Bill's Aviation Log

The Ditchley portrait of Queen Elizabeth I (1533-1603), 1595, widely considered to have been the most outstanding monarch in English history. Her 45-year reign -- the Elizabethan Age, is generally considered the golden age of one of the world's great nations -- was marked by economic prosperity, a great literary flowering, and the rise of England to first rank among the world's naval powers. She guided England through the second stage of the Reformation without serious bloodshed.

Sir Francis Walsingham (1532-1590), Elizabeth I's Principal Secretary. Walsingham rose from relative obscurity to become one of the small coterie who directed the Elizabethan state, overseeing foreign, domestic and religious policy. He served as English ambassador to France in the early 1570s and witnessed the St. Bartholomew's Day massacre. As principal secretary, he supported exploration, colonization, the development of the navy, and the plantation of Ireland. He worked to bring Scotland and England together. Overall, his foreign policy demonstrated a new understanding of the role of England as a maritime Protestant power with intercontinental trading ties. He oversaw operations that penetrated Spanish military preparation, gathered intelligence from across Europe, disrupted a range of plots against Elizabeth and secured the execution of Mary, Queen of Scots.

The 1998 film Elizabeth gives considerable, although sometimes historically inaccurate, prominence to Walsingham (portrayed by Geoffrey Rush).

Elizabeth I in her coronation robes, patterned with Tudor roses and trimmed with ermine

Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington (1769-1852). Wellington is shown here a year after he became Prime Minister.

John Locke, 1632-1704, was an English philosopher and physician, was "the first writer to put together in coherent form the basic ideas of constitutional democracy. His ideas strongly influenced the founding fathers of the United States, as well as many leading philosophers of the French Enlightenment. Locke expressed virtually all the major ideas of the American Revolution almost a century before the event. Rejecting the notion of the divine right of kings, Locke maintained that governments obtained their authority only from the consent of the governed." ... Michael H. Hart

Sir Isaac Newton, 1642-1727, the greatest and most influential scientist who ever lived. Between the ages of 21 and 27, he laid the foundations for the scientific theories that subsequently revolutioned the world. Prior to Newton, there were no set of principles that could turn the seemingly unrelated facts collected by such people as Copernicus and Galileo into a unified theory with which to make scientific predictions. Newton supplied it in his great work: the 'Mathematical Principles of Natural Philosophy (usually referred to simply as the Principia). -- the science of how material objects move. Newton himself often told the story that he was inspired to formulate his theory of gravitation by watching the fall of an apple from a tree.

Newton also did ground-breaking work on the nature of light. His invention of integral calculus was the most important achievement of modern mathematics, an essential tool without which most of the subsequent progress in modern science would have been impossible. Newton made significant contributions to thermodynamics, acoustics and others, too numerous to mention.

Few aspects of human activity have remained unchanged by the scientific revolution starting in 1500 AD, and Newton was not only the most brilliant of all scientists; he was also the most influential figure inthe development of scientific theory.

It is held by European philosophers of the Enlightenment and by historians of the Enlightenment that Newton's publication of the Principia was a turning point in the Scientific Revolution and started the Enlightenment. It was Newton's conception of the universe based upon natural and rationally understandable laws that became one of the seeds for Enlightenment ideology.

Newton made another of my favorite quotes: ""If I have seen further it is by standing on the shoulders of giants." Newton also wrote: "I do not know what I may appear to the world, but to myself I seem to have been only like a boy playing on the sea-shore, and diverting myself in now and then finding a smoother pebble or a prettier shell than ordinary, whilst the great ocean of truth lay all undiscovered before me."

Newton died in 1727, and was buried in Westminster Abbey, the first scientist to be accorded that honor.

John Loudon McAdam, 1756-1836, was a Scottish civil engineer and road-builder. He invented a new process, "macadamisation", for building roads. His innovation was that roads needed to be raised above the surrounding ground and constructed from layered rocks and gravel in a systematic manner. This was the greatest advance in road construction since Roman times. The macadam method spread very quickly across the world. The first macadam road in North America, the National Road, was completed in the 1830s and most of the main roads in Europe were subject to the McAdam process by the end of the nineteenth century. McAdam's roads played a key role in Britain's development as an industrial and commercial nation. Modern road construction still reflects McAdam's influence.

In this painting, workers can be seen behind McAdam laying a road.

George Stephenson , 1781-1848, was a self-educated English civil engineer and mechanical engineer during the Industrial Revolution. He is renowned as the "Father of Railways". Pioneered by Stephenson, rail transport was one of the most important technological inventions of the 19th century and a key component of the Industrial Revolution. Built by George and his son Robert's company Robert Stephenson and Company, the Locomotion No. 1 was the first steam locomotive to carry passengers on a public rail line, the Stockton and Darlington Railway in 1825. George also built the first public inter-city railway line in the world to use locomotives, the Liverpool and Manchester Railway, which opened in 1830. Thanks to George Stephenson, Britain led the world in the development of railways which acted as a stimulus for the Industrial Revolution by facilitating the transport of raw materials and manufactured goods.

Sir Richard Arkwright, 1732-1792, was an English inventor and a leading entrepreneur during the early Industrial Revolution. He is credited as the driving force behind the development of the spinning frame, known as the water frame after it was adapted to use water power; and he patented a rotary carding engine to convert raw cotton to 'cotton lap' prior to spinning. He was the first to develop factories housing both mechanised carding and spinning operations. Arkwright's achievement was to combine power, machinery, semi-skilled labour and the new raw material of cotton to create mass-produced yarn. His organisational skills earned him the accolade "father of the modern industrial factory system

William Pitt the Younger, 1759-1806, was a British statesman, the youngest and last prime minister of Great Britain from 1783 until the Acts of Union 1800, and then first prime minister of the United Kingdom from January 1801. He left office in March 1801, but served as prime minister again from 1804 until his death in 1806. He was also Chancellor of the Exchequer for all of his time as prime minister. He is known as "Pitt the Younger" to distinguish him from his father, William Pitt, 1st Earl of Chatham, who had previously served as prime minister and is referred to as "William Pitt the Elder".

Pitt's prime ministerial tenure, which came during the reign of King George III, was dominated by major political events in Europe, including the French Revolution and the Napoleonic Wars. He is ranked highly amongst all British prime ministers in multiple surveys. Pitt served as prime minister for a total of eighteen years, 343 days, making him the second-longest-serving British prime minister of all time, after Robert Walpole. He is buried in Westminster Abbey

Charles Robert Darwin, 1809 – 1882, English naturalist, geologist and biologist, was "the originator of the theory of organic evolution by means of natural selection. His 1859 book 'On the Origin of Species' created a furor. It is probable that no scientific book ever published has been so widely and vigorously discussed, by scientist and layman alike. Darwin's great contribution was that he was able to present not only a mechanism - natural selection - by which evolution could occur, but also a large quantity of convincing evidence to support his hypothesis." ... Michael H. Hart

Darwin has been described as one of the most influential figures in human history and was honoured by burial in Westminster Abbey.

This portrait was done the year before the naturalist died.

Of course, in the United Kingdom National Portrait Gallery, there must be a portrait of the great Winston Churchill. This portrait shows politician Churchill at time of crisis during the First World War.

Herbert Kitchener, 1st Earl Kitchener, 1850-1916, was a British Army officer and colonial administrator. Kitchener came to prominence for his imperial campaigns, his involvement in the Second Boer War, and his central role in the early part of the First World War.

In this portrait, Kitchener stands in full military uniform with Cairo, Egypt in the background.

July 11, 2023 - London National Portrait Gallery
Just around the corner from the National Gallery was the National Portrait Gallery. So we checked it out. The National Portrait Gallery houses a collection of portraits of historically important and famous British people, selected on the basis of the significance of the sitter, not that of the artist. . When it opened in 1856, it was arguably the first national public gallery in the world that was dedicated to portraits. Sir Thomas More (1478-1535) Sir Thomas More PC (1478 – 1535), venerated in the Catholic Church as Saint Thomas More, was an English lawyer, judge, social philosopher, author, statesman, amateur theologian, and noted Renaissance humanist. He also served Henry VIII as Lord High Chancellor of England from October 1529 to May 1532. He wrote Utopia, published in 1516, which describes the political system of an imaginary island state. More opposed the Protestant Reformation, directing polemics against the theology of Martin Luther, Huldrych Zwingli and William Tyndale. More also opposed Henry VIII's separation from the Catholic Church, refusing to acknowledge Henry as supreme head of the Church of England and the annulment of his marriage to Catherine of Aragon. After refusing to take the Oath of Supremacy, he was convicted of treason on what he claimed was false evidence, and executed. On his execution, he was reported to have said: "I die the King's good servant, and God's first". The steadfastness and courage with which More maintained his religious convictions, and his dignity during his imprisonment, trial, and execution, contributed much to More's posthumous reputation, particularly among Roman Catholics. Pope Pius XI canonised More in 1935 as a martyr. Most people including me probably know him from the movie "A Man for All Seasons", which I watched recently. It stars Paul Scofield, a noted British actor, who said that the part of Sir Thomas More was "the most difficult part I played." The film won the Academy Award for Best Picture and Scofield won the Best Actor Oscar.

The Ditchley portrait of Queen Elizabeth I (1533-1603), 1595, widely considered to have been the most outstanding monarch in English history. Her 45-year reign -- the Elizabethan Age, is generally considered the golden age of one of the world's great nations -- was marked by economic prosperity, a great literary flowering, and the rise of England to first rank among the world's naval powers. She guided England through the second stage of the Reformation without serious bloodshed.

William Cecil, 1st Baron Burghley KG PC (1520 – 1598) was the chief adviser of Queen Elizabeth I for most of her reign, twice Secretary of State (1550–1553 and 1558–1572) and Lord High Treasurer from 1572. In his description in the Encyclopædia Britannica Eleventh Edition, A.F. Pollard wrote, "From 1558 for forty years the biography of Cecil is almost indistinguishable from that of Elizabeth and from the history of England." Cecil set as the main goal of English policy the creation of a united and Protestant British Isles. His methods were to complete the control of Ireland, and to forge an alliance with Scotland. Protection from invasion required a powerful Royal Navy. While he was not fully successful, his successors agreed with his goals.

Sir Francis Walsingham (1532-1590), Elizabeth I's Principal Secretary. Walsingham rose from relative obscurity to become one of the small coterie who directed the Elizabethan state, overseeing foreign, domestic and religious policy. He served as English ambassador to France in the early 1570s and witnessed the St. Bartholomew's Day massacre. As principal secretary, he supported exploration, colonization, the development of the navy, and the plantation of Ireland. He worked to bring Scotland and England together. Overall, his foreign policy demonstrated a new understanding of the role of England as a maritime Protestant power with intercontinental trading ties. He oversaw operations that penetrated Spanish military preparation, gathered intelligence from across Europe, disrupted a range of plots against Elizabeth and secured the execution of Mary, Queen of Scots. The 1998 film Elizabeth gives considerable, although sometimes historically inaccurate, prominence to Walsingham (portrayed by Geoffrey Rush).

Sir Francis Drake, (1540 – 1596) was an English explorer and privateer best known for his circumnavigation of the world in a single expedition between 1577 and 1580. This was the first English circumnavigation, and the second carried out in a single expedition.. In 1588 he was part of the fight against the Spanish Armada as a vice-admiral.

Sir Walter Raleigh 1552 – 1618 was an English statesman, soldier, writer and explorer. One of the most notable figures of the Elizabethan era, he played a leading part in English colonisation of North America, suppressed rebellion in Ireland, helped defend England against the Spanish Armada and held political positions under Elizabeth I.

The Dharnly Portrait of Queen Eliabeth I, 1575.

Elizabeth I in her coronation robes, patterned with Tudor roses and trimmed with ermine

James Charles Stuart (1566 – 1625) was King of Scotland as James VI from 1567 and King of England and Ireland as James I from the union of the Scottish and English crowns on 1603 until his death in 1625. He succeeded Queen Elizabeth I. He commissioned the 'King James' translation of the Bible, which was published in 1611 and became an influence source for the development of the English language and literature for centuries.

Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington (1769-1852). Wellington is shown here a year after he became Prime Minister.

George III (George William Frederick; 1738 – 1820) was King of Great Britain and Ireland from 25 October 1760 until his death in 1820. George III's life and reign were marked by a series of military conflicts involving his kingdoms. Early in his reign, Great Britain defeated France in the Seven Years' War, becoming the dominant European power in North America and India. However, many of Britain's American colonies were soon lost in the American War of Independence. Further wars against revolutionary and Napoleonic France from 1793 concluded in the defeat of Napoleon at the Battle of Waterloo in 1815. In 1807, the transatlantic slave trade was banned from the British Empire.

One of its best-known paintings at the National Gallery is the Chandos portrait, the most famous portrait of William Shakespeare (1564 – 1616) although there is some uncertainty about whether the painting actually is of the playwright. The playwright and poet is celebrated as one of the greatest writers of all time. His influence on English literature, language and on British national identity is unequalled. This painting was the first portrait to be acquired by the National Portrait Gallery when it was founded in 1856. It is probably the only portrait of Shakespeare painted from life. The publication of Shakespeare's collected plays, the 'First Folio', in 1623, helped to establish the idea that plays could be lasting, influencial works of literature.

Jonathan Swift (1667-1745) was an Anglo-Irish writer, most famous for Gulliver's Travels (1726). Written as though it were a real travel book, it is one of the earliest English novels. It satirises human nature, society and politics and was an immediate success.

John Locke, 1632-1704, was an English philosopher and physician, was "the first writer to put together in coherent form the basic ideas of constitutional democracy. His ideas strongly influenced the founding fathers of the United States, as well as many leading philosophers of the French Enlightenment. Locke expressed virtually all the major ideas of the American Revolution almost a century before the event. Rejecting the notion of the divine right of kings, Locke maintained that governments obtained their authority only from the consent of the governed." ... Michael H. Hart

Thomas Hobbes, 1588-1679, was an English philosopher. Hobbes is best known for his 1651 book Leviathan, in which he expounds an influential formulation of social contract theory. He is considered to be one of the founders of modern political philosophy. He has one of my favorite quotes of all time where he imagines what life would be like in the “state of nature,” a hypothetical world without governments.: And the life of man, solitary, poor, nasty, brutish, and short."

Sir Isaac Newton, 1642-1727, the greatest and most influential scientist who ever lived. Between the ages of 21 and 27, he laid the foundations for the scientific theories that subsequently revolutioned the world. Prior to Newton, there were no set of principles that could turn the seemingly unrelated facts collected by such people as Copernicus and Galileo into a unified theory with which to make scientific predictions. Newton supplied it in his great work: the 'Mathematical Principles of Natural Philosophy (usually referred to simply as the Principia). -- the science of how material objects move. Newton himself often told the story that he was inspired to formulate his theory of gravitation by watching the fall of an apple from a tree. Newton also did ground-breaking work on the nature of light. His invention of integral calculus was the most important achievement of modern mathematics, an essential tool without which most of the subsequent progress in modern science would have been impossible. Newton made significant contributions to thermodynamics, acoustics and others, too numerous to mention. Few aspects of human activity have remained unchanged by the scientific revolution starting in 1500 AD, and Newton was not only the most brilliant of all scientists; he was also the most influential figure inthe development of scientific theory. It is held by European philosophers of the Enlightenment and by historians of the Enlightenment that Newton's publication of the Principia was a turning point in the Scientific Revolution and started the Enlightenment. It was Newton's conception of the universe based upon natural and rationally understandable laws that became one of the seeds for Enlightenment ideology. Newton made another of my favorite quotes: ""If I have seen further it is by standing on the shoulders of giants." Newton also wrote: "I do not know what I may appear to the world, but to myself I seem to have been only like a boy playing on the sea-shore, and diverting myself in now and then finding a smoother pebble or a prettier shell than ordinary, whilst the great ocean of truth lay all undiscovered before me." Newton died in 1727, and was buried in Westminster Abbey, the first scientist to be accorded that honor.

Samuel Pepys, 1633-1703, was a naval administrator and English diarist. He served as administrator of the Royal Navy and Member of Parliament. Though he had no maritime experience, Pepys rose to be the Chief Secretary to the Admiralty under both King Charles II and King James II through patronage, diligence, and his talent for administration. His influence and reforms at the Admiralty were important in the early professionalisation of the Royal Navy. But he is perhaps most remembered today for the diary he kept for almost a decade: from 1660 until 1669. This record of a decade of Pepys' life is more than a million words long and is often regarded as Britain's most celebrated diary. Pepys has been called the greatest diarist of all time due to his frankness in writing concerning his own weaknesses and the accuracy with which he records events of daily British life and major events in the 17th century, including the Great Plague of London, the Second Dutch War, and the Great Fire of London..

Oliver Cromwell, 1599-1658, widely regarded as one of the most important figures in the history of the British Isles, was the only British head of state not to hold a royal title. His military leadership, astute politics and unwavering Puritan beliefs were the decisive factors in the victory of the English Parliamentary army in the Wars of the Three Kingdoms (England, Scotland and Ireland). Unpopular taxes, the king's autocrataic behavior, and disputes about religious freedoms were at the heart of it all. A leading advocate of the execution of Charles I in January 1649, which led to the establishment of The Protectorate, he ruled as Lord Protector from December 1653 until his death in September 1658. Cromwell remains a controversial figure due to his use of the army to acquire political power.

Queen Victoria, 1819-1901. Her reign of 63 years and 216 days—which was longer than those of any of her predecessors—constituted the Victorian era. It was a period of industrial, political, scientific, and military change within the United Kingdom, and was marked by a great expansion of the British Empire. Victoria, a constitutional monarch, attempted privately to influence government policy and ministerial appointments; publicly, she became a national icon who was identified with strict standards of personal morality. This is her coronation portrait. She was crowned in 1838, aged just 18.

John Loudon McAdam, 1756-1836, was a Scottish civil engineer and road-builder. He invented a new process, "macadamisation", for building roads. His innovation was that roads needed to be raised above the surrounding ground and constructed from layered rocks and gravel in a systematic manner. This was the greatest advance in road construction since Roman times. The macadam method spread very quickly across the world. The first macadam road in North America, the National Road, was completed in the 1830s and most of the main roads in Europe were subject to the McAdam process by the end of the nineteenth century. McAdam's roads played a key role in Britain's development as an industrial and commercial nation. Modern road construction still reflects McAdam's influence. In this painting, workers can be seen behind McAdam laying a road.

James Watt, 1736-1819, was a Scottish inventor, mechanical engineer, and chemist who improved on Thomas Newcomen's 1712 steam engine with his Watt steam engine in 1776, which was fundamental to the changes brought by the Industrial Revolution in both his native country Great Britain, and the rest of the world. Watt's insight was to realize that contemporary engine designs wasted a great deal of energy by repeatedly cooling and reheating the cylinder. Watt introduced a design enhancement, the separate condenser, which avoided this waste of energy and radically improved the power, efficiency, and cost-effectiveness of steam engines. Eventually, he adapted his engine to produce rotary motion, greatly broadening its use beyond pumping water. Watt attempted to commercialise his invention, but experienced great financial difficulties until he entered a partnership with Matthew Boulton in 1775. The new firm of Boulton and Watt was eventually highly successful. The metric system the unit of power is the watt, named after James Watt.

George Stephenson , 1781-1848, was a self-educated English civil engineer and mechanical engineer during the Industrial Revolution. He is renowned as the "Father of Railways". Pioneered by Stephenson, rail transport was one of the most important technological inventions of the 19th century and a key component of the Industrial Revolution. Built by George and his son Robert's company Robert Stephenson and Company, the Locomotion No. 1 was the first steam locomotive to carry passengers on a public rail line, the Stockton and Darlington Railway in 1825. George also built the first public inter-city railway line in the world to use locomotives, the Liverpool and Manchester Railway, which opened in 1830. Thanks to George Stephenson, Britain led the world in the development of railways which acted as a stimulus for the Industrial Revolution by facilitating the transport of raw materials and manufactured goods.

Robert Stephenson, 1803 – 1859, was an English civil engineer and designer of locomotives. The only son of George Stephenson, the "Father of Railways", he built on the achievements of his father. Robert has been called the greatest engineer of the 19th century. Among his numerous accomplishments, Robert Stephenson designed and built the famous Rocket locomotive that was built for and won the Rainhill Trials of the Liverpool and Manchester Railway (L&MR), held in October 1829 to show that improved locomotives would be more efficient than stationary steam engines. Though Rocket was by no means the first steam locomotive, it was the first to bring together several innovations to produce the most advanced locomotive of its day. It is the most famous example of an evolving design of locomotives by Stephenson that became the template for most steam engines in the following 150 years. He is buried in Westminster Abbey. In this portrait, his hand rests proudly on a design for the Rocket locomotive.

Sir Richard Arkwright, 1732-1792, was an English inventor and a leading entrepreneur during the early Industrial Revolution. He is credited as the driving force behind the development of the spinning frame, known as the water frame after it was adapted to use water power; and he patented a rotary carding engine to convert raw cotton to 'cotton lap' prior to spinning. He was the first to develop factories housing both mechanised carding and spinning operations. Arkwright's achievement was to combine power, machinery, semi-skilled labour and the new raw material of cotton to create mass-produced yarn. His organisational skills earned him the accolade "father of the modern industrial factory system

I was disappointed that Admiral Horatio Nelson, 1758-1805, victor of the Nile, Copenhagen and Trafalgar and one of Britain's most heroic figures, only had a miniscule portrait lost among others on a big wall.

Emma Hamilton, 1765-1815, celebrated performer, artist's model, and Nelson's mistress.

William Pitt the Younger, 1759-1806, was a British statesman, the youngest and last prime minister of Great Britain from 1783 until the Acts of Union 1800, and then first prime minister of the United Kingdom from January 1801. He left office in March 1801, but served as prime minister again from 1804 until his death in 1806. He was also Chancellor of the Exchequer for all of his time as prime minister. He is known as "Pitt the Younger" to distinguish him from his father, William Pitt, 1st Earl of Chatham, who had previously served as prime minister and is referred to as "William Pitt the Elder". Pitt's prime ministerial tenure, which came during the reign of King George III, was dominated by major political events in Europe, including the French Revolution and the Napoleonic Wars. He is ranked highly amongst all British prime ministers in multiple surveys. Pitt served as prime minister for a total of eighteen years, 343 days, making him the second-longest-serving British prime minister of all time, after Robert Walpole. He is buried in Westminster Abbey

Charles Robert Darwin, 1809 – 1882, English naturalist, geologist and biologist, was "the originator of the theory of organic evolution by means of natural selection. His 1859 book 'On the Origin of Species' created a furor. It is probable that no scientific book ever published has been so widely and vigorously discussed, by scientist and layman alike. Darwin's great contribution was that he was able to present not only a mechanism - natural selection - by which evolution could occur, but also a large quantity of convincing evidence to support his hypothesis." ... Michael H. Hart Darwin has been described as one of the most influential figures in human history and was honoured by burial in Westminster Abbey. This portrait was done the year before the naturalist died.

Lynnette posing with one of her favorite Brits. But we can't remember who it is. Anybody know?

Of course, in the United Kingdom National Portrait Gallery, there must be a portrait of the great Winston Churchill. This portrait shows politician Churchill at time of crisis during the First World War.

Sir Richard Francis Burton, 1821-1890, was a British explorer, writer, orientalist scholar, and soldier. He was famed for his travels and explorations in Asia, Africa, and the Americas, as well as his extraordinary knowledge of languages and cultures. Burton spoke more than 25 languages.

Herbert Kitchener, 1st Earl Kitchener, 1850-1916, was a British Army officer and colonial administrator. Kitchener came to prominence for his imperial campaigns, his involvement in the Second Boer War, and his central role in the early part of the First World War. In this portrait, Kitchener stands in full military uniform with Cairo, Egypt in the background.


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July 11, 2023 - London National Portrait Gallery

July 11, 2023 - London
National Portrait Gallery