Forgotten People Trivia Quiz

Answer: Dorothy MacKaill

A star of the silent screen, Dorothy MacKaill (1903-1990) made the transition to talking film before retiring in the late 1930s to care for her mother. She later moved to Hawaii where she spent the last thirty years of her life.
There is a Pathé newsreel titled "The most kissable girl in Hollywood" which shows large crowds lining the streets of Hull welcoming her on a return visit in 1930.

Answer: Harry Clasper

Rowing was a popular sport in the 19th century, though professionals rowed for substantial prizes rather than necessarily making a living out of it. Alongside his rowing, and later becoming a rowing coach, Harry Clasper (1812-1870) also ran a pub for many years.
After his team was easily defeated by a River Thames team in a race on the Tyne, in 1842, Clasper realised that the Tyneside racing boats were too heavy to be competitive nationally. Having been apprenticed as a ship's carpenter for a time, he had the skills to improve the design of his boats. As well as using outriggers to house the oars, allowing the hull to be narrower and lighter, he also worked on streamlining the boats, varnishing them to reduce resistance further. Before sliding seats were invented in the USA, Clasper also taught his crews to slide on their fixed seats to improve their technique. These developments brought the racing boats into a form not unlike those used today.
When Clasper died, in 1870, an estimated 130,000 people lined the streets of Newcastle to pay their respects at his funeral.

Answer: The paintings of her, including one by Thomas Gainsborough, now in the Tate Gallery

Giovanna Baccelli (1753-1801) was born in Venice, trained in Paris, and was dancing professionally in London by 1774. As her ballet career progressed, she attracted the attentions of the Duke of Dorset and became his mistress, to the scandalised delight of the popular press which promoted a celebrity culture very similar to today's.
The scandal aside, Baccelli was a significant dancer at a time when ballet was developing as a serious professional art form, and she had the skill and talent to combine technical expertise with artistic expression.
Several other portraits exist besides Gainsborough's, including one by Joshua Reynolds, and also some statues.

Answer: The Brontė sisters

The Methodist Revival was originally a movement within the Church of England, with the Methodist Church eventually arising out of it. While John Wesley was the most famous and dominant of the Methodists preacher by far, there were other travelling preachers and many local clergy who supported the revival.
When William Grimshaw (1708-1763) came to Haworth, religious revival broke out and congregations of over a thousand came to hear his passionate preaching, hundreds of them having to stand outside in the churchyard.
The Methodist Revival aroused considerable hostiity, and its opponents often stirred up fierce opposition. When John Wesley visited Haworth in 1748, rioters attacked both Wesley and Grimshaw in an attempt to disrupt the preaching.
Known variously as a powerful evangelist and 'the mad parson', Grimshaw's caring and kindly nature was respected by supporters and opponents alike.
Grimshaw's health failed in the 1750s and he died of typhus early in 1763, after visiting a sick parishioner. He was aged just 54.
Patrick Bronte bcame the parish priest for Haworth 56 years later, in 1819, and the parsonage became the home for his three famous daughters.

Answer: He worked out how to turn base metal into gold

Darwin's sketch in 1779 of a rocket engine combining separately stored hydrogen-oxygen in a chamber with an exit nozzle was rudimentary but essentially accurate, anticipating the reality by nearly two centuries.
As well as being an early proponent of the belief that life evolved and progressed over millions of years, he was also a leading botanist and translated the works of Linnaeus into English, and tried to use poetry to popularise science and discovery.
In addition, Darwin was a radical who supported by the Amercan and French revolutions, campaigned for the abolition of the slave trade, and argued for the education of women. He had a wide circle of friends, which included the industrialists Josiah Wedgewood and James Watt, and also Benjamin Franklin.

Answer: Music Hall

Music Hall developed in the 1850s from pub entertainment. As it grew in popularity, the venues became larger and more theatre-like, though they were designed to allow audiences to eat and drink during the performances. Generally the entertainment was a variety programme rather than a single play. (The theatres often jealously guarded the right to put on actual plays). Programmes would include feats of strength and agility, ventriloquism, magic and sing-alongs, but especially popular music and comedy. All the acts needed to hold the attention of the audience, which could often become very critical! Some of the acts verged on bawdiness, leading to friction between the performers and the Licensing Committee which had the power to close a hall down.
Marie Lloyd was known as the 'Queen of the Music Hall', noted for songs like "Oh Mr Porter", "My old man (don't dilly dally on the way)" and "A little of what you fancy", along with a lot of innuendo in the way she performed them.
When she died in 1922, aged only 52, 50,000 attended her funeral.
While the Music Halls are mostly long gone, out-competed by TV, Variety continues, as in seaside resort end-of-the pier shows and holiday camps, and has also successfully found a new niche on cruise ships.

Answer: Rhoda Broughton

Rhoda Broughton (1840-1920) was born in Denbigh. A clergyman's daughter who never married, she took to writing and was published throughout her life, her last work appearing in the year that she died.
Rhoda Broughton tended to create heroines who didn't conform to the morality of the day, often causing controversy, and her work was often dismissed as scandalous, even immoral. Yet this apparent sensationalism concealed a constant and critical exploration of the validaty of social conventions, and the place and role of women and gender in society.

Answer: Auguste Piccard

Auguste Piccard (1884-1962) repeatedly broke the altitude record, eventually reaching 23,000 metres (over 75,000 feet). Realising that the pressurised cabin he had invented could be adapted to cope with depths, he then pioneered deep-sea exploration.
As well as being an explorer and inventor, Piccard was the inspiration for Professor Calculas in Hergé's "Tintin stories", and Jean-Luc Picard, the captain of the USS Enterprise in "Star Trek: The Next Generation" was named after him and hs brother Jacques.
The other choices are all explorers; Jacques Cousteau developed SCUBA diving, and Edmund Hillary climbed Mount Everest. The orginal Star Trek Captain, James T. Kirk was named after James Cook, but Cook explored the Pacific back in the 18th century, not the 20th.

Answer: He prevented Charles I from being executed for high treason

Sir Thomas Fairfax (1612-1671) was an effective military commander and senior to Oliver Cromwell during the English Civil War until 1649. Both men fought with distinction at Marston Moor under Lord Fairfax, Sir Thomas's father, where the success of Cromwell's cavalry was the main reason for the Parliamentary victory.
When the New Model Army was formed, Sir Thomas was put in command, with Cromwell his second-in-command, and in 1645 he won Naseby, the decisive battle of the war.
In 1647, Sir Thomas received the King's surrender in person. Shortly after, Lord Fairfax died, and Sir Thomas succeeded him.
When King Charles was put on trial, Thomas Fairfax was appointed head of the judges presiding over the trial, but he refused to have anything to do with sentencing Charles to death, and absented himself from the court.
Less of a statesman than Cromwell, he eventually resigned his position as Commander-in-Chief to Cromwell, who went on to become Lord Protector.
During the 1650s, Fairfax served quietly in Parliament as a Yorkshire MP until Cromwell died in 1658. He then assisted General Monck in enabling the Restoration of King Charles II and was appointed by Parliament to head the delegation that went to Charles to negotiate this.
After the coronation, Fairfax enjoyed a peaceful retirement in Yorkshire until he died in 1671.

Answer: She was her brother's equal in composing music

As children, Felix and Fanny Mendelssohn studied and composed music together, but on growing up, their father gave only Felix his blessing to compose seriously - as a woman, Fanny's place was in the home. Sharing these traditional attitudes, Felix occasionally published Fanny's work under his own name, but discouraged her from publishing in her own right.
Thankfully, her husband, Wilhelm Hensel, recognised her talent and insisted that Fanny continue to compose, but it was only a year before her death (in 1847, aged 41) that she broke with convention and published in her own right.
In 2010, a newly-discovered major work, "Easter Sonata" by F. Mendelssohn, was identified as Fanny's work and not Felix's, and this has led to further reappraisal and recognition of the extent and quality of her work.
While the theme of this quiz is how often people can be forgotten, this last question ends with a rediscovery.