Tag: advent calendar

  • 6. Travelling to India: a handy list for the whole family

    6. Travelling to India: a handy list for the whole family

    By Mobeen Hussain (@amhuss27) As a colonial officer in India, it was paramount that one knew what to expect and how to prepare for the sweltering climate. The mid to late nineteenth century saw a surge of advice books and manuals, mainly written by men, for families voyaging to the Subcontinent. One such book was…

  • 7. Cylindrical Slag Block: Archaeological Discoveries in Lejja, South-eastern-Nigeria

    7. Cylindrical Slag Block: Archaeological Discoveries in Lejja, South-eastern-Nigeria

    By Chioma Vivian Ngonadi (@ChiomaNgonadi12) The process of precolonial metalworking is recognised by the presence of material fingerprints such as slags, remains of blooms, or finished objects (Chirikure 2013). In Lejja-Igboland, southeastern Nigeria, iron smelting is an indigenous craft specialization that flourished on an industrial scale from around 2000 BC (Eze-Uzomaka 2013). Evidence, in the…

  • 8. School attendance medals: a status symbol?

    8. School attendance medals: a status symbol?

    By Helen Sunderland (@hl_sunderland) In the first decades of mass schooling in late nineteenth-century Britain, attendance was a persistent issue. Parents often resented having to send their children to school, which for many meant forfeiting much-needed income. To improve attendance levels, education authorities rewarded children who had spotless attendance records with medals. A year without…

  • 9. 1891 Map from Populations Past

    9. 1891 Map from Populations Past

    By Dr Alice Reid (@amrcampop) This map, from PopulationsPast.org, shows the sex ratio among working-age adults in 1891, calculated from census data. Areas in red have more men than women and areas in blue have more women than men. Geographical differences in the sex ratio reflect nineteenth century migration patterns and employment opportunities which pulled…

  • 12. The privy seal writ: an unwelcome gift

    12. The privy seal writ: an unwelcome gift

    By Laura Flannigan  (@LFlannigan17) One of the main methods by which accused parties were summoned to appear before central English law courts in the early modern period was the privy seal writ. Issued from the royal Chancery at Westminster to the litigant (for a fee), this writ was a small document in Latin or English, folded…