David Cowan

photos of a medal showing both sides - on one a round-faced man with short cropped hair in profile, on the other a stout figure in robes being given a coronet by a female deity

(Sir) Robert Walpole, subsequently earl of Orford, was born #OnThisDay 1676. A member of a Norfolk parliamentary dynasty, he emerged as 'Prime Minister' in the 1720s and retained his place until 1742 when he was sent to the Lords.
For many, Walpole sums up the best and worst of 18th-century politics

26.08.2025 10:04 — 👍 17    🔁 7    💬 1    📌 0

How the Georgians embraced energy abundance Europe must rediscover the Georgian hunger for abundance and offer vigorous support to today’s equivalents of Arkwright, Hargreaves, Watt, Wedgwood, and Stephenson.

How the Georgians embraced energy abundance | @cowanda.bsky.social

engelsbergideas.com/essays/how-t...

07.08.2025 12:59 — 👍 5    🔁 3    💬 0    📌 0

New History Book Series Call for Proposals: Routledge Studies in Eighteenth- Century Cultures and Societies - BSECS Series Editors: Elaine Chalus, University of Liverpool, UK and Deborah Simonton, University of Southern Denmark, Denmark Routledge Editor: Max Novick The long eighteenth century sits as a pivotal poin...

***CALL FOR PROPOSALS***
Routledge Studies in #18thC Cultures & Societies (eds. @profelainechalus.bsky.social & Deborah Simonton) seeks proposals for book-length studies on aspects of British, European, or transnational culture and society c.1680-1850. Full details: www.bsecs.org.uk/news-and-eve...

28.07.2025 12:22 — 👍 68    🔁 67    💬 2    📌 3

The world is increasingly volatile and dangerous, and great power rivalry is back. Follow the Centre for Geopolitics if you want to better understand the new global disorder.

20.06.2025 11:00 — 👍 1    🔁 0    💬 0    📌 0

'The buzz, the prattle, the crowds, the noise, the hurry': the Coronation of George III and Queen Charlotte - The History of Parliament In the third of our series on 18th-century coronations, we turn to that of George III in the late summer of 1761, which proved no exception, as Dr Robin Eagles points out.

Born #OTD 1738, George III.

He was eventually crowned alongside his new bride Queen Charlotte in the summer of 1761, which as Dr Robin Eagles explored, was not short of hiccups: historyofparliament.com/2023/05/04/c...

04.06.2025 08:17 — 👍 18    🔁 6    💬 0    📌 0

For the evening crowd.

29.05.2025 17:29 — 👍 60    🔁 15    💬 10    📌 1

Portrait of a young man in 18th-century clothes leaning on a chair on which is draped an elaborate gold brocade robe. Behind him is a red drape and a stone pillar.

Born #OnThisDay 1759 William Pitt (the Younger).
One of only two father and son combos to have both held the office of Prime Minister.
#HistParl #skystorians

28.05.2025 08:11 — 👍 9    🔁 3    💬 0    📌 0