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John Pratt (died 1835)
James Pratt (1805–1835), also known as John Pratt, and John Smith (1795–1835) were two London men who, in November 1835, became the last two to be executed for sodomy in England.Cook ''et al'' (2007), p. 109. Pratt and Smith were arrested in August of that year after allegedly being spied through a keyhole having sex in the rented room of another man, William Bonill. Bonill, although not present, was transported to Australia as an accessory to the crime, where he died. Modern interpretation has cast doubt on the facts and legality of the conviction. In January 2017, Pratt and Smith were among those who were posthumously pardoned by the Alan Turing law which pardoned those who had been convicted of criminalised homosexuality offences which no longer exist in the UK. Biographies James Pratt was born in 1805 and worked as a groom. He was married and lived with his wife and children at Deptford, London.Sources give varying ages for the two men. The account of their trial in ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Sodomy
Sodomy () or buggery (British English) is generally anal or oral sex between people, or sexual activity between a person and a non-human animal ( bestiality), but it may also mean any non- procreative sexual activity. Originally, the term ''sodomy'', which is derived from the story of Sodom and Gomorrah in the Book of Genesis, was commonly restricted to anal sex. Sodomy laws in many countries criminalized the behavior. In the Western world, many of these laws have been overturned or are routinely not enforced. A person who practices sodomy is sometimes referred to as a sodomite. Terminology The term is derived from the Ecclesiastical Latin or "sin of Sodom", which in turn comes from the Ancient Greek word (Sódoma). Genesis (chapters 18–20) tells how God wished to destroy the "sinful" cities of Sodom and Gomorrah. Two angels are invited by Lot to take refuge with his family for the night. The men of Sodom surround Lot's house and demand that he bring the messengers o ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Home Secretary
The secretary of state for the Home Department, otherwise known as the home secretary, is a senior minister of the Crown in the Government of the United Kingdom. The home secretary leads the Home Office, and is responsible for all national security, policing and immigration policies of the United Kingdom. As a Great Office of State, the home secretary is one of the most senior and influential ministers in the government. The incumbent is a statutory member of the British Cabinet and National Security Council. The position, which may be known as interior minister in other nations, was created in 1782, though its responsibilities have changed many times. Past office holders have included the prime ministers Lord North, Robert Peel, the Duke of Wellington, Lord Palmerston, Winston Churchill, James Callaghan and Theresa May. In 2007, Jacqui Smith became the first female home secretary. The incumbent home secretary is Suella Braverman. The office holder works alongside the ot ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Morning Post
''The Morning Post'' was a conservative daily newspaper published in London from 1772 to 1937, when it was acquired by ''The Daily Telegraph''. History The paper was founded by John Bell. According to historian Robert Darnton, ''The Morning Post'' scandal sheet consisted of paragraph-long news snippets, much of it false. Its original editor, the Reverend Sir Henry Bate Dudley, earned himself nicknames such as "Reverend Bruiser" or "The Fighting Parson", and was soon replaced by an even more vitriolic editor, Reverend William Jackson, also known as "Dr. Viper". Originally a Whig paper, it was purchased by Daniel Stuart in 1795, who made it into a moderate Tory organ. A number of well-known writers contributed, including Samuel Taylor Coleridge, Charles Lamb, James Mackintosh, Robert Southey, and William Wordsworth. In the seven years of Stuart's proprietorship, the paper's circulation rose from 350 to over 4,000. From 1803 until his death in 1833, the owner and editor of the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Times
''The Times'' is a British daily national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its current name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its sister paper ''The Sunday Times'' (founded in 1821) are published by Times Newspapers, since 1981 a subsidiary of News UK, in turn wholly owned by News Corp. ''The Times'' and ''The Sunday Times'', which do not share editorial staff, were founded independently and have only had common ownership since 1966. In general, the political position of ''The Times'' is considered to be centre-right. ''The Times'' is the first newspaper to have borne that name, lending it to numerous other papers around the world, such as ''The Times of India'', ''The New York Times'', and more recently, digital-first publications such as TheTimesBlog.com (Since 2017). In countries where these other titles are popular, the newspaper is often referred to as , or as , although the newspaper is of nationa ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Privy Council Of The United Kingdom
The Privy Council (PC), officially His Majesty's Most Honourable Privy Council, is a formal body of advisers to the sovereign of the United Kingdom. Its membership mainly comprises senior politicians who are current or former members of either the House of Commons or the House of Lords. The Privy Council formally advises the sovereign on the exercise of the Royal Prerogative, and as a body corporate (as King-in-Council) it issues executive instruments known as Orders in Council which, among other powers, enact Acts of Parliament. The Council also holds the delegated authority to issue Orders of Council, mostly used to regulate certain public institutions. The Council advises the sovereign on the issuing of Royal Charters, which are used to grant special status to incorporated bodies, and city or borough status to local authorities. Otherwise, the Privy Council's powers have now been largely replaced by its executive committee, the Cabinet of the United Kingdom. Certai ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Transported To Australia
Between 1788 and 1868, about 162,000 convicts were transported from Britain and Ireland to various penal colonies in Australia. The British Government began transporting convicts overseas to American colonies in the early 18th century. When transportation ended with the start of the American Revolution, an alternative site was needed to relieve further overcrowding of British prisons and hulks. Earlier in 1770, James Cook charted and claimed possession of the east coast of Australia for Britain. Seeking to pre-empt the French colonial empire from expanding into the region, Britain chose Australia as the site of a penal colony, and in 1787, the First Fleet of eleven convict ships set sail for Botany Bay, arriving on 20 January 1788 to found Sydney, New South Wales, the first European settlement on the continent. Other penal colonies were later established in Van Diemen's Land ( Tasmania) in 1803 and Queensland in 1824. Western Australia – established as Swan River Col ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Prerogative Of Mercy
In the English and British tradition, the royal prerogative of mercy is one of the historic royal prerogatives of the British monarch, by which they can grant pardons (informally known as a royal pardon) to convicted persons. The royal prerogative of mercy was originally used to permit the monarch to withdraw, or provide alternatives to death sentences; the alternative of penal transportation to "partes abroade" was used since at least 1617. It is now used to change any sentence or penalty. A royal pardon does not overturn a conviction. Officially, this is a power of the monarch. Formally, in Commonwealth realms, this has been delegated to the governor-general of the realm, which in practice means to government ministers who advise the monarch or viceroy, usually those responsible for justice. Specifically, it has been delegated to the Lord Chancellor in England and Wales, the Scottish Ministers in Scotland, and the federal and provincial cabinets in Canada, in respect of feder ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Sketches By Boz
''Sketches by "Boz," Illustrative of Every-day Life and Every-day People'' (commonly known as ''Sketches by Boz'') is a collection of short pieces Charles Dickens originally published in various newspapers and other periodicals between 1833 and 1836. They were re-issued in book form, under their current title, in February and August 1836, with illustrations by George Cruikshank. The first complete one volume edition appeared in 1839. The 56 sketches concern London scenes and people, and the whole work is divided into four sections: "Our Parish", "Scenes", "Characters" and "Tales". The material in the first three sections consists of non-narrative pen-portraits, but the last section comprises fictional stories. The History of "Boz" The sketch "Mr Minns and his Cousin" (originally titled "A Dinner at Poplar Walk"), was the first work of fiction Dickens ever published. It appeared in ''The Monthly Magazine'' in December 1833. Although Dickens continued to place pieces in that magaz ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Newgate Prison
Newgate Prison was a prison at the corner of Newgate Street and Old Bailey Street just inside the City of London, England, originally at the site of Newgate, a gate in the Roman London Wall. Built in the 12th century and demolished in 1904, the prison was extended and rebuilt many times, and remained in use for over 700 years, from 1188 to 1902. For much of its history, a succession of criminal courtrooms were attached to the prison, commonly referred to as the "Old Bailey". The present Old Bailey (officially, Central Criminal Court) now occupies much of the site of the prison. In the late 1700s, executions by hanging were moved here from the Tyburn gallows. These took place on the public street in front of the prison, drawing crowds until 1868, when they were moved into the prison. History In the early 12th century, Henry II instituted legal reforms that gave the Crown more control over the administration of justice. As part of his Assize of Clarendon of 1166, he requi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
John Black (journalist)
John Black (7 November 1783 – 15 June 1855) was a British journalist and newspaper editor. Early years Born in Berwickshire, Black's father was Ebenezer Black, a farm worker and former peddler who had married a co-worker on the farm, Janet Gray. Ebenezer Black died four years after they were married, leaving Janet to raise both a son and a daughter by herself. Within a decade, both Black's mother and sister had died as well. He was taken in by his uncle, also a worker on the farm, who sent him to the parish school at Duns before articling him out to a local writer. During this time, Black read extensively from the local subscription library and began a book collection that would become a major preoccupation of his life. After a brief period as a clerk for the British Linen Bank, Black went to work for an accountant in Edinburgh. In his spare time he attended classes at the University of Edinburgh and he undertook such literary work as translating German for David Brewster ' ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Charles Dickens
Charles John Huffam Dickens (; 7 February 1812 – 9 June 1870) was an English writer and social critic. He created some of the world's best-known fictional characters and is regarded by many as the greatest novelist of the Victorian era.. His works enjoyed unprecedented popularity during his lifetime and, by the 20th century, critics and scholars had recognised him as a literary genius. His novels and short stories are widely read today. Born in Portsmouth, Dickens left school at the age of 12 to work in a boot-blacking factory when his father was incarcerated in a debtors' prison. After three years he returned to school, before he began his literary career as a journalist. Dickens edited a weekly journal for 20 years, wrote 15 novels, five novellas, hundreds of short stories and non-fiction articles, lectured and performed readings extensively, was an indefatigable letter writer, and campaigned vigorously for children's rights, for education, and for other social ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Bishop Of Clogher
The Bishop of Clogher is an episcopal title which takes its name after the village of Clogher in County Tyrone, Northern Ireland. Following the Reformation, there are now parallel apostolic successions: one of the Church of Ireland and the other of the Roman Catholic Church. History Clogher is one of the twenty-four dioceses established at the Synod of Ráth Breasail in 1111 and consists of much of south west Ulster, taking in most of counties Fermanagh and Monaghan and parts of Tyrone, Cavan, Leitrim and Donegal. Frequently in the Irish annals the Bishop of Clogher was styled the ''Bishop of Oirialla''. Between c. 1140 to c. 1190, County Louth was transferred from the see of Armagh to the see of Clogher. During this period the Bishop of Clogher used the style ''Bishop of Louth''. The title ''Bishop of Clogher'' was resumed after 1193, when County Louth was restored to the see of Armagh. Present Ordinaries ;In the Church of Ireland The present Church of Ireland bishop is t ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
