News & Blog Posts Category
Copenhagen’s Love Letters
January 11, 2017 - The Chairman
Seeing the recent coverage on the Guardian https://twitter.com/waterloo200org/status/813322108063416320 on Marengo reminded of this slim volume of the love letters between Marengo and Copenhagen. The letters are fairly frisky stuff and Serjeant Gibson was frankly rather shocked. The book is sub titled “The World’s greatest gay, equine, military, epistolary romance”. Make of that as you will but I said […]
The last survivors of Waterloo
January 4, 2017 - The Chairman
We are now back from Christmas leave. Serjeant Gibson and I spent some time examining some of the 200 items on our website. This remarkable photograph taken on Waterloo Day in 1880 caught our eye. Until recently the website entry on this http://ageofrevolution.org/200-objects/page/8/ shows the fourth man to be Robert Horton, in fact it is Robert […]
The half a million pound sovereign
December 23, 2016 - The Chairman
An interesting piece in the current Country Life mentions the value of 1937 Sovereigns with the head of Edward VIII. Apparently there are as few as 7 that exist and their value is in region of half a million pounds. The obverse is interesting as it was designed by Benedetto Pistrucci in 1817. We know […]
The French General who changed sides
December 16, 2016 - The Chairman
Until recently I had never heard of General Bourmont. He was the French General of a Division who deserted with half of his divisional staff to the Prussians during the Hundred Days. He is an interesting cove. A nobleman who fought against the Revolution but succumbs to Napoleon and is appointed to command a Division in […]
Waterloo Medals auctioned
December 8, 2016 - The Chairman
This week a number of Waterloo Medals were sold at Dix Noonan Webb and it is interesting to see that the price seems to have dropped now that we are well beyond the Bicentenary. Serjeant John Gibson was very interested as his medal is now in my possession complete with original ribbon. However the one […]
1940 – The man who remembered Wellington’s funeral
November 28, 2016 - The Chairman
We seem to have gone rather sonic all of a sudden, here is another clip (sound only) of a man, Frederick Mead, who spoke in 1940 about his memory as a child as his father went to The Great Duke’s funeral. Today St Paul’s holds 2500 or thereabouts, in 1852 it held something like 25,000. […]
Sean Bean documentary on Waterloo
November 27, 2016 - The Chairman
I came across this clip whilst browsing and it’s rather fun. Caught sight of our resident surgeon Mick Crumplin. Just click on the centre of the image to watch it.
The curse of the Tipu’s ring
November 24, 2016 - The Chairman
Seeing the recent entry on social media about the ring which contains hair from Napoleon reminded me of the ring which was sold by Sotheby’s in May 2014. The ring illustrated here, with the name of Rama, a Hindu God in raised Devanagari script, was allegedly taken from the hand of Tipu Sultan, The Tiger of […]
Julian Paget – Waterloo Historian – RIP
November 23, 2016 - The Chairman
On behalf of the Waterloo Association and Waterloo 200 I attended the Memorial Service for Julian Paget who died in September. He had been a great authority on Waterloo and the battle around Hougoumont for many years. His book on Hougoumont (http://www.pen-and-sword.co.uk/Hougoumont-Paperback/p/278) is the popular choice for those who wish to specialise in this part of […]
Wellington’s mounting block
November 18, 2016 - The Chairman
Thinking of Wellington’s charger Copenhagen the other day as I was writing a piece on that famous horse (watch out for a new object in our 200 iconic items collection) when I thought of the mounting block placed outside the Athenaeum Club in Waterloo Place. The Athenaeum was started as a club in the 1820s […]