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Kew Gardens

Kew Gardens

The Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, usually referred to simply as Kew Gardens, are extensive gardens and botanical glasshouses between Richmond upon Thames and Kew in southwest London, England. The current director is Sir Peter Crane.

History

Kew Gardens originated in the exotic garden at Kew House formed by Lord Capel of Tewkesbury, enlarged and greatly extended by Princess Augusta, the widow of Frederick, Prince of Wales, for whom Sir William Chambers built several garden structures, of which the lofty Chinese pagoda from 1761 remains. George III enriched the gardens, aided by the skill of William Aiton and of Sir Joseph Banks. The old Kew House was demolished in 1802. The "Dutch House" adjoining was purchased by George III in 1781 as a nursery for the royal children. It is a plain brick structure now known as Kew Palace. In 1840 the gardens were adopted as a national botanical garden. Under Kew's new director, William Hooker, the gardens were increased to 30 ha (75 acres), and the pleasure grounds, or arboretum, extended to 109 ha (270 acres), and later to its current size of 120 ha (300 acres). arboretum The Palm House was built by architect Decimus Burton and iron-maker Richard Turner between 1841 and 1849, and was the first large-scale structural use of wrought iron. The Temperate house, which is twice as large, followed later in the 19th century. It is now the largest Victorian glasshouse in existence. Kew was the location of the successful effort in the 19th century to propagate rubber trees for cultivation outside South America. 1987 saw the opening of Kew's third major conservatory, the Princess of Wales Conservatory (opened by Princess Diana in commemoration of her predecessor Augusta's associations with Kew), which houses 10 different climate zones. In July 2003, the gardens were put on the list of World Heritage Sites by UNESCO. On 10 August2003, a temperature of 38.1C (100.6F) was recorded at Kew, which is considered by many to be the highest temperature ever recorded in the UK.

Kew Gardens today

Kew Gardens is a leading centre of botanical research, a training ground for professional gardeners, and a popular visitor attraction. The gardens are mostly quite informal, with a few more formal areas. There are extensive conservatories, a herbarium, and a library. Kew is important as a repository of seeds; it has one of the most important seedbanks. With the Harvard University Herbaria, and the Australian National Herbarium, they co-operate in the IPNI database to produce an authoritative source of information on the nomenclature of plants. nomenclature Despite often unfavourable growing conditions (atmospheric pollution from London, dry soils and low rainfall) it remains one of the most comprehensive plant collections in Britain. In an attempt to expand the collections away from these unfavourable conditions, Kew has established two out-stations, at Wakehurst Place in Sussex, and (jointly with the Forestry Commission) Bedgebury Pinetum in Kent, the latter specialising in growing conifers. There is an admission fee for the gardens. The nearest combined rail and London Underground station is Kew Gardens station (District Line and Silverlink) to the north of the gardens, within easy walking distance.

Pagoda

In a corner of Kew Gardens stands the Great Pagoda (by William Chambers), erected in the year 1762, from a design in imitation of the Chinese Taa. The lowest of the ten octagonal storeys is 49 feet (15 metres) in diameter. The whole structure, from the base to the highest point is 163 feet (50 metres) high. Chinese Each storey finishes with a projecting roof, after the Chinese manner, covered with plates of varnished iron of different colours, and round each of them is a gallery enclosed with a rail. All the angles of the roof are adorned with large dragons, eighty in number, covered with a kind of thin glass of various colours. The walls of the building are composed of very hard bricks. The staircase is in the centre of the building.

Museums and gallery

Chinese Near the Palm House is a building known as "Museum No. 1" which was designed by Decimus Burton and opened in 1857. Its aim was to illustrate mankind's dependence on plants, and it housed Kew's economic botany collections including tools, ornaments, clothing, food and medicines. The building was refurbished in 1998. The upper two floors are now an education centre and the ground floor houses the "Plants+People" exhibition which highlights the variety of plants around the world and the diverse ways that people use them. The Marianne North Gallery was purpose built in the 1880s to house the paintings of Marianne North, an MP's daughter who travelled to North and South America and many parts of Asia to paint plants. There are 832 paintings. As a result of the Japan 2001 festival, Kew acquired a Japanese wooden house called a minka. It was originally erected in around 1900 in a suburb of Okazaki. Japanese craftsmen reassembled the framework and British builders who had worked on the Globe Theatre added the mud wall panels.

See also


- Botanists active at Kew Gardens
- Joseph Dalton Hooker who succeeded his father as director in 1865.
- Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh
- Royal Botanical Gardens, Ontario

External links


- [http://www.rbgkew.org.uk Royal Botanic Gardens Kew] — official website
- [http://www.kew.org/msbp/ Millennium Seed Bank Project]
- [http://www.IPNI.org The International Plant Names Index]
- [http://www.gardenvisit.com/g/roy2.htm Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew — a Gardens Guide review]
- [http://www.bbc.co.uk/gardening/tv_and_radio/yearatkew_index.shtml BBC A Year at Kew documentary behind the scenes at Kew Gardens]
- [http://www.explore-kew-gardens.net Explore Kew Gardens] — online virtual tour including interactive 360° panoramas.
- [http://homepage.ntlworld.com/booty.weather/climate/2000_on.htm Information on Kew holding the UK temperature record]

References

Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. [http://www.kew.org/heritage/people/augusta.html Augusta, Princess of Wales]. Retrieved October 6, 2005. Category:Botanical gardens Category:Gardens in England Category:World Heritage Sites in England Category:Richmond Category:Visitor attractions in London Category:Parks and open spaces in London ja:キューガーデン

Garden

:The Garden can also refer to Madison Square Garden. A garden is a planned space, usually outdoors, set aside for the display, cultivation, and enjoyment of plants and other forms of nature. The garden can incorporate both natural and man-made materials. The most common form is known as a residential garden. Western gardens are almost universally based around plants. Zoos, which display wild animals in simulated natural habitats, were formerly called zoölogical gardens. Some traditional types of eastern gardens, such as Zen gardens, use plants sparsely or not at all. Food-producing gardens are distinguished from farms by their smaller scale, more labor-intensive methods, and their purpose (enjoyment of a hobby rather than produce for sale); this distinction is not always clear-cut, however. The gardening article discusses the differences and similarities between gardens and farms in greater detail. Gardening is the activity of growing and maintaining the garden. This work is done by an amateur or professional gardener. A gardener might also work in a non-garden setting, such as a park, a roadside embankment, or other public space. Landscape architecture is a related professional activity with landscape architects tending to specialise in design for public and corporate clients.

Relating to the garden

A garden can have many purposes— aesthetic, functional, and recreational. People develop a relationship with the space. That relationship can take many forms; among these are:
- Cooperation with nature
  - Plant cultivation
- Observance of nature
  - Bird- and insect-watching
  - Reflection on the changing seasons
- Relaxation
  - Family dinners on the terrace
  - Children playing in the yard
  - Reading and relaxing in the hammock
  - Maintaining the flowerbeds
  - Pottering in the shed
  - Basking in warm sunshine
- Growing useful produce
  - Flowers to cut and bring inside for indoor beauty
  - Fresh herbs and vegetables for cooking

Other similar spaces

Other outdoor spaces that are similar to gardens include:
- A landscape is an outdoor natural space of a larger scale, often considered from a distance.
- A park is a planned outdoor space, usually of a larger size, often for public use.
- An arboretum is a planned outdoor space, usually large, for the display and study of trees.
- A farm or orchard is for the production of food stuff.
- A botanical garden is a type of garden where a wide variety of plants are grown both for scientific purposes and for the enjoyment and education of visitors.
- A zoological garden, or zoo for short, is a place where wild animals are cared for and exhibited to the public.

Garden planning and design

Garden planning and garden design may be undertaken by a professional. A landscape architect is a trained, certified and registered professional who can plan and realise outdoor spaces. A garden designer is usually trained to plan and realise residential gardens. The planner must give consideration to many factors:
- Purpose
- Existing conditions
- Financial constraints
- Maintenance implications

Elements of a garden

The elements of a garden consist of natural conditions and materials, as well as man-made elements: Natural conditions and materials:
- Soil
- Rocks
- Light conditions
- Wind
- Precipitation
- Air quality
  - Pollution
  - Proximity to ocean (salinity)
- Plant materials Man-made elements:
- Terrace, patio, deck
- Paths
- Lighting
- Raised beds
- Outdoor art/sculpture, such as Gazebos
- Pool, water garden, or other water elements

Types of gardens

Gardens may feature a particular plant or plant type:
- Cactus garden
- Fernery
- Herb garden
- Lawn
- Orchard
- Rose garden
- White garden
- Wildflower garden Gardens may feature a particular style or aesthetic:
- Alpine or rock garden
- Bonsai or miniature garden
- Chinese garden
- Cottage garden
- Tropical garden
- Formal garden
- Geometric garden
- Informal garden
- Japanese garden
- Zen garden
- Naturalistic garden
- Water garden
- Wild garden Gardens may function in a particular manner:
- Botanical garden
- Community garden
- Forest garden
- Raised bed gardening
- Residential garden
- Roof garden
- Vertical garden
- Water or soil-less gardening (hydroponics)
- Walled garden
- Windowbox
- Zoological garden

History of gardens

See history of gardens page.

Gardens in literature


- The Garden of Eden
- Romance of the Rose
- Nathaniel Hawthorne's short-story "Rappaccini's Daughter"
- Frances Hodgson Burnett's The Secret Garden
- Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil
- Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart's opera La Finta Giardiniera

See also


- List of botanical gardens
- List of public gardens
- List of notable historic gardens in the history of gardens article
- Garden design
- Paradise garden

External Links


- [http://www.gardenvisit.com/garden_history/garden_types/garden-types.htm Classification of garden types] Category:Gardening ja:庭園

Richmond upon Thames

Richmond is a suburb in southwest London, in the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames. It is on the south side of the River Thames but because of the way the river twists around it, the town of Richmond is actually north-east of Richmond Bridge. It is very popular in summer with university rowing teams and tourists strolling along the bankside.

History

Henry VII was fond of Richmond Castle in Yorkshire. When a fire accidentally destroyed his manor in Sheen in 1497 he built a palace there and re-named it Richmond in 1501. The name Sheen is now used for the eastern end of Richmond town. Many people assume that the folk song "Lass of Richmond Hill" refers to Richmond Upon Thames, but it originated in the Yorkshire Richmond. In William Shakespeare's "Richard III", and in "Henry VI part 3", Henry VII is referred to as Richmond. This is because he was Earl of Richmond. This Richmond was the source of the name chosen for Richmond, Virginia.

Royal connections

:See main article: Richmond Palace. Richmond Palace Henry I lived briefly in the King's house in Sheanes (or Shene or Sheen). In 1299 Edward I "Hammer of the Scots", took his whole court to the manor-house at Sheen, a little east of the bridge, and close by the river side, which thus became a royal palace. William Wallace ("Braveheart") was executed in London in 1305, and it was in Sheen that the Commissioners from Scotland went down on their knees before Edward. The Percy family from Northumberland were rewarded for their loyalty by receiving a barony at Sheen in 1310. To this day the Dukes of Northumberland divide their time between Alnwick Castle in Northumberland, and Syon House, just north of Richmond. Edward II did not fare as well as his father. Following his defeat at the hands of the Scots at the Battle of Bannockburn in 1314, he founded a monastery for Carmelites at Sheen. When the boy-king Edward III came to the throne in 1327 he gave the manor to his mother Isabella. Almost 50 years later his wife, also called Isabella died. Edward then spent over 2,000 pounds on improvements. In the middle of the work Edward III himself died at the manor in 1377. In 1368 Geoffrey Chaucer served as a yeoman at Sheen. Richard II was the first English king to make Sheen his main residence in 1383. Twelve years later Richard was so distraught at the death of his wife Anne of Bohemia at the age of 28, that he, according to Holinshed, "caused it [the manor] to be thrown down and defaced; whereas the former kings of this land, being wearie of the citie, used customarily thither to resort as to a place of pleasure, and serving highly to their recreation." It rebuilt 1414-1422, but destroyed by fire 1497. The palace was rebuilt again and renamed Richmond Palace by King Henry VII, who renamed it Richmond Palace. It was not used after 1649, and the bulk had decayed by 1779. Surviving structures include the Wardrobe, and the Gate House. The latter was built 1501, and was made available on a 65 year lease by the Crown Estate Commissioners in 1986. It has 5 bedrooms.

Historic buildings around Richmond Green

In 1688 James II ordered partial reconstruction of the palace, this time as a royal nursery. The trumpeter's house, built around 1700 still exists. Close by is a well preserved terrace of three-story houses, called Maids of Honours Row. It was built in 1724 for the maids of honour (trusted royal wardrobe servants) of the wife of George II. Richard Burton, the Victorian explorer, lived at number 2. In Dickens' "Great Expectations" Estella comes to London to meet Mrs Brandley who lives here. From the sixteenth century, tournaments and archery contests have taken place on Richmond Green. As you look across the Green from the old Palace you can see a pub called "The Cricketers". Cricket matches have taken place here since about 1650. There was a pub of this name in 1770, but it burned down in 1844. It was soon replaced by the present building, a grade II listed building. Samuel Whitbread, founder of the Whitbread brewery owned it and had a brewery in Water Lane, close to the old Palace. The first inter-county cricket match which is recorded was played on the Green in 1730 between Surrey and Middlesex. The old palace overlooks the river on the other side. One of the earliest detailed paintings of a morris dance was painted here. It dates from about 1620 and shows a fool, a hobby-horse, a piper, and Maid-Marian and three dancers on the bank of the Thames. The beautiful Victorian theatre Richmond Theatre has been used as a movie set in many recent films (e.g. Finding Neverland). The theatre is now part of the Ambassadors Theatre Group and has a weekly schedule of plays and musicals, usually given by professional touring companies. Pre West End shows can sometimes be seen. There is a Christmas and New Year Pantomime tradition and many of Britain's greatest Music Hall and Pantomime performers have appeared.

The Rolling Stones

Opposite the Railway Station is a pub. In 1963 it was a rock venue called the Crawdaddy Club. On April 18 the Rolling Stones performed one of many gigs here. Paul Lukas, a bass player with the Tridents (including Jeff Beck) made a tape recording of it. Decades later, the same tape was auctioned at Christie's for hundreds of pounds. On one occasion The Beatles visited the Crawdaddy Club in order to hear the Stones. In the 1960s and early 1970s Eel Pie Island in Twickenham was another rock venue. The Stones, Traffic and other bands played here. In the 1990s Mick Jagger and Jerry Hall bought a house on Richmond Hill. Ron Wood once owned the same house on the Hill that actor John Mills previously lived in. Pete Townshend of The Who lives at the top of the hill - like the Jaggers he can occasionally be seen in The Roebuck pub close to his home.

Famous residents

Famous living residents include Princess Alexandra, The Honourable Lady Ogilvy, a granddaughter of King George V. Princess Alexandra resides at Thatched House Lodge in Richmond Park, a property acquired by her late husband, Angus Ogilvy following their wedding in 1967. Other residents include television presenters and brothers Richard Attenborough and David Attenborough. In 1855 George Eliot rented a house in Parkshot, and during the next three years she wrote there the greater part of her first novel, Adam Bede. The painter JMW Turner, who painted Richmond Hill and the bridge more than once, designed a house for himself (Sandycombe Lodge) that still survives unchanged on the other side of the river, in St. Margarets. In the early part of the 20th century, Virginia Woolf lived in Richmond with her husband Leonard and founded the Hogarth Press. From the twelfth century until 1649 there was a royal residence in Richmond. Its greatest fame was in the 16th century when Henry VIII and Elizabeth I spent many a Christmas within the palace.

Open spaces

Richmond is a green and leafy town and it is surrounded by accessible open spaces. To the east and south lies Richmond Park a large area of wild heath and woodland that was first enclosed by Charles I as a hunting park. To the north lie the wide green lawns and playing fields of the Old Deer Park which run down to the River Thames, and beyond it Kew Gardens. On the west, rising above the river are the Terrace Gardens: these gardens were laid out in the 1880s and extended down to the River Thames some 40 years later; the broad gravel walk along the top is earlier and the view west towards Windsor has long been famous. A grand description of the view can be found in Sir Walter Scott’s novel The Heart of Midlothian (1818): :"A huge sea of verdure with crossing and interesting promontories of massive and tufted groves, … tenanted by numberless flocks and herds, which seem to wander unrestrained, and unbounded, through rich pastures. The Thames, here turreted with villas and there garlanded with forests, moved on slowly and placidly, like the mighty monarch of the scene, to whom all its other beauties were accessories, and bore on his bosom a hundred barks and skiffs, whose white sails and gaily fluttering pennons gave life to the whole." Apart from the great rugby stadium at Twickenham and the aircraft landing and taking off from London Heathrow Airport the scene has changed little in 200 years.

Transport

Richmond station is one of the western termini of the District Line on the London Underground system. It is also the western terminus of the North London Line and served by trains from Waterloo station on the National Rail service.

Nearest places


- Kew
- Mortlake
- Sheen
- Petersham
- Ham
- Teddington
- Twickenham
- St. Margarets
- Isleworth

Nearest tube stations


- Richmond station

Nearest railway stations


- Richmond station
- St. Margarets railway station
- North Sheen railway station
- Kew Gardens station

See also


- Savoy Palace, for an earlier erected palace by the holder of Richmondshire. Category:Districts of London Category:Richmond Richmond Palace Category:River Thames

Kew

Kew is a place in the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames in South West London. It is best known for being the home of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew Palace and The National Archives. Nearest places:
- Brentford
- Gunnersbury
- Chiswick
- Mortlake
- Barnes Nearest tube station:
- Kew Gardens station Quote: :I am His Majesty's dog at Kew. :Pray tell me, sir, whose dog are you? ::Engraved on the Collar of a Dog, Which I Gave to His Royal Highness -- Alexander Pope Category:Districts of London Category:Richmond

England

:For an explanation of often-confusing terms like England, (Great) Britain and United Kingdom see British Isles (terminology). England is a nation and the largest and most populous constituent country of the United Kingdom accounting for more than 83% of the total UK population. It occupies most of the southern two-thirds of the island of Great Britain and shares land borders with fellow home nations Scotland, to the north, and Wales, to the west. Elsewhere, it is bordered by the sea. England is named after the Angles, one of a number of Germanic tribes believed to have originated in Angeln in Northern Germany, who settled in England in the 5th and 6th centuries. It has not had a distinct political identity since 1707, when Great Britain was established as a unified political entity; however, it has a legal identity separate from those of Scotland and Northern Ireland, as part of the entity "England and Wales;". England's largest city, London, is also the capital of the United Kingdom.

History

Main article: History of England England has been inhabited for at least 500,000 years, although the repeated Ice Ages made much of Britain uninhabitable for extended periods until as recently as 20,000 years ago. Stone Age hunter-gatherers eventually gave way to farmers and permanent settlements, with a spectacular and sophisticated megalithic civilisation arising in western England some 4,000 years ago. It was replaced around 1,500 years later by Celtic tribes migrating from Western and continental Europe, mainly from France. These tribes were known collectively as "Britons", a name bestowed by Phoenician traders — an indication of how, even at this early date, the island was part of a Europe-wide trading network. The Britons were significant players in continental politics and supported their allies in Gaul militarily during the Gallic Wars with the Roman Republic. This prompted the Romans to invade and subdue the island, first with Julius Caesar's raid in 55 BC, and then the Emperor Claudius' conquest in the following century. The whole southern part of the island — roughly corresponding to modern day England and Wales — became a prosperous part of the Roman Empire. It was finally abandoned early in the 5th century when a weakening Empire pulled back its legions to defend borders on the Continent. Unaided by the Roman army, Roman Britannia could not long resist the Germanic tribes who arrived in the 5th and 6th centuries, enveloping the majority of modern day England in a new culture and language and pushing Romano-British rule back into modern-day Wales and western extremities of England, notably Cornwall and Cumbria. Others emigrated across the channel to modern-day Brittany, thus giving it its name and language (Breton). But many of the Romano-British remained in and were assimilated into the newly "English" areas. The invaders fell into three main groups: the Jutes, the Saxons, and the Angles. As they became more civilised, recognisable states formed and began to merge with one another. (The most well-known state of affairs being the Anglo-Saxon heptarchy.) From time to time throughout this period, one Anglo-Saxon king, recognised as the "Bretwalda" by other rulers, had effective control of all or most of the English; so it is impossible to identify the precise moment when the Kingdom of England was unified. In some sense, real unity came as a response to the Danish Viking incursions which occupied the eastern half of "England" in the 8th century. Egbert, King of Wessex (d. 839) is often regarded as the first king of all the English, although the title "King of England" was first adopted, two generations later, by Alfred the Great (ruled 871–899). The principal legacy left behind in those territories from which the language of the Britons were displaced is that of toponyms. Many of the place-names in England and to a lesser extent Scotland are derived from celtic British names, including London, Dumbarton, York, Dorchester, Dover and Colchester. Several place-name elements are thought to be wholly or partly Brythonic in origin, particularly bre-, bal-, and -dun for hills, carr for a high rocky place, coomb for a small deep valley. Until recently it has been believed that those areas settled by the Anglo-Saxons were uninhabited at the time or the Britons had fled before them. However, genetic studies show that the British were not pushed out to the Celtic fringes – many tribes remained in what was to become England (see C. Capelli et al. A Y chromosome census of the British Isles. Current Biology 13, 979–984, (2003)). Capelli's findings strengthen the research of Steven Bassett of the University of Birmingham; his work during the 1990s suggests that much of the West Midlands was only very lightly colonised with Anglian and Saxon settlements.
This royal throne of kings, this sceptred isle,
This earth of majesty, this seat of Mars,
This other Eden, demi-paradise,
This fortress built by Nature for herself
Against infection and the hand of war,
This happy breed of men, this little world,
This precious stone set in the silver sea,
Which serves it in the office of a wall
Or as a moat defensive to a house,
Against the envy of less happier lands,—
This blessed plot, this earth, this realm, this England.
The English are great lovers of themselves, and of everything belonging to them; they think that there are no other men than themselves, and no other world but England; and whenever they see a handsome foreigner, they say that 'he looks like an Englishman', and that 'it is a great pity that he should not be an Englishmen'.
Venetian ambassador to England
Early 16th century
Charlotte Augusta Sneyd
Italian Relations of England (p. 20)
Richard II] Richard II] In 1066, William the Conqueror and the Normans conquered the existing Kingdom of England and instituted an Anglo-Norman administration and nobility who, retaining proto-French as their language for the next three hundred years, ruled as custodians over English commoners. Although the language and racial distinctions faded rapidly during the middle ages, the class system born in the Norman/Saxon divide persisted longer — arguably with traces lasting to the modern day. While Old English continued to be spoken by common folk, Norman feudal lords significantly influenced the language with French words and customs being adopted over the succeeding centuries evolving to a Romance-Germanic hybrid of Middle English widely spoken in Chaucer's time. England came repeatedly into conflict with Wales and Scotland, at the time an independent principality and an independent kingdom respectively, as its rulers sought to expand Norman power across the entire island of Britain. The conquest of Wales was achieved in the 13th century, when it was annexed to England and gradually came to be a part of that kingdom for most legal purposes, although in the modern era it is more usually thought of as a separate nation (fielding, for example, its own athletic teams). Norman power in Scotland waxed and waned over the years, with the Scots managing to maintain a varying degree of independence despite repeated wars with the English. Although it was on the whole only a moderately successful power in military terms, England became one of the wealthiest states in medieval Europe, due chiefly to its dominance in the lucrative wool market. The failure of English territorial ambitions in continental Europe prompted the kingdom's rulers to look further afield, creating the foundations of the mercantile and colonial network that was to become the British Empire. The turmoil of the Reformation embroiled England in religious wars with Europe's Catholic powers, notably Spain, but the kingdom preserved its independence as much through luck as through the skill of charismatic rulers such as Elizabeth I. Elizabeth's successor, James I was already king of Scotland (as James VI); and this personal union of the two crowns into the crown of Great Brittaine was followed a century later by the Act of Union 1707, which formally unified England, Scotland and Wales into the Kingdom of Great Britain. This later became the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland (1801 to 1927) and then the modern state of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland (1927 to present) For post-unification history, see history of the United Kingdom.

Politics

Main article: Politics of the United Kingdom, Government of England Since the promulgation of the 1284 Statute of Rhuddlan and the Laws in Wales Acts 1535-1542, Wales has shared a legal identity with England as the joint entity of England and Wales. The Act of Union with the Kingdom of Scotland in 1707 created the Kingdom of Great Britain, subsuming England, Wales and Scotland into a single political entity. Scotland, along with Northern Ireland, retain separate legal systems. The duchy of Cornwall also retains some unique rights. All of Great Britain has been ruled by the government of the United Kingdom since that date, although in 1999 the first elections to the newly created Scottish Parliament and National Assembly for Wales left England as the only part of the Union with no devolved assembly or parliament. As all legislation for England is passed by Parliament at Westminster there are some complaints about the ability of non-English Members of Parliament to influence purely English affairs. This apparent anomaly has been highlighted by both English and non-English politicians, often those opposed to devolution, and has become popularly known as the West Lothian question. Administratively, England is something of an anomaly within the UK. Unlike the other three nations, it has no local parliament or government and its administrative affairs are dealt with by a combination of the UK government, the UK parliament and a number of England-specific quangos, such as English Heritage. There are calls from some for a devolved English Parliament and from others for the dissolution of the UK and an independent England. The current Labour government favoured the establishment of regional administration, claiming that England was too large to be governed as a sub-state entity. A referendum on this issue in North East England on 4 November 2004 decisively rejected the proposal. Some criticised the English regional proposals for not decentralising enough, saying that they amounted not to devolution, but to little more than local government reorganisation, with no real power being removed from central government. The English regions would not even have had the limited powers of the Welsh Assembly, much less the tax-varying and legislative powers of the Scottish Parliament. Rather, power was simply re-allocated within the region, with little new resource allocation and no real prospects of Assemblies being able to change the pattern of regional aid. Responsibility for regional transport was added to the proposals late in the process. This was perhaps crucial in the North East, where resentment at the Barnett Formula, which delivers greater regional aid to adjacent Scotland, was a significant impetus for the North East devolution campaign. There has also been a campaign for a Cornish assembly along Welsh lines by groups such as Mebyon Kernow, which recently collected 50,000 signatures in support. Some eurosceptics believe that the establishment of English regions as administrative entities is designed to undermine the concept of English nationhood and more easily fit England into a European federal model. Conventionally the national capital of England is London, although technically it would be more exact to call London the capital of "England and Wales" given England's lack of a distinctive political identity separate from the Principality. Winchester served as the country's first national capital until some time in the late 11th century after the Norman Conquest. The City of London became England's commercial capital, while the City of Westminster (where the Royal court was located) became the political capital. These roles have, broadly speaking, been maintained to the present day.

Subdivisions

Main article: Subdivisions of England Historically, the highest level of local government in England was the county. These divisions had emerged from a range of units of old, pre-unification England, whether they were Kingdoms, such as Essex and Sussex; Duchies, such as Yorkshire, Cornwall and Lancashire or simply tracts of land given to some noble, as is the case with Berkshire. Until 1867, they were subdivided into smaller divisions called hundreds. These counties all still exist in, or near to, their original form as the traditional counties. In many places, however, they have been heavily modified or abolished outright as administrative counties. This came about due to a number of factors. The fact that the counties were so small meant, and still means, that there was no regional government able to coordinate an overarching plan for the area. This was especially true in the metropolitan areas surrounding the cities, as the county lines were usually drawn up before the industrial revolution and the mass urbanisation of England. The solution was the creation of large metropolitan counties centred on cities. These were later broken up, with several other counties, into unitary authorities, unifying the county and district/borough levels of government. London is a special case, and is the one region which currently has a representative authority as well as a directly elected mayor. The 32 London boroughs and the Corporation of London remain the local form of government in the city. Other than Greater London, the official regions are:
- North East England
- North West England
- Yorkshire and the Humber
- West Midlands
- East Midlands
- East of England
- South West England
- South East England Outside London the regions have very little power and are not accountable to elected representatives; regional authority is placed in the hands of unelected assemblies. If, as now seems unlikely, regions opt to replace these bodies with elected assemblies, local government in England will remain as variable and, some might say, as confusing as ever

Geography

Main articles: Geography of the United Kingdom, Geography of England Geography of England England comprises the central and southern two-thirds of the island of Great Britain, plus offshore islands of which the largest is the Isle of Wight. It is bordered to the north by Scotland and to the west by Wales. It is closer to continental Europe than any other part of Britain, divided from France only by a 38 km (24 statute mile or 21 nautical mile) sea gap. Most of England consists of rolling hills, but it is more mountainous in the north with a chain of low mountains, the Pennines, dividing east and west. The dividing line between terrain types is usually indicated by the Tees-Exe line. There is also an area of flat, low-lying marshland in the east, much of which has been drained for agricultural use. The list of England's largest cities is much debated because in British English the normal meaning of city is "a continuously built-up urban area"; these are hard to define and various other definitions are preferred by some people to boost the ranking of their own city. London is by far the largest English city. Manchester and Birmingham vie for second place. A number of other cities, mainly in the north of England, are of substantial size and influence. These include: Liverpool, Leeds, Newcastle, Nottingham, Bristol and Sheffield Using the standard U.S. city limits definition of a city the top six are: Birmingham, Leeds, Sheffield, Bradford, Liverpool and Manchester. Note that London is not on this list (Greater London is a region and the City of London is tiny), and that one of the two candidates for the status of England's "second city", Manchester, is down in sixth. In the UK, this method of ranking cities is generally used only by people whose own city is promoted by it. The Channel Tunnel, near Folkestone, links England to the European mainland. The English/French border is halfway along the tunnel. The largest harbour in England is at Poole, on the south-central coast. Internationally, it is the second largest harbour in the world, although this fact is disputed (See harbors for a list of other potential second largest harbours) The highest temperature ever recorded in England is 38.5 °C (101.3 °F) on August 10, 2003 in Kent. [http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/kent/3153532.stm]. The lowest temperature ever recorded in England is -26.1 °C (-15.0 °F) on January 10, 1982 at Newport in Shropshire. [http://www.metoffice.com/climate/uk/location/england/#temperature]

Major rivers

Shropshire.]]
- Thames
- Severn
- Trent
- Humber
- Yorkshire Ouse
- Tyne
- Mersey
- Dee
- Avon Main article: Waterways in the United Kingdom

Major Conurbations

:See main article: List of towns in England The largest cities in England are much debated but according to the urban area populations (continuous built up areas) these would be the 15 largest conurbations. (Population figures taken from 2001 census) #Greater London (8,278,251) #West Midlands (2,284,093) #Greater Manchester (2,244,931) #Leeds/Bradford (1,499,465) #Tyneside (879,996) #Liverpool (816,216) #Nottingham (666,358) #Sheffield (640,720) #Bristol (551,066) #Brighton/Worthing/Littlehampton (461,181) #Portsmouth (442,252) #Leicester (441,213) #Bournemouth/Poole (383,713) #Reading (369,804) #Teesside (365,323)

Economy

Main article: Economy of England

Demographics

Main articles: Demographics of England, Population of England England is both the most populous and the most ethnically diverse nation in the United Kingdom with around 49 million inhabitants, of which roughly a tenth are from non-White ethnic groups. It is one of the most densely populated countries in Europe, second only to the Netherlands. This population is made up of, and descended from, immigrants who have arrived over millennia. The principal waves of migration have been in c. 600 BC (Celts), the Roman period (garrison soldiers from throughout the Empire), 350–550 (Angles, Saxons, Jutes), 800–900 (Vikings, Danes), 1066 (Normans), 1650–1750 (European refugees and Huguenots), 1840–1850 (Irish), 1880–1940 (Irish, Jews), 1950— (Irish, Caribbeans, Africans, South Asians), 1985— (citizens of European Community member states especially Ireland, East Europeans, Iranians, Kurds, refugees). The general prosperity of England as the largest partner of the UK, has also made it a destination for economic migrants particularly from Ireland and Scotland. This segment of English homogeneous society continues to create a diverse and dynamic language that is widely used internationally. The other image of foreign ethnic components in England is still mostly seen as a legacy of the British Empire; especially the Commonwealth of Nations.

English identity

The simplest view is that an English person is someone who is from England and holds British nationality, regardless of his or her racial origin. However, inhabitants of England quite commonly refer to themselves as "British" rather than "English"; centuries of English dominance within the United Kingdom has created a situation where to be English is, as a linguist would put it, an "unmarked" state (i.e. a British person, institution, custom, city, etc. is assumed English unless specified otherwise). The English frequently include their neighbours in the general term "British" while the Scots and Welsh, proud of their separate identities, tend to be more forward about referring to themselves by one of those more specific terms. Although currently a part of England, a notable percentage of those living in Cornwall feel similarly, considering themselves Cornish first. One significant exception is in Northern Ireland, where the Unionist community tend to identify very strongly as "British" (Republicans living in the province are more likely to consider themselves "Irish"), and there is not a "Northern Ireland" or "Northern Irish" identity to the same extent as there is (e.g.) a Scottish one. A person, therefore, using the term "English" to describe him or herself (regardless of personal history) may be going out of his or her way to do so; hence he or she may also be seen (rightly or wrongly, and not necessarily pejoratively) as nationalistic. While Scottish, Welsh, Irish and Cornish patriotism are widely exhibited, specifically English patriotism has often been viewed with suspicion, and most English people feel more comfortable identifying themselves with Britain as a whole. However, this may be to avoid being seen as bullies by their neighbours. The extent to which specifically English patriotism is linked to a right-wing xenophobic agenda has also generated discomfort. The appropriation of English symbols by racist far-right organisations such as the National Front made many people uncomfortable with expressions of Englishness. In recent years, English identity has recently been a topic of debate in the national press, with many English people trying to "reclaim" the term and the flag from the far-right. See English nationalism. One notable exception to the above is in relation to sports, in particular Association football, Rugby football and to a lesser extent Cricket. Transient successes are often accompanied by a revival of the use of the "St George's Cross". While it has not yet replaced the "Union Flag" its use is on the increase. Many English people who have spent a lot of time overseas fall into the habit of referring to themselves as "English". It is the most recognisable designation by speakers of many languages, especially where their own language uses a similar word. Even in other English-speaking countries, people are often perplexed by concepts of "British" or the "United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland". All these distinctions are only possible because there is no "English citizenship" or legal definition of Englishness. Moreover, the hazy understanding many people have of the distinction between "England" and "Britain" compounds the confusion. If in doubt, refer to an "English" person as "British": this will always be correct. It may not be as precise as "English", but it will avoid offence in the event the person is actually from a different part of Britain.

Culture

Union Flag Main article: Culture of England
- English literature
  - Sir Thomas Browne
  - Geoffrey Chaucer
  - John Milton
  - William Shakespeare
  - Jane Austen
  - Mary Shelley
  - Charles Dickens
  - Thomas Hardy
  - George Orwell
  - J. R. R. Tolkien
  - C. S. Lewis
  - Douglas Adams
- List of national parks of England and Wales
- Food and Drink
- English folklore
- English art
  - English school of painting
- Music of England

Languages

Music of England.]] As its name suggests, the English language, today spoken by hundreds of millions of people around the world, originated as the language of England, where it remains the principal tongue today (although not officially designated as such). An Indo-European language in Anglo-Frisian branch of the Germanic family, it is closely related to Scots and Frisian. As the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms merged into England, "Old English" emerged; some of its literature and poetry has survived. Used by aristocracy and commoners alike before the Norman Conquest (1066), English was displaced in cultured contexts under the new regime by the Norman French language of the new Anglo-French aristocracy. Its use was confined primarily to the lower social classes while official business was conducted in a mixture of Latin and French. Over the following centuries, however, English gradually came back into fashion among all classes and for all official business except certain traditional ceremonies. (Some survive to this day.) But Middle English, as it had by now become, showed many signs of French influence, both in vocabulary and spelling. During the Renaissance, many words were coined from Latin and Greek origins; and more recent years, Modern English has extended this custom, being always remarkable for its far-flung willingness to incorporate foreign-influenced words. The law does not recognise any language as being official, but English is the only language used in England for general official business. The other national languages of the UK (Welsh, Irish Gaelic and Scottish Gaelic) are confined to their respective nations, and only Welsh is treated by law as an equal to English (and then only for organisations which do business in Wales). The only non-Anglic native spoken language in England is the Cornish language, a Celtic language spoken in Cornwall, which became extinct in the 19th century but has been revived and is spoken in various degrees of fluency by around 3,500 people. This has no official status (unlike Welsh) and is not required for official use, but is nonetheless supported by national and local government under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. Cornwall County Council has produced [http://www.cornwall.gov.uk/cornish/strategy/english/engl01.htm a draft strategy] to develop these plans. There is, however, no programme as yet for public bodies to actively promote the language. Scots is spoken by some adjacent to the Anglo-Scottish Border. Most deaf people within England speak British sign language (BSL), a sign language native to Britain. The British Deaf Association estimates that 70,000 people throughout the UK speak BSL as their first or preferred language, but does not give statistics specific to England. Like Cornish, BSL has no official status, but has been granted a degree of recognition by the government. The BBC broadcasts several of its programmes with BSL interpreters. Different languages from around the world, especially from the former British Empire and the Commonwealth of Nations, have been brought to England by immigrants. Many of these are widely spoken within ethnic minority communities, including Punjabi, Hindi, Urdu, Bengali, Gujarati, Chinese and Vietnamese. These are often used by official bodies to communicate with the relevant sections of the community, particularly in big cities, but this occurs on an "as needed" basis rather than as the result of specific legislative ordinances. Other languages have also traditionally been spoken by minority populations in England, including Romany. Despite the relatively small size of the nation, there are a large number of distinct English regional accents. Those with particularly strong accents may not be easily understood elsewhere in the country.

Nomenclature

The country is named after the Angles, one of several Germanic tribes who settled the country in the 5th and 6th centuries. There are two distinct linguistic patterns for the name of the country. The majority of European languages use names akin to "England":
- "England" (Danish, German, Swedish, Norwegian)
- "Engeland" (Dutch)
- "Inglismaa" (Estonian)
- "Angleterre" (French)
- "Inghilterra" (Italian)
- "Inglaterra" (Spanish, Portuguese, Galician)
- "Anglia" (Hungarian, Polish, Romanian, Albanian)
- "Anglija" (Russian, Slovene, Lithuanian, Ukrainian)
- "Engleska" (Croatian, Serbian)
- "Αγγλία" ("Anglía") (Greek)
- "Englanti" (Finnish) The Celtic names are quite different:
- "Bro-Saoz" (Breton)
- "Pow Sows" (Cornish)
- "Sasana" (Irish)
- "Sasainn" (Scottish Gaelic)
- "Lloegr" (Welsh) — but "Saeson" for the inhabitants.
- "Sostyn" (Manx Gaelic) Except for Lloegr, which is an ancient geographic term, these names are all derived from the Saxons, another family of Germanic tribes which arrived at about the same time as the Angles. See: Wiktionary:England for a further list of non-English names for England. "England" is sometimes mistakenly used to refer to the entire United Kingdom, the island of Great Britain, or the British Isles. This may offend people from other parts of the UK. Frequently the English use the less-specific "Britain" or "the UK", even when "England" is technically correct and commonly also use "England" when "Britain" would be correct. Alternative names include:
- the slang "Blighty", from the Hindustani "bila yati" meaning "foreign"
- "Albion", an ancient name popularised by Pliny the Elder and Ptolemy in the 1st century. Supposedly referring to the white (Latin alba) cliffs of Dover, this term has also been interpreted as a relative of Alba, today the Scots Gaelic name for Scotland. Whatever its origins, "Albion" originally referred to the whole island of Great Britain and is still sometimes seen that way today — but is more often used for England.
- More poetically, England has been called "this sceptred isle...this other Eden" and "this green and pleasant land", quotations respectively from the poetry of William Shakespeare (in Richard II) and William Blake (And did those feet in ancient time). The inhabitants of England are the English. The slang terms sometimes used for them include "Sassenachs" (from the Scots Gaelic), "Limeys" (in reference to the citrus fruits carried aboard English sailing vessels to prevent scurvy) and "Pom/Pommy" (used in Australian English and New Zealand English), but these may be perceived as offensive. Also see alternative words for British.

Symbols and insignia

alternative words for British.]] The two traditional symbols of England are the St. George's cross (the English flag) and the Three Lions coat of arms (see above), both derived from the great Norman powers that formed the monarchy – the Cross of Aquitaine and the Lions of Anjou. The three lions were first definitely used by Richard I (Richard the Lionheart) in the late 12th century (although it is also possible that Henry I may have bestowed it on his son Henry before then). Historian Simon Schama has argued that the Three Lions are the true symbol of England because the English throne descended down the Angevin line. A red cross acted as a symbol for many Crusaders in the 12th and 13th centuries. It became associated with St George and England, along with other countries and cities (such as Georgia, Milan and the Republic of Genoa), which claimed him as their patron saint and used his cross as a banner. It remained in national use until 1707, when the Union Flag (which English and Scottish ships had used at sea since 1606) was adopted for all purposes to unite the whole of Great Britain under a common flag. The flag of England no longer has much of an official role, but it is widely flown by Church of England properties and at sporting events. (Paradoxically, the latter is a fairly recent development; until the late 20th century, it was commonplace for fans of English teams to wave the Union Flag, rather than the St George's Cross). The rose is widely recognised as the national flower of England and is used in a variety of contexts. Predominantly, this is a red rose (which also symbolises Lancashire), such as the badge of the English Rugby Union team. However, a white rose (which also symbolises Yorkshire) or a "tudor rose" (symbolising the end of the War of the Roses) may also be used on different occasions. The Three Lions badge performs a similar role for the English national football team and English national cricket team.

National anthems

Although England does not have an official anthem of its own, the following are widely regarded as English national hymns:
- "Jerusalem:" Words by William Blake, Music by Hubert Parry
- "I Vow to Thee, My Country": Words by Cecil Spring-Rice, Music by Gustav Holst
- "Land of Hope and Glory": Words by A C Benson, Music by Edward Elgar (although this refers to all of Great Britain, not only England)
- "Nimrod": Music by Edward Elgar "God Save The Queen" (the national anthem for the UK as a whole) is usually played for English sporting events (e.g. football matches), although "Land of Hope and Glory" has also been used as the English anthem for the Commonwealth Games. "Rule Britannia" despite being a song about Britain as a whole was often used for the English national football team when they play against another of the home nations but more recently "God Save The Queen" has been used by both the rugby and football teams. Many believe that English teams should use their own anthems, most popular of which is the use of "Jerusalem".

References


- [http://www.statistics.gov.uk Office of National Statistics]

See also


-
- English language
- English law
- English (people)
- List of monarchs of England – Kings of England family tree
- List of English people
- Angeln (region in northern Germany, presumably the origin of the Angles for whom England is named)
- UK topics
- List of not fully sovereign nations
- Education in England

References

External links


- [http://www.enjoyengland.com/ The official website of the English Tourist Board — Enjoy England]
- [http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/state/nations/ BBC Nations]: articles on England and her neighbours Category:Monarchies Category:European countries als:England zh-min-nan:England ko:잉글랜드 ms:England ja:イングランド simple:England th:แคว้นอังกฤษ

Peter Crane

Professor Sir Peter Crane is the Director of the Royal Botanic Gardens in Kew, London. He is a fellow of the Royal Society, a foreign associate of the United States National Academy of Sciences and a foreign member of the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences. He was awarded a knighthood on June 12, 2004. Professor Crane is an alumni of the University of Reading. His own research interests involve the integration of studies of living and fossil plants, in order to understand large-scale patterns and processes of plant evolution. He has previously held positions at the Field Museum of Natural History in Chicago (as assistant curator in the Department of Geology, and director with overall responsibility for scientific programs) and at the University of Chicago (professor in the Department of the Geophysical Sciences). In November 2005, Sir Peter announced that he will resign his position at Kew to accept a faculty appointment in the University of Chicago’s Department of Geophysical Sciences effective from 1 July 2006.

References


- Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. [http://www.rbgkew.org.uk/aboutus/petercrane.html Director - Professor Sir Peter Crane FRS]. Retrieved October 4, 2005.
Crane Category:Botanists active in Kew Gardens

Tewkesbury

Tewkesbury is a historic town in Gloucestershire, England. It stands at the confluence of the River Severn and the River Avon, and also the minor tributary the Swilgate. It gives its name to the district of Tewkesbury. The name Tewkesbury comes from the name of a Saxon who founded a hermitage there in the seventh century, Theoc, and in the Saxon tongue was called Theocsbury.

History

Tewkesbury is named after the Saxon hermit, Theoc, who is thought to have founded an hermitage here in the seventh century. Evidence of a church predating the abbey suggest a considerable settlement rose up on the site previous to the Norman Conquest. Monastic buildings from the years immediately following the conquest can still be seen surrounding the abbey, which was begun in 1090 and completed in 1121. Tewkesbury was the site of the Battle of Tewkesbury on 4th May 1471. At “Bloody Meadow,” south of the town, Edward IV's forces defeated the House of Lancaster in the final battle of the Wars of the Roses. Tewkesbury was incorporated during the reign of Elizabeth I. Historically, Tewkesbury is a market town, serving the local rural area. It underwent some expansion in the period following World War II, and today has a small but significant high technology industry. Tewkesbury has also been a centre for flour milling for many centuries, and the Abbey Mill still stands. Flour is still milled at a more modern factory a short way upriver. The town also hosts a large Army supply depot at nearby Ashchurch. The town suffered from some decline in the early 1990s, with many local shops and businesses closing.

Architecture

The town features many notable Tudor buildings. Tewkesbury also has a fine Norman abbey, originally a monastery, which was saved from dissolution by King Henry VIII after being bought by the townspeople for their parish church. Most of the monastery buildings, as well as the vineyards were destroyed during this time. Some mediaeval character still remains, such as the Abbey Mill which rests upon the Mill Avon, a channel built by the monks so that they could have a working mill closer to the Abbey. The weir exists to this day, and the channel represents one of the biggest projects in Tewkesbury's History. The Abbey is also thought to be the site of the place where the Hermit "Theoc", once lived. The great Romanesque arch on the west front is particularly striking, and the stained glass window at this end has recently been restored. The monastery was founded by the Despensers as a family mausoleum, and the Despenser and Neville tombs are stunning examples of small-scale late medieval stonework. The Abbey once had a wooden spire, but it was unfortunately blown off in a heavy storm on Easter Monday 1559. Tewkesbury also lays claim to Gloucestershire's oldest public house, the Black Bear, dating from 1308. Another notable building is the Royal Hop Pole Hotel, mentioned in Charles Dickens's The Pickwick Papers. The historic Abbey Cottages, over 500 years old, were rescued from dereliction in the 1970s. One houses the town museum, the others are residential homes.

Population

The town itself has a population of around 10,000. If neighbouring Walton Cardiff and Ashchurch are included, the figure rises to approx. 17,000. There appear to be limits on how far the town can expand in the future due to the close proximity of large areas of land that are prone to flooding. However, the present "Borough of Tewkesbury," created in 1974, also contains a large portion of rural north Gloucestershire, extending as far as the edges of Gloucester itself and also Cheltenham, and has a present population of approx. 78,000.

Transport links

It is served by the M5 motorway and the A38 trunk road. Tewkesbury no longer has its own railway station, but there are regular bus connections to nearby Ashchurch for Tewkesbury railway station on the main Bristol-Birmingham line. The National Cycle Network is to soon complete its work in this area and connect Tewkesbury to the National Scheme, as well as improving localised Cycle Routes.

Culture


- Tewkesbury is home to many historic pubs.
- The ska punk band [spunge] is from Tewkesbury.
- The Bristol band The Cuban Heels all attended Tewkesbury School. The Gloucestershire band Transit Cop http://www.transitcop.co.uk also attended Tewkesbury School (apart from one) and remain good friends with The Cuban Heels to this day.
- Tewkesbury's [http://www.rosestheatre.org Roses Theatre] combines an arthouse cinema and a live performance venue.
- Eric Morecambe made his last performance at the Roses Theatre, suffering a fatal heart attack seconds after coming off-stage at the end of a one-man show in 1984, aged 58.
- Tewkesbury School plays host to Tewkesbury Music Centre, an organisation which promotes young musicians.
- Captain Scott, famous for his expedition to the South Pole, left one of the sleds used on the expedition to the school and it currently resides in the school's new Humanities Building.

Nearby places


- Bredon
- Cheltenham
- Gloucester
- Malvern
- Upton upon Severn
- The Cotswolds
- The Forest of Dean
- The Malvern Hills

External links


- Category:Towns in Gloucestershire Category:Towns on the River Severn

Augusta of Saxe-Gotha

Augusta of Saxe-Gotha (November 30, 1719 – February 8, 1772) was Princess of Wales from May 8, 1736 to March 31, 1751. She was one of only three holders of the title who never became queen. Her husband, Frederick, Prince of Wales died before his father; Augusta's son by Frederick became King George III of Great Britain. Augusta was the daughter of Frederick II, Duke of Saxe-Gotha, and arrived in Britain, aged only sixteen and speaking virtually no English, for a wedding ceremony which took place almost immediately, on May 8, 1736, at the Chapel Royal in St James's Palace, London. Despite a twelve-year age difference, the marriage seems to have been a happy one. They had nine children, the last born after Frederick's death. The birth of their first daughter, Augusta, on August 31, 1737, took place at St James's after Augusta was forced by Frederick to travel from Hampton Court Palace while in labour, simply to prevent his hated mother, Caroline of Ansbach, and father, King George II, from being present at the birth. Throughout their marriage, Augusta went along with her husband's wishes in the feud with his parents. Following his death, her role as mother of the heir to the throne became a more important one, and she was named prospective regent, which caused a political controversy. Shortly afterwards, she began to be influenced by John Stuart, 3rd Earl of Bute, her son's tutor, and rumours spread that they were having an affair. Both were pilloried in the press. Even after George III's accession, Augusta suffered widespread hostility from the public. When she died, of cancer, at the age of fifty-two (at Carlton House), her funeral procession attracted troublemakers who followed the coffin to the grave shouting insults. Her nine children were:
- Augusta - (August 31, 1737 - March 31, 1813).
- King George III of the United Kingdom - (June 4, 1738 - January 29, 1820).
- Edward Augustus, Duke of York - (March 25, 1739 - September 17, 1767).
- Elizabeth Caroline - (December 30, 1740 - September 4, 1759).
- William Henry, Duke of Gloucester - November 14, 1743 - August 25, 1805).
- Henry Frederick, Duke of Cumberland - (November 27, 1745 - September 18, 1790).
- Louisa Anne - (March 8, 1749 - May 13, 1750).
- Frederick William - (May 13, 1750 - December 29, 1765).
- Caroline Matilda of Wales, later Queen consort of Denmark and Norway - (July 11, 1751 - May 10, 1775). The city of Augusta, Georgia was named in her honour. Links:
- A short profile of Augusta alongside other influential women of her time:http://www.guide2womenleaders.com/womeninpower/Womeninpower1740.htm Augusta of Saxe-Gotha Augusta of Saxe-Gotha Category:House of Hanover Category:English & British princesses

Frederick, Prince of Wales

The Prince Frederick, Prince of Wales (Frederick Louis) (February 1, 1707 - March 31, 1751) was a member of the British Royal Family, the eldest son of King George II. He was born into the House of Hanover and was known as Duke Friedrich Ludwig of Brunswick-Lüneburg. Under the Act of Settlement passed by the English Parliament, Frederick was in the direct line of succession to the British throne. He moved to England following the accession of his father, and became the Prince of Wales. He predeceased his father however, and the throne passed to his eldest son, Prince George (later King George III). Prince Frederick was famous for having a hostile relationship with his parents.

Early life

Prince Frederick Louis, the grandson of the then Elector of Hanover (later King George I of Great Britain) and Sophia of Celle, was born in Hanover, Germany as Duke Friedrich Ludwig of Brunswick-Lüneburg. His parents, Electoral Prince George (later King George II of Great Britain) and Princess Caroline of Ansbach, were called upon to leave the country when their eldest son was only seven years old, and they did not see him again until he arrived in England in 1728 as a grown man. By then, they had several younger children, and they rejected Frederick both as their son and as a person, referring to him as a "foundling" and nicknaming him "Griff", short for the mythical beast known as a griffin.

Prince of Wales

The motives for the ill-feeling between Frederick and his parents may include the fact that he had been set up by his grandfather, even as a small child, as the representative of the house of Hanover, and was used to presiding over official occasions in the absence of his parents. He was not permitted to go to England until his father took the throne as King George II of Great Britain on 11 June, 1727. He had a will of his own and sponsored a court of ‘opposition’ politicians at his residence, Leicester House. Frederick and his group supported the Opera of the Nobility in Lincoln's Inn Fields as a rival to Handel's royally-sponsored opera at the King’s Theatre in Drury Lane. Frederick was a genuine lover of music who played the cello; he enjoyed the natural sciences and the arts, and became a thorn in the side of his parents, thwarting their every ambition and making a point of opposing them in everything, according to the court gossip Lord Hervey. At court the favorite was Frederick's younger brother, Prince William Augustus, Duke of Cumberland, to the extent that the king looked into ways of passing over Frederick in the succession.

Patron of the arts

Unlike the king, Frederick was a knowledgeable amateur of painting, who patronized immigrant artists like Amigoni (illustration above right) and Jean Baptiste Vanloo, who painted the portraits of the prince and his consort for Frederick's champion William Pulteney, 1st Earl of Bath. The list of other artists he employed—Philip Mercier, Wooton, Phillips and the French engraver Goupy—represents some of the principal figures of the English Rococo. William Kent's neo-Palladian state barge of 1732 is still preserved, though Sir William Chambers' palace at Kew for his widow Augusta (1757) was demolished in 1802.

Domestic life

Quickly accumulating large debts, Frederick relied for an income on his wealthy friend, George Bubb Dodington. The prince's father refused to make him the financial allowance that the prince considered should have been his, and Parliament was obliged to intervene, resulting in further bad feeling between the two. Although in his youth he was undoubtedly a spendthrift and womaniser, Frederick settled down, on his marriage, in 1736, to the sixteen year old Augusta of Saxe-Gotha, and soon became a devoted family man, taking his wife and eight children (his youngest daughter was born posthumously) to live in the countryside at Cliveden, since he was effectively banished from court.

Death

His political ambitions remained unfulfilled, because he died prematurely at the age of forty-four. Although the cause of death has been commonly attributed to an abscess created by a blow on the head by a cricket ball or a tennis ball, this story is apocryphal - in fact, a burst abscess in the lung was given as the cause of death. Frederick died at Leicester House in London and he was buried at Westminster Abbey.

The full epigram: "Here lies poor Fred who was alive and is dead,
Had it been his father I had much rather,
Had it been his sister nobody would have missed her,
Had it been his brother, still better than another,
Had it been the whole generation, so much better for the nation,
But since it is Fred who was alive and is dead,
There is no more to be said!" - William Makepeace Thackeray, "Four Georges"

Legitimate issue

External links


- [http://www.regiments.org/biography/royals/1707fred.htm Frederick Louis, Prince of Wales] Wales, Frederick, Prince of Wales, Frederick, Prince of Wales, Frederick, Prince of Category:Heirs to the English & British thrones Category:Fellows of the Royal Society Category:House of Hanover Frederick, Prince of Wales Category:Heirs apparent who never acceded Category:Dukes in the Peerage of England Category:Dukes in the Peerage of Scotland Category:Dukes in the Peerage of Great Britain

Chinese architecture

Chinese architecture refers to a style of architecture that has taken shape in Asia over the years. Over the centuries, the structural principles of Chinese architecture have remained largely unchanged, the main changes being on the decorative details. Since the Tang Dynasty, Chinese architecture has had a major influence on the architectural styles of Japan, Korea,