Thorkell the Tall

 

Thorkell the Tall was a Viking leader who was prominent in English affairs during the reigns of Ethelred the Unready (Anglo-Saxon king from 978 to 1016) and Cnut (Danish king of England 1016-35). Danish by birth, little is known of his early life before he landed in Kent with a large army of raiders in the summer of 1009. His forces plundered much of midland and southern England until 1012, which was when some of his men murdered Archbishop Aelfheah of Canterbury contrary to his orders.

Thorkell was paid off - one of the recipients of Danegeld - and entered the service of King Ethelred, contributing a force of around 3500 men and 45 ships. He fought with Ethelred against Sweyn Forkbeard in 1013 and remained loyal to Ethelred throughout 1014.

However, he changed sides to support the claim to England of Cnut - he had certainly done so before the end of 1015. Cnut clearly trusted him and made him Earl of East Anglia in 1017. When Cnut was absent in Denmark in 1019 Thorkell appears to have acted as his regent in England.

His fortunes changed again towards the end of 1021 when, for reasons unknown, he quarrelled with Cnut and was outlawed and banished. He retired to Denmark but remained powerful and a potential threat to Cnut. When Cnut returned to Denmark in 1022 he was evidently strong enough to exact terms of reconciliation that were favourable to himself, with Cnut entrusting him with the government of Denmark.

After that, Thorkell disappears from the historical record and it is assumed that he died around 1024.

© John Welford

 

Henry Fox, 1st Baron Holland

 

Henry Fox was a prominent English politician during the late 18^th century, although he never became Prime Minister (or First Lord of the Treasury, to give the function its proper title at the time).

Born in 1705, he was educated at Eton and Oxford. He followed a typical course for wealthy young men of that age, gambling heavily, taking the grand tour to Europe, and entering Parliament in 1735. He was a supporter of the Whig administration led by Sir Robert Walpole and was rewarded with the appointment of Surveyor-General, followed by that of a Lord of the Treasury in 1743. He was appointed Secretary of War by Henry Pelham in 1746, although the role did not really match his abilities.

On the personal side, in 1744 he married Lady Catherine Lennox after an elopement. The marriage was something of a scandal at the time, but it brought Henry Fox considerable happiness, aided by the considerable fortune that he had inherited. Their son, Charles James, would eventually become an even more celebrated politician than his father.

After the death of Henry Pelham in 1754, Fox sided temporarily with his rival and opposite, William Pitt. Pelham’s brother, the Duke of Newcastle, became Prime Minister in his place, but needed a strong counterpart in the House of Commons. This role was offered to Henry Fox, who also became Secretary of State in 1755, but foreign policy was not to his taste and he resigned the post only a year later.

When Pitt took over the leadership role in the Commons in 1757, Fox was happy to become Paymaster, especially as this office was one from which it was possible for a minister to enrich himself in no uncertain manner. Fox held this post for eight years, which increased his fortune at the expense of his personal reputation, and he became widely detested for his cynical conduct.

He did manage one notable achievement in Parliament, which was to ease the passage of the 1763 Peace of Paris that ended the Seven Years War, after which he was elevated to the peerage as Lord Holland. He held no more political offices after 1765, although he did exercise some influence over the political conduct of King George III, who had inherited the throne in 1760 at the age of 22.

Henry Fox was a man of real ability but limited ambition. An interesting footnote to his life was the fact that shortly before his death in 1774 he was forced to settle his son’s gambling debts, which amounted to the almost unbelievable sum of £140,000.

© John Welford