Charles Esdaile

So sorry: I completely lost track of this exchange. Re my reading on LA, my chief sources were the monographs by Timothy Anna & Michael Costello (can't remember the titles, but they're in the bibliography of 'The PW').

Hope all this helps. Meanwhile, the very best of your luck with your studies. Lesh yeearreeyn share, CJE.

Cont. ... of power & thereby secure the power to defend themselves (which is not to say that other factors weren't present too). For what it's worth, what my own research has shown is that, until the end of the war, there was no chance of Spain sending any significant help to the loyalist cause.

Cont. ... just two weeks to a massive French offensive in January 1810 that elicited virtually nothing in the way of resistance. The criollos fearing that this presaged the complete collapse of Patriot Spain and possibly even a French invasion, they therefore rushed to secure the levers ... TBC.

Fastyr mie voish Ellan Vannin! Thank you for this kind enquiry. In brief, the answer is that I am no Latin-Americanist and therefore was guided by the secondary sources I had read, all of which were agreed that the Latin-American revolutions were sparked off by the loss of Andalucía ... TBC.

Dusk over Peel.

Douglas harbour this afternoon: move over San Tropez!

Now why don't I have much faith in this book as a work of history?

As many people know, I don't do messing about in boats, but look what I was greeted by when I went to catch the bus from the end of my street the other morning! Atmospheric or what?

And this is a very hot and sunny Peel the other day: here's hoping that the sun continues to shine all summer!

Douglas marina this afternoon- eat your heart out Saint Tropez!

Pope Leo XIV: What is behind the name Robert Prevost has chosen? Due to a longstanding tradition, newly-elected popes are asked to change their names.

To anyone conversant with Catholic history, the reference to Leo XIII was blindingly obvious from the very start. Meanwhile, it is an excellent choice as a subtle statement that Leo will follow in Francis' footsteps, while yet not simply cloning him.
www.bbc.com/news/article...

Re yesterday's events in Rome, as somebody whose birthday is 12 August, I have always believed that the best people are Leos!

Pope Leo XIV: Continuity the key for Pope seen as unifier The new Pope is seen as someone who could unite traditionalist and progressive within the Church, writes the BBC's religion editor.

www.bbc.com/news/article...
Once again, all very positive. For all that I myself liked him,Papa Francesco was in some respects a divisive figure, so it is good to see that his replacement has such widespread support, while yet clearly standing for precisely the same values

Who is Robert Prevost, the new Pope Leo XIV and first American pope? After a conclave that lasted only three sessions and 24 hours, 133 cardinals have elected Robert Prevost, now known as Pope Leo XIV.

Habemus Papem: Deo gratias! I'm much heartened by the election of Cardinal Prevost. As for the title he's chosen, it's a gesture in the direction of Rerum Novarum, the great statement of Catholic social policy promulgated by Leo XIII in 1890. All very positive!!
www.bbc.com/news/article...

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McDonald's loses US diners as they 'grapple with uncertainty' The burger chain says its US customers are "grappling with uncertainty".

www.bbc.com/news/article...
While most people on here would never eat at McDonald's, many of us have children & grandchildren who like doing so. Can I therefore humbly suggest that folks find an alternative venue for family outings? Americans need to learn that actions have consequences.

Ukraine war: Putin suggests Russia open to direct talks with Kyiv, as strikes continue Moscow launched strikes across Ukrainian cities hours after Putin said he was considering a pause on civilian targets.

www.bbc.com/news/article...

Fearing the Greeks even when they bring gifts seems an excellent maxim here!

Running a boarding house was, I suspect, the upper end of a pretty common way poorer women got by: there must have been many widows living in tiny terraced houses who took in lodgers.

Good point! In the case of the pubs I have been looking at, the women concerned would have had to be pretty formidable (something that is certainly true of one of the women concerned, namely my great-grandmother!

Yes: I am genuinely puzzled how the set-up worked in financial terms. The women were tenants, of course, but I have no idea how they obtained their positions or how the proceeds were divided up.

Pope Francis was a vocal critic of the powerful with a profound influence The informal Pope aimed to shift influence from Rome into hands of the faithful, the BBC's Aleem Maqbool writes.

A very balanced analysis: while his papacy had its faults, Francis I was yet one of the greater popes of my lifetime.
www.bbc.com/news/article...

A humble question to folk interested in Victorian and Edwardian social and/or women's history. In brief, no fewer than four female connections of my family were pub landladies in poor areas of Southampton in the period 1870-1914. Was tavern keeping, then, a common profession for lower-class women?

See my traffic before I was added to all the moderation lists? 😒

Like millions of fellow Catholics, I was deeply saddened to wake up this morning to the news of the death of Papa Francesco. Eternal rest grant unto him, oh Lord, and let perpetual light shine upon him; may he rest in peace, amen.

Florida State University: Man used police officer mum's gun to kill two at campus police say The 20-year-old alleged gunman began shooting at around lunchtime near the student union building.

Having spent much of the 1980's shuttling to and fro between the University of Southampton and Florida State University working on the link that produced the Wellington Congress, I was horrified to read this news. Best wishes to all concerned.
www.bbc.com/news/article...

Supreme Court backs 'biological' definition of woman The landmark ruling could have major implications for how sex-based rights apply across Scotland, England and Wales.

This is a horrible decision that is the product of ignorance and prejudice, not to mention an attack on a small, vulnerable and defenceless minority which wants nothing other than life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. As ever, hard cases make bad law.
www.bbc.com/news/article...

Hi @historicalsoton.bsky.social! Can you help? In brief, my gt-gt-g'father, Edmond Abraham, was the Capt. of the Vol. Fire Bgde that served Soton docks. Acc. to my Mum, his death in 9/1877 was brought on in consq. of a terrible fire he was called out to fight. Do you know anything re such an event?