GLOUCESTER 



and the Breslau off the Straits of 

 Messina, when they were running 

 for the Dardanelles. She chased 

 them as far as Cape Helles and 

 frequently fired at them. She 

 also took part in the battle of 

 Jutland, May 31, 1916. 



Gloucester, EARL AND DUKE OF. 

 English titles now extinct. Like 

 other counties, Gloucester had its 

 earls in Norman times, one of these 

 being Robert, a natural son of 

 Henry I. The great family of Clare 

 secured the title about 1218, and 

 retained it until Earl Gilbert was 

 killed at Bannockburn in 1314. In 

 1385 Thomas of Woodstock, a 

 younger son of Edward III, was 

 made duke of Gloucester, and 

 after he had forfeited the title in 

 1397 it was held by two other well- 

 known men : Henry IV's son 

 Humphrey, and he who became 

 Richard III. Later dukes of 

 Gloucester were Henry, a son of 

 Charles I; William (d. 1700), the 

 eldest son of Queen Anne; and 

 George Ill's brother, William 

 Henry, created duke in 1764. He 

 died in 1805, when his only son, 

 William Frederick, known as Silly 

 Billy, became duke. He married 

 his cousin, Mary, daughter of 

 George III, and when he died, 

 childless, in 1834, the title again 

 became extinct. 



Gloucester, HUMPHREY, DUKE 

 OF (1391-1447). Youngest son of 

 Henry IV of England. Created 

 duke of Glou- 

 c ester, 1414, 

 by his brother, 

 Henry V, he 

 was wounded 

 at the battle 

 o f Agincourt 

 and rescued by 

 the king. He 

 acted as re- 

 Humphrey, gent during 

 ie of Gloucester t, h R k i n cr's 



the king's 

 absence in 



Duke of 



From a portrait 



France, ] 420-21, and was protector 

 with but limited powers, at inter- 

 vals, during the minority of his 

 nephew, Henry VI. He died at 

 Bury, Feb. 23, 1447, after arrest on 

 a doubtful charge of treason, and 

 was buried at St. Albans. 



He was known as " the good 

 Duke Humphrey " from the popu- 

 lar notion of him as a patriot. A 

 patron of learning, he made many 

 gifts to Oxford. See Humphrey ; 

 consult Life, K. H. Vickers, 1907. 



Gloucester, THOMAS OF WOOD- 

 STOCK, DUKE OF (1355-97). English 

 prince. The youngest son of 

 Edward III, he was born at Wood- 

 stock, Jan. 7, 1355. A rich wife was 

 found for him in the heiress of the 

 Bohuns, and he was made con- 

 stable of England and earl of Buck- 

 ingham. Thomas's public life 



was the real 

 ruler of Eng . 



almost covered the reign of his 

 nephew, Richard II. Having 

 fought in France, he took part in 

 domestic affairs, and was the leader 

 of those who put a check upon the 

 arbitrary 

 deeds of 

 Richard in 

 1386; as the 

 leader of the 

 lords appel- 

 lant in 1388, 

 lie crushed his 

 enemies ruth- 

 lessly, and for 



Tbomas olt Wood- a short time 

 stock, Duke of 

 Gloucester 



From a portrait 



Richard regained authority in 

 1389, but kept on good terms with 

 the duke until 1396. Differences 

 arising between them, Richard him- 

 self arrested Gloucester at Pleshey, 

 his Essex castle, in July, 1397, and 

 a little later his end came ; most 

 probably he was executed at Calais 

 in September. His only son was not 

 allowed to inherit his titles or 

 estates. 



Gloucestershire. Western co. 

 of England. Its area is 1,243 sq. 

 m., and it is 64 m. long. Very irreg- 

 ular in shape, it 

 falls into three 

 parts. In the west, 

 lying between the 

 Severn and the 

 Wye, is the forest 

 of Dean ; the cen- 

 tre district is that 

 of the Severn 

 valley, and the 

 east that of the 

 Cotswolds. The chief rivers are the 

 Severn, which flows right through 

 the county and forms the estuary 

 which makes it a maritime county, 

 Wye, Upper and Lower Avon, and 

 Thames, which rises here. Smaller 

 ones are the Frome, Coin, Lech, 

 and Leddon. The chief range of 

 hills is the Cotswolds, famous 

 rather for their quiet beauty than 

 for their height, although some of 

 the points exceed 1,000 ft. 



Gloucestershire is mainly an 

 agricultural county, although coal 

 is mined in the forest of Dean. The 

 valley of the Severn is noted for 

 its rich pasture land, while here 

 much wheat is grown. Cheese is 

 made, cattle are reared, apples 

 and pears are grown for making 

 cider and perry. Sheep are 

 plentiful on the Cotswolds. Cloth 

 is manufactured, several of the 

 small towns, especially Stroud, 

 being noted for their broadcloth. 



Gloucester is the county town, 

 but Bristol is much the largest. 

 Cirencester and Tewkesbury are 

 noted for their architectural and 

 historical associations. Cheltenham 



Gloucestershire 

 arms 



GLOUCESTERSHIRE 



is a watering-pU>ce and educational 

 centre. A feature of the county is 

 the number of picturesque market 

 towns, among them Minchinhamp- 

 ton, Northleach, Nailsworth, Tet- 

 bury, Chipping Campden, and 

 Winchcomb. 



The county is served by the Mid. 

 and G.W. Rlys. and by the Thames 

 and Severn canal. It sends four 

 members to Parliament. A hunt- 

 ing county, it supports several 

 packs of hounds, while in cricket 

 it holds a foremost place. It is in 

 the Oxford circuit and mainly in 

 the dioceses of Gloucester and 

 Bristol. Pop. (1921) 757,668. 



LITERARY ASSOCIATIONS. Robert 

 of Gloucester was a 13th century 

 rhyming chronicler. Another 

 chronicler of a century later was 

 Richard of Cirencester, but his life 

 was mainly associated with West- 

 minster. William Tyndale, first 

 English translator of the Bible, 

 belonged to a Gloucestershire 

 family. A bishop of Bristol was 

 Joseph Butler, author of The An- 

 alogy of Religion. William War- 

 burton, critic and friend of Pope, 

 was bishop of Gloucester. 



Notable writers born at Bristol 

 include William Grocyn, the Greek 

 scholar, the water poet, John Tay- 

 lor, Sir William Penn, Thomas 

 Chatterton, and Robert Southey. 

 John Keble, author of the Chris- 

 tian Year, was born at Fairford ; 

 Richard Graves, author of The 

 Spiritual Quixote, at Mickleton ; 

 and Hannah More at Stapleton. 

 Daniel and Samuel Lysons were 

 natives of the county. 



The Cicester of Shakespeare's 

 Richard II is the modern Ciren- 

 cester, while to the W. of the latter 

 is Cirencester House, formerly 

 known as Oakley Park, frequently 

 visited by Swift and Pope. At 

 Amberley, Dinah Maria Craik wrote 

 her famous novel entitled John 

 Halifax, Gentleman. - 



Among the many writers who 

 have used Gloucestershire as back- 

 ground may be mentioned Shelley ; 

 T. E. Brown, for many years 

 master at Gloucester and Clifton 

 schools ; and Sir Henry Newbolt ; 

 while Bristol and Clifton are scenes 

 of diverting incidents in Dickens's 

 Pickwick Papers. 

 " Bibliography. Tourists' Guide to 

 Gloucestershire, R. N. Worth, 1888 ; 

 The Bibliographer's Manual of 

 Gloucestershire Literature, F. A. 

 Hyett and W. Bazeley, 3 vols., 

 1 8*95-97, with Supplement by F. A. 

 Hyett and R. Austin, 2 vols., 1915- 

 16 ; Victoria County History, ed. 

 W. Page, 1907, etc. ; By Thames 

 and Cotswold, W. H. Hutton, 2nd 

 ed. 1908 ; Memorials of Old Glouces- 

 tershire, ed. P. H. Ditchfield, 1911 ; 

 Byways in Berkshire and the Cots- 

 wolds, P. H. Ditchfield, 1920. 



