Local History

We may be having a grim time in 2008, but it’s nothing compared to 1812, which has been named the worst year in British history.

According to a report in BBC History Magazine, 1812 was a year of true British despair.
Not only had we been locked in the Napoleonic wars for almost two decades, but we saw the Luddite revolution, commercial dislocation, high prices and taxes, severe social upheaval, political disarray (including the murder of Prime Minister Spencer Perceval), an unpopular Prince Regent taking over power from his mentally unstable father, America declaring war on Britain, and a humiliating naval performance by Britannia, which had claimed to “rule the waves”.

Derek Wilson, historian and author of the article, commented: “So many things went wrong in that year - facets of life that affected all sorts and conditions for people."

Staffs and Cheshire

But how was it for the folk of Staffordshire and Cheshire?

As well as talking to Dave Musgrove of Editor of BBC History Magazine, we decided to ask two well known local historians what they thought of the idea.

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Other Bad Years?

Four other ‘no-hope’ years also made Wilson’s anni horribili shortlist.

AD 60
Nero decided to forcefully strengthen the Roman invasion with devastating effects on Britain.
Wilson comments: “AD 60 left a people, not just humiliated, cowed and conquered, but deprived of their own laws, their myths and legends.”

1349
Not only did the Black Death kill 30 per cent of the population, bringing national morale to an all time low, but Edward III lavishly celebrated England’s success in Europe by forming the Order of the Garter, unaware that the social fabric around him was falling apart.
Wilson notes: “They seem to have been as indifferent to the suffering of the people as most of us are to the impact of HIV/Aids in Africa.”

1536 This was the year that the reformation storm finally burst. Wilson commented: “The year 1536 revealed to the people that they were governed by a tyrant. Henry was like an unpredictable lion whose claws could lash out against anyone. The seeds of change he sowed could only produce fruits of division, bitterness, anger and confusion.”

1937
Following a brief period of national optimism, people found themselves face-to-face with both economic collapse and the unthinkable – another war.
Wilson remarks: “To most Britons it seemed that the ship of state was adrift without a rudder in seas that were becoming increasingly turbulent.”

'The Worst Year in British History' an article by Derek Wilson will be published in the February 2008 issue of BBC History Magazine.