Civil War Talk at History Society

Paintings depicting events during the English Civil Wars were screened by military historian Stephen Barber at the September meeting of Dunstable Local History Society.

There were three civil wars during the tumultuous times of Oliver Cromwell - one in which King Charles I was ousted from power by Parliamentary forces, another when the king tried to regain his throne and was executed, and a third when his son led an invading army in a disastrous attempt to regain the throne.

Famous paintings of the battles and the confrontations in Parliament were displayed to history society members together with details of the artists who created the images. Some of the scenes are more imaginative than others: a gruesome example by Hippolyte Delaroche, showing Cromwell inspecting the body of the executed King Charles, has no historical basis at all.

The wars devastated the country causing great financial hardship and loss of life. The casualties, measured in proportion to the size of the population, were greater than in the First World War.

The history society’s next meeting will be at 7.45 on Tuesday, October 8, at Dunstable Methodist Church Hall when Julie Chandler will talk about the adventurous life in Victorian times of Elizabeth Hawkins-Whitshed, whose exploits became as famous as those of her husband, Col Fred Burnaby, of Bedford.