Caroline Kennedy, daughter of President Kennedy, narrowly escaped being, like Lord Frederick Cavendish, an unintended victim of Irish terrorism. In 1975 there was an unsuccessful attempt by the IRA on the life of the Conservative MP Sir Hugh Fraser—then still married to the historian Lady Antonia Fraser—and the car bomb that was intended to kill … Read more
Spencer Percival is the only British prime minister to have been assassinated. In contrast, four US presidents have been assassinated—Lincoln, Garfield, McKinley and Kennedy—and thirteen others were the intended victims of credible assassins, though Ronald Reagan was the only serving US president actually to have been injured in an unsuccessful assassination attempt. Lord Frederick Cavendish’s … Read more
People may have been unrealistic in their expectations but this did not prevent Owen from being criticised openly as the papers and pamphleteers continued the debate. An anonymous writer supported Owen, saying that ‘the middle classes will aid this plan if the great and wealthy refuse to cooperate’, a prophetic observation as it proved. The … Read more
People gave to religious or charitable causes in the Middle Ages for a variety of reasons—sometimes because they were devout, but also to acquire the social status that went with visible donations. John Gogh died in late 1472, and in his will requested burial in Christ Church Cathedral. He donated a missal to the cathedral, … Read more
The law dictated who could make a will or testament and what form the document took. The practice of writing testaments arrived in Ireland with the Anglo-Normans. Testaments allowed people to dictate instructions for their funeral, appoint executors and dispose of their ‘moveable’ property—their possessions with the exception of land or houses, which were passed … Read more