Chiltern Hundreds

Stewardship of the Chiltern Hundreds is a procedural device allowing members of parliament to resign before a general election.

Board schools

Schools set up in England and Wales following the passing of the 1870 Education Act, providing state-funded education for five to ten-year-olds.

Crewe’s Act 1782

Act of Parliament to disenfranchise all government officials involved in the collection or management of statutory duties.

Manchester Tart

Variation on a Victorian recipe for Manchester pudding, first recorded by Mrs Beeton.

Donner Party

Group of American pioneers who set out for California in a wagon train. Delayed by a series of mishaps, they spent the winter of 1846–1847 snowbound in the Sierra Nevada, where some of them resorted to cannibalism to survive.

Frankpledge

System of joint suretyship common in England throughout the Early and High Middle Ages.

Tithing

English historic legal and administrative unit comprising the men of ten neighbouring households, held responsible for the actions for any one of its members.