World War I Archives

The Royal Thomian is the longest uninterrupted cricket series in the world Source:Dailynews The Battle of the Blues is a spending cricket encounter. Over the decades this big match has transcended cricket and become a celebration of humanity. To me the Royal-Thomian is a sterling manifestation of brotherhood. Through brotherhood individuals find strength, comfort, and understanding in each other, fostering an environment of camaraderie.The bonds from our college days have been beautifully sustained decades later.I have heard many past cricketers, from both schools say “Cricket was our life. Cricket is always in our blood”. Cricket history tells us about an old match in England. In 1837, the only two universities of that time, Oxford and Cambridge played each other for the first time to be labeled as England’s Battle of the Blues.The Eton-Harrow encounter, which is the only schools event somewhat comparable in England, was interrupted during World War I. ...

What ‘Downton Abbey’ doesn’t show you: The dark side of life as a servant in Britain’s mansions – by RAQUEL VIDALES The book ‘Not in Front of the Servants’ reveals what it was really like to be a maid in the UK: back-breaking work, no free time and cruel masters Source:english.elpais.com In 1879, shortly after starting work at the age of 10 as a servant in a mansion in a suburb of London, Harriet Brown wrote in a letter to her mother: “I am up at half-past five and six every morning and do not go to bed till nearly 12 at night and I feel so tired sometimes I am obliged to have a good cry. I do think I should have been laid up if it was not for the Cod Liver Oil I am taking.” Two decades later, history would repeat itself with her daughter ...