The first official silk (King's Counsel/Queen's Counsel/Senior Counsel/Silk) was Francis Bacon (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Queen%27s_Counsel#Historical_background) in 1596 or 1597, though Aubrey de Vere represented the King in Court in 1139 (A History of the English Bar and Attornatus To 1450 Herman Cohen, p. 63).

By One Vote . . .

Cardinal Pole, the last Roman-Catholic Archbishop of Canterbury, was beaten to Pope by one vote by Julius III in 1549 and by two votes by Paul IV in 1555. One wonders how history would have been different had he been elected?

The World's Longest River

We have known for some time that the Amazon is the world's biggest river by volume of water, but now scientists think that it is even longer than the Nile -- the Amazon at 6,800km (4,250 miles) compared to the Nile's 6,695km.

Are Charles and Camilla married?

Since members of the royal family are exempt from the Marriages Act (1949) it would seem that their marriage was valid only if, (since they were married in England) they were married in a ceremony of the Church of England (which, of course, they were not -- though I don't know whether the reasons why not were to do with Charles or to do with Camilla). The present government, unlike its predecessor, thinks, however, that the Human-Rights Act 1998 (which, ironically, Charles himself, in a letter to the previous Lord Chancellor, denounced as “a threat to sane, civilised and ordered existence”) mandates a liberal interpretation of the Marriages Act such that Charles's human rights should not be infringed by his being prevented from contracting a civil marriage.

There is another question, of course, as to whether Charles could have married her had he been King and thereby Supreme Governor of the Church of England (since it was apparently for this reason that the Queen felt that she couldn't be present at the ceremony): Edward VIII famously had to abdicate in order to marry Mrs Simpson.

George IV

George IV also took part in a putative marriage ceremony that was null and void: in 1785, aged 23, he married the Roman-Catholic widow Maria Anne Fitzherbert. Under the Royal-Marriages Act, however, the union was null and void as he did not have the permission of his father, the king, and he was under 25. (The king would certainly not have given him permission as that would have meant that under the Act of Settlement his son would have forfeited the throne.) One wonders, however, why the couple did not wait till George was 25 before getting married. Perhaps it was done for the sake of Mrs Fitzherbert. In fact, Rome pronounced that the marriage was valid. Since Mrs Fitzherbert did not die till 1837 this invalidated George's putative marriage in 1795 to Caroline of Brunswick, though he continued to 'see' Mrs Fitzherbert (and other women) after the ceremony anyway. Since George was drunk during the ceremony and marrying under compulsion from his father the putative marriage wouldn't have been valid anyway. Interestingly George later tried unsuccesfully to divorce Queen Caroline, but never seems to have argued that the marriage was null and void. The only child of the putative marriage, Princess Charlotte Augusta would thus be illegitimate (certainly in the eyes of Rome).

First Divorced Bishop in Britain

Anthony Crockett, the Bishop of Bangor, is the first divorced (and remarried) bishop in Britain.

First Personal Genome Map

James Watson has become the first person to receive his own personal genome map.

First Person to be executed for Heresy

Priscillian has the dubious distinction of being the first person in the history of Christianity to be executed for heresy.

First King to have a marriage annulled?

Perhaps the first English monarch to have a marriage annulled was Ethelbald, whose marriage to his widowed stepmother Judith was annulled in 860, two years after Ethelbald had married her on the death of his father Ethelwulf and his accession to the full rights of king. It is not clear, however, that Ethelbald could rightly be called 'King of England'.

First English monarch with annulled marriage

It would appear that the first English monarch to have a marriage annulled (it wasn't a divorce) would be King John, with Isabel of Gloucester being the unlucky lady.

Law

The Scotsman tells us that:

One law every three hours has been created during Tony Blair's decade in power: over the past ten years, close to 30,000 new laws have been created - an average of 2,685 a year or more than seven a day.

The Guardian remarks that:
the statutes themselves have become longer, with five acts passed in 2006 totalling more than 100 pages, three more than 200, one more than 300, one more than 500 and one more than 700.

Henry VIII

Contrary to popular belief, Henry VIII was never divorced. On the contrary, his failed marriages were annulled.

So, how many marriages did he have? In the eyes of the English law it was only three: Henry annulled his putative marriages with Catherine of Aragon, Anne Boleyn (on grounds of the affinity created between them thanks to Henry's relationship with her sister), and Anne of Cleves, leaving only the marriages to Jane Seymour, Katherine Howard (which was almost annulled), and Catherine Parr as valid. This means that his two daughters, Mary (by Catherine of Aragon) and Elizabeth (by Anne Boleyn) were illegitimate. His son Edward (by Jane Seymour) was legitimate in the eyes of the English law.

In the eyes of Rome it is more complicated: the Pope did not recognize his first annulment, so Henry VIII remained married to Catherine of Aragon till she died on 7th January 1536. This invalidated both his putative marriage to Anne Boleyn and his putative marriage to Jane Seymour, and made illegitimate his children Elizabeth and Edward. His next wife, Anne of Cleves, did not die till 16 July 1557. If the annulment with her was not recognized by Rome (the grounds given were that there was a precontract at the time to Francis, Duke of Lorraine, Henry did not consent, and he was impotent with respect to her) then neither of his subsequent putative marriages, to Katherine Howard in 1540, and to Catherine Parr in 1543, would be valid in the eyes of Rome. This gives a total of two. If, as seems plausible, however, this annulment was (or would have been) recognized by Rome then his marriage to Katherine Howard was the next valid one, and then the one to Catherine Parr, giving a total of 3 marriages.

Edward VIII and Mrs Simpson

Wikipedia, referring to the official documents, tells us that, letters patent dated 27 May 1937, which re-conferred upon the Duke of Windsor the "title, style, or attribute of Royal Highness," specifically stated that "his wife and descendants, if any, shall not hold said title or attribute.

Divorced monarchs

It is unclear to me whether Prince Charles is divorced, since his former spouse is dead. But he would by no means be the first divorced monarch: George I of Great Britain was divorced from his wife Sophia Dorothea of Celle in 1694, 20 years before he became king in 1714. Sophia died in 1726, Wikipedia tells us.

He may well be the first UK monarch to be married to a divorcee, however: Camilla's former husband remains alive, and Edward VIII abdicated in order to marry a divorcee, although legally Edward could have married Mrs. Simpson and remained king. This latter was, however, a very different case: there were religious reasons (the C of E did not then allow remarriage of divorced persons, and Edward would have been both supreme governor of the C of E and married to a divorcee) and legal grounds (her first husband was still living (he did not die till 1950) and not validly divorced from her under English church law).

Prince Philip

Prince Philip is not Prince Consort.

Wikipedia tells us that his official title is:
His Royal Highness The Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh.

The same article tells us that:
the surname of male-line descendants of the Duke and the Queen who are not Royal Highness or Prince or Princess is Mountbatten-Windsor.
Another article clarifies that:
The official name of the British Royal Family or Royal House remains Windsor.

Prince Philip is also 468th in the line of succession to the British Throne in his own right.

Camilla

Camilla's full style, Wikipedia tells us, is:
Her Royal Highness The Princess Charles Philip Arthur George, Princess of Wales and Countess of Chester, Duchess of Cornwall, Duchess of Rothesay, Countess of Carrick, Baroness of Renfrew, Lady of the Isles, Princess of Scotland

The article in Wikipedia continues:
As she is the consort and wife of the Prince of Wales, Camilla legally holds the title and technical rank of Princess of Wales. The Queen has allowed her to use the style of her husband's subsidiary title, Duke of Cornwall, rather than Princess of Wales, except in Scotland, where both Charles and Camilla are formally styled as Duke and Duchess of Rothesay, a title historically associated with heirs to the Scottish throne.

The article goes on:

Clarence House has indicated that when Charles accedes the throne it is intended that she will use the title HRH The Princess Consort, although, as with the example of the Princess of Wales, technically as the wife of a king, Camilla would be Queen. However it is looking increasingly likely that the Duchess would become Queen. To create a position of Princess Consort, it would require new legislation as it is an area of debate as whether the initial position taken by Clarence House is against the constitution.

Everton Football Club

Everton Football Club was founded in 1878 by Rev B. S. Chambers, Minister of St. Domingo Methodist Church, a church of the Methodist denomination New Connexion, for the boys of the church. It was initially called 'St Domingo F.C.' . Liverpool FC was born in the split occasioned by the move from Anfield, Everton's original home, to Goodison Park in 1892.

record for league goals in a single season

In 1925 Everton signed Dixie Dean, who, in 1927-1928, set the record for league goals in a single season (60 goals in 39 league games, a record that still stands to this day).

record first-class score

The record first-class batting score is 501 no by Brian Lara for Warwickshire v Durham at Edgbaston in 1994.

Highest-Ever Telephone Call

The world's highest-ever telephone call has been made from the summit of Mt Everest.

Second footballer to score 1,000 goals

The former Brazilian striker Romario scored what he says is the 1,000th goal of his career in a match in Rio de Janeiro on Sunday.

The only other player to have done this is Pele. Romario's 1, 000 includes goals scored in youth, friendly, and testimonial games.

Romario's 1,000th goal came from a penalty kick in the game between Vasco da Gama and Sport of Recife in the Brazilian national championship.

shortest job as football manager

Leroy Rosenior has broken the record for English football's shortest managerial reign: Rosenior lost his job at Torquay only 10 minutes after being introduced as the Devon club's new manager on Thursday.

record first-class opening stand

The first-class record for an opening stand is 561, by Waheed Mirza (324) and Mansoor Akhtar (224 not out) for Karachi Whites against Quetta (who had been bowled out for 104 shortly beforehand) at Karachi in 1976-77.

W. G. Grace

Some facts about W. G. Grace from John Major's new book More than a Game:
In seven days in 1876 he scored 839 runs in three innings (344, 177, 318no).
in 1876 hit 400no (but not in an official first-class match, but against 22 fielders)
topped the batting averages 12 times between 1866 and 1880
6 times he exceeded 2000 1st-class runs in a season
3 times he scored a century in each innings of the same match
carried his bat 17 times in a 1st-class match
helped put on 283 for the 1st wicket
scored 196 at Lord's.
126 centuries in 54, 896 runs, with a an average of nearly 40.

world's shortest scheduled flight

The world's shortest scheduled flight is operated by Loganair between Westray and Papa Westray. It lasts about two minutes.

First captain to be sent off in a World-Cup Final

Zinedine Zidane, ex-captain of France, became on 09/07/06 the first team captain ever to be sent off in a World-Cup Final. He was the fourth player ever to be sent off in a World-Cup Final. The others were Pedro Monzon and Gustavo Dezotti of Argentina in the 1990 World-Cup Final against Germany (thus making that final the only one in which two players have been dismissed), and Marcel Desailly of France in the 1998 final against Brazil. Argentina lost in 1990, but France won in 1998.

Zidane did, however, score before being sent off on 09/07/06. Since he also scored twice in the 1998 final, he became the fourth man to score in two World-Cup finals after Brazilians Vava (who scored twice in 1958 while winning against Sweden, and once while winning against the Czechs in 1962) and Pele (who also scored twice in 1958 against Sweden, and once while winning against Italy in 1970), and Germany's Paul Breitner (who scored once in 1982 while losing against Italy, and once in 1974 while winning against the Netherlands). Geoff Hurst scored three goals in the 1966 World-Cup Final for England against West Germany, and he remains the only person to have got a hat-trick in a World-Cup Final.

One Thousand Miles in One Thousand Hours

According to this site:

On June 1, 1809 Captain Robert Barclay Allardice undertook what was then the greatest sporting feat ever attempted - to walk one thousand miles in one thousand hours for one thousand guineas. Six weeks later, exhausted and on the verge of collapsing, he completed his challenge and instantly became the most famous sporting figure of Regency times.

The feat was later repeated by Bob Carlisle in Newton-le-Willows.

One-legged cricketers beat one-armed cricketers

According to the BBC:

On the 9th and 10th of August 1796, a cricket match took place between a team of one-legged pensioners and a team of their one-armed counterparts. They played at the Montpelier Tea Gardens in Walworth (now part of south London)

The two teams were drawn from among war veterans at the Greenwich Hospital, and the match between them was arranged by two "noble lords" who had a bet of 1000 guineas on the outcome.

The one-legged Greenwich Pensioners (93 and 104) defeated their One Armed counterparts (41 and 53) by 103 runs.

Footballing nations

How many FIFA-member nations are not sovereign states? England, Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland, obviously. But which others? The Faroe Islands? Any more?

Red Cards

The BBC tells us in its report on the match on Friday 30th June 2006 between Germany and Argentina that:

The dismissal of unused Argentine substitute Leandro Cufre in the scuffle that directly followed the penalty shoot-out, made him a record 10th Argentine to be sent off in a World Cup match. Just like predecessor Claudio Caniggia, Cufre was red carded whilst not even formally on the pitch.

Does anyone know what the rules say about when red cards may be given: it seems that they may be given after the game has finished, but when is the cut-off point? And who may be given them if unused substitutes may be given them too? All and only members of the squad?

On a separate front: I have heard that my former headmaster, John Gwilliam, was the first (and last?) rugby captain to send off one of his own players. Can anybody confirm this?

According to this site one is not allowed in football to send off one of one's own players. But this site says, by contrast, that:

If the captain of a team decides to send off one of his own players (because that player refused to obey his captain's instruction) the Referee has no power to interfere with the captain's decision.

Another recent football record was the record number of red cards handed out in Holland v. Portugal on Sunday 25th June. The total number of bookings equalled the record for the World Cup.

Death Penalty

According to Wikipedia the death penalty at the height of the 'Bloody Code' was in force for some 220 different crimes.

Professional fouls

Does anyone know of a case in which a footballer has committed a blatant 'professional foul', such as picking up the ball illegally in order to prevent a certain goal, without any attempt to conceal the nature of the foul? Or does anyone know of a similar case in another sport?

Has any professional footballer (or other sportsman) ever been criticized for not committing a professional foul in such a situation (e.g. to prevent a certain goal)?

Trial by Combat

You can read here an interesting story from 2002:

A court has rejected a 60-year-old man’s attempt to invoke the ancient right to trial by combat, rather than pay a £25 fine for a minor motoring offence.

Leon Humphreys remained adamant yesterday that his right to fight a champion nominated by the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA) was still valid under European human rights legislation. He said it would have been a “reasonable” way to settle the matter.

Magistrates sitting at Bury St Edmunds on Friday had disagreed and instead of accepting his offer to take on a clerk from Swansea with “samurai swords, Ghurka knives or heavy hammers”, fined him £200 with £100 costs.

Humphreys, an unemployed mechanic, was taken to court after refusing to pay the original £25 fixed penalty for failing to notify the DVLA that his Suzuki motorcycle was off the road.

After entering a not guilty plea, he threw down his unconventional challenge. Humphreys, from Bury St Edmunds, said: “I was willing to fight a champion put up by the DVLA, but it would have been a fight to the death.”

Tribe Members Wanted!

This site has this unusual story:

Mark James and Ben Keene, both 26, have set up www.tribewanted.com to invite people to join a tribe by registering for one of the 5000 places available. When the 5000th member joins the tribe will be formed and will start to make important decisions by voting through the tribewanted.com community on key issues including: What will the tribe be called? Who will be the 12 Chiefs that lead the tribe? What kind of infrastructure will be required on the Island?

The plan is to create the world’s first online and real life tribal community, providing an experience of a lifetime to its members whilst simultaneously helping local development projects in Fiji and without negatively impacting the environment!

Membership to the tribe will be sold on a first come first served basis on tribewanted.com. Membership begins not when a tribe member joins but on the day the tribe is formed, the day the 5000th member joins. Tribe members will be able to reserve their stay on the island when the tribe is formed.

There will be no more than 100 on the island at any one time. The joining fee will cover food and accommodation on the island for their period of stay, pick-up from the local airport in Fiji, and access to the tribewanted.com community throughout their membership.

Vexillology

If you are interested in vexillology, you may want to check out the Web site of the Flag Institute.

Permanent Link to Making History

Here is a permanent link for listening to the edition of Making History featuring my question concerning the last heir to the English throne to die in battle. The answer given was (again) Edward, Duke of Westminster.

Football teams with unique suffixes

Tom Ward alerted me to these interesting questions, posted by Rurkah_Blurk at the Sunderland AFC Forum:

1. that have an individual 2nd name, e.g. 'Sheffield WEDNESDAY'?

2. that have individual home colours?

3. and name all cities that have 2 or more league clubs?

Answers at the same place.

BBC Radio 4's Making History will be addressing the question of the last heir to the throne to die in battle on Tuesday 20 June 2006. Afterwards you should be able to listen again over the Web site. In the programme Professor John Childs will be answering my question; he will be defending the answer that it is Edward of Westminster that was the last heir to the throne to die in battle.

Coronation Oath

I have taken from this Web page part of the coronation oath:

Archbishop. Will you solemnly promise and swear to govern the Peoples of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, the Union of South Africa, Pakistan, and Ceylon, and of your Possessions and the other Territories to any of them belonging or pertaining, according to their respective laws and customs?

One might wonder why Pakistan is mentioned but not India, and why South Africa is mentioned but not Kenya.

Wikipedia, as usual, has the answer:

The former Commonwealth realms, and the intervals in which they were realms, are as follows:

• Ceylon now Sri Lanka ¹ - 1948 to 1972
• Fiji ² - 1970 to 1987 (military coup)
• Gambia ³ - 1965 to 1970 (referendum)
• Ghana ³ - 1957 to 1960 (referendum)
• Guyana ¹ - 1966 to 1970 (constitutional amendment)
• India ³ - 1947 to 1950 (constitutional amendment)
• Ireland ⁴ - 1931 to 1936/1949
• Kenya ³ - 1963 to 1964 (new constitution)
• Malawi ³ - 1964 to 1966 (new constitution)
• Malta ² - 1964 to 1974
• Mauritius ² - 1968 to 1992
• Nigeria ¹ - 1960 to 1963 (constitutional amendment)
• Pakistan ¹ - 1947 to 1956 (new constitution)
• Sierra Leone ³ - 1961 to 1971
• South Africa ² - 1931 to 1961 (referendum)
• Tanganyika now Tanzania ¹ - 1961 to 1962
• Trinidad and Tobago ³ - 1962 to 1976
• Uganda ¹ - 1962 to 1963 (constitutional amendment)

1. Presidency is executive post.
2. Presidency originally ceremonial, now executive.
3. Presidency is ceremonial post.
4. Monarch removed from constitution and office of Governor-General abolished in 1936, Presidency created in 1937 by constitution adopted by plebiscite, but monarch retained external role until republic declared in 1949 by ordinary legislation. See Irish head of state from 1936-1949.

So South Africa, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka (Ceylon) all passed resolutions removing the Queen as Head of State. One might think that this made the Queen break her oath, but I take it that the clause 'according to their respective laws and customs' meant that she didn't.

For a list of all the sixteen current realms that recognize HM Queen Elizabeth II as Queen click here.

An enclave in England

My friend David Ward also informed me about an interesting enclave in Britain: Shipston-on-Stour is a town in the Stratford-on-Avon district of southern Warwickshire, England. It is close to the borders with Oxfordshire and Gloucestershire.

Historically, Shipston was part of an enclave of Worcestershire, where it formed part of the Oswaldslow Hundred. In 1931 it was merged for official purposes into Warwickshire, and until 1974 was the centre of the Shipston-on-Stour Rural District.

It lies within the Diocese of Worcester.

For further discussion of enclaves look at `Tangled territories' and Rolf Palmberg's site and Jan Krogh's site.

Derby Line

My good friend David Ward of The Guardian reminded me of the bizarre town of Derby Line, which straddles the Canada-US border, with the demarcation going through the library and opera house. Here is a link -- with pictures.

Do you want to be a king?

A very interesting article in The Times for Saturday June 3rd 2006 detailed the vacancy regarding the title of 'King of Piel'. This title is given to the landlord of the Ship Inn, Piel Island, off the coast of Barrow-in-Furness. Here is the advert on Barrow-in-Furness Council's Web site. If you want to be a king that's where to apply.

long-lived musicians

Further to the posts on long-lived bands, the chief contender for the title of the Longest Operatic Career is Danshi Toyotake of Hyogo, Japan, sang Musume Gidayu (a traditional Japanese narrative) for 91 years from the age of seven, from 1898 to 1989.

According to the Guinness World of Records, Stanley Hayes has been the organist at St David's Church, Thelbridge, Devon, since 1926, when he was 13. He's still going strong apparently.

Daniel H.

an exclave of Cambridgeshire in London

Last weekend I visited a former exclave of Cambridgeshire in London: Ely Place. Well into the 20th century Ely Place was still like an independent state, under the jurisdiction of Ely, Cambridgeshire, and not part of London. Beadles guarded the entrance and closed the gates to all strangers. Even the police had to ask permission to enter. See here and here for more information.

Daniel H.

Santa Claus, Indiana, and its crazy time zones

This article describes the crazy world of Santa Claus, Indiana, which operates on three time zones. The post office runs on Central time, or “slow time”. The doctor operates on Eastern time, or “fast time”. When it is 9am at the estate agent’s (fast time), it is 8am at the grocery store (slow time).

The owner of the hardware store got so fed up that he offers his customers a compromise. He opens at 6.30am, “to split the difference”.

There are lots of places that are not a whole number of hours ahead or behind GMT, but I'd not come across a place in which there are several different time zones in one town before. Weird. If you know of another example, please post it below.

Daniel H.

longest-lived band again

This page, dated '5 August 2003', says that the longest-lived band in music history is The Light Crust Doughboys. The Light Crust Doughboys formed in the early 1930s and are still going strong, it says.

Daniel H.

Who was the last heir to the throne to die in battle?

The question of the title was asked of me by a friend recently.

Richard III was certainly the last English monarch to be killed on the battlefield, in 1485.

The question of the last heir to the throne is much more complicated. The only Prince of Wales to be killed on the battlefield was Edward of Westminster, the son of Henry VI, who was killed in 1471.

There is, however, a little doubt about this: the inexperienced prince and his mother led the remnant of their forces at the Battle of Tewkesbury with little real hope of success. Killed in battle, according to later Tudor legend Edward was taken prisoner by Richard, Duke of Gloucester and brought before Edward IV. When the young Edward insulted the Yorkist king, Edward IV ordered his immediate murder. He is buried at Tewkesbury Abbey. The problem is that he wasn’t legally heir to the throne at the time, though his moral claim seems secure:

September 1460 Duke of York returns to Wales, claims the throne and is named Henry VI's heir.

December 30, 1460 Queen Margaret's Lancastrian army defeats the Yorkists at the battle of Wakefield. Duke of York and Earl of Rutland killed.

Ironically, this has the key to the answer to: Richard Plantagenet, 3rd Duke of York, and father of Richard III, forced Parliament to recognize him, rather than the Prince of Wales, as heir to the throne. And he was then killed on the battlefield in 1460. (Incidentally, the son that was killed with him was not next in line after him, so we don’t need to fret about which was killed first.)

On 10 October, York arrived in London and took residence in the royal palace. Entering Parliament with his sword borne upright before him, he claimed the throne of England. Once again, his narrow support among his peers led to failure. After weeks of negotiation, the best that could be achieved was that York and his heirs would be recognised as Henry's successor. However, Parliament did grant York extraordinary executive powers to protect the realm, and with the king effectively in custody, York and Warwick were the de facto rulers of the country. On December 30, York and his forces left Sandal, possibly to obtain supplies. Intercepted near Wakefield by a larger Lancastrian force, York and his son were killed.

I don’t know who the last person that was both legally and morally heir to die in battle was. Any suggestions?

It’s interesting that the last heir to the throne to die in battle was father to the last monarch to die in battle.

Daniel Hill

world's oldest surviving band

I discovered recently that in April of 1996, the Guiness Book of World Records awarded Les Brown with the distinction of being the leader of the longest lasting musical organization in the history of popular music, "Les Brown and the Band of Renown". But Les died in 2001, so who or what is the current holder of the title?

I'd have thought that a church choir or maybe an orchestra or a military band would have got a better claim, even when Les Brown was alive, but maybe the Guiness Book of World Records was actually looking for a band with at least some of the same personnel as when it started.

playing 3 consecutive football games in different divisions

The late Roy Clarke 'enjoyed the unusual distinction of playing three consecutive games [of football] in three different divisions'. Did anyone else achieve this distinction? Daniel Hill