The Oxford Book of Days E-Book

Marilyn Yurdan

• Herausgeber: The History Press
• Kategorie: Sachliteratur, Reportagen, Biografien
• Serie: Book of Days
• Sprache: Englisch

Seitenzahl: 380

Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2013

Beschreibung

Taking you through the year day by day, The Oxford Book of Days contains quirky, eccentric, amusing and important events and facts from different periods of history, many of which had a major impact on the religious and political history of Britain as a whole. Ideal for dipping into, this addictive little book will keep you entertained and informed. Featuring hundreds of snippets of information gleaned from the vaults of Oxford's archives, it will delight residents and visitors alike.

Leseprobe

First published in 2013

The History Press

The Mill, Brimscombe Port

Stroud, Gloucestershire, GL5 2QG

www.thehistorypress.co.uk

This ebook edition first published in 2012

All rights reserved

© Marilyn Yurdan, 2013

The right of Marilyn Yurdan to be identified as the Author of this work has been asserted in accordance with the Copyrights, Designs and Patents Act 1988.

This ebook is copyright material and must not be copied, reproduced, transferred, distributed, leased, licensed or publicly performed or used in any way except as specifically permitted in writing by the publishers, as allowed under the terms and conditions under which it was purchased or as strictly permitted by applicable copyright law. Any unauthorised distribution or use of this text may be a direct infringement of the author’s and publisher’s rights, and those responsible may be liable in law accordingly.

EPUB ISBN 978 0 7524 9242 1

Original typesetting by The History Press

CONTENTS

January

January 1st

January 2nd

January 3rd

January 4th

January 5th

January 6th

January 7th

January 8th

January 9th

January 10th

January 11th

January 12th

January 13th

January 14th

January 15th

January 16th

January 17th

January 18th

January 19th

January 20th

January 21st

January 22nd

January 23rd

January 24th

January 25th

January 26th

January 27th

January 28th

January 29th

January 30th

January 31st

February

February 1st

February 2nd

February 3rd

February 4th

February 5th

February 6th

February 7th

February 8th

February 9th

February 10th

February 11th

February 12th

February 13th

February 14th

February 15th

February 16th

February 17th

February 18th

February 19th

February 20th

February 21st

February 22nd

February 23rd

February 24th

February 25th

February 26th

February 27th

February 28th

February 29th

March

March 1st

March 2nd

March 3rd

March 4th

March 5th

March 6th

March 7th

March 8th

March 9th

March 10th

March 11th

March 12th

March 13th

March 14th

March 15th

March 16th

March 17th

March 18th

March 19th

March 20th

March 21st

March 22nd

March 23rd

March 24th

March 25th

March 26th

March 27th

March 28th

March 29th

March 30th

March 31st

April

April 1st

April 2nd

April 3rd

April 4th

April 5th

April 6th

April 7th

April 8th

April 9th

April 10th

April 11th

April 12th

April 13th

April 14th

April 15th

April 16th

April 17th

April 18th

April 19th

April 20th

April 21st

April 22nd

April 23rd

April 24th

April 25th

April 26th

April 27th

April 28th

April 29th

April 30th

May

May 1st

May 2nd

May 3rd

May 4th

May 5th

May 6th

May 7th

May 8th

May 9th

May 10th

May 11th

May 12th

May 13th

May 14th

May 15th

May 16th

May 17th

May 18th

May 19th

May 20th

May 21st

May 22nd

May 23rd

May 24th

May 25th

May 26th

May 27th

May 28th

May 29th

May 30th

May 31st

June

June 1st

June 2nd

June 3rd

June 4th

June 5th

June 6th

June 7th

June 8th

June 9th

June 10th

June 11th

June 12th

June 13th

June 14th

June 15th

June 16th

June 17th

June 18th

June 19th

June 20th

June 21st

June 22nd

June 23rd

June 24th

June 25th

June 26th

June 27th

June 28th

June 29th

June 30th

July

July 1st

July 2nd

July 3rd

July 4th

July 5th

July 6th

July 7th

July 8th

July 9th

July 10th

July 11th

July 12th

July 13th

July 14th

July 15th

July 16th

July 17th

July 18th

July 19th

July 20th

July 21st

July 22nd

July 23rd

July 24th

July 25th

July 26th

July 27th

July 28th

July 29th

July 30th

July 31st

August

August 1st

August 2nd

August 3rd

August 4th

August 5th

August 6th

August 7th

August 8th

August 9th

August 10th

August 11th

August 12th

August 13th

August 14th

August 15th

August 16th

August 17th

August 18th

August 19th

August 20th

August 21st

August 22nd

August 23rd

August 24th

August 25th

August 26th

August 27th

August 28th

August 29th

August 30th

August 31st

September

September 1st

September 2nd

September 3rd

September 4th

September 5th

September 6th

September 7th

September 8th

September 9th

September 10th

September 11th

September 12th

September 13th

September 14th

September 15th

September 16th

September 17th

September 18th

September 19th

September 20th

September 21st

September 22nd

September 23rd

September 24th

September 25th

September 26th

September 27th

September 28th

September 29th

September 30th

October

October 1st

October 2nd

October 3rd

October 4th

October 5th

October 6th

October 7th

October 8th

October 9th

October 10th

October 11th

October 12th

October 13th

October 14th

October 15th

October 16th

October 17th

October 18th

October 19th

October 20th

October 21st

October 22nd

October 23rd

October 24th

October 25th

October 26th

October 27th

October 28th

October 29th

October 30th

October 31st

November

November 1st

November 2nd

November 3rd

November 4th

November 5th

November 6th

November 7th

November 8th

November 9th

November 10th

November 11th

November 12th

November 13th

November 14th

November 15th

November 16th

November 17th

November 18th

November 19th

November 20th

November 21st

November 22nd

November 23rd

November 24th

November 25th

November 26th

November 27th

November 28th

November 29th

November 30th

December

December 1st

December 2nd

December 3rd

December 4th

December 5th

December 6th

December 7th

December 8th

December 9th

December 10th

December 11th

December 12th

December 13th

December 14th

December 15th

December 16th

December 17th

December 18th

December 19th

December 20th

December 21st

December 22nd

December 23rd

December 24th

December 25th

December 26th

December 27th

December 28th

December 29th

December 30th

December 31st

JANUARY 1ST

1862: On this day the Ancient Order of Druids of Oxford, Lodge 59, met in the Town Hall for their annual festival. The festival started with the toast ‘The health of the Queen’ and went on to express the entire nation’s grief at the demise of Prince Albert, which had left the Queen ‘widowed, and her children fatherless’. The next toast was to ‘The High Steward of the City of Oxford, the Earl of Abingdon’, which was followed by a long and patriotic speech about the wonderful character and achievements of the British race. Then followed ‘Prosperity to Lodge 59’ (cheers); ‘the health of the Mayor of Oxford’ (cheers); the ‘Prosperity of the University of Oxford’ (no cheers). In a very long speech, a Mr Neate said of the Americans, ‘so long as they were not our actual enemies’ he felt ‘bound to treat them as our brethren.’ Unsurprisingly, the next speaker ‘could not refrain from saying that it was the dullest Druid’s [sic] dinner’ that he had ever attended. Then the health of the chairman was drunk, followed by a toast to the ‘Prosperity of the Philanthropic Fund’, and no less than eleven more toasts and responses were enacted. (Jackson’s Oxford Journal)

JANUARY 2ND

1889: On this second day of the year, at 6 p.m., the servants of Exeter College, consisting of some forty men and youths, sat down to an excellent dinner in the college hall. In the chair, presiding over the festivities, was the college manciple, Mr Phillips, and its chief cook, Mr Newman, who took the role of vice-chairman. There were several toasts, the main one being to ‘The Rector and Fellows of Exeter College’. These gentlemen had provided the feast, so this toast was greeted with great enthusiasm.

After everyone had eaten and the table had been cleared, the common-room man, Mr Birrill, brought in wines and spirits and tobacco and pipes, which he placed on the table, and the evening was passed in a very sociable way. Several members of the company, notably Messrs C. Phillips, A.W. Hollis, H. Brimfield, R. Ward, A. Thomas and C. Robbins, got up and sang, and their efforts were well received by their colleagues. The hall-man, Mr Hollis, was congratulated on all the work which he had put into decorating the hall for the event. The party broke up at about 11.30 p.m., and everybody left the college very satisfied with their Christmas entertainment. (Jackson’s Oxford Journal)

JANUARY 3RD

1889: About 100 wives and children of Exeter College servants gathered in the college hall where ‘a sumptuous tea was provided, after which games and music were indulged in’ on this night in 1889. Several songs were sung, which appeared to give great pleasure to the company. Then Mr Phillips [the college Manciple] introduced his toy ‘German Band’, which consisted of five wind instruments – one played by Mr Phillips and the others by four of his sons. ‘This peculiar class of music caused much wonder and amusement.’ Another son, Master E.A. Phillips, then played the violin, accompanied by his little sister on the piano, ‘which was received with much acclamation’. The musical turns were followed by a magic lantern show which proved to be one of the highlights of the evening, and the ‘comic scenes caused much merriment with the juveniles’. The evening finished with a ‘fancy fair’ which was great fun, and there was a free raffle with ‘useful and ornamental articles’ for prizes. The catering, which was done by Mr Birrill, was voted a great success, and the party broke up at 9.30 p.m., by which time the younger guests were very tired but very happy with their evening. (Jackson’s Oxford Journal)

JANUARY 4TH

1893: Over two days, all of the cabmen, tramcar and bath-chair men of the city were invited to go round to Oriel College for a meal and entertainment in the college hall. This was the fifth year that the event had taken place, on alternate years. The guests were given ‘an excellent meat tea, with plum puddings and mince pies’ which were provided by Mr Arnatt of St Ebbe’s Street. After all the food had been disposed of, a report on the state of the Cabmen’s Benefit Club was read out, and judged to be ‘of a satisfactory character’. When £24 10s had been given out in sick benefit, £61 4s 1d was left to be divided among the club’s sixty-seven members (which worked out at 18s 4d each), leaving £20 in the kitty. On both nights the men were given an address by a local clergyman followed by some light relief. On the Wednesday this consisted of conjuring by Professor Carl de Louis, and on the Thursday a display of views by Mr Taunt, ‘by means of the oxy-hydrogen light, the subject of the entertainment being “Our Native Land”, and the views included a large number of places in this locality’. (Jackson’s Oxford Journal)

JANUARY 5TH

1892: On this day Henry Taunt, the accomplished photographer, held the first of his annual Christmas parties for the year. The party for adults took place in the evening in Oxford Town Hall, while the children’s event was held one afternoon. Taunt was known not only for his photographs, postcards and book illustrations, many of which survive, but also for his magic lantern shows, which were well attended. Advertising the event in advance, Jackson’s Oxford Journal wrote:

The trip this year is to Madeira, with an imaginary run over the Island, and to go to Madeira and back for a shilling is very cheap indeed, besides we get as well a whole series of other things for the same money, and we know from past experience how thoroughly Mr Taunt caters for the pleasure of his universally large audiences. The children are taken with Alice ‘through the Looking Glass’ and thus treated to a series of amusements beyond – so we can only wish Mr Taunt the success he deserves and advise our readers to secure tickets at once at 9 and 10 Broad-street.

Over a century later, Taunt’s photographs continue to provide a visual history of the city. (Jackson’s Oxford Journal)

JANUARY 6TH

1899: New Year celebrations at the Radcliffe Infirmary began with the time-honoured amateur theatricals in the large hall in the outpatients department in 1899. The entertainment included ‘three humorous farces which were admirably presented and were accompanied with a good deal of laughter and applause at the end’. These plays were entitled The Burglar and the Judge, Cheerful and Musical and My Lord in Livery. The ladies’ Orchestra, under the direction of Mr Proudfoot, also gave their services. After ‘God Save the Queen’ had been sung, the company went off happily to their homes.

The following Tuesday, the traditional Christmas tree was put up in outpatients. That year it was a huge one which reached from floor to ceiling. It was ‘profusely decorated with a variety of multi-coloured fairy lamps and a large collection of toys, sweets, bon-bons, books, and prettily-dressed dolls’, while around the base were parcels containing ‘useful articles’. All the members of the hospital staff, as well as the patients, were given presents. The children sat in a circle round the tree while it was being stripped of the presents, with others watching from their bath-chairs. Numerous visitors dropped in, refreshments were served and there was music at intervals. (Jackson’s Oxford Journal)

JANUARY 7TH

2002: This was the day when the workers and management at the BMW car factory at Cowley were celebrating receiving a very important honour. The new Mini Cooper model was being named North American Car of the Year at the Detroit International Auto Show, adding its most prestigious accolade to date to its already impressive array of awards amassed during its first full year in production. Mini’s general manager, Trevor Houghton-Berry, stated that the United States was a key market for the Mini and that the award was a tremendous achievement; it was great news for anyone involved in its manufacture and sale. The first consignment of 20,000 Minis, which was shipped to the United States after its launch the previous March, had sold out almost immediately, thanks to customers who had placed advance orders. These had been the first Minis to be sold in the United States since 1967. A further 5,000 had been exported and were expected to be snapped up. To get the award, the Mini had to fight off competition from the Nissan 350Z and Infiniti G35. Other accolades had been the Independent and Times newspapers' Car of the Year, BBC2’s Top Gear Best Small Car award, and Channel 4’s Driven Car of the Series. (Oxford Mail)

JANUARY 8TH

1942: On this day Stephen William Hawking was born in Oxford. His parents were from north London, but he was evacuated as a baby at the outbreak of the Second World War to the safe haven of Oxford. The Hawking family moved to St Albans when he was eight, and three years later he started at St Albans School. Stephen returned to Oxford to read Physics at University College, where his father had been educated. His father wanted him to study Medicine and Stephen’s own choice was Maths, but his college did not offer it. Three years later he completed a first-class degree in Natural Sciences. He then went to Cambridge to undertake research in Cosmology because there was nobody suitable to supervise him at Oxford at that time. After finishing his PhD, he became a Research Fellow and later a Professorial Fellow at Gonville and Caius College. Hawking moved from the Institute of Astronomy in 1973, and started at the Department of Applied Mathematics and Theoretical Physics in 1979, where he was Lucasian Professor of Mathematics until 2009 (one of his predecessors was Isaac Newton in 1669). He is currently Director of Research at the Centre for Theoretical Cosmology at the Department of Applied Mathematics and Theoretical Physics in Cambridge.

JANUARY 9TH

1810: On this day Magdalen Hall (as opposed to Magdalen College), in Catte Street, was burnt to the ground. This was not looked on as a great loss by the people of Oxford as the building had been virtually falling down. However, this notice was placed in Jackson’s Oxford Journal:

The principal, vice-principal and resident undergraduates of Magdalen Hall most thankfully acknowledge that they are indebted, under Providence, for the lives of the inhabitants and the preservation of the buildings from entire destruction, to the exertions of many Members of the University and City who so generously exposed themselves to danger on behalf of their Society during the late awful fire. They are desirous of expressing their sense of their obligations in person to all these friends, but as in many cases they are prevented by ignorance of names from performing this pleasant duty, they beg them all to accept this public declaration of their cordial gratitude and be assured that they feel how inadequate words are to describe the deep impression that has been made upon their hearts by the kind and essential services so promptly and cheerfully rendered to them by the University and City.

(Jackson’s Oxford Journal)

JANUARY 10TH

2001: On this day Colin Dexter, Cambridge graduate and creator of Inspector Morse, said how proud he was to have been made a Freeman of the City of Oxford, and toasted Morse during his speech. The previous day, councillors at Oxford’s Strategy and Resources Committee meeting had voted unanimously for Mr Dexter to be given this rare honour. Councillor Alex Hollingsworth said, ‘We would like to thank Colin Dexter for putting Oxford on the TV map by killing off 80 of our residents.’ When he was told the good news, the crime novelist commented, ‘I hope I don’t end up in jail like the other two,’ in reference to the only other living holders of the distinction – Nelson Mandela and Aung San Suu Kyi, the Burmese human rights campaigner. He was particularly delighted with the honour as, despite the fact that he was not an Oxford man, he had been accepted and recognised. Colin has lived in Oxford since 1966, when he took up a post at the now-defunct University of Oxford Delegacy of Local Examinations. He claimed that the Freedom of the City meant more to him than the OBE he had received from Prince Charles at Buckingham Palace the previous October. (Oxford Mail)

JANUARY 11TH

2008: This was the day when readers of the Oxford Mail were asked to listen to a podcast of bagpipe music and make up their minds about whether or not it should be banned from a main Oxford street. The reason for this was that bagpipe-playing Heath Richardson had presented a petition with 1,150 names to the city councillors. Heath, aged thirty-two, had been playing in Cornmarket Street for fourteen years, but the previous month some of the traders in Cornmarket had complained about his music and had started a petition to have him moved. Dr William Waggott, a medical publisher based in the street, collected 400 names, but Heath started a counter-petition and persuaded more than 1,000 people to sign it within the first week. Heath, from Chipping Norton, went into Oxford Town Hall to present his petition to Jean Fooks, executive member for the cleaner city campaign. He said that he had been totally overwhelmed by the support which he had received from people in the city centre. Dr Waggott, whose petition called for tighter regulations regarding busking, was unavailable for comment. Ms Fooks said, ‘It’s only fair that we receive the busker’s petition as well as the petition from the traders.’ (Oxford Mail)

JANUARY 12TH

2000: This was the day that Professor John Bayley, who was widowed after a forty-three-year marriage to award-winning novelist Dame Iris Murdoch, spoke about his love for a family friend and their plans to be married that summer. After spending many years nursing his wife, who had suffered from Alzheimer’s disease, and overcoming his grief at her death the previous February aged seventy-nine, he said that he had found someone else whom he could love and care for. The bride-to-be was a long-standing friend, and fellow widow, Norwegian-born Audi Villers. Talking to the Oxford Mail at his home in North Oxford, Professor Bayley said that it seemed as if he had always known her and that he honestly couldn’t remember how they had become so close. They used to holiday together in Lanzarote, where Audi now spent most of her time. She suffered badly from asthma and allergies and, although the air greatly improved her condition, he believed that she would benefit from his nursing and care. He added, ‘Having looked after Iris for all those years, I rather like the idea of looking after someone again. Nursing someone you love is very agreeable.’ (Oxford Mail)

JANUARY 13TH

2003: This was the day when a twenty-five-year-old Oxford academic, who had never had a book published, became the youngest person to appear on a list of the country’s most promising writers. Previous to this, Adam Thirlwell, a Fellow of prestigious All Souls College, had only had one piece of fiction published; this was a 3,000-word extract from his novel, Politics, which had appeared in the Oxford literary magazine, Arete, of which he was the joint editor. The judges at the journal Granta were so impressed by his work that they named him as one of Britain’s twenty best novelists under the age of forty. One of them told how he had received a dog-eared manuscript, read through it, and ‘that was that’. He described it as ‘a lovely book, very funny, a sexual comedy about a love triangle’. The praise was expected to prove a useful advertisement for Politics which was due to be published that autumn, as the list of promising young writers was only compiled once every ten years. Adam, who was doing research at All Souls into the modern European novel, said that if the book turned out to be a best-seller, he wanted to write full time. (Oxford Mail)

JANUARY 14TH

2001: One of Oxford’s greatest idiosyncrasies is the Ceremony of the Hunting of the Mallard at All Souls College, which was founded in 1438 by Henry VI as a memorial to all those who lost their lives in the Hundred Years War. The most recent ceremony was held in 2001 – it takes place every hundred years in the first year of the new century. The Warden, as Head of House, leads a procession carrying lighted torches in search of the legendary mallard. This is said to have flown up out of a drain when the foundations of the college were being laid. If and when they find it, the mallard will be a very old bird indeed. In the meantime, they march round the college singing the ‘Mallard Song’, a ditty which is also sung at All Souls’ gaudies in the intervening years. This must never reach the ears of strangers. While all this is going on, the Lord Mallard is carried round in procession, seated in a sedan chair, with a dead duck suspended from a pole. They march three times round the quad and then proceed up to the roof, still in search of that elusive bird. (Various sources)

JANUARY 15TH

1892: On this day John Burns, alias Robert Shields, ‘engineer of no home’, was charged with stealing from a shop in Castle Street. He had taken a haddock worth 4d from the property of Thomas Shelton. Shelton stated that he was in his shop about 9.30 p.m. that evening when the prisoner had come in and tried to sell him paper and envelopes. The shopkeeper told him that he was not interested, and then ‘noticed one end of a haddock sticking out from under the breast of his coat’. When Shelton took the fish back, the prisoner offered to pay for it. Burns pleaded guilty, claiming that he had been the worse for drink when he went into the shop. Superintendent Head said that the prisoner had given the name Burns when he was arrested, but, when he was searched, a pedlar’s certificate in the name of Shields was found on him. Apart from the name, the prisoner’s height did not agree with that given on the certificate. Mr Shelton said that Burns had threatened him at the police station, telling him, ‘If you charge me I’ll settle you, I’ll swing for you.’ Burns was sentenced to twenty-one days’ hard labour. (Jackson’s Oxford Journal)

JANUARY 16TH

1886: The following is a notice from Jackson’s Oxford Journal of 1886, showing their egalitarian desires:

REDUCTION IN PRICE TO TWOPENCE IMPORTANT NOTICE

In order to bring this Journal within the means of all classes of readers, and especially for the benefit of the Agricultural Community, with whose interests the fortunes of this paper have been intimately connected for more than a Hundred and Thirty Years, Jackson’s Oxford Journal is now published AT TWO PENCE

It is believed that the increased circulation thereby ensured with materially augment the value of its Advertising Columns.

A special feature in Jackson’s Oxford Journal will continue to be the exceptionally high quality of the paper, and the clearness of type and every endeavour will be made to maintain its present reputation as a high-class family and commercial Newspaper.

Our numerous Subscribers in this and the adjoining Counties and the Commercial Community in London and all parts of the Kingdom, who have extended their support to this Journal for so many years are respectfully thanked for the same, and requested to introduce this reduction in price to the notice of their friends.

Subscribers’ Orders now received by the Publisher, HUGH HALL, 65 Corn Market Street, Oxford, to whom all Cheques and P.O. Orders should be made payable.

(Jackson’s Oxford Journal)

JANUARY 17TH

2001: On this day it was revealed that local pigs were enjoying the leavings of some of the top tables in the land. Not only were the porkers enjoying the ‘posh nosh’, they were also taking part in an unusual recycling project. Every week, farmer Michael Eadle was collecting 3,000 litres of unwanted food from Christ Church, Corpus Christi, St Catherine’s, St Peter’s and Wadham Colleges, as well as from Headington Girls’ School and Oxford Brookes University. He held a licence issued by the Ministry of Agriculture to reprocess the waste by heat treatment before feeding it to his animals. This type of recycling process is good for the environment as food dumped in landfill sites attracts vermin and over time harmful oils resurface. He approached Oxford City Council for help in collecting even more to feed to the 1,500 Large White pigs which he kept at Redways Farm, Beckley. He suggested council-assisted collections from schools, residential homes, and hospitals to get potential pig food that would otherwise end up in the ground, but he claims the council were not interested; however, a spokesman said he was willing to talk further with Mr Eadle. (Oxford Mail)

JANUARY 18TH

2001: On this day an Oxford table tennis team achieved a double century with their combined ages, which made a total of exactly 200 years. The three were Terry Strange aged sixty-eight, Peter Simpson, sixty-seven, and sixty-five-year-old Trevor Hookham. Together they made the Old Headington-based Viking Flames, who played in Division 3 of the Oxford & District League. These three old hands had been playing together as a team for around ten years, and until that season had represented the Nuffield Orthopaedic Centre. Peter Simpson, who had been playing table tennis for forty-five years, said that he didn’t think that their combined ages was unique or even that unusual as it was a game that players could enjoy well into their older years. Proof of this was given by the fact that their opponents didn’t react in any way; indeed, Peter claimed that they didn’t know that the trio were that old. Terry Strange, who had represented Oxfordshire at both cricket and hockey, was the second leading table tennis player that season in Division 3; although, they did admit that the team was finding it tougher-going in the lower reaches of the table. (Oxford Mail)

JANUARY 19TH

2000: On this day five students were extremely fortunate to escape a fire. Firefighters from the Slade and Rewley Road stations were called to their house in Ridgefield Road, Cowley, after a neighbour noticed flames coming from a bedroom window at 9.30 a.m. The students, who were not named, were rescued from the house and one of them was given treatment for smoke inhalation. Station Officer Kevin Parfitt explained that the bedding had been set alight by a candle at about 4.30 a.m. that morning, but the housemates thought that they had managed to put it out. However, the fire had not been properly extinguished and flames had burst out again five hours later. Fortunately, the person whose bed it was had moved as his bedding was wet from the previous attempts at putting out the fire. Although the house was fitted with fire alarms, the nearest one had failed to sound. Parfitt added that the equipment should have been checked and that firefighters should have been called as soon as the first blaze was noticed. (Oxford Mail)

JANUARY 20TH

1969: After an evening of violent protests against Enoch Powell’s speech at the Town Hall, six policemen were hurt. One of them suffered a couple of broken ribs, while many other people were treated for injuries at the Radcliffe Infirmary. A local clergyman was charged with using a tin of peas in a string bag as an offensive weapon. A demonstration had started before 5 p.m. and lasted for two-and-a-half hours, during which time protestors assaulted police lines and threw bricks through the windows of the building. However, Mr Powell had already been brought into the Town Hall well before the demonstration had started, and after 90 minutes the meeting finished, whereupon he was smuggled out and taken off to dinner at Woodstock. Frustrated protestors then attacked the police station in St Aldates, and later some 300 students marched the 3 miles up to Cowley where Enoch Powell was addressing the Conservative Club. Mr Powell said that the night had proved a triumph, not only for free speech but also for the Oxford University Conservative Association and the Oxford Conservatives. It was agreed on all sides that police officers had dealt with the situation exceptionally well, and donations for the police fund were left at the police station. (Various sources)

JANUARY 21ST

1998: On this day television history was made when the Oxford Brookes team had to field a virtual contestant when they took on the London School of Economics on University Challenge. One of the members of the side from the former Oxford Polytechnic, Jacqui Hill, aged twenty-five, was taken ill a mere 3 minutes before the quiz had finished. She was suffering from high blood pressure and was unable to complete the filming. The producers had to think quickly in order to avoid having to either reshoot the whole programme or continue with only three contestants from Brookes, neither of which was satisfactory. They came up with the answer of making use of a technique known as ‘picture-massaging’. In order to paint in the missing contestant, an earlier picture of Jacqui was superimposed. The only clue came at the end of the contest, when sharp-eyed viewers might have noticed that she was the only team member who did not wave goodbye. In the event, said the programme’s producer, Peter Gwyn, the manipulation made no difference to the result of the contest as the Brookes students were already lagging behind the LSE with a score of 40 to 245. (Oxford Mail)

JANUARY 22ND

1998: On this day an Oxford girls’ secondary school announced that they were adopting a Canadian idea aimed at fighting back against bullying. Pupils from Milham Ford Girls’ Upper School in Harberton Mead, Headington, were to take part in a special conference with school staff and experts on the subject. Their aim was to explore methods of stopping bullying and smoking in schools. The project followed a nationwide survey which had been presented to David Blunkett, the then Secretary for Education, which showed that eight out of ten schoolchildren were the victims of at least one prolonged attack of bullying during their time at school. The delegates from Milham Ford helped decide what constituted unacceptable behaviour and what punishment was suitable. Anne Peterson, a teacher at the school, had come across the idea during her eighteen years of teaching in Canada. She explained that pupils were given responsibility and would work towards appropriate and viable measures to prevent bullying, and that any potential offenders knew exactly what punishment they could expect. The school already had no smoking and anti-bullying policies which were to be more strictly defined. The girls also had to carry out a survey among fellow pupils regarding their own experiences of smoking and bullying. (Oxford Mail)

JANUARY 23RD

1998: On this day Oxford Mail readers were saddened to hear of the death of a disabled student who had become something of a local hero. Nick Stephens, an undergraduate at New College, was found dead in his room. When he was nineteen, Nick had gained a place at the college despite being paralysed from the neck down as a result of contracting meningitis when he was eighteen months old. A post-mortem examination to establish the cause of death proved inconclusive and an inquest was ordered. Nick had become well known throughout the University as one of its most astonishing students when, despite not being able to move or even breathe without help, he came to Oxford to read Jurisprudence. Professor Alan Ryan, Warden of New College, described him as ‘a free spirit trapped in an unwilling body’. He added, ‘The consolation for us is that he died doing what he wanted to do. He had returned to college in tremendously high spirits, just longing for term to start.’ The medieval buildings of New College had been specially adapted for Nick, who was able to teach his fellow students valuable lessons in what disabled people are able to achieve. (Oxford Mail)

JANUARY 24TH

1998: On this day Malcolm Shotton described being made manager of Oxford United as his dream job. He also said that he would have dropped just about anything else to have taken the position. ‘If you could have picked a club to be your first club as manager … well there’s no doubt Oxford would have been mine,’ he told the Oxford Mail, adding that, ‘the club is very special to me, the place is very special and the fans are very special to me.’ He was also very much looking forward to working with caretaker-manager Malcolm Crosby and Maurice Evans, who had also been a caretaker-manager for several months in 1993. While acknowledging the skills of his right-hand men, Shotton stated that he had his own ideas about the game, which he was intending to put into practice. He had already been told about United’s financial difficulties during his interview for the position of manager, but he expected that they could be overcome. He said that he had very good memories of Oxford and that his son had been born at the John Radcliffe Hospital, very close to the Manor ground. In the event, Shotton resigned as manager in October 1999. (Oxford Mail)

JANUARY 25TH

1867: On this the day the following notice was circulated as a stern warning to local landowners, farmers and stockbreeders:

CATTLE PLAGUE

The subjoined Circular has been substituted for that of the 17th instant and it is important to observe the corrections –

County Hall Oxford, 25th January 1867

SIR – The Lords of the Council, having found that Pass Masters at Cattle Markets have not infrequently given passes upon improper Licences – I am desired respectfully to draw your Attention to this subject; and to suggest that Cattle and Animals (including in the latter category Sheep, Lambs and Pigs), can only be taken to Market under a Store Stock Licence; and can only be removed from the Market under a Market Pass.

At the same time it is observable that Sheep, Lambs and Pigs may be moved from place to place as heretofore, without a Licence, without a Pass, excepting to or from a Cattle Market.

If the above restrictions be not strictly enforced, the Lords of the Council intimate that it may become imperative to revoke the Market Licences now in force.

I have the honor to be, Sir,

Your faithful Servant,

JOHN M DAVENPORT

(Jackson’s Oxford Journal)

JANUARY 26TH

1895: On this day, this advertisement appeared in Jackson’s Oxford Journal. It is is surprisingly modern in its aims:

THE MATRIMONIAL HERALD and FASHIONABLE MARRIAGE

Official Organ of The World’s Great Marriage Association (Limited) Est. 1883 Recommended by the Clergy Brilliantly successful in negotiations for 1894 Marvellous increase in marriages Exclusively Patronised by the Nobility, Professional and commercial Classes throughout the British Empire Its magnificent and practically illimitable clientè[le] daily augmented by private recommendations from associates happily and advantageously married. Charges merely nominal Strict secrecy In plain sealed envelope 5d. – Editor, 40, Lamb’s Conduit-street, London WC.

(Jackson’s Oxford Journal)

JANUARY 27TH

1967: On this afternoon thousands of people turned out in Cornmarket to get a glimpse of Senator Robert Kennedy as he left the Oxford Union. He had come down from London by train the day before, accompanied by veteran politician and trade union official Lord ‘Manny’ Shinwell. Mr Kennedy had just made his first speech in Britain and received three standing ovations from the 1,200-strong audience. So much interest was generated that about 500 students who had not been able to get seats in the debating hall gathered outside and banged on the door in frustration. On his way out Mr Kennedy had to pass protestors waving placards against American involvement in Vietnam, but this was the only disruption to his visit. Police and detectives formed a 40-yard human chain along Cornmarket so that he could reach his car in order to get back to an Anglo-American conference at Ditchley Park. Kennedy leant out of the car in order to clasp the hands of his many admirers and a group of teenage girls chanted, ‘Oh Bobby! Oh, Bobby!’ as the forty-two-year-old politician grinned happily at his pop-star reception. Less than eighteen months later he was assassinated. (Oxford Mail)

JANUARY 28TH

2011: On this day an engagement was announced in the press. The engaged couple were the two Corpus Christi college tortoises Oldham and Foxe. By coincidence, the date set for the wedding itself was announced as 29 April, the same day as that of Catherine Middleton and Prince William. Corpus Christi’s Junior Common Room stated that the couple, who met at the college six years earlier, would marry in the grounds and then settle down in the Corpus Christi’s President’s garden. ‘Currently the committee are playing around with the idea of lettuce confetti, and inviting the other tortoises in Oxford as bridesmaids, pageboys, and best men,’ added JCR Vice-President Sophie Cass. She hoped that the event would ‘be an opportunity for the whole college to get together and celebrate both the union of our beloved tortoises and the royal wedding that the rest of the country will primarily be preoccupied with’. Oldham, the bridegroom, who had proposed on holiday in Kenya the previous October, said, ‘We are both very, very happy.’ Foxe admitted that joining the JCR’s royal family was a ‘daunting prospect, but added, ‘Hopefully I’ll take it in my stride.’ Her parents said they were ‘absolutely delighted’ and ‘thrilled’ by the announcement. (Oxford Mail)

JANUARY 29TH

1985: This was the day that Oxford academics turned out in force to vote against the proposal to confer an honorary Doctorate of Civil Law on the then prime minister, Margaret Thatcher. As a protest against the government’s cuts in funding for education, a campaign was launched to prevent her from being honoured. Both the turnout of more than 1,000 people and the vote of 738 votes for, to 319 against, the motion were much higher than anticipated. The result was met with cheers by students, who had handed in a petition with 5,000 signatures. The refusal meant that Thatcher was the first Oxford-educated prime minister since the war not to be awarded the degree. Sir Patrick Neill, the Warden of All Souls College, one of Mrs Thatcher’s leading supporters, was disappointed at the decision and said, ‘We have never given honorary degrees in the past because we approved or disapproved of someone’s policies.’ But Professor Peter Pulzer, also of All Souls, who led the opposition, said that he thought the University had demonstrated its ‘very great concern, our very great worry about the way in which educational policy and educational funding are going in this country’. (Personal observation)

JANUARY 30TH

1878: An advertisement in Jackson’s Oxford Journal in 1878 gave notice of the publication of a new title:

[A book] Which will considerably interest old Oxford men is about to be privately issued to subscribers by the butler of Brasenose College – name a complete collection of the Shrove Tuesday ‘Brasenose Ale Verses’ so far as they can be discovered. These verses, which are the only survivors of the old Terrae Filius style of composition that are now to be found in Oxford, are annually presented by the butler, together with the strong spiced ale which they ostensibly glorify at the Shrove Tuesday dinner. A copy dating from the end of the seventeenth century has been preserved by Hearne; but unfortunately all those written during the eighteenth century are lost as they were spoken and not printed. The first copy of the verses of this century is Heber’s which has recently been discovered.

The composition of these verses came to a temporary end when the college brewhouse was demolished in 1889, but the custom was revived in 1909, despite the fact that the beer was no longer made in the college. The tradition continues to this day. (Jackson’s Oxford Journal)

JANUARY 31ST

1820: On this day readers of Jackson’s Oxford Journal were informed that:

[On] The day appointed for the interment of his late Most Gracious Majesty, and the Mayor having issued, in token of veneration for his manifold virtues and exalted rank, a most judicious injunction that the shops should be closed and no business transacted upon that day, the same was universally observed, with loyal and reverent decorum throughout this city. During the hours of twelve and one in the forenoon, and eight and nine in the evening, the bells of the several parishes tolled and threw an air of solemn impressiveness far and wide over the neighbourhood.

One eyewitness, twenty-year-old Miss Mary Latimer of Headington Hous, e recorded the events in her diary:

Today we received news of an event which devastated the whole English Nation and will fill us with deep distress for some time. George III, King of England, died on Saturday the 29th January at Windsor. Born 4th June 1738, he was aged [blank in diary]. My mother, Jane, Caroline and I walked in the direction of Oxford to hear the Bells which tolled from noon until one.

(Jackson’s Oxford Journal)

FEBRUARY 1ST

1995: On this day, during repairs to the attic floor of the Sheldonian Theatre, a time capsule was discovered. The package, which was hidden behind the ceiling painting, had been deposited there in 1901 by a previous restorer, Robert Nairn of Dublin. The Chairman of the Curators and the University Archivist were alerted and, with bated breath, the package was opened. It contained a letter giving details of the state of the painting when he had started work, and what he had done, with advice for future action. It concluded, ‘God bless the Pope and save the King, Robert J. Nairn’. There were also faded photographs, business cards, pamphlets, Pick-Me-Up – a magazine with risqué cartoons – a catalogue from May’s Drug Stores, No. 132, High Street, and two issues, in fragile condition, of the Daily Mail, one covering the death of Queen Victoria. News of the time capsule made the national press, and the Daily Mail of Wednesday, 1 March, carried an article with illustrations from the original copy in the time capsule. The Times of 28 February showed a small picture of University Archivist, Simon Bailey, displaying a selection of the contents of the package, together with an outline description of its origin and contents. (Oxford Mail)

FEBRUARY 2ND

1820: On this day, twenty-year-old Miss Mary Latimer, of Headington House, wrote of her feelings about the future king, George IV, and the loss of his father. She recorded in her diary: