Martinalia
Welcome to Martinalia. An academic career generates material which for one reason or another does not get into print. There are public lectures and keynote addresses. Some are never intended for publication. Others are commissioned for projects which never get off the ground. There is material prepared for teaching, which may be useful to colleagues and students involved in similar courses. Some projects seem worth sharing with interested readers even though they remain unfinished, lacking the final polish needed for conventional academic publication. Since 2014 I have used Martinalia to publish essays and research reports.
The term “Martinalia” was coined by my friend Jim Sturgis.
"Mrs G. was practically his keeper": John A. Macdonald on Gladstone
John A. Macdonald (Sir John from 1867) was the dominant figure in late nineteenth-century Canadian politics. He held office in the province of Canada for most of the years from 1854 until Confederation in 1867, when he became the first Prime Minister of the Dominion. Although forced to resign in 1873, he won re-election in 1878 and died in harness in 1891.[1] Despite the fact that his premierships overlapped with most of Gladstone's first ministry and all of his second and third terms in Downing Street, the two men rarely met. Their most intense conflict, the negotiations for the 1871 Treaty of Washington, was conducted indirectly and at long range. Macdonald's perceptions of his notable contemporary were profoundly hostile.
Magdalene College Cambridge Notes: names and spellings
Magdalene College, Cambridge has existed in two incarnations, under several names and various spellings.
Gladstone and the limits of Canadian self-government, 1849: the Rebellion Losses Bill in British politics
"The Canadian Rebellion Losses Bill of 1849 in British Politics" appeared early in 1978, published in the slightly delayed Journal of Imperial and Commonwealth History, vi (1977), 3-22. The article sought to interweave several themes around the central question of the lack of definition in the limits of colonial autonomy, raised by Canada's recent transition to responsible government.
"He is plausible even when most in error": Gladstone as parliamentarian, 1838
This sketch of Gladstone as a parliamentary performer by James Grant in 1838 provides evidence of his emerging reputation in public life, although it is also noteworthy for its small misunderstandings and omissions.
A New Zealand lighthouse keeper on Sweden-Norway relations, 1905
For journalists around the world, the Norwegian national plebiscite of 13 August 1905 offered a striking news item.
The Gladstone Streets of Ireland: a short note
In 2022, both Clonmel, in County Tipperary, and the city of Waterford have a Gladstone Street. They reflect a wave of support for the leader of Britain's Liberal party that swept Ireland in the aftermath of the defeat of his first Home Rule bill.
The appointment of Sir Francis Head as lieutenant-governor of Upper Canada in 1835
This article was published in the Journal of Imperial and Commonwealth History, iii (1975), 280-91.
How Queen Victoria named British Columbia -- and Queensland
"The Naming of British Columbia" has a special place in my affections, as I recall in an Afterword. The original article was published in 1979, in Albion, the journal associated with the Conference on British Studies in the United States (x, 257-263) It appears here in a slightly revised form that takes account of material that has become available over the past forty years.
Alexander Campbell (1822-1892): his career to 1864
Four draft chapters on the Canadian politician Alexander Campbell (1822-1892), tracing his career to 1864.
How to spell "bureaucracy"
This poster offers a memory trick for spelling "bureaucracy".
More Articles …
- Rainham, Wennington, South Hornchurch and Elm Park: some glimpses of the past
- The Terling thesis: an agenda for the reconsideration of the work of Wrightson and Levine (review essay)
- Magdalene College Cambridge Notes: James Stearn, the Head Porter who died of grief
- Terling images: towards a reconsideration of the 'Terling thesis'
- Age at death of British monarchs: a neglected element in historical understanding?
- Magdalene College Cambridge Notes: the origins of the Lutyens Building
- Magdalene College Cambridge Notes: prime-ministerial visits, from Gladstone to Macmillan
- Asquith, the Maurice debate and the historians – after 36 years
- From Butt to Balfour: Edward King-Harman (1838-1888)
- Did Parnell swear the IRB oath? A sceptical review
- Havering History Cameos: Exploring Essex
- Havering History Cameos: Fourth Series
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