... the Battle of Hastings took place and changed the course of English history.
I can remember the nine hundredth celebration (I was sixteen at the time) and I even have a Post Office first day cover* as a souvenir ... somewhere!
From a personal point of view, it is an important date as my surname is Norman French in origin and my ancestors probably came over in the period after the invasion. The name is probably derived from corderei, (a place where ropes are made), cordier (someone who makes ropes), cuer de roi (king's heart), or Cordray, a commune in Eure, Normandy.
* A first day cover is a postal card or stamped envelope with a special commemorative postage stamp on it that is franked on the first day the issue.
I'm a bit too young to actually remember the 1966 commemoration, but I do remember the stamps: The long 1 shilling and threepence stamp was a favourite in my childhood stamp collection!
ReplyDeleteMaudlin Jack Tar,
DeleteFunnily enough, there wasn’t much in the way of an official commemoration of the anniversary, although I seem to remember that Donald Featherstone (and some other wargamers) did a sort of re-fight/tabletop re-creation of the battle in Hastings at the time.
All the best,
Bob
All I remember from 1966 is the football - and collecting the tokens (Shell?) of the football players!
ReplyDeleteSteve,
DeleteI suspect that the World Cup - and England’s victory - loomed far larger on most people’s horizons back then.
All the best,
Bob
BOB,
ReplyDeleteReally good that you can trace your ancestory. I'm half Scottish - though I have no idea where my Scottish Grandparents came from in Scotland- tried an ancestory site without success - will have another go at it later. Regards. KEV.
Kev Robertson (Kev),
DeleteSue is a genealogist and has helped me trace my family back to the early 1700s. I’ve also done a DNA test which has connected me to several distant relatives and has traced my ethnic origins. I have a particular gene combination that is only found in people from an area of Europe known a Frisia. This is a coastal area that goes from the northern part Netherlands to southwestern Denmark, and includes the coastal part of Lower Saxony. This is the area that the Saxons and Jutes came from. I also have another gene combination that comes from southern Norway and Sweden as well as northern Denmark … which is where the Vikings/Norman came from.
All the best,
Bob
BOB,
DeleteVery interesting history and very important for you to know these links back to the 1700s. Regards. KEV.
Kev Robertson (Kev),
DeleteWe are the product of our ancestors … and knowing something about them helps to understand yourself.
All the best,
Bob
I'm afraid the 1966 anniversary didn't make any impression on me either! I suspect I won't be around for the 2066 one.... There was an excellent talk on Hastings/Senlac at the recent Society of Ancients Conference, and the speaker said that the Bayeux Tapestry should really be called the Canterbury Embroidery, as it wasn't made in Bayeux and isnt a Tapestry.
ReplyDeleteMartin Rapier,
DeleteYou never know, you might make it to 2066!
The Canterbury Embroidery is a much better name for it. Have you ever seen the whole thing … including the naked people in the margins?
All the best,
Bob
I was alive during but don't remember the 900th anniversary (or the World Cup sadly). Despite having a Norman-French derived surname, I've always identified with the Saxons. Purely on feel, not based on any genetic or other rationale.
ReplyDeleteNundanket,
DeleteApparently there are some historians who are now trying to claim the there was no Anglo-Saxon ‘invasion’ as such, just a slow process of migration and assimilation.
All the best,
Bob