Conservative History Journal

Tory Historians should really have mentioned this yesterday as one of the greatest novels in the English language was published on January 27, 1813. It was advertised at 18s, rather a lot of money in those days and it had one of the most famous opening lines: "It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single man in possession of a good fortune must be in want of a wife.". That line has been adapted by numerous hacks for numerous...

Whether one thinks of King Charles I as the Martyred King or as the ruler who was so utterly incompetent in his political thinking (not to mention weak-willed) that he drove the country to a civil war or, indeed, anything between those two views, one would have found it hard not to be impressed by the carefully prepared and excellently staged King's Army Parade today that followed the King's last route from St James's Palace to Whitehall...

As we are approaching the anniversary of King Charles I's execution, the King's Army will be parading this Sunday at 11.30 [scroll down to date]. They will follow, mostly, the route the King took on his last journey from St James's Palace to the no longer existing Whitehall Palace. A small detachment will lay a wreath at the Banqueting Hall, which is still there. Then, I imagine, they will depart to the nearest hostelry, being Wrong but Wromantic. Here is London Historian's description of last year's eve...

Sir Winston Churchill died on January 24, 1965; his father, Lord Randolph Churchill on January 24, 1895. Lord Randolph did not get a state funeral and,  in any case the film would have been of varying quality. Famously, Sir Winston did have one of the grandest state funerals  in history, mostly planned by him. Here is one part of it, with what, to me, is the most moving moment: the salute of the cranes in the docks.   ...

Today is the anniversary of the younger Pitt's death. Not a special anniversary as he died on January 23, 1806 but he was a great enough man and Tory Prime Minister for us to note this day, a sad one for Britain then at war. The last ten minutes of Sir Carol Reed's splendid war-time film, The Young Mr Pitt, with Robert Donat, John Mills, Robert Morley and other luminaries of the British screen. At the start of the sequence the fickle...

Just as you thought it was safe to come out as all Dickens events were over: On February 1 there will be a talk in the Guildhall Library about Dickens and his illustrators. It would seem that a visit to the Guildhall Library is indicat...

A long piece about Dorothy L. Sayers's conservatism is best described as work in progress though a few short postings have gone up from time to time, covering various aspects of her work, often with critical comments. She remains a fascinating and talented lady who has contributed to many aspects of literature. I have just finished reading another book about  her, Catherine Kenney's The Remarkable Case of Dorothy L. Sayers, which...

Tory Historian managed to visit the exhibition about Prince Henry at the National Portrait Gallery, The Lost Prince, in its dying hours or, to be precise, on the day before it close. It was a fascinating compilation of portraits, books, manuscripts and other artefacts related to Prince Frederick Henry Stuart, Prince of Wales, James I's eldest son, who died unexpectedly at the age of eighteen, leaving the inevitable feeling of lost opportunities? Would...

As a (one-time) contributor to History Today I was invited to their grand annual party and award giving ceremony, held at the Royal Society in Carlton House Terrace, a place and terrace full of historical connections. The prize for the best picture research went to Pauline Hubner in The Great Builders, a book that looks well worth reading; the Longman/History Today Book of the Year award went to the first volume of Memories of Empire, titled The White Man's World, which looked interesting enough though, for myself I thought...

A great day for London: on January 9, 1863 a number of grandees were carried from Paddington to Farringdon Street Station on the first ever underground railway. It was opened to the public on the following day and 30,000 people crowded into the trains and stations. Despite the mockery and dire predictions the Metropolitan Railway proved to be a huge success. More on the history and the day he...

Well, here we are, a week into 2013 and no postings yet. Tsk, tsk. Worse than that, this posting will be a link to an excellent blog by Paul Lay, Editor of History Today on whether Christianity should be taught at schools as researchers from Oxford University Department of Education say on the basis of opinions expressed by people questioned by YouGov. Yes, is his resounding answer for very good reasons: In a YouGov poll commissioned by the university, sampling the views of 1,832 adults in England, 64 per cent agreed...