New blog

This blog is now closed, but we're still posting on the new National Library of Scotland blog so you can keep up with all our news on the latest publications, news, events, or anything we find interesting - you may be surprised!

UN 70th Birthday

This Saturday it is the UN’s 70^th birthday. 

On what became UN Day, 24 October 1945, the United Nations Charter was ratified and the UN was created.

The National Library of Scotland is a United Nations Depository Library and as such has a wealth of information on the work of UN.

You can follow the United Nations either by their website at  http://www.un.org/en/index.html

Or see information about the 70th anniversary at http://www.un.org/un70/en

Or on Facebook at  https://www.facebook.com/unitednations

Or on Twitter at https://mobile.twitter.com/un

As President Obama mentioned yesterday about the United Nations.

“Since the end of World War II, the United Nations has provided a forum for all countries to come together around the same rules and norms to help advance development and security; bolster ties between member states; and conquer disease, hunger, and poverty. During this time, we have seen great advances in health and education, the emergence of a global economy connecting every region of the globe through groundbreaking developments in commerce and technology, and the rise of more democratic governments. Even as we recognize the significance of the progress that has been made, we know that grave challenges to our common security and principles risk pulling us back to a more disordered world. In meeting those threats, we must summon the spirit of unity and cooperation at the heart of the United Nations Charter -- signed in 1945 by 51 countries -- and rededicate ourselves in support of the United Nations.”

HAPPY BIRTHDAY UN!

Treaty between Japan and Corea 1876

This is an extract from the House of Lords parliamentary paper about the Treaty between Japan and Corea.

“Having heard that Mr. Miyamoto of the Guaimusho, had returned from Corea with the Envoys, we called upon him.  As it is not within the sphere of his duty to give any information upon purely official matters, we did not seek for this.  But the following observations made by him upon the state of the country and the habits and customs of the people, may prove interesting to our readers, and we therefore publish them.”

Some examples of the observations are; the soil is very poor as the pine trees are “crooked and ugly”, or the houses of the common people are about ten to twelve feet square and are “little better than dog kennels.”  The walls are made of stone and earth and the roofs are made of rice-straw thatch.  People sit on oiled paper on top of the compact earth floors, and they sit with straight legs.  The clothing is described “When approaching the land and at some distance the Coreans present the pretty appearance of snow herons, but on closer inspection they resemble the lazy priests of our own temples, whose garments may once have been white, but are so no longer.”

However, it was the last paragraph of the observations that caught my attention.

“We saw no wine-ships, “geisha” (singing girls), or the like.  It is said that all natural sons become priests, and the daughters prostitutes; but we could not discover whether this was actually the case.  We saw some Japanese hair-oil which they said were used by the women.  The custom of excluding women from the public gaze seems to exist in Corea as in China, and it is said that even among themselves visitors are not permitted to see the wife.  Thus we can give no description of the Corean Women.  Men do not use oil for the hair, which they pin up themselves.  We saw no public baths of hair-dressing shops, and we heard that the Coreans do not bathe.  In the warmer days of summer they go to the river or seashore to wash themselves; and in the hotel where we stayed there was not such a thing as a bath...This accounts for the filthy state in which the Coreans keep their persons, and for the dirty hue of their once white clothes.”

All this and a lot more can be found in the House of Lords parliamentary papers session 1876 vol. XX.

Suffragette

It has taken a decade to get off the ground, but as Suffragette received its UK premiere as the opening film of the London film festival, the film’s director revealed that she was determined not to be knocked off course in her quest to make her 10-year “passion project”.
 View the official Pathe film trailer for 'Suffragette'

Over the last couple of years the Official Publications Team here at the National Library of Scotland have blogged about the Suffragette Movement and I have reposted these below.
We also have a learning resource about the Suffragette Movement in Scotland called 'A guid cause'
The posts below refer to a publication called Hansard. This is the report of proceedings of both the House of Commons and the House of Lords and talks at length about the Suffragettes. If you are resident in Scotland you can access Hansard remotely via the National Library of Scotland once you have applied for a readers card. Alternatively you can search Hansard via this resource although it doesn't have the same level of searching.
I hope this will whet your appetite to find out more about the plight of the Suffragettes  and read the actual accounts of events as they were recorded in Parliament's Hansard.

Friday, 21 June 2013

Suffragist or Suffragette?

After setting up the display about “votes for women” I have to ask myself what would I have been in the battle for a vote, would I have been a suffragist, or a suffragette?

The National Union of Women’s Suffrage Society (NUWSS) was set up in 1897 under the leadership of Millicent Fawcett who wanted to achieve the vote for women by peaceful tactics which included petitions, non-violent demonstrations and lobbying of MPs.

The Suffragette movement was born out of the suffragists’ movement by Emmeline Pankhurst who becoming impatient with not getting the vote. She set up a separate society the Women’s’ Social and Political Union (WSPU) whose motto was DEEDS NOT WORDS and from 1905 onwards became more militant and violent in the methods of campaign.

After reading so many speeches in Hansard I have become quite angry and would hope to have had the courage to be a suffragette.

The following speech is from the MP Mr Dickinson quoted in Hansard vol. 170 on the 8th March 1907

“…and was unable to secure a seat. He sat accordingly on the floor, and [1162] then the Speaker called him by name; and immediately he found himself hauled on to the friendly knees of another hon. friend in order to address the Chair. But supposing on that occasion the unfortunate male had to seek similar refuge on the knees of a lady Member. The privileges of Members would be curtailed in all directions.”

So which camp would you be in?

Friday, 14 June 2013

Emily Davison

The 14th June 2013 marks the 100th year anniversary of the funeral of Emily Wilding Davison the suffragette who died after walking in front of the King’s horse on Derby Day in 1913.

UK Parliament has an interesting website about the suffragettes at

http://www.parliament.uk/visiting/exhibitions-and-events/exhibitions/suffragettes/

 

Tuesday, 4 June 2013

100 years ago!

On the 4th June 1913 Emily Wilding Davison was knocked down by the King's horse at Epsom during the derby. The militant campaigner for women's right to vote died of her injuries four days later.


I have chosen various Hansard quotes for the display cabinet but surprisingly I could not find anything in Hansard about this incident. However, I found this quote from Hansard in 1997/98 vol. 307. Mrs Eileen Gordon (MP Romford) states:

Historically, women have had to fight to achieve equality. However, it is so annoying to most of us to have to make a point that is self-evident. Mention has been made of the suffragette movement, and I hope that all women Members have made a pilgrimage to the store cupboard in the Chapel, where in 1911 Emily Davison hid away to try to get her name on the electoral register at this place. She later died under the hooves of the King's horse at the Derby, giving her life for her beliefs. We should remember those who went before us, who fought for rights that we now take for granted.

Friday, 31 May 2013

"Is there a place for women?"

Mr Grant an MP in 1913 mentioned in Hansard “…in controlling a vast Empire like our own, an Empire built by the mental and physical capacity of men, and maintained, as it always must be maintained, by the physical and mental capacity of masterly natures. I ask “is there a place for women?”

There is a display outside the Reading Room in the Library's George IV Bridge Building, featuring books from the Official Publications Collection on the subject vote for women.

There is also a related podcast recorded earlier this year at
http://nlsopublog.blogspot.co.uk/2013/01/suffragettes-official-view-from.html

Wine tasting - hic!

I find it fascinating to look through the House of Lords parliamentary papers; you never know what you might find.  The reports are full of detailed information, they can include maps, plans, tables of all sorts of statistics and other interesting titbits.  I also love the use of the elaborate English language in these 19^th Century reports, the following paragraph is from the report on the wines tasted at Vienna Universal Exhibition of 1873 , by Henry Vizettelly, Esq.   

“The credit of the first attempt made to assemble together the wines of the world for the purpose of comparing and judging them is undoubtedly due to the French king, Philip Augustus, noted for his patronage of learning and his persecution of the Jews, a friend and enemy by turns of our own Coeur de Lion, and above all the grand consolidator of the regal authority in France, who sent forth his heralds, as the old chronicles tell us to summon, with due flourishing of trumpets, all the wines of the world to his royal and convivial table, that honour might be rendered them accordingly to their deserts.”

He goes on to explain that there has not been such a sample of wines tasted before at a universal exhibition and that most of the wine producing districts of the world were represented.

An example of this is “…the wines of the United States of America exhibited at Vienna were not remarkably varied, still they enabled one to form a fair estimate of the produce of a land which is destined to become, like Australia, one of the great wine-producing regions of the world.  There were merely 17 exhibitors, who, however, contributed among them as many as 82 specimens.”

 I can imagine this gentleman looking over his report, 158 pages in total about wine tasting, and wondering if he tasted every wine!  He also did a report on the beer tasting  at the same exhibition.

In total, there are 5 volumes about the Vienna Universal Exhibition of 1873, 4 in-depth volumes full of various reports and the last volume is full of maps and plans.  These are some photos of the plans that can be found in the 5^th volume.

 

All  the reports on the Vienna Universal Exhibition of 1873 can be found in the House of Lords parliamentary papers session 1874 vols. LXXIII to LXXVII.

 

Cow-dung and water

In appendix no. 1 of the Army Medical Department Report for the year 1871 there is a very interesting report about hygiene.  It has a section on the spread of cholera which mentions the latest discussion in Germany about that disease.

There are many views on how cholera is spread and Pettenkoffer replied to another doctor about his own changes of opinion “and believes such changes to be inevitable with everyone.  He rates our knowledge of Cholera low, but wishes to define his present views as carefully as he can.” 

I was particularly struck by the following incident 

 “On the 20^th November a man named Doolla died of cholera, as was subsequently ascertained. …the discharges had flowed on the earthen floor of the room in which he died; this floor had been cleaned, it was said and washed with cow-dung and water.  On the 26^th November, a burial feast was given in this room by his brother.  The food – rice, lentil, ghee, sugar and spices all of good quality – was cooked in this room on the previous day and night and the moist and hot rice was spread on an open mat laid on the earthen floor….The feast took place at midday on the 26^th November, and a few hours afterwards there was an outbreak of cholera among those who attended.”

The full report can be found in the Army Medical Department Report for the year 1871 in the House of Lords Parliamentary paper session 1873 vol. 34. 

Army Medical Department

Army Medical Department Report for the year 1871

House of Lords Paper 1873 vol. 34

Whilst working on the House of Lords Parliamentary Papers the overwhelming impression is the amount of detailed information in each report.  The amount of work to collate all the tables and material when there were no computers to help is quite staggering and must have been so time consuming.

In this report there are 6 pages of contents, starting with the health of the troops serving in the United Kingdom in 1871.

One example of this is “Of Infantry Regiments the 2^nd battalion 16^th, at Canterbury and Aldershot, had the highest ratio of admissions, the excess being chiefly in cases of febricula, bronchitis and tonsillitis, gonorrhoea, skin diseases and accidental injuries; the 82^nd Regiment at Portsmouth and Aldershot, the highest ratio of deaths.”

They are also detailed accounts of the health of the troops overseas such as China, Japan, India and Mauritius to name a few.

An account from Japan states “local diseases – there was a reduction in the prevalence of diseases of the circulatory and digestive systems, and a very marked one in cases of gonorrhoea, included with diseases of the urinary system; and there was a moderate increase in diseases of the respiratory and cutaneous systems.”

I particularly like the written examinations held at the Army Medical School, Netley.

Questions range from subjects such as medicine, surgery, botany, languages and military hygiene such as :

“What are the chief points to which you would direct your attention in examining whether the ground, round and under any habitation, is likely to be injurious to health?”

And “what are the methods of examining air?”  What amount of air should be given per hour to a healthy man?  On what principle is this rule based and how is the amount attempted to be given in barracks in England?”

This is just a tiny sample of the amazing and detailed amount of information that can be found in the reports from the House of Lords Parliamentary Papers.

Lunacy in scotland

In the thirteenth annual report of the General Board of Commissioners in Lunacy for Scotland there is a wealth of detailed statistics, tables and reports covering all aspects.  A few examples of the tables are:  number and distribution of the insane, causes of the increase of Pauper Patients, Proportion of Private to Pauper Patients, and return of expenditure on account of Pauper Lunatics during the year 1869.

One table is about the number of deaths, it states

“The number of deaths of both sexes is greatest in winter; but the tendency to death is in summer greater among females than males.  This is shown in the following table

We have not the means of ascertaining whither the difference which this Table shows to exist between the male and female mortality in asylums in summer and in winter extends to the general population.”

It continues that if a comparison was done “it would probably be found that in winter there are more deaths from pulmonary disease among males than among females; and in summer more deaths from abdominal disease among females than among males.”

There is a description about the functions of attendants in the asylums.
“Attendants, however, are frequently not trustworthy and are occasionally even guilty of harshness and cruelty.  Nor is this surprising.  The life of an asylum attendant is one which presents few attractions, and its rewards are inconsiderable…..Many dislike the work, or their health suffers and they leave after a short trial.  Others are soon discharged for incapacity, inattention, drunkenness, insubordination, cruelty, or some similar cause.”

There are tables about the nature of accidents and in which asylum the accident occurred.  One such accident was in Argyll where there was an unintentional suicide by drinking carbolic acid.  Another one from Stirling was "fracture of the fourth metatarsal bone in trying to kick another patient."

There is an extensive amount of information in this report and the report can be found in the House of Lords papers, session 1871 volume 45.

Battle of Britain

On the BBC news this morning it was reported that there was going to be:

Battle of Britain: Flypast for 75th anniversary of 'Hardest Day'

Prime Minister Mr Winston Churchill stated on the 20^th August 1940 in the House of Commons two days after the “Hardest day” the following:

We hope, we believe that we shall be able to continue the air struggle indefinitely and as long as the enemy pleases, and the longer it continues the more rapid will be our approach, first towards that parity, and then into that superiority in the air, upon which in a large measure the decision of the war depends. The gratitude of every home in our Island, in our Empire, and indeed throughout the world, except in the abodes of the guilty, goes out to the British airmen who, undaunted by odds, unwearied in their constant challenge and mortal danger, are turning the tide of world war by their prowess and by their devotion. Never in the field of human conflict was so much owed by so many to so few. All hearts go out to the fighter pilots, whose brilliant actions we see with our own eyes day after day, but we must never forget that all the time, night after night, month after month, our bomber squadrons travel far into Germany, find their targets in the darkness by the highest navigational skill, aim their attacks, often under the heaviest fire, often with serious loss, with deliberate, careful discrimination, and inflict shattering blows upon the whole of the technical and war-making structure of the Nazi power.

Provincial workhouses

When working with the House of Lords parliamentary papers I keep coming across some wonderful gems and very thought-provoking facts, I think this one in particular is enthralling in a rather gruesome way.

 “Offensive and disagreeable – there are three classes of cases which should be treated under this head and placed in separate wards, viz., the cases of old people who involuntarily pass their urine when in bed, or when dressed ; those of comparatively recent sore legs, in which offensive discharges still occur ; and those, as cancer of the face, in which not only the discharges are offensive, but the appearance of the person is exceedingly repulsive to others.  The rule should be rigidly maintained that cases which are offensive to others should not be mixed with ordinary cases.

This is an extract taken from a report by Dr Edward Smith dated the 15^th day of April 1867 after visiting certain workhouses.  He is reporting upon the sufficiency of the existing arrangements for the care and treatment of the sick poor in these workhouses.

The report covers and goes into great depth on

·         dealing with the sick with different illnesses, like the itch

·         the officers in charge of the sick

·         the nurses

·         the medical officers

·         the character and construction of sick wards

·         furniture and medical appliances.

This report is full of fascinating information on the state of the workhouse. The appendix is very detailed and all his observations of the individual workhouses he visited are recorded in minute detail. It can be found in vol. XVIII session 1867-68 paper number 48.

It is another example of the remarkable reports to be found in the House of Lords parliamentary papers.

Convicts in Western Australia 1863!

Browsing through this report, there is such a wealth of information to be found, there are detailed written reports from the Superintendent, the Roman Catholic Chaplin, the Protestant Chaplin, the schoolmaster and the Surgeon Superintendent to name a few.  There are also tables with information such as prison offences, crimes, prisoners in custody, ages, church parade state, punishments, diseases and time tables.  (see photograph)

The following caught my eye it is an extract from the Surgeon Superintendent’s report from the Lunatic Asylum, Freemantle January 1864.

He states “The general health of the patients at this asylum, both male and female, has, as in former years, been remarkably good; no epidemic has been present, and even the influenza which for three months was extremely prevalent at Freemantle, scarcely, if at all, affected the inmates of the asylum.  This state of health is more noteworthy, occurring as it does in spite of many influences being present which usually tend to create bad health and disease, viz., a low damp site, ill-ventilated and overcrowded wards, and the frequent presence of an overpowering stench from the beach, immediately contiguous, consequent on putrescent jelly-fish, seaweed, and other decay.”

He continues “…there is a liberal diet, and a plentiful supply of books; and for the females there is also in addition plenty of needlework, besides washing and cleaning.”  He doesn’t state what the men can do.

All this and much more can be found in session 1865 vol. IX entitled Annual reports on the Convict Establishments at Western Australia and Tasmania presented to both Houses of Parliament by Command of Her Majesty 2^nd June 1865.

Indexes to the Proceedings of the United Nations

The UN Index to Proceedings provides a window into the annual meetings of the main UN organs - General Assembly, Economic and Social Council and the Security Council.
The Index to Proceedings ceased in print version in 2011 and is now available as a free PDF download.
The National Library of Scotland is a United Nations Depository Library and as such holds a large collection of printed material from the UN and it's sub bodies. These can all be consulted in our main reading room in George IV Bridge, Edinburgh

A nice cup of TEA

“It is not, however, in the consumption of the United Kingdom alone, that a market would be found for its produce.  The whole Continent of Europe has lately adopted its use in a greater or less degree, and in many countries, such as Canada, the United States and the Barbary Coast, the consumption has become very considerable.”

This is a description of TEA conquering the world!

 From the “Copy of papers received from India relating to the measures adopted for introducing the cultivation of the tea plant within the British Possessions in India” some paragraphs jumped out at me whether for the language used in the correspendence or for the sense of history.  

The following were written by W H Macnaghten Secretary to the Governor of India in the Extract India Revenue Consultations 1 February 1834.

 ”it has been generally imagined that China was the only country where the tea plant would grow, or where it could be cultivated and manufactured.  Recent investigations have dissipated this delusion; for we shall find that the Burmese, the Japanese, and Brazilians, as well as the Chinese, have cultivated tea with success; and we may confidently state, that if in future we are not rendered independent of the Chinese, by producing tea from our own territories and colonies, it will be our own fault, and that we shall merit continuation of that insolence from the Chinese government…”

or

“The inhabitants of India have little or no occupation excepting that of agriculture; and the cultivation and preparation of tea would admirably accord with their sedentary and tranquil habits.  The skill of our manufacturers has not only totally superseded the introduction of muslins and cottons from India but the exportation of Manchester and Glasgow cottons and muslins to India has so deluged the Indian markets, that many thousands of the native weavers are ruined, and in the greatest distress.  Their economical habits also render labour extremely low in price.  Tea, like almost all other articles, is the produce of land and labour…the East India Company are much at a loss to provide some reasonable occupation for the natives, to promote peaceful habitats of industry amongst them.  It is also an object of great importance to the East India company to obtain facilities to bring home their territorial revenues, which at present they have imperfect means of doing; in many instances the loss in exchange has been dreadful”.

or

“we can scarcely doubt that, when the skill and science of the Europeans, aided by thermometers etc, shall once be applied to the cultivation and preparation of tea in favourable situations, the Chinese tea will soon be excelled in quality and flavour. “ 

A drawing of a tea plant.
Map of where tea could grow

 

To read the whole  paper it can be found in vol. VII of the House of Lords 1839, (paper 44).

Hill Coolies in British Guiana

Whilst working on the House of Lords paper I found the following

“Correspondence on the condition of the Hill Coolies in British Guiana.”

It is amazing that so much detail can be found in the House of Lords Papers.  When looking through this report I found very detailed tables about the situation of the Hill Coolies with headings such as name, where from, sex, height, age, on which estate located, name of proprietor of estate, employment, monthly wage, weekly rations, clothing kind and quality, colour, health and remarks.

The health information was either very brief e.g.  good health, sickly, not very healthy, dead, but occasionally more information was given such as “health good and would continue so was it not for their great propensity for strong liquors” or “sickly from the first” and even “very bad, is recovering”.

Examples from the remarks column are

“ The behaviour of the majority good; the minority of which there is a very large one, are lazy, disobedient, insolent and worthless.  Those marked with a * are suffering from the excessive use of ardent drinks, from which they cannot be kept, as they will sell the very clothes off their backs to procure it” or no favourable report can be given.

The report continues with all the correspondence which includes dispatches, letters and reports.

The following is taken from a dispatch from Governor Light to Lord Glenelg on the 11^th January 1839.

“…The coolies on Mr Gladstone’s property are a fine healthy body of men ; they are beginning to marry  or cohabit with the Negresses, and to take pride in their dress; the few words of English they know, added to signs common to all, prove that “sahib” was good to them.  The magnificent features of the men, their well-shaped, through slender limbs promise well for mixture of the Negress with the Indian.  Palm oil and ghee the first for the bodies, the second for their meals, are not always to be obtained; their employers endeavour to content with some substitute.”

You can find this wealth of information in the House of Lords paper 202, 1839 in vol. VII .

 

Waterloo

Reported in the House of Commons Hansard on the Friday 23^rd June 1815 (vol.31 GHC.5)

THANKS TO THE DUKE OF WELLINGTON, PRINCE BLUCHER, AND THE ALLIED ARMIES.

Lord Castlereagh, in rising to call the attention of the House to the last splendid triumph of the British arms, was at a loss to express the feelings which he experienced in common with all who heard him. On various occasions he had had the honour to address them on the exploits of that illustrious Commander, who was the subject of the motion with which, he should conclude; but never, even among the mighty achievements which had swelled our military renown, since that exalted character was placed at the head of our army, had it been his lot to submit to Parliament a proposition founded on an event so glorious as that which called for the expression of their gratitude this day. The present was a triumph of such a character, that, without disparagement, to those actions in which his great genius had formerly displayed itself, he might say of it-it had never happened, even to him, to confer so great a benefit on his country before. It was an achievement of such high merit, of such pre-eminent importance, as had never perhaps graced the annals of this or any other country till now; and when considered, not only with a view to the immediate loss inflicted on the enemy, but with reference to the moral effect which it must be expected to produce on the war now commenced, in the issue of which the fate of this country, of Europe, and the world were so closely bound up, it must be felt that it opened to our view a prospect so cheering, and so transcendently bright, that no language could do justice to the feelings it must naturally inspire…..

(He continues for a few pages and then concludes)… 
 

He felt that any further attempt on his part to bring the subject under the consideration of the House, would be worse than useless, and would therefore conclude. The noble lord then moved, "That the Thanks of this House be given to field-marshal the Duke of Wellington, Knight of the most noble Order of the Garter, for the consummate ability, unexampled exertion, and irresistible ardour, displayed by him on the 18th of June, on which day the decisive victory-over the enemy, commanded by Buonaparté in person, was obtained by his grace, with the Allied troops under his command, and in conjunction with the troops under the command of marshal Prince Blucher, whereby the military glory of the British nation has been exalted, and the territory of his Majesty's ally the King of the Netherlands, has been protected from invasion and spoil." This motion was carried in the affirmative, nemine contradicente. [The Speech and Motion were followed by loud and long cheering.]

The 125th Anniversary of the Forth Bridge

To coincide with the 125 anniversary of the opening of the Forth Bridge in 1890 Tom Martin gave a very interesting talk at the National Library of Scotland last night about the building of the bridge and the men who worked on it. Built between 1882 and 1890, the Forth Railway Bridge is regarded as a masterpiece of Victorian engineering. It was designed by the engineers Sir John Fowler and Sir Benjamin Baker, and the contractor for the construction was Tancred, Arrol & Co. At the peak of the construction there were over 4,500 men employed on the bridge. They worked twelve hour shifts, twenty four hours a day, 6 days a week. The risks to the mens safety were great. As well as the many injuries that occurred as a result of their work there were at least 73 fatalities. It was compulsory for the men to join the Sick and Accident Club which was established in 1883. One of the benefits of the Club was that “funerals would be paid for within reason” During 1883-1890 there were 28 quarterly inspections undertaken on the bridge. These can be found in the Parliamentary Papers collection in the National Library of Scotland or can be viewed digitally on the House of Commons Parliamentary Papers database. If you have a library card and are resident in Scotland this database can be viewed remotely. The National Library of Scotland’s treasures display ‘The Forth Bridge: building of an icon’ runs until the 21st June. Digital images of the construction of the bridge can be viewed in the NLS’s digital gallery Further information on the men who built the bridge can be found on the ‘Briggers’ web site.

Chelsea Flower Show

In an article about the Chelsea Flower Show, the BBC reported that the organisers had noted “nearly a quarter of the UK's front gardens are now paved over.”  The results of a survey showed that 24% of gardens are paved, concreted or gravelled.

In the Official Publications Collection there is a small item entitled “Our Gardens” (shelfmark GHA.1/2).  It was published in 1948 and in the foreword by the Minister of Health (Aneurin Bevan) explains that “the purpose of this book is to show how much anyone who is fortunate enough to have a garden can do to add to the attractiveness of his neighbourhood….I therefore commend this little book in the hope that it will help us all to maintain in the surroundings and the settings of our homes that tradition of good gardening of which our country has always been proud.”

In Hansard from the Lords Sitting of Monday, 21st January,vol. 348 (shelfmark GHL.5) 1974

Lord Chorley states  ”I think that the English people should be particularly sensitive to the importance of their floral heritage. What have flowers meant to the English? If you go to the Chelsea Flower Show, if you go to Vincent Square every fortnight, you will see not wild flowers but flowers which have developed out of wild flowers; but for the wild flowers they would not be displayed there and our gardens in the summer would not be the lovely sights that they are. Plants have meant a very great deal to the English people, to the English way of life and to our culture. One important aspect of this I have already mentioned; namely, what flowers have meant to our poets. Obviously, our greatest poets have been as much moved by the charming little flowers in our countryside as by almost anything else, and that has meant a great deal. The inspiration to our people of our great poets-Shakespeare, Wordsworth and the others-cannot be measured. It certainly cannot be measured in money. It cannot really be measured in words. What would Wordsworth's poetry be without the flowers?”

How did Scotland Vote? – UK General Election 2015

The UK General Election 2015 was held on the 7 May. This infographic provides details on the results in Scotland. From the Scottish Parliament's SPICe briefing series.

Historic political papers to be made available online

Access is opening up to valuable House of Lords papers that go to the heart of 19th century British political history. A project to digitise the papers will give free online access to National Library of Scotland registered readers with a Scottish address. At present they can only consult this parliamentary material by visiting the Library in person.

OECD iLibrary

OECD iLibrary is the global knowledge base for OECD’s data and analysis. It is one of the most comprehensive online resources on the world economy, society, education and environment. It contains all books and papers published since 1998 as well as a vast collection of statistics, with data going back to the early 1960s and more than 80 countries are covered. More detailed information can be found here You can get remote access to this resource if you are resident in Scotland and have a library card If you have any queries regarding this resource please contact enquiries@nls.uk

Bradford Stadium fire : 30th anniversary

On 11 May 1985, a fire broke out in the wooden stand at Bradford’s Valley Parade ground during a match between Bradford City and Lincoln City. 56 people were killed and hundreds of others badly burned. A Committee of Inquiry chaired by Sir Oliver Popplewell was set up under the Safety at Sports Grounds Act to investigate the causes and find ways to improve safety. The Inquiry also considered the tragedies at Birmingham City and the Heysel stadium. The Papers are the submissions and evidence gathered by the Committee from many sources, including the Fire Brigade, police, football clubs, other sports facilities, and the press. Access to these reports is available digitally via the National Library of Scotland to readers resident in Scotland by applying for a reader's card Interim report P.P. 1984/85 Cmnd 9585 and P.P. 1884/85 Cmnd 9710 Final report

to go or not to go - emigration in 1846

This is an extract taken from the several weekly reports made to the Governor-General by the Chief Agent for the Superintendence of Emigration at Quebec.

Dated August 20, 1846

“Sir,

In answer to your letter of the 14^th instant, requesting me to inform you of the state and condition to which the passengers of the barque “Elizabeth and Sarah” arrived at this station… On boarding her I found the passengers in the most wretched state of filth and disease.  No order or regulation appeared to have been preserved, or any attempt at enforcing cleanliness.  Their excrements and filth have been thrown in the ballast, producing a stench which made it difficult to remain any length of time below.  I found about 26 cases of fever and received the names of 20 others, including the master, who had died on the passage…. On landing the passengers at the sheds, I had to send 50 more to hospital, where there is at this moment 76, and six have died in hospital since landing.  The remainder, though weak, are healthy at present, and have been made to clean themselves, their clothes and bedding, those of them that have any, but the major part of them are destitute of a second change of clothes....The causes which have conspired to produce disease and death among the passengers are ….

1^st.   Want of cleanliness and inattention to ventilation.

2^nd. Insufficiency of food and water, and that of an unwholesome quality.

3^rd. Overcrowding.

These causes conspired to produce fever, and when once disease set in, the effluvium from the persons of the sick, dying, and dead, confined in the hold (the master was kept two or three weeks on board after death), soon rendered the whole atmosphere unfit for respiration."

He goes on to state that the Captain “was a man unfit, morally and physically, to take charge of a passenger vessel; he was in ill health and of intemperate habits.”

To read the whole report it can be found at

Papers relative to Emigration to the British Provinces in North America

House of Lords paper 1847 vol. XV

Research guides from the United Nations Libraries

The UN Libraries in New York, Geneva and Vienna have an impressive selection of research guides on a variety of topics available. I would like to highlight a couple of useful guides from the extensive list UN Documentation: Overview UN Documentation: How to Find UN Documents

Prsions in Scotland 1854

 

Sixteenth report of the General Board of Directors of Prisons in Scotland (1854)

This report is a very interesting read on the state of the prison service in Scotland.  I have only picked out a few informative facts. 

Library -“The Chaplain reports that the books in the library, consisting of standard popular and instructive works, well adapted to incite and gratify a desire for mental, moral and religious improvement, are read with advantage and are in good order.  Every prisoner who can read is supplied once a week with a religious and secular book.”

Exercising -The average time for exercise is 72 minutes daily.  The exercise pattern has been changed from the 7th November and the prisoners that were to be kept in strict separate confinement no longer walk in single file or wear masks.

Rules for the Governor -No. 27 “He shall see that the Prison is at all times quite secure ; and shall not allow any trees to grow against any of the walls…”

Uniforms -The male dress consisted of a “jacket, waistcoat, with sleeves, trowsers [sic] shirt, pocket handkerchief, shoes and stockings, neck-handkerchief and cap when necessary, a belt, (when the prisoner has been in the habit of wearing one.  In winter serge drawers, and the waistcoat to be lined with serge, and for those who require it, an under waistcoat of serge.”

The female dress was “striped shortgown, twilled cotton under petticoat, blue plaiding under petticoat, bodice of stout twilled cotton, shift, pocket handkerchief, shoes and stockings, neckerchief, cap when necessary, other necessary articles.  In winter a drugget upper petticoat , instead of a cotton one.” 

Sickness - In total 96 persons have been placed on the sick list out of these forty seven have been “seriously and dangerously ill, and forty nine more slightly.”  In total 9 prisoners died from various illnesses- such as consumption, progressive general paralysis (a disease to which the insane are peculiarly liable) and a severe nose bleed.

However, there was an incidence of diarrhoea in the prison but out of all the inmates only two died and these “were those of two Insane prisoners, who obstinately refused all medical assistance.”

 

 

70th anniversary of the United Nations

The United Nations Library to commemorate the 70th anniversary has produced a website 70 years, 70 documents presenting an exploration of the seventy key documents that have shaped the United Nations and our world. I recently put together a display in the National Library of Scotland demonstrating the range and depth of the library's Official Publications collection. I chose to do this by selecting one year, in this case 1948. UN General Assembly adopted the Universal Declaration of Human Rights on 10 December 1948 in Paris and I chose to include this in the display. It also appears in the UN's 70 years, 70 documents as the key document for that year.

What happens if there is a hung parliament?

We are now in the official run up to the 2015 General Election. Find out what will happen if the election results in a hung parliament. This is when the election results in no single political party winning an overall majority in the House of Commons, this is also known as a situation of no overall control.

What the Washerwoman saw!

This is from the minutes of evidence taken upon the second reading of the bill intituled

“An Act for dissolving the Marriage of John Worrall, Esquire, with Sophia Mariner his now wife, and for enabling him to marry again; and for other purposes therein mentioned”

“Then Sarah Jackson was called in and having being sworn, was examined as follows:

(By Counsel) Are you the wife of Mr Abraham Jackson of Leeds?

Yes.

Have you known Mr and Mrs Worrall?

Yes.

Did you ever live in the Family, or were you employed as their Washerwoman?

I was employed as their Washerwoman.

Do you remember Mr Sanderson coming to the house?

Yes, very well”…

It continues…

"Did he visit while Mr Worrell was away?

Yes

Do you remember Mrs Worrell going away?

Yes

About what?

About her being in the family way by Mr Sanderson”

 

As an aside, whilst reading the minutes, I noticed that when a woman was called to give evidence she was asked if she was the wife of whomever, but when a man was called he was never asked if he was a husband of somebody.   

Chimney sweeps and sooty warts!

Report from the Committee on Employment of Boys in Sweeping of Chimnies [sic] : together with the minutes of evidence taken before the Committee and an appendix.

House of Lords paper 16 Vol. XCI 1817

This report is  "to examine the several petitions which have been presented to the House against the employment of boys in sweeping chimnies."

The minutes are quite harrowing to read as they describe the treatment of the boys in this trade, the age of the children going up the chimneys can be as young as a four year old, the deformities, the diseases and the ill treatment are dreadful.  The following are some extracts from the minutes.

One of the questions from the minutes of evidence is “Had you any information how often they were washed, or if any care was taken that they should be washed, by those persons who were not considered as respectable masters? – We found that among the less respectable class of chimney sweepers the boys were taken to the New River of a Sunday morning in the summer season. “

The same question was asked about the winter months the answer was “we had reason to fear there was not, and which would account for the disorders generated by remaining longer that the week in their filthy garments.”  The main disorder was a cancer that affected the scrotum, known as sooty warts!

One respectable chimney master states that in cold weather they do let the boys wash in warm water.

The chimney sweeps would have sores, bruises, wounds and burns on their thighs and knees and “sometimes they get burnt by chimnes partly on fire”.  If a boy is unwilling to go up a chimney the masters will use a rod or the threat of being sent back to their home. They use pins in the feet to force the boy up the chimney. Apparently they don’t light straw under them to encourage them to go up the chimney, although one person has heard of a case that they do.  They have deformities of the spine, legs and arms and once they have grown too big for the job they are cast out without being taught a trade or having any other means to make a living.
 

Butcher Birds

I found a beautiful little book in our Official Publications Indian  paper collection called "Bird friends and foes of the farmer."

The author a Mr P. Susainathan has devoted years to the observation of bird life.  In the preface it states  ”It is unnecessary to emphasize the extent to which birds affect all those engaged in farming : but apart from their importance to the agriculturist in this respect they are of absorbing interest in themselves.  We all need recreation of some kind”

I particularly like the Shrikes or Butcher-birds.  This bird impales its prey on acacia and cactus thorns before commencing to make a meal of it.  This bird is beneficial to the farmer!

Another bird is the Hoopoes which like rubbish heaps and termite mounds!  The call of this bird resembles the sound “Hoop-hoop” repeatedly.   This bird should be encouraged and protected as its love of eating insects helps to reduce the dreaded mosquito.

A bird which is also useful to the farmer and people is the vulture, in particular the smaller White Scavenger Vulture which is a foul feeder on human excreta and dead animals.  This bird should be encouraged in towns and villages.   However, the parrot family includes a number of bird-pests to agriculture which are a constant menace to standing crops!

This little book full of information and illustrations can be found at IP/25/AD.1.

Auschwitz-Birkenau Nazi death camp liberated 27/1/1945

Today marks the 70th year of the liberation of the Auschwitz-Birkenau Nazi death camp.  The United Nations High Commissioner for Human rights Zeid Ra'ad Al Hussein issued the following statement to mark this International Day of Commemoration in Memory of the Victims of the Holocaust.

“Seventy years ago on this forever solemn day, Auschwitz-Birkenau – the largest killing centre of the Nazi concentration camps – was finally liberated.

We continue to be haunted by the fate of the millions of Jewish men, women and children, as well as Roma, Poles, Soviet prisoners of war and other prisoners and deportees from all over Europe, people with disabilities, homosexuals, and dissidents, who suffered and were killed by this ghastly extermination machine. The memory of well over a million Jewish children, and thousands of other children, who were put to death is particularly unbearable. Both personally and as a representative of the United Nations, I bow to every woman, man and child who was forced to endure such terrible suffering.

The Charter of the United Nations – which also commemorates its 70th anniversary this year – was shaped in response to the atrocities of the Holocaust and the Second World War. The Charter seeks to establish a new "vision of what the world should be". It should be a world in which all people are able to exercise their human rights in freedom, dignity and equality, in full accordance with international human rights law.

And yet the toxic influences of discrimination and racial and ethnic hatred can still be felt among us, and the catalogue of atrocities runs on and on.

Discrimination and hatred kill and wound thousands of people. They also harm each one of us. They negate the wonderful diversity of individuals and cultures within our shared membership of humanity, and our fundamental and universal human rights.

In memory of the victims and survivors of the Holocaust, and the pain that many others have since endured, I believe that it is urgent for us all to strengthen our moral courage. We must resist discrimination of every kind so that all may live in liberty, with respect, equality and justice. “

Mary Slessor and the evils of drink

Mary Slessor died 100 years ago on the 13 Jan 1915 aged 67.
She was a Scottish missionary to Nigeria.

I checked the House of Commons Parliamentary Papers database to see if she was mentioned and found the following information.

She was called and examined on Friday 21st May 1909 to give evidence for the report of the Committee of Inquiry into the Liquor Trade in Southern Nigeria (Command 4907). 

There are quite a few gruesome facts she mentions in the inquiry and one example is about the ordeal of oil, which she could see from her window every morning.

“Perhaps they had had a big drunk [sic.] the night before, and had all got headaches in the morning, and were accusing their wives of all sorts of things, and they have the ordeal to find out the guilty ones…"Then somebody takes a ladle of boiling oil and pours it into their hands, and of course they run away screaming. .. if the oil burnt down in this way (describing) there was no palaver, but if it did not they were found guilty.”

If they were found guilty “They were tied up with a stake with thorns on it, and with the bones of a tiger, and trussed up close, and their legs tied close together with the stick of thorns in between.” she mentioned “This was a thing of daily occurrence, and that it was caused by drink.”

You can read the full report in the House of Commons Parliamentary Papers database listed under licensed digital collections.  This is freely available to readers in Scotland with a National Library of Scotland readers ticket.  Or you can read the original command paper which can be found at the shelfmark P.P. 1909 vol. ix Cd 4907.