Daily Graphic first edition (1890)

Daily Graphic dated Saturday January 4^th 1890

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The Daily Graphic was the first daily illustrated newspaper in England and evolved from the Graphic weekly illustrated newspaper that was first appeared in 1869. In 1926 the Daily Graphic merged with the Daily Sketch.

The Forest Gate Fire

The fire had broken out on New Year’s Eve in the Forest Gate District Poor Law Boarding School and 26 boys between 7 and 12 lost their lives. The incident caused a great deal of distress and anger in the local community and beyond. A Parliamentary inquiry criticised the management of the school. Three years later 2 children were killed and hundreds made ill by food poisoning at the same school.

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The cast for this Jack and the Beanstalk pantomime included the very popular Music Hall comedian Dan Leno who also specialised in Panto dames. In 1903 he had a mental breakdown and was committed to the Camberwell House Asylum for a few months, after which he tried to re-start his career but died at the age of 43 in October 1904 of unknown causes. 

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The Czar whose health is commented on was Alexander III.  He died 4 years later of kidney failure and was succeeded by doomed the Czar Nicholas II.

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The American showman, businessman, politician and sometimes hoaxer Phineas Taylor Barnum created his first circus at the age of 61 in 1871. He went on to run the Greatest Show on Earth – The Barnum and Bailey Circus, which toured the USA and Europe. P T Barnum died in 1891 following a stroke.

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The Prince of Wales' Sandringham Tennant’s Ball had a guest list straight out of Burke’s Peerage and included Lord and Lady Randolph Churchill, parents of 16 year-old Winston.

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Sarah Bernhardt was probably the most famous stage actress of her day. Born in Paris in 1844, she started her stage career in 1862 and became an International success. In 1915 her right leg was amputated after an accident but she continued to perform on the stage right up until she died of kidney failure in 1923. She also appeared in a dozen films and has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.

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Sport in the Highlands? I’m not sure the word ‘Sport’ should be applied to the butchering of 95 stags and thousands of grouse. 

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Emmensite was a high explosive invented by Dr. Stephen H. Emmens who, as well as filing patents for guns, shells, refrigerants, a surf motor, a steam jacketed kettle and various manufacturing processes also claimed to be able to turn silver into gold i.e. alchemy.

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What a surprise – a contract for supplying the armed forces with equipment going over the estimate. Then as now and always shall be.

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Submarines had been around since the American Civil War of the 1860’s but by 1890 the most advanced were electric-powered (batteries) and sported torpedo tubes. The development of the periscope and diesel-electric power made submarines practical for combat in time for World War I. 

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This trial of Charles Johnson makes a pleasant change from the murders and violent assaults that were so prevalent in late Victorian newspapers.

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This request for readers’ drawings and photos is rather like today’s local TV news asking for viewers to send in their mobile phone videos. “Excuse me Mr Bank Robber, but would you mind holding that pose while I do a sketch for the Graphic?”

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To guarantee Swaziland independence and sovereignty Britain and the Boers of the South African Republic had signed the Conventions of Pretoria in 1881 and of London in 1884, but by then almost all of the Swazi’s mineral rights, transport networks and land rights had been signed over to Europeans. From 1890 until 1894 Britain and the Boers effectively controlled Swaziland jointly but then Britain withdrew until after the 2^nd Boer War (1899-1902). So the answer to the question posed is not just yet but then yes for a while.

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Created in the 1880’s to debunk triskaidekaphobia, the Thirteen Club hosted dinners of 13 people to cock a snoot at the superstition that one of the guests would die within a year. This meeting in 1890 included P T Barnum who died (cue spooky music and pregnant pause)… 16 months later! Ah well, it could have been a good story.

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“Gawd bless her Majesty and all who sail in her.“ Queen Victoria, the last of Hanoverian monarchs, came to the throne in 1837 at the age of 18 and stayed there until her death in January 1901. Who is that lurking behind the tree in the Osborne garden drawing? He looks suspiciously like her Majesty’s very good friend John Brown to me.

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The writer of this proposal to build a Hall of City Companies in London was H W Brewer who was famous for his architectural illustrations that included aerial views of cities and imagined pictures of cities as they were in times gone by. Worth a look on Google images.

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Launched in 1874 the SS Britannic was the first White Star Line ship with that name (the 2^nd was the sister to a certain Titanic). In 1881 it ran aground in fog off Ireland, and having been re-floated, sprung a leak and was beached at Wexford Bay. In 1887 she collided with the SS Celtic off New Jersey and 6 steerage passengers were killed outright and another six were later found to be missing having been washed overboard. The incident in this article followed 3 years later. In 1899 she was taken over by the Royal Navy and used as a troopship for the Boer War at the end of which she was condemned and scrapped.

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These adverts for books include Mark Twain’s latest ‘A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court’ and Wilkie Collins’ final novel ‘Blind Love’ which the author left unfinished when he died the previous September – it was completed by Walter Besant. Collins’ penultimate novel ‘The Legacy of Cain’ (1889) is also offered. Jerome K Jerome’s Stage Land is misrepresented as a travel book.

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I hope this article about Jamaica’s so called Dignity Ball doesn’t offend anyone. It is presented as an example of the incredible racist and patronising attitude of British Victorians to their colonial subjects, which, by the way, continued to a lesser degree to within my living memory. 

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The Influenza Pandemic of 1889/1890 spread from China and Siberia to most of Europe and the USA. It hit London in December 1889. This pandemic was mild – only 1 million deaths compared to the estimated 20-50 million deaths in 1918/20.

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It’s about time someone invented the ASBO!

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The Bi-unial Magic Lantern was basically 2 lantern systems mounted vertically to allow the projectionist (or lanternist) to superimpose or dissolve from one slide to another. A skilled lanternist could create an illusion of movement similar to those pesky little repeating ‘gifs’ that crop up on some websites.  

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“By Gad, Sir! No more baggy trouser knees! Hurrah! The greatest invention to grace mankind since the self-waxing moustache! Pass the brandy!” 

Random Ad - Ovaltine Rusks (1960's)

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All together now -

"We are the Ovaltineys, little girls and boys

Make your requests, we'll not refuse you

We are here just to amuse you

Would you like a song or story?

Will you share our joys?

At games and sports we're more than keen

No merrier children could be seen

Because we all drink Ovaltine

We're happy girls and boys."

Random Cutting - German/Irish Plot (1918)

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It is now accepted that The German-Irish Plot of May 1918, in which Sinn-Fein were supposed to be conspiring with German Intelligence to start an armed revolt in the province, was in fact a set up job by British Intelligence and used as an excuse to arrest and imprison many Sinn-Fein members. It ultimately proved to be counter-productive because Sinn-Fein sacrificed many of its more moderate members while ensuring the hard-liners such as Michael Collins stayed free. As shown in the clipping Eamon De Valera, later President of the Irish Republic, was arrested. He was imprisoned, but escaped from Lincoln Gaol in February 1919.

Port Stanley Airport bombed

Sunday Mirror dated Sunday May 2^nd 1982

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For 140 years the Argentineans said that the British had no right to the Falkland Islands and on April 2nd 1982 they invaded. On April 5^th a Task Force of Royal Navy ships set sail for the region, By May 1^st South Georgia (which up until 1985 was part of the Falkland Islands) had been re-taken, but Margaret Thatcher’s ‘rejoicing’ was premature as it took until June 14^th before the Argentineans surrendered along with the loss of 907 lives.

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The first Avro Vulcan delta-wing bomber went into RAF service in 1956 and was designed to deliver both conventional and nuclear bombs. The last Vulcan was built in 1965 and the type was decommissioned from the RAF in 1984. To get from their base in the Ascencion Islands to the Falklands and back the Vulcans had to be re-fuelled in mid-air 8 times. The re-fuelling planes also had to be re-fuelled themselves on route.

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The Union Flag is better known as the Union Jack although should only be called so when flying over a ship, the Flag of St George is England’s official flag - a red cross on a white background, the Council of Europe flag has 12 gold stars arranged in a circle on a dark blue background and, probably the least familiar is the English Standard which has 3 elongated gold lions stacked on a red background. Quite why the Local Council was wasting valuable time discussing this publican and his flag waving is beyond me.

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Tom Baker played the eponymous ‘Dr Who’ from December 1974 until 1981 and met Lalla Ward, who took over the role of his assistant Romana from Mary Tamm in 1979. They married in 1980 but divorced in 82 and Tom later married Sue Jerrard who had been an editor on the same programme.

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As it was and still is – unfortunately.

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This is taken from the September 1980 interview with David Sheff published in the January 1981 Playboy magazine.  

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As it states in the article there was no danger to road or rail users and presumably the Keeper knew when the next train was due, so it’s all a bit of a non-story really.

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‘One Step Further’ by Bardo was 1982’s Eurovision Song Contest entry for Britain and came 7^th. 

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Tony Knowles was in the top 16 ranked players for 7 years from 1983 and reached the World Championship semi-finals on three occasions but never the final. Steve Davis on the other hand won the World Championships 6 times.

Random Ad - Shredded Wheat (1940's)

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8d and 3 ration points. 'Welgar' was a shortening of Welwyn Garden City where the cereal was made. Remember the TV adverts in which the manly Ian Botham was unable to eat 3 Shredded Wheat?

Random Cutting - New York Snow (1947)

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New York City had at least 7" of snow on the ground from December 26th 1947 until February 14th 1948. In the UK we'd had more than our fair share during January and February 1947, followed by widespread flooding in March.

King Opens the Empire Exhibition

Daily Sketch dated Thursday April 24^th 1924

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The British Empire Exhibition was opened by King George V on St George’s Day 1924. It stayed open until October then closed for the winter. It was re-opened in April 1925 and finally closed in October 1925, having played host to 27 million visitors. Most of the buildings used for the Exhibition were demolished but the Empire Pool became the Wembley Arena and the Empire Stadium became the iconic Wembley Stadium until it too was knocked down in 2002.

Trivia time –

The opening ceremony broadcast was the first time a ruling British monarch has been heard on the radio.

Jaffa oranges appeared for the first time in Britain at the Palestine pavilion.

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Mabel Jones, the wife of hotel owner Alfred Jones, had met Jean-Pierre Vaquier whilst on holiday in France. Vaquier later turned up at the hotel in Byfleet and stayed for six weeks apparently on business. On March 29^th Alfred Jones had his usual morning drink but died in agony shortly after. The drink was found to have been poisoned. Vaquier was identified as having bought strychnine from a local chemist and was arrested. He was put on trial for murder, convicted and hung on August 12th 1924. 

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Broadcasting by the BBC (British Broadcasting Company Ltd) had only begun 18 months earlier but already stars like John Henry (real name Norman Clapham) were getting audiences of a million. His on air ‘wife’ Blossom died in 1934 and although they were not married she was buried using his name. Shortly afterwards Norman committed suicide. You can hear him on Youtube 

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The article covers Henry Kendall Thaw’s life up to 1924 including the murder of Stanford White. It’s well worth having a look at the material online about the murder so I won’t pre-empt it here. After 1924 he seemed to have lived a quite life in Virginia and Florida and died of a heart attack in 1947.

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HMS Birkenhead was a troopship back in 1852 transporting soldiers to British ruled South Africa when she hit submerged rocks off the South African coast and sank. William Newport was one of about 200 of the approximately 650 people on board who were saved.

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The clown and musician Grock was born Charles Adrien Wettach in Switzerland in 1880. This break up with his long time partner Max Van Embden was the first of several but they were working together again by 1927. Grock worked until 1954 and died in 1959.

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I wonder what would happen today to the parent(s) who left a loaded shotgun propped up against a kitchen wall where a child could pick it up? Not that anything would have brought Evelyn Hinton back.

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The Dominion of Newfoundland, which included Labrador, existed from 1907 until it became part of Canada in 1949. Sir Richard Squires was the Prime Minister from 1919 until he was forced to resign in 1923 after being accused of using bribes to win the election. He was arrested but this didn’t appear to hurt his career as he was Prime Minister again from 1928 until 1932.

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No apology offered for showing my favourite cartoon strip again – Pop by John Millar Watt. See also here and here.

Random Ad - Car phone (1980s)

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Cellular phones in cars date back as far as the late 1940's but it wasn't until the late 70's and early 80's that mobile phone usage took off. The ubiquitous pocket phone and then the ban on drivers using phones has seen the demise of the in-car phone.