by Mark Hodder
SIR FRANCIS GALTON (1822—1911)
The half-cousin of Charles Darwin, Francis Galton was an anthropologist, eugenicist, explorer, geographer, inventor, meteorologist, and statistician. Darwin’s On the Origin of Species inspired him, in 1859, to dedicate the rest of his life to the research of heredity in human beings.
Fifteen years earlier, in February 1844, 22-year-old Galton had joined the Freemasons. He rose through the Masonic degrees from Apprentice, to Fellow Craft, then to Master Mason, over the course of just four months. The records of the Grand Lodge state that: “Francis Galton, Trinity College student, gained his certificate 13th March 1845.”
Also in 1845, he suffered a severe nervous breakdown.
SIR DANIEL GOOCH (1816—1889)
After training with a number of companies, including the one run by Robert Stephenson, Daniel Gooch was recruited in 1837 by Isambard Kingdom Brunel for the Great Western Railway. He became one of Britain’s most eminent railway engineers, and later played a major role in laying the first successful transatlantic telegraph cable.
THE GREAT IRISH FAMINE
Potato blight struck Ireland in February of 1845. It caused mass starvation and disease, leading to an exodus between 1845 and 1852, when thousands of Irish citizens emigrated.
THOMAS LAKE HARRIS (1823—1906)
An American mystic and self-styled prophet, Lake preached in London in 1859, claiming his inspirations were received from an angel named the Lily Queen, to whom he was married. He dedicated one of his books, Lyra Triumphalis, to Algernon Swinburne. In the late 1860s, Harris created the Fountain Grove community in California—essentially a cult—which Laurence Oliphant joined. Oliphant gave all his money to the community and worked as a farm labourer, not properly splitting from the group until 1881.
G. E. HERNE (?—?)
Herne was a lieutenant in the 1st Bombay European Regiment of Fusiliers, who, prior to his participation in Burton’s disastrous Harar expedition, was distinguished by his surveys, photography, and engineering projects on the west coast of India. He was not involved in Burton’s expedition to the source of the Nile and was never consul at Zanzibar.
JOHN JUDGE (?—?)
An Irish survivor of the Royal Charter wreck. Described as being “of Herculean size,” he was in the forecastle when the ship broke on the rocks and was washed out to sea. Fortunately, he managed to catch hold of a spar and made his way to shore.
EDWARD VAUGHAN HYDE KENEALY (1819—1880)
Best remembered for his scandalous behaviour during the Tichborne trials of 1873, Kenealy was a barrister, writer, and self-proclaimed prophet.
ELIPHAS LEVI, BORN ALPHONSE LOUIS CONSTANT (1810—1875)
Levi was a French occultist and ceremonial magician who published his first treatise on magic in 1855. He was a major influence on Aleister Crowley.
RICHARD MONCKTON MILNES
1ST BARON HOUGHTON(1809—1885)
Monckton Milnes was a poet, socialite, politician, patron of the arts, and collector of erotic and esoteric literature. He was a supporter, not opponent, of Lord Palmerston. For many years he courted Florence Nightingale, who turned down his marriage proposal on the grounds that marriage would interfere with her dedication to nursing. Monckton Milnes is thought to have created the name Young England for the political group led by Benjamin Disraeli.
SIR RODERICK MURCHISON (1792—1871)
One of the founders of the Royal Geographical Society and its president for a considerable period, including during 1859, when the Society was granted a Royal Charter.
LAURENCE OLIPHANT (1829—1888)
An author, traveller, diplomat, and mystic, in 1859 Oliphant encouraged John Hanning Speke to claim the honours for the discovery of the source of the Nile, thus betraying Burton, whose expedition it was. In the subsequent years, Oliphant was instrumental in keeping their feud alive. During the late 1860s, he fell under the influence of Thomas Lake Harris.
JOSEPH ROGERS (1829—1897)
Born Guzeppi Ruggier in Malta, Rogers was a seaman aboard the Royal Charter. When the ship ran aground in October 1859, he managed to swim ashore, dragging a rope with him. He was injured in the attempt, but his efforts allowed a bosun’s chair to be rigged, providing a lifeline for thirty-nine passengers and crew. Rogers was awarded the RNLI Gold Medal for bravery.
THE ROYAL CHARTER
The Royal Charter was a passenger ship which, during the great storm of 1859, was wrecked on the northeast coast of Anglesey with a loss of approximately 459 lives. A 2,719-ton iron-hulled steam clipper, she had auxiliary steam engines for use in windless conditions, making her a fast vessel, able to complete the Liverpool-to-Australia voyage in as little as 60 days. On 26th October, she was completing the journey from Melbourne when the storm struck.
THE ROYAL CHARTER STORM OF 1859
On 25th and 26th October 1859, the British Isles were battered by the most severe storm of the 19th century. It caused the deaths of more than 800 people. 100 mph winds wrecked 133 ships and badly damaged another 90.
THE ROYAL GEOGRAPHICAL SOCIETY
The Royal Geographical Society was given a Royal Charter—official sanction—by Queen Victoria in 1859.
LORD JOHN RUSSELL (1792—1878)
An English Whig and Liberal politician, Russell was twice prime minister, serving in that capacity from June 1846 to February 1852, and from October 1865 to June 1866. In 1859, he was secretary of state for foreign affairs in Lord Palmerston’s government.
JOHN HANNING SPEKE (1827—1864)
In 1854, John Speke joined Burton’s expedition to Harar, which was attacked at Berbera. He was captured and severely wounded, but survived and, in 1857, accompanied Burton on an expedition to discover the source of the Nile. In ’58, while Burton lay ill, Speke discovered and named Lake Victoria, which he claimed as the source. The following year, encouraged by Laurence Oliphant, he raced back to London ahead of Burton and took full credit for the discovery, despite that he was a junior officer under Burton’s command. The two men engaged in a five-year-long feud, which was to culminate in a confrontational debate in September 1864. On the eve of the event, Speke died of a gunshot wound while out hunting. Some biographers claim this was an accident, others suggest suicide.
DOCTOR JOHN FREDERICK “STYGGINS” STEINHAUESER (?—?)
Steinhaueser met Burton in India in 1846 and soon became one of his most valued friends. He later served as resident civil surgeon at Aden, and treated Burton and Speke after they were both seriously injured on the coast of Berbera in 1855. Burton subsequently asked him to join the quest for the source of the Nile, an invitation Steinhaueser was keen to accept but, in the end, was forced to turn down. In 1860, he and Burton travelled together around America. This is one of the most obscure periods of Burton’s life. Not long afterwards, Steinhaueser died, quite suddenly, of a brain embolism.
COUNT SOBIESKI (1833—?)
Real name Michael Ostrog, he was a Russian-born fraudster and thief. In 1889, he was named as a suspect in the Jack the Ripper killings, but was later discovered to have been in a French prison at the time of the murders.
THE SOLAR STORM OF 1859
Also known as the Carrington Event, this was the most powerful solar storm in recorded history, which caused, on September 1st and 2nd of that year, the largest recorded geomagnetic storm. Aurorae appeared around the world and telegraph systems failed, shocked their operators, caused spontaneous fires, and in some cases mysteriously sent and received messages despite having been disconnected.
ABRAHAM “BRAM” STOKER (1847—1912)
Born in Dublin, Ireland, 12-year-old Stoker was still at school in 1859. In adulthood, he became the personal assistant of actor Henry Irving and business manager of the Lyceum Theatre in London. On 13th August 1878, Stoker met Sir Richard Francis Burton for the first time, and described him as follows: “The man riveted my attention. He was dark and forceful, and masterful, and ruthless. I have never seen so iron a countenance. As he spoke
the upper lip rose and his canine tooth showed its full length like the gleam of a dagger.” Stoker’s novel Dracula was published in 1897.
WILLIAM STROYAN (?—1855)
A lieutenant in the Indian Navy, Stroyan was a talented astronomer and surveyor. He was killed by a spear-thrust, on the coast of Berbera, during Burton’s ill-fated expedition to Harar in 1855.
ALGERNON CHARLES SWINBURNE (1837—1909)
During 1859, Swinburne was temporarily rusticated from Balliol College, Oxford, for having publicly supported Felice Orsini’s attempted assassination of Napoleon III. He spent much of the year at Wallington Hall, mixing with Lady Pauline Trevelyan’s intellectual circle. It was not, however, until December 1862 that he joined Lady Pauline and her guests on a trip to Tynemouth where, according to William Bell Scott, the poet recited the as yet unpublished Hymn to Proserpine and Laus Veneris.
HENRY JOHN TEMPLE, 3RD VISCOUNT PALMERSTON (1784—1865)
Lord Palmerston lost his seat in government when Lord Melbourne was defeated in the general election of 1841. Though out of office for five years, he returned as foreign secretary under Lord John Russell and served in that capacity until 1852, when he became home secretary in the Earl of Aberdeen’s government. In 1855, he became prime minister. International intrigues forced him to resign three years later, but after just twelve months he was re-elected and served as a very popular premier until his death in 1865.
THE TOWER OF LONDON
In October 1841, a serious fire destroyed parts of the tower, including the Grand Armoury.
LADY PAULINE TREVELYAN (1816—1866)
An English painter, Paulina Jermyn Jermyn was married to Sir Walter Calverley Trevelyan in May 1835. She made Wallington Hall in Northumberland a focal point for Victorian artists and intellectuals, counting among her frequent guests Swinburne and other members of the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood.
Mark Hodder is a time traveler of limited capacity. He is restricted to forward momentum and cannot alter his speed, which is set at the breakneck pace of sixty seconds per minute. Despite these constraints, he is able to achieve the feat without mechanical assistance, though he fears this may change if he goes too far.
Mark’s voyage began on November 28th, 1962—embarkation point: Southampton, England—and has currently reached the year 2013 and Valencia, Spain. So far, the experience has not resulted in any ill-effects, other than a phenomenon wherein increased familiarity with the sensation of time travel has caused Mark’s mind to falsely report an ongoing increase in velocity.
Entertainments enjoyed during the excursion have included vast amounts of reading, writing, and studying; a good deal of contact with other time travelers; various degrees of involvement with radio, television, and film production; and an immoderate amount of eating and drinking.
Mark was at one point skilled in the operation of a bow and arrow (location: university) but has since transferred his attention to more complex technologies. He has employed the latter to create accounts that might possibly continue onward in some form after the cessation of his journey. They are: The Strange Affair of Spring Heeled Jack (winner of the Philip K. Dick Award, 2011); The Curious Case of the Clockwork Man; Expedition to the Mountains of the Moon; A Red Sun Also Rises; and the volume you are currently holding in your hands, viewing on your device, listening to, or having streamed directly into your mind.
The aforementioned works are not instruction manuals, and Mark would like to remind his fellow time travelers that, in cases of emergency, they should consult with one another at the earliest opportunity.
