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Fred Paxford
Frederick William Calcut Paxford (5 August 1898, Fifield, Oxfordshire – 10 August 1979, Churchill, Oxfordshire) was C. S. Lewis's gardener and handyman at The Kilns from 1930 until Lewis's death in 1963. He is said to have been the inspiration for Puddleglum the Marsh-Wiggle in ''The Silver Chair'' in the ''Chronicles of Narnia'': "an inwardly optimistic, outwardly pessimistic, dear, frustrating, shrewd countryman of immense integrity." Paxford, an Oxfordshire countryman, was born the same year as Lewis and had been gassed as a soldier during World War I. He had been working at The Kilns when Lewis bought the property in 1930 and hired him as a gardener and factotum. Paxford spent several years clearing the grounds and establishing an orchard and vegetable garden. He acted as a chauffeur to Lewis, who could not drive, and did the shopping for the household with a great sense of economy. He sang hymns in a loud voice, much to the annoyance of the neighbours, "but it was the inces ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Fifield, Oxfordshire
Fifield is a village and civil parish about north of Burford in Oxfordshire. The western boundary of the parish forms part of the county boundary with Gloucestershire. The 2011 Census recorded the parish's population as 240. Archaeology In the parish nearly west of the village is a Neolithic long barrow dating from between 3400 and 2400 BC. It is long, up to wide and up to high. It had a stone-lined passage about long, starting at its northeast end and ending in a small burial chamber. The barrow was partly excavated in 1934. It is a scheduled monument. History The toponym is probably derived from its Old English name of ''Fifhides''. The Domesday book of 1086 records Fifield: ''"Henry de Ferrers holds Fifield There are five hides. Land for seven ploughs. Now in demesne 2 ploughs and 4 slaves and 9 villans with 4 bordars have 5 ploughs. There are 24 acres of meadow. Pasture one league in length and one breadth. It was and is worth 100 shillings."'' Parish church The ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Chauffeur
A chauffeur is a person employed to drive a passenger motor vehicle, especially a luxury vehicle such as a large sedan or limousine. Originally, such drivers were often personal employees of the vehicle owner, but this has changed to specialist chauffeur service companies or individual drivers that provide both driver and vehicle for hire. Some service companies merely provide the driver. History The term ''chauffeur'' comes from the French term for stoker because the earliest automobiles, like their railroad and sea vessel counterparts, were steam-powered and required the driver to stoke the engine. Early petrol/gasoline-powered motor cars, before the advent of electric ignition, were ignited by 'hot tubes' in the cylinder head which had to be pre-heated before the engine would start. Hence the term ''chauffeur'' which, in this context, means something like "heater-upper". The chauffeur would prime the hot tubes at the start of a journey, after which the natural compression ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
British Army Soldiers
British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies. ** Britishness, the British identity and common culture * British English, the English language as spoken and written in the United Kingdom or, more broadly, throughout the British Isles * Celtic Britons, an ancient ethno-linguistic group * Brittonic languages, a branch of the Insular Celtic language family (formerly called British) ** Common Brittonic, an ancient language Other uses *''Brit(ish)'', a 2018 memoir by Afua Hirsch *People or things associated with: ** Great Britain, an island ** United Kingdom, a sovereign state ** Kingdom of Great Britain (1707–1800) ** United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland (1801–1922) See also * Terminology of the British Isles * Alternative names for the British * English (other) * Britannic (other) * British Isles * Brit (other) * Briton (d ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
English Gardeners
English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national identity, an identity and common culture ** English language in England, a variant of the English language spoken in England * English languages (other) * English studies, the study of English language and literature * ''English'', an Amish term for non-Amish, regardless of ethnicity Individuals * English (surname), a list of notable people with the surname ''English'' * People with the given name ** English McConnell (1882–1928), Irish footballer ** English Fisher (1928–2011), American boxing coach ** English Gardner (b. 1992), American track and field sprinter Places United States * English, Indiana, a town * English, Kentucky, an unincorporated community * English, Brazoria County, Texas, an unincorporated community * Engli ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
People From Oxfordshire
A person ( : people) is a being that has certain capacities or attributes such as reason, morality, consciousness or self-consciousness, and being a part of a culturally established form of social relations such as kinship, ownership of property, or legal responsibility. The defining features of personhood and, consequently, what makes a person count as a person, differ widely among cultures and contexts. In addition to the question of personhood, of what makes a being count as a person to begin with, there are further questions about personal identity and self: both about what makes any particular person that particular person instead of another, and about what makes a person at one time the same person as they were or will be at another time despite any intervening changes. The plural form "people" is often used to refer to an entire nation or ethnic group (as in "a people"), and this was the original meaning of the word; it subsequently acquired its use as a plural form of per ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
1979 Deaths
Events January * January 1 ** United Nations Secretary-General Kurt Waldheim heralds the start of the ''International Year of the Child''. Many musicians donate to the ''Music for UNICEF Concert'' fund, among them ABBA, who write the song ''Chiquitita'' to commemorate the event. ** The United States and the People's Republic of China establish full Sino-American relations, diplomatic relations. ** Following a deal agreed during 1978, France, French carmaker Peugeot completes a takeover of American manufacturer Chrysler's Chrysler Europe, European operations, which are based in United Kingdom, Britain's former Rootes Group factories, as well as the former Simca factories in France. * January 7 – Cambodian–Vietnamese War: The People's Army of Vietnam and Vietnamese-backed Kampuchean United Front for National Salvation, Cambodian insurgents announce the fall of Phnom Penh, Cambodia, and the collapse of the Pol Pot regime. Pol Pot and the Khmer Rouge retreat west to an area ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
1898 Births
Events January–March * January 1 – New York City annexes land from surrounding counties, creating the City of Greater New York as the world's second largest. The city is geographically divided into five boroughs: Manhattan, Brooklyn, Queens, The Bronx and Staten Island. * January 13 – Novelist Émile Zola's open letter to the President of the French Republic on the Dreyfus affair, ''J'Accuse…!'', is published on the front page of the Paris daily newspaper ''L'Aurore'', accusing the government of wrongfully imprisoning Alfred Dreyfus and of antisemitism. * February 12 – The automobile belonging to Henry Lindfield of Brighton rolls out of control down a hill in Purley, London, England, and hits a tree; thus he becomes the world's first fatality from an automobile accident on a public highway. * February 15 – Spanish–American War: The USS ''Maine'' explodes and sinks in Havana Harbor, Cuba, for reasons never fully established, killing 266 ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Walter Sparrow
Walter Leonard Sparrow (22 January 1927 – 31 May 2000) was an English film and television actor best known for his appearance as Duncan in the 1991 film '' Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves'' starring Kevin Costner. Born in Eltham, London in 1927, Sparrow began his career as a stand-up comic before moving to acting with a period with the Royal Shakespeare Company. His first film role was in 1964, in ''Dr. Terror's House of Horrors'', with Christopher Lee. Subsequent films, interspersed between countless TV appearances, included the 1969 sex fantasy ''Zeta One'', ''Young Sherlock Holmes'', and the acclaimed 1988 film ''The Accidental Tourist'' starring William Hurt, Kathleen Turner and Geena Davis. His career enjoyed a resurgence in the 1990s, with Sparrow playing key roles in the 1991 film '' Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves'' as the blinded retainer Duncan, 1993's ''The Secret Garden'' as gruff gardener Ben Weatherstaff, and the 1995 American coming-of-age film '' Now and Then' ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Shadowlands (1993 Film)
''Shadowlands'' is a 1993 British biographical drama film about the relationship between academic C. S. Lewis (played by Anthony Hopkins) and Jewish American poet Joy Davidman (played by Debra Winger), her death from cancer, and how this challenged his Christianity. It was directed by Richard Attenborough with a screenplay by William Nicholson based on his 1985 television film and 1989 stage play of the same name. The 1985 script began life as ''I Call It Joy'' written for Thames Television by Brian Sibley and Norman Stone. Sibley later wrote the book, ''Shadowlands: The True Story of C. S. Lewis and Joy Davidman''. The film won the 1993 BAFTA Award for Outstanding British Film. The film marked the last film appearance of English actor Michael Denison. Plot In the 1950s, the reserved, middle-aged bachelor C. S. Lewis is an Oxford University academic at Magdalen College and author of ''The Chronicles of Narnia'' series of children's books. He meets the married American poet J ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Douglas Gresham
Douglas Howard Gresham (born November 10, 1945) is an American British stage and voice-over actor, biographer, film producer, and executive record producer. He is one of the two stepsons of C. S. Lewis. Early life Gresham was born in New York City, the son of writers William Lindsay Gresham and Joy Davidman. William Gresham was the author of '' Nightmare Alley'', the classic of American noir literature, while Joy Davidman was best known for her book ''Smoke on the Mountain'', about the Ten Commandments. The couple were separated in 1954, and Joy moved to England with her two sons.Sibley (1985), pp. 108–12. His mother was of Jewish descent. C. S. Lewis Gresham's mother had become friends with C. S. Lewis through correspondence, and the friendship blossomed, eventually leading to marriage in 1956. Gresham's mother died of cancer in 1960, and Lewis continued to raise Douglas and his elder brother David. (Lewis had adopted the boys when he married, and ''The Horse and Hi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Factotum , in U.S. political jargon, personal assistants to politicians or candidates
{{disambiguation ...
Factotum may refer to: *A handyman, employed as a servant * ''Factotum'' (novel), a 1975 novel by Charles Bukowski * ''Factotum'' (film), a 2005 film adaptation of the novel *Factotum (arts organisation), an arts organisation based in Belfast *factotum (software), an authentication system of Plan 9 *"Largo al factotum", an aria from ''The Barber of Seville'' by Gioachino Rossini See also *List of body men In U.S. political jargon, a civilian personal assistant who accompanies the president of the United States virtually everywhere is referred to as a body man or body woman. These personal aides to the president are often responsible for arrangin ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Churchill, Oxfordshire
Churchill is a village and civil parish about southwest of Chipping Norton, Oxfordshire in the Cotswolds Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty. Since 2012 it has been part of the Churchill and Sarsden joint parish council area, sharing a parish council with the adjacent civil parish of Sarsden. The 2011 Census recorded the parish's population as 665. Toponym The Domesday Book of 1086 recorded the toponym as ''Cercelle''. A pipe roll from 1168 records it as ''Cerzhulla''. A charter of the Priory of St Frideswide, Oxford from about 1175 records it as ''Chirchehull''. Other late 11th-century, 12th century and early 13th-century variants include ''Cercell'', ''Cercell'', ''Cercella'', ''Cerchil'', ''Cerchull'' and ''Cerchulla''. A Close Roll from 1220 records it as ''Cerceill''. An entry in the Book of Fees for about 1235–36 records it as ''Cershull''. An assize roll from 1246–47 Latinises the name as ''Sercellis''. A feudal aid document from 1346 records it as ''Cerccell''. Th ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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