Allowed Gallery

Marie Curie

Born in Poland in 1867, after receiving her secondary education she worked as a governess for eight years. Marie moved to Paris and read Physics at the Sorbonne, where she received a scholarhip which allowed her to move back to Poland to take a second degree in Mathematics. She married Pierre Curie in 1895 and their research into radioactivity resulted in a joint Nobel prize. (1903) Maire succeeded Pierre in the position of Professor of Physics at the Sorbonne after his death, and through her research she isolated pure radium. In 1911 she became the first person to be awarded the Nobel Prize on two occasions

© Illustrated London News Ltd/Mary Evans

The Channel Islands - Portelet Bay

The Channel Islands - Portelet Bay - Bay and small island with tower. Part of Box 234 Boswell Collection - The Channel Islands. The tower on the rock in the middle of the bay is commonly known as Janvrins Tomb. It takes its name from Philippe Janvrin, a sea captain returning to Jersey in 1721 from France. He was not allowed to dock because of fears that he and his ships company might bring in the plague. While anchored offshore in Belcroute Bay he fell sick and died, but the worried authorities wouldnt allow his body to be brought ashore. Instead, he was buried on the rocky islet known as Ile au Guerdain, in Portelet Bay, within sight of his Jersey birthplace and home. http:/jersey/english/discoverjersey/beachesandviews/Pages/Portelet-Bay.aspx Date: circa 1900

© The Boswell Collection, Bexley Heritage Trust / Mary Evans

Gates to Alexandra Palace Park and Airship pilot Dr Barton

An absolutely fascinating postcard showing the gates to Alexandra Palace Park and Airship pilot Dr Francis Alexander Barton (1861-1939), who made a successful flight on 24th July, 1905. Three years earlier he made a balloon at Alexandra Palace and on 9th August 1902, on the occasion of King Edward VII's Coronation, ascended in it from Beckenham, accompanied by a Frenchman called M. Auguste Eugine Gaudron. Packets of stamped postcards were thrown out of the car at various points. The balloon was carried over the Channel and came down in the sea just off the French coast; and Barton claimed that on that flight he was the first man in England to carry mails by air! (see also 10997539 for this card set in as an insert to another postcard!) Date: 1905

© Mary Evans / Grenville Collins Postcard Collection