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Geoffrey St George Shillington Cather
Geoffrey St. George Shillington Cather (11 October 1890 – 2 July 1916) was a recipient of the Victoria Cross, the highest and most prestigious award for gallantry in the face of the enemy that can be awarded to British and Commonwealth forces. A soldier with the Royal Irish Fusiliers during the First World War, he was posthumously awarded the VC for his actions on 1 July 1916, during the Battle of the Somme. Early life Cather was born in Streatham Hill, south-west London, on 11 October 1890 to R. G. Cather, who worked for the tea merchant company Joseph Tetley & Co., and his wife Margaret . His mother was the sister of the politician David Graham Shillington. He was educated at Hazelwood School in Limpsfield before going onto Rugby School. His schooling was curtailed in his mid-teens by the death of his father. He went to work for his late father's company, Joseph Tetley & Co. He spent much of the period from 1911 to 1914 in the United States and Canada on business. First Worl ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Streatham Hill
Streatham ( ) is a district in south London, England. Centred south of Charing Cross, it lies mostly within the London Borough of Lambeth, with some parts extending into the neighbouring London Borough of Wandsworth. Streatham was in Surrey before becoming part of the County of London in 1889, and then Greater London in 1965. The area is identified in the London Plan as one of 35 major centres in Greater London. History Streatham means "the hamlet on the street". The street in question, the London to Brighton Way, was the Roman road from the capital Londinium to the south coast near Portslade, today within Brighton and Hove. It is likely that the destination was a Roman port now lost to coastal erosion, which has been tentatively identified with 'Novus Portus' mentioned in Ptolemy's Geographia. The road is confusingly referred to as Stane Street (Stone Street) in some sources and diverges from the main London-Chichester road at Kennington. After the departure of the Romans ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
David Graham Shillington
Major David Graham Shillington PC(NI) (10 December 1872 – 22 January 1944) was an Ulster Unionist politician. Early life Shillington was a son of Thomas Primus Shillington (1831-1889), of Tavanagh House, Portadown, County Armagh, of a prominent Methodist mercantile family, by his wife Mary Jane (d. 1915), née Graham. His cousin was the factory owner and politician Thomas Shillington. Shillington was educated at Methodist College Belfast and Rydalmount School, Colwyn Bay. He was the proprietor of a general merchant's shop in Belfast. In April 1895 he married Sarah Louisa Collen of Killicomaine, Portadown and they had six children. He served in the First World War as a Major in the 9th Royal Irish Fusiliers. Political career In 1921, he was elected to the House of Commons of Northern Ireland as Unionist member for Armagh, and then for Armagh, Central in 1929 until he resigned on medical advice in February 1941. He served as Minister of Labour from 1937–38. Persona ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
St Anne's Cathedral, Belfast
St Anne's Cathedral, also known as Belfast Cathedral, is a Church of Ireland cathedral in Donegall Street, Belfast, Northern Ireland. It is unusual in serving two separate dioceses ( Connor and Down and Dromore). It is the focal point of Belfast's Cathedral Quarter. History The first architect was Sir Thomas Drew, the foundation stone being laid on 6 September 1899 by the Countess of Shaftesbury. The old parish church of St Anne by Francis Hiorne of 1776 had continued in use, up until 31 December 1903, while the new cathedral was constructed around it; the old church was then demolished. The Good Samaritan window, to be seen in the sanctuary, is the only feature of the old church to be retained in the cathedral. Initially, only the nave of the cathedral was built, and this was consecrated on 2 June 1904. In 1924 it was decided to build the west front of the cathedral as a memorial to the Ulstermen and women who had served and died in the Great War. The foundation sto ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Picardy
Picardy (; Picard and french: Picardie, , ) is a historical territory and a former administrative region of France. Since 1 January 2016, it has been part of the new region of Hauts-de-France. It is located in the northern part of France. History The historical province of Picardy stretched from north of Noyon to Calais via the whole of the Somme department and the north of the Aisne department. The province of Artois ( Arras area) separated Picardy from French Flanders. Middle Ages From the 5th century, the area formed part of the Frankish Empire and, in the feudal period, it encompassed the six countships of Boulogne, Montreuil, Ponthieu, Amiénois, Vermandois and Laonnois.Dunbabin.France in the Making. Ch.4. The Principalities 888–987 In accordance with the provisions of the 843 Treaty of Verdun, the region became part of West Francia, the later Kingdom of France. The name "Picardy" derives from the Old French ''pic,'' meaning "pike", the characteristic weapon u ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Thiepval Memorial To The Missing
The Thiepval Memorial to the Missing of the Somme is a war memorial to 72,337 missing British and South African servicemen who died in the Battles of the Somme of the First World War between 1915 and 1918, with no known grave. It is near the village of Thiepval, Picardy in France. A visitors' centre opened in 2004. Designed by Sir Edwin Lutyens, Thiepval has been described as "the greatest executed British work of monumental architecture of the twentieth century". Location The Memorial was built approximately to the south-east of the former Thiepval Château, which was located on lower ground, by the side of Thiepval Wood. The grounds of the original château were not chosen as this would have required the moving of graves, dug during the war around the numerous medical aid stations. Design and inauguration Designed by Sir Edwin Lutyens, the memorial was built between 1928 and 1932 and is the largest Commonwealth Memorial to the Missing in the world. It was inaugurated by ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The London Gazette
''The London Gazette'' is one of the official journals of record or government gazettes of the Government of the United Kingdom, and the most important among such official journals in the United Kingdom, in which certain statutory notices are required to be published. ''The Gazette'' is not a conventional newspaper offering general news coverage. It does not have a large circulation. Other official newspapers of the UK government are ''The Edinburgh Gazette'' and ''The Belfast Gazette'', which, apart from reproducing certain materials of nationwide interest published in ''The London Gazette'', also contain publications specific to Scotland and Northern Ireland, respectively. In turn, ''The London Gazette'' carries not only notices of UK-wide interest, but also those relating specifically to entities or people in England and Wales. However, certain notices that are only of specific interest to Scotland or Northern Ireland are also required to be published in ''The London Gazette ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
British Empire
The British Empire was composed of the dominions, colonies, protectorates, mandates, and other territories ruled or administered by the United Kingdom and its predecessor states. It began with the overseas possessions and trading posts established by England between the late 16th and early 18th centuries. At its height it was the largest empire in history and, for over a century, was the foremost global power. By 1913, the British Empire held sway over 412 million people, of the world population at the time, and by 1920, it covered , of the Earth's total land area. As a result, its constitutional, legal, linguistic, and cultural legacy is widespread. At the peak of its power, it was described as "the empire on which the sun never sets", as the Sun was always shining on at least one of its territories. During the Age of Discovery in the 15th and 16th centuries, Portugal and Spain pioneered European exploration of the globe, and in the process established large overse ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
No Man's Land
No man's land is waste or unowned land or an uninhabited or desolate area that may be under dispute between parties who leave it unoccupied out of fear or uncertainty. The term was originally used to define a contested territory or a dumping ground for refuse between fiefdoms. In modern times, it is commonly associated with World War I to describe the area of land between two enemy trench systems, not controlled by either side. Coleman p. 268 The term is also used metaphorically, to refer to an ambiguous, anomalous, or indefinite area, in regards to an application, situation, or jurisdiction. It has sometimes been used to name a specific place. Origin According to Alasdair Pinkerton, an expert in human geography at Royal Holloway, University of London, the term is first mentioned in Domesday Book (1086), to describe parcels of land that were just beyond the London city walls. The ''Oxford English Dictionary'' contains a reference to the term dating back to 1320, spell ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Lieutenant
A lieutenant ( , ; abbreviated Lt., Lt, LT, Lieut and similar) is a commissioned officer rank in the armed forces of many nations. The meaning of lieutenant differs in different militaries (see comparative military ranks), but it is often subdivided into senior (first lieutenant) and junior (second lieutenant and even third lieutenant) ranks. In navies, it is often equivalent to the army rank of captain; it may also indicate a particular post rather than a rank. The rank is also used in fire services, emergency medical services, security services and police forces. Lieutenant may also appear as part of a title used in various other organisations with a codified command structure. It often designates someone who is " second-in-command", and as such, may precede the name of the rank directly above it. For example, a "lieutenant master" is likely to be second-in-command to the "master" in an organisation using both ranks. Political uses include lieutenant governor in various g ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Western Front (WWI)
The Western Front was one of the main theatres of war during the First World War. Following the outbreak of war in August 1914, the German Army opened the Western Front by invading Luxembourg and Belgium, then gaining military control of important industrial regions in France. The German advance was halted with the Battle of the Marne. Following the Race to the Sea, both sides dug in along a meandering line of fortified trenches, stretching from the North Sea to the Swiss frontier with France, which changed little except during early 1917 and in 1918. Between 1915 and 1917 there were several offensives along this front. The attacks employed massive artillery bombardments and massed infantry advances. Entrenchments, machine gun emplacements, barbed wire and artillery repeatedly inflicted severe casualties during attacks and counter-attacks and no significant advances were made. Among the most costly of these offensives were the Battle of Verdun, in 1916, with a combined 700,000 ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
36th (Ulster) Division
The 36th (Ulster) Division was an infantry division of the British Army, part of Lord Kitchener's New Army, formed in September 1914. Originally called the ''Ulster Division'', it was made up of mainly members of the Ulster Volunteer Force, who formed thirteen additional battalions for three existing regiments: the Royal Irish Fusiliers, the Royal Irish Rifles and the Royal Inniskilling Fusiliers. However, regular Officers and Soldiers and men from all around the United Kingdom made up the strength of the Division. The division served from October 1915 on Western Front as a formation of the British Army during the Great War. The division's insignia was the Red Hand of Ulster. History Formation The Ulster Volunteers were a unionist militia founded in 1912 to block Home Rule for Ireland. In 1913 they organised themselves into the Ulster Volunteer Force to give armed resistance to the prospective Third Home Rule Act (enacted in 1914). Many Ulster Protestants feared being gover ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Territorial Force
The Territorial Force was a part-time volunteer component of the British Army, created in 1908 to augment British land forces without resorting to conscription. The new organisation consolidated the 19th-century Volunteer Force and yeomanry into a unified auxiliary, commanded by the War Office and administered by local County Territorial Associations. The Territorial Force was designed to reinforce the regular army in expeditionary operations abroad, but because of political opposition it was assigned to home defence. Members were liable for service anywhere in the UK and could not be compelled to serve overseas. In the first two months of the First World War, territorials volunteered for foreign service in significant numbers, allowing territorial units to be deployed abroad. They saw their first action on the Western Front (World War I), Western Front during the initial Race to the Sea, German offensive of 1914, and the force filled the gap between the near destruction of the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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