True or False Quiz Women and Peasants did

True or False Quiz

Women and Peasants did not have the right to vote. Before 1832 you usually had to own land to be able to vote. Women did not gain the right to vote in Britain until 1918*. Only in 1928 did they gain equality with men. * New Zealand (1893); Australia (1902); Finland (1906); Norway (1913); Denmark (1915); the Netherlands and the Soviet Union (1917); Canada and Luxembourg (1918); Austria, Czechoslovakia (now the Czech Republic and Slovakia), Germany, Poland, and Sweden (1919); Belgium (partial, 1919; full, 1948); USA (1920); Ecuador (1929); South Africa (1930); Brazil and Uruguay (1932); Turkey and Cuba (1934); France (1944); Italy and Japan (1946); China and Argentina (1947); South Korea and Israel (1948); Chile, India, and Indonesia (1949). Switzerland granted the franchise to women in 1971.

Manchester’s population was about 60 000 and the number of people allowed to vote for its MP was three. In 1801 the population of Manchester was 95 000 but nobody could vote for its MP because it did not have one!

Fat Tory Landlords got made MPs when they reached a certain weight. Did anyone get this one wrong? … Great idea though don’t you think? !

William Pitt the Younger was a British Prime Minister. Pitt, William (1759 -1806), prime minister of Great Britain (1783 -1801 and 1804 -6), who restored British confidence and prosperity after the American Revolution and was a resolute leader of the nation in war against revolutionary France. But as far as I know there never was a Pitt “the even younger or a Pitt, the glint in the milkman’s eye”.

The Prince of Wales, George was called a fat slob by the newspapers and had mud thrown at his carriage. There were a number of occasions where an angry crowd threatened the prince. For me the abiding image of Prince George is this drawn by the cartoon genius George Cruikshank. Loyal Addresses and Radical Petitions - December 1819 George is the on the table showing what he thinks of the idea of political reform

Prince George was famous for not being able to say “antidisestablishmentarianism”. Can you say it? Yes, but what does it mean? But can you say it backwards? I can !!!

Another Cruikshank cartoon of the Prince Regent

Servants were sometimes used as tables. Well, at least as far as I know…. .

Prince George was the son of “a certified German lunatic”. On 5 th November, 1788, the king attacked the Prince of Wales and tried to smash his head against the wall. One observer claimed that foam was coming from the king's mouth and his eyes were so bloodshot that they looked like current jelly. George was placed in a straight-jacket and eventually his doctors had a special iron chair made to restrain their patient. Other treatment included putting poultices of Spanish Fly and mustard all over the King's body; the idea was that the painful blisters which resulted would draw out the "evil humours". For more information see the film based on the Alan Bennett book The Madness of King George

People believed that God appointed princes. This was known as the “divine right of kings”.

Some constituencies were so small that they only had one voter. Believe it or not, before 1832 there were a number of constituencies that had merely a handful of voters. Old Sarum is famous for having had none at all. No even a dachshund called “Colin”.

These constituencies were known as Robber Buttons. They were of course known as “Rotten Boroughs”. So what was the “chicken impression in aid of” ? ? ?

There were taxes on windows and stamps. The tax on windows was a tax on luxury houses. There were also similar taxes on gloves, servants and hair powder! Stamp duty was a tax on newspapers designed to make them too expensive for the poor to afford. Would you like to see my “stamped” Times newspaper from 1815?

Poor people like Baldrick could become MPs were not paid and so had to have a private income of at least £ 300 a year. This was supposed to stop MPs being bribed. How?

Parliamentary constituencies could be bought and sold. These parliamentary constituencies were known as “pocket boroughs”. If you owned the seat you controlled the MP. He was “in your pocket”.

There was a political party called “standing at the back dressed stupidly and looking stupid party”. But there is a party in the UK today called “The Monster Raving Looney Party”.

There was a political party called “Whig”. Whig, member of a former British political party, traditionally in opposition to the Tory party. The name is probably derived from Whiggamore, a derogatory term first applied to people in 17 thcentury Scotland, who were supporters of Presbyterianism (a form of Protestant Christianity). In the 19 th century the Whig party became known as the Liberal party and the Tory party as the Conservative party.

Candidates could threaten and bribe the voters to make them vote for them. There was no secret ballot in elections. You had to openly declare who you were voting for. Rotten Boroughs were so small that the electorate would expect to be paid by the candidate. Famously the Duchess of Devonshire bought votes by kissing the electors!!

Even in bigger constituencies the electorate would expect “election breakfasts“ and plenty of beer. As this Hogarth painting illustrates, elections often ended in violence.

To vote in the House of Commons you had to get up from your seat, follow other MPs who were to vote the same way as you, line up in a narrow corridor for about twenty minutes, walk through gate like a sheep pen and bow whilst saying your name out loud. …and this is how it still happens!

Before a Bill could become law (an Act of Parliament) it had to have the approval of the House of Lords. Until 1911, the House of Lords could stop Bills from becoming law. Now they only have the power to delay it.

Prince George had a very large beach hut built in Brighton The famous Oriental-style Royal Pavilion, constructed (1784 -87) as a residence for the Prince of Wales, later King George IV.

The King could choose members of the House of Lords. Until very recently, most members of the House of Lords inherited their right to attend and vote. Now only those appointed by the Queen can do so. These days the Queen appoints who the Prime Minister tells her to.

The End Although…how much can you remember? ? How about a test on it? OK…not today!