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Description: | An autograph book containing autographs, letters, newspaper cuttings, postcard, a "confessional" by Sister Dora, and an index to the contents written by Ada Newman. Identified autographs include, in order of appearance: George, Duke of Cambridge (1819-1904), written at Gloucester House, Park Lane, London. He was the grandson of King George III'. He commanded a division in the Crimean War (1854) and was commander in chief of the British army for 39 years (1856-1895), longer than anyone else in history. In that position he consistently opposed innovation, and was said to promote officers on the basis of social standing rather than ability. The book contains many autographs from Admirals, Captains and Commanders in the Royal Navy and the HMS's Victoria, Benbow and Undaunted are mentioned. Included are:- Charles Beresford, 1st Baron Beresford GCB GCVO (1846-1919), British Admiral and Member of Parliament. Louis of Battenberg, later Mountbatten (1854-1921). Born in Austria. Naturalised British subject on entry into the Royal Navy in 1868. Prince Louis served as Director of Naval Intelligence (1902), rear admiral, vice admiral, commander of part of the Home Fleet (1910), Second Sea Lord (Chief of Naval Personnel), 1911, and then First Sea Lord, 1912. He was forced to resign on 29 October 1914, as a result of a surge in British anti-German sentiment. Richard Edward Tracey (1837-1907) Naval Officer. Austen Chamberlain (1863-1937) was the son of Joseph Chamberlain. He entered Parliament in 1892, served in Balfour's cabinet in 1904 and was promoted to chancellor of the exchequer and became Leader of the Conservative party in 1921. He resigned this in 1922 and took office again under Baldwin in 1924, as foreign Secretary. Joseph Chamberlain (1836-1914) a successful businessman in Birmingham. A member of the Liberal Party he became mayor in 1873 and for the next three years introduced a series of social reforms. The council's acquisition of land and public utilities and the pioneering slum-clearance schemes, made Chamberlain a national political figure. After the 1880 General Election he was appointed President of the Board of Trade. In 1885, as a strong supporter of Imperialism, he resigned from Gladstone's cabinet over the issue of Irish Home Rule. This action helped to bring down the Liberal government. Under Salisbury, he was appointed Colonial Secretary and was therefore primarily responsible for British policy during the Boer War. In September 1903, Joseph Chamberlain resigned from office and suffered a stroke in 1906 and took no further part in politics. Marquess of Salisbury (1830-1903), Prime Minister, Elected as Conservative MP for Stamford in 1853, he Secretary for India in Lord Derby's government. He resigned over Disraeli's 1867 Reform Act. In 1868 he succeeded his father as the 3rd Marquis of Salisbury. In 1874 Salisbury returned to government as Benjamin Disraeli's Secretary for India. Four years later he replaced Lord Derby as Foreign Secretary. On the death of Benjamin Disraeli in 1878 the Marquis of Salisbury became leader of the Conservative Party. However, he had to wait until the general election of 1885 before he became Prime Minister. He was replaced by William Gladstone briefly in 1886 but also headed the Conservative governments between 1886-92 and 1895-1902. Salisbury supported the policies that led to the Boer War (1899-1902). The Marquis of Salisbury retired from public life in July 1902 and died the following year. Arthur Balfour (1848-1930). Prime Minister, he became Conservative MP for Hertford in 1874. In 1878 Balfour became private secretary to his uncle, the Marquess of Salisbury, who was Foreign Secretary in the Conservative government headed by Benjamin Disraeli. In the 1885 Balfour was made Secretary for Scotland. Other posts during the next few years included Chief Secretary of Ireland (1887), First Lord of the Treasury (1892) and leader of the House of Commons (1892). Balfour replaced his uncle as Prime Minister in 1902. The most important events during his premiership included the 1902 Education Act and the ending of the Boer War. The topic of Tariff Reform split Balfour's government and he resigned in 1905. Balfour remained leader of the Conservative Party until he was replaced by Andrew Bonar Law in 1911. He returned to government when in 1915 Herbert Asquith offered him the post of First Lord of the Admiralty in Britain's First World War coalition government. The following year, David Lloyd George, the new Prime Minister, appointed him as Foreign Secretary. Balfour left Lloyd George's government in 1919 but returned to office when he served as Lord President of the Council (1925-29) in the Conservative government headed by Stanley Baldwin, dying in 1930. Lord Randolph Churchill (1849 -1895) was a British statesman. Lord Randolph was the third son of the 7th Duke of Marlborough and Frances, daughter of the 3rd Marquess of Londonderry. He was the father of the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom Sir Winston Churchill. Sir Henry Irving (1838-1905), born John Henry Brodribb, he was knighted in 1895, and was one of the most famous stage actors of the Victorian era. Henry Wiggin, Lord Mayor of Birmingham in 1864 and MP. William Kenrick, Lord Mayor of Birmingham in 1877 and MP. William Gilbert "WG" Grace (1848 -1915) was an English cricketer who, by his extraordinary skills, made cricket perhaps the first modern spectator sport, and who developed most of the techniques of modern batting. In a career spanning 44 years, Grace's batting average was 39.45 at first class level, an average undoubtedly dragged down by playing into his late fifties. At his peak in the 1870s his first-class season batting averages were regularly between 60 and 70, at a time where uncovered, poorly-prepared pitches meant that scores were far lower than the modern game. His career bowling record of 2809 wickets at the outstanding average of 18.14 speaks for itself. Grace played Test cricket against Australia from 1880 onwards, but he was already past his peak at that stage. Earl of Rosebery, (1847-1929) Prime Minister, also known as Archibald Primrose and Lord Dalmeny. Rosebery served as Foreign Secretary under Gladstone and then, in 1894, became his successor as Prime Minister. Rosebery's government was largely unsuccessful and he resigned in 1895. Rosebery resigned as leader of the Liberal Party in 1896 and died in 1929. Vesta Tilley (1864-1952), born Matilda Alice Powles, she was an English male impersonator. At the age of 11, she adopted her stage name becoming the most famous and well paid music hall male impersonator of her day. She was a star in both England and the US for over thirty years. John Bright (1811-1889), Quaker, was a British Radical and Liberal statesman, associated with Richard Cobden in the formation of the Anti-Corn Law League. He was one of the greatest orators of his generation, and a strong critic of British foreign policy. MP for Birmingham in 1858. The "Confessional" by Sister Dora gives the following information: Her favourite virtue was "Humility", her favourite qualities in a man were "Courage and Uprightness" and in a woman were "Truth and Modesty". Her favourite occupation was "Nursing the sick", and her chief characteristic was "Enthusiasm". Her idea of happiness was "doing good to others" and sadness was having "nothing to do". Sister Dora's favourite colour was blue and flowers were "Violets and carnations". She also would liked to have been "someone better" and have lived "In the new hospital". Favourite poets and prose authors included, "McCauley, Sir Walter Scott, Milton, Shakespeare, Tennyson". Her preferred painters and composers were "Turner, Handel and Mozart". Sister Dora considered Captain Webb and Florence Nightingale to be her real life heroes and "Johnny Ludlow" and "The Gay Worthies" to be her heroes in fiction. Her favourite food and drink were "Ices and Lemonade" and her favourite names were "Mabel, Helen, Frank, John". Her pet aversion was "A fast young lady, a hypocrite" and considered Henry IIIV to be the character in history that she disliked the most. She described her present state of mind at the time as "as happy as I can be" and "Pride" as the fault for which she had the most toleration. Her favourite motto was "Never to late to mend". The "confessional" is signed Sister Dora, and dated 1877. There are a number of newspaper cuttings from the Walsall Observer and the Birmingham Mail, from the 1940's - 1960's, regarding the book and its contents There are two letters, written in French, from Jean Battola and Victor Cailes, two of the men sentenced to 10 years in prison for allegedly manufacturing bombs in March 1892 and called the Walsall Anarchists. Anarchists were a European movement, arriving in Britain around 1885 and committed to using violent means to try to accomplish, what were considered at that time, their radical views, mainly on the welfare of the working class. When translated, copies will be available. | License: | http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/uk/ | Publisher: | Walsall Archives / Local History Centre | Rights holder: | n/a | Subjects: | Autograph albums | Temporal: | 19th cent | Source: | Black Country History | Creator: | Ada Newman | Identifier: | http://www.blackcountryhistory.org/colle... | Go to resource |
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