wiki-illiam #109: q4

[dubdobdee]

4. Where:

i: did Loring fight with the crippled Paul de la Fosse?
ii: was MgSO4.7H2O found to be of therapeutic benefit?
iii: did Blanche save the doomed Neville by clinging to the clapper of the curfew bell?
iv: did the riders encounter the gouty Lord Winterton approaching the churchyard steps?
v: did the rector combine his clerical duties with those of a royal appointment at Greenwich?
vi: according to the diarist, did Alice catch and eat a jack pike when expecting a future archbishop?
vii: was which composer's body interred in St Peter's churchyard nearly a year after his death?
viii: was the chalky grave in which the former NSW justice minister's victim was found?
ix: does an edifice recall, nominally, an Uttar Pradesh mausoleum?
x: did council meetings have a condimentary flavour?

Towns or villages in Surrey (possibly including Surrey, Canada)


i: occurs in Conan Doyle's Sir Nigel and the White Company, in Shalford, looked up by alextiefling
ii: is the chemical formula for Epsom salts (Epsom being a town in Surrey), well guessed by alextiefling
iii: is a tale from the Wars of the Roses, which took place in at Chertsey Abbey in Chertsey, as known by kerrypolka
iv: Chiddingfold, thus described by William Cobbett in his Rural Rides, (1821-6), googled by riverchild
v: Astronomer Royal John Flamsteed was also rector of Burstow, begun by twitter-user petrajane, completed (ie looked up) by dubdobdee
vi: fits Samuel Pepys: not quite nailed via google by katstevens
vii: Composer Frederick Delius is buried in the churchyard of Limpsfield, googled by twitter-user petrajane
viii: was the Chalkpit Murder, near Woldingham, in 1946, recognised by twitter-user petrajane
ix: could be the Grand Taj Banquet Hall in Surrey, Canada, googled by riverchild?
x: Godalming's old town hall is known as "the pepperpot", googled by twitter-user petrajane

Comments

[petra jane (from livejournal.com)]

v. John Flamsteed, first Astronomer Royal and namesake of the observatory at Greenwich royal park, was also a man of the cloth.

The legend told to us at both Tower of London and the Observatory was that Flamsteed was originally based at the Tower, but the ravens kept impeding the progress of science by pooping on his gear. The Astronomer Royal petitioned Charles II to have the birds culled. An aide reminded the king about the ancient myth about the crown falling if the ravens ever left the tower, so as a compromise, Flamsteed was offered a nice hill in the royal deer park. Some chap called Christopher Wren built a lovely octagonal observing-room at Flamsteed's house at Greenwich but neglected to put in windows facing the cardinal points necessary for doing astronomical observations, so Flamsteed used a shed in the garden instead.

[petra jane (from livejournal.com)]

Anyway, I do uselessly know that his successor Edmund Hally was a parishioner of St Margaret's, Lee, but have no idea where Flamsteed preached.

[dubdobdee.livejournal.com]

Flamsteed was (acc.this) rector of Burstow, also in Surrey.

[kerrypolka.livejournal.com]

iii. is a Wars of the Roses myth! (His first name is "Neville" rather than his surname, for some reason, possibly because 19th-century re-tellers were confused or totally making it up He was ~doomed to die~ at curfew but she climbed up to the clapper and held onto it to silence it. Which also doesn't really make sense but hey. The "where" is Chertsey Abbey I believe. Lots of church-y related questions, are they all sacred places maybe?

[alextiefling.livejournal.com]

Isn't ii Epsom, as in Salts?

[dubdobdee.livejournal.com]

Epsom and Chertsey are both in Surrey, and it's also quite likely Flamsteed was a Surrey rector, no?

[marnameow.livejournal.com]

Is ix some place called the Taj Mahal?

[marnameow.livejournal.com]

And if so, is it a curry house?

[alextiefling.livejournal.com]

As this one is now up for the Googling, I shall reveal my discovery that (i) is an event in Sir Nigel and the White Company, an adventure novel by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, and that the incident in question takes place in the Surrey village of Shalford.

[dubdobdee.livejournal.com]

when the Conan Doyle question is asked the Kipling answer is soon to follow :D

[petra jane (from livejournal.com)]

Kinda surprised they haven't made an Underbelly mini-series about viii: Thomas Ley, Minister for Justice in the NSW cabinet and later MP had several acquaintances and political opponents who died or went missing in unusual circumstances. Ley retired to London with the widow of one of his unfortunate acquaintances, but became convinced that she was stepping out with a local chap so Ley and a couple of friends kidnapped, tortured and killed the man and dumped his body in a chalkpit near Woldingham, Surrey.

[katstevens.livejournal.com]

vi. Googling tells me that Samuel Pepys a) went to Guildford a lot b) had a cook named Alice c) regularly ate 'poor jack' which apparently is dried hake (in a pie??). Alas I cannot resolve these facts into a lovely archbishop-shaped answer.

[dubdobdee.livejournal.com]

i follow him on twitter so should know this :D

[petra jane (from livejournal.com)]

Google time:

Limpsfield's only claims to fame is as the final resting-place of composer Frederick Delius, buried in the yard of the medieval church of St Peter.

Godalming's old town hall is, apparently, affectionately known as "the pepperpot" (thanks, Google) so I expect that's x.

[riverchild.livejournal.com]

All of which having been googled:

iv is Chiddingfold - by William Cobett and chums in 'Rural Rides' (1821-6), except MOAR WORDIER:
"When we came through Chiddingfold the people were just going to church; and we saw a carriage and pair conveying an old gentleman and some ladies to the churchyard steps. Upon inquiry, we found that this was Lord Winterton, whose name, they told us, was Turnour. I thought I had heard of all the lords, first or last; but if I had ever heard of this one before, I had forgotten him. He lives down in the Weald, between the gunpowder establishments and Horsham, and has the reputation of being a harmless, good sort of man, and that being the case I was sorry to see that he appeared to be greatly afflicted with the gout, being obliged to be helped up the steps by a stout man."

vii is Limpsfield - this is composer Frederick Delius, died June 1934 in Grez, reburied 1935 at St. Peter's.

ix could be the Grand Taj Banquet Hall in Surrey, Canada?