Untold lives blog

Samuel Hough first appears in the records of the East India Company as Master Attendant of Marine at Bombay in the 1730s.  The Marine fleet guarded British shipping on the west coast of India mainly from attack by local pirates but also from other nations at time of war.  His position gave him standing in the community and he must have been a brave officer, as shown by an event in 1748 when he was in command of the Bombay, at anchor at Rajapore.  Some of his crew had been impressed, but on 1 March the remainder mutinied and broke open the arms-chest.  Hough managed to reason with the men, promising safe passage back to England at the first opportunity and after seven hours he took back control.  His promise was honoured by the Government who needed crew to man ships on the return to England at this time of war with France.

An aquatint of a view of Bombay Harbour from the pier up to the Bunder Battery including part of the fort or Citadel. From James Wales, Bombay Views: Twelve Views Of The Island Of Bombay And Its Vicinity Taken In The Years 1791 And 1792. British Library shelfmark X 436. Images Online

Shortly after this, on 19 May 1748, Captain Samuel Hough married Mrs Judith Sclater, a widow with two small daughters.  They had two more daughters (Louisa and Ann) before Judith died in January 1752.  At the end of that year Samuel took all four little girls back to England on the Streatham, disembarking on 7 June 1753.

On 16 March 1754 Samuel Hough married Martha Crichton at St Mary the Virgin, Aldermanbury.  She came from a family well established in the East India Company and within a few weeks she sailed off to Bombay.  Her husband captained their voyage on the Hardwicke which was to remain in Bombay as part of the Marine.

They had been joined on the Streatham by Laurence Sulivan and his family, also returning home.  The two men had been friends and business associates and this arrangement continued to their mutual advantage. Back in Bombay Hough acted as an agent holding powers of attorney on behalf of his clients and could provide ways of remitting Indian funds through confidants among his fellow captains, to be deposited with Sulivan in London, on their behalf.

Appointment of Samuel Hough as Superintendent of the Bombay Marine - IOR/E/4/996 p.69 General Letter from Court of Directors to Bombay 5 April 1754

Samuel Hough was appointed Superintendent of the Bombay Marine, the highest ranking officer below the Council members.  It is clear he was greatly respected and his opinion was valued by the Council.  By 1759 he had become one of the Council members but he returned to England on the Harcourt, arriving back on 18 May 1761.  By this time his family had grown - Louisa and Ann were joined by a baby brother William and a sister Elizabeth.

Entry from the journal of the ship Streatham Wednesday 29 November 1752 - IOR/L/MAR/B/605H

Back in London Hough continued his involvement with the East India Company by investing in and managing ships.  He was the second signature on the charterparty agreements for five ships in the 1761/2 season with four more voyages for 1762/3.

Samuel died on 5 September 1764 at Bath.  In his will he left bequests to his three daughters and his son William but also named a ‘natural son Samuel Hough, now a mate on the Latham Indiaman’.  Samuel junior went on to become a sea captain with the East India Company, married in September 1777 but died a year later.

CC-BY
Georgina Green
Independent researcher

Creative Commons Attribution licence

The National Lottery is celebrating its 30th anniversary.  To mark this occasion we look at one of the collections acquired with the help of National Lottery funding: the papers of Edward Robert Bulwer-Lytton, 1st Earl of Lytton, as Viceroy of India 1876-1880.

Lord Lytton, Viceroy of India. Grand Master of the Star of India, c. 1876. From J. Talboys Wheeler, The History of the Imperial Assemblage at Delhi (London, 1877). British Library shelfmark Photo 1054/(2). Images Online

Lytton was born in 1831, son of the writer Edward Bulwer-Lytton, 1st Baron Lytton.  Following his education at Harrow and the University of Bonn, he entered the diplomatic service in 1849.  He spent the first half of his career in various diplomatic posts around Europe and was serving as British Minister Plenipotentiary at Lisbon when he was appointed Viceroy of India in 1876 by the Prime Minister Benjamin Disraeli.  His term of office would be controversial entailing war in Afghanistan, famine in India and an attempt to tighten British control over the native press.  The collection includes letters from a wide range of people in India and England, as well as correspondence between Lytton and the Secretary of State for India, and British officials and politicians on matters relating to Indian government.  There are also letters to and from members of the British Royal family.

Map showing the frontier with Afghanistan 1880 - Mss Eur E218/126

Perhaps not surprisingly, a dominant subject of the papers in the collection is Afghanistan and the Second Anglo-Afghan war.  The rivalry between Britain and Russia in Central Asia, often referred to as the Great Game, was one of the defining aspects of British foreign policy in the mid-19th century.  Lytton had been given the task of securing an alliance with the Amir of Afghanistan Sher Ali Khan who was thought to be too pro-Russian, but on failing in this he opted to order an invasion instead.  The collection contains correspondence, minutes, reports, and notes on relations with the Amir of Afghanistan, future policy, and the frontiers of India, for example:
• Correspondence respecting relations with Afghanistan since the accession of Sher Ali Khan, Jul 1863 to Nov 1878, reference Mss Eur E218/123.
• Minutes and notes by the Viceroy relating to Afghanistan and the frontiers of India, 1876-1880, reference Mss Eur E218/125.
• Correspondence and other papers concerning the attack on the British Embassy at Kabul and subsequent military operations, Sep 1879 to Mar 1880, reference Mss Eur E218/127.

A statement on the Indian Famine of 1877 - Mss Eur E218/136

One of the most controversial aspects of Lytton’s time as Viceroy was his government’s response to the great famine of 1876-1878.  This was caused by drought leading to crop failure, affecting many parts of India, with the death toll estimated at between 6 and 10 million people.  The high mortality rate was in part blamed on the government’s minimal famine relief measures. The collection includes several files on the famine, such as:
• Volume of cuttings from Indian and newspapers concerning the famine, Jul 1877 to Feb 1878, reference Mss Eur E218/134.
• Volume of printed weather reports from each province and of rain telegrams sent to the Private Secretary's Office, Jul 1877 to Jan 1878, reference Mss Eur E218/135.
• The Indian Famine of 1877 being a statement of the measures proposed by the Government of India for the prevention and relief of famines in the future (1878), reference Mss Eur E218/136.

Minute by the Viceroy Lord Lytton on Afghanistan - Mss Eur E218/125

The collection also touches on other aspects of Indian government, such as Indian finances, new legislation, appointments to the Indian Civil Service, and includes two files on attempts to control Indian newspapers and publications:
• Papers concerning the Native Press and the 1878 Vernacular Press Act, 1858-1881, reference Mss Eur E218/146.
• Correspondence between the Secretary of State for India and the Government of India on the control of publications in Oriental languages, 1878, reference Mss Eur E218/147.

Weather Reports for Hyderabad July 1877 - Mss Eur E218/135

John O’Brien
India Office Records

Further Reading:
Papers of 1st Earl of Lytton as Viceroy of India 1876-1880, collection reference Mss Eur E218. Deposited on permanent loan by Lady Hermione Cobbold in 1955. Purchased from Lord Cobbold in 2004 with assistance from the Heritage Lottery Fund, The Friends of the British Library, The Friends of the National Libraries and The Lord Farringdon Charitable Trust.

A list of the Lytton Papers can be found on The National Archives'  Discovery catalogue: Papers of 1st Earl of Lytton as Viceroy of India 1876-80.

A recent acquisition to the India Office Private Papers has now been catalogued and is available for researchers to view in the British Library’s Asian and African Studies reading room.  The collection consists of the papers of Leo Cayley Robertson (1891-1964), Barrister, Indian Civil Service 1938-1947, District and Sessions Judge, Burma 1945-1947.

Extract from Map of Western Yunnan - Survey of India 1927 Mss Eur F771/1 f.125

Leo Robertson was born on 19 June 1891.  His family had a long association with Burma; his great grandfather was a master mariner who traded from Moulmein and Rangoon, and his father was an engineer with the Burma Public Works Department.  Leo was educated at St Joseph’s College in Darjeeling, then in France and London, and finally at Queen’s College, Cambridge graduating in Moral and Mental Science in 1912.  He then studied metaphysics, before embarking on a career in law.  Leo returned to Burma in 1920, joining the Board of Philosophical Studies at the University of Rangoon.  He also began practising at the Bar in the High Court at Rangoon. 

Letter of recommendation on behalf of Leo Robertson addressed to Walter Booth-Graveley, Chief Secretary to the Government of Burma,13 October 1933 Mss Eur F771/1 f.116

In 1938, Leo joined the Indian Civil Service in Burma, working in the Chief Secretary’s Office and in the Civil Affairs Service, before being appointed a District and Session Judge.  Leo retired from the ICS in 1947 and returned to England.  He died in 1964.

Letter from Chief Secretary's Office Maymyo about Robertson's proposed trek, 22 March 1935 Mss Eur F771/1 f.117

In 1935, Leo made a trek through the Chinese province of Yunnan accompanied by his uncle Andrew Hazlewood, and the collection contains his file of papers on the trip.  This contains his original handwritten diary, with notes and correspondence related to gaining permission to travel in the area.  They left Rangoon on 1 April 1935, and travelled to Bhamo where they collected two riding ponies and ten mules to carry their camp equipment and provisions for the trip.  Their trek then took them through Western Yunnan to Tengyueh and Yongchang, crossing back into Burma at Malipa.  They stayed for three days as guests of Mr Stark-Toller, British Consul at Tengyueh, and at times needed a Chinese military escort who were engaged in suppressing banditry.  On arrival at Tetang, the headquarters of the local Administration, they were given a public reception and the whole town turned out to meet them.  Leo described his appearance as ‘disgracefully unkempt and travel-stained and having grown a rakish-looking beard during the journey, might well have been taken for a brigand of sorts’.

Extract from Leo Robertson's Burma diary 12 April 1942 Mss Eur F771/2 f.22

In 1942, Japanese forces invaded Burma and rapidly swept through the country.  Leo kept a diary during this period, and a typescript copy survives.  It covers the events from 15 February to 9 May, including Robertson's evacuation from Burma.  The collection also includes three letters by Andrew Hazlewood during January 1942 from Rangoon where he was employed as an Insurance Assessor, in which he gives news of other family members being evacuated from Burma and describes the deteriorating situation in Rangoon owing to increased air raid alerts warning of Japanese bombing of the city.

In the 1950s, Leo worked on a profile of Frank Kingdom-Ward (1885-1958), botanist, explorer and plant collector, for The Observer.  The collection contains some papers related to this including a draft of the profile, along with notes and correspondence, and a copy of an article by Kingdom-Ward 'Caught in the Assam-Tibet Earthquake' in National Geographic Magazine (1952).

John O’Brien
India Office Records

Further Reading: Papers of Leo Cayley Robertson (1891-1964), Barrister, Indian Civil Service 1938-1947, District and Sessions Judge, Burma 1945-1947, Mss Eur F771 – a paper catalogue of the contents is available to consult in the Asian and African Studies Reading Room at the British Library.

Launched on 22 October 2014, the Qatar Digital Library (QDL) was developed as part of a longstanding partnership between the Qatar Foundation, the Qatar National Library, and the British Library.  The partnership includes the digitisation of a wide range of material from the British Library’s collections, aimed at improving understanding of the modern history of the Gulf, Arabic cultural heritage, and the Islamic world.

Following on from part 1 , members of the team of experts working on the QDL reflect on memorable material that they and former colleagues have encountered in the last decade.

• Preserving original order in George Curzon’s Persia and the Persian Question – Mss Eur F111/33

Annotated pages in George Curzon’s personal copy of his 1892 book, Persia and the Persian Question – Mss Eur F111/33 ff. 74v-75r. Image digitised by the BLQFP

George Curzon’s personal copy of his two-volume tome stands out for the interesting challenges it posed during conservation and cataloguing.  Rather unexpectedly, it contained dozens of assorted papers between its pages, including received correspondence, newspaper cuttings, various journal and magazine articles, and a few handwritten notes by Curzon.  The question for the conservation and cataloguing teams was how to preserve the inserted papers’ original order while ensuring their long-term preservation and indeed that of the book itself.  The solution was to number the pages of the book and the inserted items with the latter still in place, forming a single foliation sequence.  Now, when viewed on the QDL, the inserted items remain in their original order, between the pages of the two volumes (though some, e.g. certain newspaper cuttings, do not appear online for copyright reasons).  Physically, however, the inserted items are now preserved in a separate file.

• Discovering the unexpected – IOR/R/15/1/355 

A British wartime propaganda poster, dated c. 1941-42 – IOR/R/15/1/355, f. 42v

Cataloguing can be very serendipitous, as unassuming files can reveal the unexpected.  Such was the case with this financial file, containing two rare Arabic-language propaganda posters, which the British Government produced during the Second World War.  The posters only survived because of a wartime paper shortage, which led to financial accounts of the Bahraini Government being typed on their reverse.

• Personal reflections on life in the Gulf during the last years of Empire – Mss Eur F226/2, Mss Eur F226/7, Mss Eur F226/10, Mss Eur F226/13, Mss Eur F226/22, Mss Eur F226/23, Mss Eur F226/26, Mss Eur F226/28, Mss Eur F226/30, and Mss Eur F226/34

Excerpt from John ‘Jack’ Bazalgette’s 1984 memoir – Mss Eur F226/2, f. 152r. © Estate of John Bazalgette

These ten memoirs belonging to former British officials of the Indian Political Service provide a unique insight into one generation’s experiences of living and working in the Gulf during the last years of British India, as discussed at length in three blogs and in this QDL expert article.

• Muzah bint Ahmad Al Bu Sa‘id: the protector of Muscat – IOR/F/4/1435/56726

Heading to a letter written by Muzah bint Ahmad Al Bu Sa‘id, to the Governor of Bombay, dated 8 April 1832 – IOR/F/4/1435/56726, f. 235v

As in many archival collections, women are under-represented in the records, and those who do feature are largely misrepresented.  For these reasons, this item is particularly notable, since it contains a letter to the Governor of Bombay from Muzah bint Ahmad Al Bu Sa‘id, who, in the absence of her nephew the Imam of Muscat, took charge and defended his territories.

IOR Cataloguing Team, British Library/Qatar Foundation Partnership

In November 1885, after the deposition of King Thibaw at the end of the Third Anglo-Burmese War, British forces moved into the palace at Mandalay, where they found ‘a small royal white elephant’ in the menagerie, with another regular elephant kept as its companion.

Minute paper regarding the discovery of the white elephant in the palace at Mandalay - IOR/L/PJ/6/192, File 27

In the era of the Konbaung dynasty, to which Thibaw belonged, the possession of a white elephant was required in order to assume the title of Hsinbyushin or Hysinbyumyashin - Lord of the White Elephants - and legitimise one’s position as ruler.  Owning a white elephant signified royalty and status but most importantly, wealth, since housing and keeping these creatures was an expensive endeavour - as the British would soon find out.  Indeed, in English the term ‘white elephant’ now means something that is a financial burden, with little to no benefit.

Note by Sir Ashley Eden of the India Office making reference to white elephants as ‘an emblem of royalty’ and recommending that the animal should not be sent out of Burma - IOR/L/PJ/6/192, File 27

In a series of letters between the Chief Commissioner of British Burma and the Foreign Department in Simla (Shimla), the question of what to do with these two young elephants - and the financial and political concerns involved - was posited back and forth, with three eventual solutions being proposed:

• The white elephant could be presented to the King of Siam as a gift
• It could be transported to the Royal Zoological Society in London
• It could be kept in the Phayre Gardens at Rangoon (now Yangon).

In these letters, the Secretary for Upper Burma to the Chief Commissioner, Herbert Thirkell White, referred to the ‘uselessness’ of the two elephants, and the ‘inconvenient arrangement’ of paying 140 Burmese rupees a month for their care.  On 14 April 1886 the animals were handed over to the Transport Department, despite not being old enough to serve as beasts of burden.

In the interest of avoiding a political incident, the decision was made not to gift the animals to the King of Siam.  As a letter to the Chief Commissioner explained, presenting a Burmese royal white elephant to the King ‘would be regarded as a humiliation in the eyes of the Siamese’.

A series of letters between Burma, India and Siam discussing the white elephant - IOR/L/PJ/6/192, File 27

Despite concerns about the white elephant being acquired by ‘pretenders to the throne’ should it be sold within Burma, there was a similar political risk involved in removing the animal from the country.  The Secretary of State for India, Viscount Cross, wrote in a letter to the Governor General of India: ‘... it has been suggested to me that the removal of the animal to this country may produce an unfavourable effect upon the minds of some portion of the natives of Burma, and that it might on that account be more advisable to keep it in the Phayre Gardens at Rangoon’.

Copy of a letter from Viscount Cross, Secretary of State for India, to the Governor General of India, 3 February 1887 - IOR/L/PJ/6/192, File 27

Copy of a letter from the Chief Secretary to the Chief Commissioner of Burma to the Foreign Department in Simla dated 25 May 1887, reporting the decision to transport the white elephant to the Phayre Gardens in Rangoon IOR/L/PJ/6/206, File 1208

Although we have found no record of what happened to its companion, the white elephant’s story has a happy ending, and it was eventually moved to the Phayre Gardens.  In 1901, the Gardens were commissioned as a memorial to Queen Victoria and reopened in 1906 as the Victoria Memorial Park and Zoological Gardens, where the white elephant was touted as the central attraction.

Ely Nott
Library, Information and Archives Services Apprentice

Further reading:
IOR/L/PJ/6/192, File 27 Disposal of a white elephant found in the palace at Mandalay, 14 December 1886-3 February 1887.
IOR/L/PJ/6/206, File 1208 The white elephant found in the palace at Mandalay to be lodged in the Phayre Gardens at Rangoon, 17 June 1887.

When the East India Company (EIC) invaded the South Indian kingdom of Sivaganga in 1772, they met with opposition from Indian warrior women.  These women were a diverse group from different walks of life - royal household, rural areas, across all caste groups.  Although many of their names and stories have not found a place in history, they have survived in local folklore, songs, bharathanatyam performances, and have been immortalised as deities in the local temples.

View of Sivaganga, Mysore, India. Wash-drawing by Colin MacKenzie, 1800 - British Library WD570.

Here is the story of three of these early female freedom fighters: Velu Nachiyar, Udaiyaal and Kuyili.  As the earliest women to rise against the EIC, their lives offer a glimpse into the beginnings of the anti-colonial movements, evoking an image of resilience and fortitude.

Rani Velu Nachiyar was a formidable Tamil Queen, who was both admired and vilified by the British for her valour and bravery in defending her kingdom.  She was born in 1730 to the Raja and Rani of the Ramnad kingdom. Skilled in the art of warfare and weaponry, Velu Nachiyar was also a scholar, and mastered several languages including English, French and Urdu.  At the age of 16, she married the prince of Sivaganga, Muthuvadugananthur Udaiyathevar. In 1750, Velu Nachiyar and her husband became monarchs of the Kingdom of Sivaganga.

Sword with double edged steel blade; iron hilt, guard, pommel and reinforcements. Two brass jingles below the pommel cap.Tamil Nadu (Sivaganga) India, 17th century. V&A Collections (Accession No. IM.11-1924).

In 1772, EIC troops, alongside the Nawab of Arcot’s son, invaded Sivaganga and marched towards the Kalaiyar Kovil Fort.  The Raja of Sivaganga was killed at the Battle of Kalaiyar Kovil on 25 June.  The kingdom fell under enemy control and the Kalaiyar Kovil Fort was plundered.  Rani Velu Nachiyar and her daughter Vellachi escaped capture through the sacrifice of Udaiyaal, a village woman who refused to reveal their secret hideout during interrogation and who was killed for her insubordination.  Rani Velu Nachiyar and Vellachi fled Sivaganga and sought refuge near Dindigul.

View of Dindigul. Tamil Nadu, India, 1790 - British Library WD 640, f.3(16)).

During her eight-year exile, Rani Velu Nachiyar acquired influential alliances with neighbouring rulers (e.g. Gopala Nayaker, Hyder Ali) who supported her preparations for battle against the EIC, providing additional soldiers, weapons, resources and training. Rani Nachiyar built an army of fierce female warriors that she named after Udaiyaal.

Mausoleum of Haidar Ali near Mysore, Karnataka. Coloured aquatint by J. Wells after A. Allan, 1794 -Wellcome Collections (Reference: 29869i).

In 1780, Rani Velu Nachiyar and the Udaiyaal army skilfully infiltrated Sivaganga.  Aware of the superior military prowess of the British, Rani Nachiyar used her knowledge of the terrain and employed guerrilla warfare tactics - spies, sabotage, ambush.  Rani Nachiyar’s military advisor was Kuyili, a woman from a lower caste background.  As a spy for the royal household, she had protected the Rani’s life on multiple occasions and soon rose to the rank of commander-in-chief of the Udaiyaal women’s army.  At the Battle of Sivaganga, Kuyili devised a strategy to attack the EIC’s weapons storage.  Disguised as a rural woman, Kuyili entered the secure storehouse unnoticed and set herself ablaze, destroying the EIC’s weapons and ammunitions.  The EIC and the Nawab fled from Sivaganga in defeat and Rani Nachiyar regained her Kingdom.  The Tamil Queen ruled Sivaganga for another decade before handing the kingdom to her daughter.

View of Shevagunga on the road to Seringapatam. Wash-drawing by Robert Home, 1792 - British Library WD3775[14].

In recent years India has honoured the memory of these women warriors through issuing commemorative stamps, installing monuments and memorials.

Rani Velu Nachiyar on Indian postage stamp 2008- Wikimedia Commons

The contribution of these women as warriors vanished at the intersection of colonialism and patriarchy, instead brown women were recast as helpless and in need of saving. I hope this blog post creates curiosity and the excavation of more stories of Warrior Women!

CC-BY
Theeba Krishnamoorthy
Research Fellow, University of East London

Creative Commons Attribution licence

Further reading:
Archer, Mildred. British Drawings in the India Office Library, Vol. 2: Official and Professional Artists (London: 1969), p474-475.
Letters received from Madras (28 Feb 1772 - 29 Oct 1773), including letters from General Smith regarding the Carracoil War. British Library, IOR/E/4/305.
Mishra, A., Mishra, M. and Paluri, L. (2021) 'Velu Nachiyar: The Veeramangai who petrified the British'. Turkish Online Journal of Qualitative Inquiry, 12(8).

NB In the British Library archives: (1) Raja (King) Muthuvadugananthur Udaiyathevar of Sivaganga is referred to as Nalcooty Polygar; and (2) Kalaiyar Kovil is spelt as Kella Coil or Carracoil.

David Fitzpatrick marks Local and Community History Month by exploring the history and features of his home town, drawing from notable histories and guides found within the British Library’s collection.

Introduction to Bridgnorth (Salop), “Queen of the Severn”, The Official Guide, 1937. Image used with the permission of Bridgnorth Library.

The Shropshire market town of Bridgnorth lies nestled in the Severn Valley.  It is, as one visitor’s guide notes, ‘a town of unique distinction’, in that it consists of two parts. High Town sits high above the Severn on a large bluff of red sandstone.  From there multiple sets of steps and a funicular railway – the oldest and steepest of its kind in England – descend into Low Town, which straddles the river.

The town has a medieval castle, now in ruins, having been bombarded, captured and ‘slighted’ in 1646 by the Parliamentarians.  The largest surviving fragment is its Norman keep, which leans at a more acute angle than Pisa’s tower.

View of the Castle Ruins and the Church of St Mary Magdalene, from Bridgnorth (Salop), “Queen of the Severn”, The Official Guide, 1937. Image used with the permission of Bridgnorth Library.

Once a busy river port, by the 20th century Bridgnorth had become, as Laurie Lee noted, ‘a pleasant slumberous town’, and remains so.  Inexplicably, the German Luftwaffe dropped twelve bombs on the town on 29 August 1940, destroying several homes and killing two people.  (Incidentally, Adolf Hitler allegedly earmarked Bridgnorth as a potential base in the event of a successful Nazi invasion of Britain.)

Today Bridgnorth is perhaps best known as the northern terminus of the Severn Valley Railway.  The original line opened in 1862, but the town’s relationship with steam locomotives goes even further back.  The famous Catch Me Who Can was built in a Low Town foundry and in 1808 became the first steam locomotive in the world to haul fare-paying passengers on a site just south of Euston Road.

View of Bridgnorth railway station, with a train to Hampton Loade, on the opening day of the Severn Valley Railway, 23 May 1970. The leaning Castle Ruins are visible in the background. Copyright Ben Brooksbank, licensed for reuse by Geograph under a Creative Commons Licence.

Bridgnorth is home to numerous historic buildings, such as Bishop Percy’s House.  Built in 1580, it is one of very few from that period to survive the fire that engulfed High Town during the Civil War fighting in 1646.  The house was later the birthplace of Bishop Thomas Percy, sometime owner of the Percy Folio (now in the British Library), which he used to compile his Reliques of Ancient English Poetry.  Other notable buildings include the Town Hall (formerly a 17th-century tithe barn), St Leonard’s Church (built with local sandstone), and the Church of St Mary Magdalene (designed by Thomas Telford).

View of Bridgnorth High Street and Town Hall, from The Tourist’s Guide to Bridgnorth, 1875. Image used with the permission of Bridgnorth Library.

Arguably the town’s most striking landmarks lie on its outskirts.  Two prominent sandstone outcrops sit high along the valley’s eastern ridge, offering excellent vantage points from which to view High Town and the hills beyond.  The higher of the two, Queen’s Parlour, appears at the very top of the valley.  The other, known rather more matter-of-factly as High Rock, juts out incongruously from thick woodland high above the river, looking as though it has been lifted from some remote part of California.

View from Castle Hill, with High Rock visible in the distance. From Bridgnorth (Salop), “Queen of the Severn”, The Official Guide, 1937. Image used with the permission of Bridgnorth Library.

Both are remarkable sights when viewed from Castle Walk, a promenade on the edge of High Town.  Perhaps Charles I had them in mind when describing the walk as the finest in his dominions.

David Fitzpatrick
Content Specialist, Archivist, British Library/Qatar Foundation Partnership

Further reading:
George Bellett, The Antiquities of Bridgnorth; With Some Historical Notices of the Town and Castle (Bridgnorth: W. J. Rowley; London: Longmans & Co, 1856): 
The Tourist’s Guide to Bridgnorth, Being a Complete Handbook to Places of Interest in and Around Bridgnorth (Bridgnorth: Evans, Edkins, and McMichael; Madeley: J. Randall, 1875)
Elizabeth P. Morrall, A Popular Illustrated Guide and Handbook to Bridgnorth and its Environs etc. (Bridgnorth: Deighton & Smith, 1891)
Bridgnorth (Salop), “Queen of the Severn”, The Official Guide (Cheltenham and London: Ed. J. Burrow & Co. Ltd., 1937)

Bridgnorth: A Town of Unique Distinction – Part 2