Setting the Scene for the 1900s
Queen Victoria, having been on the throne for 64 years, dies aged 81 in 1901; her son Edward VII becomes King. Prime Ministers: Lord Salisbury, Arthur Balfour, Henry Campbell Bannerman, Herbert Asquith. Second Boer War (1899-1902) 1901 Factory and Workshop Act (raises the minimum working age to 12 years) followed by the 1908 Children’s Act. Imperial Tobacco is founded by W H Wills. Rudyard Kipling’s “Kim” is published. Emily and Christine Pankhurst form a militant group in Manchester with protests around the country by suffragettes. Discovery Expedition in Antarctica includes Scott, Shackleton and Wilson. Marmite is produced, Cadbury Dairy Milk chocolate is produced in Bournville, Bisto gravy powder is marketed. Number plates on road vehicles introduced and speed limit is increased to 20 miles per hour. Electric trams are introduced. The first Woolworth’s branch is opened in Liverpool. Fingerprint evidence is used in a court conviction.
October 1908 Samuel Franklin Cowdery (1867-1913) having taken the surname Cody, is the first man to fly at Farnborough an aeroplane built in Britain. He was killed in 1913, buried in Aldershot military cemetery and his statue erected in Farnborough. A replica of his aeroplane can be seen at the Farnborough Air Sciences Trust Museum.
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| Row Hill Estate, Heath End | Rowhills Estate, Weybourne | Woodlands, Heath End |
