Tagged with Objects
Resource : The Montgolfier Hot Air Balloon
From as long ago as the ancient Greeks and their legend of Icarus, whose wings melted when he flew too close to the sun, and the ancient Chinese who made kites that could take to the air, people have wanted to fly. The first known flight to carry people took place in Paris, France in 1783 in a balloon designed by the Montgolfier brothers.
Resource : Locomotion No. 1
This is the first steam powered railway engine to run on a public railway. It was designed by George Stephenson and sparked a transport revolution that transformed the lives and fortunes of people across Britain and the wider world.
Resource : “Waterloo Teeth”
This set of dentures is fitted with real human teeth, extracted from the mouths of dead soldiers.
Resource : Banner from the “Peterloo Massacre”
On the 16th August 1819, a huge crowd of people gathered in St Peter’s Field, Manchester to hear Henry ‘Orator’ Hunt and other noted radical speakers calling for parliamentary reform. At least 17 people would die of injuries received on the day, and around 700 suffered serious wounds at the hands of local armed forces. There was a popular outcry, and the radical press named the incident the ‘Peterloo Massacre’, a mocking reference to the Battle of Waterloo.
Resource : Prosthetic leg of Earl of Uxbridge
This is one of three prosthetic legs made for Henry Paget, Earl of Uxbridge, who commanded the British cavalry at the Battle of Waterloo.
Resource : French Guillotine Blade
The guillotine is best known as a method of executing those condemned to death during the French Revolution. Although it delivered a grisly end – by slicing off its victim’s head, death by guillotine was quick and humane. During the ‘Reign of Terror’ in France, as many as 40,000 people were executed by ‘Madame Guillotine’.
Resource : Newgate prison door
Newgate Prison was located on Newgate Street in the City of London, on the site where the famous court, The Old Bailey, now stands. The prison was notorious for its appalling, overcrowded, cruel and unsanitary conditions. It housed a range of prisoners, including men, women and children, from those convicted of minor offenders to those awaiting execution. It would be outside Newgate’s gates that the last British prisoners to suffer beheading took place, when five revolutionary ringleaders accused of a conspiracy to assassinate the Cabinet were executed on 1 May 1820.
Resource : George Stubbs’ ‘The Kongouro from New Holland’ (Kangaroo)
This is a painting of an Australian kangaroo by the artist George Stubbs. This was the first time people in Britain had seen such a creature.
Resource : Phrygian ‘liberty’ cap
Red Phrygian or ‘liberty’ caps were long associated with the theme of liberty in European and colonial cultures. They were used as icons during the American Revolution and worn during the French Revolution in the late 1700s and came to symbolise allegiance to the republican cause. Along with the red, white and blue cockade, pinned to these and other hats, they became a lasting symbol of revolutionary France.
Resource : Napoleon’s Hat
This hat was worn by the French Emperor Napoleon when he commanded the French Army at the Battle of Waterloo. The hat was a vital part of the image of a hard-working, down-to-earth leader that Napoleon tried to create. His profile was instantly recognisable to French soldiers, most of whom were devoted to him. The red, white and blue cockade, pinned to the hat, is a symbol of the French Revolution.
