Cold Calling Churchill: The British North Greenland Expedition 1952 – 1954 – March 2014

Posted on 31 March, 2014 by nspeccoll

Message form from the North Greenland Expedition **(North Greenland Expedition Archive)**

An archive recently gifted to Special Collections from the School of Geography, Politics and Sociology offers a unique insight into this pioneering, sub polar expedition through transcripts of the radio communications between the ground team and the US Air Force. Among its participants was Hal Lister; a Geography lecturer at Newcastle University who served as a Glaciologist here and later on the Commonwealth Trans-Antarctic Expedition (1955 – 1958), led by Vivian Fuch and supported by Sir Edmund Hilary.

The archive is nationally significant and documents the first large-scale British expedition and scientific exploration of the Greenland Ice Sheet. The archive captures significant events, achievements (e.g. the crossing of the ice sheet), and logistical challenges of undertaking such a large-scale expedition at a time when polar logistics were inherently difficult and dangerous. It represents a unique day-to-day’ record of a large-scale, but little-documented, Cold-War era British scientific exploration.

The purpose of this expedition, led by Commander James Simpson, was primarily scientific studies in glaciology, meteorology, geology and physiology, but also so the armed services could gain experience working in polar conditions.

In his second spell as Prime Minister, Sir Winston Churchill was very proud to be Vice-Patron of the expedition and offered his best wishes to the team before their departure in July 1952 from Deptford (right). Among the pencil-written messages conveying both scientific messages, details on supplies, and jokes between the expedition and support team, is this particular message from Simpson. In it, he offers congratulations to Churchill on receiving the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1953, where he beat writers such as Ernest Hemingway for his numerous historical accounts of both World Wars.

Greenland was a successful venture and amongst the team’s achievements included two pioneering ascents in the Barth Mountains and Dronning Louise Land. Sadly, there was one fatality, in 1953 when Captain H. A Jensen of the Danish Army fell to his death. The entire team were awarded the Polar Medal in November 1954.

Conservation at work

The documents arrived at Newcastle University Special Collections and Archives and a bundle of papers.

We then sent this archive off to Tyne and Wear Archives and Museums to work their conservation magic, to flatten and preserve the papers. Here’s the conservation in progress…

“Following the Fashion”: The Satirical Cartoons of James Gillray – February 2014

Posted on 27 February, 2014 by nspeccoll

Depicts the figure-type which was most flattered by the newly popular high-waisted dresses. It also mocks the perception that the lowly class of merchants and their families, associated with the Cheapside district of London (on the right), unsuccessfully copied the on-trend aristocracy associated with the St. James' district (on the left). In the captions ""giving the TON"", was a colloquial phrase for setting the style, and Gillray also plays on the word ""body"" to mean both a soul without a bodice in the case of the woman on the left and, more disparagingly, an actual body without a soul on the right. — *Following the Fashion,* 1794, **(Gillray (James) Prints, JG/2/7)**

James Gillray (1756-1815) was an English caricaturist known for his satirical and daring cartoons, lampooning politicians, the aristocracy and society at large during the volatile and exciting Age of Revolution. He was himself something of a revolutionary, turning his pen on his subjects with a freedom and grotesqueness that was unprecedented and, in doing so, helping to shape popular opinion.

Like many artists, however, he was primarily motivated by commercial interests and the particular needs of those who commissioned him. Private customers would very often wish only to be amused and for prints, when hand coloured, to look attractive in portfolios and on the walls of less grand rooms of houses, coffee houses and pubs.

Following the Fashion (1794) is an example of such an irreverent and risqué poke at everyday culture. It satirizes the figure-type which was most flattered by the newly popular high-waisted dresses. It also mocks the perception that the lowly class of merchants and their families, associated with the Cheapside district of London (on the right), unsuccessfully copied the on-trend aristocracy associated with the St. James’ district (on the left). In the captions “giving the TON”, was a colloquial phrase for setting the style, and Gillray also plays on the word “body” to mean both a soul without a bodice in the case of the woman on the left and, more disparagingly, an actual body without a soul on the right.

Interested in seeing more James Gillray prints? Take a look on CollectionsCaptured.

Professor Pybus and the Origins of Lucozade – October 2013

Posted on 27 October, 2013 by nspeccoll

Short description of Pybus’ involvement in the production and use of Lucozade at the Royal Victoria Infirmary in 1908 **(Pybus (Professor Frederick) Archive,** **FP/3/1/3)**

Esteemed surgeon and Emeritus Professor Frederick Charles Pybus (1883-1975), is perhaps best known to Newcastle University as a collector, donating his internationally significant library of some 2000 books on the history of medicine to the library in 1965. This remains one of Special Collections’ most impressive and prestigious resources of rare and unique published material, dating from the 15th Century with particular reference to anatomy, surgery and medical illustration and including influential works by luminaries such as William Harvey and Andreas Vesalius.

Photograph of Frederick Charles Pybus, c.1905 (**Professor Frederick) Archive, FP/3/4/32**)

But Pybus himself is also remembered as a giant of the medical community and an influential figure both locally and nationally. A graduate of the Newcastle College of Medicine gaining his MS (Masters in Surgery) in 1910, Pybus’ long and varied career and lifelong associations with the Royal Victoria Infirmary and Newcastle University meant he is remembered as an authoritative voice on cancer research, surgical education and paediatrics. What is perhaps more surprising, and a story which has almost passed into folklore, is his hand in the creation of a household name; the energy drink Lucozade.

Pybus himself explains this story in this note present in his papers, which were donated shortly after his books. He describes how, during his student days working as a House-Surgeon at the Royal Victoria Infirmary in 1908, he lost a young patient following a seemingly successful operation. It was felt that this was because the child was starved, leading to them not being able to break down the chloroform used as an anaesthetic and resulting in a slow poisoning of the liver. This tragic event clearly affected the young Pybus and when he became surgeon at the Fleming Memorial Hospital for Sick Children following his graduation, he made sure patients drank a glucose drink he devised prior to surgery and when they had a fever to stop this happening again.

An enterprising chemist in Barras Bridge called William Owen provided the ingredients as a prescription, but noticing its popularity started making it himself and indeed perfected the recipe, with Pybus admitting his had “a taste of sulphur bi-oxide which most glucose had in order to prevent fermentation”.

Owen called this drink Glucozade, but, in 1938, Beecham pharmaceutical company realised the commercial potential and bought the formulae for the then princely sum of “about £10,000”, and Lucozade was born. Pybus admits in this note that although he had no share in this “I sometimes wish I had”. However, it was clearly a comfort that, in respect of the child that died, Pybus felt on his wards the Lucozade prototype “prevented this happening so far as I know for ever afterwards”.

News of the Battle of Flodden, 1513 – September 2013

Posted on 27 September, 2013 by nspeccoll

Five hundred years ago this month, one of the bloodiest battles between England and Scotland took place when the English army defeated the Scots army on Flodden Field near Branxton in Northumberland. James IV of Scotland had crossed the border in late August 1513 with an army of about 30,000 men, to honour the “auld alliance” with France and divert troops from the main English army which was then in France under Henry VIII. He was met by Henry’s lieutenant, Thomas Howard, Earl of Surrey, who opposed him with an army of about 20,000 men. The Battle took place on 9th September 1513 in the afternoon; it was over by nightfall as the Scots succumbed to the superior weaponry of the English. There were an estimated 10,000 Scottish deaths, including members of almost every noble family and James IV himself. About 5,000 English soldiers also lost their lives.

This is the first page of a nineteenth-century reprint of the earliest surviving English news pamphlet on the Battle of Flodden, believed to have been printed in the same year. Original sixteenth-century copies of the pamphlet are rare, being held only at the National Library of Scotland, Lambeth Palace Library and Cambridge University Library, in varying states of completeness. Although later reprints such as that held here in Special Collections at Newcastle are more commonplace, they are no less appealing.

This edition, held in the White (Robert) Collection, was reprinted in London in 1809 and faithfully reproduces the original, including its attractive woodcut illustration and distinctive “Black Letter” typeface. The woodcut depicts soldiers in a camp on the battlefield. The figure on the right is probably the Earl of Surrey; the soldiers are handing him a crown, which likely represents the crown of the fallen James IV. The illustration is particularly noteworthy as it appears to show the long bill (a staff ending in a hook-shaped blade) used by the English army, which out-performed the spears of the Scots army and, along with the English longbows, secured the English victory.

Our copy of this edition carries the bookplate of John Trotter Brockett (c. 1788-1842) and the later inscription of Robert White (1802-1874), both local antiquaries and collectors. Brockett is known to have sold off a portion of his collection of books, coins and medals at Sotheby’s in 1823 and this may well be how this particular book later found its way into Robert White’s possession.

Special Collections also holds several copies of another, slightly later reprint of the pamphlet, held in the Clarke (Edwin) Local Collection and 19th Century Collections. Printed by the Newcastle Typographical Society in 1822, the later edition is in a smaller format than the 1809 edition and bears a printed dedication from its editor, William Garret, to John Trotter Brockett. Garret thanks Brockett for the loan of “the book from which the following sheets are printed” and explains that this reprint is smaller than the tract from which it was taken; we can speculate that our copy of the 1809 edition bearing Brockett’s bookplate is the very book to which Garret refers here in the 1822 edition, highlighting an example of the links which can exist across our holdings in Special Collections.

The Appointed Day (or 50 going on 179) – August 2013

Posted on 27 August, 2013 by nspeccoll

Photograph of the Ceremony on the official establishment of Newcastle University. Shows The Lord Mayor of Newcastle, Alderman Harry Simm, and the Vice Chancellor of Newcastle University Charles Bosanquet shaking hands on the day the University of Newcastle upon Tyne formally became a separate entity to Durham University. — *Photograph of the Ceremony on the official establishment of Newcastle University* **(University Archives, NUA/029090-390)**
Shows The Lord Mayor of Newcastle, Alderman Harry Simm, and the Vice Chancellor of Newcastle University Charles Bosanquet shaking hands on the day the University of Newcastle upon Tyne formally became a separate entity to Durham University.

Thursday 1st August 1963 was the “Appointed Day”. In 1908 the federal University of Durham was set up by an Act of Parliament when the existing colleges of the University of Durham were formed into two divisions – the colleges located in Durham became the Durham Division and the College of Medicine (founded in 1834) and Armstrong College (founded as the College of Physical Sciences in 1871) in Newcastle, the Newcastle Division. In 1937 Durham College of Medicine and Armstrong College were amalgamated to form King’s College in the University of Durham. With two centres 15 miles (24 kilometres) apart there were several strains in the relationship between the two divisions over the years, and this led to several calls for the establishment of a University, or University College, in Newcastle, none of which came to fruition. However on 29th January 1960 the Academic Board of the Newcastle Division at an Extraordinary General Meeting passed the following motion: “That this Board is of the opinion that the healthy development of this Division of the University makes desirable the establishment of a University of Newcastle in place of King’s College.”

Photograph of the first meeting of Senate of the University of Newcastle upon Tyne, 8th August 1963. — ***Photograph of the establishment of the University of Newcastle upon Tyne, 1963*** **(University Archives, NUA/029091)**
First meeting of Senate of the University of Newcastle upon Tyne, 8th August 1963.

Surprisingly there was little real opposition, in either division, to the proposal and eventually a Bill was presented to Parliament which became the Universities of Durham and Newcastle upon Tyne Act 1963. As the “Appointed Day” dawned the newly created University of Newcastle upon Tyne came into existence. However as E.M. Bettenson remarks in The University of Newcastle upon Tyne: Historical Introduction:

Photograph of The Lord Mayor of Newcastle, Alderman Harry Simm, and The Vice Chancellor of Newcastle University, Dr. C.I.C .Bosanquet, holding the Lindisfarne silver salver presented to the University by the City — *Photograph of the establishment of the University of Newcastle, 1963* **(University Archives, NUA/029090/11)**
The Lord Mayor of Newcastle, Alderman Harry Simm, and The Vice Chancellor of Newcastle University, Dr. C.I.C .Bosanquet, holding the Lindisfarne silver salver presented to the University by the City

Photograph of Dr. C.I.C. Bosanquet, Vice-Chancellor of Newcastle University (left) and Dr. D.G. Christopherson, Vice-Chancellor of Durham University with the gifts exchanged between the Universities of Durham and Newcastle. — *Photograph of the establishment of the University of Newcastle upon Tyne, 1963* **(University Archives, NUA/029042/1)**
Dr. C.I.C. Bosanquet, Vice-Chancellor of Newcastle University (left) and Dr. D.G. Christopherson, Vice-Chancellor of Durham University with the gifts exchanged between the Universities of Durham and Newcastle.

“Apart from changes in the notepaper headings and signs on the buildings it was difficult to tell that anything had happened… No member of staff found his conditions of service altered, no student whether graduate or undergraduate varied his studies, degree regulations and instructions to examiners remained the same.” The only events of note on this the “Appointed Day” were a visit to the new University by Lord Mayor of Newcastle, Alderman Harry Simm, accompanied by the Sheriff and the Town Clerk ; and the formal meetings of the Court, Council and Senate of the new University. During his visit the Lord Mayor presented the University with a “noble salver of Lindisfarne silver”.

At the final meeting of the Court of the federal University of Durham on 29th July 1963 gifts were exchanged between the old and the new universities.

George Otto Trevelyan (1838-1928) – July 2013

Posted on 27 July, 2013 by nspeccoll

Photograph of George Otto Trevelyan **(Trevelyan (George Otto) Archive, GOT 184)**

George Otto Trevelyan was born on 20th July 1838, in Rothley Temple, Leicestershire to Charles Edward and Hannah Trevelyan. He was educated at Harrow and then Cambridge University – both institutions that nurtured his pre-existing interests in history and literature.

George had endeared himself to the childless Sir Walter Calverley and Pauline, Lady Trevelyan as a young visitor to Wallington Hall, Northumberland. Walter was so impressed with the scholarly boy and his inexhaustible quests for knowledge and fulfilment that he secretly changed his will so that Wallington would pass to his cousin, Charles Edward, and then to George.

Meanwhile, George fell in love with Caroline Philips, the daughter of Robert Needham Philips – an M.P. and wealthy merchant. Their hasty engagement was blocked by Caroline’s uncle for two years while she rejected all other suitors and, after they married in 1869, they were seldom apart and died within eight months of each other. G.M. Trevelyan said of his parents that “they grew into one another by mind and habit”. George inherited Wallington in 1886 and he and Caroline made Wallington their summer home for the rest of their long lives and their three sons spent hours playing there.

George particularly delighted in the library. He wrote to his sister, Alice, in June 1887, that; “We are extremely busy fitting up the house … Especially I have been spending an immense deal of time over the books”.¹ When he wanted to give himself a holiday he retreated into the library to read the likes of Cicero and Theocritus and he has left behind marginalia that capture the dates when he finished reading, or re-reading, books; provide contextual information; and which signal his favourite volumes. George often read aloud to Caroline and the children: the library was the room in which the family assembled. He told Alice; “We have read ‘Persuasion’ aloud. The scene of Captain Wentworth writing the letter is absolutely perfect”.² In other letters he talks of communal readings of the works of Edward Gibbon and Thomas Hogg’s The Life of Percy Bysshe Shelley.

In his public life, George was an historian, man of letters, politician and the first biographer of his uncle Lord Macaulay. He began his long political career as a radical Liberal with his election as M.P. for Tynemouth in 1865. He served in all of W.E. Gladstone’s administrations, including as Chief Secretary to Ireland after the assassination of the previous incumbent, Lord Frederick Cavendish, in Dublin in May 1882 and as Secretary of State for Scotland (1886 and 1892-95) although he was to split, briefly, from the Gladstonians over Irish issues in 1886. He retired from parliament in 1897 and devoted the rest of his life to his estates at Wallington and Welcombe. As well as estate business he continued to write as an historian on the American War of Independence, becoming a close friend of the President, Theodore Roosevelt. In 1911 he received the Order of Merit from Asquith’s Liberal Government.

The Trevelyan Family Papers, which include the papers of George Otto Trevelyan, are held by Newcastle University Library. Although they had been deposited here in 1967, the papers were formally gifted to the library in 2012.

ootnotes:
¹ Letter to Alice from George Otto Trevelyan, June 1887 in: Sir George Otto Trevelyan: a Memoir by G.M. Trevelyan (London: Longmans, Green & Co., 1932) p.130. Clarke (Edwin) General, Clarke 1649.
² Letter to Alice from George Otto Trevelyan, January 11th 1888 in: George Otto Trevelyan: Memoir, p.130. Clarke (Edwin) General, Clarke 1649.

Silhouette depicting George Otto Trevelyan, cutting in: *An Account of the Parish of Hartburn in the County of Northumberland* by John Hodgson (Newcastle upon Tyne: Printed by E. Walker, 1827) with *Handbook of the Pictures in the Hall at Wallington, Northumberland and miscellaneous illustrations and cuttings relating to Wallington* (**Edwin (Clarke) Local,** **Clarke 604**)

Marching On Together: Ethel Williams’ Suffragist Banner – June 2013

Posted on 27 June, 2013 by nspeccoll

Suffragette Marching banner with 'Newcastle on Tyne' across the top and 3 castles in a reddish background — Suffragette Marching banner **(Williams (Ethel) Archive, EWL/3/5)**

The 8th June 2013 marks the 100th anniversary of the death of the suffragette Emily Davison. A militant suffragette, whose family originated from Longhorsley in Northumberland, Emily infamously ran in front of the King’s horse at the Epsom Derby on 4th June 1913. She was seriously injured and died of her injuries in hospital four days later. It has long been speculated whether Emily was actually trying to kill herself in order to draw attention to the suffragette cause. Analysis of newsreel from the day now suggests that she may have been simply trying to attach a suffragette banner to the horse.

This is Ethel Williams’ suffragist banner. Ethel was the first woman to found a general medical practice in Newcastle upon Tyne in 1906. She was also reportedly the first woman to drive a car in the North of England that same year. She attended the London School of Medicine for Women and graduated in 1891, but had to gain her hospital experience abroad in Paris and Vienna due to male prejudice against women training in British hospitals. Such obstacles and her belief in the need to supplement medical care with social reform led to her active involvement in the suffrage movement.

Ethel was an active member of the National Union of Woman’s Suffrage Societies (also known as the NUWSS or the Suffragists). Unlike the Suffragettes, the Suffragists aimed to achieve women’s suffrage using lawful and peaceful methods. Ethel took part in the ‘Mud March’ of 1907 in London, the first large procession organised by the NUWSS, so-called due to the terrible weather conditions on the day. Despite this, over 3,000 women from all walks of life took part. There is a good chance that she may have used this banner during the march as women from across the country brought banners to show which area they represented. Red and white were the official colours of the NUWSS and both colours can been seen in the banner. She was also often seen in suffrage processions along Northumberland Street in Newcastle. During World War One she formed the Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom.

She co-founded the Northern Women’s Hospital in 1917 and, when she retired in 1924, she left her practice to another female doctor, Dr Mona MacNaughton. By this time there were 14 female doctors practicing in Newcastle. Ethel died in 1948 and Ethel Williams’ Halls of Residence were opened in her memory in 1950 at Newcastle University.

Letter to Sir Liam Donaldson from Prime Minister Gordon Brown on his retirement from the role of Chief Medical Officer – May 2013

Posted on 27 May, 2013 by nspeccoll

Not all of the materials held in Special Collections are old, and that is particularly true of archives. A good example of unique but fairly recent material can be found in the Sir Liam Donaldson Collection.

As well as being the present Newcastle University Chancellor, Sir Liam Donaldson was the 15th Chief Medical Officer for England from 1998 to 2010, an historic role dating back to 1858 as a means of affecting sanitary reforms in the wake of the early cholera epidemics. Their remit developed into being the Government’s top medical advisor on all elements of health policy as well as representing their profession and the public health at the very highest level as the Nation’s doctor.

In this letter, written on 17th December 2009,the then Prime Minister Gordon Brown, expresses his sadness at Sir Liam’s decision to step down as Chief Medical Officer and touches on some of the landmark campaigns made possible through his leadership.

He thanks him first for remaining in post to help respond to the H1N1 “Swine Flu” influenza epidemic. Sir Liam had intended to step down in November 2009 but delayed his decision because of the expertise he could bring in responding to such a crisis. Sir Liam had warned as early as 2004 that such new strains of influenza were inevitable and put in place contingencies such as writing infectious disease strategies, establishing the Health Protection Agency to monitor and respond to such outbreaks and major public awareness campaigns. These steps helped to considerably minimise the impact of the severity of this disease in the UK.

The Prime Minister goes on to recognise Sir Liam’s input into NHS reform, with his personal campaigns enacting a quality and patient safety ethos in the organisation; something Sir Liam continued to do on a Global scale as founding Chair of the World Alliance for Patient Safety at the World Health Organization from 2004 onwards.

Gordon Brown finishes by touching on Sir Liam’s efforts to increase the take up of organ donation and his most celebrated achievement in leading on the smoking ban in public places on 1st July 2007: a public health milestone. He tirelessly targeted such modern, self-made epidemics in his influential annual reports which led to action through policy and legislation. Similar efforts based on his concerns over the consumption of alcohol and calls for minimum pricing in 2009 were not greeted as favourably, but speak for the independence of the role of Chief Medical Officer, acting for the greater good rather than political gain.
The full catalogue for the Donaldson (Sir Liam)Archive is hosted on the Archives Hub. It includes archival material on this significant public health reformer’s many campaigns as Chief Medical Officer, his early roots in the North East, and on-going attempts to tackle the world’s most devastating health issues.

The archive has also been selectively digitised and these images can be searched and browsed via CollectionsCaptured.

You can also view an online version of the complementary exhibition, Root and Branch: Public health under the Nation’s doctors, on the Special Collections web pages

Berwick-upon-Tweed: The fortified town – April 2013

Posted on 27 April, 2013 by nspeccoll

Map of Berwick-upon-Tweed, 1849 — Map of Berwick-upon-Tweed from *History of Berwick-upon-Tweed: being a concise description of that ancient borough, from its origin down to the present time*, by Frederick Sheldon, 1849 (**Clarke (Edwin) Local Collection, Clarke 784)**

During Elizabeth I’s reign Berwick was heavily fortified to protect it against possible future attacks. This map from 1564 shows the castle, rampart walls and barracks. According to sources over £120,000 was spent on the fortifications, many of which remain today. If true this would make it the most expensive undertaking of the Elizabethan period, amounting to over £25,000,000 of expenditure in today’s money.

In April 1318, Berwick-upon-Tweed was captured by the Scottish in the First War of Scottish Independence. Following the Scottish victory at the Battle of Bannockburn in 1314, they regained all of their strongholds and re-taking Berwick was the culmination of this. The Scots however, could not hold the town and it was soon re-captured by the English. In fact over a period of almost 400 years from the late 10th century the town changed hands more than a dozen times.

Its strategic position on the border during many years of English/Scottish war, coupled with the fact that it was a wealthy trade town, meant Berwick was constantly under siege between the 11th and 15th centuries. Part of Northumbria and thus England until the late 10th century, the town came under Scottish control (whether by cession or conquest is unclear) and was made a Royal Burgh by David I. William I of Scotland used Berwick as a stage from which to invade northern England in 1173 and following his defeat the town fell back under the English control of Henry II. However, his son Richard I sold it back to William I in order to raise funds for his crusade.

The 13th century saw much battling and bargaining for the increasingly prosperous town. William Wallace’s severed arm was displayed in Berwick following his execution and quartering in 1305. After the Scots triumphed over the English at the Battle of Bannockburn, they blockaded the town between 1315 and 1318 finally invading and capturing it in April 1318. The English took it back in 1333 and held it until 1461 when deposed King Henry VI’s wife Margaret of Anjou gifted it to the Scots for their help against the Yorkists during the Wars of the Roses. Finally in 1482, Richard, Duke of Gloucester (and soon-to-be King Richard III) recaptured the town and Berwick has been English ever since.

Henry V – March 2013

Posted on 27 March, 2013 by nspeccoll

Illustration of Henry V from *History of the battle of Agincourt: and the expedition of Henry the Fifth into France, in 1415 by Sir Nicholas,* Harris, London, 1833 **(White (Robert) Collection, 942.042 NIC)**

21st March 2013 marks the 600th anniversary of Henry V’s accession to the English throne. Widely considered to have been an excellent King, Henry is renowned for winning the Battle of Agincourt against the French and his immortalisation in Shakespeare’s play of his life.

Henry V, the eldest son of Henry of Bolingbroke and Mary de Bohun, was born in 1387. In 1399 his father deposed Richard II of England and claimed the throne for himself after the King disinherited him. Richard died soon afterwards (he was very probably murdered in captivity) and Henry was created Prince of Wales at his father’s coronation. Henry and his father were of the House of Lancaster and this seizure of the throne was one of the first acts in the Wars of the Roses, which were to continue until 1485.

Henry showed his military abilities as a teenager, commanding his father’s forces in the Battle of Shrewsbury against Harry Hotspur in 1403. He also spent five years fighting against Owen Glendower’s rebellion in Wales. He was keen to have a role in government and ruled effectively as regent for eighteen months from 1410 when his father was ill. However, once recovered, Henry IV dismissed the prince from his council and reversed most of his policies.

Henry became king in 1413. In 1415,he successfully crushed a conspiracy to put Edmund Mortimer, Earl of March, on the throne. Shortly afterwards he sailed for France, which was to be the focus of his attention for the rest of his reign. Henry was determined to regain the lands in France held by his ancestors and laid claim to the French throne. He offered to fight the French Dauphin for the throne in personal combat but was refused. He defeated the French at the Battle of Agincourt on 25th October 1415. The battle was notable for the fact that the English army of no more than 6,000 men defeated the supposedly far superior French army numbering around 20,000.

Between 1417 and 1419 Henry followed up this success with the conquest of Normandy. The French were forced to agree to the Treaty of Troyes in May 142. Henry was recognised as heir to the French throne and married Catherine, the daughter of the French king. Unfortunately, Henry died two months too early to be crowned King of France. He died suddenly, probably of dysentery, on 31st August 1422 at the Château de Vincennes. He was only 35 years old. His nine-month-old son, whom he had never met, succeeded him as Henry VI. It was a dangerous period for a child to be King with rival claimants to the throne everywhere. The following 50 years saw the throne change hands several times and Henry VI’s eventual murder in the Tower of London, reputedly by the princes of the House of York.

Henry V’s reputation is one of a chivalrous warrior but he had another side. Described as a man of conviction, Henry was a well-educated and pious man. He was a lover of art and literature and had a particular interest in liturgical music. He gave pensions to well-known composers of his time, and he ordered a hymn of praise to God, which was sung after Agincourt. From 1417, Henry promoted the use of the English language in government, and was the first king to use English in his personal correspondence since the Norman Conquest.

We have William Shakespeare to thank for forming most people’s opinions of Henry. Henry V is one of Shakespeare’s historical plays. It forms the fourth part of a tetralogy dealing with the historical rise of the English royal House of Lancaster. Written in approximately 1599, it tells the story of King Henry V, focusing on events immediately before and after the Battle of Agincourt. Readers have interpreted the play’s attitude to warfare in several different ways. On one hand, it celebrates Henry’s invasion of France, but it also speaks of anti-war sentiment. Henry is portrayed as a hero but he has invaded a non-aggressive country and killed thousands of people. When Shakespeare wrote the play in the late sixteenth century, Henry was considered to be a hero. Henry VIII aspired to be like him and as a Lancastrian he was idolised by the Tudors. He was a warrior King who could not rule today but in his time he restored national pride to England and became a hero the people admired.