Historiography



Historiography is the study of the methods of historians in developing history as an academic discipline, and by extension is any body of historical work on a particular subject. The historiography of a specific topic covers how historians have studied that topic using particular sources, techniques, and theoretical approaches. The discussion can be extended to examine the way in which history is portrayed given the times and viewpoint of the historian. It is commonly recognised by historians that, in themselves, individual historical facts dealing with names, dates and places are not particularly meaningful or interesting except to very few. Such facts will only become useful when assembled with other historical evidence in an overall picture, and the process of assembling this evidence is understood as a particular historiographical approach.

History as "truth"
The extent to which historians are selective about their sources is one factor in how an eventual view of the past is assembled. It may be that some sources are available to some historians and not to others. Then there is the issue of the veracity of the sources used, which may themselves have a particular bias, whether intentional or not. Another layer is the political and/or philosophical position of the historian, who may interpret the actions of those long dead in the light of more modern concerns and behaviors. A factor which is particularly relevant to these history pages is that it is concerned with the history of Chester and Cheshire, and uses places, people and events associated with that geography to construct a narrative. One reason for that is the belief that history is more interesting and comprehensible when linked to the familiar, or at least the commonplace.

As an example of this, some of the first research which led to this present site was sparked off by the memorial to Owen Jones on what was once the Grosvenor Club building just inside the Eastgate at Chester. Hundreds, if not thousands, of people will walk past this every day but few will notice it and fewer still will have any idea of why it is there and what it represents. Matters are complicated enough in view of the relatively small amount of information which exists about the historical Jones. His original name, if the story of his being a foundling is true, would (probably) not even have been Jones. The consequences of his bequest to the guilds of Chester can be interpreted in manu ways ranging from the establishment of a useful charity which still exists and does good works to helping maintain a corrupt administration which had major consequences for the social, political and industrial development of Chester. How he came to be on the frontage of what was once the "North and South Wales Bank", together with a host of coats of arms is another question: again, several explanations can be posited.

At times, history can be "distorted" so far that it becomes myth and legend, or myth and legend can become incorporated into history. Early histories of Chester are full of examples of this, but it can also be found in "urban myths". A good example of that is the common belief that the Town Hall in Chester only has a clock face on three sides because "the inhabitants of Chester would not give the Welsh the time of day". In reality, the explanation may be more to do with the fact that the building is essentially a copy of the Cloth Hall in Ypres (Belgium), which also only has a clock on only three of its faces, and in any event the clock was only installed around 1980. A related legend is that the Chester people so dislike the Welsh that it is legal to shoot them after dark. Once again, this is a popular myth based on history which has become distorted over the years: the original basis of the "Shoot the Welsh" story finds its roots in the support of Cestrians for the Welsh back in the time of Richard II. The Town Hall provides other examples of how history can be distorted in the form of its decorative murals, which are either less than historically accurate or raise the interesting question as to why the particular subject matter was chosen.



Some historical "myths" even have their roots in news media. There is a popular story that a gunfight took place in what is now Grosvenor Park just before the Civil War on the site of the Cholmondeley mansion. The real story is actually far more interesting, with the gunfight being an early example of "fake news". Other examples have the effective founder of the Chester Chronicle newspaper (John Fletcher) having built Pontcysyllte Aqueduct - a biographer's error and possibly the result of a misguided or mischevious diarist. An unwanted consequence of an error in any body of work is often that the entire work becomes suspect as a result, especially when it states a fact boldly without providing a source. Very often, however, the reasons why these errors creep in are of themselves interesting. One good example from Chester concerns the "legend" that the finding of a "Roman" coin in Park Street led to the words "The Fear of the Lord is a Fountain of Life" being inscribed on the front of a building - the words being a translation from the latin "TIMOR . DOMINE . FONS . VITAE" stamped on the coin. That there is something "fishy" with this story is immediatly apparent when one considers why the ancient Romans should have used the words of Proverbs [14:27] on a coin. Unfortunately, several historians repeat the "Roman Coin" story as well as assuming that the building in question is medideval (it was built in 1881). But is it unfair to then consider an entire guidebook which mentions this as "truth" to be untrustworthy?



The tendency to link a known historical person to a place has also led to some interesting "legends". Examples from Chester include the long-standing association of King Harold with the Hermitage, which no doubt brought fame and pilgrims to St Johns. Other kings associated with Chester incluide Charles, who probably didn't watch his army defeated to Rowton Moor from the Phoenix Tower during the Civil War and Richard II, who may or may not have hidden his Royal Treasure down the well at Beeston Castle. The builder of Beeston Castle was the Norman Earl Ranulf de Blondeville, and much of the history surrounding him and his relatives may also have become distorted for a variety of reasons. One purpose of this site is not to "set the record straight", but to point out some of the issues and shed some light on the back-stories to some of these "legends". For example, Charles Kingsley is often associated with Chester, although he only lived here briefly, and even then on a temporary basis. Kingsley is remembered as a writer of children's books, but modern re-interpretation of him reveals a much darker side to his character and his often very questionable treatment of historical facts, as well as his essentially racist treatment of Charles Darwin's Theory of Evolution.

Chester provides many more examples of the distortion of history, some of which are quite amusing, especially where it comes to the "Mock Tudor" architecture which was adopted at the end of the 19th Century and among which only a few "unmodified" Tudor (not medieval) buildings can be found. Some of the reconstructions are barely distinuguishable form the originals, such as the fourth bay added in the 1930's to the 1591 Stanley Palace. Others, such as the frontage of a building in Bridge Street with a carving of "King Charles" (legs cut down to fit the niche) are possibly an intentional parody.

There are therefore many reasons why the "historical truth" gets distorted. These include: mistake, political propaganda, humour, over-ethusiastic reconstruction, elevation of ancestors or simply a wish that things might have been different. The rest of this article provides further examples of some of these as an illustration of how historical fact, especially as regards Chester, can get distorted.



Mistake
Some mistakes are simple. The clearest example in Chester is the signage outside of Parker's buildings in Foregate Street. Parker's buildings were constructed in 1888–89. The building work was supervised by the Duke's nephew and agent, Cecil Parker, and the finished building named after him. Douglas' relationship with Parker was not harmonious, and they frequently clashed over the design details. It is believed that the regimented and rather severe block which eventually emerged was the result of Parker's interventions as Douglas normally exhibits much less stark lines and more individuality to the various parts of his designs. When the block of flats was completed, Parker still took the opportunity to have another dig at Douglas as he complained about "poor materials and workmanship". In May 2007 some new signage was put up on Foregate Street to inform passers-by about the buildings and unfortunately the images of Douglas and Parker were interchanged, so that each has the other's name under his image. Given that the pair did not get on, both would have probably been mortified, if they were around to see it.

Other mistakes are less obvious, such as the apparent switching around of some of the coats of arms on the Suspension Bridge, and the changes in tincture which were introduced during restoration. These are perhaps forgivable errors, especially as the local council seems to have a long tradition of getting public signage wrong. A further example is the stone plaque at Recorders Steps, which delares that the steps were built in 1700 for the convenience of Roger Comberbach. Unfortunately, the steps were actually built in 1720-22, and that was after Comberbach had died in 1719. It is hardly the fault of the corporation because the error seems to have occured in an early guidebook written by Hanshall, and then was copied by later guidebooks. Once mistakes find their way into sources (there are probably quite a few on this wiki) they tend to get passed on.

Propaganda
Sometimes distortion of historical fact is intentional, and often for political reasons. Those killed on HMS Chester during the Battle of Jutland included John Travers Cornwell (VC) (8 January 1900 – 2 June 1916), - who died aged 16. Although Cornwell survived long enough to reach hospital in Grimsby, he died of his wounds on 2 June. Much propaganda was made out of Jack's death with numerous parallels to the death of Giocante Casabianca at the battle of the Nile (origin of "the boy stood on the burning deck..."). The bible belonging to "Jack" Cornwell is in Chester Cathedral as is a memorial to the ship and it's dead (and the ship's ensign and union flag). The 5.5 inch gun served by Cornwell is preserved in the Imperial War Museum in London. Cornwell was awarded the VC for bravery posthumously and was the inspiration for the "Scout Victoria Cross" (The Cornwell Scout Badge). He was featured on many "Cigarette cards", in his uniform and wearing his Victoria Cross, which would have been impossible given that it was a postumous award. However the fakery did not stop there - for the person shown in the potraits is not John but his brother George, as there were no photographs of John available. Other "pictures" of John Cornwell are based on the image of his brother Ernest.

Other examples of propaganda include the prophecies of the Chester "prophet" Robert Nixon and probably even his very existence. Nixon is associated with Vale Royal and follows a typical pattern of the use of prophecy for propaganda purposes: (a) a prophet is stated to have said that X would happen (in this case the birth of a Cholmondeley heir), (b) it is shown that such did happen, so an as yet unfulfilled prophecy (in this case a Jacobite heir) must also be true.

Humour
Some historical myths persist because they are amusing or entertaining. The 2nd Duke of Westminster, married and divorced three times, was (probably from the late 1920's) infatuated with Coco Chanel and urban legend states that as a token of his affection, all the lampposts in Westminster were embossed with her "CC" logo in gold, alongside his "W" crest, for Westminster. It’s rumoured that this grand gesture was a precursor to a marriage proposal, which Coco turned down with the famous dig at the Duke’s previous marriages:


 * "There have been many Duchesses of Westminster, but only one Coco Chanel."

Westminster City Council offer a far less exciting explanation for the mystery: "CC" simply stands for City Council (and the lamposts were not installed until the 1950's).

Enthusiastic Reconstruction
Chester's "Tudor" buildings are an enormous draw for tourists, but almost all of them date from the late 19th and early 20th century. Architectural historians have referred to the conversion of Georgian brick frontages to "Tudor" black and white as "nailing on boards and planks". This is a little unfair as many of the "Georgian" buildings actually retain medieval structural features, which were first fronted with fashionable Georgian facades and these were then hidden behind what is sometimes called mock Tudor and sometimes called English Revival. Chester's churches have been a particular target of this "enthusiastic" restoration. In some cases this had led to really strange results: in St Werburgh Street one finds an elaborate half timbered frontage which contains effigies of Norman Earls as well as of Queen Victoria. St Johns has a Norman interior hidden within a Victorian shell. "God's Providence House" is said to bear a beam carved with words to commemorate how its inhabitants were saved from the plague, but all but that beam is later reconstruction with quite different proportions, and though the beam is said to be original, it was straightened with a steam press. Even the original house dates from after the plague, and the the wording "God's Providence is Mine Inheritance" may be a family motto which predates the plague by at least 20 years.

Ancestry
To the gentry of Cheshire ancestry was of extreme importance, whether for the puposes of prestige or to prove some inheritance. The number of websites dedicated to ancestry shows that this is still of considerable interest today, and some people will apparently overlook many facts to be able to name a notable ancestor. In at least one case a whole slew of historical innaccuracies has clouded matters so much that the truth may be forever lost.