Britain was the world’s first nation to undergo an industrial revolution. It took place from approximately 1760 to 1840. Prior to this period there were no machines and no methods of sustained power generation. People lived in villages that were self-sufficient in terms of food production, work, church and even justice (though there were touring judges). In hindsight, this seems idyllic in some ways, particularly when one realises just how dependent today’s society is on the electricity supply.

Various contributing factors came together in Britain in the mid-eighteenth century. Cotton was being imported from the British colonies; the climate was good for sheep farming and the production of wool; there was an entrepreneurial spirit and abundance of creative talent; there were coal and iron resources; financiers were ready and willing to invest; and geographically Britain was separate from European wars and other difficulties.

The revolution began in farming, with inventions of devices to make it more efficient. The textile industry then took up the mantle of innovation with mechanical wonders like the Spinning Jenny. The mining of coal and iron ore became huge operations and ship-building was just one benefactor of that. Factories, cities and corporations transformed our landscape and our society.

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King Henry VIII (1491-1547) was married six times. Two of those marriages were annulled and two of the wives were beheaded. All of the wives were related in some way and most of them knew each other previously. His last wife’s mother, Maud, was a lady-in-waiting to Katherine of Aragon (1485-1536), his first wife, and named her daughter after the Queen.

His first marriage lasted 24 years, but problems began when Henry was approaching the age of 40 and was attracted to various young ladies-in-waiting. Henry had a daughter, Mary (1516-58), with Katherine of Aragon but he dearly wanted a son to carry on the Tudor royal line.  Enter Anne Boleyn (1507-36), another of Katherine’s ladies-in-waiting. Unfortunately for her, she only produced another daughter, Elizabeth (1533-1603).

It was the third wife, Jane Seymour (c.1508-37), lady-in-waiting to both Katherine and Anne, who bore a son, Edward (1537-53), but she died doing so. The fourth wife, Anne of Cleves (1515-57), was a political choice but the marriage was annulled after just six months. The fifth wife, Kathryn Howard (c.1521-42), was 30 years Henry’s junior. She was beheaded for adultery. The sixth wife, Katherine Parr (1512-48), looked after him and his children and ensured that the girls were put on the line of succession.

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