionage Act remained, though U.S. Supreme Court decisions since then have substantially, but not explicitly, gutted the provisions used to squelch dissent.
Another delegation called on the White House April 18, 1921, along with meeting other top officials, marching by threes along the sidewalks and holding a mass meeting that evening at the Masonic Temple.
Among the delegation that met with President Warren Harding were Morris Hillquit of the Socialist Party; Rev. Norman Thomas, a later Socialist Party standard bearer; Jackson Ralston, attorney for the American Federation of Labor; and Albert DeSilver of the American Civil Liberties Union. A special appeal was made for Debs.
Debs, serving a 10-year sentence for sedition for his speech, had his sentenced commuted in December 1921 by President Warren Harding who had succeeded Wilson that year. Some 17 other prisoners also had their sentences commuted by Harding at that time.
The movement for amnesty began to gain steam as dozens of others remained imprisoned.
As 1922 began individuals and organizations around the country began to join the call for amnesty: the Georgia American Federation of Labor issued an appeal for amnesty, 50 member of Congress signed a petition for the same, socialist meetings demanding amnesty were held across the country while Quakers and other pacifists and socialists held public demonstrations.
In April 1922, the American Civil Liberties Union leader Roger Baldwin organized the Joint Amnesty Committee to coordinate activities across the country.
That same month, a million signatures on a massive petition gathered by the General Defense Committee of Chicago were delivered to the White House by Hillquit, who had also been an Socialist Party antiwar candidate for mayor of New York during the war in 1917 and drew 100,000 votes; the wife of Robert LaFollette, senator from Wisconsin; and James H. Maurer, president of the Pennsylvania Federation of Labor.
A Children’s Crusade comprised of the wives and children of some of those imprisoned and their supporters staged a well-publicized train trip across the country ending in Washington, D.C. where they picketed the White House and held meetings with government officials for a four-month period from April through August of 1922.
In August, Harding issued a statement refusing general amnesty, but committing to an expedited case-by-case review of anti-war prisoners.
The White House statement said in part, “he would never, as long as he was President, pardon any criminal who preached the destruction of the government by force.”
The idea that people were permitted free speech unless they committed or advocated “overt acts” would not be accepted as law until the late-1950s through the mid-1960s U.S. Supreme Court decisions on the imprisonment of Communist Party members during the second red scare.
The Children’s Crusade suspended their demonstrations after Harding’s statement feeling they had won as much as they would win at that time. However, other protest continued.
In December 1922, Harding issued another series of pardons and commutations, but many contained conditions of deportation and loss of citizenship.
In December 1923, President Calvin Coolidge commuted the sentences of all prisoners who had been convicted for opposing the government and Selective Service during World War I. By this point that commutation affected only 31 prisoners.
In March 1924, Coolidge restored the citizenship to those who had been convicted of desertion between the time of the Armistice of November 1918 and the war’s official end by the U.S. in 1921.
Coolidge’s successor Herbert Hoover refused to pardon or commute the sentences of any remaining prisoners or restore former prisoners citizenship in a 1929 letter to social activist Jane Adams, saying that any such decision would result in “acrimonious discussion” within the country.
It wouldn’t be until 1933 when President Franklin Roosevelt, 15 years after the end of fighting, issued a proclamation restoring civil rights to about 1,500 war resisters. The proclamation applied only to those convicted of violating the draft and espionage acts. There was no reduction in prison sentences, however, because all had already been released by that time and no restoration of rights for those convicted under the Sedition Act.
After a nationwide campaign involving petitions and resolutions, Debs’ citizenship was restored posthumously in 1976.
For a PDF of this approximately 18” x 24” drawing, see washingtonareaspark.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/02/1918-t...
For more information and related images, see flic.kr/s/aHBqjzCcJd
Illustration by William Allen Rogers. Published in: America's Black and White Book / W. A. Rogers. New York : Cupples & Leon, 1917, p. 45. Courtesy of the Library of Congress.
The town was devastated though the two most important symbols of Guernica survived the bombing. The Biscayan Assembly & the Guernica Tree are where the Lords of Biscay and Basque politicians have met to decide the fate of the Basque people.
Throughout the Middle Ages the Guernica Tree was used as a meeting point for the Basque communities, and beneath its branches the Lords of Biscay swore to respect the Biscayan liberties and established a set of laws known as “fueros,” that granted the Basques autonomous rule. The fueros were granted by every Lord of Biscay and eventually the King of Castile until the end of the 19th century when the Carlist Wars began. For these reasons, the Guernica Tree has become a symbol of Basque identity and worked as a catalyst for the Basque independence movement.
Today, the Spanish Basque Country enjoys a certain amount of autonomous rule granted by the Spanish government. It even has its own president known as the Lehendakari, who still takes his oath under the Guernica Tree in a similar fashion as was once done by the Lords of Biscay.
Meeting of the Committee on Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs on the Charter of Digital Fundamental Rights in the EU, in the EP in Brussels. Presentation in the presence of Martin SCHULZ, EP President and Professor Heinz BUDE, Sociologist, from the group of authors of the Charter of Digital Fundamental Rights, Monika HOHLMEIER (EPP, DE), Birgit SIPPEL (S&D, DE) and Jan Philipp ALBRECHT (Greens/EFA, DE).
Watch extracts here: audiovisual.europarl.europa.eu/Assetdetail.aspx?id=5c5188...
This photo is copyright free, but must be credited: © European Union 2016 - European Parliament. (Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs Creative Commons license). If you need high resolution files do not hesitate to contact us. Please do not forget to send the link or a copy of the publication to us: photobookings(AT)europarl.europa.eu
© Diana Yakowitz 2012 All rights reserved.
"There is no 'slippery slope' toward loss of liberties, only a long staircase where each step downward must first be tolerated by the American people and their leaders." - Alan K. Simpson
A couple of weeks back, we met a couple in a pub in Canterbury, and they had been out exploring the city and said they were disappointed by the cathedral.
Not enough labels they said.
That not withstanding, I thought it had been some time since I last had been, so decided to revisit, see the pillars of Reculver church in the crypt and take the big lens for some detail shots.
We arrived just after ten, so the cathedral was pretty free of other guests, just a few guides waiting for groups and couples to guide.
I went round with the 50mm first, before concentrating on the medieval glass which is mostly on the south side.
But as you will see, the lens picked up so much more.
Thing is, there is always someone interesting to talk to, or wants to talk to you. As I went around, I spoke with about three guides about the project and things I have seen in the churches of the county, and the wonderful people I have met. And that continued in the cathedral.
I have time to look at the tombs in the Trinity Chapel, and see that Henry IV and his wife are in a tomb there, rather than ay Westminster Abbey. So I photograph them, and the Black Prince on the southern side of the chapel, along with the Bishops and Archbishops between.
Round to the transept and a chance to change lenses, and put on the 140-400mm for some detailed shots.
I go round the cathedral again.
Initially at some of the memorials on the walls and the canopy of the pulpit, but it is the windows that are calling.
At least it was a bright, sunny day outside, which meant light was good in the cathedral with most shots coming out fine with no camera shake.
As I edit the shots I am stunned at the details of windows so high up they mostly seem like blocks of colour.
And so far, I have only just started to edit these shots.
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St Augustine, the first Archbishop of Canterbury, arrived on the coast of Kent as a missionary to England in 597AD. He came from Rome, sent by Pope Gregory the Great. It is said that Gregory had been struck by the beauty of Angle slaves he saw for sale in the city market and despatched Augustine and some monks to convert them to Christianity. Augustine was given a church at Canterbury (St Martin’s, after St Martin of Tours, still standing today) by the local King, Ethelbert whose Queen, Bertha, a French Princess, was already a Christian.This building had been a place of worship during the Roman occupation of Britain and is the oldest church in England still in use. Augustine had been consecrated a bishop in France and was later made an archbishop by the Pope. He established his seat within the Roman city walls (the word cathedral is derived from the the Latin word for a chair ‘cathedra’, which is itself taken from the Greek ‘kathedra’ meaning seat.) and built the first cathedral there, becoming the first Archbishop of Canterbury. Since that time, there has been a community around the Cathedral offering daily prayer to God; this community is arguably the oldest organisation in the English speaking world. The present Archbishop, The Most Revd Justin Welby, is 105th in the line of succession from Augustine. Until the 10th century, the Cathedral community lived as the household of the Archbishop. During the 10th century, it became a formal community of Benedictine monks, which continued until the monastery was dissolved by King Henry VIII in 1540. Augustine’s original building lies beneath the floor of the Nave – it was extensively rebuilt and enlarged by the Saxons, and the Cathedral was rebuilt completely by the Normans in 1070 following a major fire. There have been many additions to the building over the last nine hundred years, but parts of the Quire and some of the windows and their stained glass date from the 12th century. By 1077, Archbishop Lanfranc had rebuilt it as a Norman church, described as “nearly perfect”. A staircase and parts of the North Wall – in the area of the North West transept also called the Martyrdom – remain from that building.
Canterbury’s role as one of the world’s most important pilgrimage centres in Europe is inextricably linked to the murder of its most famous Archbishop, Thomas Becket, in 1170. When, after a long lasting dispute, King Henry II is said to have exclaimed “Who will rid me of this turbulent priest?”, four knights set off for Canterbury and murdered Thomas in his own cathedral. A sword stroke was so violent that it sliced the crown off his skull and shattered the blade’s tip on the pavement. The murder took place in what is now known as The Martyrdom. When shortly afterwards, miracles were said to take place, Canterbury became one of Europe’s most important pilgrimage centres.
The work of the Cathedral as a monastery came to an end in 1540, when the monastery was closed on the orders of King Henry VIII. Its role as a place of prayer continued – as it does to this day. Once the monastery had been suppressed, responsibility for the services and upkeep was given to a group of clergy known as the Chapter of Canterbury. Today, the Cathedral is still governed by the Dean and four Canons, together (in recent years) with four lay people and the Archdeacon of Ashford. During the Civil War of the 1640s, the Cathedral suffered damage at the hands of the Puritans; much of the medieval stained glass was smashed and horses were stabled in the Nave. After the Restoration in 1660, several years were spent in repairing the building. In the early 19th Century, the North West tower was found to be dangerous, and, although it dated from Lanfranc’s time, it was demolished in the early 1830s and replaced by a copy of the South West tower, thus giving a symmetrical appearance to the west end of the Cathedral. During the Second World War, the Precincts were heavily damaged by enemy action and the Cathedral’s Library was destroyed. Thankfully, the Cathedral itself was not seriously harmed, due to the bravery of the team of fire watchers, who patrolled the roofs and dealt with the incendiary bombs dropped by enemy bombers. Today, the Cathedral stands as a place where prayer to God has been offered daily for over 1,400 years; nearly 2,000 Services are held each year, as well as countless private prayers from individuals. The Cathedral offers a warm welcome to all visitors – its aim is to show people Jesus, which we do through the splendour of the building as well as the beauty of the worship.
www.canterbury-cathedral.org/heritage/history/cathedral-h...
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History of the cathedral
THE ORIGIN of a Christian church on the scite of the present cathedral, is supposed to have taken place as early as the Roman empire in Britain, for the use of the antient faithful and believing soldiers of their garrison here; and that Augustine found such a one standing here, adjoining to king Ethelbert's palace, which was included in the king's gift to him.
This supposition is founded on the records of the priory of Christ-church, (fn. 1) concurring with the common opinion of almost all our historians, who tell us of a church in Canterbury, which Augustine found standing in the east part of the city, which he had of king Ethelbert's gift, which after his consecration at Arles, in France, he commended by special dedication to the patronage of our blessed Saviour. (fn. 2)
According to others, the foundations only of an old church formerly built by the believing Romans, were left here, on which Augustine erected that, which he afterwards dedicated to out Saviour; (fn. 3) and indeed it is not probable that king Ethelbert should have suffered the unsightly ruins of a Christian church, which, being a Pagan, must have been very obnoxious to him, so close to his palace, and supposing these ruins had been here, would he not have suffered them to be repaired, rather than have obliged his Christian queen to travel daily to such a distance as St. Martin's church, or St. Pancrace's chapel, for the performance of her devotions.
Some indeed have conjectured that the church found by St. Augustine, in the east part of the city, was that of St.Martin, truly so situated; and urge in favor of it, that there have not been at any time any remains of British or Roman bricks discovered scattered in or about this church of our Saviour, those infallible, as Mr. Somner stiles them, signs of antiquity, and so generally found in buildings, which have been erected on, or close to the spot where more antient ones have stood. But to proceed, king Ethelbert's donation to Augustine was made in the year 596, who immediately afterwards went over to France, and was consecrated a bishop at Arles, and after his return, as soon as he had sufficiently finished a church here, whether built out of ruins or anew, it matters not, he exercised his episcopal function in the dedication of it, says the register of Christ-church, to the honor of Christ our Saviour; whence it afterwards obtained the name of Christ-church. (fn. 4)
From the time of Augustine for the space of upwards of three hundred years, there is not found in any printed or manuscript chronicle, the least mention of the fabric of this church, so that it is probable nothing befell it worthy of being recorded; however it should be mentioned, that during that period the revenues of it were much increased, for in the leiger books of it there are registered more than fifty donations of manors, lands, &c. so large and bountiful, as became the munificence of kings and nobles to confer. (fn. 5)
It is supposed, especially as we find no mention made of any thing to the contrary, that the fabric of this church for two hundred years after Augustine's time, met with no considerable molestations; but afterwards, the frequent invasions of the Danes involved both the civil and ecclesiastical state of this country in continual troubles and dangers; in the confusion of which, this church appears to have run into a state of decay; for when Odo was promoted to the archbishopric, in the year 938, the roof of it was in a ruinous condition; age had impaired it, and neglect had made it extremely dangerous; the walls of it were of an uneven height, according as it had been more or less decayed, and the roof of the church seemed ready to fall down on the heads of those underneath. All this the archbishop undertook to repair, and then covered the whole church with lead; to finish which, it took three years, as Osbern tells us, in the life of Odo; (fn. 6) and further, that there was not to be found a church of so large a size, capable of containing so great a multitude of people, and thus, perhaps, it continued without any material change happening to it, till the year 1011; a dismal and fatal year to this church and city; a time of unspeakable confusion and calamities; for in the month of September that year, the Danes, after a siege of twenty days, entered this city by force, burnt the houses, made a lamentable slaughter of the inhabitants, rifled this church, and then set it on fire, insomuch, that the lead with which archbishop Odo had covered it, being melted, ran down on those who were underneath. The sull story of this calamity is given by Osbern, in the life of archbishop Odo, an abridgement of which the reader will find below. (fn. 7)
The church now lay in ruins, without a roof, the bare walls only standing, and in this desolate condition it remained as long as the fury of the Danes prevailed, who after they had burnt the church, carried away archbishop Alphage with them, kept him in prison seven months, and then put him to death, in the year 1012, the year after which Living, or Livingus, succeeded him as archbishop, though it was rather in his calamities than in his seat of dignity, for he too was chained up by the Danes in a loathsome dungeon for seven months, before he was set free, but he so sensibly felt the deplorable state of this country, which he foresaw was every day growing worse and worse, that by a voluntary exile, he withdrew himself out of the nation, to find some solitary retirement, where he might bewail those desolations of his country, to which he was not able to bring any relief, but by his continual prayers. (fn. 8) He just outlived this storm, returned into England, and before he died saw peace and quientness restored to this land by king Canute, who gaining to himself the sole sovereignty over the nation, made it his first business to repair the injuries which had been done to the churches and monasteries in this kingdom, by his father's and his own wars. (fn. 9)
As for this church, archbishop Ægelnoth, who presided over it from the year 1020 to the year 1038, began and finished the repair, or rather the rebuilding of it, assisted in it by the royal munificence of the king, (fn. 10) who in 1023 presented his crown of gold to this church, and restored to it the port of Sandwich, with its liberties. (fn. 11) Notwithstanding this, in less than forty years afterwards, when Lanfranc soon after the Norman conquest came to the see, he found this church reduced almost to nothing by fire, and dilapidations; for Eadmer says, it had been consumed by a third conflagration, prior to the year of his advancement to it, in which fire almost all the antient records of the privileges of it had perished. (fn. 12)
The same writer has given us a description of this old church, as it was before Lanfranc came to the see; by which we learn, that at the east end there was an altar adjoining to the wall of the church, of rough unhewn stone, cemented with mortar, erected by archbishop Odo, for a repository of the body of Wilfrid, archbishop of York, which Odo had translated from Rippon hither, giving it here the highest place; at a convenient distance from this, westward, there was another altar, dedicated to Christ our Saviour, at which divine service was daily celebrated. In this altar was inclosed the head of St. Swithin, with many other relics, which archbishop Alphage brought with him from Winchester. Passing from this altar westward, many steps led down to the choir and nave, which were both even, or upon the same level. At the bottom of the steps, there was a passage into the undercroft, under all the east part of the church. (fn. 13) At the east end of which, was an altar, in which was inclosed, according to old tradition, the head of St. Furseus. From hence by a winding passage, at the west end of it, was the tomb of St. Dunstan, (fn. 14) but separated from the undercroft by a strong stone wall; over the tomb was erected a monument, pyramid wife, and at the head of it an altar, (fn. 15) for the mattin service. Between these steps, or passage into the undercroft and the nave, was the choir, (fn. 16) which was separated from the nave by a fair and decent partition, to keep off the crowds of people that usually were in the body of the church, so that the singing of the chanters in the choir might not be disturbed. About the middle of the length of the nave, were two towers or steeples, built without the walls; one on the south, and the other on the north side. In the former was the altar of St. Gregory, where was an entrance into the church by the south door, and where law controversies and pleas concerning secular matters were exercised. (fn. 17) In the latter, or north tower, was a passage for the monks into the church, from the monastery; here were the cloysters, where the novices were instructed in their religious rules and offices, and where the monks conversed together. In this tower was the altar of St. Martin. At the west end of the church was a chapel, dedicated to the blessed Virgin Mary, to which there was an ascent by steps, and at the east end of it an altar, dedicated to her, in which was inclosed the head of St. Astroburta the Virgin; and at the western part of it was the archbishop's pontifical chair, made of large stones, compacted together with mortar; a fair piece of work, and placed at a convenient distance from the altar, close to the wall of the church. (fn. 18)
To return now to archbishop Lanfranc, who was sent for from Normandy in 1073, being the fourth year of the Conqueror's reign, to fill this see, a time, when a man of a noble spirit, equal to the laborious task he was to undertake, was wanting especially for this church; and that he was such, the several great works which were performed by him, were incontestable proofs, as well as of his great and generous mind. At the first sight of the ruinous condition of this church, says the historian, the archbishop was struck with astonishment, and almost despaired of seeing that and the monastery re edified; but his care and perseverance raised both in all its parts anew, and that in a novel and more magnificent kind and form of structure, than had been hardly in any place before made use of in this kingdom, which made it a precedent and pattern to succeeding structures of this kind; (fn. 19) and new monasteries and churches were built after the example of it; for it should be observed, that before the coming of the Normans most of the churches and monasteries in this kingdom were of wood; (all the monasteries in my realm, says king Edgar, in his charter to the abbey of Malmesbury, dated anno 974, to the outward sight are nothing but worm-eaten and rotten timber and boards) but after the Norman conquest, such timber fabrics grew out of use, and gave place to stone buildings raised upon arches; a form of structure introduced into general use by that nation, and in these parts surnished with stone from Caen, in Normandy. (fn. 20) After this fashion archbishop Lanfranc rebuilt the whole church from the foundation, with the palace and monastery, the wall which encompassed the court, and all the offices belonging to the monastery within the wall, finishing the whole nearly within the compass of seven years; (fn. 21) besides which, he furnished the church with ornaments and rich vestments; after which, the whole being perfected, he altered the name of it, by a dedication of it to the Holy Trinity; whereas, before it was called the church of our Saviour, or Christ-church, and from the above time it bore (as by Domesday book appears) the name of the church of the Holy Trinity; this new church being built on the same spot on which the antient one stood, though on a far different model.
After Lanfranc's death, archbishop Anselm succeeded in the year 1093, to the see of Canterbury, and must be esteemed a principal benefactor to this church; for though his time was perplexed with a continued series of troubles, of which both banishment and poverty made no small part, which in a great measure prevented him from bestowing that cost on his church, which he would otherwise have done, yet it was through his patronage and protection, and through his care and persuasions, that the fabric of it, begun and perfected by his predecessor, became enlarged and rose to still greater splendor. (fn. 22)
In order to carry this forward, upon the vacancy of the priory, he constituted Ernulph and Conrad, the first in 1104, the latter in 1108, priors of this church; to whose care, being men of generous and noble minds, and of singular skill in these matters, he, during his troubles, not only committed the management of this work, but of all his other concerns during his absence.
Probably archbishop Anselm, on being recalled from banishment on king Henry's accession to the throne, had pulled down that part of the church built by Lanfranc, from the great tower in the middle of it to the east end, intending to rebuild it upon a still larger and more magnificent plan; when being borne down by the king's displeasure, he intrusted prior Ernulph with the work, who raised up the building with such splendor, says Malmesbury, that the like was not to be seen in all England; (fn. 23) but the short time Ernulph continued in this office did not permit him to see his undertaking finished. (fn. 24) This was left to his successor Conrad, who, as the obituary of Christ church informs us, by his great industry, magnificently perfected the choir, which his predecessor had left unfinished, (fn. 25) adorning it with curious pictures, and enriching it with many precious ornaments. (fn. 26)
This great undertaking was not entirely compleated at the death of archbishop Anselm, which happened in 1109, anno 9 Henry I. nor indeed for the space of five years afterwards, during which the see of Canterbury continued vacant; when being finished, in honour of its builder, and on account of its more than ordinary beauty, it gained the name of the glorious choir of Conrad. (fn. 27)
After the see of Canterbury had continued thus vacant for five years, Ralph, or as some call him, Rodulph, bishop of Rochester, was translated to it in the year 1114, at whose coming to it, the church was dedicated anew to the Holy Trinity, the name which had been before given to it by Lanfranc. (fn. 28) The only particular description we have of this church when thus finished, is from Gervas, the monk of this monastery, and that proves imperfect, as to the choir of Lanfranc, which had been taken down soon after his death; (fn. 29) the following is his account of the nave, or western part of it below the choir, being that which had been erected by archbishop Lanfranc, as has been before mentioned. From him we learn, that the west end, where the chapel of the Virgin Mary stood before, was now adorned with two stately towers, on the top of which were gilded pinnacles. The nave or body was supported by eight pair of pillars. At the east end of the nave, on the north side, was an oratory, dedicated in honor to the blessed Virgin, in lieu, I suppose, of the chapel, that had in the former church been dedicated to her at the west end. Between the nave and the choir there was built a great tower or steeple, as it were in the centre of the whole fabric; (fn. 30) under this tower was erected the altar of the Holy Cross; over a partition, which separated this tower from the nave, a beam was laid across from one side to the other of the church; upon the middle of this beam was fixed a great cross, between the images of the Virgin Mary and St. John, and between two cherubims. The pinnacle on the top of this tower, was a gilded cherub, and hence it was called the angel steeple; a name it is frequently called by at this day. (fn. 31)
This great tower had on each side a cross isle, called the north and south wings, which were uniform, of the same model and dimensions; each of them had a strong pillar in the middle for a support to the roof, and each of them had two doors or passages, by which an entrance was open to the east parts of the church. At one of these doors there was a descent by a few steps into the undercroft; at the other, there was an ascent by many steps into the upper parts of the church, that is, the choir, and the isles on each side of it. Near every one of these doors or passages, an altar was erected; at the upper door in the south wing, there was an altar in honour of All Saints; and at the lower door there was one of St. Michael; and before this altar on the south side was buried archbishop Fleologild; and on the north side, the holy Virgin Siburgis, whom St. Dunstan highly admired for her sanctity. In the north isle, by the upper door, was the altar of St. Blaze; and by the lower door, that of St. Benedict. In this wing had been interred four archbishops, Adelm and Ceolnoth, behind the altar, and Egelnoth and Wlfelm before it. At the entrance into this wing, Rodulph and his successor William Corboil, both archbishops, were buried. (fn. 32)
Hence, he continues, we go up by some steps into the great tower, and before us there is a door and steps leading down into the south wing, and on the right hand a pair of folding doors, with stairs going down into the nave of the church; but without turning to any of these, let us ascend eastward, till by several more steps we come to the west end of Conrad's choir; being now at the entrance of the choir, Gervas tells us, that he neither saw the choir built by Lanfranc, nor found it described by any one; that Eadmer had made mention of it, without giving any account of it, as he had done of the old church, the reason of which appears to be, that Lanfranc's choir did not long survive its founder, being pulled down as before-mentioned, by archbishop Anselm; so that it could not stand more than twenty years; therefore the want of a particular description of it will appear no great defect in the history of this church, especially as the deficiency is here supplied by Gervas's full relation of the new choir of Conrad, built instead of it; of which, whoever desires to know the whole architecture and model observed in the fabric, the order, number, height and form of the pillars and windows, may know the whole of it from him. The roof of it, he tells us, (fn. 33) was beautified with curious paintings representing heaven; (fn. 34) in several respects it was agreeable to the present choir, the stalls were large and framed of carved wood. In the middle of it, there hung a gilded crown, on which were placed four and twenty tapers of wax. From the choir an ascent of three steps led to the presbiterium, or place for the presbiters; here, he says, it would be proper to stop a little and take notice of the high altar, which was dedicated to the name of CHRIST. It was placed between two other altars, the one of St. Dunstan, the other of St. Alphage; at the east corners of the high altar were fixed two pillars of wood, beautified with silver and gold; upon these pillars was placed a beam, adorned with gold, which reached across the church, upon it there were placed the glory, (fn. 35) the images of St. Dunstan and St. Alphage, and seven chests or coffers overlaid with gold, full of the relics of many saints. Between those pillars was a cross gilded all over, and upon the upper beam of the cross were set sixty bright crystals.
Beyond this, by an ascent of eight steps towards the east, behind the altar, was the archiepiscopal throne, which Gervas calls the patriarchal chair, made of one stone; in this chair, according to the custom of the church, the archbishop used to sit, upon principal festivals, in his pontifical ornaments, whilst the solemn offices of religion were celebrated, until the consecration of the host, when he came down to the high altar, and there performed the solemnity of consecration. Still further, eastward, behind the patriarchal chair, (fn. 36) was a chapel in the front of the whole church, in which was an altar, dedicated to the Holy Trinity; behind which were laid the bones of two archbishops, Odo of Canterbury, and Wilfrid of York; by this chapel on the south side near the wall of the church, was laid the body of archbishop Lanfranc, and on the north side, the body of archbishop Theobald. Here it is to be observed, that under the whole east part of the church, from the angel steeple, there was an undercrost or crypt, (fn. 37) in which were several altars, chapels and sepulchres; under the chapel of the Trinity before-mentioned, were two altars, on the south side, the altar of St. Augustine, the apostle of the English nation, by which archbishop Athelred was interred. On the north side was the altar of St. John Baptist, by which was laid the body of archbishop Eadsin; under the high altar was the chapel and altar of the blessed Virgin Mary, to whom the whole undercroft was dedicated.
To return now, he continues, to the place where the bresbyterium and choir meet, where on each side there was a cross isle (as was to be seen in his time) which might be called the upper south and north wings; on the east side of each of these wings were two half circular recesses or nooks in the wall, arched over after the form of porticoes. Each of them had an altar, and there was the like number of altars under them in the crost. In the north wing, the north portico had the altar of St. Martin, by which were interred the bodies of two archbishops, Wlfred on the right, and Living on the left hand; under it in the croft, was the altar of St. Mary Magdalen. The other portico in this wing, had the altar of St. Stephen, and by it were buried two archbishops, Athelard on the left hand, and Cuthbert on the right; in the croft under it, was the altar of St. Nicholas. In the south wing, the north portico had the altar of St. John the Evangelist, and by it the bodies of Æthelgar and Aluric, archbishops, were laid. In the croft under it was the altar of St. Paulinus, by which the body of archbishop Siricius was interred. In the south portico was the altar of St. Gregory, by which were laid the corps of the two archbishops Bregwin and Plegmund. In the croft under it was the altar of St. Owen, archbishop of Roan, and underneath in the croft, not far from it the altar of St. Catherine.
Passing from these cross isles eastward there were two towers, one on the north, the other on the south side of the church. In the tower on the north side was the altar of St. Andrew, which gave name to the tower; under it, in the croft, was the altar of the Holy Innocents; the tower on the south side had the altar of St. Peter and St. Paul, behind which the body of St. Anselm was interred, which afterwards gave name both to the altar and tower (fn. 38) (now called St. Anselm's). The wings or isles on each side of the choir had nothing in particular to be taken notice of.— Thus far Gervas, from whose description we in particular learn, where several of the bodies of the old archbishops were deposited, and probably the ashes of some of them remain in the same places to this day.
As this building, deservedly called the glorious choir of Conrad, was a magnificent work, so the undertaking of it at that time will appear almost beyond example, especially when the several circumstances of it are considered; but that it was carried forward at the archbishop's cost, exceeds all belief. It was in the discouraging reign of king William Rufus, a prince notorious in the records of history, for all manner of sacrilegious rapine, that archbishop Anselm was promoted to this see; when he found the lands and revenues of this church so miserably wasted and spoiled, that there was hardly enough left for his bare subsistence; who, in the first years that he sat in the archiepiscopal chair, struggled with poverty, wants and continual vexations through the king's displeasure, (fn. 39) and whose three next years were spent in banishment, during all which time he borrowed money for his present maintenance; who being called home by king Henry I. at his coming to the crown, laboured to pay the debts he had contracted during the time of his banishment, and instead of enjoying that tranquility and ease he hoped for, was, within two years afterwards, again sent into banishment upon a fresh displeasure conceived against him by the king, who then seized upon all the revenues of the archbishopric, (fn. 40) which he retained in his own hands for no less than four years.
Under these hard circumstances, it would have been surprizing indeed, that the archbishop should have been able to carry on so great a work, and yet we are told it, as a truth, by the testimonies of history; but this must surely be understood with the interpretation of his having been the patron, protector and encourager, rather than the builder of this work, which he entrusted to the care and management of the priors Ernulph and Conrad, and sanctioned their employing, as Lanfranc had done before, the revenues and stock of the church to this use. (fn. 41)
In this state as above-mentioned, without any thing material happening to it, this church continued till about the year 1130, anno 30 Henry I. when it seems to have suffered some damage by a fire; (fn. 42) but how much, there is no record left to inform us; however it could not be of any great account, for it was sufficiently repaired, and that mostly at the cost of archbishop Corboil, who then sat in the chair of this see, (fn. 43) before the 4th of May that year, on which day, being Rogation Sunday, the bishops performed the dedication of it with great splendor and magnificence, such, says Gervas, col. 1664, as had not been heard of since the dedication of the temple of Solomon; the king, the queen, David, king of Scots, all the archbishops, and the nobility of both kingdoms being present at it, when this church's former name was restored again, being henceforward commonly called Christ-church. (fn. 44)
Among the manuscripts of Trinity college library, in Cambridge, in a very curious triple psalter of St. Jerome, in Latin, written by the monk Eadwyn, whose picture is at the beginning of it, is a plan or drawing made by him, being an attempt towards a representation of this church and monastery, as they stood between the years 1130 and 1174; which makes it probable, that he was one of the monks of it, and the more so, as the drawing has not any kind of relation to the plalter or sacred hymns contained in the manuscript.
His plan, if so it may be called, for it is neither such, nor an upright, nor a prospect, and yet something of all together; but notwithstanding this rudeness of the draftsman, it shews very plain that it was intended for this church and priory, and gives us a very clear knowledge, more than we have been able to learn from any description we have besides, of what both were at the above period of time. (fn. 45)
Forty-four years after this dedication, on the 5th of September, anno 1174, being the 20th year of king Henry II.'s reign, a fire happened, which consumed great part of this stately edifice, namely, the whole choir, from the angel steeple to the east end of the church, together with the prior's lodgings, the chapel of the Virgin Mary, the infirmary, and some other offices belonging to the monastery; but the angel steeple, the lower cross isles, and the nave appear to have received no material injury from the flames. (fn. 46) The narrative of this accident is told by Gervas, the monk of Canterbury, so often quoted before, who was an eye witness of this calamity, as follows:
Three small houses in the city near the old gate of the monastery took fire by accident, a strong south wind carried the flakes of fire to the top of the church, and lodged them between the joints of the lead, driving them to the timbers under it; this kindled a fire there, which was not discerned till the melted lead gave a free passage for the flames to appear above the church, and the wind gaining by this means a further power of increasing them, drove them inwardly, insomuch that the danger became immediately past all possibility of relief. The timber of the roof being all of it on fire, fell down into the choir, where the stalls of the manks, made of large pieces of carved wood, afforded plenty of fuel to the flames, and great part of the stone work, through the vehement heat of the fire, was so weakened, as to be brought to irreparable ruin, and besides the fabric itself, the many rich ornaments in the church were devoured by the flames.
The choir being thus laid in ashes, the monks removed from amidst the ruins, the bodies of the two saints, whom they called patrons of the church, the archbishops Dunstan and Alphage, and deposited them by the altar of the great cross, in the nave of the church; (fn. 47) and from this time they celebrated the daily religious offices in the oratory of the blessed Virgin Mary in the nave, and continued to do so for more than five years, when the choir being re edified, they returned to it again. (fn. 48)
Upon this destruction of the church, the prior and convent, without any delay, consulted on the most speedy and effectual method of rebuilding it, resolving to finish it in such a manner, as should surpass all the former choirs of it, as well in beauty as size and magnificence. To effect this, they sent for the most skilful architects that could be found either in France or England. These surveyed the walls and pillars, which remained standing, but they found great part of them so weakened by the fire, that they could no ways be built upon with any safety; and it was accordingly resolved, that such of them should be taken down; a whole year was spent in doing this, and in providing materials for the new building, for which they sent abroad for the best stone that could be procured; Gervas has given a large account, (fn. 49) how far this work advanced year by year; what methods and rules of architecture were observed, and other particulars relating to the rebuilding of this church; all which the curious reader may consult at his leisure; it will be sufficient to observe here, that the new building was larger in height and length, and more beautiful in every respect, than the choir of Conrad; for the roof was considerably advanced above what it was before, and was arched over with stone; whereas before it was composed of timber and boards. The capitals of the pillars were now beautified with different sculptures of carvework; whereas, they were before plain, and six pillars more were added than there were before. The former choir had but one triforium, or inner gallery, but now there were two made round it, and one in each side isle and three in the cross isles; before, there were no marble pillars, but such were now added to it in abundance. In forwarding this great work, the monks had spent eight years, when they could proceed no further for want of money; but a fresh supply coming in from the offerings at St. Thomas's tomb, so much more than was necessary for perfecting the repair they were engaged in, as encouraged them to set about a more grand design, which was to pull down the eastern extremity of the church, with the small chapel of the Holy Trinity adjoining to it, and to erect upon a stately undercroft, a most magnificent one instead of it, equally lofty with the roof of the church, and making a part of it, which the former one did not, except by a door into it; but this new chapel, which was dedicated likewise to the Holy Trinity, was not finished till some time after the rest of the church; at the east end of this chapel another handsome one, though small, was afterwards erected at the extremity of the whole building, since called Becket's crown, on purpose for an altar and the reception of some part of his relics; (fn. 50) further mention of which will be made hereafter.
The eastern parts of this church, as Mr. Gostling observes, have the appearance of much greater antiquity than what is generally allowed to them; and indeed if we examine the outside walls and the cross wings on each side of the choir, it will appear, that the whole of them was not rebuilt at the time the choir was, and that great part of them was suffered to remain, though altered, added to, and adapted as far as could be, to the new building erected at that time; the traces of several circular windows and other openings, which were then stopped up, removed, or altered, still appearing on the walls both of the isles and the cross wings, through the white-wash with which they are covered; and on the south side of the south isle, the vaulting of the roof as well as the triforium, which could not be contrived so as to be adjusted to the places of the upper windows, plainly shew it. To which may be added, that the base or foot of one of the westernmost large pillars of the choir on the north side, is strengthened with a strong iron band round it, by which it should seem to have been one of those pillars which had been weakened by the fire, but was judged of sufficient firmness, with this precaution, to remain for the use of the new fabric.
The outside of this part of the church is a corroborating proof of what has been mentioned above, as well in the method, as in the ornaments of the building.— The outside of it towards the south, from St. Michael's chapel eastward, is adorned with a range of small pillars, about six inches diameter, and about three feet high, some with santastic shasts and capitals, others with plain ones; these support little arches, which intersect each other; and this chain or girdle of pillars is continued round the small tower, the eastern cross isle and the chapel of St. Anselm, to the buildings added in honour of the Holy Trinity, and St. Thomas Becket, where they leave off. The casing of St. Michael's chapel has none of them, but the chapel of the Virgin Mary, answering to it on the north side of the church, not being fitted to the wall, shews some of them behind it; which seems as if they had been continued before, quite round the eastern parts of the church.
These pillars, which rise from about the level of the pavement, within the walls above them, are remarkably plain and bare of ornaments; but the tower above mentioned and its opposite, as soon as they rise clear of the building, are enriched with stories of this colonade, one above another, up to the platform from whence their spires rise; and the remains of the two larger towers eastward, called St. Anselm's, and that answering to it on the north side of the church, called St. Andrew's are decorated much after the same manner, as high as they remain at present.
At the time of the before-mentioned fire, which so fatally destroyed the upper part of this church, the undercrost, with the vaulting over it, seems to have remained entire, and unhurt by it.
The vaulting of the undercrost, on which the floor of the choir and eastern parts of the church is raised, is supported by pillars, whose capitals are as various and fantastical as those of the smaller ones described before, and so are their shafts, some being round, others canted, twisted, or carved, so that hardly any two of them are alike, except such as are quite plain.
These, I suppose, may be concluded to be of the same age, and if buildings in the same stile may be conjectured to be so from thence, the antiquity of this part of the church may be judged, though historians have left us in the dark in relation to it.
In Leland's Collectanea, there is an account and description of a vault under the chancel of the antient church of St. Peter, in Oxford, called Grymbald's crypt, being allowed by all, to have been built by him; (fn. 51) Grymbald was one of those great and accomplished men, whom king Alfred invited into England about the year 885, to assist him in restoring Christianity, learning and the liberal arts. (fn. 52) Those who compare the vaults or undercrost of the church of Canterbury, with the description and prints given of Grymbald's crypt, (fn. 53) will easily perceive, that two buildings could hardly have been erected more strongly resembling each other, except that this at Canterbury is larger, and more pro fusely decorated with variety of fancied ornaments, the shafts of several of the pillars here being twisted, or otherwise varied, and many of the captials exactly in the same grotesque taste as those in Grymbald's crypt. (fn. 54) Hence it may be supposed, that those whom archbishop Lanfranc employed as architects and designers of his building at Canterbury, took their model of it, at least of this part of it, from that crypt, and this undercrost now remaining is the same, as was originally built by him, as far eastward, as to that part which begins under the chapel of the Holy Trinity, where it appears to be of a later date, erected at the same time as the chapel. The part built by Lanfranc continues at this time as firm and entire, as it was at the very building of it, though upwards of seven hundred years old. (fn. 55)
But to return to the new building; though the church was not compleatly finished till the end of the year 1184, yet it was so far advanced towards it, that, in 1180, on April 19, being Easter eve, (fn. 56) the archbishop, prior and monks entered the new choir, with a solemn procession, singing Te Deum, for their happy return to it. Three days before which they had privately, by night, carried the bodies of St. Dunstan and St. Alphage to the places prepared for them near the high altar. The body likewise of queen Edive (which after the fire had been removed from the north cross isle, where it lay before, under a stately gilded shrine) to the altar of the great cross, was taken up, carried into the vestry, and thence to the altar of St. Martin, where it was placed under the coffin of archbishop Livinge. In the month of July following the altar of the Holy Trinity was demolished, and the bodies of those archbishops, which had been laid in that part of the church, were removed to other places. Odo's body was laid under St. Dunstan's and Wilfrid's under St. Alphage's; Lanfranc's was deposited nigh the altar of St. Martin, and Theobald's at that of the blessed Virgin, in the nave of the church, (fn. 57) under a marble tomb; and soon afterwards the two archbishops, on the right and left hand of archbishop Becket in the undercrost, were taken up and placed under the altar of St. Mary there. (fn. 58)
After a warning so terrible, as had lately been given, it seemed most necessary to provide against the danger of fire for the time to come; the flames, which had so lately destroyed a considerable part of the church and monastery, were caused by some small houses, which had taken fire at a small distance from the church.— There still remained some other houses near it, which belonged to the abbot and convent of St. Augustine; for these the monks of Christ-church created, by an exchange, which could not be effected till the king interposed, and by his royal authority, in a manner, compelled the abbot and convent to a composition for this purpose, which was dated in the year 1177, that was three years after the late fire of this church. (fn. 59)
These houses were immediately pulled down, and it proved a providential and an effectual means of preserving the church from the like calamity; for in the year 1180, on May 22, this new choir, being not then compleated, though it had been used the month be fore, as has been already mentioned, there happened a fire in the city, which burnt down many houses, and the flames bent their course towards the church, which was again in great danger; but the houses near it being taken away, the fire was stopped, and the church escaped being burnt again. (fn. 60)
Although there is no mention of a new dedication of the church at this time, yet the change made in the name of it has been thought by some to imply a formal solemnity of this kind, as it appears to have been from henceforth usually called the church of St. Thomas the Martyr, and to have continued so for above 350 years afterwards.
New names to churches, it is true. have been usually attended by formal consecrations of them; and had there been any such solemnity here, undoubtedly the same would not have passed by unnoticed by every historian, the circumstance of it must have been notorious, and the magnificence equal at least to the other dedications of this church, which have been constantly mentioned by them; but here was no need of any such ceremony, for although the general voice then burst forth to honour this church with the name of St. Thomas, the universal object of praise and adoration, then stiled the glorious martyr, yet it reached no further, for the name it had received at the former dedication, notwithstanding this common appellation of it, still remained in reality, and it still retained invariably in all records and writings, the name of Christ church only, as appears by many such remaining among the archives of the dean and chapter; and though on the seal of this church, which was changed about this time; the counter side of it had a representation of Becket's martyrdom, yet on the front of it was continued that of the church, and round it an inscription with the former name of Christ church; which seal remained in force till the dissolution of the priory.
It may not be improper to mention here some transactions, worthy of observation, relating to this favorite saint, which passed from the time of his being murdered, to that of his translation to the splendid shrine prepared for his relics.
Archbishop Thomas Becket was barbarously murdered in this church on Dec. 29, 1170, being the 16th year of king Henry II. and his body was privately buried towards the east end of the undercrost. The monks tell us, that about the Easter following, miracles began to be wrought by him, first at his tomb, then in the undercrost, and in every part of the whole fabric of the church; afterwards throughout England, and lastly, throughout the rest of the world. (fn. 61) The same of these miracles procured him the honour of a formal canonization from pope Alexander III. whose bull for that purpose is dated March 13, in the year 1172. (fn. 62) This declaration of the pope was soon known in all places, and the reports of his miracles were every where sounded abroad. (fn. 63)
Hereupon crowds of zealots, led on by a phrenzy of devotion, hastened to kneel at his tomb. In 1177, Philip, earl of Flanders, came hither for that purpose, when king Henry met and had a conference with him at Canterbury. (fn. 64) In June 1178, king Henry returning from Normandy, visited the sepulchre of this new saint; and in July following, William, archbishop of Rhemes, came from France, with a large retinue, to perform his vows to St. Thomas of Canterbury, where the king met him and received him honourably. In the year 1179, Lewis, king of France, came into England; before which neither he nor any of his predecessors had ever set foot in this kingdom. (fn. 65) He landed at Dover, where king Henry waited his arrival, and on August 23, the two kings came to Canterbury, with a great train of nobility of both nations, and were received with due honour and great joy, by the archbishop, with his com-provincial bishops, and the prior and the whole convent. (fn. 66)
King Lewis came in the manner and habit of a pilgrim, and was conducted to the tomb of St. Thomas by a solemn procession; he there offered his cup of gold and a royal precious stone, (fn. 67) and gave the convent a yearly rent for ever, of a hundred muids of wine, to be paid by himself and his successors; which grant was confirmed by his royal charter, under his seal, and delivered next day to the convent; (fn. 68) after he had staid here two, (fn. 69) or as others say, three days, (fn. 70) during which the oblations of gold and silver made were so great, that the relation of them almost exceeded credibility. (fn. 71) In 1181, king Henry, in his return from Normandy, again paid his devotions at this tomb. These visits were the early fruits of the adoration of the new sainted martyr, and these royal examples of kings and great persons were followed by multitudes, who crowded to present with full hands their oblations at his tomb.— Hence the convent was enabled to carry forward the building of the new choir, and they applied all this vast income to the fabric of the church, as the present case instantly required, for which they had the leave and consent of the archbishop, confirmed by the bulls of several succeeding popes. (fn. 72)
¶From the liberal oblations of these royal and noble personages at the tomb of St. Thomas, the expences of rebuilding the choir appear to have been in a great measure supplied, nor did their devotion and offerings to the new saint, after it was compleated, any ways abate, but, on the contrary, they daily increased; for in the year 1184, Philip, archbishop of Cologne, and Philip, earl of Flanders, came together to pay their vows at this tomb, and were met here by king Henry, who gave them an invitation to London. (fn. 73) In 1194, John, archbishop of Lions; in the year afterwards, John, archbishop of York; and in the year 1199, king John, performed their devotions at the foot of this tomb. (fn. 74) King Richard I. likewise, on his release from captivity in Germany, landing on the 30th of March at Sandwich, proceeded from thence, as an humble stranger on foot, towards Canterbury, to return his grateful thanks to God and St. Thomas for his release. (fn. 75) All these by name, with many nobles and multitudes of others, of all sorts and descriptions, visited the saint with humble adoration and rich oblations, whilst his body lay in the undercrost. In the mean time the chapel and altar at the upper part of the east end of the church, which had been formerly consecrated to the Holy Trinity, were demolished, and again prepared with great splendor, for the reception of this saint, who being now placed there, implanted his name not only on the chapel and altar, but on the whole church, which was from thenceforth known only by that of the church of St. Thomas the martyr.
On July 7, anno 1220, the remains of St. Thomas were translated from his tomb to his new shrine, with the greatest solemnity and rejoicings. Pandulph, the pope's legate, the archbishops of Canterbury and Rheims, and many bishops and abbots, carried the coffin on their shoulders, and placed it on the new shrine, and the king graced these solemnities with his royal presence. (fn. 76) The archbishop of Canterbury provided forage along all the road, between London and Canterbury, for the horses of all such as should come to them, and he caused several pipes and conduits to run with wine in different parts of the city. This, with the other expences arising during the time, was so great, that he left a debt on the see, which archbishop Boniface, his fourth successor in it, was hardly enabled to discharge.
¶The saint being now placed in his new repository, became the vain object of adoration to the deluded people, and afterwards numbers of licences were granted to strangers by the king, to visit this shrine. (fn. 77) The titles of glorious, of saint and martyr, were among those given to him; (fn. 78) such veneration had all people for his relics, that the religious of several cathedral churches and monasteries, used all their endeavours to obtain some of them, and thought themselves happy and rich in the possession of the smallest portion of them. (fn. 79) Besides this, there were erected and dedicated to his honour, many churches, chapels, altars and hospitals in different places, both in this kingdom and abroad. (fn. 80) Thus this saint, even whilst he lay in his obscure tomb in the undercroft, brought such large and constant supplies of money, as enabled the monks to finish this beautiful choir, and the eastern parts of the church; and when he was translated to the most exalted and honourable place in it, a still larger abundance of gain filled their coffers, which continued as a plentiful supply to them, from year to year, to the time of the reformation, and the final abolition of the priory itself.
The Liberties is an area in central Dublin, Ireland. The name derives from manorial jurisdictions dating from the arrival of the Anglo-Normans in the 12th century. They were town lands united to the city, but still preserving their own jurisdiction (hence "liberties"). The most important of these liberties were the Liberty of St. Sepulchre, under the Archbishop of Dublin, and the Liberty of Thomas Court and Donore belonging to the Abbey of St. Thomas (later called the Earl of Meath's Liberty).The modern Liberties area lies within the former boundaries of these two jurisdictions, between the river Liffey to the north, St. Patrick's Cathedral to the east, Warrenmount to the south and St. James's Hospital to the west.
The Liberties is home to many Dublin institutions, including Digital Hub Fm, a community radio station run by The Digital Hub Development Agency (and home to radio show The Buzz), the National College of Art and Design, Digital Skills Academy, Iveagh Market (currently awaiting redevelopment), Vicar Street music venue, St. Catherine's Church, St. James's Gate Brewery, Dublin Food Co-op, St. James's Hospital, St Patrick's Cathedral and Francis Street with a range of antique dealers. John's Lane Augustinian Church was designed by Augustus Pugin and opened in 1874; the twelve statues in the tower niches are the work of sculptor James Pearse, the father of Irish patriots Patrick and William Pearse.
The tour that I went on today was lead by Pat Liddy (who I highly recommend) and sponsored by Dublin City Council (thanks). Toured part of the Liberties and despite the fact that I live not far from the area and despite that I went to Kevin Street College I saw parts of the the city that I never saw before. I will revisit most of the area when the weather is better and I will of course publish some more photographs.
Pat Liddy is a well-known Dublin historian, author and artist who has developed a unique walking tour service for Dublin. Covering the inner city and, by advance request, the coastal villages, waterways, hills and intriguing suburbs, the tours are compiled by Pat Liddy himself based on his years of experience, historical research and the collection of anecdotal and legendary stories of Ireland's Capital City
The Liberties of Dublin, Ireland were manorial jurisdictions that existed since the arrival of the Anglo-Normans in the 12th century. They were town lands united to the city, but still preserving their own jurisdiction. The most important of these liberties were the Liberty of St. Sepulchre, under the Archbishop of Dublin, and the Liberty of Thomas Court and Donore belonging to the Abbey of St. Thomas (later called the Earl of Meath's Liberty). Today's "Dublin Liberties" generally refer to the inner-city area covered by these two liberties.
Many places in The Liberties still have connections with a turbulent past in which political upheaval or dire poverty were the order of the day. In the 17th century, parts of them became wealthy districts, when the weaving crafts of the immigrant Huguenots had a ready market around the present day Meath Street Market, and a healthy export trade.
In the late 17th century development started in order to house the weavers who were moving into the area. Woolen manufacture was set up by settlers from England, while many Huguenots took up silk weaving, using skills they had acquired in their home country, France. They constructed their own traditional style of house, Dutch Billies, with gables that faced the street. Thousands of weavers became employed in the Coombe, Pimlico, Spitalfields and Weavers' Square.
However, English woolen manufacturers felt threatened by the Irish industry, and heavy duties were imposed on Irish wool exports. The Navigation Act was passed to prevent the Irish from exporting to the whole colonial market, then in 1699 the English government passed the Wool Act which prevented export to any country whatsoever, which effectively put an end to the industry in the Liberties.
A weavers' hall was built by the Weavers' Guild in the Lower Coombe in 1682. In 1745 a new hall was provided, financed by the Huguenot, David Digges La Touche. In 1750 the Guild erected a statue of George II on the front of their hall "as a mark of their sincere loyalty". The hall was demolished in 1965.
In the eighteenth century a revival took place by importing Spanish wool into Ireland, which was helped from 1775 by the Royal Dublin Society, but the events of 1798 and 1803, in which many weavers in the Liberties took part, and the economic decline that set in after the Act of Union, prevented any further growth in this industry in the Liberties.
Similarly, the successful growth of the silk and poplin industries, which was supported by the Royal Dublin Society in the second half of the 18th century, was hindered by an act passed by the Irish government in 1786, which prevented the society from supporting any house where Irish silk goods were sold. When war was declared against France under Napoleon and raw materials were difficult to obtain, the silk weavers suffered greatly.
The final blow came in the 1820s when the British government did away with the tarifs imposed upon imported silk products. From this time on fate of the Liberties was sealed and most of the once-prosperous houses became poverty-stricken tenements housing the unemployed and destitute.
The Tenter House was erected in 1815 in Cork Street, financed by Thomas Pleasants. Before this the poor weavers of the Liberties had either to suspend work in rainy weather or use the alehouse fire and thus were (as Wright expresses it) "exposed to great distress, and not unfrequently reduced either to the hospital or the gaol." The Tenter House was a brick building 275 feet long, 3 stories high, and with a central cupola. It had a form of central heating powered by four furnaces, and provided a place for weavers to stretch their material in bad weather.
Part of the area was redeveloped into affordable housing and parkland by the Iveagh Trust, the Dublin Artisans Dwellings Company and the City Council in the early to mid twentieth century. The appalling slums, dire poverty and hazardous dereliction have now been wiped away, and only a few scattered pockets remain to be demolished.
Philadelphia 2009 Summer
People dining at restaurants in the Northern Liberties section of Philadelphia around The Piazza at Schmidt's.
Our visits as part of our Open House Dublin October 2017 Ireland weekend incl. in Dublin and Dun Laoghaire, County Dublin. We highly recommended this event for beautiful insights from architecture incl. heritage and modernity, plus more memorable discoveries in-between.
Built as the Second Baptist Church on New Market Street in Northern Liberties in 1803, it was sold to a Jewish congregation in 1871 and remained a synagogue into the 20th century. In recent decades, it's been owned by the AA Fence Co. Now the building will be replaced with...wait for it...luxury condos. For more on the building's history, check out the article I wrote in the Hidden City Daily: hiddencityphila.org/2014/04/a-last-look-at-second-baptist...
Taking liberties with the steam-powered pump engine, from Colmans' Fire Department - today exhibited at the Bridewell Museum
Officially... Shand Mason steam fire engine, used by the Colman’s Carrow Road Mustard Works Fire Department from the 1880s to 1945
Wednesday 16 September, 2015 – The Grainstore, a Victorian building renovated into contemporary office space for growing technology companies in Dublin 8, was officially opened by Alex White TD, Minister for Communications, Energy and Natural Resources today. The building’s seven newly refurbished offices are part of The Digital Hub, Ireland’s largest enterprise cluster for technology, digital media and internet companies. The four-storey, 10,650 square feet building will bring the number of office buildings at The Digital Hub to nine and represents an investment of almost €4 million in the refurbishment of the historic building.
The 19th century Grainstore building is a former store for grain used in whiskey production by Roe’s Distillery. The George Roe Distillery had the highest output of any distillery in the world in the time around 1886. This solid limestone building also has earlier ties to the Four Courts Marshalsea - a debtor’s prison. Located between wall remains of the Four Courts Marshalsea and what is now the Digital Depot building, the Grainstore is of great architectural merit.
In its newly refurbished state, The Grainstore offers visually impressive, bright, and spacious office units. Six of the seven offices come with their own kitchen/kitchenette. The ground floor has a communal kitchen, a shared and bookable, meeting room and plenty of collaborative space. The Grainstore has Cat 6 computer cabling, 24/7 CCTV monitored security system and 24/7 Electronic Access Control.
The Grainstore building is already partly occupied by existing Digital Hub company TIBCO (formerly Jaspersoft). Due to expansion, the software development company has moved from the Digital Court building to The Grainstore and occupies just over 50% of the building. Jaspersoft took up residence at The Digital Hub in 2008 and its recent expansion is due to the acquisition by TIBCO in April 2014.
Speaking at the launch, Minister for Communications, Alex White TD, said: “The Government is rebuilding an enterprise-focused economy that can support full employment by 2018. The successful redevelopment of The Grainstore, which significantly expands the office capacity available for growing digital enterprises here at the Digital Hub, demonstrates the Government’s commitment to supporting entrepreneurship and job creation. Moreover, the regeneration of this 19th century building, so stylishly executed, breathes further vibrancy into a historic part of Dublin, while respecting the unique character of the Liberties area.”
Commenting on the newest building in the cluster, Gerry Macken, CEO, The Digital Hub said: “Following a very successful 2015 to date, we are delighted to be able to expand the office space at The Digital Hub with The Grainstore building. Just over half of this new office space is already being put to great use by one of our expanding companies at the Hub, TIBCO, and we hope to fill the rest of the new office space in the coming months.
“The Liberties area has recently benefitted from various regeneration projects, and I am very proud that The Digital Hub can add The Grainstore to the growing list of improvements in the local community. In addition to this project we are restoring and refurbishing a number of historic 19th century buildings at 1 Crane Street and 7 & 8 Thomas Street, which are due to be completed in 2016. Urban regeneration is a core value for us here at The Digital Hub and I believe that these new restoration projects are a great addition to the area.”
The Digital Hub is always looking for bright, scaling technology companies to join its enterprise cluster. Any company interested in locating in The Grainstore building should contact the Sales team by email to locate@thedigitalhub.com or telephone 01 4806200.
Yeoman Warders – nicknamed “Beefeaters” are seen providing an escort for the group that walked around the “Tower Liberties” Thursday, May 26, 2022, during the ceremony of “Beating the Bounds” to mark Ascension Day. Armed with willow wands, choir boys and local children beat the markers at the command of the Warders and the Chaplain, for residents to be aware of the Tower’s boundaries. MG8902
In medieval and early modern society, a parish was a community: it was where you were christened, married and buried; the parish church set the tithes to pay and provided spiritual nourishment and security in return. Knowing the boundaries of the parish was crucial to a community’s identity and the residents’ responsibilities. On the evening of Ascension Day, a group from every parish and various governing bodies in England would walk around the parameters of their land. Each boundary post would be beaten to mark it out in the minds of the younger generations and the clergy would pray for the land along the way. This tradition was known as “Beating the Bounds.” The area surrounding the Tower is known as the ‘Tower Liberties’ – this area is under the jurisdiction of the Tower of London and independent of the City of London; up until 1894, the Tower Liberties had their own county government. This independent status made it vital for residents to be aware of the Tower’s boundaries. There are twenty-two surviving boundary markers surrounding the Tower, many bearing the letters WD for ‘War Department’ from the 19th century, and each one is visited when “Beating the Bounds.” Since the fourteenth century, the location of the markers was firmly impressed on the minds of young members of the community through the procession. Armed with willow wands, choir boys and local children beat the markers at the command of the Warders and the Chaplain. (Historic Royal Palaces)
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sallybuck.com
6 things to know about this bill, as stated by the BC Civil Liberties Association:
- it drastically expands the definition of 'security'
- it gives the government too much discretion to pick and choose which individuals and groups to target for further scrutiny
- it will severely chill freedom of expression
- it will allow government institutions like Health Canada and the Canada Revenue Agency to share information about you with the RCMP
- Canada already has a troubling regime of preventative arrest and detention; Bill C-51 proposes to make it even worse
- it would give CSIS the power to act like a police force, while still allowing it to operate secretly as an intelligence gathering service.
thetyee.ca/Opinion/2015/03/11/C-51-Six-Things-To-Know/
Two veterans seeking the release from prison for critics of World War I who were jailed for sedition and espionage for speaking against the war, hold a banner in front of the White House during a November 11, 1922 Armistice Day demonstration by several hundred people in Washington, D.C. and nearby Chevy Chase, Md.
The group sent a message to President Warren Harding that said in part that they represented ‘many thousands of people in the United States who warmly cherish American principles of free speech, freedom of assemblage, a free press and other so-called civil liberties.’”
A spokesperson for Harding accepted their message, but refused them entry into the White House because the group did not have an appointment.
The larger group sponsored by the Joint Amnesty Committee marched in front of the White House on Pennsylvania Avenue led by a five-piece band after Harding returned to the grounds after laying a wreath at Arlington National Cemetery.
The march was halted by police on West Executive Avenue who said the group lacked a permit for anywhere except Pennsylvania Avenue.
The marchers moved to Lafayette Park where they held a rally and were confronted by paid counter-demonstrators holding signs like “Treason ain’t no crime—Benedict Arnold Patriotic Association, Inc.;” “We want out too—Chicken Thieves Society,” and “We extend our sympathy—Pickpockets Association.”
The group later headed to the Chevy Chase Country Club to picket while Harding played golf.
According to the committee, they were seeking amnesty for 64 people still jailed under the Espionage Act, but who had only spoken out against the war and had not committed any overt acts.
Harding refused to consider general amnesty, but granted pardons to a number of people still imprisoned in December 1922 while leaving others to serve their sentences.
His successor, Calvin Coolidge, issued pardons to nearly all those remaining a year later.
Many of the pardons involved deportation and/or loss of citizenship.
Background and outcomes
The U.S. First Amendment protecting free speech was abandoned during World War I as several thousand people were arrested for speaking out against the war or conscription into the armed forces and these jailings in turn spurred an amnesty movement.
U.S. involvement in the war only lasted from April 2, 1917 until the armistice in November 1918.
An amnesty movement for all war resisters gained strength, particularly after the war was ended and after President Woodrow Wilson left office in January 1921.
Leading up to 1917 and the declaration of war against Germany, many labor unions, socialists, members of the so-called Old Right, and pacifist groups in the United States publicly denounced participation. However when the U.S. entered the war, most segments of American society rallied around the war.
However, left wing socialists, anarchists and the Industrial Workers of the World (IWW) denounced the war as an imperialist squabble between the wealthy of different nations over how to divide up the world. Quakers and other pacifists opposed the war on moral grounds
The military draft was introduced shortly after the U.S joined the war, which the anti-war movement bitterly opposed.
The Espionage Act of 1917 was passed to address spying but also contained a section which criminalized inciting or attempting to incite any mutiny, desertion, or refusal of duty in the armed forces, punishable with a fine of not more than $10,000, not more than twenty years in federal prison, or both.
Thousands of Wobblies (IWW members) and anti-war activists were prosecuted on authority of this and the Sedition Act of 1918, which tightened restrictions even more. Among the most famous was Eugene Debs, chairman of the Socialist Party of the USA for giving an anti-draft speech in Ohio. The U.S. Supreme Court upheld these prosecutions in a series of decisions.
An unknown additional number of people were prosecuted under state laws and jailed.
Conscientious objectors were punished as well, most of them Christian pacifist inductees into the armed services. They were placed directly in the armed forces and court-martialed, receiving log sentences and brutal treatment. A number of them died in Alcatraz Prison, then a military facility.
Vigilante groups were formed which suppressed dissent as well, such as by rounding up draft-age men and checking if they were in possession of draft cards or not.
Around 300,000 American men evaded or refused conscription in World War I. Immigrants, including naturalized citizens such as leading anarchist Emma Goldman, were deported, while native-born citizens, including Debs, lost their citizenship for their activities.
Perhaps 2,000 civilians convicted of sedition or under the Espionage law were held in military prisons at Fort Oglethorpe in Tennessee and Fort Douglas in Utah. They were mostly ordinary workers, including unemployed, and many whose only "crime" was to have been involved in radical politics or labor unrest. They were held along with German nationals suspected of disloyalty to the U.S. and German prisoners of war. Others convicted of political crimes were dispersed to the regular federal prison system.
After the war ended, other nations began to issue amnesty or commute the sentences of those convicted of political crimes during the war and pressure began to build in the U.S.
Delegations visited the White House in the ensuing years, including a 1920 group that included Basil M. Manly, former joint chair of the War Labor Board who said, “Washington pardoned the Tories and Lincoln pardoned the rebels. We believe President Wilson will not hesitate to grant general amnesty to the political prisoners of the world war.” Wilson, however, was unmoved.
The Sedition Act was repealed in 1921, but the Espionage Act remained, though U.S. Supreme Court decisions since then have substantially, but not explicitly, gutted the provisions used to squelch dissent.
Another delegation called on the White House April 18, 1921, along with meeting other top officials, marching by threes along the sidewalks and holding a mass meeting that evening at the Masonic Temple.
Among the delegation that met with President Warren Harding were Morris Hillquit of the Socialist Party; Rev. Norman Thomas, a later Socialist Party standard bearer; Jackson Ralston, attorney for the American Federation of Labor; and Albert DeSilver of the American Civil Liberties Union. A special appeal was made for Debs.
Debs, serving a 10-year sentence for sedition for his speech, had his sentenced commuted in December 1921 by President Warren Harding who had succeeded Wilson that year. Some 17 other prisoners also had their sentences commuted by Harding at that time.
The movement for amnesty began to gain steam as dozens of others remained imprisoned.
As 1922 began individuals and organizations around the country began to join the call for amnesty: the Georgia American Federation of Labor issued an appeal for amnesty, 50 member of Congress signed a petition for the same, socialist meetings demanding amnesty were held across the country while Quakers and other pacifists and socialists held public demonstrations.
In April 1922, the American Civil Liberties Union leader Roger Baldwin organized the Joint Amnesty Committee to coordinate activities across the country.
That same month, a million signatures on a massive petition gathered by the General Defense Committee of Chicago were delivered to the White House by Hillquit, who had also been an Socialist Party antiwar candidate for mayor of New York during the war in 1917 and drew 100,000 votes; the wife of Robert LaFollette, senator from Wisconsin; and James H. Maurer, president of the Pennsylvania Federation of Labor.
A Children’s Crusade comprised of the wives and children of some of those imprisoned and their supporters staged a well-publicized train trip across the country ending in Washington, D.C. where they picketed the White House and held meetings with government officials for a four-month period from April through August of 1922.
In August, Harding issued a statement refusing general amnesty, but committing to an expedited case-by-case review of anti-war prisoners.
The White House statement said in part, “he would never, as long as he was President, pardon any criminal who preached the destruction of the government by force.”
The idea that people were permitted free speech unless they committed or advocated “overt acts” would not be accepted as law until the late-1950s through the mid-1960s U.S. Supreme Court decisions on the imprisonment of Communist Party members during the second red scare.
The Children’s Crusade suspended their demonstrations after Harding’s statement feeling they had won as much as they would win at that time. However, other protest continued.
In December 1922, Harding issued another series of pardons and commutations, but many contained conditions of deportation and loss of citizenship.
In December 1923, President Calvin Coolidge commuted the sentences of all prisoners who had been convicted for opposing the government and Selective Service during World War I. By this point that commutation affected only 31 prisoners.
In March 1924, Coolidge restored the citizenship to those who had been convicted of desertion between the time of the Armistice of November 1918 and the war’s official end by the U.S. in 1921.
Coolidge’s successor Herbert Hoover refused to pardon or commute the sentences of any remaining prisoners or restore former prisoners citizenship in a 1929 letter to social activist Jane Adams, saying that any such decision would result in “acrimonious discussion” within the country.
It wouldn’t be until 1933 when President Franklin Roosevelt, 15 years after the end of fighting, issued a proclamation restoring civil rights to about 1,500 war resisters. The proclamation applied only to those convicted of violating the draft and espionage acts. There was no reduction in prison sentences, however, because all had already been released by that time and no restoration of rights for those convicted under the Sedition Act.
After a nationwide campaign involving petitions and resolutions, Debs’ citizenship was restored posthumously in 1976.
For more information and related images, see flic.kr/s/aHBqjzCcJd
This image is a National Photo Company photograph courtesy of the Library of Congress, Call Number: LC-F81- 21287 [P&P]
The tour that I went on today was lead by Pat Liddy (who I highly recommend) and sponsored by Dublin City Council (thanks). Toured part of the Liberties and despite the fact that I live not far from the area and despite that I went to Kevin Street College I saw parts of the the city that I never saw before. I will revisit most of the area when the weather is better and I will of course publish some more photographs.
Pat Liddy is a well-known Dublin historian, author and artist who has developed a unique walking tour service for Dublin. Covering the inner city and, by advance request, the coastal villages, waterways, hills and intriguing suburbs, the tours are compiled by Pat Liddy himself based on his years of experience, historical research and the collection of anecdotal and legendary stories of Ireland's Capital City
The Liberties of Dublin, Ireland were manorial jurisdictions that existed since the arrival of the Anglo-Normans in the 12th century. They were town lands united to the city, but still preserving their own jurisdiction. The most important of these liberties were the Liberty of St. Sepulchre, under the Archbishop of Dublin, and the Liberty of Thomas Court and Donore belonging to the Abbey of St. Thomas (later called the Earl of Meath's Liberty). Today's "Dublin Liberties" generally refer to the inner-city area covered by these two liberties.
Many places in The Liberties still have connections with a turbulent past in which political upheaval or dire poverty were the order of the day. In the 17th century, parts of them became wealthy districts, when the weaving crafts of the immigrant Huguenots had a ready market around the present day Meath Street Market, and a healthy export trade.
In the late 17th century development started in order to house the weavers who were moving into the area. Woolen manufacture was set up by settlers from England, while many Huguenots took up silk weaving, using skills they had acquired in their home country, France. They constructed their own traditional style of house, Dutch Billies, with gables that faced the street. Thousands of weavers became employed in the Coombe, Pimlico, Spitalfields and Weavers' Square.
However, English woolen manufacturers felt threatened by the Irish industry, and heavy duties were imposed on Irish wool exports. The Navigation Act was passed to prevent the Irish from exporting to the whole colonial market, then in 1699 the English government passed the Wool Act which prevented export to any country whatsoever, which effectively put an end to the industry in the Liberties.
A weavers' hall was built by the Weavers' Guild in the Lower Coombe in 1682. In 1745 a new hall was provided, financed by the Huguenot, David Digges La Touche. In 1750 the Guild erected a statue of George II on the front of their hall "as a mark of their sincere loyalty". The hall was demolished in 1965.
In the eighteenth century a revival took place by importing Spanish wool into Ireland, which was helped from 1775 by the Royal Dublin Society, but the events of 1798 and 1803, in which many weavers in the Liberties took part, and the economic decline that set in after the Act of Union, prevented any further growth in this industry in the Liberties.
Similarly, the successful growth of the silk and poplin industries, which was supported by the Royal Dublin Society in the second half of the 18th century, was hindered by an act passed by the Irish government in 1786, which prevented the society from supporting any house where Irish silk goods were sold. When war was declared against France under Napoleon and raw materials were difficult to obtain, the silk weavers suffered greatly.
The final blow came in the 1820s when the British government did away with the tarifs imposed upon imported silk products. From this time on fate of the Liberties was sealed and most of the once-prosperous houses became poverty-stricken tenements housing the unemployed and destitute.
The Tenter House was erected in 1815 in Cork Street, financed by Thomas Pleasants. Before this the poor weavers of the Liberties had either to suspend work in rainy weather or use the alehouse fire and thus were (as Wright expresses it) "exposed to great distress, and not unfrequently reduced either to the hospital or the gaol." The Tenter House was a brick building 275 feet long, 3 stories high, and with a central cupola. It had a form of central heating powered by four furnaces, and provided a place for weavers to stretch their material in bad weather.
Part of the area was redeveloped into affordable housing and parkland by the Iveagh Trust, the Dublin Artisans Dwellings Company and the City Council in the early to mid twentieth century. The appalling slums, dire poverty and hazardous dereliction have now been wiped away, and only a few scattered pockets remain to be demolished.
A delegation wearing amnesty sashes and seeking release from prison for critics of World War I who were jailed for sedition and espionage for speaking against the war, poses in front of the White House during a November 11, 1922 Armistice Day demonstration by several hundred people in Washington, D.C. and nearby Chevy Chase, Md.
The Evening Star described the delegation:
“The committee, which was composed of Edmund C. Evans, Mrs. Walter Cope and Dr. Franklin Edgerton of Pennsylvania; Robertson Trowbridge of New York, Mercer Green Johnson of Baltimore, and Mrs. Abby Scott Baker of Washington, D.C., informed the President they represented ‘many thousands of people in the United States who warmly cherish American principles of free speech, freedom of assemblage, a free press and other so-called civil liberties.’”
A spokesperson for President Warren Harding accepted their message, but refused them entry into the White House because the group did not have an appointment.
The larger group sponsored by the Joint Amnesty Committee marched in front of the White House on Pennsylvania Avenue led by a five-piece band after Harding returned to the grounds after laying a wreath at Arlington National Cemetery.
The march was halted by police on West Executive Avenue who said the group lacked a permit for anywhere except Pennsylvania Avenue.
The marchers moved to Lafayette Park where they held a rally and were confronted by paid counter-demonstrators holding signs like “Treason ain’t no crime—Benedict Arnold Patriotic Association, Inc.;” “We want out too—Chicken Thieves Society,” and “We extend our sympathy—Pickpockets Association.”
The group later headed to the Chevy Chase Country Club to picket while Harding played golf.
According to the committee, they were seeking amnesty for 64 people still jailed under the Espionage Act, but who had only spoken out against the war and had not committed any overt acts.
Harding refused to consider general amnesty, but granted pardons to a number of people still imprisoned in December 1922 while leaving others to serve their sentences.
His successor, Calvin Coolidge, issued pardons to nearly all those remaining a year later.
Many of the pardons involved deportation and/or loss of citizenship.
Background and outcomes
The U.S. First Amendment protecting free speech was abandoned during World War I as several thousand people were arrested for speaking out against the war or conscription into the armed forces and these jailings in turn spurred an amnesty movement.
U.S. involvement in the war only lasted from April 2, 1917 until the armistice in November 1918.
An amnesty movement for all war resisters gained strength, particularly after the war was ended and after President Woodrow Wilson left office in January 1921.
Leading up to 1917 and the declaration of war against Germany, many labor unions, socialists, members of the so-called Old Right, and pacifist groups in the United States publicly denounced participation. However when the U.S. entered the war, most segments of American society rallied around the war.
However, left wing socialists, anarchists and the Industrial Workers of the World (IWW) denounced the war as an imperialist squabble between the wealthy of different nations over how to divide up the world. Quakers and other pacifists opposed the war on moral grounds
The military draft was introduced shortly after the U.S joined the war, which the anti-war movement bitterly opposed.
The Espionage Act of 1917 was passed to address spying but also contained a section which criminalized inciting or attempting to incite any mutiny, desertion, or refusal of duty in the armed forces, punishable with a fine of not more than $10,000, not more than twenty years in federal prison, or both.
Thousands of Wobblies (IWW members) and anti-war activists were prosecuted on authority of this and the Sedition Act of 1918, which tightened restrictions even more. Among the most famous was Eugene Debs, chairman of the Socialist Party of the USA for giving an anti-draft speech in Ohio. The U.S. Supreme Court upheld these prosecutions in a series of decisions.
An unknown additional number of people were prosecuted under state laws and jailed.
Conscientious objectors were punished as well, most of them Christian pacifist inductees into the armed services. They were placed directly in the armed forces and court-martialed, receiving log sentences and brutal treatment. A number of them died in Alcatraz Prison, then a military facility.
Vigilante groups were formed which suppressed dissent as well, such as by rounding up draft-age men and checking if they were in possession of draft cards or not.
Around 300,000 American men evaded or refused conscription in World War I. Immigrants, including naturalized citizens such as leading anarchist Emma Goldman, were deported, while native-born citizens, including Debs, lost their citizenship for their activities.
Perhaps 2,000 civilians convicted of sedition or under the Espionage law were held in military prisons at Fort Oglethorpe in Tennessee and Fort Douglas in Utah. They were mostly ordinary workers, including unemployed, and many whose only "crime" was to have been involved in radical politics or labor unrest. They were held along with German nationals suspected of disloyalty to the U.S. and German prisoners of war. Others convicted of political crimes were dispersed to the regular federal prison system.
After the war ended, other nations began to issue amnesty or commute the sentences of those convicted of political crimes during the war and pressure began to build in the U.S.
Delegations visited the White House in the ensuing years, including a 1920 group that included Basil M. Manly, former joint chair of the War Labor Board who said, “Washington pardoned the Tories and Lincoln pardoned the rebels. We believe President Wilson will not hesitate to grant general amnesty to the political prisoners of the world war.” Wilson, however, was unmoved.
The Sedition Act was repealed in 1921, but the Espionage Act remained, though U.S. Supreme Court decisions since then have substantially, but not explicitly, gutted the provisions used to squelch dissent.
Another delegation called on the White House April 18, 1921, along with meeting other top officials, marching by threes along the sidewalks and holding a mass meeting that evening at the Masonic Temple.
Among the delegation that met with President Warren Harding were Morris Hillquit of the Socialist Party; Rev. Norman Thomas, a later Socialist Party standard bearer; Jackson Ralston, attorney for the American Federation of Labor; and Albert DeSilver of the American Civil Liberties Union. A special appeal was made for Debs.
Debs, serving a 10-year sentence for sedition for his speech, had his sentenced commuted in December 1921 by President Warren Harding who had succeeded Wilson that year. Some 17 other prisoners also had their sentences commuted by Harding at that time.
The movement for amnesty began to gain steam as dozens of others remained imprisoned.
As 1922 began individuals and organizations around the country began to join the call for amnesty: the Georgia American Federation of Labor issued an appeal for amnesty, 50 member of Congress signed a petition for the same, socialist meetings demanding amnesty were held across the country while Quakers and other pacifists and socialists held public demonstrations.
In April 1922, the American Civil Liberties Union leader Roger Baldwin organized the Joint Amnesty Committee to coordinate activities across the country.
That same month, a million signatures on a massive petition gathered by the General Defense Committee of Chicago were delivered to the White House by Hillquit, who had also been an Socialist Party antiwar candidate for mayor of New York during the war in 1917 and drew 100,000 votes; the wife of Robert LaFollette, senator from Wisconsin; and James H. Maurer, president of the Pennsylvania Federation of Labor.
A Children’s Crusade comprised of the wives and children of some of those imprisoned and their supporters staged a well-publicized train trip across the country ending in Washington, D.C. where they picketed the White House and held meetings with government officials for a four-month period from April through August of 1922.
In August, Harding issued a statement refusing general amnesty, but committing to an expedited case-by-case review of anti-war prisoners.
The White House statement said in part, “he would never, as long as he was President, pardon any criminal who preached the destruction of the government by force.”
The idea that people were permitted free speech unless they committed or advocated “overt acts” would not be accepted as law until the late-1950s through the mid-1960s U.S. Supreme Court decisions on the imprisonment of Communist Party members during the second red scare.
The Children’s Crusade suspended their demonstrations after Harding’s statement feeling they had won as much as they would win at that time. However, other protest continued.
In December 1922, Harding issued another series of pardons and commutations, but many contained conditions of deportation and loss of citizenship.
In December 1923, President Calvin Coolidge commuted the sentences of all prisoners who had been convicted for opposing the government and Selective Service during World War I. By this point that commutation affected only 31 prisoners.
In March 1924, Coolidge restored the citizenship to those who had been convicted of desertion between the time of the Armistice of November 1918 and the war’s official end by the U.S. in 1921.
Coolidge’s successor Herbert Hoover refused to pardon or commute the sentences of any remaining prisoners or restore former prisoners citizenship in a 1929 letter to social activist Jane Adams, saying that any such decision would result in “acrimonious discussion” within the country.
It wouldn’t be until 1933 when President Franklin Roosevelt, 15 years after the end of fighting, issued a proclamation restoring civil rights to about 1,500 war resisters. The proclamation applied only to those convicted of violating the draft and espionage acts. There was no reduction in prison sentences, however, because all had already been released by that time and no restoration of rights for those convicted under the Sedition Act.
After a nationwide campaign involving petitions and resolutions, Debs’ citizenship was restored posthumously in 1976.
For more information and related images, see flic.kr/s/aHBqjzCcJd
This image is a National Photo Company photograph courtesy of the Library of Congress, Call Number: LC-F81- 21289 [P&P]
Green M&M lady liberties at M&M's World in Midtown, Manhattan (NYC), New York (NY), United States (USA). #manhattan #newyork #usa #candy
Philadelphia 2010 - Northern Liberties
Ok, let me explain this photo. This was shot in an abandoned factory in the Northern Liberties section of north Philadelphia. From what I can surmise vagrants lived or still live in this structure. This chair was perfectly placed in front of a textured glass window with bars higher up on the wall so that during daylight hours sunlight would hit it.
This is a bathroom. I shot this with a wide-angle lens and I was standing in a stall that had the door broken off, and and the only thing in the stall was the base of a toilet. I will say no more. Maybe I will post the photo as this set unfolds. Not sure if the peeling paint was normal breakdown or if it had been on fire.
"Advocates say that more police in shelters means more harassment of the homeless. Last month, the New York Civil Liberties Union announced a settlement on behalf of three homeless men who were kicked awake and whose belongings were thrown into a trash compactor by police and sanitation workers in October 2016. In the settlement, the city will provide compensation for the personal items police illegally seized and discarded, which included Social Security cards, birth certificates and medication."
amsterdamnews.com/news/2017/feb/09/mayors-upcoming-homele...
___________________
"Warehousing is not social housing and no wonder the residents are pissed off and feel they were deceived."
(Alison Acker; Raging Granny)
thawvictoria.wordpress.com/2017/03/13/notes-from-alison-a...
__________ __________
Loss of property and secure storage are a major issue for residents of BC Housing, and in particular, the residents of the Portland Hotel Society failed poverty warehousing experiment. They were promised secure storage for their belongings.
The homeless were promised lots of things...
...and so the public assume the problem was solved.
Things got worse, in many ways.
Super Intent City created a safe supportive community - and they did it better than any efforts by our government and their Poverty-Pimping agencies.
Many of the Super InTent City community and organizers were targeted by the police and other Poverty-Pimps, like PHS, and they continue to be. It has worsened.
Tight knit familial groups were broken up, divided, especially the vocal proponents and organizers of Super InTent City. They are terrorized by police, suffer from stress, broken government promises, reduced funding, personal property destroyed and/or disposed, reduced access to supports, inadequate diet, worsening health and poverty.
The government "solution" has been an abysmal failure; its only success was public relations; fooling their public into believing their tax dollars are improving life for the homeless when, in fact, it has worsened. More have died, more have been imprisoned, and more have been displaced and separated from support groups.
There are many good people advocating for this beleaguered community and the United Nations is listening. Victoria is not fairing well in the eyes of the human rights advocacy field.
This is a monumental challenge, but it is a moral duty to help the less fortunate; essential for the soul.
(photo of sign inside the PHS facility)
___________ __________
...lately it seems like you can't swing around a broken promise to the poor without hitting a cop at the BC Housing PHS-run expired elderly-care-facility come shelter(?), mental health home(?), residential tenancy apartment(?), who knows what the heck this Soft Incarceration thingy is?
___________ __________
It's Not Right To Deny Their Rights
I've been working with a resident committee down at the Johnston Street Portland Hotel Society boondoggle, helping residents with various matters, including; OPCC and HRT complaints; a Class-Action Lawsuit we're preparing for; the documentation of some of their concerns with my camera, and other issues.
Entry into this building is typically difficult, especially for the resident's advocates and friends. Identification is required for visitors, after you have found the person so they can personally vouch for you.
This is all made more difficult without any sort of buzzer system. Sometimes you find someone who can go in to find them for you, maybe they have a phone so you try to call them ...and there is no way staff will help you or use the intercom system. Obstacles everywhere.
The other day I was stopped and abruptly questioned as to my purpose, and what I intend on using my camera for. Apparently, they only question photographers with large obvious cameras, and not every person who may have a cell phone camera, or other device - just big cameras.
It took me nearly 20 minutes of lectures about the limitations of photographers rights (that don't exist) from 5 PHS staff members, and I was followed and checked up on several times, including one female staff member (wife of somebody with PHS) who eaves dropped on my conversations, even rolling her eyes at me from listening to private conversations that were none of her business.
It's a hostile environment, and this was confirmed by EVERY resident I spoke with; HIGH LEVELS OF STRESS induced by mystery rules that apply to a mysteriously classified building.
Many talked about needing to escape from the closed-quarters, confinement and oppressive rules.
Is it a mental health facility? ...a shelter?
I heard both from staff when they explained restrictions placed upon both residents and their visitors.
(Video soon come)
Is it housing protected under the residential tenancy laws, as the residents were promised prior to moving in?
Why do residents' visitors face such scrutiny while the police wander through with impunity. While I was there I observed and documented many police inside and out, circling about, on foot, in cars ...I observed PHS staff meeting police officers across the street on two occasions, and a couple of the PHS staff walked a plain clothes officer inside the building. All of this during my short and HEAVILY SCRUTINIZED visit.
Police instruct the obedient PHS that residents are not allowed to take photos and video, and the staff comply. Residents and visitors are told they are not allowed to take pictures (collect evidence) in their own building; residents are restricted access to areas such as fire exits; residents are continually frustrated with being provide no answers to their questions and queries; residents are locked (tied with ropes) in their rooms when staff or police decide they wish to do so; no doors for their bathrooms, especially awkward when you have company or the PHS staff and/or police conduct the "welfare checks".
Securing personal property is difficult, and risky at best; exacerbated by thefts, or questionable disposal of stored property by PHS staff...
___________ __________
...and so the work continues; FOI requests are in and more are coming; OPCC and HRT complaints are in and more are coming, The United Nations is paying attention to the rights violations and neglect of the poor and homeless in Victoria, with an update delivered to the U.N. today ...and the beat goes on.
We must end the criminalization of the poor and downtrodden.
We must begin to properly address the needs of the poor and downtrodden.
Best of Love in the Afternoon
A wonderfully diverse crowd turned out for Philadelphia's first Night Market of 2012
The Tower of London’s, Chief Yeoman Warder, Pete McGowran, left, crosses Tower Bridge Road as he leads a group around the “Tower Liberties” Thursday, May 26, 2022, during the ceremony of “Beating the Bounds” to mark Ascension Day. Armed with willow wands, choir boys and local children beat the markers at the command of the Warders and the Chaplain, for residents to be aware of the Tower’s boundaries. At top left, is Tower Bridge, at top right, the Tower of London, and behind is the Shard. MG8875
In medieval and early modern society, a parish was a community: it was where you were christened, married and buried; the parish church set the tithes to pay and provided spiritual nourishment and security in return. Knowing the boundaries of the parish was crucial to a community’s identity and the residents’ responsibilities. On the evening of Ascension Day, a group from every parish and various governing bodies in England would walk around the parameters of their land. Each boundary post would be beaten to mark it out in the minds of the younger generations and the clergy would pray for the land along the way. This tradition was known as “Beating the Bounds.” The area surrounding the Tower is known as the ‘Tower Liberties’ – this area is under the jurisdiction of the Tower of London and independent of the City of London; up until 1894, the Tower Liberties had their own county government. This independent status made it vital for residents to be aware of the Tower’s boundaries. There are twenty-two surviving boundary markers surrounding the Tower, many bearing the letters WD for ‘War Department’ from the 19th century, and each one is visited when “Beating the Bounds.” Since the fourteenth century, the location of the markers was firmly impressed on the minds of young members of the community through the procession. Armed with willow wands, choir boys and local children beat the boundary markers at the command of the Warders and the Chaplain. (Historic Royal Palaces)
All pictures in my Photostream are Copyrighted © Olliepix All Rights Reserved Please do not download and use without my permission.
"Advocates say that more police in shelters means more harassment of the homeless. Last month, the New York Civil Liberties Union announced a settlement on behalf of three homeless men who were kicked awake and whose belongings were thrown into a trash compactor by police and sanitation workers in October 2016. In the settlement, the city will provide compensation for the personal items police illegally seized and discarded, which included Social Security cards, birth certificates and medication."
amsterdamnews.com/news/2017/feb/09/mayors-upcoming-homele...
___________________
"Warehousing is not social housing and no wonder the residents are pissed off and feel they were deceived."
(Alison Acker; Raging Granny)
thawvictoria.wordpress.com/2017/03/13/notes-from-alison-a...
__________ __________
Super Intent City created a safe supportive community - and they did it better than any efforts by our government and their Poverty-Pimping agencies.
Many of the Super InTent City community and organizers were targeted by the police and other Poverty-Pimps, like PHS, and they continue to be. It has worsened.
Tight knit familial groups were broken up, divided, especially the vocal proponents and organizers of Super InTent City. They are terrorized by police, suffer from stress, broken government promises, reduced funding, personal property destroyed and/or disposed, reduced access to supports, inadequate diet, worsening health and poverty.
The government "solution" has been an abysmal failure; its only success was public relations; fooling their public into believing their tax dollars are improving life for the homeless when, in fact, it has worsened. More have died, more have been imprisoned, and more have been displaced and separated from support groups.
There are many good people advocating for this beleaguered community and the United Nations is listening. Victoria is not fairing well in the eyes of the human rights advocacy field.
This is a monumental challenge, but it is a moral duty to help the less fortunate; essential for the soul.
___________ __________
...lately it seems like you can't swing around a broken promise to the poor without hitting a cop at the BC Housing PHS-run expired elderly-care-facility come shelter(?), mental health home(?), residential tenancy apartment(?), who knows what the heck this Soft Incarceration thingy is?
___________ __________
It's Not Right To Deny Their Rights
I've been working with a resident committee down at the Johnston Street Portland Hotel Society boondoggle, helping residents with various matters, including; OPCC and HRT complaints; a Class-Action Lawsuit we're preparing for; the documentation of some of their concerns with my camera, and other issues.
Entry into this building is typically difficult, especially for the resident's advocates and friends. Identification is required for visitors, after you have found the person so they can personally vouch for you.
This is all made more difficult without any sort of buzzer system. Sometimes you find someone who can go in to find them for you, maybe they have a phone so you try to call them ...and there is no way staff will help you or use the intercom system. Obstacles everywhere.
The other day I was stopped and abruptly questioned as to my purpose, and what I intend on using my camera for. Apparently, they only question photographers with large obvious cameras, and not every person who may have a cell phone camera, or other device - just big cameras.
It took me nearly 20 minutes of lectures about the limitations of photographers rights (that don't exist) from 5 PHS staff members, and I was followed and checked up on several times, including one female staff member (wife of somebody with PHS) who eaves dropped on my conversations, even rolling her eyes at me from listening to private conversations that were none of her business.
It's a hostile environment, and this was confirmed by EVERY resident I spoke with; HIGH LEVELS OF STRESS induced by mystery rules that apply to a mysteriously classified building.
Many talked about needing to escape from the closed-quarters, confinement and oppressive rules.
Is it a mental health facility? ...a shelter?
I heard both from staff when they explained restrictions placed upon both residents and their visitors.
(Video soon come)
Is it housing protected under the residential tenancy laws, as the residents were promised prior to moving in?
Why do residents' visitors face such scrutiny while the police wander through with impunity. While I was there I observed and documented many police inside and out, circling about, on foot, in cars ...I observed PHS staff meeting police officers across the street on two occasions, and a couple of the PHS staff walked a plain clothes officer inside the building. All of this during my short and HEAVILY SCRUTINIZED visit.
Police instruct the obedient PHS that residents are not allowed to take photos and video, and the staff comply. Residents and visitors are told they are not allowed to take pictures (collect evidence) in their own building; residents are restricted access to areas such as fire exits; residents are continually frustrated with being provide no answers to their questions and queries; residents are locked (tied with ropes) in their rooms when staff or police decide they wish to do so; no doors for their bathrooms, especially awkward when you have company or the PHS staff and/or police conduct the "welfare checks".
Securing personal property is difficult, and risky at best; exacerbated by thefts, or questionable disposal of stored property by PHS staff...
___________ __________
...and so the work continues; FOI requests are in and more are coming; OPCC and HRT complaints are in and more are coming, The United Nations is paying attention to the rights violations and neglect of the poor and homeless in Victoria, with an update delivered to the U.N. today ...and the beat goes on.
We must end the criminalization of the poor and downtrodden.
We must begin to properly address the needs of the poor and downtrodden.
Meath Street and Francis Street in Dublin's Liberties are two of the most historically significant streets in Dublin, with their origins rooted in the expansion of the medieval western suburb of the city. The buildings in the area have seen much change in recent years but a number of historic buildings still remain, some of which are amongst the oldest in Dublin.
As of October 2003, Francis Street's well-established and reputable traders have joined forces to form Dublin's first Antiques Quarter, and to launch it they published a guide to Francis Street listing its many antique shops, art galleries and restaurants.
Since the 18th Century, Francis Street has been associated with the finest furniture and skilled craftsmanship. Now with its array of antiques, curios, contemporary art, handcrafted stationery, objets d’art, artisan foods, antique jewellery, beautiful Irish silver and wealth of other collectible pieces, Francis Street is the perfect place to treat yourself to something special or pick up an original gift.
For a copy of the guide contact Norma Rogers on +353 1 454 9467
The Liberties is an area in central Dublin, Ireland. The name derives from manorial jurisdictions dating from the arrival of the Anglo-Normans in the 12th century. They were town lands united to the city, but still preserving their own jurisdiction (hence "liberties"). The most important of these liberties were the Liberty of St. Sepulchre, under the Archbishop of Dublin, and the Liberty of Thomas Court and Donore belonging to the Abbey of St. Thomas (later called the Earl of Meath's Liberty).The modern Liberties area lies within the former boundaries of these two jurisdictions, between the river Liffey to the north, St. Patrick's Cathedral to the east, Warrenmount to the south and St. James's Hospital to the west.
The Liberties is home to many Dublin institutions, including Digital Hub Fm, a community radio station run by The Digital Hub Development Agency (and home to radio show The Buzz), the National College of Art and Design, Digital Skills Academy, Iveagh Market (currently awaiting redevelopment), Vicar Street music venue, St. Catherine's Church, St. James's Gate Brewery, Dublin Food Co-op, St. James's Hospital, St Patrick's Cathedral and Francis Street with a range of antique dealers. John's Lane Augustinian Church was designed by Augustus Pugin and opened in 1874; the twelve statues in the tower niches are the work of sculptor James Pearse, the father of Irish patriots Patrick and William Pearse.
Frances St Iveagh market Dublin dates back from 1900's It was a market hall until 1990's but now sadly neglected in recent years. The business area around Frances Street is generally antiques and craft shops and while the buildings future is uncertain I think it would make a great antiques market. Its quite near Guinness Brewery so plenty of tourists in the area. Holga Image on Fuji Neopan 400.
The Liberties is a relatively nice Irish pub on Guerrero. Steve used to eat there occasionally with Dan and Carmen when they lived nearby. I've eaten there once with him, but fish & chips aren't really my thing. As I was passing by today, I noticed the lanterns and decided they would make a good picture.
The tour that I went on today was lead by Pat Liddy (who I highly recommend) and sponsored by Dublin City Council (thanks). Toured part of the Liberties and despite the fact that I live not far from the area and despite that I went to Kevin Street College I saw parts of the the city that I never saw before. I will revisit most of the area when the weather is better and I will of course publish some more photographs.
Pat Liddy is a well-known Dublin historian, author and artist who has developed a unique walking tour service for Dublin. Covering the inner city and, by advance request, the coastal villages, waterways, hills and intriguing suburbs, the tours are compiled by Pat Liddy himself based on his years of experience, historical research and the collection of anecdotal and legendary stories of Ireland's Capital City
The Liberties of Dublin, Ireland were manorial jurisdictions that existed since the arrival of the Anglo-Normans in the 12th century. They were town lands united to the city, but still preserving their own jurisdiction. The most important of these liberties were the Liberty of St. Sepulchre, under the Archbishop of Dublin, and the Liberty of Thomas Court and Donore belonging to the Abbey of St. Thomas (later called the Earl of Meath's Liberty). Today's "Dublin Liberties" generally refer to the inner-city area covered by these two liberties.
Many places in The Liberties still have connections with a turbulent past in which political upheaval or dire poverty were the order of the day. In the 17th century, parts of them became wealthy districts, when the weaving crafts of the immigrant Huguenots had a ready market around the present day Meath Street Market, and a healthy export trade.
In the late 17th century development started in order to house the weavers who were moving into the area. Woolen manufacture was set up by settlers from England, while many Huguenots took up silk weaving, using skills they had acquired in their home country, France. They constructed their own traditional style of house, Dutch Billies, with gables that faced the street. Thousands of weavers became employed in the Coombe, Pimlico, Spitalfields and Weavers' Square.
However, English woolen manufacturers felt threatened by the Irish industry, and heavy duties were imposed on Irish wool exports. The Navigation Act was passed to prevent the Irish from exporting to the whole colonial market, then in 1699 the English government passed the Wool Act which prevented export to any country whatsoever, which effectively put an end to the industry in the Liberties.
A weavers' hall was built by the Weavers' Guild in the Lower Coombe in 1682. In 1745 a new hall was provided, financed by the Huguenot, David Digges La Touche. In 1750 the Guild erected a statue of George II on the front of their hall "as a mark of their sincere loyalty". The hall was demolished in 1965.
In the eighteenth century a revival took place by importing Spanish wool into Ireland, which was helped from 1775 by the Royal Dublin Society, but the events of 1798 and 1803, in which many weavers in the Liberties took part, and the economic decline that set in after the Act of Union, prevented any further growth in this industry in the Liberties.
Similarly, the successful growth of the silk and poplin industries, which was supported by the Royal Dublin Society in the second half of the 18th century, was hindered by an act passed by the Irish government in 1786, which prevented the society from supporting any house where Irish silk goods were sold. When war was declared against France under Napoleon and raw materials were difficult to obtain, the silk weavers suffered greatly.
The final blow came in the 1820s when the British government did away with the tarifs imposed upon imported silk products. From this time on fate of the Liberties was sealed and most of the once-prosperous houses became poverty-stricken tenements housing the unemployed and destitute.
The Tenter House was erected in 1815 in Cork Street, financed by Thomas Pleasants. Before this the poor weavers of the Liberties had either to suspend work in rainy weather or use the alehouse fire and thus were (as Wright expresses it) "exposed to great distress, and not unfrequently reduced either to the hospital or the gaol." The Tenter House was a brick building 275 feet long, 3 stories high, and with a central cupola. It had a form of central heating powered by four furnaces, and provided a place for weavers to stretch their material in bad weather.
Part of the area was redeveloped into affordable housing and parkland by the Iveagh Trust, the Dublin Artisans Dwellings Company and the City Council in the early to mid twentieth century. The appalling slums, dire poverty and hazardous dereliction have now been wiped away, and only a few scattered pockets remain to be demolished.