The Tholsel building was a community resource and the use of rooms illustrates the political and social climate. While such events as scientific and literary lectures by the YMCA and the letting of the large room to a dancing teacher predominated, there were also more ‘political’ leases. In July 1860 a Tenant Right Reading Room … Read more
While day-to-day affairs dominate the material, the earlier books nevertheless expose an undercurrent of tension and a concern for the security of the town, the strategic importance of which was shown during the seventeenth-century Confederate Wars when Ross was held by Oliver Cromwell, who destroyed the bridge to prevent recapture. In fact, one of the … Read more
Commodore George Anson’s voyage is remembered as a classic tale of endurance and leadership in the face of fearful disasters, but to the British public of 1744 it was the treasure of the Spanish galleon triumphantly paraded through the streets of London that did something to restore national self-esteem battered by the protracted War of … Read more
Richard Walter’s narrative was to become an eighteenth-century bestseller. With more than 1,800 advance subscribers, in England it went through four further editions before the end of 1748. Extracts were published in serial form in periodicals, the fullest in London’s popular Gentleman’s Magazine. The first French edition appeared in 1749. It appeared in the private … Read more
On the outbreak of hostilities between Britain and the Spanish Empire in the Caribbean in 1739, George Anson was commanded to proceed from England to Manila to harass Spanish shipping along the way. Anson’s squadron originally consisted of six warships: the Centurion (flagship), the Gloucester, the Severn, the Pearl, the Wager and the sloop Tryal, … Read more