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Michael Hornby
Michael Charles St John Hornby (2 January 1899 – 7 December 1987) was vice chairman of WHSmith, the British retail chain, for over 20 years. Michael Charles St John Hornby was the son of St John Hornby and his wife Cicely Rachel Emily Barclay. In 1934, he purchased Pusey House near Faringdon in Berkshire (now Oxfordshire) where he subsequently lived. He was vice chairman of WHSmith WHSmith (also written WH Smith, and known colloquially as Smith's and formerly as W. H. Smith & Son) is a British retailer, headquartered in Swindon, England, which operates a chain of high street, railway station, airport, port, hospital and m ..., the British retail chain from 1944 to 1965. In 1960, following the verdict in favour of Penguin Books and the subsequent publication of ''Lady Chatterley's Lover'', Hornby commented, "It will be stocked but it will not be on display. You will have to ask for it." He married Nicolette Joan Ward (d. 1988), the daughter of Captain Hon. Cyril Augustus ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
WHSmith
WHSmith (also written WH Smith, and known colloquially as Smith's and formerly as W. H. Smith & Son) is a British retailer, headquartered in Swindon, England, which operates a chain of high street, railway station, airport, port, hospital and motorway service station shops selling books, stationery, magazines, newspapers, entertainment products and confectionery. The company was formed by Henry Walton Smith and his wife Anna in 1792 as a news vendor in London. It remained under the ownership of the Smith family for many years and saw large-scale expansion during the 1970s as the company began to diversify into other markets. Following a rejected private equity takeover in 2004, the company began to focus on its core retail business. It was responsible for the creation of the ISBN book identifier. WHSmith is listed on the London Stock Exchange and is a constituent of the FTSE 250 Index. History Formation In 1792, Henry Walton Smith and his wife Anna established the business ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
St John Hornby
Charles Harold St John Hornby (25 June 1867 – 1946) was a founding partner of W. H. Smith, deputy vice-chairman of the NSPCC, and founder and owner of the Ashendene Press. Early life Charles Harold St John (pronounced 'Sin-jun') Hornby was born on 25 June 1867 at Much Dewchurch, Herefordshire, the eldest son of the Reverend Charles Edward Hornby, then a curate, and his wife, Harriet, daughter of the Revd Henry Turton, who was the vicar of Betley, Staffordshire. He was educated at Harrow and New College, Oxford, where he received a bachelor's degree in classics. While attending Oxford, he rowed in the stroke position in both his college's and the University's rowing crews, and was a member of the crew that won the 1890 University Boat Race. Career In 1892, Hornby was called to the bar, but his friend Freddy Smith (they had spent a year together in 1890–91 travelling the world) offered him a partnership in WH Smith, the family business. In 1900, Hornby met Emery Walker and ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Pusey, Oxfordshire
Pusey is a village and civil parish east of Faringdon in the Vale of White Horse district. It was part of Berkshire until the 1974 boundary changes transferred it to Oxfordshire. The village is just south of the A420 and the parish covers about . History Pusey seems to be a Saxon settlement. Its toponym is derived from the Old English ''pise ēg'', meaning "pea island". The Domesday Book of 1086 records the village as ''Pesei''. The Pusey family held the manor of Pusey from Saxon times. There is a tradition that it was granted to the family by Cnut the Great, by the delivery of a horn (an Anglo-Saxon form of land tenure known as " cornage"). The Pusey Horn is now in the Victoria and Albert Museum in London. In Anglo-saxon an inscription on the horn reads:Kyng Knowde geue Wyllyam Pewte thys horne to holde by thy land" (King Canute gave William Pusey this horn to hold by tthe land") In 1753, the family built Pusey House (not to be confused with Pusey House, Oxford), a Grad ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Faringdon
Faringdon is a historic market town in the Vale of White Horse, Oxfordshire, England, south-west of Oxford, north-west of Wantage and east-north-east of Swindon. It extends to the River Thames in the north; the highest ground is on the Ridgeway in the south. Faringdon was Berkshire's westernmost town until the 1974 boundary changes transferred its administration to Oxfordshire. The civil parish is formally known as ''Great Faringdon'', to distinguish it from Little Faringdon in West Oxfordshire. The 2011 Census gave a population of 7,121; it was estimated at 7,992 in 2019. On 1 February 2004, Faringdon became the first place in south-east England to be awarded Fairtrade Town status. History The toponym "Faringdon" means "hill covered in fern". Claims, for example by P. J. Goodrich, that King Edward the Elder (reigned 899–924) died in Faringdon are unfounded. The town was granted a weekly market in 1218, and as a result came to be called Chipping Faringdon. A weekly ou ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Berkshire
Berkshire ( ; in the 17th century sometimes spelt phonetically as Barkeshire; abbreviated Berks.) is a historic county in South East England. One of the home counties, Berkshire was recognised by Queen Elizabeth II as the Royal County of Berkshire in 1957 because of the presence of Windsor Castle, and letters patent were issued in 1974. Berkshire is a county of historic origin, a ceremonial county and a non-metropolitan county without a county council. The county town is Reading. The River Thames formed the historic northern boundary, from Buscot in the west to Old Windsor in the east. The historic county, therefore, includes territory that is now administered by the Vale of White Horse and parts of South Oxfordshire in Oxfordshire, but excludes Caversham, Slough and five less populous settlements in the east of the Royal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead. All the changes mentioned, apart from the change to Caversham, took place in 1974. The towns of Abingdon, Didcot, Far ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Oxfordshire
Oxfordshire is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in the north west of South East England. It is a mainly rural county, with its largest settlement being the city of Oxford. The county is a centre of research and development, primarily due to the work of the University of Oxford and several notable science parks. These include the Harwell Science and Innovation Campus and Milton Park, both situated around the towns of Didcot and Abingdon-on-Thames. It is a landlocked county, bordered by six counties: Berkshire to the south, Buckinghamshire to the east, Wiltshire to the south west, Gloucestershire to the west, Warwickshire to the north west, and Northamptonshire to the north east. Oxfordshire is locally governed by Oxfordshire County Council, together with local councils of its five non-metropolitan districts: City of Oxford, Cherwell, South Oxfordshire, Vale of White Horse, and West Oxfordshire. Present-day Oxfordshire spanning the area south of the Thames was h ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Lady Chatterley's Lover
''Lady Chatterley's Lover'' is the last novel by English author D. H. Lawrence, which was first published privately in 1928, in Italy, and in 1929, in France. An unexpurgated edition was not published openly in the United Kingdom until 1960, when it was the subject of a watershed obscenity trial against the publisher Penguin Books, which won the case and quickly sold three million copies. The book was also banned for obscenity in the United States, Canada, Australia, India and Japan. The book soon became notorious for its story of the physical (and emotional) relationship between a working-class man and an upper-class woman, its explicit descriptions of sex and its use of then-unprintable four-letter words. Background The story is said to have originated from certain events in Lawrence's own unhappy domestic life, and he took inspiration for the settings of the book from Nottinghamshire, where he grew up. According to some critics, the fling of Lady Ottoline Morrell with "Tige ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
William Ward, 1st Earl Of Dudley
William Ward, 1st Earl of Dudley (27 March 1817 – 7 May 1885), known as The Lord Ward from 1835 to 1860, was a British landowner and benefactor. Background and education Ward was born on 27 March 1817 at Edwardstone, Boxford, Suffolk, England, the son of William Ward, 10th Baron Ward. His mother was Amelia, daughter of William Cooch Pillans. He was educated at Eton and at Christ Church, Oxford and Trinity College, Oxford. He played first-class cricket for Oxford University Cricket Club between 1838 and 1842. Career On 6 December 1835, he inherited the title of Lord Ward, when he became the 11th Baron Ward. His inheritance included Himley Hall and the ruins of Dudley Castle. In 1837 his trustees purchased the Witley Court estate in Worcestershire from Thomas Foley, 4th Baron Foley. Ward never held any political office, but served as Colonel Commander of the Worcestershire Yeomanry in 1854. Between 1859 and 1877 Ward paid for the entire refacing and restoration of Worcest ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
John Spencer-Churchill, 11th Duke Of Marlborough
John George Vanderbilt Henry Spencer-Churchill, 11th Duke of Marlborough, (13 April 1926 – 16 October 2014) was a British peer. He was the elder son of the 10th Duke of Marlborough and his wife, the Hon. Alexandra Mary Hilda Cadogan. He was known as "Sunny" after his courtesy title of Earl of Sunderland. His principal seat was Blenheim Palace, Woodstock, Oxfordshire. He was ranked 224th in the ''Sunday Times Rich List'' 2004, with an estimated wealth of £185 million. His death was announced on 16 October 2014 by Blenheim Palace. Life and work He was educated at Eton College and served seven years in the Life Guards, in which he achieved the rank of captain. In 1972, on inheriting the Dukedom of Marlborough, he took over the management of Blenheim Palace and the Blenheim estate. To fund the maintenance of the house, he opened it to visitors and as a film set, and established a number of businesses, including a garden furniture company and a water bottling plant. He w ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Simon Hornby
Sir Simon Michael Hornby (29 December 1934 – 17 July 2010) was a British businessman. He was chairman of WHSmith, the British retail chain, the Royal Horticultural Society and the Design Council. He founded the National Literacy Trust. Early life Simon Michael Hornby was born on 29 December 1934 in London. He was the son of Michael Hornby and grandson of St John Hornby. He grew up on his father's estate at Pusey House in Berkshire (now Oxfordshire) and was educated at Eton College, New College, Oxford and Harvard Business School. He served in the Grenadier Guards as a 2nd Lieutenant from 1953-55. Career Hornby followed his father and grandfather on to the board of WHSmith, becoming Chairman in 1982. During his chairmanship the company acquired the Our Price records chain and the Paperchase stationery chain. They developed the Do It All DIY superstores and took a half-share in the Richard Branson created Virgin Megastores. Hornby also oversaw the acquisition of rival book ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
1899 Births
Events January 1899 * January 1 ** Spanish rule ends in Cuba, concluding 400 years of the Spanish Empire in the Americas. ** Queens and Staten Island become administratively part of New York City. * January 2 – **Bolivia sets up a customs office in Puerto Alonso, leading to the Brazilian settlers there to declare the Republic of Acre in a revolt against Bolivian authorities. **The first part of the Jakarta Kota–Anyer Kidul railway on the island of Java is opened between Batavia Zuid ( Jakarta Kota) and Tangerang. * January 3 – Hungarian Prime Minister Dezső Bánffy fights an inconclusive duel with his bitter enemy in parliament, Horánszky Nándor. * January 4 – **U.S. President William McKinley's declaration of December 21, 1898, proclaiming a policy of benevolent assimilation of the Philippines as a United States territory, is announced in Manila by the U.S. commander, General Elwell Otis, and angers independence activists who had fought against ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
1987 Deaths
File:1987 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The MS Herald of Free Enterprise capsizes after leaving the Port of Zeebrugge in Belgium, killing 193; Northwest Airlines Flight 255 crashes after takeoff from Detroit Metropolitan Airport, killing everyone except a little girl; The King's Cross fire kills 31 people after a fire under an escalator Flashover, flashes-over; The MV Doña Paz sinks after colliding with an oil tanker, drowning almost 4,400 passengers and crew; Typhoon Nina (1987), Typhoon Nina strikes the Philippines; LOT Polish Airlines Flight 5055 crashes outside of Warsaw, taking the lives of all aboard; The USS Stark is USS Stark incident, struck by Iraq, Iraqi Exocet missiles in the Persian Gulf; President of the United States, U.S. President Ronald Reagan gives a famous Tear down this wall!, speech, demanding that Soviet Union, Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev tears down the Berlin Wall., 300x300px, thumb rect 0 0 200 200 Zeebrugge disaster rect 200 0 400 200 ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
