Middleton Road is by no means in the ‘middle of town’. At the time it was built, ‘by the 1890s’ (1), it would have been on Salisbury’s outskirts.

It could be that ‘Middleton’ is the name of the one of . . . → Read More: Middleton Road, Salisbury]]> Middleton Road is on the northern side of Salisbury, close to Saint Paul’s Church.

Middleton Road is by no means in the ‘middle of town’. At the time it was built, ‘by the 1890s’ (¹), it would have been on Salisbury’s outskirts.

It could be that ‘Middleton’ is the name of the one of the developers of the area – roads in the same development are seemingly random forenames (or possibly surnames) – for example Sidney Street, George Street and James Street.

I would prefer to think, though, that the naming of Middleton Road was, and is, a tribute to Dr Andrew Middleton.

Doctor Middleton and the 1849 Salisbury cholera epidemic

The epidemic – ‘the sickness pervades the whole city’

The sad story of the 1849 cholera epidemic is best told by Ruth Newman in:

• the book ‘Salisbury Past‘, co-written with J Howells (²)
• the article ‘Salisbury in the time of Cholera’ in Sarum Chronicle, Issue 6 (³)

Much of the material presented on this page is used by kind permission of Mrs Newman.

192 people died in the epidemic. At the time this was roughly 1 in every 45 of the population of Salisbury.

It’s perhaps worth considering the numbers. In today’s larger Salisbury schools this death rate would equate to two kids dying of cholera in every year group.

The London Times reported that:

the sickness … pervades the whole city. Deaths have occurred in nearly every street.(⁴)

Salisbury Cholera Deaths Road by Road

A subsequent Board of Health report listed the deaths in each street (⁵):

31 people died in Castle Street, Salisbury, in the Cholera Epidemic

The cholera epidemic has come up now and again whilst I’ve been researching Salisbury’s road names. A couple of examples:

• the economist John Maynard Keynes’ grandfather’s first wife ‘died in a cholera epidemic’(⁶)
• the Godolphin School moved out of Salisbury up onto Milford Hill ‘to escape the cholera epidemic in the city’(⁷)
• Mrs Louisa Caswell, wife of the Edward Caswell, who was a writer, and curate at Stratford-sub-Castle died of the cholera(⁸)

Disagreements and the Salisbury Journal’s censorship

Dr Middleton argued that the unsanitary living conditions in Salisbury were spreading the disease. He argued that the system of water channels throughout the town were a significant part of the problem. He organized a petition for a Board of Health enquiry.

The city council, with some popular support, opposed Middleton. A petition against an enquiry was organized, and gained a greater number of signatures.

The Salisbury Journal remained silent about the outbreak, ostensibly because it didn’t want to scare its readers. The Journal was forced to break its silence when letters appeared in the London Times. The Times specifically attacked the Journal for its suppression of the story.

Why were the council and many of the people opposed to an enquiry?

It’s not easy to say.

Lack of scientific knowledge was a factor – the cholera bacillus wasn’t discovered until 1854(⁹) and cholera itself had been unknown in Britain until 1829. The dominant theory at the time was that cholera, and other diseases, were spread by ‘bad air’ or miasma(¹⁰)

Perhaps the idea that the sanitary conditions were to blame ran contrary to ‘common sense’. The channels and the courts had been there for hundreds of years ‘without doing anyone any harm’. Nobody had suggested that the watercourses played a role in other epidemics, such as the Plague. In a time before the different ways in which diseases are transmitted was understood perhaps it was more ‘sensible’ to attribute the epidemic to bad luck?

Perhaps also it was easier to blame ‘bad luck’ rather than to admit that the 192 deaths could have been prevented?

On the other hand, there may have been a degree of self interest involved. The members of the council would have been some the landlords who would have to bear much of the financial brunt of sanitary reform.

The disagreement was particularly heated on the subject of the water channels. A City medical officer, John Winzar stated that:

‘Neither nature nor art could possibly have formed channels better adapted for effectually carrying away the sewage of the city’. (¹¹)

There were stories of trout being discovered in channels in the middle of the city – ‘proving’ how healthy and clean they were (¹²).

Despite the local opposition, the Board of Health sent Thomas Rammel, who reported in 1851. (¹³)

Thomas Rammel’s report

Rammel found that (¹⁴) :

• the water channels were no use for removing sewage. Rammel pointed out that 114 deaths were in streets with open channels, 47 in streets with closed channels and 29 in streets with no channel.(¹⁵)
• the courts, in the centres of the chequers, were ‘indescribably filthy’ (¹⁶)
• the wells were contaminated by seepage from toilets and graveyards

Sanitation – a ‘New Sarum’

The town council was forced to adopt the 1848 Public Health Act, and to start filling in the water channels. Over the next few years (¹⁷):

• a water works was built to the north of the city
• deep sewers were built, to which households were gradually connected
• land for new cemeteries was purchased on the Devizes Road and at Bishopdown

Middleton wrote:

I shall always be happy to plead guilty to the charge of having caused the destruction of the ‘English Venice’ since by that destruction a ‘New Salisbury’ has been created, and very many hundreds of human beings saved from an untimely death (¹⁸)

Middleton Road and the honouring of Andrew Middleton

Was Middleton Road named after Dr Andrew Middleton?

I don’t yet know for sure.

In retrospect the campaign waged by Middleton and others did indeed save many in Salisbury from an untimely death, but I don’t know whether this would have been recognized by the time of the building and naming of Middleton Road.

Cholera today

People still die from cholera today.

In 2005, 2272 deaths were reported to the World Health Organisation, across 52 countries.

It’s a highly preventable disease – the fact that there were no further outbreaks in Salisbury after 1849 shows this. However the WHO says:

There is clear trend that cholera is re-emerging in parallel
with the ever-increasing proportion of vulnerable
populations who live in unsanitary conditions. Cholera
remains a global threat and one of the key indicators of
social development. While the disease no longer poses a
threat to countries where minimum standards of hygiene
are met, it remains a challenge in those countries
where access to safe water and adequate sanitation cannot
be guaranteed for all. (¹⁹)

Wateraid

One charity that is working to provide access to safe water and adequate sanitation is WaterAid.

WaterAid is working in 17 countries to provide water and sanitation to people that need it.

As the Salisbury experience shows, it’s an easily preventable disease.

If you would like to continue the fight against cholera and other water-borne diseases please visit the WaterAid website, sign up to their newsletter and perhaps consider a donation.

Footnotes

1. Salisbury – The expansion of the city; Milford | British History Online
2. Newman, R. and Howells, J.: Salisbury Past (Chichester: Phillimore, 2001), pages 84-85.
3. Sarum Chronicle, Issue 6. Hobnob Press October 2006, 64-page illustrated paperback, price £4.50, ISBN10 0-946418-54-3; ISBN13 978-0-946418-54-1
4. Sarum Chronicle, Issue 6. pages 11-19. Hobnob Press October 2006, 64-page illustrated paperback, price £4.50, ISBN10 0-946418-54-3; ISBN13 978-0-946418-54-1
5. Newman, R. and Howells, J.: ‘Salisbury Past ‘ ,Chichester: Phillimore, 2001, pages 85.
6. ECONOMISTS PAPERS Series Two: John Neville Keynes
7. Wiltshire Council – Wiltshire Community History Get School Information
8. Catholic Encyclopedia (1913)/Edward Caswall – Wikisource
9. Who first discovered cholera?
10. 1854 Broad Street cholera outbreak – Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
11. From: ‘Salisbury: City government since 1836′, A History of the County of Wiltshire: Volume 6 (1962), pp. 113-117. URL: Salisbury – City government since 1836 | British History Online Date accessed: 24 September 2009.
12. ‘Salisbury in the time of Cholera’ in Sarum Chronicle, Issue 6. Hobnob Press October 2006, price £4.50, ISBN10 0-946418-54-3; ISBN13 978-0-946418-54-1
13. From: ‘Salisbury: City government since 1836′, A History of the County of Wiltshire: Volume 6 (1962), pp. 113-117. URL: Salisbury – City government since 1836 | British History Online Date accessed: 24 September 2009.
14. From: ‘Salisbury: City government since 1836′, A History of the County of Wiltshire: Volume 6 (1962), pp. 113-117. URL: Salisbury – City government since 1836 | British History Online Date accessed: 25 September 2009.
15. Newman, R. and Howells, J.: ‘Salisbury Past‘ ,Chichester: Phillimore, 2001, pages 85.
16. quote from the Victoria County History
17. From: ‘Salisbury: City government since 1836′, A History of the County of Wiltshire: Volume 6 (1962), pp. 113-117. URL: Salisbury – City government since 1836 | British History Online Date accessed: 25 September 2009.
18. ‘Salisbury in the time of Cholera’ in Sarum Chronicle, Issue 6. Hobnob Press October 2006, 64-page illustrated paperback, price £4.50, ISBN10 0-946418-54-3; ISBN13 978-0-946418-54-1
19. WEEKLY EPIDEMIOLOGICAL RECORD, NO. 31, 4 AUGUST 2006, World Health Organisation

Milton Road is in the south of Salisbury, close to the Bournemouth Road. I’m not sure whether the area might be considered to be in Harnham or in Britford – perhaps it’s neither.

I think that Burford Road, which is in the same area, . . . → Read More: Milton Road, Salisbury]]>

John Milton

Milton Road is in the south of Salisbury, close to the Bournemouth Road. I’m not sure whether the area might be considered to be in Harnham or in Britford – perhaps it’s neither.

Milton Road, Salisbury is named after John Milton

I think that Burford Road, which is in the same area, is named after the developer of these roads, but I would be fairly sure that Milton Road is named after the 17th Century poet, John Milton, whose most famous work is Paradise Lost.

My reason for assuming that Milton Road is named after John Milton is that it adjoins Dryden Road and Butler Road. John Dryden ¹ and Samuel Butler ² were both also 17th Century poets.

John Milton – a controversial figure for the name of a road?

My personal view is that John Milton is one of the two most controversial people to have a road named after them in the Salisbury area. George Pullman is the other, although I feel that Pullman Drive is probably a reference to his railway carriages rather than the man.

Milton’s early religious views

Milton’s first polemical works were both radical and dangerous.

He published an anonymous work in 1641, ‘Of reformation touching church discipline in England and the causes that hitherto have hindered it’. In this tract, Milton attacks episcopacy – the existence of Bishops within the church.

Milton’s attack was strident – he called for the execution of all Bishops, and predicted that they would burn in hell.

There are three things that it might be worth pointing out here:

• this is somewhat more extreme than Karl Marx. Marx did write that the ‘religion is the opium of the people’, but followed this with ???
• there are many streets in Salisbury that would have different names if Milton had had his way!
• a few years earlier, three anti-episcopalians had been sentenced to ‘torture and mutilation on the scaffold and subsequent incarceration’ ³. Milton’s views were dangerous to express.

Milton was, then, a radical in his religious writings. He was to be radical too in his writings on censorship and on divorce. To a large extent, his views on these would now be more or less mainstream.

His role in the regicide, however, remains as radical and perhaps as shocking now as it was then.

John Milton and the regicide

Milton was not, in a technical sense, ‘a regicide’.

‘Regicide’ in general means the murder, or execution of a king or queen.

A ‘regicide’, in this context, is typically defined as somebody who either:

• signed King Charles I’s death warrant, for example John Carew or Cromwell himself or
• played some part in the execution, for example Daniel Axtell, who commanded the guards at the execution

Milton did neither of these things but he was an enthusiastic and important supporter of the execution of the King.

In February 1649, a book, purportedly written by the executed King was published called ‘Eikon Balilike‘ (‘image of the king’). The book was extremely popular, despite being banned by the Commonwealth.

Milton was commissioned to write a rebuttal. He called his book ‘Eikonklastes‘ (‘image breaker’ – I don’t know if this was the first use of the word which became ‘iconoclast’). It was published in October. In this book and in the later ‘Defensio prima‘, Milton explicitly defended the execution of King Charles.

He wrote:

it is lawful for any who have the power, to call to account a Tyrant or wicked King and after due conviction, to depose, and put him to death

It’s probably fair to say that he was the chief propagandist in favour of the killing of the King.

Milton was deeply unpopular with the royalists. A typical royalist response to Milton’s propaganda at the time was that of the Earl of Bridgewater. He had a copy of the ‘First Defence, and in it he wrote:

‘this book is most deserving of burning, its author of the gallows’

After the restoration of the monarchy, in June 1660, the new government issued a warrant for Milton’s arrest. In August, an order was made that copies of his books should be handed in for burning. The public executioner then burned his books outside the Old Bailey.

Milton was imprisoned in the Tower of London, but he was eventually pardoned. It seems that he owed his pardon to the pleading of influential friends, including Andrew Marvell, and to his infirmity – he was by this time blind.

Milton does seem to have been lucky to escape the gallows. The restored monarchy executed the preacher Hugh Peter for proclaiming his support for the regicide, even though he played no active part.

John Milton and the American and French revolutionaries

Milton’s ideas were embraced by revolutionaries in both France and America. The French revolution led to its own regicide, of course. The American revolution, on the other hand, was a revolt against the British crown. This legacy isn’t one which would make the man an obvious choice to have roads in Britain named after him.

The French Revolution and Milton

In 1789, a French pamphlet was published called ‘Théorie de la royauté, d’après la doctrine de Milton. The book quoted Milton’s Defensio. It was re-published in 1792 with a preface calling for Louis XVI’s trial and execution ⁴

The American Revolution and Milton

John Adams compared the British ruling class to Milton’s Satan.

He also quoted Milton:

For myself, I must beg you to keep my name out of sight, for this feeble attempt, if it should be known to be mine, would oblige me to apply to myself those lines of the immortal John Milton, in one of his sonnets,

“I did but teach the age to quit their cloggs By the plain rules of ancient Liberty, When lo! a barbarous noise surrounded me, Of owls and cuckoos, asses, apes and dogs.”⁵

Thomas Jefferson echoed Milton in his Inaugural Address.

In ‘Aeropagitica‘ Milton writes that

Though all the winds of doctrine were let loose to play upon the earth, so Truth be in the field, we do ingloriously, by licensing and prohibiting, to misdoubt her strength. Let her and Falsehood grapple: who ever knew Truth put to the worse in a free and open encounter?⁶

Jefferson declared

Error of opinion may be tolerated where reason is left free to combat it.⁷

Jefferson wrote a ‘Commonplace Book’, which quoted Milton 48 times ⁸

Benjamin Franklin said that Britain’s system of taxation was reminiscent of Milton’s description of chaos ⁹

Franklin quoted Milton at length in his ‘Articles of Belief and Acts of Religion’¹⁰

Why name a road after John Milton?

So, as I’ve hopefully outlined, John Milton was:

• a man of controversial, even extreme, religious views
• a chief proponent of the killing of King Charles I
• a writer who influenced the regicides of the French Revolution and the American revolt against Britain

So why name a residential road in a Salisbury suburb after him?

The work

The first answer to this question is obvious – his poetry.

The Dictionary of National Biography says that

Paradise Lost is widely and rightly regarded as the supreme poetic achievement in the English language, fit to sit alongside the poems of Homer, Virgil, and Dante ¹¹;20 Aug 2009]

I’ve got a ‘tin ear’ for poetry, but I was impressed by some lines that I heard quoted by Anna Beer in a podcast about Milton, in particular the way the last line switches to curt monosyllables. ¹²

Milton wrote a sonnet about his dead wife. By this time he was totally blind, although he has been sighted for much of their marriage. He writes about seeing her in a dream. She:

Came vested all in white, pure as her mind.
Her face was veiled; yet to my fancied sight
Love, sweetness, goodness, in her person shined
So clear as in no face with more delight.
But, oh! as to embrace me she inclined,
I waked, she fled, and day brought back my night.

The last line describing Milton waking from his sighted dream into his reality of blindness.

The reconciliation after the Civil War – some anecdotal comparisons

The second answer to the question of why a road is named after a regicide is, I think, that the divisions and strife of the English Civil War seem to me to have been left behind fairly quickly.

I should say here that I am speaking of a period of history that I know little about – please take this with several pinches of salt.

American Civil War

My first moderately interesting point of comparison is with the American Civil War. I’m not an expert at all, but I *think* that there are still traces of the conflict today in America.

It’s been argued that the Ku Klux Klan had it’s roots in the defeat and perceived humiliation of the American South. Margaret Mitchell memorably makes this case in ‘Gone With the Wind’. As far as I’m aware there was no comparable anti-royalist movement after the restoration.

At a more civilized level, the Confederate flag is still flown in the Southern states. The comparison here is worthwhile – I don’t know if the parliamentarians had a flag, and if they did I would be surprised if one person in ten would recognize it.

Ireland

My second point of comparison is with Ireland, where Cromwell is still justifiably viewed with bitterness. I’ll quote one of my favourite songs by one of my favourite bands, ‘Young Ned of the Hill’ by the Pogues

A curse upon you Oliver Cromwell
You who raped our Motherland
I hope you’re rotting down in hell
For the horrors that you sent
To our misfortunate forefathers
Whom you robbed of their birthright
“To hell or Connaught” may you burn in hell tonight ¹³

England

My third point of comparison is a newspaper article I came across ‘google-ing’ Milton.

It’s about the unveiling of a statue of John Milton in the town of Milton, Delaware. The article, and a picture of the statue, are on Delaware Online”.

Speaking at the ceremony, British Consul Oliver St. Clair Franklin said he recently dined with Prince Andrew. When the young royal asked him, “What’s going on in your patch?” Franklin told him of the coming statue dedication in Delaware. “Milton, Delaware?” the prince asked. “They have a city named after John Milton in America?” Over after-dinner port, as the pair talked of Miltons — the poet and the town — Franklin said he was to relay the queen’s greetings at the statue dedication. But the prince asked, “Why don’t you bring greetings from me?” ¹⁴

This is a member of the royal family talking about a man involved with the execution of a king.

You could argue that the regicide was a long time ago, and of course, Charles I isn’t a direct ancestor of Prince Andrew. However having read through some of the literature on Milton and the execution, the account of Prince Andrew’s sending ‘greetings’ for the dedication of the statue does seem quite striking.

My point

I’m not making any sort of claim about ‘the English character’ here, and I’m certainly not saying that English people are any more civilized or conciliatory than either the Irish or the Americans. It is just that for a variety of reasons, the Civil War, monarchy and the regicide aren’t issues which much excite the English imagination.

If the monarchy and the regicide were still ‘live issues’, then I suspect the road would not be named after Milton, no matter how important a literary figure he was.

What do you think?

Footnotes

1. John Dryden – Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
2. Samuel Butler (poet) – Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
3. Oxford DNB article: Milton, John
4. The life of John Milton: a critical biography By Barbara Kiefer Lewalski
5. The Founders’ Constitution Volume 1, Chapter 4, Document 5 The University of Chicago Press Papers of John Adams. Edited by Robert J. Taylor et al. Cambridge: Belknap Press of Harvard University Press, 1977–.
6. John Milton Quotes
7. John Milton Quotes
8. The life of John Milton: a critical biography By Barbara Kiefer Lewalski
9. The life of John Milton: a critical biography By Barbara Kiefer Lewalski
10. The Writings of Benjamin Franklin, Volume II: Philadelphia, 1726 – 1757 — Articles of Belief and Acts of Religion
11. Gordon Campbell, Milton, John (1608-1674), Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, Sept 2004; online edn, Jan 2009 [http://www.oxforddnb.com/view/article/18800, accessed document.write(printCitationDate(
12. Books podcast: Anna Beer on her new biography of Milton | Books | guardian.co.uk
13. Young Ned of the Hill. By the way, if you’ve come here because of the Pogues reference, then I’d recommend the Dub Version of ‘Young Ned of The Hill’ on the Pogues’ box set
14. Delaware Online”

Myrrfield is the name of the meadow in which Salisbury Cathedral was built.

It is sometime spelt Merry-field, as in a poem by a Doctor Walter Pope in 1713:

One day as the prelate on his down bed Recruiting his . . . → Read More: Myrrfield Road, Salisbury]]> Myrrfield Road is on the Bishopdown Farm estate, on the north east side of Salisbury.

Myrrfield is the name of the meadow in which Salisbury Cathedral was built.

It is sometime spelt Merry-field, as in a poem by a Doctor Walter Pope in 1713:

One day as the prelate on his down bed
Recruiting his spirits to rest
There appeared as ’tis said, a beautiful maid,
With her own dear babe at her breast.

To him thus she spoke (the day was scarce broke)
And his eyes yet to slumber did yield)
Go build be a church without any delay,
Go build it in Merry-field ¹

It has also sometimes spelt ‘Maryfield’. ²

This, though, was a revision of an older name. The Victoria County History says that:

The site was later called Maryfield on account of the dedication of the cathedral.³

Possibly the best explanation of the name is in a book called ‘Bell’s Cathedrals: The Cathedral Church of Salisbury A Description of its Fabric and a Brief History of the See of Sarum’. The book is long out of copyright and it explains the derivation of the name better than I ever could:

During his [the bishop's] period of indecision the Virgin appeared to him in a vision, and commanded him to build his new church in a place called Myr-field, or, as some accounts have it, Maer-field. He searched vainly for a piece of ground by that name, that he might obey the supernatural edict, until by chance he overheard a labourer (or a soldier, the legends vary,) talking of the Maer-field, and then having, as he thought, identified the place, which appears to have been within his own demesne, he commenced to plan the present building. Another tradition ignores the dream, and says the site of the cathedral was determined by an arrow shot from the ramparts of Old Sarum.

Misled by the similarity of sound, the name Maer-field has been, naturally enough, interpreted to mean Mary-field. The apparently obvious form “Miry-field,”–as, according to Leland, it appears on an old inscription,–in spite of the marshy nature of the site, is probably a mere coincidence. Nor is Thomas Fuller’s “Merry-field, for the pleasant situation thereof,” better worth attention. The generally accepted theory at present is that _maer_, the Anglo-Saxon word for a boundary, supplies the clue. A hamlet, Marton, near Bedwin, another of the same name now corrupted to Martin, near Damerham, might each be truly described as boundary-towns. In Wiltshire to-day ‘mere-stone’ is the local idiom for a boundary-stone. Mere is alike the name of a hundred and of a parish in Wilts, both near its borders. The site of the present cathedral is at the junction of three ancient hundreds–Underditch, Alderbury, and Cawdon–the south-east wall of the close being the boundary line which divides the cathedral precincts from Cawdon.⁴

View Larger Map

Visiting Salisbury?

For accommodation, see the Hotels in Salisbury page.

Footnotes

1. A Salisbury Assortment, p13, ed John Chandler, Ex Libris Press, 1996
2. I can’t find a reference for this at the minute
3. New Salisbury – Introduction | British History Online
4. Bell’s Cathedrals: The Cathedral Church of Salisbury A Description of its Fabric and a Brief History of the See of Sarum

Neville Close is on Bishopdown, which is to the north east of Salisbury. Many of the roads in the area are named after other Bishops (2) in reference to the name ‘Bishopdown’.

Visiting Salisbury? For . . . → Read More: Neville Close, Salisbury]]> Neville Close was named after Robert Neville, who was Bishop of Salisbury from 1427 to 1438 ¹.

Neville Close is on Bishopdown, which is to the north east of Salisbury. Many of the roads in the area are named after other Bishops (²) in reference to the name ‘Bishopdown’.

Visiting Salisbury?

For accommodation, see the Hotels in Salisbury page.

Robert Neville

It might be fair to say that Bishop Neville’s reputation is not the most impressive compared to some of the other bishops of Salisbury. The Dictionary of National Biography says that:

Robert Neville was a man not blessed with an outstanding intelligence; his education seems to have been rudimentary, and, with one disastrous exception, he seems always to have done what the dominant members of his family wanted.

He left Salisbury to become Bishop of Durham in 1438. He died in 1457.

He was, though, part of an illustrious and influential family. I’m going to write a little bit about two interesting members of the Neville family:

• Bishop Neville’s nephew, Richard, better known as Warwick, the Kingmaker
• Bishop Neville’s great, great nephew Henry, who has been claimed as the real author of the Shakespeare plays

Richard Neville, Earl of Warwick, Kingmaker

Robert Neville’s nephew, Richard, gained the title of Earl of Warwick, and fabulous wealth through marriage to Anne Beauchamp. Anne Beauchamp was the daughter of the previous Earl.

Robert Neville, as Earl of Warwick, is referenced by the name of Warwick Close, in the group of roads in Stratford which are all named in reference to Shakespeare.

Neville rose to a position of great power through his military and political skill. He was instrumental in replacing the Lancastrian Henry VI with the Yorkist Edward VI in 1461.

Neville was well rewarded for his support of Edward VI – among his titles were:

• great chamberlain of England,
• master of the king’s mews,
• warden of the Cinque Ports,
• constable of Dover Castle,
• captain of Calais
• admiral of England

However it is believed that the new king grew to resent Neville’s power. The king kept his marriage secret from Neville, and they gradually became estranged.

Eventually they argued over foreign policy – the King supported Charolais of Burgundy, whereas Neville was close to Louis XI of France.

Neville rebelled against Edward VI, but he was unsuccessful, losing his life at the age of 42 in a battle at Barnet.

Shakespeare characterized him as the ‘proud setter-up and puller-down of kings’

Sir Henry Neville – the ‘real Shakespeare’

Sir Henry Neville was, I think, the great, great nephew of Robert, the Bishop of Salisbury.

He was a successful politician and diplomat ³, but is probably now best known as one of the several candidates for the ‘true’ authorship of the plays and poems of William Shakespeare.

The case is put forward by Brenda James and Professor William Rubinstein in their book ‘The Truth Will Out’⁴.

James and Rubinstein put forward many arguments:

• Neville visited many of the locations of Shakespeare’s plays ⁵
• they claim a match between the frequency of the use of certain words within Shakespeare and the letters of Neville ⁶
• after 1601 the style of Shakespeare’s plays change from histories and comedies to more sombre tragedies. This change coincident with Neville’s imprisonment in The Tower, under threat of execution ⁷
• Falstaff was originally going to be called Oldcastle – this is a pun on the name Neville, which is derived from ‘Neu Ville meaning ‘new town’. Apparently the conversion of ‘new’ to ‘old’ is called an ‘antonymic’ pun ⁸
• there is a ‘hidden code’ in the dedication of an edition of the Sonnets which identified Neville ⁹
• a manuscript with Neville’s name on it also has Shakespeare’s signature being repeatedly practised ¹⁰

Why would Neville have hidden his identity? The authors’ theory is that Neville needed a ‘front man’ because it would have been dangerous for him to publish politically contentious plays. The Neville family was connected to the college of Ben Johnson, who published Shakespeare. Johnson would have been ‘in’ on the conspiracy.

The case seems to me to be fairly persuasive, but I’m not remotely qualified to judge! As I did for the case of Mary Sidney, of the Pembroke family, I’ll quote Mark Rylance, actor, Artistic Director of Shakespeares Globe 1996-2005, and Chairman of the Shakespearean Authorship Trust ¹¹:

This is a pioneering book. I cant imagine that any scholar or student, actor or enthusiast of Shakespeare will be able to ignore it. I for one welcome and celebrate this book not only for its discoveries and clear style of expression, but for the wonderful partnership of a University professor and an independent scholar which gave it birth.¹²

A starting point for the contrary view that William Shakespeare did write the Shakespeare plays is the Shakespeare Authorship website.

Robert Neville – I am Legend

Coincidentally Robert Neville is also the name of the protagonist in the vampire novel ‘I am Legend’ by Richard Matheson.¹³

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Footnotes

1. Oxford DNB article: Neville, Robert
2. for example, Seth Ward Drive, Talbot Close and Woodville Road
3. Wikipedia
4. The truth will out: unmasking the real Shakespeare By Brenda James, W. D. Rubinstein Published by Pearson Education, 2005 ISBN 1405824379, 9781405824378
5. Much ado about identity as scholars claim a diplomat was the ‘real’ Shakespeare – This Britain, UK – The Independent
6. Much ado about identity as scholars claim a diplomat was the ‘real’ Shakespeare – This Britain, UK – The Independent
7. Articles – henryneville.com
8. Much ado about identity as scholars claim a diplomat was the ‘real’ Shakespeare – This Britain, UK – The Independent
9. Articles – henryneville.com
10. Articles – henryneville.com
11. …and director of the only production of Shakespeare I’ve ever really enjoyed – Macbeth at Greenwich with Jane Horrocks as Lady Macbeth in about 1995
12. The Truth Will Out: Unmasking the Real Shakespeare: Brenda James, Prof William D Rubinstein: Amazon.co.uk: Books
13. I Am Legend – Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Old George Mall Salisbury

Ramparts in Council Grounds, Salisbury

According to the Victoria County History [the rampart] ran from the loop of the Avon at Bugmore 1 northwards to the corner of St. Martin’s Church Street, along . . . → Read More: Rampart Road SP1]]>

Ramparts in Council Grounds, Salisbury

According to the Victoria County History

[the rampart] ran from the loop of the Avon at Bugmore ¹ northwards to the corner of St. Martin’s Church Street, along the modern Rampart Road, and across the Greencroft. It then turned westward, north of St. Edmund’s Church to the Avon again west of Castle Gate. ²

The only remaining part of the rampart is in the Council Grounds.

Footnotes

1. Bugmore is the area on both sides of the Avon at Churchill Gardens
2. Salisbury – Bridges, bars, gates and mills | British History Online

I’m uncertain about all of the terms used to describe the inhabitants of the British Isles between (and . . . → Read More: Saxon Road SP2]]> The Saxons were a group of people who originated in what is now Germany. Some of the Saxons seem to have settled in Southern England from the 5th century onwards ¹ (who gave their name to England).

I’m uncertain about all of the terms used to describe the inhabitants of the British Isles between (and before) the Romans and the Normans. The uncertainty is likely due to my own ignorance, but I don’t know whether the various groups of people (Saxon, Angle, Celt, Brit or Viking) would have seen themselves as belonging to an identifiable group or nation, or whether this just reflects the 21st century view of the world.

I don’t know of any reason why Saxon Road in Harnham is particularly Saxon.

Update: In a small 1950s booklet published by the Harnham Women’s Institute I found a description of ‘The Harnham Hill Saxon Graves’, which were ‘roughly near the top of what is now called Saxon Road’. Clearly, Saxon Road is names after the Saxon graves.

Some accidental discoveries in the 1840s and 1850s of spear-heads, a skull, part of a shield and other artefacts led to the excavation of the site. The field was known as the Low Field – possibly derived from the Saxon hlaw, meaning burial mound.

The excavation, in autumn 1854 uncovered 67 skeletons and many artefacts. The landowner, Viscount Folkestone, presented all of the relics to the British Museum.²

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Footnotes

1. Saxons – LoveToKnow 1911
2. The History of Harnham, by the Harnham Women’s Institute, probably published in 1954, by the Tisbury Printing Works Ltd, Rollestone Street, Salisbury