HORATIO BRIGHT - THE MAUSOLEUM AT MOSCAR SHEFFIELD

And talking of graves I have also posted an update on Horatio Bright and the Mausoleum at Moscar Sheffield. Horatio Bright was was of the first people I researched for the site as he lived "on the Hill" in 1861. He lived next door to our house, before moving on to Townend Street and then to Lydgate Hall in Crosspool. He led what can only be called "an interesting life" but the circumstances of his death (his funeral was positively gothic) and internment have also attracted a good deal of attention over the years

Joseph Haslam Hawksworth and Joseph Senior

Just posted one article and updated another article to my website that concern past residents of Crookes and Crookesmoor. In both cases I suppose you could say that they were the greatest artist and poet respectively that Crookes ever produced but in both cases there was very little about either of them on-line or in print.

The artist Joseph Haslam Hawksworth was unusual inasmuch as that he supported himself and  his family throughout his life on his earnings from being an artist-painter..He was according to critics "a highly accomplished English landscape painter" of the period

Joseph Senior on the other hand was a pen blade forger by trade and his poetry was purely for pleasure.Nevertheless he was widely known and respected in the district and in Sheffield  - see the list of subscribers to his book "Smithy Rhymes and Stithy Chimes: Or the Short and Simple Annals of the Poor, Spelt by the Unlettered Muse of Your Humble Bard" .

My next task in to try  and locate the graves of the two Joseph's and see if any mention is made of their talents

"Which Britons make our country truly great?"

Whilst all the media and politicians are getting lathered up about a phone hacking "scandal" that was initiated by staff at the now defunct "News of the World" I thought readers of this Blog might enjoy this litle gem from the Daily Telegraph dated October 2007. In a way it speaks even greater volumes about the parlous state of the press in this country,

"Britishness and the state of the union dominate the political agenda. But which Britons make our country truly great? Here Telegraph writers choose their favourites from this year across seven categories as the search begins for the Morgan Stanley Great Britons of 2007

·         Morgan Stanley Great Briton of 2007: Who gets your vote?

·         Great Britons of 2007: Telegraph writers' picks

BUSINESS

Our candidates in the business category have successfully flown the flag for Britain in the global economy, from banking to retailing and engineering to telecoms.

Sir Fred Goodwin is the leading British banker of his generation, having transformed Royal Bank of Scotland from a mid-sized provincial player into the world's fifth largest bank.

Seven years ago, he steered the bank through a successful £21billion hostile takeover of NatWest, a bank three times its size.

This year he surpassed that as Royal Bank led a consortium of Belgium's Fortis and Spain's Santander, beating competition from Barclays to buy Dutch bank ABN Amro for £49billion in the largest takeover in banking history."

Nick Clegg - A Man for All Sports

I am starting to wonder if Nick Clegg is hankering after sporting greatness. I caught a glimpse of him at the Champions League Final in May sitting in the best seats next to Mugabe's dear friend Sepp Blatter. And then blow me whilst Prime Minister Cameron was preparing to do his bit in Helmand province (Afghanistan), his deputy and wife were presiding over Centre Court at Wimledon for the Men's semi-finals. They were naturally in some of the best seats! In fact he is starting to look imperious, and aloof, something that the people of his constituency are starting to find vexing but I'm sure that he was at these venues "fighting for Britain"

You can see how far he has travelled in the last 18 months by reading the contents of this letter

 

I wonder where he and his family was lucky in obtaining tickets for the 2012 Olympics - many British people did not get any even though they are funding it! 

A Crookes Artist - Joseph Haslam Hawksworth (1827-1908)

Just posted an article to the website that I have been working on in the last couple of days. It is the first time that I've posted an article that pertains to the arts but I have just stuck to the facts of Joseph's life. No opinions, criticisms etc on his painting and art as I feel that I am not qualified in that respect. The only point I did make and this really applies to a lot of Victorian Art, is that it is not my "cup of tea"

Nevertheless Joseph spent his whole life as an artist and he certainly had some status and success in such circles. But oddly enough he moved very few times in his life. In fact during the last fifty years of his life he remained firmly in the Crookes/Crookesmoor area of Sheffield and so I suppose he could be called Crookes' Greatest Artist!