Remembering ‘Everyday’ Heroes: The Watts Memorial to Heroic Self-Sacrifice

When it comes to London I am known for avoiding the tube where possible and travelling by foot. It’s a habit I’ve acquired from my Dad who used to take us to London a lot when we were kids and for whom, travelling by foot was the favoured mode of transport. You can just imagine the whingeing and whining that often happened as he powered ahead with two kids who could barely match his stride, struggling to make two for every one of his. But now, some 15 years later, I can both understand and appreciate his way of thinking. Not only has it resulted in me having confidence in navigating around the city, but it has also revealed so much more of the city to me, including the subject of this blog.

Short cuts can reveal all sorts of unusual places and on a recent visit to the Museum of London I stumbled across Postman’s Park, where I was surprised to discover The Watts Memorial to the Heroic Self-Sacrifice. At first I saw it from a distance – this rather imposing and curious looking memorial – and there was just something about it that lured me forwards. It was quite different from any other I have seen and curiosity took over, particularly when I saw the inscription which ran across the top of the wooden structure and read ‘In Commemoration of Heroic Self Sacrifice’.

The Watts Memorial to Heroic Self-Sacrifice
Picture © Eleanor Larsson

As I approached specific details began to stand out more - the number of individual plaques that each bore a name, dates and writing. To one side there was a sign that read as follows, offering some explanation behind the memorial:

G.F. Watt’s Memorial to Heroic Self Sacrifice.

Unveiled in 1900, The Memorial to Heroic Self-Sacrifice was conceived and undertaken by the Victorian Artist George Frederic Watts OM RA (1817-1904).

It contains plaques to those who have heroically lost their lives trying to save another.

Watts believed that these ‘Everyday’ heroes provided models of exemplary behaviour and character.

‘The material prosperity of a nation is not an abiding possession: the deeds of its people are’ G.F. Watts

‘Greater Love Hath no man than this, that he lay down his life for his friends,’ John 15:13.

Watts Gallery, Compton, Surrey.

Picture © Eleanor Larsson

I found this memorial incredibly poignant and as I moved along the wall, reading more of the individual plaques and the ways in which each lost their life whilst saving that of another, I couldn’t help but respect and admire the bravery of those remembered there.

The people remembered span across some 150 years. The most recent dating from 2007, while the earliest case comes from 1863 and is that of Sarah Smith, a pantomime artist at the Prince’s Theatre, who had tried to extinguish the flames which had enveloped her companion, but she herself died of the injuries she sustained in trying to do so.  

Other cases document those who had been in the emergency services and acted while on duty, policemen and members of the fire brigade, while others were reacting to workplace incidents, air raids or freak accidents they just happened to witness. The cases documented are such human stories, featuring men and woman, child and adults, all ordinary people, who if it weren’t for the events that took their lives, would have been hidden from history. The memorial really made a strong impression on me.

Picture © Eleanor Larsson

It would seem that Watts had a particular motive in mind when creating this memorial - moral improvement, one of the key concerns of the Victorian age. But I think it also stands the test of time. By reminding us of ‘everyday’ heroes we are forced to confront quite an uncomfortable truth. I think we’d all like to think that in a crisis we’d respond and react in a similar way, but how many of us would actually do so when so often we walk along with headphones in our ears, buried in our phones and completely oblivious to the world going on around us.

Discovering this memorial caused me to have an interesting moment of reflection, one which was prompted by a fascinating piece of history.

You can find more information about the memorial here - http://www.postmanspark.org.uk/about.html

Sharing Hidden Histories: KCL’s History Department Monuments Marathon and Parks & Palaces Plod

On our way to stop No.11  Camden Pan-Africanism
© Felicity McWilliams

For the past month or so you may have seen me posting links to the crowdfunding page for an event King’s History Department runs biennially – the Monuments Marathon and Parks & Palaces Plod. The ‘Marathon’ was set up in 2014 by former KCL Professor Ludmilla Jordanova in order to raise funds for the Undergraduate Hardship fund, although this years’ sponsorship was for the equivalent MA fund. The idea as pitched to us was to take to the ‘streets and parks of London to tour sites of historical interest, learning from each other’ along the way.

Hearing that, I should think it will come as no surprise to hear that when we received an email advertising the event back in April, I was immediately on board with the idea – fundraising while learning about history and walking around London – what was not to love! The plan was to walk to 26 historic sites over the distance of around 10 miles, the walk starting at King’s and featuring 4 minute ‘street talks’ from volunteers choosing to speak on sites of their choice along the route.

Stop No. 3 - Mammoths in the Square
© Elle Larsson

And that is exactly what we did last Sunday. We walked a grand total of around 13.8 miles, taking in 26 historic sites over the course of around 10 hours. I should say at this point however that 4 members of the department put in an extra tremendous effort, rising early and running an 11.5 mile route taking in the palaces of London – beginning with the Tower of London and ending with Kensington Palace, before heading back to KCL and joining the rest of us on the walk!  

It was a really fantastic day – we had good weather, great company and were able to share some of the lesser known stories of London we’ve each come across during the course of our own research. A huge range of topics were covered and what struck me in particular was that even though some of these places are signified by plaques and statues, the stories are much richer than can be conveyed by those markers alone, while others simply had no markers at all.

Stop No. 2 Benjamin Franklin House/Bodies in the basement
© Elle Larsson

A few things from the day have stuck out in particular. For example the origin of the legend of the ‘Black Dog’ of Newgate and how beneath Trafalgar Square there was/is a rich source of prehistoric archaeological material, including Mammoths; the fact that beneath Benjamin Franklin’s house a large number of human skeletons had been excavated, owing to the fact that another of its former residents had been a comparative anatomist, who himself died after contracting sepsis from one of his cadavers! But I think my favourite snippet has to be hearing about the mechanized waxwork of Mrs. Salmon which was booby-trapped to kick patrons as they left her establishment. Who new early nineteenth century waxworks could be mechanized?

Stop No. 10 - Fitzrovia Revolutionaries
© Felicity McWilliams

These stand out for me but each talk was incredibly interesting and below I’ve put the entire list of places we visited and topics covered by our talks to give you an idea of the history that is out there and sites that you may have previously walked passed having never realized their significance. It was truly a case of Ispyhistory at its best and it’s safe to say that in two years’ time, when this event comes round again, my feet better be ready for a repeat performance!

The Route

1. Lady Somerset and the Temperance Child, Victoria Embankment Gardens (Statue).

2. Benjamin Franklin House, 36 Craven Street, (Plaque). 

3. Mammoths in the Square, Trafalgar Square.

4. The Strand Menagerie, 372 Strand, (Building).

5. Mrs Salmon’s Waxworks, 17 Fleet Street, (Building). 

6. Picasso in London, 51 Floral Street (Plaque).

7. The Slayer of Soho: John Snow’s Pump, 39 Broadwick Street.

8. Banking Natural History, 32 Soho Square (Plaque). 

9. Penning the Vindication, Store Street.   

10. Fitzrovia Revolutionaries, Fitzroy Square (Statue). 

11. Camden Pan-Africanism, 22 Cranleigh Street (Plaque).

12. South African Freedom Fighters, 13 Lyme Street (Plaque). 

13. Gandhi’s London, Tavistock Square (Statue).

14. Emmeline Pankhurst’s House, 8 Russell Square, (Building). 

15. Literary Lights and Colonial Students, Mecklenburgh Square.

16. Anti-Suffragism and Settlement Houses, 42 Queen Square, (Building).

17. The Women’s Freedom League, 144 High Holborn, (Building).

18. Meating One’s Maker, Smithfield Market.

19. ‘The Black Dog of Newgate’, Warwick Lane.

20. Indigenous Transnationals at St Paul’s, (Building).

21. Rude Deeds on Rood Lane, Rood Lane, (Building).

22. Tower Hill Memorial, Trinity Square Gardens, (Memorial).

23. The Falklands Memorial, Trinity Square Gardens, (Memorial).

24. Altab Ali Park, Adler Street, (Memorial).

25. Responding to the Ripper, 14 Cannon Street Road, (Exhibition).

26. Execution Dock, 57 Wapping Wall.

It will come as a little surprise that after a grand total of 13.8 miles, well-earned celebratory drinks and a sit down were then had at the prospect of Whitby Pub!

Sunsets over London
© Elle Larsson

Final Reflections on London’s Urban Jungle @ The Horniman Museum and Gardens

I just wanted to round off quickly on London’s Urban Jungle which finished back in February by saying what a fantastic experience it was and how grateful I am to those who went and offered such positive feedback.

London's Urban Jungle © Elle Larsson

When I decided that I wanted to pursue an exhibition for my final MA project it soon dawned on me what a difficult process this would be. But there was a ray of hope and I am so grateful to the team at the Horniman Museum and Gardens for seeing potential in the idea and for scheduling it into their temporary exhibition programme for 2015/16.

London's Urban Jungle © Elle Larsson

I learnt a great deal throughout the process but most of all, achieved what I always hope to in doing research, and that’s inviting public engagement.  I am after all a public historian!

As a final farewell on this subject I offer you a link to a final piece I produced for the Horniman Museum website which can be found here, alongside some great pictures, hopefully showing how the exhibition tied in which the Horniman’s natural history collections - http://www.horniman.ac.uk/collections/stories/jamrachs-animal-legacy

It was a fantastic way to conclude my MA work, but this is not the end for my research on Jamrach so watch this space! 

Happy as a pig in muck – Archives, archives and more archives! Part 2

Right, so where was I?

Ah Yes, that’s right, moving on from my little negative rant… After I got a little perspective on the whole situation and had a “that would make a good blog” moment, it was time to hit the next archive and see what else it could reveal in my hunt for new information on Mr Jamrach, to use in both my upcoming talk and exhibition. The great thing this time however, was that I needn’t even leave the comfort of my own home for this archive is all online.

For a reasonable subscription fee members of the public are able to sign up to the British Newspaper Archive (BNA) and access over 400 newspaper titles, spanning from 1710 to the 1960s – an invaluable resource for any researcher, both professional and amateur. I fast became a fan of this archive, for what a fantastic resource it offers its users! It’s easy to use and offers a wealth of material and I’ve really enjoyed navigating my way around and uncovering new little gems. Part of me wants to divulge some of that material, but then again, “spoilers”!

Previously the access I had to online newspaper archives came through the online e-resources access I had the luxury of using as a student at university. The Times Digital Archive and the 19th Century British Library Newspapers were both resources I used a lot when it came to working on both my undergraduate and postgraduate dissertations and had offered up some really interesting snippets of information. However once I’d left university, I lost that access and it forced me to look elsewhere. Hence I rediscovered the BNA, an archive I’d never really thought to utilise before. “Rookie error” I hear you cry!

Launched in 2011, the BNA is a partnership between the British Library and findmypast to digitise up to 40 million pages of the British Library’s vast collection of newspapers, over the course of the next 10 years (1). This enables researchers to search through thousands of articles by keyword, name, location, date or title, and see immediate results. Gone are the days of pain staking scrolling through microfiche and actual hard copies of papers - which can be a nice experience once in a while, but when researching on a large scale this resource is a genius one. And that is actually, exactly why I found myself putting aside a couple of days and dedicating that time to a thorough search of the archive. Before, had I had to do it ‘manually’, I’m not sure whether it would have been worth the time, unless of course I’d known exactly what I was looking for - a specific article or edition – and I think I could quickly have got disheartened with it. But there is no need for that with this archive; you can just explore it without that clear idea. I was able to find new snippets of information I had no previous idea about within seconds, and that made for a really exciting couple of days.

The Site

I found it to be a really user friendly database, offering users different ways to filter the results from announcement types to publication titles, date (YYYY/MM/DD) and even public tags (the sorting of articles into additional categories or topics such as news, classifieds, crime, art etc.). The technology used to recognise search terms also works well at picking out those key words for both basic and advanced searches.  And the character recognition software (OCR) is generally spot on, but some of the transcriptions, especially on the older stuff, can be a bit hit and miss. It does however, appear that the BNA acknowledge this limitation and do offer users the opportunity to correct the OCR errors with the ‘Edit Article Text’ option; therefore offering users a way to improve the quality of the database. How many people have used or will use this feature is, I guess, is open to speculation. Only those articles looked at will have any chance of being corrected, we’d hope correctly but there is no guarantee, and also, how will this be kept on top of as new material continues to be added? There are lots of unanswerable questions here, but I think the approach is definitely one to be commended.  

In terms of the images of the papers, they are of a high quality and are easily manipulated by users – zooming in/out and navigating around the page. It was worth, what I expect, was an extra expense, for the quality of images this resource provides is not always matched by its contemporaries. I have had a few experiences where I’ve viewed some online documents and the images have pixelated when enlarged, or been slow to load when navigating around a page. But like I say, I didn’t experience any of those problems here. Upon viewing an article, your attention is also easily drawn to your original search term, which is highlighted by a blue box around the word and the article tends to be a lighter shade than the rest of the page. This is hugely helpful given that each article appears within the full page view of the original document.

One particularly good aspect to this feature is that fact that it gives you the full context in which the article is appearing. You don’t view it in isolation and this really helps with understanding the article and what else was going on at the time. For example, one of the most well-known stories about Charles Jamrach relates to the escape of a tiger from a shipment, onto the Ratcliffe Highway, where it proceeded to attack a young boy named John Wade, in October 1857. Interestingly, one particular article which documented this event, featured just below another article that discussed Imperial Rule within India subsequent to the Indian Mutiny– and in a way it makes a subtle reference to the symbolism that the event of the escaping tiger evoked.

However, with this feature also comes a slight drawback when it comes to downloading or printing articles. As copies of the entire page view, the PDF’s that are produced are large, complete files, when in actual fact you might only want a small snippet or single article. And, from what I could see, there wasn’t the option to print or download just the single article; a feature I’d particularly liked when using 19th Century British Library Newspapers in the past. So I took to print screening the smaller articles, so as to just get the bit I wanted. Where this wasn’t possible, I did save the large ones but am wondering what I will do as and when I decide to print them. It could be a mammoth cut and paste exercise!

In terms of my own research, what can I say? At first I was really excited to see over 1,800 results bought back for my first search term, but very quickly realised that an article published in a national or regional paper would be published numerous times in smaller, local and provincial papers and so there was a fair bit less to look at than I had first anticipated. But I found this to be interesting in itself and quickly noticed a pattern in terms of which sort of articles were published at various times and also, reused at later dates. As you’d expect, the tale of the tiger featured heavily and appeared in over 300 articles, some of which appeared in the October or November of 1857 but some dated later and covered the court case, when Jamrach was sued by Wade’s parents for compensation, and others just reflected on that incident some 10 or 20 years later. So, just by observing that pattern, I was able to reconfirm how dominate that event was in forming society’s view of Charles Jamrach.

One thing I had been a little concerned about when subscribing to this archive was that there might be a usage cap on how many articles you can view in one session/month. But I did a bit of research and was relieved to find that this doesn’t appear to be the case. I was free to mosey about looking at what I wanted and really enjoyed the process of doing so.

Conclusions

The BNA has really opened up the collections of the British Library to a much wider audience and I think that can only ever be a good thing. In many ways it is democratising research and offering researchers of all kinds, access to an invaluable resource that can be at their fingertips in minutes – although, at a cost. I hope that this is a sign of more good things to come and wonder, whether there is scope for the project to run for longer if funding and resources can be found?

So….I know you’re probably all dying to know – what new gems did I uncover? Well it was a bit of a mixed bag really. Sadly, I discovered news reports dating from the 1870s that describe how Mr. Jamrach, “the well-known dealer in wild beasts” was charged at the Thames Police Court with assaulting his wife. (Whether this was Mr Jamrach Snr or Jnr thought, I have yet to determine). One particular report in the Leeds Times goes on to describe details of the two cases which were put to the court, Mrs. Jamrach’s informing of the violence to which she was inflicted, but then it being implied she was actually having an affair with the character witness and medical examiner in the case. The case for the defense was then put forward and the judge told of the “wretched, miserable life [he suffered] at the hands of the complainant”. In the end the summons was dismissed and the judge ruled that Mrs. Jamrach “keep the peace towards her husband for the next three months”.  Would we expect any other judgment given the time?

Then, there is one other final snippet that I will share with you, which is one that really stood out for me, partly because of its ludicrously, but also because it shows how present Jamrach’s was in the consciousness of society during the later half of the nineteenth century. I was very surprised to find a couple of articles dating from 1888 speculating as to the culprit behind the Whitechapel Murders and that actually implicated Jamrach’s. Having been compared to, or perhaps inspired by, Edgar Allan Poe’s short story “Murder in the Rue Morgue”, it appears it was actually suggested that the Whitechapel crimes were being committed due to the “same agency” as that in the story and that “it might be worthwhile... for the police to inquire at Jamrach’s and other dealers in the White-chapel Road and the neighborhood, if any large monkey has escaped”; while another directly claimed it could be down to “one of Jamrach’s Gorilla’s armed with a knife” (2). I had to laugh. It really does seem that Jamrach managed to get himself caught up in all sorts of new stories of the day! I’d say more, but would like to keep something back for those upcoming events – that’s after all what is has all been in aid of.

(1)    http://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/help/about

(2)    http://poestories.com/read/murders

Happy as a pig in muck – Archives, archives and more archives! Part 1

This week I went very much back to basics and found myself in the archive, both in a physical and digital sense, conducting original primary research. I spent the best part of the week examining documents, some of which were over 200 years old, and loved every single minute of it – well, mostly, but all in good time! There was a sense of urgency in my attempts to plan as many archive visits as possible as I have a couple of big ‘events’ coming up in the next few months and as we all know, early preparation – especially given that I’m starting the PhD in September – is always a good idea! I do slightly feel as if I’ve bitten off more than I can chew, however I do tend to thrive under the pressure and I’m really excited about each of the projects!

So, I started this little research binge at Tower Hamlets Local History Library and Archive which was my first experience of a Borough Archive, unless you equate it to a County archive, then Surrey History Centre would be awarded that accreditation. But I digress. But how did I end up there one might ask? And in fact a couple of people have asked me that very question, as it’s a bit off the beaten track and not the most obvious choice to have made.

Well it was in fact the result of an enquiry placed with the Museum of London Docklands in search of material that might shed further light on the life and business of Charles Jamrach.  As part of my ongoing research I really want to try and figure out which London Docks Jamrach was importing into and whether any manifests survive that might tell us a bit more about the transportation of exotic cargo from ‘source’ to the ‘middle man/distributor’. It was therefore through correspondence with the archivist at the Museum of London Docklands that the suggestion was made that I make enquires with Tower Hamlets Library and Archive, as it was explained to me they hold material that focuses expressly on the Borough of Tower Hamlets. So this is exactly what I did and having received a positive response that they do hold some material, off I went, fortunately on a Saturday which meant no need to take a day of work!

 It transpires that the Archive and Library is open on the 1^st and 3^rd Saturday of the month, which for others in a position like I am is a huge benefit. Generally speaking, most archives tend to run 9-5 hours and so if you’re working, conducting research requires you taking holiday. But not in this case. The discovery of Saturday opening hours, especially in relation to a small and locally funded archive, that I expect only attracts a certain niche of researchers, was therefore a hugely pleasant surprise.

What I found was an archive with a lot of character but one I couldn’t help feel harks back to a bygone age. There was lots of wood cladding and retrograde steel shelfs and I wasn’t overly enthusiastic about the cataloguing system or lack thereof - an online version is coming soon which is fantastic, but as a researcher you are completely dependent on the assistance of the archive staff and of course, they can’t always know what you are looking for, because half the time you don’t really know until you find it!

I suppose I’ve been very spoilt in what I’ve experienced in other archives before now, as they’ve tended to be the larger, well-funded ones. For example, I am used to drawing up a list with reference numbers of what I’d like to see before I turn up, or the very least will have arranged this with an archivist beforehand. However that didn’t happen in this case. I was just told to turn up but then when I arrived, I was asked to provide references – catch 22. There is also a further complication which has arisen through subsequent correspondence because referencing on the original material isn’t particularly clear and it’s therefore been difficult for me to supply an accurate reference number for an item I’ve requested a copy of.

I feel pretty useless being so vague about it, as it’s normally something I am very particular about. I want to be able to go back to the original material and re-source what I found, but I also want others to be able to do the same thing if and when they need to – to both corroborate and question my work. And this was also made difficult by the fact that in a number of cases, the material I was looking consisted of newspaper clippings, cut out from the original newspapers and merely stuck to pieces of card, not necessarily with their provenance labelled anywhere. I found this all quite prohibiting as a researcher, so while I may have found some great material, and some pictures I’m very pleased to have found (we now have a face for the name for example), I’m a little hesitant to use them, as I’m not entirely sure where they’ve come from - at least not at the moment. All in all, it felt a little haphazard if I’m honest, but, on a positive note we did get there in the end and the archivist was very helpful in producing a lot more material that I had anticipated being available, so all in all it was a very beneficial visit and I left on a bit of a high it has to be said.

I also had my first microfiche experience at Tower Hamlets Archive which was simply terrifying. Never having used it before I did ask for a tutorial, which the archivist was very happy to provide, but the whole process still scared the life out of me and I had horrible visions of pushing the button too fast and the film bursting into flames and being lost forever. I’m not sure I’d race to use it again – I’d much rather stick to digital archives or those with pages I can turn!

So high on the success from earlier in the week I then headed off to another, arguably more well-known and well used archive, where I spent the next two days. The first day was brilliant. I was very impressed with the archive, the organisation and the staff who were very friendly and accommodating and who helped to create a really nice environment in which to work. As sometimes happens, the material was not all relevant or what I had been hoping to find, but I did find a few nice surprises and had a bit of a refresher in reading 19^th century italicised handwriting. It felt really good to be back in the archive, in a more traditional sense – it had been too long, so all in all I had a really nice and productive day.

However, the second day, or rather, the last half an hour of that second day, was a completely different story. When it hit shift change we ended up with a bit of a jobsworth on the desk and I left feeling completely enraged. The demeanour of that particular archivist is exactly what can put ordinary members of the public off going to archives and what helps to preserve the image that archives are only for the use of the ‘elite’ and members of the ‘academy’. This particular archivist didn’t attempt to educate, but reprimanded in quite an unpleasant tone. Hands up, my original set up wasn’t as it should be, I did have part of the file (a corner) hanging over the edge of the desk, and rightly so she told me to place it more centrally on the desk – fine, I don’t have a problem with that. What I do have a problem with is her both doing it for me and the tone that she adopted. Teach me, don’t lecture me.

But the second thing that also really got me was being told that I couldn’t hold up the documents or angle them ever so slightly in an attempt to decipher, what is quite difficult handwriting to read. I am a historian. I appreciate that documents are fragile and I didn’t take the decision to lift that particular document lightly. Had it been fragile, or tearing or weak in any way I wouldn’t have chosen to look it at that way. I assessed what was in front of me and reacted suitably. And I think that particular archivist needs to appreciate that. As visitors to the archive, we’re not all inferior because we don’t hold the title of archivist.

Documents like those I had been viewing, have been kept to be studied and that’s all I was doing. There was no man handling, just holding it lightly at different angles – and the insistence that they could offer a magnifying glass, I’m afraid, wasn’t go to make that task any easier. The size of the text wasn’t the issue, but had I been asked rather than pre-judged, I might have been able to explain that.

I know archives have rules and guidelines for a reason, but I also think the value in their existence is the use people are able to make of them. Provided people are respectful and careful with the material they handle, we shouldn’t be reprimanded for how we hold a document. It’s a bit backward and old fashioned for my liking - I wouldn’t be surprised if this same archivist favoured the white glove approach as well!

Just why I’m on my soapbox - this particular individual even prohibited a visitor taking a picture of the library. Not specific items or artefacts, just the room as an entity. I mean come on?! Archives shouldn’t be closeted, mysterious entities shut off from the world. They can offer so much, but people need to know they are there in the first place. If anything, that’s what I took most from my experience of Tower Hamlets Archive. I needed to know it was there before it could be of any use to me and what use it was?! The whole thing just really grated on me – especially as it didn’t appear to be the archives’ ethos, just the ethos of that particular archivist.

I can’t help but think, if I felt intimidated having used numerous archives in the past, how would someone inexperienced feel? It really would be enough to put some people off and it continues to promote this elitist approach to archival study and that is something I really resent. I think so many organisations have come so far in accepting ‘modern’ historical practice and in welcoming those from outside the academy, but some and some individuals, have yet to catch up with that philosophy. So yes, you could say that particular archivist put a right downer on the day.

To be continued…