Handel fell in love with England on his first visit writing music for Queen Anne herself. He was reconciled with George I partly with his Water Music Suite and wrote the coronation music for George II. It is an examination of how closely his music and career was bound up with the British royal family…
Handel fell in love with England on his first visit writing music for Queen Anne herself. He was reconciled with George I partly with his Water Music Suite and wrote the coronation music for George II. It is an examination of how closely his music and career was bound up with the British royal family…
History of Greenwich Park and its Royal Connections Using slides from the local history library and from my own collection we looked at how the area that is now Greenwich Park was occupied in prehistoric times and then was the site of a Roman temple during their occupation. The enclosure by Duke Humphrey was looked…
Life and Times of King George IV George IV is perhaps best remembered as the Prince Regent whose extravagance was matched by his good taste. He built Brighton Pavilion in an exotic style which led the way to great changes in fashion. The Regency Period is still one of the most admired in architecture typified…
Life and Times of King William III and Queen Mary II A survey of the Life & Times of Britain’s only Joint Monarchs. They came to power in what was called the Glorious Revolution and although they only reigned a short while they laid the foundations for Modern Britain. It was also the period of…
Life and Times of King George II I ran this workshop at Crayford Manor (Bexley College) in November 2002 as part of a series on the Kings and Queens of England. I subsequently ran it at the City Lit in June 2019 and as a zoom class in February 2021. The slides from this are…
Life and Times of King George III I ran this workshop at Crayford Manor (Bexley College) in November 1999 as part of a series on the Kings and Queens of England. I ran a new version at the City Lit on 22 March 2015. I also ran it online during the pandemic on 13th and…
Life and Times of Queen Victoria and Prince Albert Queen Victoria was our longest reigning monarch (so far). She gave her name to an Age and her family life set the moral standard that is still referred to today as the ideal. Her family called her “more a pocket-sized Hercules than a pocket-sized Venus” and…
Life and Times of Charles II Known to History as the Merry Monarch, Charles II is perhaps better remembered for his love of life than his politics. However, his reign saw momentous events ranging from the Plague and Great Fire of London to the founding of the Royal Society and the Royal Greenwich Observatory. His…