On the Money - Figures on English Banknotes 2 Quiz

Answer: Prison reform

Elizabeth Fry first visited Newgate Prison in 1813, finding the conditions for inmates deplorable. Although financial issues in her family prevented her from personally undertaking any work until 1816, she subsequently founded and funded a prison school at Newgate for children imprisoned with their mothers, as well as forming the Association for the Reformation of the Female Prisoners of Newgate, which intended to provide materials and teach skills to women prisoners that they could use to earn a living once released. In 1818, she gave evidence to a House of Commons committee on prison conditions, becoming the first woman to give evidence to Parliament.

The five-pound note issued in 2002 was the first to feature a woman as the historical figure since the ten-pound note of 1975 featuring Florence Nightingale. It remained in circulation for nearly 15 years, finally being withdrawn in 2017.

Answer: Foreign Secretary

Winston Churchill held a number of ministerial posts throughout his long career in government, with his first being President of the Board of Trade. He was appointed Home Secretary by the Liberal Prime Minister H.H. Asquith in February 1910, and remained in that post until October 1911. Having switched political parties following the First World War, he became Chancellor of the Exchequer under Conservative Prime Minister Stanley Baldwin in November 1924, and retained the position until June 1929. He served as Prime Minister on two occasions, first from May 1940 until July 1945, and then from October 1951 to April 1955. He served as an MP for over 60 years, first entering Parliament in October 1900, and finally retiring from the House of Commons in October 1964.

The five-pound note issued in 2016 was the first Bank of England banknote to be produced using a polymer substance rather than traditional banknote paper.

Answer: HMS Beagle

The purpose of the voyage of HMS Beagle was to undertake a hydrographic survey of the southern coasts of South America, to enable the Admiralty to produce accurate and detailed charts of the region. In addition to the crew complement, the ship carried a number of supernumerary passengers, one of which was intended to serve as a naturalist and geologist for the expedition. Charles Darwin was eventually appointed to the self-funded role, with the help of his uncle, Josiah Wedgewood II. While the Beagle returned to England in 1836, it was another 23 years before Darwin eventually publicly released the theory that he had begun developing during his time away, when "On the Origin of Species" was published in November 1859.

The ten-pound note issued in 2000 was the first to be released in the 21st century, and saw one famous British figure named Charles replacing another (the previous ten-pound note featured Charles Dickens). It remained in circulation for more than 17 years, eventually being withdrawn in 2018.

Answer: Helen Graham

Jane Austen had a total of six full-length novels published, of which two ("Northanger Abbey" and "Persuasion") were released posthumously. Despite the success of her work, Austen's name never appeared on any of her published novels during her lifetime, with her first novel, "Sense and Sensibility", being credited to 'A Lady', and subsequent books as being 'from the author of "Sense and Sensibility"'. Her name was only released when her brother Henry wrote a biographical note to accompany the publication of the two books released after her death.

The ten-pound note released in 2017 was the second of three planned polymer banknotes issued by the Bank of England, and the first to feature a woman as the historical figure since the 2002 five-pound note.

Answer: University of Glasgow

Adam Smith's most famous work, "The Wealth of Nations", was written over the course of ten years, and was produced from a total of seventeen years worth of notes, observations and conversations with fellow economists concerning the conditions of economy and society in the early years of the Industrial Revolution. The book was the foundation of the new principles of economics that came about in the late 18th century, and is regarded as being as pioneering in its field as works by Newton, Lavoisier and Darwin in physics, chemistry and biology respectively.

The twenty-pound note issued in 2007 was the first Bank of England note to feature a Scottish historical figure, and is the second banknote (following the William Shakespeare twenty-pound note) not to feature a portrait based on a painting - in this case, the image of Smith is based on a paste medallion.

Answer: Palace of Westminster

In October 1834, J.M.W. Turner was one of the witnesses as the Palace of Westminster was destroyed in a fire. As the building burned, Turner made a number of sketches, from many vantage points, including in a boat on the River Thames, in both pencil and watercolour, filling two sketchbooks. From his sketches, Turner produced two paintings, collectively titled "The Burning of the Houses of Lords and Commons", with one taking a view from the upstream side of Westminster Bridge, while the other is further downstream, closer to Waterloo Bridge.

The twenty-pound note issued in 2020 is the third of the planned first issues of polymer notes by the Bank of England, and is the first to feature a self-portrait of the depicted figure, using an image based on Turner's 1799 self-portrait.

Answer: Coins

Boulton specialised in the manufacture of small metal objects, and took an interest in the coinage in the 1780s. At the time, the counterfeiting of coins was rampant, with the Royal Mint not producing any copper coins from 1773 to 1821. Boulton's factory produced coin shaped tokens that were used as payment, and had access to large quantities of copper. So, in 1788, he founded the Soho Mint as a production facility for coins. Gaining contracts to produce coins for the East India Company and Russia, as well as coin blanks for the United States, Boulton was awarded his first contract to produce copper coins for the British government in 1797. These coins were made harder to counterfeit through the introduction of features including lines around the edge.

The fifty-pound note introduced in 2011 was the first to feature two historical figures, with Boulton alongside his business partner James Watt, and the last to be produced for the Bank of England on banknote paper.

Answer: Power

Having begun experimenting with steam power in 1759, four years later James Watt was asked to undertake repairs of the Newcomen Steam Engine at the University of Glasgow. Although he was able to repair it, Watt found the design of the engine, by then half a century old, extremely inefficient, as much of the energy produced was lost through the injection of cold water into the engine cylinder to condense the steam and reduce the pressure. Watt came up with an alternative design that added a separate steam condenser, which allowed more of the heat energy to be converted into mechanical energy, as the heat was not being continually used to heat the cylinder. The first Watt Steam Engines were built and began to be used in the mid-1770s.

The fifty-pound note introduced in 2011, as well as being the first to feature two historical figures, was the second Bank of England note to feature a Scotsman, as Watt was born in the town of Greenock.

Answer: Main Plot

The Main Plot was an alleged conspiracy to overthrow the new king and replace him with his cousin. At the trial, evidence was presented that the plot, led by Lord Cobham, would see he and Raleigh, in his role as Governor of Jersey, use Spanish money to promote sedition against the King, with a view to his being replaced by Lady Arbella Stuart. Raleigh, although sentenced to death, was imprisoned for thirteen years, eventually being released in 1616. The following year, having been pardoned by the King, Raleigh undertook a voyage to Guiana, where men under his command, and against his orders, attacked a Spanish outpost, violating both the peace treaty with Spain and the terms of his pardon. As a consequence, at the urging of the Spanish ambassador, Raleigh was arrested on his return to England and executed in 1618.

The ten-shilling note was planned to be the first historical figures banknote to be issued, and, upon decimalisation, would have become the fifty-pence note. However, it was determined to be uneconomic to produce such a low-value banknote, and instead a fifty-pence coin was introduced instead.

Answer: Malta

As Princess Elizabeth, the Queen moved to Malta in 1949 when her husband took up an appointment with the Royal Navy's Mediterranean Fleet. The two years spent there have been described as the closest that the Queen has been able to have to a normal life outside the royal spotlight. The couple moved back to the United Kingdom in 1951, and in February 1952 Princess Elizabeth succeeded her father, George VI, to become Queen.

Having the monarch's image on Bank of England banknotes is a recent innovation, with Elizabeth II being the first monarch to feature on the series that began to be issued in 1960. For the first batch of historical figures notes, three different portraits were designed (though only two used), while for banknotes issued since 1990 the same portrait has been used.