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Harpur
Harpur is an electoral ward and area within the town of Bedford, England. The boundaries of Harpur are approximately Manton Lane to the north, De Parys Avenue to the east, Bromham Road to the south, with the Midland Main Line railway line to the west. Manton Heights, the Poets, the Prime Ministers, and the Black Tom neighbourhoods all lie within the boundaries of Harpur ward. History The area is named after Sir William Harpur a famous Bedfordian. The area houses Bedford Modern School which is part of the Harpur Trust. A notorious Highwayman labelled 'Black Tom' reportedly frequented the area in the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries. Supposedly he was buried with a stake driven through his heart at the junction of Tavistock Street, Union Street and Clapham Road. Today Black Tom is the informal name of the area in Harpur located north of Tavistock Street. Most buildings in the area date from the 19th Century or before. However the northern part of the area ( ...
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William Harpur
Sir William Harpur (c. 1496 – 27 February 1574) was a merchant from Bedford who moved to London, amassed a large fortune, and became Lord Mayor of London. In 1566 he and his wife Dame Alice gave an endowment to support certain charities including education. The endowment became the Harpur Trust, which supports four independent schools in Bedford today. Career The name Harper (or Harpur) is mentioned around 1500 in connection with families from Bedford and Biddenham. Little is known about the life of William. He attended Bedford School whilst it was still administered by the Augustinian Canons of Newnham Priory. It is not certain whether he was a tailor. He was certainly a shrewd businessman. He went to London and was admitted to the guild of Merchant Taylors in 1533. There he would have come into contact with the leading citizens of the day. We know that in 1553 he was elected alderman for the ward of Bridge Without and, three years later, he was elected alderman of the more ...
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Harpur Trust
The Harpur Trust is a charity in Bedford, England. The stated aim of the charity is to help and support the people who live in and around Bedford, and to help them improve their lives by: * providing and promoting education * offering help and relief to anyone who is sick, in need, in hardship or distress * providing recreational facilities with a social welfare purpose for the people of Bedford and its surroundings. Reorganised as a company limited by guarantee in 2012, it was previously called The Bedford Charity (The Harpur Trust) as its legal name, but was most often referred to as the Harpur Trust. The main activities of the charity are the operation of a number of independent schools and one academy in Bedford. The charity also operates a number of almshouses in the Bedford area. In addition, the charity supports the community by giving grants to local projects. In 2009/10 it donated over £1,900,000 in grants to projects based in and around Bedford. This money is inten ...
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Bedford Modern School
Bedford Modern School (often called BMS) is a Headmasters' and Headmistresses' Conference independent school in Bedford, England. The school has its origins in The Harpur Trust, born from the endowments left by Sir William Harpur in the sixteenth century. BMS comprises a junior school (ages 6–11) and a senior school (ages 11–18). The school has had four names. In 1873 the school became Bedford Modern School to reflect its modern curriculum, providing an education for the professions. BMS provided education not only for the locality but also for colonial and military personnel abroad, seeking good education for their young families. History Bedford Modern School has its origins in The Harpur Trust, born from the endowments left by Sir William Harpur in the sixteenth century. Since the separation of Bedford School and BMS in 1764, the School has had four names: the Writing School, the English School, the Commercial School and finally Bedford Modern School, the las ...
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Bedford
Bedford is a market town in Bedfordshire, England. At the 2011 Census, the population of the Bedford built-up area (including Biddenham and Kempston) was 106,940, making it the second-largest settlement in Bedfordshire, behind Luton, whilst the Borough of Bedford had a population of 157,479. Bedford is also the historic county town of Bedfordshire. Bedford was founded at a ford on the River Great Ouse and is thought to have been the burial place of King Offa of Mercia, who is remembered for building Offa's Dyke on the Welsh border. Bedford Castle was built by Henry I, although it was destroyed in 1224. Bedford was granted borough status in 1165 and has been represented in Parliament since 1265. It is known for its large population of Italian descent. History The name of the town is believed to derive from the name of a Saxon chief called Beda, and a ford crossing the River Great Ouse. Bedford was a market town for the surrounding agricultural region from the early Middle ...
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Bedford (UK Parliament Constituency)
Bedford is a constituency represented in the House of Commons of the UK Parliament since 2017 by Mohammad Yasin of the Labour Party. The seat dates to the earliest century of regular parliaments, in 1295; its double representation was halved in 1885, then being altered by the later-termed Fourth Reform Act in 1918. Constituency profile ;Geographical and economic profile Bedford is a marginal seat between the Labour Party and the Conservatives. The main settlement is Bedford, a well-developed town centre with a considerable amount of social housing relative to Bedfordshire and higher poverty index but on a fast railway link to London and other destinations, the town is at the north end of the Thameslink service to Brighton and is not far from Milton Keynes which has a larger economy. The smaller and contiguous town of Kempston is also in the constituency. History Bedford was first represented in the Model Parliament of 1295. The constituency was originally a parliamentary ...
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Borough Of Bedford
The Borough of Bedford is a unitary authority area with borough status in the ceremonial county of Bedfordshire, England. Its council is based in Bedford, its namesake and principal settlement, which is the county town of Bedfordshire. The borough contains one large urban area, the 71st largest in the United Kingdom that comprises Bedford and the adjacent town of Kempston, surrounded by a rural area with many villages. 75% of the borough's population live in the Bedford Urban Area and the five large villages which surround it, which makes up slightly less than 6% of the total land area of the Borough. The borough is also the location of the Wixams new town development, which received its first residents in 2009. Formation The ancient borough of Bedford was a borough by prescription, with its original date of incorporation unknown. The earliest surviving charter was issued c. 1166 by Henry II, confirming to the borough the liberties and customs which it had held in the reig ...
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Bedfordshire
Bedfordshire (; abbreviated Beds) is a ceremonial county in the East of England. The county has been administered by three unitary authorities, Borough of Bedford, Central Bedfordshire and Borough of Luton, since Bedfordshire County Council was abolished in 2009. Bedfordshire is bordered by Cambridgeshire to the east and north-east, Northamptonshire to the north, Buckinghamshire to the west and Hertfordshire to the south-east and south. It is the fourteenth most densely populated county of England, with over half the population of the county living in the two largest built-up areas: Luton (258,018) and Bedford (106,940). The highest elevation point is on Dunstable Downs in the Chilterns. History The first recorded use of the name in 1011 was "Bedanfordscir," meaning the shire or county of Bedford, which itself means "Beda's ford" (river crossing). Bedfordshire was historically divided into nine hundreds: Barford, Biggleswade, Clifton, Flitt, Manshead, Redborne ...
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Bedford (HM Prison)
HMP Bedford is a Category B men's prison, located in the Harpur area of Bedford, Bedfordshire, England. The prison is operated by His Majesty's Prison Service. History The prison has been on its current site since 1801 and was designed by the architect John Wing (1756-1826), who also designed the Bedford town bridge, the Infirmary and the House of Industry. The previous site was on the corner of the High Street and Silver Street, then known as Gaol Lane. The location is marked with a plaque in the pavement due to its connection with John Bunyan, being the probable place where he wrote The Pilgrim's Progress. Wing's original building included "...a turnkey's lodge, cells for debtors, felons and house of correction prisoners, hot and cold baths and an oven to purify infected clothing. The silence system was enforced with great severity, wooden partitions being placed between any two prisoners at work on the treadmill. Separate exercise was allowed in the yards, and meals were ...
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De Parys
De Parys is an electoral ward and area within the town of Bedford, Bedfordshire, England. The boundaries of De Parys are approximately Bedford Park and Stancliffe Road to the north, the Bedford campus of the University of Bedfordshire to the east, Goldington Road to the south, with De Parys Avenue to the west. The Devon Park and Saints neighbourhoods are within De Parys ward, as is the Bedford campus of the University of Bedfordshire. De Parys is the smallest ward (in terms of population) in Bedford. History Bedford's workhouse was established in the area in the 18th century. The west and central parts of De Parys were urbanised by the end of the 19th century. It was during this time that Bedford School located to the area, and Bedford Park was established. The Bedford Training College for Teachers (later, Bedford College of Education) was established on Polhill Avenue in 1882. The eastern part of De Parys was developed later, in the 1960s. It was at this time that the old wo ...
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Trevor Huddleston
Ernest Urban Trevor Huddleston (15 June 191320 April 1998) was an English Anglican bishop. He was the Bishop of Stepney in London before becoming the second Archbishop of the Church of the Province of the Indian Ocean. He was best known for his anti-apartheid activism and his book ''Naught for Your Comfort''. Early life Huddleston was the son of Ernest Huddleston and was born in Bedford, Bedfordshire, and educated at Lancing College (1927–1931), Christ Church, Oxford, and at Wells Theological College. He joined an Anglican religious order, the Community of the Resurrection (CR), in 1939, taking vows in 1941, having already served for three years as a curate at St Mark's Swindon. He had been made a deacon at Michaelmas 1936 (27 September) and ordained a priest the following Michaelmas (26 September 1937) — both times by Clifford Woodward, Bishop of Bristol, at Bristol Cathedral. South Africa In September 1940 Huddleston sailed to Cape Town, and in 1943 he ...
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John Le Mesurier
John Le Mesurier (, born John Elton Le Mesurier Halliley; 5 April 191215 November 1983) was an English actor. He is perhaps best remembered for his comedic role as Sergeant Arthur Wilson in the BBC television situation comedy '' Dad's Army'' (1968–1977). A self-confessed "jobbing actor", Le Mesurier appeared in more than 120 films across a range of genres, normally in smaller supporting parts. Le Mesurier became interested in the stage as a young adult and enrolled at the Fay Compton Studio of Dramatic Art in 1933. From there he took a position in repertory theatre and made his stage debut in September 1934 at the Palladium Theatre in Edinburgh in the J. B. Priestley play '' Dangerous Corner''. He later accepted an offer to work with Alec Guinness in a John Gielgud production of ''Hamlet''. He first appeared on television in 1938 as Seigneur de Miolans in the BBC broadcast of ''The Marvellous History of St Bernard''. During the Second World War Le ...
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Sergeant Arthur Wilson
Sergeant Arthur Wilson is a fictional Home Guard platoon sergeant and bank chief clerk, first portrayed by John Le Mesurier in the BBC television sitcom '' Dad's Army''. Background Wilson was born in 1887, and is carefree, cheerful and well-spoken, although more complex than he first seems. He is chief clerk of the Walmington-on-Sea bank and captain of the cricket club. He has an upper-middle-class background; his uncle was a peer of the realm, his father had a career in the City of London, and Wilson often recalls fond memories of his nanny. He was educated at a public school named Meadow Bridge, having failed the entrance exam for Harrow.Webber, Perry, Croft, p.228 He was destined for the Indian Civil Service but failed that exam too. The final episode reveals Wilson to have reached the rank of captain in the Middlesex Regiment whilst serving in the First World War. Captain Mainwaring, Wilson's senior in the Home Guard and in the bank, envies and resents Wilson's ...
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