Martinalia
Welcome to Martinalia. An academic career generates material which for one reason or another does not get into print. There are public lectures and keynote addresses. Some are never intended for publication. Others are commissioned for projects which never get off the ground. There is material prepared for teaching, which may be useful to colleagues and students involved in similar courses. Some projects seem worth sharing with interested readers even though they remain unfinished, lacking the final polish needed for conventional academic publication. Since 2014 I have used Martinalia to publish essays and research reports.
The term “Martinalia” was coined by my friend Jim Sturgis.
Magdalene College Cambridge Notes: the origins of the Lutyens Building
The story of the Lutyens Building, now the backdrop to Magdalene's Benson Court, forms a well-known part of College history and legend.
Asquith, the Maurice debate and the historians – after 36 years
In 1985, I published an article on the political tactics of the former British Liberal prime minister, H.H. Asquith, in the Maurice debate of 9 May 1918
Did Parnell swear the IRB oath? A sceptical review
Between 1987 and 2011, two respected historians, Paul Bew and Patrick Maume, presented evidence suggesting that Charles Stewart Parnell swore the Fenian oath following his release from Kilmainham in 1882.
Havering History Cameos: Fourth Series
The fourth and final series of Havering History Cameos, based on columns published on the Heritage page of the Romford Recorder between December 2017 and January 2021.
A virtual stroll around an Irish village: Clashmore, County Waterford
At the time of writing, January 2021, there seems little prospect of holiday travel in the near future. This webpage suggests a virtual visit to the pleasant Irish village of Clashmore, in the under-valued county of Waterford.
Magdalene College Cambridge Notes: prime-ministerial visits, from Gladstone to Macmillan
Five prime ministers visited Magdalene between 1841 and 1965.
From Butt to Balfour: Edward King-Harman (1838-1888)
Edward King-Harman was a Protestant and Conservative Home Ruler in the eighteen-seventies who became a Unionist and a defender of his fellow landlords in the following decade. Some aspects of his journey from Butt to Balfour provide illuminating contrasts to the career of his contemporary, fellow Protestant landlord Charles Stewart Parnell.
Havering History Cameos: Exploring Essex
During my eight years as the volunteer contributor to the Romford Recorder's Heritage column, I wrote a number of columns – mainly for August issues – describing places across the border with Essex that were worth a visit. Although Havering ceased to be part of the county for administrative purposes in 1965, links remain strong, for instance through cricket. It's worth emphasising the message that Havering still "belongs" to Essex – and vice-versa.
From Little Ilford to Botany Bay: Frances Davis, cross-dressing First Fleeter
Frances Davis was a convict sent to New South Wales on Australia's First Fleet in 1787. Identified as "late of the parish of Little Ilford in the co[unty] of Essex Spinster", she was about twenty years of age. Her record showed that she was guilty of a major crime by breaking into the house of Agnes Bennett, widow, on 2 September 1785, and stealing cash and bills of exchange worth over £800 from John Wigglesworth.
James Smith, eccentric tourist on Australia's First Fleet: a tentative identification
A paying passenger somehow joined the fleet of convict ships sent to colonise New South Wales in 1787-88. This note tentatively traces James Smith to the Essex village of Messing. Historians of Essex and of Australia are invited to test the hypothesis.
More Articles …
- Magdalene College Cambridge Notes: Louisa Duffy, bedmaker and linguist
- 'Our Lady of the Snows': the Canadian context and reactions to Kipling's poem of 1897
- Street-surfing in Victorian and Edwardian Havering
- Why we say West HAM, and not West'um
- The Cambridge fever: the closure of Cambridge University during the Easter Term of 1815
- A tribute to East Ham
- Whatever happened to Chadwell Street? Notes on the history of an Ilford high road settlement
- Coronavirus: the 1914 comparison
- Lockdown in Havering: exploring old maps and photographs online
- Maryland: an American place-name in east London?
- Canadian history on www.gedmartin.net
- A joke about Mr Gladstone
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