Emily-Harriet Mayne (1816–96), Mrs Fane De Salis from 1859. In charge of Teffont from 1852–1896. This portrait was made by Camille Silvy, on 30th April 1861.
Monthly Archives: April 2015
On this day: the world’s first trolleybus was premiered
The Electromote, the forerunner of the modern trolleybus, invented by Dr Ernst Werner von Siemens, had its debut in Berlin on the 29th of April, 1882.
This model was used until the 13th of June.
USA in World War One
Don’t know about anyone else, but I find this WW1 poster from the United States a little on the creepy side!
Outlander 1×12 – Or the episode where we wonder why everyone has stopped speaking Gaelic!
This is also posted HERE.
This seems to be the episode that made even diehard Outlander fans admit the show has lost sight of the book. The funny thing is that while I had a few issues, it didn’t offend me and I wasn’t as worked up about it as I was about some others.
One thing I wasn’t thrilled with was the penises. Sorry, but I’m serious. I get that Black Jack Randall is trying to rape Jamie’s sister, Jenny. What I don’t need to see is the actor whipping out his penis and rubbing it to try and… you know… in order to do the deed. Remember in the past when people equated actresses with prostitutes? Well, I think these days it’s fair to say actors have rather a lot in common with porn stars… I don’t think it makes me a prude to say I don’t want to watch actors actually masturbating on television.
Don’t worry, I spared you the penis shots…
And then we had naked Jamie in all his glory in the stream.
Yeah. I don’t need to see that.
As for the rest of the episode?
I thought they did a good job with the scenery in this one. I also liked that they didn’t portray the English as totally evil (rather, they were helping) in the one scene they appeared in.
I was complaining that we never saw the discussions about Claire and Jamie’s ages, a discussion that should have been in the last episode. Now that they put it in, I wish they hadn’t. Neither actor looks young for their age (in fact, I’d say Balfe was older), and trying to claim they’re a decade younger… did not work.
I’ve seen it mentioned that the actress playing Jamie’s sister would have made a better Claire than Caitriona Balfe. I agree. Firstly, we have the size difference (which is a big thing in the books):
She is also a more passionate character – as Claire is in the books. And there’s no way in hell I believe these two are siblings. They don’t share a single physical characteristic!
However, both Jenny and Claire came off as nagging and a bit nasty in this episode. I’m not sure why this show is being lauded as a “Girl Power!!” show when they portray women so badly. There was no need for their first scene together to result in Claire being called a trollop!
And then we have one of my big issues: why is nobody speaking Gaelic??!! When this show started, there was a big deal made about Claire not understanding anyone. And the promotional videos featured the language expert teaching us phrases.
And they’ve dumped it! Everyone is not only (unrealistically) fluent in English, but they’re ONLY speaking English.
This is basically a filler episode. I can see why fans are complaining about it, because not much happens. HOWEVER, this is following the book, and this is a slow part of Outlander, so I’m not sure what viewers expected!
Finally, I was a little bit pissed off with the supposed joke about the food offered at the dinner table. Basically, it was something we eat in Ukrainian culture on a regular basis. And – seriously – Claire from 1940s England does NOT get to joke about anyone else’s food!
On this day: John Wilkes Booth was shot and killed
On the 26th of April, 1865, John Wilkes Booth was cornered and shot dead in Port Royal, Virginia. Twelve days earlier he had assassinated US President Abraham Lincoln in Washington D.C.
Anzac Day – Vietnam War
Because Anzac Day is such a big deal this year, here are some of my father’s pictures from the Vietnam War (he’s the one with black hair). Australian Army, 1968-69.
On this day: Gallipoli in 1915
Australian and New Zealand soldiers land in Turkey on what will go on to become Anzac Day.
Anzac Beach at 8am on 25 April 1915. Men from the Australian 4th Battalion (1st Brigade) and Jacob’s 26th Indian Mountain Battery are seen landing. The men in the foreground belong to the 1st Brigade staff. At the water’s edge is the body of Sapper R. Reynolds, one of the first men to be killed at Gallipoli.
Photographer: L-Cpl. Arthur Robert Henry Joyner (1st Division Signal Company, killed 5 December 1916 at Bazentin, Somme).
On this day: Russia’s Lithuanian press ban was lifted
Illegal and legal versions of the same prayer book.
Imposed by the Russian Empire, Lithuanian language publication in Lithuania was banned for some forty years, and finally lifted on the 24th of April, 1904.
This was one of many attempts to stop the rise of nationalism throughout the non-Russian regions of the Russian Empire.
The ban made it illegal to print, import, distribute or possess any publications in the Latin alphabet.
Easter Proclamation of 1916
The Easter Proclamation. The Easter Rising was an armed insurrection in Ireland over the Easter week of the 24th to the 29th of April, 1916.
On this day: the Boston Latin School was established in 1635
The school as it was in October, 1920.
The oldest public school and oldest surviving school in the United States, the Boston Latin School was established on the 23rd of April, 1635.
First schoolhouse, circa 1635.
Modelled on the Boston Grammar School in Lincolnshire, England, the school would go on to produce famous alumni, including five signers of the Declaration of Independence, and also many a famous dropout, including Benjamin Franklin.
Helen Magill White
The school refused entry to women until the second half of the nineteenth century. Helen Magill White, the first woman in the United States to earn a doctorate, was the school’s first female graduate. The school’s first female principal took on the job in 1998.
In Times Gone By... 
