Playford, Suffolk
Playford is a small village in Suffolk, England, on the outskirts of Ipswich. It has about 215 residents in 90 households. The name comes from the Old English '' plega'' meaning play, sport; used of a place for games, or a courtship or mating-place for animals, and the Old English '' ford'' meaning a place where a stream or river can be crossed. Villages nearby include Rushmere, Little Bealings, Great Bealings, Culpho and Grundisburgh. There are no pubs or shops in Playford, although it has a church (St Mary's) and a village hall. Notable residents * Thomas Clarkson (1760-1846), the slave trade abolitionist, lived at Playford Hall from 1816 until his death and is buried in the churchyard. Insufficient credit has been given to Clarkson for his life's work: it was he who initiated the task, produced the necessary evidence and provided the momentum while William Wilberforce fought for the cause in Parliament. * Sir George Biddell Airy (1801–92) was the seventh Astronomer Roya ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
|
Suffolk Coastal
Suffolk Coastal was a local government district in Suffolk, England. Its council was based in Melton, having moved from neighbouring Woodbridge in 2017. Other towns include Felixstowe, Framlingham, Leiston, Aldeburgh, and Saxmundham. The district was formed on 1 April 1974, under the Local Government Act 1972, as a merger of the municipal borough of Aldeburgh, along with Felixstowe, Leiston-cum-Sizewell, Saxmundham and Woodbridge urban districts, and Blyth Rural District and Deben Rural District. The population of the district was 124,298 at the 2011 Census. Suffolk Coastal district was merged with Waveney district on 1 April 2019 to form the new East Suffolk East Suffolk may refer to the following places in Suffolk, England: * East Suffolk (county), a county until 1974 * East Suffolk District, a local government district established in 2019 * East Suffolk (UK Parliament constituency), an electoral dist ... district. Election results There were new ward boun ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
|
Sir George Biddell Airy
Sir George Biddell Airy (; 27 July 18012 January 1892) was an English mathematician and astronomer, and the seventh Astronomer Royal from 1835 to 1881. His many achievements include work on planetary orbits, measuring the mean density of the Earth, a method of solution of two-dimensional problems in solid mechanics and, in his role as Astronomer Royal, establishing Greenwich as the location of the prime meridian. Biography Airy was born at Alnwick, one of a long line of Airys who traced their descent back to a family of the same name residing at Kentmere, in Westmorland, in the 14th century. The branch to which he belonged, having suffered in the English Civil War, moved to Lincolnshire and became farmers. Airy was educated first at elementary schools in Hereford, and afterwards at Colchester Royal Grammar School. An introverted child, Airy gained popularity with his schoolmates through his great skill in the construction of peashooters. From the age of 13, Airy stayed freque ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
|
Anna Airy
Anna Airy (6 June 1882 – 23 October 1964) was an English oil painter, pastel artist and etcher. She was one of the first women officially commissioned as a war artist and was recognised as one of the leading women artists of her generation. Early life Airy was born in Greenwich, London, the daughter of an engineer, Wilfrid Airy, and Anna ''née'' Listing, and the granddaughter of the Astronomer Royal George Biddell Airy. Airy trained at the Slade School of Fine Art in London from 1899 to 1903, where she studied alongside William Orpen and Augustus John, and under Fred Brown, Henry Tonks and Philip Wilson Steer. Airy won prizes at the Slade School for portrait, figure, and other subjects including the Slade School Scholarship in 1902. She also won the Melville Nettleship Prize in 1900, 1901 and 1902. Work During World War I, Airy was given commissions in a number of factories and painted her canvases on site in often difficult and, sometimes, dangerous conditions. For ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
|
Sir Thomas Felton, 4th Baronet
Sir Thomas Felton, 4th Baronet (12 October 1649 – 3 March 1709), of Whitehall, Westminster and Playford, Suffolk, was an English courtier and Whig politician who sat in the House of Commons between 1690 and 1709 . Felton was the son of Sir Henry Felton, 2nd Baronet of Playford, Suffolk and his wife Susanna Tollemache, daughter of Sir Lionel Tollemache, 2nd Baronet, of Helmingham. Felton was a Page of Honour from 1665 to 1671 and became Groom of the Bedchamber in March 1671. He was appointed Master of the Hawks in 1675. By 1679 he had left the post as Groom to King Charles through unknown circumstances. He had married Lady Elizabeth Howard, one of the daughters and coheirs of James Howard, 3rd Earl of Suffolk but she died in 1681. On the accession of William and Mary in 1689, Felton became Master of the Household. Felton was returned as Member of Parliament for Orford at the 1690 English general election. He was returned for Orford unopposed at the 1695 English gene ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
|
Jonathan Aitken
Jonathan William Patrick Aitken (born 30 August 1942) is a British author, Church of England priest, former prisoner and former Conservative Party politician. Beginning his career in journalism, he was elected to Parliament in 1974 (serving until 1997), and was a member of the cabinet during John Major's premiership from 1992 to 1995. That same year, he was accused by ''The Guardian'' of misdeeds conducted under his official government capacity. He sued the newspaper for libel in response, but the case collapsed, and he was subsequently found to have committed perjury during his trial. In 1999, he was sentenced to 18 months in prison, of which he served seven months. Following his imprisonment, Aitken became a Christian and later became the honorary president of Christian Solidarity Worldwide. He was ordained as an Anglican priest in 2019. Family Aitken's parents were Sir William Traven Aitken, KBE, a former Conservative MP, and The Honourable Penelope, Lady Aitken, MBE, J ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
|
Penelope, Lady Aitken
Penelope Loader, Lady Aitken, MBE (2 December 1910 – 7 February 2005), styled The Honourable Lady Aitken and nicknamed 'Pempe', was an English socialite. Biography Born Penelope Loader Maffey, she was the daughter of Sir John Maffey, later 1st Baron Rugby, who was to become Governor-General of the Anglo-Egyptian Sudan, Permanent Under-Secretary of State for the Colonies and wartime United Kingdom Representative to Dublin. Earlier, he had been the private secretary to the Viceroy of India and Governor of the North-West Frontier Province, thus Penelope was born in Peshawar and spent her early years in India, where three of her siblings died in childhood. When she was seven years old, she returned to England for prep school, then went on to Sherborne School for Girls. Her parents had a house, Anmer Hall, on the King's Sandringham estate, which led to her socialising with the royal family. Indeed, she became the King's favourite. Maffey was presented at Court and named ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
|
William Aitken (politician)
Sir William Traven Aitken, (10 June 1903 – 19 January 1964) was a Canadian-British journalist and politician who was an MP in the UK parliament for 14 years. He was a nephew of Lord Beaverbrook. Early life and family Aitken was born on 10 June 1903, the son of Joseph Mauns Aitken of Toronto. He was educated at Upper Canada College, the oldest independent school in Canada, and went on to the University of Toronto,"Aitken, Sir William Traven", ''Who Was Who'', A & C Black, an imprint of Bloomsbury Publishing plc, 1920–2014; online edn, Oxford University Press, 2014 ; online edn, April 2014 where he was a member of the Kappa Alpha Society. In the late 1920s he travelled through Canada and the United States, before settling in England in 1930. In 1938 he married Penelope Loader Maffey, daughter of Sir John Maffey (later Lord Rugby, and a leading civil servant); they had one son and one daughter, Maria Aitken .Stenton and Lees ''Who's Who of British Members of Parliament'' vol ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
|
Mid-Suffolk Light Railway
The Mid-Suffolk Light Railway (MSLR) was a standard gauge railway intended to open up an agricultural area of central Suffolk; it took advantage of the reduced construction cost enabled by the Light Railways Act 1896. It was launched with considerable enthusiasm by local interests, and was to build a 50-mile network, but actual share subscription was weak, and the company over-reached its available financial resources. It opened 19 miles of route from Haughley to Laxfield in 1904 to goods traffic only, and income was poor, further worsening the company's financial situation. The Board continued to harbour ambitions to complete the planned network, but crippling interest on loans and capital repayments falling due forced the company into receivership in 1906. Passenger operation was started in 1908, but this too was disappointing. At the grouping of the railways in 1923, the MSLR was still in receivership, and there was a protracted dispute over the liquidation of the debt, but i ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
|
Francis Seymour Stevenson
Francis Seymour Stevenson (24 November 1862 – 9 April 1938) was a British Liberal Party politician, author and scholar. He was elected at the 1885 general election as Member of Parliament (MP) for Eye in Suffolk, and held the seat until his resignation from the House of Commons on 19 March 1906 (after that year's general election) by becoming Steward of the Manor of Northstead. Stevenson resided at Playford Mount, Suffolk, and at 5 Ennismore Gardens, London. He was born in British Mauritius, where his father, William Stevenson, was Governor, and baptized at Moka, Mauritius. He was educated at Lausanne, Harrow, and at Balliol College, Oxford where he matriculated on 29 January 1881 at age 18. He was an Exhibitioner from 1879 to 1884 (Honors: 2 Classical Mods. 1882, and 1st class Literary Humanities 1884) with Bachelor of Arts 1884 and was a student of Lincoln's Inn in 1883. In Suffolk, he served as J.P and D.L, as well as M.P. for their Eye Division from 1885. He serve ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
|
Ransomes, Sims & Jefferies
Ransomes, Sims and Jefferies Limited was a major British agricultural machinery maker also producing a wide range of general engineering products in Ipswich, Suffolk including traction engines, trolleybuses, ploughs, lawn mowers, combine harvesters and other tilling equipment. Ransomes also manufactured Direct Current electric motors in a wide range of sizes, and electric forklift trucks and tractors. They manufactured aeroplanes during the First World War. Their base, specially set up in 1845, was named Orwell Works. Ransomes' railway equipment business was hived off in 1869 with a different ownership as Ransomes & Rapier and based nearby at Waterside Ironworks. History 18th century The enterprise was started by Robert Ransome (1753–1830), who was born into a Quaker family in Norfolk, and became an apprentice to an ironmonger in Norwich. The Quaker values of frugal living, avoiding debt and keeping regular accounts served him well when he set up one of the first brass ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
|
Greenwich Meridian
The historic prime meridian or Greenwich meridian is a geographical reference line that passes through the Royal Observatory, Greenwich, in London, England. The modern IERS Reference Meridian widely used today is based on the Greenwich meridian, but differs slightly from it. This prime meridian (at the time, one of many) was first established by Sir George Airy in 1851, and by 1884, over two-thirds of all ships and tonnage used it as the reference meridian on their charts and maps. In October of that year, at the behest of US President Chester A. Arthur, 41 delegates from 25 nations met in Washington, D.C., United States, for the International Meridian Conference. This conference selected the meridian passing through Greenwich as the world standard prime meridian due to its popularity. However, France abstained from the vote, and French maps continued to use the Paris meridian for several decades. In the 18th century, London lexicographer Malachy Postlethwayt published his ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
|
Astronomer Royal
Astronomer Royal is a senior post in the Royal Households of the United Kingdom. There are two officers, the senior being the Astronomer Royal dating from 22 June 1675; the junior is the Astronomer Royal for Scotland dating from 1834. The post was created by King Charles II in 1675, at the same time as he founded the Royal Observatory Greenwich. He appointed John Flamsteed, instructing him "." The Astronomer Royal was director of the Royal Observatory Greenwich from the establishment of the post in 1675 until 1972. The Astronomer Royal became an honorary title in 1972 without executive responsibilities and a separate post of Director of the Royal Greenwich Observatory was created to manage the institution. The Astronomer Royal today receives a stipend of 100 GBP per year and is a member of the Royal Household, under the general authority of the Lord Chamberlain. After the separation of the two offices, the position of Astronomer Royal has been largely honorary, though th ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |