text:
~~Every morning, I wake up
and forget just for a second that it happened. But once my eyes open, it buries
me like a landslide of sharp, sad rocks. Once my eyes open, I'm heavy, like
there's too much gravity on my heart. ––Sarah Ockler
~~I've gone though my whole life adored, respected, &
applauded by my sister, Kay.
"OoooH, I love this poem.
Sis, you're going to be famous someday.
This essay is unbelievable. I'm serious. Unbeeeelievable.
I think you should send this story out to
Women's Home Journal immediately!"
I mean, nobody EVER believed in me like that.
What an invaluable gift I had in her.
Beautifully. Continually. Ceaselessly.
On our walks, she'd never miss asking:
"What are you writing today, Kimmy? Are you
writing about Meeee again?"
And I'd grin… For
she was (is) my supreme abundant muse. For example, I wrote Big Jugs & Jagger Lips a few months before her murder. (she loved this essay so much)!
" You know I'm dedicating my first book to you, Kay." I 'd say.
"What will you write in it?"
She smiled enormously, bumping her hip into my hip. "What will you write about me?
Tell me. Tell me."
"Um, lets see, something like:
For my
sister, Kay, who believed in me–even when I didn't believe in myself."
That's all? she sighed.
"What about 'my beautiful sister, Kay?"
"I guess so." I
God, how I
miss miss miss fucking fuck fuck miss miss her.
So many days, so
many hours, so many minutes…
And I wonder how I will
one. more.
solitary. Day.
I found this card tucked inside one of my journals last week. I sobbed as I read it. sobbed sobbed sobbed
Kay used to send me encouraging cards for no reason. You know,
just because she was W o n d e r f u l.
~~~~Dear, Reader, who is your greatest encourager & inspiration?
My sister Kay was Murdered by Mike Peterson 812 Days ago. She died with part of my heart & soul. Mourning lives on forever….
~~~~Get Help NOW for Verbal Violence, Emotional Violence, Sexual Violence, Finacial Abuse or any other kinds of abuse…..800-799-SAFE (7233) or at TTY 1-800-787-3224.
http://www.thehotline.org/get-help/help-in-your-area/ Do Not Wait One. More. Day.
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text:
The legal recognition of conscience, the acknowledgment of fundamental dogmas held in common, the gradual approachment of the various religious organizations in polity, their common interest in education and good government, would seem to furnish grounds for such mutual esteem that the government would willingly do away with the objectionable certificates. On the contrary, the old conception of a state church, and of its value to the body politic, was so strongly intrenched in the hearts of the majority of the people that they felt it incumbent upon them to require the certificates as guarantees that those who were without the Establishment were fulfilling their religious duties. Particularly was this the case when new sects continued to increase and radical opinions to spread among the masses. And as the government saw these apparently destructive ideas permeating the people, it endeavored, rather unwisely, to hem dissent in closer bounds, and to favor still more Cougregationalists and Presbyterian-Congregationalists.
The aggressively successful proselytizing by the Methodists revived the old dislike of rash exhorters and itinerant preachers, and the old contempt for an ignorant and unlearned ministry. The proselytizing movement had also created a suspicion that it was hypocritical, and that it was masking a deliberate attempt to undermine the Establishment. Outside this Methodist propaganda there were also all sorts of unorthodox ideas that were spreading notions of Universalism, Arianism, deism, atheism, and freethinking, and making many converts. These proselytes were frequent among the untutored and irresponsible members of society who caught at the doctrines of greater freedom, and sometimes translated them, theoretically at least, into principles of greater personal license; and where they did not do this, the authorities felt sure that they would soon, and if unrestrained by ecclesiastical law, would quickly become lawless, first in religious affairs and then, as a consequence, in moral ones. Not only in this radical class, but among the recognized dissenters and among a minority of other, religious folk, there was a tendency to question both the authority and the justice of the government in its restrictive religious laws, its ecclesiastical taxation, and its Sabbath-day legislation. Particularly was there opposition to the fine for absence from public worship on Sunday, unless excused by weighty reasons, and to the assessment upon every one of a tax for the support of some form of recognized public worship, even though the tax-payer had no personal interest or liking for that which he was obliged to support. The feeling that such injustice ought not to continue was strong among some members of the Establishment. They found a powerful advocate in Judge Zephaniah Swift of Windham, the author of the |System of the Laws of the State of Connecticut.|
Judge Swift was a thorough-going Federalist, but so bitter an opponent of the union of Church and State that his enemies, and even members of his own party, taunted him with being a freethinker, -- a serious charge in those days. Nevertheless, Judge Swift held the loyalty of a county and of one rather tolerant of dissent. |The Phenix or Windham Herald,| founded in 1790, though Federal in politics, became Judge Swift's organ; and so acceptable were his opinions, taken all in all, to the community, that from 1787 to 1793 it returned this arch-enemy of the Establishment as its deputy to the House, and then his congressional district honored him with a seat in the national council until 1799. He became chief justice in 1806, and died in 1819, having lived to see the charter constitution set aside and Church and State divorced.
The small Anti-Federal party in the state, though making but very few converts at this time, and though of very little importance politically, were the pronounced advocates of a wider suffrage, a larger tolerance, and of radical changes in the method of government. The last they believed necessary before any great improvement in the terms of the franchise or in those of religious toleration could be secured. |An Address to the Baptists, Quakers, Rogerines, and all other denominations of Christians in Connecticut, freed by law from supporting what has been called the 'Established Religion,'| went the rounds of the newspapers urging continued resistance to the support of any religious system that enforced a tax. The |Address| closed with the cheerful prediction that, as their numbers were increasing very rapidly, they might hope yet |to carry the vote against those who have put on haughty airs and affected to treat us as their inferiors.|
Such seething opposition among various classes induced the government to enact some special legislation; but it was unfortunately not of a conciliatory character. In May, 1791, a law was passed varying the old requirement that certificates, after being signed by a church officer, should be lodged with the Society clerk, to the demand that they be signed by two civil officers, or, where there was only one, by the justice of the peace of the town in which the dissenter lived. Considering that the justices were mostly Congregationalists, the enactment amounted to an intrenchment of the Standing Order at the expense of the dissenters. With these officers lay full power to pass upon the validity of the certificates and upon the honesty of intent on the part of the persons presenting them. The certificates read: --
We have examined the claim of -- -- who says he is a Dissenter from the Established Society of -- -- and hath joined himself to a church or Congregation of the name of -- -- ; and that he ordinarily attends upon the public worship of such Church or Congregation; and that he contributes his share and proportion toward supporting the public worship and ministry thereof, do upon examination find that the above facts are true.
Justice of the Peace.
A veritable doubt, spite, malice, prejudice, or mistaken zeal, might determine the granting of the certificate to the dissenter.
The authorities defended this measure upon the ground that it was the civil effect of preaching that gives the civilmagistrate jurisdiction. |The law,| they said, |has nothing to do with conscience and principles.| They further declared that there were persons who were taking undue advantage of the certificate exemptions, and that there were good reasons, to doubt the validity of many of the certificates.
This Certificate Act roused the dissenters throughout the state. |In public society meetings and in speaking universal abroad, sensible that their numbers though scattered were large,| they strove to create a sentiment that should send to the next legislature a |body of representatives who would remember their petition and see that equal religious liberty should be established.|
In regard to the certificates, a writer in the |Courant| exclaims: --
It is sometimes said that the giving of a certificate once a year or once in a man's life is but a trifle, and none but the obstinate will refuse it as none but the covetous desire it. True it is but a trifle -- ten times as much would be but a trifle if it was right. If it must be done, let them who plead for it do the little trifle; they have no scruples of conscience about it.... The certificate law is as much worse than the tax on tea as religious fetters are worse than civil.
The Rev. John Leland's |The Rights of Conscience inalienable; therefore Religious Opinions not cognizable by Law; Or The High flying Churchman, stript of his legal Robe appears a yaho| was a powerful arraignment of the government and defense of the right of all to worship as conscience bade them. Leland had recently come from Virginia and settled in New London. In the southern state he had been one of the most influential among the Baptist ministers and a great power in politics. In Virginia he had seen the separation of Church and State in 1785, and had witnessed the benefits following that policy. After the publication of his |Rights of Conscience| the question before the Connecticut people became one of establishment or disestablishment, because Leland, not content with showing the falsity of the position that civil necessities required an established church, or with a logical demonstration of the inalienable rights of conscience, proceeded to boldly attack the Charter of Charles II as being in no rightful sense the constitution of the state of Connecticut. He maintained that, |Constitution| though it was called, it was not such, because it had been enforced upon the people by a mere vote of the legislature [a] and was a |constitution| never |assented to further than passive obedience and non resistance| by the people at large; a constitution --
contrary to the known sentiments of a far greater part of the States in the Union; and inconsistent with the clear light of liberty, which is spreading over the world in meridian splendor, and dissipating those antique glooms of tyrannical darkness which were ever opposed to free, equal, religious liberty among men.
Leland arraigns a union of Church and State that presupposes a need of legislative support for religion, which the example of other states has proved unnecessary; and which the experience of communities, persisting in such union, has shown to be productive of evil, of ignorance, superstition, persecution, lying and hypocrisy, a weakness to the civil state, and a conversion of the Bible and of religion to tools of statecraft and political trickery.
Government has no more to do with religious opinions of men than it has with the principles of mathematics.... Truth disdains the aid of law for its defence, ... it will stand upon its own merit.... Is it just to balance the Establishment against the rights guaranteed in the charter, and to enact a law which has no saving clause to prevent taxation of Jew, Turk, Papist, Deist, Atheist, for the support of a ministry in which they would not share and which violated their conscience?
Many Federalists of Judge Swift's type sympathized with Leland's bold arraignment of the Establishment, if not with his view of the unconstitutionality of the charter government. These men repudiated the new certificate law.
The authorities felt that they had gone too far, and in October, 1791, after an existence of only six months, they repealed the certificate law by one hundred and five yeas to fifty-seven nays. The new law that was substituted permitted each dissenter to write his own certificate, release, or |sign-off,| as the papers were colloquially called, and required him to file it with the clerk of the Established Society wherein he dwelt. This favor was not so great a privilege as it seemed. It bore hard upon the dissenters in two ways. It created |Neuters,| people who wished to be relieved from the ecclesiastical taxes, but who were too indifferent to the principles and welfare of the churches to which they allied themselves to faithfully support them. For their churches to complain of such persons to the authorities would only give the latter reasons for enforcing the laws for the support of the Establishment. Then again, the new certificate law did not relieve the dissenters who lived too far from their churches to ordinarily attend them from petty fines and from court wrangles as to the justice of them, for with the judges lay the determination of what the words |far| and |near| and |ordinarily do attend| in the laws meant. [b] The important question of how many absences from church would prevent a man from claiming that he was a regular attendant was thus left in the hands of judges, who were for the most part prejudiced or partial. Many amusing and exasperating legal quibbles occurred in the courts between judges, who were determined to sentence for neglect of public worship, and defendants, who were equally positive of their rights. Many dissenters attempted later to ridicule the law out of existence by substituting for the formal --
I certify that I differ in sentiment from the worship and ministry in the ecclesiastical society of -- -- in the town of -- -- constituted bylaw within certain local bounds, and have chosen to join myself to the (Insert here the name of society you have joined) in the town of -- -- .
Dated at -- -- this -- -- day of -- -- A. D.
declarations, undignified in wording and sometimes written in doggerel rhyme. While granting the new certificate law, the Assembly were careful to pass a minor ecclesiastical statute enforcing a fine of from six to twelve shillings upon all who should neglect to observe all public fasts and thanksgivings. This law at times proved unsatisfactory to the Episcopalians, for the Congregational fasts and feasts were appointed by the authorities, who naturally did not consider the Churchman's feeling when called upon to celebrate a feast or thanksgiving during an Episcopalian season of fasting, or to observe a public fast, to go in sackcloth, upon an anniversary that should be marked by joy and praise.
In 1792, the year following the attempt to remodel the certificate laws, certain legislative measures with reference to Yale College fed the discontent among the dissenting sects. For some years there had been an increasing dissatisfaction with the management of the college. It culminated in 1792 in the reorganization of the governing board, to which were added eight civilians, including the governor, lieutenant-governor, and the six senior councilors or state senators. At the same time, and in consideration of the admission of laymen to the board, [USD]40,000 was given to the college. [c] This money was a part of the taxes which had been collected to meet the expenses of the Revolutionary war, and which were in the state treasury when the United States government offered to refund the state for such expense. It was granted to the college on condition that she should invest it in the new United States bonds, and that half the profits of the investment should be at the disposal of the state. This arrangement relieved the crippled finances of the college and gratified many of its friends. But there were many who regarded the measure as out-and-out favoritism to a Congregational college, and who put no faith in the proposed half-sharing of profits. They maintained that eventually the college would get the whole benefit of the money that had been collected for other purposes, and from many persons who could derive no benefit from such a disposal of it. These prophets were not far wrong, for after Yale had paid into the state treasury a little more than [USD]13,000 she was relieved from further payments by a repeal, in 1796, of the conditional clause of the grant.
This favoritism to Yale was not the only legislation to anger the dissenters, and especially the Baptists. Another measure, mooted at the same time as the certificate acts and the special grant to the college, was accepted as a further mark of the government's determination to ignore the rights of dissenters. In 1785-86 the Assembly had granted lands for the support of the Gospel ministry, for schools, and to the first minister to settle in each township of the Western Reserve. This act, as has been shown, was considered to unduly favor the Presbyterians. But little had come of this legislation beyond the survey of the land and the opening of a land office there for its sale. Five years later, in 1791, even though no part of the tract had been sold, the Assembly introduced a new bill appropriating the anticipated proceeds from the sale of the land to the several ecclesiastical societies as a fund with which to pay their ministers so as to enable them to do away with the tax for salaries. But the excitement roused by the first certificate law -- of 1791 -- was so great that it was deemed prudent to continue this Western Land bill over to the next session of the legislature, and there it was lost. The session of May, 1792, contented itself with only such legislation in regard to the Western Reserve as that by which it granted the |Fire Lands,| so called, a grant of 500,000 acres as indemnity to the citizens of New London, Groton, Fairfield, Norwalk, and Danbury, for the destruction of their property in the burning of their towns by British troops.
As the lands of the Western Reserve did not sell well, [d] the Assembly, in 1793, appointed a committee to dispose of the tract to the highest bidder if the amount offered should be duly guaranteed with interest; principal and interest payable to the state within four or six years, whether paid in lump sum on demand, or by installments. The sale was widely advertised both within and without the state. It was now calculated that the amount realized from the sale of the lands would be a sum yielding an annual interest of [USD]60,000, or an average of [USD]600 to a town, beside a bonus to Yale of [USD]8000. Therefore, the Assembly, in October, 1793, voted that --
moneys arising from the sale of the territory belonging to the State, lying west of the state of Pennsylvania, be, and the same is hereby established a perpetual fund, the interest whereof is granted, and shall be appropriated to the use and benefit of the several ecclesiastical societies, churches, congregations of all denominations in this State, to be by them applied to the support of their respective ministers or preachers of the Gospel, and schools of education, under such rules and regulations as shall be adopted by this or some future session of the General Assembly.
An earlier bill had been proposed, discussed, and tabled. This act was originally a resolution framed by a large committee whose members represented both the friends and opponents of the proposal for the immediate sale of the lands. When the vote passed, it was by eighty-three yeas to seventy nays in the House and by a large and favorable majority in the Council.
One fault that the dissenters found with the law was that, under the rules and regulations adopted by the Assembly, they believed that the alternative which the law allowed of voting the money to the ministerial fund, or to the school, would work to their disadvantage. Where there were few dissenters, the Presbyterian vote would carry the money over to the minister's use, and where there were many, the same vote would be sufficient, if thrown, as it probably would be, to direct the money to the school appropriation. It would follow that the dissenters might never have the use of the money for the support of their own worship.
The Baptists voiced the general opposition among the dissenters, -- an opposition so strong that it appealed to some of the conservatives as sufficient reason in itself to condemn the law. |A Friend to Society| wrote to the |Hartford Courant| that --
if a religion whose principles are universal love and harmony is to be supported and promoted by a means which will blow up the sparks of faction and party strife into a violent flame, it is a new way of promoting religion. Much better would it be for the State of Connecticut that their Western Lands should be sunk by an earthquake and form part of the adjoining lake than that they should be transplanted hither for a bone of contention.
Apart from sectarian interests, the law met with hostility. There were those who thought that the money ought to be applied at once to the remaining indebtedness of the state, rather than for it to wait for another installment on the Revolutionary debt that was still due from the national government. There were more who thought that the money ought to go for the expenses of government, or for direct advantages, such as the repair of bridges and highways. But the expenses of government were light, [e] and, as a rule, the people were willing to keep the highways in repair. There was still another party who contended that the money should go for schools, both because they were needed in larger numbers, and because they ought to be able to pay larger salaries and not ones so small as to tempt only the farmer lad, or the ambitious student, to keep a country school for a few months in winter, or a somewhat similarly equipped woman to teach in summer. And there was yet another party who were convinced that the money should go to the support of the ministry, for they believed that morality could be taught only by religion, and that the people were losing interest in the latter because of the inferiority of the preachers whom the small salaries and insecure support kept in the field.
While this discussion of certificate laws, of grants to Yale, and of grants of land and money to the ecclesiastical societies had been constantly before the public, there had also been present a minor grievance due to the Assembly's interest in the missionary work that the General Association had extended to include parts of Vermont, western New York, Pennsylvania, and the outlying settlements in Ohio. In the western field the missionaries sent by Connecticut frequently met those sent out by the Presbyterian General Assembly. Drawn together by their interests in these missions in 1794, the practice was begun of having three delegates from the General Association meet with the Presbyterian General Assembly in their annual convention, and three delegates from the General Assembly take their seats in the yearly convocation of the General Association of Connecticut. So long as the Connecticut churches were strongly Presbyterian in sentiment, there was no clashing of interests among the workers in the mission field. Naturally, Connecticut wanted to do her full share of missionary work; and feeling the need of more money for the purpose, the General Association, in 1792, appealed to the legislature for permission to take up an annual collection for three years. The Association hesitated to take up such a collection in all the churches, dissenting or Established, without such permission. The Baptists expressed their indignation at the wording of Governor Huntington's proclamation, |that there be a contribution taken up in every congregation for the support of the Presbyterian Missions in the western territory.| More than that, they refused to contribute, on the ground that if the collection had been |recommended| they would gladly have helped a Christian cause, but that it was inexpedient to yield to a demand that all societies should contribute to the support of missions that were entirely under the control of one religious body. Furthermore, with reference to the appropriation of money from the Western Lands, they would join with other dissenters in opposing it, on the ground that, in order to obtain their share of the money, they would have to admit their inferiority through the showing of the compulsory certificates. Moreover, even the scant favor secured through these was in danger from the continual favoritism of the legislature, with its treasury open at all times to its Congregational college, and with its enactments in favor of the Established Churches.
At the May session of the Assembly, 1794, the Baptists from all over the state thronged the steps of the capitol at Hartford, angered almost to the point of precipitating civil war. There John Leland addressed them, urging the necessity of government; the power of constitutional reform; arguing for rights of conscience, citing both European and colonial history to prove their reasonableness and their value to the body politic; and setting forth Connecticut's departure from the glorious freedom mapped out by her founders. He declared to that great and angry crowd: --
Government is a necessary evil and so a chosen good. Its business is to preserve the life, liberty and property of the many units that form the body politic.... When a constitution of government is formed, it should be simple and explicit; the powers that are vested in, and work to be performed by each department should be defined with the utmost perspicuity; and this constitution should be attended to as scrupulously by men in office as the Bible should be by all religionists.... Let the people first be convinced of the deficiency of the constitution, and remove the defects thereof, and then, those in office can change the administration upon constitutional grounds.
* * * * *
[The right to worship] God according to the dictates of conscience, without being prohibited, directed or controlled therein by human law, either in time, place or manner, cannot be surrendered up to the general government for an equivalent.
Had not Governor Haynes said to Roger Williams, |The Most High God hath provided and cut out this part of the world for a refuge and receptacle for all sorts of consciences?| How had not Connecticut fallen? How passed her ancient glory, how ignored her charter's rights? How firm a grip upon her had that incubus of her own raising, the pernicious union of Church and State? Break that, as elsewhere it had been broken, and then as freemen demand a constitution guaranteeing both civil and religious liberty.
The result of the widespread hostility was the attempt at the May session of 1794 to repeal the offensive law. The Lower House did repeal it, after a lively debate, by a vote of 109 yeas to 58 nays, but the Council, or Upper House, where the conservatives were intrenched, refused to pass the bill. However, they were induced to pass a resolution suspending the sale of the lands. The debate in the House was published verbatim in the |Hartford Gazette| of May 19, 1794, and was copied by the papers throughout the state. In the following October a bill was passed by the Council, but continued over by the House and ordered to be printed in all the papers, that the people might have opportunity to consider it before it should come up to be passed upon by their representatives in the May session of 1795. The terms of the bill were that the principal sum of money received from the sale of the Western Lands should be apportioned among the several school societies according to the list of polls and rateable estates, and that the interest arising from the money so divided should be appropriated to the support of schools that were kept according to the law, or to the support of the public worship of God and the Christian ministry, |as the majority of the legal voters should annually determine.|
The proposed law was subjected to public scrutiny of all sorts. It was agitated in town meetings, and the discussions for and against it were noticed in the newspapers, where much space was given to its consideration. Ministers made it the subject of their sermons. Dr. Dwight discoursed upon the subject in his Thanksgiving sermon. When the proposed bill came up before the legislature, it encountered considerable opposition, but after some modifications it became a law. As in school societies the dissenters had an equal vote, and in all town affairs were worth conciliating, there was more justice in the new law than in the old, where the ecclesiastical society was made the unit of division. From 1717 to 1793 the towns, parishes, and occasionally the ecclesiastical societies had charge of the schools. But in 1794 school districts were authorized and the change to them begun. Such districts could, upon the vote of two thirds of all the qualified voters, locate schools, lay taxes to build and repair them, and appoint a collector to gather such rates. The act of May, 1795, appropriating the money from the Western Lands to the schools, provided also that the school districts should be erected into school societies to whom the money should be distributed, and by whom the interest thereon should be expended; and that it should go |to no other Use or Purpose whatsoever; except in the Case and under the circumstances hereafter mentioned.| The circumstances here referred to were in cases where two thirds of the legal voters in a school society meeting, legally warned, voted to use the interest money for the support of the ministry in that Society, and appealed to the General Assembly for permission to so use the money. Upon such an expression of the wish of voters, the General Assembly was empowered to answer in the affirmative. The act also repealed that of 1793. The legislature appointed another commission for the sale of the lands. They were sold in the following October for [USD]1,200,000. By this legislation was laid the foundation of Connecticut's School Fund. The Connecticut Land Company, which had made the purchase, petitioned the legislature in 1797 that Connecticut should surrender her jurisdiction over the lands to the United States. The state complied. In 1798 the organization of the new school societies was perfected, and the control of the schools passed entirely into their hands until the district system of 1856 was adopted.
The Western Land bills had resulted in the establishment of a public school fund and in its just distribution, without reference to sectarianism, among the people. All the agitation attending both the certificate acts and Western Land bills had demonstrated the intense opposition of the dissenting minority, and that they were beginning to look to the increase of their numbers and the power of the ballot as the only means of changing the vexatious laws under which they were treated as inferiors. To the Congregationalists, strong both as the Established Church and as members of the Federal party, which counted many adherents among all the dissenting sects, the possibility that any voting strength could be brought against them, adequate to oppose their party measures, seemed improbable. Such a possibility must be very remote. Yet within twenty years, they were to see the downfall of the Federal party, of the Established Church, and of Connecticut's charter government.
[a] The vote of the Assembly was: |That the ancient form of civil government, containing the charter from Charles the Second, King of England, and adopted by the people of this State, shall be and remain the Civil Constitution of the State under the sole authority of the people thereof, independent of any King, or ftince whatever. And that this Republic is and shall forever be and remain a free, sovereign, and independent State, by the name of the State ofConnecticut.| -- Revision of Acts and Laws, Ed.1784, p.1.
[b] |Courts and juries had usually been composed of what was considered the standing church, and they had frequently practiced such quibbles and finesse with respect to the forms of certificates and the nature of dissenting congregations as to defeat the benevolent intentions of the law.| -- Swift's System of Laws, pp.146, 147.
[c] Yale received in all [USD]40,629.80. In 1871, six alumni replaced the six senior councilors.
[d] So far the highest bid for the tract of land had been [USD]350,000.
[e] The annual expenses were estimated to be approximately [USD]90,000. In Advice to Connecticut Folks, 1786, occurs the following estimate: --
======= Necessary Unneces'y -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- - Governor's salary, L300 L300 Lieutenant-Governor's, 100 100 Upper House attendance and travel60 days at L10 per day, 600 600 Lower House attendance and travel170 members at 6s. a day, 60 days, 3,060 1,530 L1,530 Five Judges of the Superior Court at24s. a day, suppose 150 days, 900 900 Forty Judges of Inferior Court at9s. a day, suppose 40 days, 720 720 Six thousand actions in the year, thelegal expenses of each, suppose L3, 18,000 1,000 17,000 Gratuities to 120 lawyers, supposeL50 each, 6,000 1,000 5,000 Two hundred clergymen at L100 each, 20,000 20,000 Five hundred schools at L20 a year, 10,000 10,000 Support of poor, 10,000 10,000 Bridges and other town expenses, 10,000 10,000 Contingencies and articles notenumerated, 10,000 10,000 -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- - Total, L89,680 L66,150 L23,530
As a glimpse at society, it may be added that the Advice itself is an energetic and statistical condemnation of the prevalent use of |Rum,| estimated at L90,000 or |ninety-nine hundredths unnecessary expense| in living. |Deny it if you can, good folks. Now say not a word about taxes, Judges, lawyers, courts and women's extravagances. Your government, your courts, your lawyers, your clergymen, your schools and your poor, do not all cost you so much as one paltry article which does you little or no good but is as destructive of your lives as fire and brimstone.| -- Noah Webster's Collection of Essays, pp.137-139.
The evil was beginning to be recognized in all its danger. Here and there voluntary temperance clubs were beginning to be formed among the better classes, but it was a time when hardly a contract was closed without a stipulation of a certain quantity of rum for each workman.

subset: commoncrawl


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"Thank you for all your help with NRF. The stand looked outstanding and we received fantastic feedback from our customers, press, booth staff, and the board. We look forward to working with you on the design for 2018 – we already have some ideas and will be in touch with planning around the May time frame. Many thanks again for all your hard work in making this a success."
- Paul Milner, Marketing Director at Displaydata
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All substance
By Aaren Madden, November 2011
In his pursuit of sound civic policy, Geoff Young defies labels and shuns spin.
When Geoff Young is not at any number of meetings in his roles as chair of the CRD board of directors, City of Victoria councillor, and member of multiple committees and boards, he spends his working days at Discovery Economics. He founded the company in 1984. His light-filled office sits on the second floor of a heritage building tucked quietly into downtown's Langley Street. Diplomas in Economics from UBC, the London School of Economics and Harvard (PhD) are the main adornments, save a winter landscape painting that says more about clarity and presence than it does about chill temperature.
We sit on worn but comfy chairs on opposite sides of a large oak desk and talk about earthquakes. Specifically, what would happen to this particular building, which leans congenially against its neighbour via a shared wall, should one hit that very minute. Young calmly states, "It would be a pile of bricks and we would be under it. I plan to dive under the desk, and I'd advise you to come under there, too."
Though it's quite the sturdy desk, he'd rather the city was able to address seismic upgrading for the many occupied heritage buildings downtown. He offers the tragedy in Christchurch, New Zealand as possible foreshadowing. The February 2011 quake there took the lives of 181 people, and the economic impact from it and subsequent tremors has further devastated the city, one of similar size and age to our own. "That's a whole area we haven't even been able to start working on," he says, as we discuss the myriad priorities in civic spending—including the estimated $500 million in unfunded but necessary infrastructure projects looming in the near future. He continues, "One of my big concerns about spending the extra money on super-high blue bridge earthquake resistance [was that] I am very aware that there are a lot of higher priorities from the point of view of life safety."
This is what he calls the "applied economics" of civic politics. His interest in it led to seats on City council from 1983 to 1999 and again since 2005. Though Young dabbled in the provincial Social Credit and Progressive Conservative parties in the 1980s, his niche is firmly in municipal government, in analyzing the minute details of an issue to determine not just economic, but overall benefit.
One such detail in the bridge debate was its latching mechanism. Since it's no longer readily available, it would have to be specially fabricated at a cost of tens of thousands of dollars. But the interest alone on the loan for the new bridge "swamps" that figure, he says. That's one of many considerations he referred to when he admonished his colleagues at one meeting, saying, "There is a lot we chose not to learn about these issues."
Young argues that what should have been asked of staff was, "What are the costs and benefits of the new bridge option and the sensible, economically sound repair options?" Note the plural—a range of costs meeting safety requirements and transportation needs that won't break the bank. "One of the most tragic things to me is that we were going to present to the public a higher level of service for the new bridge; more options for crossing. In the end, that isn't the case," he reflects. With the rail component removed, he elaborates, the options for crossing—three vehicle lanes, bike and pedestrian amenities—will amount to "not much more than we would have if we maintained and fixed what's sitting down there now. I believe at much less cost," he says.
He's seen it happen before: the way the View and Vancouver intersection rebuild was handled still causes him pain. It was the height of the building boom, and only one bid came in. "I almost got down on my knees in front of my colleagues and said, Can't you see? The US economy is heading downward. In a year or two, people will want to work; we will be able to get multiple bids. The concrete was not dry on that project before the building industry had collapsed. We probably could have saved a million dollars on that contract," he laments. "So I have to say to people who are thinking of running for council because you have some expertise in an area, and you think you will be able to convey that expertise to your colleagues, don't do it. Because they won't listen to you," he laughs heartily.
"That's how government works, and I've gotten used to it. I attribute it to my lack of eloquence, or something," he shrugs. Though Young is more "in the middle" at the CRD, his point of view is, especially of late, in the minority on Victoria city council.
Which is precisely why he wants to be there. "It always amazes me when I hear, 'At least this council makes up its mind, and sticks to its decisions' as if that was a good thing!" He marvels at the notion that any decision is a good decision. A recent editorial in a local paper advocating a more like-minded council "to reduce bickering" left him flabbergasted. "I thought, gosh, am I being perceived as being a nuisance, or someone who leads to unpleasant discussion because I don't agree with everyone else all the time?" For Young, that debate is what brings about the best result.
He has noticed a worrying trend sitting on boards like the Harbour Authority, the Provincial Capital Commission and the Airport Board, where major decisions get made in private. "If [the boards] can control the appearance of dissent and disagreement, they can appear to be more competent. And by controlling information, they can reduce the ability of the public to criticize," he explains.
At City Hall, he has noticed greater emphasis recently on communications, with one spokesperson gatekeeping messages, whether for road maintenance or bridge spending. And the City newsletters, to Young, "look like election flyers, presenting a series of good news stories about what City council is doing. I don't think that's appropriate. I have always disliked it from federal and provincial governments, and I don't like us being a part of that. In many ways, the media is the most effective counterpoint to government actions. It's really important that the media be healthy and present competing points of view, but it shouldn't be competing with the government's own direct publicity organs," he opines.
That may be especially true given his concern about the current governance model. Implemented in March 2009, it claims to streamline decision-making and, according to the City Hall website, "create more meaningful opportunities for public participation." Sitting dead centre on the governance diagram (also viewable online), and flowing one-way to all other committees, is the Agenda Committee. It consists of two people: the mayor and the acting mayor. Young explains that the function of this committee, which meets weekly, is to decide what comes on the agenda. "That's an explicit way of controlling items that come before council, and that's an enormously powerful position. It's pretty obvious that's where the real authority is," Young states. Half-jokingly, he compares the position to that of commissar. He's quick to add, though, that these structures are almost always in flux and under review. (And with questioning minds on council, one expects that review to be somewhat more rigorous.)
Clearly Young is more concerned with issues than with image and power. He resists being pigeonholed, though he's been labelled fiscally conservative, even unprogressive. When pressed, he calls himself "an urbanite. I believe in the social and the environmental benefits of cities, density and public transportation," he says. Walkability is important, and his bike is parked downstairs. "I am anxious to move forward on environmental issues that make sense," he continues. "I was disappointed when we didn't move a little faster on kitchen scrap diversion, for example."
Not the stuff of flashy campaigns, perhaps. Young ran for mayor in 1999 ("Never again," he says). At the time, former candidate Laura Acton accused him of being "all substance and no style." While he chuckles grimly at the memory, he reflects, "I like to think I am primarily motivated by longer-term considerations of public benefit rather than shorter-term politically attractive messages. That's still the case."
Germane to Geoff Young's goals toward reducing kitchen waste in Hartland, Aaren Madden can tell you that no less than 30 percent of material that ends up there is kitchen scraps. Shocking!


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The Alzheimer's Research UK Blog will keep you updated on the latest news and developments on a wide variety of dementia topics. We'll feature authors from across our organisation, along with a range of guest Bloggers, who we've invited to contribute their unique perspectives on dementia.
Guest Bloggers
Anne-Marie Heeney
Anne-Marie Heeney is a 23-year-old student from Birmingham. She is currently doing a Masters in English Literature and waitresses in her spare time, while also helping to care for her mum Bernadette, who has early-onset frontotemporal dementia. She was diagnosed when she was 50. Although it is very rare, this kind of dementia is genetic in Anne-Marie's family.
Shilpa Saul
Shilpa is a blogger who sadly lost her mum to early-onset Alzheimer's. Find out more on her blog: http://mustbethemummy.com/
Denise Wallin
Denise's mum, Barbara, was diagnosed with early-onset frontotemporal dementia at just 59. She lives in a care home with support from Denise and her dad, Tony.
Rita Pepper
Rita Pepper lives in Northamptonshire with her two grandchildren. Her 39-year-old daughter Carla is in the late stages of familial Alzheimer's disease and is bedbound in a care home. Rita lost her husband Barry in 1993 to the condition, when he was in his 40s, and the faulty gene was passed down to Carla. Rita is doing all she can to raise awareness of inherited forms of dementia.
Mark Dallas
Dr Mark Dallas is currently a Lecturer in Cellular and Molecular Neuroscience at the University of Reading. He has been involved in dementia research for the last 8 years and is interested in understanding the role of glia cells in Alzheimer's disease. Most recently he has become interested in examining microglia and their contribution to Alzheimer's disease and this vital research is also funded by Alzheimer's Research UK, in a collaboration between two of the charity's Network Centres. This type of collaborative research is necessary in our fight against dementia. In addition, he is also the Early Careers Representative for the Alzheimer's Research UK Oxford Network, so is a keen advocate of young researchers starting out in career in dementia research.
Emily Allen
Emily Allen, 31, became passionate about helping Alzheimer's Research UK after her mum Janet was diagnosed with early-onset Alzheimer's disease when she was just 60. Emily makes regular trips from her home in Salford, Greater Manchester, to her family home in Reading, Berkshire, to help her dad with caring for her mum. Emily is the youngest of three sisters. Her sisters Liz Allen and Jane Cox are also media volunteers for the charity.
Siobhann Ardley
Siobhann is a 36-year-old mum-of-two from Cobham, Surrey. She ran the London Marathon 2017 in memory of her parents. Siobhann lost both her parents in 2016, her 68-year-old mum Annette Royce in August and her dad Michael Royce in November, a day after his 71st birthday. Michael had been living with Alzheimer's disease for almost a decade, and passed away in a care home, while Annette died from liver cancer following a terminal diagnosis last June. Siobhann is no stranger to long distance running, she has also run the toughest footrace on Earth – the 250km Marathon des Sables - and a number of other ultra-marathons and Ironman challenges.
Amanda Brasher
Amanda is a 49-year-old mother-of-three from London. She ran the London Marathon 2017 for Alzheimer's Research UK in honour of her 82-year-old mother, Shirley Brasher (née Bloomer), who is living with Alzheimer's disease. Shirley is a former world No3 tennis player and triple Grand Slam winner. Amanda's father, who died with pancreatic cancer in 2003, was a co-founder of the London Marathon and an Olympic gold medal-winning athlete. Amanda is an independent retail consultant and a member of the Research in Breast Health Group at the University of Portsmouth.
Laura Brown
Laura Brown is a fitness instructor from London, who aims to get more women involved in endurance races and raise as much money as possible for Alzheimer's Research UK, in memory of her two nans. She is taking part in a number of endurance races throughout 2017 for the charity.
Mariel Kirton
Mariel Kirton is a blogger, sharing snapshots of her dad's life on Instagram (@endalzheimers_ray), following his diagnosis of early-onset Alzheimer's at the age of only 52. She wants to tackle the stigma around dementia with her posts and illustrate the need for dementia research in support of Alzheimer's Research UK.
Alison Carter
Alison Carter knows only too well how dementia can impact on families – her dad John was diagnosed with vascular dementia in 2007, aged 71. Her mum Leslie looked after him at home with the help of carers and Alison. John sadly passed away in 2016. Both mum and daughter are determined to raise awareness of dementia and Alzheimer's Research UK's crucial work to defeat it and have shared their story with the media many times, including national radio and TV broadcasts. Alison and Leslie are Champions of Alzheimer's Research UK, an accolade given to a handful of supporters in recognition of their outstanding efforts to help us beat dementia.
Warren Alexander-Pye
Warren Alexander-Pye has been working as a Construction Project Manager for over seventeen years and is currently an Associate Director with Mace. Warren was also previously a Territorial Army soldier for 16 years earning the Volunteer Reserve Service Medal. Warren is an advocate for improving mental health for all and is passionate about breaking down the stigma. He lives in East Sussex with his wife and two children and in his spare time he enjoys playing the flute, reading and gardening.
David Mowat MP
David Mowat was appointed as Parliamentary Under Secretary of State at the Department of Health on 17 July 2016, and has been MP for Warrington South since May 2010. Prior to his election to Parliament, David served as the chairman of Fairbridge, a charitable organisation in Salford which helps to improve the life chances of disadvantaged young people. He also served as a councillor on Macclesfield Borough Council from 2007 to 2008. Before joining the Department of Health, David was previously Parliamentary Private Secretary to the Financial Secretary to the Treasury (2012-2016), Member of the Scottish Affairs Select Committee (2010-2012), Member of the Joint Select Committee on the draft Financial Services Bill, Trustee of the House of Commons Pension Fund and on the Board of the Parliamentary Office for Science and Technology.
Amanda Blanc
Amanda Blanc lives in Hampshire with her husband and two daughters. She is the Group Chief Executive Officer of AXA UK & Ireland. In June 2015 Amanda led AXA's Leadership Team on a gruelling Three Peaks Challenge raising an outstanding £35,000 for Alzheimer's Research UK.
James Quinn
James is currently studying for a PhD at the University of Manchester. James' studies are taking a closer look at a protein called tau – a key hallmark of Alzheimer's disease and other types of dementia.
Grace Stead
Grace Stead sadly lost her nan on her dad's side to dementia in 2013. Her maternal nan has now also been diagnosed. The experience has caused Grace to start her own company – Enrichment for the Elderly – which offers creative workshops for people with dementia and training for carers. She's seen the positive impact that her activities can have and hopes to spread awareness about dementia and how we can all help.
Kay Patrick
Kay Patrick is an actor and director from Stockport. After training at RADA, she acted in Doctor Who alongside William Hartnell and spent 20 years directing Coronation Street, leaving in 2015. Her sister was diagnosed with dementia in 2014. Kay has just written her first novel, 'The Trial of Marie Montrecourt', and is donating all of her proceeds to Alzheimer's Research UK.
Clare Brien
Clare Brien is a 19-year-old college student who has been caring for her dad since the age of 10. He lives with vascular dementia after suffering from a stroke. Clare studies law, English and history and hopes to continue to study law at university.
Chris Wright
Chris Wright is a keen runner and fantastic fundraiser for Alzheimer's Research UK. Originally from Sheffield, Chris now lives in Spain with his wife and kids. He lost his father-in-law to Alzheimer's in 2015, not long before completing a year's 5k-a-day running challenge.
Sean McGregor
Sean is a student from Yorkshire, currently in his third year at Northumbria University. He decided to fundraise for Alzheimer's Research UK after his grandmother was diagnosed with dementia at the age of 68. He is taking on an impressive challenge in 2016 of cycling from Land's End to John O'Groats.
Adam Graham
Adam Graham was inspired to support Alzheimer's Research UK after his father died with early-onset Alzheimer's disease, aged just 66. Adam ran the Virgin Money London Marathon for the charity in 2015, raising thousands for pioneering research. Since then he has spoken out about his experiences to raise awareness of the need for dementia research and the need for better treatments for people with dementia.
Cearon O'Flynn
Cearon O'Flynn lives with his wife and three children in Chatham, Kent. He came up with his cycling challenge, CAstle RidE for Alzheimer's, in memory of his nan Dorothy Stockey, who died with Alzheimer's disease in 2004 at the age of 81. While working as a business solutions analyst he trained for the endurance challenge, which he completed in September 2016. The event involved cycling hundreds of miles round the 32 castles in Kent in just two days. He raised over £800 for Alzheimer's Research UK.
Bridget Hunt
Bridget is a special needs teacher from York. She sadly lost her mum Rose to dementia with Lewy bodies in 2015, after a 14-year battle with the condition. Bridget wants to raise awareness about dementia with Lewy bodies, which commonly causes hallucinations and visual disturbances, as well as symptoms such as memory loss and confusion.
Mike Curtis
Mike Curtis is a geologist from Northamptonshire. He took on the Everest Marathon in May 2017 with his partner Christine, in honour of his father Lance, who is living with Alzheimer's disease.
Lorna Kenny & Harriet Cole
Sisters Lorna Kenny and Harriet Cole signed up to Alzheimer's Research UK's Guatemala Volcano Trek 2018 to raise money for dementia research after seeing firsthand how heartbreaking dementia is. Their dad was diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease in 2015.
Steve Boryszczuk
Steve is a handyman and Alzheimer's Research UK fundraiser from Market Rasen, Lincolnshire. He gave up his job as a lorry driver a few years ago to look after his wife Michelle, who sadly died of familial Alzheimer's disease in 2013, at the age of 44. Since then he has made it his mission to raise awareness of Alzheimer's, and fundraise for dementia research. In 2017, he ticked off the last item on Michelle's unfulfilled bucket list for the charity in her honour, by trekking over 100km through the Himalayas to Bhutan.
Neil Graham
Dr Neil Graham is an Alzheimer's Research UK Clinical Research Fellow at the Division of Brain Sciences, Imperial College London. He studied medicine at Cambridge and University College London, developing an interest in acquired brain injury during training posts at St Thomas' Hospital and the National Hospital for Neurology and Neurosurgery. His research interest is the relationship of traumatic brain injury (TBI) to dementia. Supervised by Prof David Sharp, he is focused on the development of imaging tools that can measure brain degeneration in patients after TBI. He is aiming to improve our ability to diagnose significant head injuries when they take place and working towards treatments that could prevent brain degeneration after injury.
Mark Bennett
Mark Bennett is one of our Campaigners whose powerful voices are persuading politicians up and the country to get behind dementia research. Mark's mum is living with dementia. He wrote to his MP, Jeff Smith, about his experience and asked him to help keep dementia research a government priority.
Davina Hensman Moss
Dr Davina Hensman Moss is a Neurology Registrar and Clinical Fellow. She has just been announced as the winner of the Jean Corsan Prize for the best scientific paper published by a PhD student at Alzheimer's Research UK's 2018 Research Conference in London. We caught up with her to find out more about her award-winning paper and her work on Huntington's disease.
Jess Edwards
Jess Edwards (28) lives in Essex and works at a London based insurance company. She is taking part in Alzheimer's Research UK's first ever overseas trek to Guatemala in April 2018 to help raise funds for dementia research. She feels passionately about the work Alzheimer's Research UK does because her nan is living with dementia.
Avnish Goyal
Avnish Goyal is the Chairman of Hallmark Care Homes.
Sally Rasmussen
Sally Rasmussen is from Harrogate in North Yorkshire, and recently took part in Alzheimer's Research UK's first ever overseas trek in Guatemala. She works in marketing and is passionate about raising funds for dementia research.
David Ward
David Ward is a participant in the National Survey and the Alzheimer's Research UK funded Insight 46 study that is investigating brain health and dementia risk in this group. David is a former Guardian journalist who now works for Theatre by the Lake in Keswick, Cumbria.
Andy Morris
Andy is Event Director of Poolsbrook parkrun and one of the top Running Down Dementia fundraisers, having raised more than £5,000 in two years. He was inspired to raise money for dementia research as his mum Peggy, who died last year, had vascular dementia. Andy, who lives in Chesterfield and works as a laboratory manager, completed 250km in the first year and more than doubled that in 2017. Andy is also a parkrun Outreach Ambassador for Dementia as part of the PROVE (parkrun, running or volunteering for everyone) project, helping make parkruns around the country more accessible to people with dementia and their carers.
Ian Elliott
Ian Elliott is a 39-year-old father-of-two who lives in Balerno, near Edinburgh. He is a senior lecturer in business and public services at Queen Margaret University. Ian is one of the top fundraisers for Running Down Dementia in 2018 having been inspired to take on the challenge by his mother who has Alzheimer's disease and is now living in a care home near Coleraine in Northern Ireland.
Amy Macdonald
Amy Macdonald is a Scottish singer-songwriter who has released four top five albums Europe-wide, including two number ones in the UK and three in Germany. To date, the 30-year-old has been awarded platinum status 12 times with over five million album sales. Amy has played to 3.2 million people worldwide, including over one million in the UK alone. To date, Amy has played nearly 400 concerts in 20 countries. Spring 2017 saw Amy's best-selling UK tour, selling out all dates including London's Royal Albert Hall. In August 2017 she was presented with an award by Universal Music to mark 12 million combined sales. Her debut album This Is The Life charted at number 1 in five markets around the globe. The lead single of the same name reached number one in 10 countries. Her second album Life In A Beautiful Light charted in the top 10 in over 10 countries. In February 2017, Amy released her fourth studio album Under Stars, which entered at number two in the UK album chart and peaked in the top 10 of the album charts in Germany and New Zealand. A live version of the album, Under Stars: Live in Berlin, was released on November 24, 2017, and was recorded at the Berlin Tempodrom. Amy has racked up over 100,000,000 streams on Spotify, with 770,000 monthly Spotify listeners.
Helen Williams
Helen Williams has been a professional photographer since starting out as a photojournalist straight from university in 1998. Helen then spent eight years as ITV's in-house photographer, working daily on programmes such as Emmerdale, Heartbeat and A Touch of Frost. Afterwards she went it alone as a freelance photographer while training as a triathlete. After representing Great Britain as an age-grouper at the 2008 World Triathlon Championships, and completing her fourth Ironman event in 2009, Helen hung up her athletic boots and focused on starting a family. She now lives with her husband and two children in Harrogate.
Adele Lotes
Adele is the primary carer for her partner Lance, who is living with behavioural variant frontotemporal dementia. They live together in Brailes, Warwickshire. She wants to raise awareness of early-onset dementias and rarer forms of dementia, and the need for a cure.
Jess Fleig
Jess has been passionate about raising awareness of early-onset dementias and rarer forms of dementia ever since her father was diagnosed with the familial variant of the disease in 2011. She currently works as a charity press officer and journalist in East Anglia.
Steve Andrews
Steve Andrews is the Head of Chemistry at Alzheimer's Research UK's Drug Discovery Institute at the University of Cambridge. He decided that he not only wanted to power research as a scientist but also wanted to fund it and has taken on a series of challenges which will culminate in taking on Alzheimer's Research UK's Guatemala Volcano Trek in April 2018. Steve has been passionate about dementia research ever since he lost his nan Simone Andrews to vascular dementia in 2007.
Lucinda Hurrey
Lucinda has a background in corporate marketing and communications, and recently moved to work in the third sector. She is currently a Project Officer for Silver Sunday, a progamme by the Sir Simon Milton Foundation to help combat isolation and loneliness amongst the elderly.
John Hirst
John Hirst is a 64-year-old retired industrial chemist living in Stockton-on-Tees. His wife Pat was diagnosed with frontotemporal dementia in 2012 and died in July aged 66. John cared for his wife until 2015 when she went into a care home. John is in the middle of a fundraising challenge to complete eight 5km parkrun events in places that were important to his wife, with the final run at his home parkrun of Tees Barrage in February 2018.
Bill Gates
Bill Gates is co-chair of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. In 1975, Bill Gates founded Microsoft with Paul Allen, and led the company to become the worldwide leader in business and personal software and services. In 2008, Bill transitioned to focus full-time on his foundation's work to expand opportunity to the world's most disadvantaged people. Along with co-chair Melinda Gates, he leads the foundation's development of strategies and sets the overall direction of the organization. In 2010, Bill, Melinda, and Warren Buffett founded the Giving Pledge, an effort to encourage the wealthiest families and individuals to publicly commit more than half of their wealth to philanthropic causes and charitable organizations during their lifetime or in their will.
Stephen Fry
Stephen Fry is an English actor, screenwriter, author, playwright, journalist, poet, comedian, television presenter and film director. Whilst at university, Fry became involved with the Cambridge Footlights, where he met his long-time collaborator and friend Hugh Laurie. As half of the comic double act Fry and Laurie, he co-wrote and co-starred in A Bit of Fry & Laurie, and took the role of Jeeves (with Laurie playing Wooster) in Jeeves and Wooster. Fry's acting roles include the lead in the film Wilde, Melchett in the BBC television series Blackadder, the titular character in the television series Kingdom, a recurring guest role as Dr Gordon Wyatt on the crime series Bones, and as Gordon Deitrich in the dystopian thriller V for Vendetta, Mycroft Holmes in Warner's Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows and The Master of Laketown in Peter Jackson's Hobbit trilogy. He has also written and presented several documentary series, including the Emmy Award-winning Stephen Fry: The Secret Life of the Manic Depressive, and is also the long-time host of the BBC television quiz show QI. He played Prime Minister Alistair Davies in the 9th season of Fox TV's 24: Live Another Day. As well as his work in television, Fry has contributed columns and articles for newspapers and magazines, appears frequently on radio, reads for voiceovers and has written four novels and three volumes of autobiography, Moab Is My Washpot, The Fry Chronicles and his latest, More Fool Me. A new sitcom for CBS, The Great Indoors, aired in both the US and UK in the spring of 2017.
Maria Tortora
Maria Tortora is doing a PhD funded by an Alzheimer's Research UK Scholarship at Imperial College London. Her work will focus on a new model of studying the protien tau, build up of which is seen in Alzheimer's disease
Diane Hill
Diane is a Motor Fleet Underwriter at AXA Insurance and has been supporting Alzheimer's Research UK for three years. Diane has raised over £2,500 by participating in crazy challenges. This trend is set to continue into 2019 with the next challenge already booked – a continuous 100km run through the Peak District. Although neither Diane nor her family have been affected by dementia, Alzheimer's Research UK is a charity she is passionate about and will continue to support.
Ross Proctor
Ross lives in Suffolk and is Internal Communications Manager for AXA Insurance. He has coordinated the charity champions at AXA for two years. As well as being the corner stone of the successful partnership between AXA Insurance and Alzheimer's Research UK, Ross is responsible for many other activities under AXA's corporate responsibility programme, AXA Cares. Ross believes in dementia research, "because dementia is a growing problem for our society and it's about time we had real options for treatment, prevention and a cure".
Ozge Gunes
Ozge 'Oz' Gunes is from Milton Keynes in Buckinghamshire. She graduated in 2011 and currently works for Rexam Beverage Can as a laboratory analyst. Fundraising is completely new to Oz and searching for an opportunity to push herself to new levels, she decided to sign up for the fundraising challenge of a lifetime: to cycle 450km in Vietnam.
Sarah Moore-Fitzgerald
Sarah Moore Fitzgerald is an academic specialising in teaching and learning. Late at night she writes fiction. Her debut novel, Back to Blackbrick, is published by Orion and explores themes of memory and forgetting, informed by her own experience of her father's dementia.
Rosemary Westwell
Rosemary Westwell is a teacher and writer living in Cambridgeshire UK. Publications include books on language teaching and learning and an autobiographical novel: 'John, Dementia and Me'. She directs a ladies' choir 'The Isle Singers'. Her husband is in a care home and they have two daughters and six grandchildren.
Russell Grant
All round entertainer Russell Grant is a passionate supporter of dementia research and recently took part in the ICAP Charity Day, raising funds for Alzheimer's Research UK.
Susie Hewer
Susie Hewer is a strong campaigner and fundraiser for Alzheimer's Research UK and has been made a Champion of the charity in acknowledgement of her outstanding support. Otherwise known as 'the Extreme Knitting Redhead', Susie has just completed her 48th marathon to raise money for our vital research. Since her mum Peggy died with vascular dementia in 2005, she has raised over £30,000 for the charity. Susie was the first person to run a marathon while knitting and set the Guinness World Record for creating the longest scarf over the 26.2-mile distance.
Rob Perry
Rob Perry is an Alzheimer's Research UK media volunteer. His mum, Sandra, was diagnosed with frontotemporal dementia in 2011, aged 52, and sadly passed away in October 2013. Rob helped care for his mum and is determined his family's experience will help raise awareness of the desperate underfunding of dementia research.
Kevin Zokay-West
Kevin worked for Iceland frozen foods as a store manager for 33 years. Iceland staff have helped raise £1 million a year for the past 3 years by holding events in its stores during its charity week every August. Kevin's mum was diagnosed with vascular dementia in 2011 and passed away in August 2013. During this time he has been a member of the London supporters group that help out at events and arrange events of their own to help raise awareness and funds for Alzheimer's research UK
Dorothy Parnell
Courageous great-grandmother Dorothy Parnell gave pioneering dementia research a boost after taking part in a tandem skydive to raise money for Alzheimer's Research UK. Dorothy, 84, took on the challenge with her grandson Mark Cudmore. Together the pair raised over £1,000 from their challenge, which they took on in memory of Dorothy's husband Mike, who died in 2009 after a long battle with Alzheimer's disease.
George Freeman MP
George was elected to Parliament in 2010 after a 15 year career in biomedical venture capital. Formerly a Director at Merlin Biosciences, CEO of Amedis Pharmaceuticals, and Founder and Chairman of 4D Biomedical Ltd, George has spent most of his career supporting high growth businesses. He has spoken and written widely on the potential of UK science, technology and entrepreneurship to lead a sustainable economic recovery. In July 2011 he was appointed Government Adviser on Life Sciences, working closely with the Department of Health and launching the Government's Life Science Strategy and Innovation, Health and Wealth report and the Agri-Tech strategy, and was appointed a UK Trade Envoy in January 2014. He is a frequent contributor in the national press, writing on the need for patient empowerment and health reform.
Barney Norris
Barney is Co-Artistic Director of Up In Arms Theatre Group. Barney's plays are Visitors, Fear Of Music and At First Sight. His first pamphlet of poems, Falling, has just been published, and his first book, To Bodies Gone: The Theatre of Peter Gill, is forthcoming from Seren. Theatre as director includes I Cinna (St James Theatre), Ashes (Arcola Theatre for the Miniaturists) and Schnapps (Lyric Hammersmith). He is an associate of Out of Joint, runs workshop programmes for Salisbury Playhouse and Southampton Nuffield, and leads workshops at theatres across the country. His theatre writing is represented by Julia Mills at Berlin Associates and his fiction writing is represented by Laura Williams at Peters, Fraser and Dunlop.
Arthur Smith
Arthur Smith is a stand-up comedian from Balham, London. He has written West End plays including An Evening with Gary Lineker and The Live Bed Show and is a regular presenter on BBC Radio 4 and 4 Extra. In his new show, Arthur Smith sings Leonard Cohen (Volume 2), he talks about his mother's dementia journey.
Tom Macpherson
Tom Macpherson, a retired research laboratory manager from Glasgow, recently completed his first fundraising challenge for Alzheimer's Research UK by doing his own self-led 184 mile walk along the Thames Pathway. His journey (the equivalent distance of just over 7 marathons) took him 18 days and has inspired friends, family and even strangers to donate and raised over £5000 for Alzheimer's Research UK.
Steve Berry
Steve Berry is an author and freelance writer for TV, magazines, newspapers and the internet. He gave up what little career he had to act as a carer for his mum, Janet, after her diagnosis with Alzheimer's disease until her death in 2009. He has appeared on countless radio and TV shows talking about dementia and his specialist retro subjects – TV, toys, sweets and snacks – including Channel Five's Greatest Moments series, UK Gold's Porridge and Doctor Who weekends, BBC Four's The Hard Sell and C4's Top Ten TV and 100 Greatest Toys. Follow him on Twitter at @unloveablesteve.
Hannah Golden
Hannah Golden is a second-year PhD student, funded by Alzheimer's Research UK. She works with supervisors Dr Jason Warren and Dr Sebastian Crutch at the Dementia Research Centre, Institute of Neurology at University College London. Her work focuses on Alzheimer's disease and the auditory world. This involves looking at how people with a diagnosis of Alzheimer's disease process sounds in the brain, using psychological experiments and brain imaging. She also works as a Research Assistant on other longitudinal studies of dementia such as frontotemporal dementia. Previously she studied BA Experimental Psychology at University of Oxford.
Ben Barribal
Fundraiser Ben Barribal lives in Hampshire and is married to Toni, and together they have three daughters; Pippa and identical twins Verity and Matilda. Ben was born and bred in the farming industry, the family working in both the arable and dairy businesses. Ben moved into the corporate world in his late 20s and has been working in recruitment ever since. In 2011 he established Barribal Associates, a niche recruitment business focussed on the senior finance market place.
Tim Shakespeare
Tim Shakespeare is an Alzheimer's Research UK funded Research Fellow based at the Dementia Research Centre in Queen's Square, part of University College London. In 2013 he began a three-year study to help increase our understanding of posterior cortical atrophy (PCA), a rare condition most often caused by Alzheimer's disease, using advanced imaging techniques to study changes in the brain.
Nicky Clark
Nicky Clark is the mother to two girls, both disabled and is a writer, carer and blogger. She's campaigned on the issue of promoting positive attitudes towards disabled people and the elderly. Nicky was also primary carer for her mum who died from Alzheimer's in 2011. She has written for The Guardian, The Independent, New Statesman, C4 News and Mencap Magazine.
Trisha Macnair
Dr Trisha Macnair works part-time as a Specialty Doctor in Medicine for the Elderly at Milford Hospital, and at the Royal Surrey County Hospital in Guildford, UK. Her clinical interests include all aspects of geriatrics but especially the management of acute crises in the frail elderly, dementia and ethical issues especially around the end of life. For the rest of the week she works as a freelance health journalist, writing both for the public and health professionals. She regularly contributes to radio and writes for many magazines, journals and papers, with columns in Yours Magazine and in Peverel's Lifestyle. She has also written a number of books.
Rupert Stroud
Singer-songwriter Rupert Stroud lost his much loved grandma Eileen to Alzheimer's in 2009. Heartbroken by her death, he put his feelings into words and released a charity single entitled Always as a tribute to her, with all the proceeds from downloads being donated to Alzheimer's Research UK. Rupert has an ongoing programme of music concerts in different parts of the country to raise even more money for the charity. He has taken part in countless media interviews, has spoken movingly at our public meetings, and is keen to get more young people involved to raise awareness of dementia. Rupert recently became an Alzheimer's Research UK Champion.
Lee Pearse
Lee Pearse is 40-years-old, lives in Sheffield and is a Youth and Adult Training Partnership Manager at the charity Heeley City Farm. He's also a writer, filmmaker and Associate Lecturer at Sheffield Hallam University. Lee volunteers for dementia awareness and set up the Valerie Foundation, dedicated to providing creative projects and respite opportunities for people affected by dementia. He has recently been made a Champion of Alzheimer's Research UK in recognition of his exceptional support for the charity.
Beth Britton
Beth Britton is a freelance campaigner and consultant, writer and blogger specialising in issues affecting older people, health and social care and specifically dementia. Her work has been described as 'Terrific,' 'Amazing. REAL story of dementia,' 'Insightful, heartfelt and truthful,' 'Moving and inspiring.'
Marianne Talbot
Oxford philosopher and writer Marianne Talbot lost both her parents to dementia. After her father died with vascular dementia, her mum, Lesley, was diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease. Marianne brought Lesley to live with her and looked after her for five years before making the hard decision to put her into care. She published a book entitled Keeping Mum: Caring for Someone with Dementia, which chronicles their experience together, and a percentage of the proceeds are donated to Alzheimer's Research UK. An accomplished public speaker, Marianne has spoken on many occasions at events and through the media to raise awareness of the need for more funding for research.
Jamie 'JJ' Hamblett
Jamie 'JJ' Hamblett is a member of chart-topping pop group Union J who shot to fame on the ninth series of The X Factor in 2012. They are signed to Sony Music subsidiary RCA Records. Their debut single Carry You charted at number 6 in the UK top 40, with their follow-up song Beautiful Life, also making the top 10. Both tracks were taken from their self-titled debut studio album, released on 28 October 2013.
Chris Carling
Chris Carling is an author and business and career coach from Cambridge. She supported her parents when they developed dementia of different kinds at the same time. Throughout her family's journey she kept a journal, which she later turned into a book. Called But Then Something Happened: A Story of Everyday Dementia, it is part-narrative, part-handbook; but also a true love story.
Seth Rogen
Seth Rogen is a stand-up comedian, actor, producer, director and screen-writer. He has co-written and starred in films such as Superbad and Pineapple Express. He's a passionate dementia campaigner, and is a founding member of Hilarity for Charity with his wife and fellow actor Lauren Miller. The group raise awareness and funds for dementia care, support and research. Last year, Seth supported Alzheimer's Research UK by donating signed memorabilia to the ICAP Charity Day auction.
Clemens Kaminski
Clemens is a professor at the University of Cambridge developing optical microscopy techniques that permit one to 'see' the molecules that cause Alzheimer's disease in the brain. He has received funding from Alzheimer's Research UK to build a so called optical super resolution microscope that can see objects 1000 times smaller than the width of a human hair. His group is using it to conduct research on the disease.
Lucy Ponder
Lucy lives in East London with her boyfriend, and joined Michael Page two years ago. She sits within the National Accounts team which service over 40 clients nationally, ranging from SMEs to global blue-chip organisations. Michael Page is comprised of 25 disciplines – each providing a service to a specialist area of the market. Lucy recruits permanent, temporary, contract and interim opportunities, typically from second/third job levels upward. Lucy became involved in fundraising for Alzheimer's Research UK earlier this year, and has since baked Halloween cakes and run a Friday afternoon bar to raise money, as well as organising the Michael Page fundraising day in London on 20 November 2014.
Jill Walton
Jill Walton currently works as a nurse advisor to and coordinator of 5 young onset dementia care support groups affiliated to the Dementia Research Centre at the National Hospital for Neurology and Neurosurgery. With over twenty years nursing experience, she has degrees in psychology and gerontology and has combined practical caring with academic research and learning. Jill firmly believes that the people with a diagnosis of dementia, as well as those caring for and interacting with them need to be well informed and resourcefully equipped. In addition to her work with support groups , she is the founder of 'Dementia Dimensions' a resource through which she delivers tailored training courses and presentations to a range of professionals, in the belief that a raised awareness and a relevant knowledge base creates changes in attitudes, skills and practice which ultimately 'enhance care through understanding'.
Emma Healey
Emma Healey wrote her first short story when she was four, told her teachers she was going to be a writer aged eight, but had learnt better by 12 and had decided on being a litigator (inspired entirely by the film Clueless). It took another ten years before she came back to writing. She grew up in London where she went to art college and completed her first degree in bookbinding. She then worked for two libraries, two bookshops, two art galleries and two universities, and was busily pursuing a career in the art world before writing overtook everything. She moved to Norwich in 2010 to study for the MA in Creative Writing at UEA and never moved back again.
Sarah Ryan
Sarah Ryan is a final-year PhD student working on frontotemporal dementia and motor neuron disease (MND) at the University of Manchester. In particular, her research focuses on understanding how an error in a gene called C9ORF72 causes dementia and motor neurone disease in people. Previously, Sarah has completed a BSc in Neuroscience at the University of Leeds and an MSc Neuroscience at King's College, London, which included a period working in an Alzheimer's disease research lab.
Valerie Blumenthal
Valerie is the author of eight critically acclaimed novels. Several have been translated and have enjoyed considerable success, particularly in France, Germany and Holland. Valerie has also written short stories and features for various magazines and newspapers, most recently for the Saturday Times Colour Magazine and for YOU Magazine. She is currently wringing another novella; however, progress has been hindered by PCA, an unusual form of Alzheimer's disease. Valerie has taught creative writing for many years, including in a high security men's prison.
Sophie Tudor
Originally from Melbourne, Australia, Sophie lives in East London and joined PageGroup in May 2014 in the Marketing Dept. She is responsible for PR in UK, Ireland, North America, Middle East and South Africa and managing the company's charity partnership. Since starting her role at PageGroup, Sophie has helped the company fundraise over £100,000 for Alzheimer's Research UK and ensured employees are continually engaged in fundraising activities and initiatives. Sophie also organises PageGroup's biggest annual fundraising event, the Yorkshire Three Peaks, which raised over £36,000 for dementia research last year in June.
Dr Dervis Salih
Dr Dervis Salih is an Alzheimer's Research UK Senior Research Fellow, working at University College London. Dervis is interested in understanding the molecular links between ageing, diet and Alzheimer's. Before joining UCL, he trained at the University of Cambridge and Stanford University, California.
Martin Yelling
Martin is a regular writer and coach for health, fitness and running media. He is the current coaching advisor to Men's Running magazine and has written for many different titles including The Guardian, Evening Standard, Metro, Running Fitness, Triathlon Plus, Outdoor Fitness, Trail Magazine and London Marathon News.
Grace Turner
Grace is a 13 year old student at Honley High School in Huddersfield.
Rachel Harris
Rachel Harris is a PhD student with Prof Seth Love at the University of Bristol. She's interested in the complex link between blood supply and brain health.
Tim Rittman
Tim Rittman is a neurology registrar and dementia researcher based at Addenbrookes hospital Cambridge and the Norfolk and Norwich University Hospital. His research tries to understand how dementia affects the brain dementia by examining brain networks using advanced brain imaging techniques.
Sue Bourne
Sue Bourne is a film producer/director. She has developed her own genre of documentaries that begin with a personal experience and attempt to say something more universal. Her films have seen her knock on the doors of all the houses in her London street for My Street for Channel 4, visit a number of pubs around the country with the most popular pub name in Britain for The Red Lion, also for Channel 4, and put together the story of her own experiences with her mother's Alzheimer's disease for Mum and Me for BBC1. A famed observational documentary maker, Sue reveals an intense commitment to her subjects.
Dr Claire Michel
Dr Claire Michel studied biochemistry and genetics in France, her home country, before moving to the UK, and embarking on research into Alzheimer's disease. Three years ago, she joined the Laser Analytics Group at the University of Cambridge – a team of physicists and engineers who are experts in the design of specialised microscopes, such as 'super-resolution' microscopes – to take part in their growing research into neurodegenerative diseases. She is now leading their research on the spread of tau, a protein involved in Alzheimer's, from cell to cell.
Laura Hughes
Laura is a 29 year old psychology graduate from Wales. She now lives part-time in London and when she is not travelling the world she supports those with dementia in the community. Laura has always been interested in dementia research but has supported Alzheimer's Research UK since losing her great-grandmother, and great friend, to the disease in February 2012.
Steve Hallam
Steve lives in South West London with his wife of eleven years and sons. He has worked at PageGroup for over thirteen years and runs two specialist disciplines within Page Personnel; Secretarial & Human Resources. Page Personnel is a subsidiary of PageGroup, a FTSE 250 company with over 37 years of experience in professional services recruitment. His passion is recruitment; however his true love is cycling. He is now looking for a new challenge with his Trek road bike following a 300 mile cycle from London to Paris in May 2014.
Dave Golder
Dave Golder is a professional geek. When, aged 16 he told his school careers officer he would make a living editing a science fiction magazine, he was told to stop dreaming. He didn't, and a few years later became editor of SFX, the world's leading magazine for sci-fi TV, films and books coverage. He's also written for the BBC Focus Magazine, Total Film, Sci-Fi Chronicles and Music Week. His biggest claim to fame is getting the name of a character incorrect in a review of a David Gemmell book, only to see David Gemmell use that name in his next book
Insight Investment
Leading asset management company Insight Investment is headquartered in London and employs over 480 people. They have pledged to raise £100,000 for Alzheimer's Research UK's dementia research, increasing this target from £50,000 after a hugely successful first year. Their amazing staff have already raised £80,000, funding a ground-breaking research project aiming to improve early diagnosis of Alzheimer's disease, and a study looking into the genetics of dementia.
Theresa O'Dwyer
Theresa O'Dwyer became an Alzheimer's Research UK media volunteer after her husband Peter was diagnosed with Alzheimer's. Peter lived with Alzheimer's for six years, the majority of which Theresa cared for him at home. Since making the decision to speak publically about Peter's life with Alzheimer's, Theresa has taken part in several media interviews to raise awareness of the disease and of the charity's pioneering dementia research.
Baber Malik
Baber Malik did a degree in Psychology at the University of Hull, before moving to the University of Sheffield to study for a PhD in Neuroscience. He got involved in dementia research because he wanted to understand more about the brain and how psychological assessments can be used to learn more about the changes the condition causes. His research focuses on cross-cultural dementia research. Baber has benefited from funding from the Alzheimer's Research UK Yorkshire Network to fund some of the studies in his PhD.
Amanda Franks
Amanda Franks lives in Swindon, Wiltshire and owns a commercial recruitment agency, Frankly Recruitment. Amanda became a supporter of Alzheimer's Research UK after learning about the massive underfunding of the condition her mother has lived with since she was 58. Along with her extended family, Amanda raised over £15k for Alzheimer's Research UK in 2014 with The Gig to Remember – Bringing the Bootleg Beatles and Duke Beatbox to Swindon's Oasis. Want to know more about Amanda's story? See www.thegigtoremember.com.
Tammaryn Lashley
Dr Tammaryn Lashley is an Alzheimer's Research UK funded research fellow based at Queen Square Brain Bank at the Institute of Neurology, part of University College London. Tammaryn has been working at Queen Square Brain bank for 15 years concentrating her research on underlying disease processes in dementia. Her fellowship focuses on the frontotemporal dementias and identifying unique changes that occur in this large, diverse group of dementias.
Dean Harrison
Dean Harrison is by profession an IT consultant and creator of the Workload Automation Programming Language for z/OS, but when not doing that he sings in various bands and now apparently writes poems too.
Our Bloggers
Hilary Evans
Hilary is Chief Executive of Alzheimer's Research UK, which is a charity working at a global level towards a world where people are free from the fear, harm and heartbreak of dementia. The organisation's aim is to raise awareness of the diseases that cause dementia, to increase dementia research funding and improve the environment for dementia scientists in the UK and internationally. Alzheimer's Research UK is at the forefront of challenging people's perceptions of dementia, finding innovative ways of communicating and creating new platforms to engage the public in a united fight to defeat dementia. Hilary joined Alzheimer's Research UK in 2013 to drive forward the organisation's profile and influence, working closely with the G8 and the World Dementia Council as part of a global commitment to find treatments by 2025. As part of this program, Hilary is pioneering new ways of supporting research, including setting up the Dementia Drug Discovery Institutes, the Global Clinical Trials Fund and the Global Dementia Discovery Fund. Hilary has a strong background in the charity sector, having previously worked for Age UK and Age Concern. Hilary has also worked in policy roles in corporate affairs.
Ian Wilson
Ian, Chief Executive, joined Alzheimer's Research UK in September 2013 and is responsible for leading our fundraising, marketing and communications activities. In order to make breakthroughs possible it is critical that Alzheimer's Research UK continues to build awareness and understanding of the key issues at hand, and to raise the funding needed to drive forward our research programme. Alzheimer's Research UK is reliant on the generosity of the general public to help meet our vision of a world free from the fear, harm and heartbreak of dementia. Prior to this appointment, Ian was the Head of Campaigns at Cancer Research UK with the responsibility for delivering funding towards a number of multi-million pound projects within the organisation.
Tim Parry
Tim is Director of Communications and Brand at Alzheimer's Research UK leading a team covering media, science communications, branding, health information, digital development and special projects. Tim joined the charity in 2008 and has overseen communications during a period of growth, including leading the change in brand to Alzheimer's Research UK in 2011. Before joining the charity, Tim worked in PR and communications roles in both the public and private sectors, covering education, the environment and industry.
Dr Simon Ridley
Simon joined Alzheimer's Research UK in January 2009. As Head of Research he is responsible for the delivery of funding programmes. Simon follows new developments in dementia research and is a regular media spokesperson on research matters. Simon has extensive experience as a researcher and has worked in industry. He studied biochemistry at Trinity College Dublin and obtained his PhD from Cambridge University.
Dr Matthew Norton
Dr Matthew Norton joined Alzheimer's Research UK as Head of Policy and Public Affairs in 2013 and leads on policy development and stakeholder engagement. He has a PhD in Social Policy and experience of supporting the design and running of bio-medical and clinical research for the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR). Matthew has also worked as a Senior Policy Advisor at the Prime Minister's Strategy Unit and prior to joining Alzheimer's Research UK worked in policy and research for Age UK.