Wednesday, March 24, 2010
General James Wolfe.
Days out are like holidays - interludes set within one's normal regime.
We like our days out.
The weather forecast was not good, so it seemed sensible to go somewhere inside today. It rained for an hour or so, but it didn't dampen our fun.
Long ago, I would browse through a children’s encyclopaedia that we had when I was a child.
I seem to recall that my eyes skimmed over a section about General Wolfe.
There was probably a picture of a man with a strange hair style and a red jacket.
I think it sunk in that he had something to do with Canada.
Until today that was about the sum total of my knowledge of the man.
Today we have visited his birthplace in Westerham, not far from home, just over the border into Kent.
The house is now known as Quebec House and is owned by The National Trust.
In 1727 it was owned by the Wolfe Family.
It was a well appointed house, but not in the mansion class of dwelling.
James’s father was a soldier and despite poor health, James followed the family tradition.
He fought in battles in Europe and against the Scots at Culloden.
But it was in Canada that he made history. The French and the British were each staking a claim to own Canada – each had bits of it.
James Wolfe led the army which routed the French, leaving their French speaking parts of Canada to be British after all.
The victory gave him notoriety – he became a celebrity…… but sadly for him, he was a dead celebrity.
He died on the battle field in 1759, aged 32.
So today I have enjoyed a history lesson and had a lot of fun.
We dressed up, used a quill pen and talked lots.
It has been a day of chatting with people, exploring a life and exploring the large village of Westerham.
I will write about the village part of our day tomorrow.
James Wolfe - this could be the portrait I recall in the childhood enclopaedia. It is hardly the picture of a man to stir the heart of a young girl!
Our trip to Quebec House was in two parts.
There was a museum explaining all about the battle of Quebec and then the house itself.
It is a fair sized detached house with quite a small garden.
We talked to lots of the volunteers about the house and the life of Wolfe.
I asked if I could photograph this jug and the man thought it would do no harm.
There was a collection of model soldiers in the museum. We could photograph anything we wanted in there.
This is the drawing room.
I enjoyed writing with a scratchy quill pen.
My concentration to write well obviously addled my brain......my maths went haywire and I failed to calculate when James Wolfe was born.
This is a painting depicting the death of James Wolfe.
We like our days out.
The weather forecast was not good, so it seemed sensible to go somewhere inside today. It rained for an hour or so, but it didn't dampen our fun.
Long ago, I would browse through a children’s encyclopaedia that we had when I was a child.
I seem to recall that my eyes skimmed over a section about General Wolfe.
There was probably a picture of a man with a strange hair style and a red jacket.
I think it sunk in that he had something to do with Canada.
Until today that was about the sum total of my knowledge of the man.
Today we have visited his birthplace in Westerham, not far from home, just over the border into Kent.
The house is now known as Quebec House and is owned by The National Trust.
In 1727 it was owned by the Wolfe Family.
It was a well appointed house, but not in the mansion class of dwelling.
James’s father was a soldier and despite poor health, James followed the family tradition.
He fought in battles in Europe and against the Scots at Culloden.
But it was in Canada that he made history. The French and the British were each staking a claim to own Canada – each had bits of it.
James Wolfe led the army which routed the French, leaving their French speaking parts of Canada to be British after all.
The victory gave him notoriety – he became a celebrity…… but sadly for him, he was a dead celebrity.
He died on the battle field in 1759, aged 32.
So today I have enjoyed a history lesson and had a lot of fun.
We dressed up, used a quill pen and talked lots.
It has been a day of chatting with people, exploring a life and exploring the large village of Westerham.
I will write about the village part of our day tomorrow.
James Wolfe - this could be the portrait I recall in the childhood enclopaedia. It is hardly the picture of a man to stir the heart of a young girl!
Our trip to Quebec House was in two parts.
There was a museum explaining all about the battle of Quebec and then the house itself.
Canadians have mostly been very satisfied with the outcome of the Battle of Quebec. One wealthy Canadian bought the family home as a place of pilgrimage for people interested in James Wolfe and his achievements.
It is a fair sized detached house with quite a small garden.
We entered through the front door to be greeted by one of the volunteer guides.
Very soon she was telling us of army life and uniforms and clothes generally....... and we were soon wearing dressing up clothes.
We will grasp any opportunity - even dressing up in public. I fet sad for the couple who came in after us and hurried away quickly when offered the chance to don the cloaks and hats.
We talked to lots of the volunteers about the house and the life of Wolfe.
And we talked about taking photographs.
For us it feels sad not to be able to take away our memories of National Trust houses in our cameras.
It was explained to us that there were copyright reasons which made the ban necessary.
But at Quebec House it was not a complete ban.
I asked if I could photograph this jug and the man thought it would do no harm.
It is amongst the artefacts that were issued to commemorate the victory and death of this 18th century celebrity soldier.
I asked in another room about photographing a figurine of Wolfe and it was thought that perhaps I shouldn't do it.
There was a collection of model soldiers in the museum. We could photograph anything we wanted in there.
This is the drawing room.
I glimpse the image of that figurine on the right hand side!
The table was set up for visitors to enjoy.
I enjoyed writing with a scratchy quill pen.
My concentration to write well obviously addled my brain......my maths went haywire and I failed to calculate when James Wolfe was born.
His dates are actually 1727 to 1759.
We could also have tried our hand at cutting silhouettes.
This is a painting depicting the death of James Wolfe.
Amongst the artefacts was a small piece of the rock on which he was supposed to have laid his head as he died.
Somebody was quick to spot the profitability of being around when a celebrity died!
Tomorrow, then, I will explore Westerham with you......in both rain and sunshine.
Labels: Places in England
