Category Archives: Talks

Daniel Harris – A man of extraordinary genius

The History Society started its season of talks with Mark Davies telling us the story of this most talented, yet semi educated man. He was a practical man able to turn his natural talents to architecture, building construction, and art amongst other things. His claim to fame was the re-construction of Oxford’s Gaol when bought by the County from Christchurch College in 1785. The Gaol was in a state of ruin after years of neglect and decay. The prisoners lot was not a happy one and prisoner numbers were on the increase as deportation declined following the war of American Independence.

Daniel was also a prison reformer and one of his attributes was to employ the prisoners for the reconstruction of the Gaol, earning them the right of reduced sentence. A cartoon made by one of the prisoners and published in the local press depicted Daniel on the top of the prison dunghill after a bitter dispute over its location necessitated by the prison reconstruction. Daniel ended up being the Governor of the Gaol as well and was in charge of public executions, which took place over the main gate.

Not content with his work for the Gaol he was heavily involved with the construction of the canals and locks around Oxford. He completed Osney Lock in 1790 enabling the canal system to connect with the Thames. Again making use of convict labour. He built the wharfs and bays at the end of the Oxford canal, which were still to be seen until demolished in the 1950s. The area now turned into a car park. He also designed and built the Oxford Canal Headquarters building by St Peters College and the Abingdon Gaol. These structures are still there to this day.

Above all this he was a family man with five children.

Elizabeth of Bohemia, 1596 – 1662

On May 12th Sylvia Joinson gave us a most interesting talk on the life of Elizabeth of Bohemia, 1599 – 1662.

She was the Daughter of James VI of Scotland (who later became James I of England), and Anne of Denmark. She was born in Dunfermline Palace and baptised in Holyrood House in Edinburgh, since she was close to the Scottish line of succession. She had one elder brother, Henry, who was expected eventually to succeed to the Scottish throne.

Elizabeth was brought up in her early life in Linlithgow by Lord Livingstone and his wife. In 1603, Queen Elizabeth of England died, and since she had no heir, James VI succeeded her, becoming James I of England and VI of Scotland.

Elizabeth grew up in the care of Lord Harington and his wife, who lived in Coombe Abbey near Coventry. She developed the usual attainments for a young lady – she spoke several languages, was very musical, and was a good horse rider. At the age of 9, she became caught up with the Gunpowder Plot. The Conspirators planned to proclaim her Queen and bring her up as a Catholic. But this came to nothing after the plot was discovered.. Henry and Elizabeth were now brought down to live in London, and In 1610 Henry was invested as Prince of Wales.
Attention soon turned to the question of Elizabeth’s marriage. Various possibilities were considered, but in the end it was decided to marry her to Frederick V, Count Palatine of the Rhine, who was a Protestant, and the same age as Elizabeth. The marriage was arranged for February 1613, but unfortunately her brother Henry died only a couple of months beforehand. Nevertheless, the marriage went ahead, with lavish celebrations, and the couple set sail from Margate to Flushing, and then to Frederick’s home in Heidelberg. Unfortunately Elizabeth was not popular among the population of the Palatinate. She never managed to learn German, and her manners were disapproved of.

In 1619, Frederick was offered the throne of Bohemia, whose capital was Prague. He accepted the offer, even though he was a Protestant, and Bohemia was officially Catholic. They were crowned in 1619 in Prague, but a year later were defeated by a Catholic revolt, and they were forced to leave the Kingdom. They lived for a while near Berlin, then were invited by the Prince of Orange to live in exile in the Hague, in what is now the Netherlands.

At the age of 36 Elizabeth was left a widow with 10 children when Frederick died of a fever. At the Restoration she returned to England, her son Rupert having fought in the Civil War. She found a great friend and supporter in Lord Craven who is said to have built Ashdown House on the Berkshire Downs for her. She died in London in 1662, and was buried in Westminster Abbey, close to her elder brother, Henry Prince of Wales.

Her hopes that her daughter Sophia might marry Charles II were disappointed, but Sophia was later married to the Elector of Hanover, and it was Sophia’s son George who was invited to succeed Queen Anne as King George I, and who thus began the dynasty that still exists today.

The First Englishman to Fly

On March 10th we had a return visit from local author and comic writer Richard O. Smith to talk about “The First Englishman to Fly”. The subject was James Sadler (b.1753), whose family ran a pastry shop in Oxford High Street. James, who appears to have had no formal education, emerged somewhat mysteriously as a man of science and technology in his late twenties. He left sparse written evidence of his exploits, having in the words of close friends “little grammar” but biographers including Richard have made good use of contemporary letters and accounts, including local press such as Jacksons Journal in Oxford, to piece together his achievements and adventures.

The first hot air balloon ascent is attributed to the Montgolfier brothers in France in 1783. It is not, however, generally known that they wrongly believed the driving force to be the smoke from the fire below the balloon. They were paper manufacturers and had seen small pieces of the material rising up their chimney in the smoke. Sadler worked out that hot air was the driving force and he designed and built the first English balloon. He made his first flight in 1784 from a site near the Botanic Garden and landed safely in Water Eaton.

Although we are all familiar with modern hot air balloons and their propane burners, the pioneers soon resorted to hydrogen (made by adding acid to iron filings). James Sadler himself worked out that the gas is fourteen times lighter than air. He became a national figure, having organised a series of well advertised balloon events around Britain including one in Manchester in1785. A new Square in the town has been recently named after him.

In the same year Sadler gave up ballooning and went to work for the Admiralty in Portsmouth. Here he redesigned and improved naval guns with such success that Nelson declared that he would have as many of Mr Sadler’s guns as possible for his ships. After twenty five years Sadler fell out with his employers and returned to ballooning. His comeback flight included a caged cat which was returned to the Oxford owner after a safe descent at Headington. In1811 he took off from Birmingham in a force seven gale heading north. He eventually landed in Boston Linconshire, remarking that even travelling in such a high wind he could maintain a single flame.

Our speaker grew up in Linconshire and his interest in Sadler was kindled by reading an account of this flight in the Boston library. Richard also illustrated the “ balloonamania” which gripped Regency England with balloon hats for men and women and the widespread use of balloon motifs on crockery and tankards.

James Sadler had many ballooning adventures during this period including a night crossing of the Bristol Channel and a crossing of the Irish Sea. He survived them all and finally died in 1828 aged seventy five. His son Wyndham was less fortunate and perished in Blackburn having flown into a mill chimney.