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.  

Terling images: towards a reconsideration of the 'Terling thesis'

This file forms part of preparation for a re-consideration of the 'Terling thesis', the findings in Poverty and Piety in an English Village [PPEV], a study of the Essex parish of Terling from 1525 to 1700 by Keith Wrightson and David Levine. This preliminary study seeks to explore and reconstruct the Terling of c.1600. It argues that a distinction should be drawn between the wider parish and the actual village. It also emphasises that the latter was dominated by a very large mansion belonging to one of the county's leading families, and that an active (in some cases, over-active) inn, the Angel, stood at its centre. An alternative explanation for campaigns against social disorder in the early seventeenth century, one that stresses gentry control, is advanced in "The Terling thesis: an agenda for the reconsideration of the work of Wrightson and Levine" https://www.gedmartin.net/martinalia-mainmenu-3/345-the-terling-thesis.

Read More ...

Magdalene College Cambridge Notes: the origins of the Lutyens Building

The story of the Lutyens Building, now the backdrop to Magdalene's Benson Court, forms a well-known part of College history and legend.

Read More ...

Asquith, the Maurice debate and the historians – after 36 years

In 1985, I published an article on the political tactics of the former British Liberal prime minister, H.H. Asquith, in the Maurice debate of 9 May 1918

Read More ...

Did Parnell swear the IRB oath? A sceptical review

Between 1987 and 2011, two respected historians, Paul Bew and Patrick Maume, presented evidence suggesting that Charles Stewart Parnell swore the Fenian oath following his release from Kilmainham in 1882. 

Read More ...

Havering History Cameos: Fourth Series

The fourth and final series of Havering History Cameos, based on columns published on the Heritage page of the Romford Recorder between December 2017 and January 2021.

Read More ...

Age at death of British monarchs: a neglected element in historical understanding?

This essay is an exercise in counterfactual history. It asks what would have happened had some British monarchs lived longer (or, in some long-lived cases, died sooner). 

Read More ...

Magdalene College Cambridge Notes: prime-ministerial visits, from Gladstone to Macmillan

Five prime ministers visited Magdalene between 1841 and 1965.

Read More ...

From Butt to Balfour: Edward King-Harman (1838-1888)

Edward King-Harman was a Protestant and Conservative Home Ruler in the eighteen-seventies who became a Unionist and a defender of his fellow landlords in the following decade. Some aspects of his journey from Butt to Balfour provide illuminating contrasts to the career of his contemporary, fellow Protestant landlord Charles Stewart Parnell.

Read More ...

Havering History Cameos: Exploring Essex

During my eight years as the volunteer contributor to the Romford Recorder's Heritage column, I wrote a number of columns – mainly for August issues – describing places across the border with Essex that were worth a visit. Although Havering ceased to be part of the county for administrative purposes in 1965, links remain strong, for instance through cricket. It's worth emphasising the message that Havering still "belongs" to Essex – and vice-versa.

Read More ...

From Little Ilford to Botany Bay: Frances Davis, cross-dressing First Fleeter

Frances Davis was a convict sent to New South Wales on Australia's First Fleet in 1787. Identified as "late of the parish of Little Ilford in the co[unty] of Essex Spinster", she was about twenty years of age. Her record showed that she was guilty of a major crime by breaking into the house of Agnes Bennett, widow, on 2 September 1785, and stealing cash and bills of exchange worth over £800 from John Wigglesworth.

Read More ...