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107-466: A Description of Millenium Hall and the Country Adjacent [ sic ] is a 1762 utopian novel by Sarah Scott , originally published anonymously under the moniker "A Gentleman on his Travels." It describes a secluded utopian community of women which embodies mid-eighteenth century bluestocking ideals that sought to reform cultural and economic aspects of British society at large. The text

214-523: A sic' , emerged in 1889, E. Belfort Bax 's work in The Ethics of Socialism being an early example. On occasion, sic has been misidentified as an acronym (and therefore sometimes misspelled with periods): s.i.c. is said to stand for "spelled/said in copy/context", "spelling is correct", "spelled incorrectly", and other such folk etymology phrases. These are all incorrect and are simply backronyms from sic . Use of sic greatly increased in

321-713: A Vets team. The club has two girls teams (Under 15 and 18), and a junior and mini section. Tonbridge's football team, the Tonbridge Angels , play in the National League South – with the former manager of the England national football team , Roy Hodgson having played for them. The town has a canoe club that has produced a number of Olympic participants, and a dinghy sailing club, the Tonbridge Town Sailing Club, which holds events at Haysden Country Park on

428-549: A bridge belonging to the estate or manor (from the Old English tun), or alternatively a bridge belonging to Tunna, a common Anglo-Saxon man's name. Another theory suggests that the name is a contraction of "town of bridges", due to the large number of streams the High Street originally crossed. Until 1870, the town's name was spelt Tunbridge , as shown on old maps including the 1871 Ordnance Survey map and contemporary issues of

535-530: A civil, governable society with rules and regulations that is without men and like-minded women who understand the concerns and frustrations when they are constantly sexualized. So, this shows that women can still be unmarried and socialized, together, and liberated. Historically, women were excluded from acts of philanthropy; it was seen as purely a male thing to do, with women only occasionally being able to take part in it. Other “novels of sensibility,” like Millenium Hall , had philanthropic themes within them, but

642-541: A coterie of reform-minded individuals. They believed in female equality, education, and limited economic justice. They were also active in prison and health care reform. Although Elizabeth may be lightly satirized in the figure of Lady Brumpton in Millenium Hall, the Hall is a fictional embodiment of bluestocking ideals. At the same time, there is a notable critique of heterosexual sexuality in Millenium Hall. This antipathy

749-582: A disadvantage. Eventually, Mr Morgan falls gravely ill, so Mrs Morgan is tasked with constantly staying by his side. This goes on for three months before he finally dies; Mrs Morgan receives a good fortune from him, to which she goes to Tunbridge with Miss Mancel. Eventually, they (along with Lady Mary) come to build the Millenium Hall society from the fortunes they have gathered. Mr. Hintman functions as guardian for Louisa after her aunt passes away. He wants to “see her educated in all accomplishments proper for

856-419: A flashback narration, where the reader is taken back to the beginning of their lives and told of the most prominent details of their lives chronologically. The women of the Hall share the experience of being abandoned at youth (dead parent/s, etc.); struggling to find love with men, being let down by them in various ways, and finding themselves in financial trouble. All of the stories are told by Mrs. Maynard. At

963-571: A friend. Mrs. Trentham marries Mr Parnel, though it is revealed later that he married her more out of "gratitude" than his love for her. Once the dust has settled with Mr. Alworth's interest in Miss Melman, Mr. Alworth reveals that he is "violently in love with" Mrs. Trentham. This upsets her, and she leaves (with some difficulty) to the country, where there is less chance of her running into men who want to pursue her. Eventually she comes to meet Mrs Maynard, and gives her fortune of eleven thousand pounds to

1070-403: A lot of information about the women, and who is very clearly involved with their lives. We never directly hear her story, though it is assumed that she has a similar background to all of the women. She is also aware of all of the rules of the Hall, and takes care of all of its finances (i.e., allocation of funds into charity donations). She is described by the narrator as being “a little woman”, who

1177-458: A man who does not understand much, but the narrator still says he is a good-natured, interesting man. By the end of the novel, Mr. Lamont changes his ways and becomes a reformed man; we see him at the very end of the book reading the New Testament, inspired by the women of the hall. Mrs. Maynard narrates all of the women's lives throughout the book. This establishes her as someone who knows quite

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1284-495: A negative effect on her: “...the distress and sorrow which were impressed on her countenance, at an age generally too volatile and thoughtless to be deeply affected...”. She is pursued later in life by Sir Edward, but eventually turns him down because “neither should any thing ever prevail with [Louisa] to do any thing so prejudicial to the interests of [Lady Lambton's] family into which she had been so kindly received”. But Sir Edward dies after being mortally wounded in an attack. Louisa

1391-422: A one point perspective. For example, they were reduced only to their sexualities and their roles as wives and mothers. Scott's Millenium Hall changes this perspective by making all of Scott's main characters end up as husband-less and child-less women, therefore stripping them completely of their sexuality. In doing so, Scott privileges the scene of philanthropy as a space for “nonsexualized women,” thus subtracting

1498-441: A parenthetical sentence only when used after a complete sentence, like so: ( Sic. ) Some guides, including The Chicago Manual of Style , recommend "quiet copy-editing " (unless where inappropriate or uncertain) instead of inserting a bracketed sic , such as by substituting in brackets the correct word in place of the incorrect word or by simply replacing an incorrect spelling with the correct one. Alternatively, to show both

1605-641: A polemic of female education. It seeks to reform the individual female who might the novel and engage the male reader in pity. As the subtitle to the novel says, it contains "Anecdotes and Reflections as May excite in the Reader proper Sentiments of Humanity, and lead the Mind to the Love of VIRTUE," with 'virtue' being understood in its masculine ( virtus ) and feminine ( virginity ) senses. Sic We are prepared, under appropriate circumstances, to provide information bearing on

1712-583: A prisoner of war camp was built at the junction of Tudeley Lane and Pembury Road on land belonging to Somerhill House . It held German pilots who had been shot down, and captured Italian soldiers. After the war the camp was used as temporary housing for people made homeless by the Blitz . The site is now occupied by the Weald of Kent Girls' Grammar School. Ruth Ellis , the last woman in the United Kingdom to be hanged,

1819-453: A short walk from the High Street along Canon Lane, on the outskirts of the town. The Borough Council has published proposals to improve the town's shopping and leisure facilities. During the early 20th century Tonbridge became the South East hub for plastic moulding / engineering and printing, with many well-known companies such as The Crystalate Gramophone Record Company, which claimed to be

1926-448: A society where they were meant to be married and have children. It has been discussed in literary circles that the women of Millenium Hall were asexual, and they did not want to marry because they had no sexual desire. Because of this, Millenium Hall was the answer to the question: What do we do with these women who are asexual (but still sexualized) and unmarried? This still allows women for domesticity, even though they are not married, even

2033-462: A specialist school for languages and science; the Judd School for Music with English and also now Science with Maths; Hayesbrook School for boys, a specialist sports college; and Hillview School For Girls , with Performing Arts Status. Hugh Christie Technology College has IT expertise. Further and higher education is available at West Kent College on Brook Street. There is also a small campus of

2140-564: A theme in Millenium Hall . The novel is a predecessor to Mary Wollstonecraft's Vindication of the Rights of Woman . The women in the novel are largely unmarried. The only woman in the story who does marry is Miss Melvyn/Mrs. Morgan, though this is an arranged marriage by her stepmother who does not like her and did not have her best interests at heart, so this was not a best representative of marriages. Her husband ends up dying, to which she turns to Millenium Hall for community. The novel instead offers

2247-400: A woman about to be ravished by a man is saved, literally by the hand of God, as her attacker dies of a stroke . The Hall the characters live in is a model of mid-century reform ideas. All the women have crafts with which to better themselves. Property is held in common, and education is the primary pastime. Elizabeth Montagu, Sarah Scott's sister, had become a leader of the bluestockings ,

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2354-426: A young person of fashion and fortune”, so he sends her to a French boarding school (as opposed to letting her stay with him). His relationship with Louisa becomes predatory; “That as he was easily captivated, so he was soon tired; and seldom kept a woman long after he had obtained the free possession of her...” He dies of apoplexy before the events of the novel. Louisa Mancel is orphaned at a young age. This clearly has

2461-477: A “solution to the “problem of married and sexualized women.” Outside of Millenium Hall, there was an idealized domestic, married woman, because “once she was married she legally ceased to exist.” This is shown in the novel in how the women do not marry unless, like in Mrs. Morgan's case, they do not have a say in the matter. By being unmarried, the women are autonomous. Millenium Hall was designed to give women an asylum in

2568-416: A “tender disposition” and a lot of knowledge about people. However, he is still benevolent and maintains such a characteristic throughout the novel. He is also very fond of Louisa. The gentry in the mid-eighteenth century was becoming increasingly more polarized, as political tensions rose between the mercantile and aristocratic classes. In Millenium Hall, the women all belong to upper class gentries, relaying

2675-531: Is Kelly Holmes ' former club. The Tonbridge Half Marathon has been held in September since 2011. Tonbridge has a Rugby union club, Tonbridge Juddians Rugby Football club., often referred to as TJs. The 2009/10 season saw the club's first XV win promotion and go unbeaten in the league for the second year running, they played their rugby in 2010/11 in London 1. The senior men's section of the club fields five sides plus

2782-561: Is a market town in Kent , England, on the River Medway , 4 miles (6 km) north of Royal Tunbridge Wells , 12 miles (19 km) south west of Maidstone and 29 miles (47 km) south east of London . In the administrative borough of Tonbridge and Malling , it had an estimated population of 41,293 in 2019. The town was recorded in Domesday Book 1086 as Tonebrige , which may indicate

2889-684: Is also served by the A21 trunk road between London and Hastings and the A26 between Maidstone and Brighton. It is also close to the M25 motorway . Tonbridge is served by numerous bus routes, most of which are run by Arriva Southern Counties . Dualing of the A21 from Castle Hill to Pembury , where a new regional hospital opened in 2011, has now been completed and opened in 2018. Before World War I , aviation pioneers Frank Gooden and Richard Johnson tried to establish an airfield to

2996-499: Is brought up by her father, Mr. Selvyn, and is educated in many subjects by him. She is not initially educated in a religious sense because her father does not believe in it, though this ends up changing later when he talks to a minister. When Mrs. Selvyn is seventeen, a man named Lord Peyton tries to secure her hand in marriage – first, a private one, then a public one. Mrs. Selvyn eventually tells Lord Peyton that she cannot be his wife, saying “...how could I support being hourly exposed to

3103-498: Is deeply saddened by this, and does not pursue anyone again “lest it should give rise to any hopes which could end only in disappointment”. Lady Melvyn helps house Louisa Mancel after she is rejected from the French boarding school due to a lack of vacancy. Lady Melvyn is married to Sir Charles, who is described as a “weak man". She was not interested in marrying him, but went through with it to make her parents happy. Her physical appearance

3210-502: Is described as being majestic and dignified ––She starts out as ‘Miss Melvyn’ before she is married to Mr Morgan, who is a strange man who would not leave her alone until she married him. Once they are married, Mr Morgan tries to isolate her by not allowing her to have friends over (because he wants to become the most beloved person to her). Going to church would be the only time Mrs Morgan would be in public, and even though she charms everyone she meets, she still finds her beauty to put her at

3317-427: Is described as being “destitute of grace”; she does not have the pretty appearance like the other women, and her personality generally reflects this. Mr. d’Avora is Louisa's Italian teacher, found for her by Mr. Hintman because he had a great desire for her to learn Italian. “Mr. d’Avora was a man of excellent understanding, and had an incomparable heart”; he had been through many misfortunes, and had come from them with

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3424-458: Is in the parliamentary constituency of Tonbridge . The town's development is shaped by the Medway valley and the railway lines, with development forming a rough 'hourglass' shape centred on the river and the castle. The residential areas north of the town centre include the mostly post-war Trench Wood and Cage Green (north of the town centre) and Higham Wood (north east). Areas in the south part of

3531-464: Is in the centre of the town. Around 60% of the boys there are boarders, and live in the school's houses, which are all close to the school. The town is also home to several Grammar Schools , including The Judd School , Weald of Kent Grammar School and Tonbridge Grammar School. A number of Tonbridge's secondary schools have specialist status, including Tonbridge Grammar School for Maths and ICT, as well as Languages; Weald of Kent Grammar School for Girls,

3638-403: Is left with a fortune of eleven thousand pounds. So, her father's mother – Mrs. Alworth – takes her into her care. Mrs. Trentham was very beautiful both externally and “mentally”, which got her the attention of strangers; “she was innocence and simplicity itself”; and was ultimately disliked by others due to their envy for her. Mr. Alworth, Mrs. Alworth's grandson, was the only person she could call

3745-403: Is most often inserted into quoted or reprinted material to indicate meticulous accuracy in reproducing the preceding text, despite appearances to the reader of an incorrect or unusual orthography ( spelling , punctuation , grammar, syntax, fact, logic, etc.). Several usage guides recommend that a bracketed sic be used primarily as an aid to the reader, not as an indicator of disagreement with

3852-409: Is narrated by a former Jamaican planter traveling to the countryside of Cornwall , who comes upon the community of women with his young, rakish companion, Lamont. Much of the text is spent recounting the design of the community and the personal histories of the women who come to live at the manor the narrator calls Millenium Hall. Each has a different story involving disillusionment with their roles in

3959-416: Is not a novel that participates in the tradition of the novel in general as traditionally defined by scholarship. Sarah Scott's novel is not primarily interested in character (as Samuel Richardson 's had been or Frances Burney 's would be) or social act (as Henry Fielding 's had been) or entertainment (as Aphra Behn 's had been). Instead, her novel is directed toward morality, example, and, to some degree,

4066-449: Is only virtuous up to a particular point; he quickly reveals his predatory nature once Louisa matures a little. This is when we see his perceived “sociability” turn into a masculine self-centeredness. Before we know it, Mr Hintman has revealed to Louisa and others that he has been preying on her the whole time, and does not have the deep care and concern for her that he appears to have when he first takes her in. Millenium Hall by Sarah Scott

4173-425: Is prominent within the way she and her biological mother discuss sexuality. Selvyn's abstinence is viewed as a religious and moral choice rather than a choice linked to sexual preference. Millenium Hall [ sic ] was Scott's most significant novel. It was popular enough to go into four editions by 1778, and interest in it has revived in the 21st century among feminist literary scholars. The book takes

4280-542: Is the oldest established cricket club in Tonbridge. Its large secluded ground features a modern pavilion, offering facilities to club members and visitors alike. The club competes in the Kent Cricket League Division IV on a Saturday and plays friendly matches, under the banner of Tonbridge Exiles CC, on a Sunday. The club has a junior section. Tonbridge Athletic Club which trains on the Tonbridge school track,

4387-444: Is the perfect man. However, his own virtue gets in his way: he ends up dying in battle due to his own “impatience”. Therefore, Sir Edward Lambton cannot achieve the idealized sociability that we see between the women of the novel. Female sociability, on the other hand, is associated with the community building the women of the Hall are doing, along with their philanthropy and various charitable acts (like taking care of disabled people and

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4494-426: Is to inform the reader that any errors in a quotation did not arise from editorial errors in the transcription, but are intentionally reproduced as they appear in the source text being quoted; thus, sic is placed inside brackets to indicate it is not part of the quotation. Sic can also be used derisively to direct the reader's attention to the writer's spelling mistakes and erroneous logic, or to show disapproval of

4601-507: Is usually expressed in religious terms, as all of the sexual acts in the novel are either forms of rape or sin. Further, the characters in the novel who are married or who have children are so without any indication of romantic love between the partners. Instead of romantic love, the novel posits female friendship under a powerful duty to piety. Female friendship is constant, but it is also emphatically antiseptic by being non-sexual. Although Millenium Hall has received renewed attention, it

4708-411: Is well-made. She presents a youthful countenance, though it had been “tempered with a serenity which becomes her age”. Early in the story, George discovers she is his cousin. Mrs. Selvyn is first described by the narrator as having “features that are too irregular to be handsome, but there is a sensibility and delicacy in her countenance which render her extremely engaging; and her person is elegant”. She

4815-557: The Bradshaw railway guide. In 1870, this was changed to Tonbridge by the GPO due to confusion with nearby Tunbridge Wells , despite Tonbridge being a much older settlement. Tunbridge Wells has always maintained the same spelling. Tonbridge stands on a spur of higher land where the marshy River Medway could be more easily forded. Ancient trackways converged at this point . There is no record of any bridge before 1191. For much of its existence,

4922-574: The Old Bailey . Tonbridge is in the county of Kent . After the Norman Conquest Richard fitz Gilbert acquired Tonbridge and the surrounding area, this district being known as the Lowy of Tunbridge . The lowy covered the approximate area of the later parishes of Tonbridge, Tonbridge Rural, Southborough , Hildenborough and Hadlow . The separate administration of the lowy continued until at least

5029-621: The University of Kent . Tonbridge has many primary schools including Hilden Grange School and infant nurseries/daycare. The 2007 Tour de France passed through the centre of Tonbridge on 8 July, as part of the first stage (London to Canterbury). The riders climbed Quarry Hill at the south of the town, a Grade 4 and the first King of the Mountains climb of the Tour. The town is home to two cricket clubs: Cowdrey CC and Tonbridge CC. Cowdrey Cricket Club

5136-436: The 13th century became an official residence and records repository of Edward II . In later medieval times, Tonbridge was considered an important strategic settlement. Some evidence shows Henry III intended it to be a walled town, and a charter was issued allowing for walls to be built, a market to be held, court sessions to be held and two members from the town to attend parliament. The walls were never built, perhaps because

5243-506: The 14th century, after which it became regarded in a similar way to the other hundreds of the county. In the 1894 local government reforms Tonbridge and Southborough became urban districts and the rest of the area became part of Tonbridge Rural District. Since 1974 the town has been part of the local government district of Tonbridge and Malling , and is divided into the five local government wards of Cage Green and Angel, Castle, Higham, Judd, Trench and Vauxhall. These wards have 12 of

5350-430: The 1760s, the harvests were poor, food prices were high, and there were many accounts of unemployment. Debates over the fundamental morality of the human soul were common at the time. Scholars suggest Scott fell on the side of the debate which held that humanity is moral by nature and that the path to happiness could be "achieved through prudent, benevolent action, and appropriate love of God's creatures." Millenium Hall

5457-608: The 48 seats on the Tonbridge and Malling Borough Council. As of May 2023, 6 of these seats were held by the Green Party, 3 by the Lib Dems and 3 by the once-dominant Conservatives. Tonbridge and Malling Borough Council is responsible for running local services, such as recreation, refuse collection and council housing ; while Kent County Council is responsible for education, social services and trading standards. Both councils are involved in town planning and road maintenance. Tonbridge

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5564-598: The British record until 2003. However, this temperature was later rejected as being around 2 °C (3.6 °F) too high. Major industries include light engineering, printing and publishing, distribution and financial services. Tonbridge, together with its neighbour Tunbridge Wells, has been designated by the South East Assembly as a Regional Hub. The town has largely retained its 'market town' atmosphere and has many attractions to visitors and residents alike, including

5671-707: The Earth and Tonbridge & Malling Borough Council. The project also received some support from some local shopkeepers and residents. Parts of Tonbridge are at risk of flooding. Significant flooding occurred in 1968 , which led to the construction of the Leigh Barrier; and in 2013 which resulted in the Environment Agency building a 320-metre long flood defence along Avebury Avenue in 2015. Despite these measures, significant flooding occurred again in December 2019. The area to

5778-511: The Hall and joins it. Lady Mary Jones is first described by the narrator as “...exquisitely genteel, and her voice, in common speech, enchantingly melodious”. She was orphaned at a young age, so Lady Sheerness (her aunt) decides to raise her. Eventually, she falls in love with Mr. Lenman, but it turns out that he had been married for some time to another woman. She later goes on to become intimate with Lord Robert, one of her admirers. However, as they grow closer, Lady Mary finds herself wanting out of

5885-416: The Hall. They break away from a lot of the social norms expected of women at the time, though they stay a little obscure in their aims. At one point, Mrs. Mancel says that they are “not set[ting] up for reformers”, thus indicating that, yes, the messages of the Hall are rather charged toward feminism and women's independence from men, but they are not trying to reform or change the norms. Significant novels of

5992-537: The West Kent Police Division, prior to the West Division being again headquartered at Maidstone. Royal Mail's TN postcode main sorting office is located on Vale Road in the town. Tonbridge is also the location of Carroty Wood, an outdoor activity and residential centre run by Rock UK , offering groups of young people the opportunity to try out a variety of outdoor activities. A former oast house on

6099-456: The arrival of the railway in 1842 the company went into a steep decline and all commercial traffic ceased in 1911 when the company collapsed. Some of the original warehouses and the wharves are still recognisable today, downstream of the town's main bridge. Later, the town and its surroundings became famous for the production of finely inlaid wooden cabinets, boxes and other objects called Tunbridgeware , which were sold to tourists who were taking

6206-403: The belief that they have power and authority over themselves as opposed to the patriarchy. The women found the power within themselves to break out of the patriarchal belief that men needed to run societies. Stock markets grew significantly during this time. Those with the greatest influence and power owned land. Landowners were monopolizing the offices of the monarchy, leading to polarization. In

6313-478: The castle's large outer bailey could have easily accommodated the townspeople in times of strife. A surrounding bank and ditch known as The Fosse was erected. Today only traces of this encircling defence now remain. The historic core of the town still contains a large number of working buildings dating from the 15th century: the oldest is Port Reeves in East Street. Tonbridge School , the famous public school,

6420-656: The content or form of the material. In the English language, the Latin adverb sic is used as an adverb, and derivatively as a noun and as a verb. The adverb sic , meaning 'intentionally so written', first appeared in English c.  1856 . It is derived from the Latin adverb sīc , which means 'so', 'thus', 'in this manner'. According to the Oxford English Dictionary , the verbal form of sic , meaning 'to mark with

6527-472: The correct form when using recte . A third alternative is to follow an error with sic , a comma or colon, "read", and the correct reading, all within square brackets, as in the following example: Item 26 - 'Plan of space alongside Evinghews [sic: read Evening News] Printing Works and overlooked by St. Giles House University Hall', [Edinburgh] Tonbridge Tonbridge ( / ˈ t ʌ n b r ɪ dʒ / TUN -brij ) (historic spelling Tunbridge )

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6634-614: The credibly [ sic ] and veracity of any such source. Irin Carmon quoting a law firm The Latin adverb sic ( / s ɪ k / ; thus , so , and in this manner ) inserted after a quotation indicates that the quoted matter has been transcribed or translated as found in the source text, including erroneous, archaic, or unusual spelling, punctuation , and grammar . Sic also applies to any surprising assertion, faulty reasoning, or other matter that might be interpreted as an error of transcription . The typical editorial usage of Sic

6741-519: The crowd finally dispersed at midnight. The United Kingdom's first speeding fine was handed out by Tonbridge Petty Sessions court in 1896. The guilty driver was a Mr Walter Arnold of East Peckham , who was fined one shilling for speeding at 8 miles per hour (13 km/h) in a 2 mph (3 km/h) zone in Paddock Wood , in his Karl Benz powered car. Mr Arnold was apprehended by a policeman who had given chase on his bicycle. During World War II

6848-457: The elderly women of the community). Their sociability puts a great emphasis on their ability to be virtuous, to reason (reasoning is also innate to them, and not taught to them by men), and to be able to build a tight knit community. Prominent male figures in the novel like Mr Hintman show how the rest of the men in the novel do not possess these abilities: He is “virtuous”, so to speak, when he takes in young, newly orphaned Louisa Mancel. However, he

6955-494: The following example from Fred Rodell 's 1955 book Nine Men : [I]n 1951, it was the blessing bestowed on Judge Harold Medina 's prosecution [ sic ] of the eleven so-called 'top native Communists,' which blessing meant giving the Smith Act the judicial nod of constitutionality. Where sic follows the quotation, it takes brackets : [ sic ]. The word sic is often treated as a loanword that does not require italics, and

7062-403: The form of a frame tale and a series of adventures, as the narrator's long-lost cousin relates how each of the residents arrived at the female utopia, Millenium Hall. The adventures are remarkable for their reliance on a nearly superstitious form of divine grace , where God's will manifests itself with the direct punishment of the wicked and the miraculous protection of the innocent. In one tale,

7169-762: The head of the family; a woman had to be subordinate to the head of the family, who was always the husband. A woman's husband was expected to provide for the family and be the lead, the dominant role. Yet women were expected to be the face of domesticity: they had to bring up the children and educate them in their early years, which seemed incongruent with the vision they had to fulfill of being subordinate. Bluestocking feminism critiqued and questioned this; it asked why women had to be perfectly domestic, raise her children mostly alone, and be financially (and oftentimes emotionally) dominated by her husband. So, upper- and middle-class women would sit in informal settings and talk about different literary and cultural topics, therefore feminizing

7276-399: The men stay out of the bad weather by letting them stay in their community building. The rest of the novel is taken up by the narrator's description of the Hall, its members, and the stories of various women who live there. The men are also taken to see the various charity projects being done on the property of the Hall (i.e., caring for disabled people). All of the women's stories are told in

7383-627: The mid-20th century. For example, in United States state-court opinions before 1944, sic appeared 1,239 times in the Westlaw database; in those from 1945 to 1990, it appeared 69,168 times, over 55 times as many. Its use as a form of ridicule has been cited as a major factor in this increase. The immoderate use of sic has created some controversy, leading some editors, including bibliographical scholar Simon Nowell-Smith and literary critic Leon Edel , to speak out against it. The bracketed form [ sic ]

7490-461: The narrator says that he wishes to imitate the Hall, thus showing how both men were impressed and moved by the women. George Ellison (who goes unnamed in Millenium Hall, but is retroactively named in the sequel the History of Sir George Ellison ) narrates the novel in the form of a letter to an old friend, though the narration occasionally changes between him and his cousin Mrs. Maynard, who tells all of

7597-410: The north of Tonbridge at Cage Green Fields, at the top of the ridge which The Ridgeway ascends, and east of Shipbourne Road . An accident is recorded as having occurred on 24 December 1913 at the airfield, although neither Gooden or Johnson was injured. The scheme was ended by the outbreak of war. Tonbridge School , founded in 1553 by Sir Andrew Judde , is a major independent school for boys, which

7704-489: The novel is the idea of what to do with women who are unmarried; Millenium Hall shows that women should not only be allowed to be unmarried, but that being unmarried can liberate them from the barriers they wouldn't be able to overcome otherwise. Overall, the novel advocates for a vision of female relationships that mutually support the independence of everyone involved. However, the women of the hall are only able to rely on each other because of their elevated social class. Since

7811-565: The oldest record producer in Britain. They bought out The Vocalion Gramophone Company in 1932 when the principal labels included Rex, Nine-Inch Broadcast, and Ten-Inch Broadcast. From the early post-war years, Crystalate was very much involved in producing the 1 mini-disc, which was sold in Marks & Spencers, Woolworths and probably other stores for 6 d (2.5p) each between 1930 and 1937, with labels such as Crown, Embassy and Eclipse. In 1937, Crystalate

7918-547: The original and the suggested correction (as they often are in palaeography ), one may give the actual form, followed by recte , then the correct form, in brackets. The Latin adverb recte means rightly . An Iraqi battalion has consumed [ recte assumed] control of the former American military base, and our forces are now about 40 minutes outside the city. According to the Journal of Seventeenth-Century Music Style Sheet , there should be no punctuation, for example no colon, before

8025-496: The patriarchy, eventually leading them to divest from it altogether and find a haven of female friendship on the grounds of the estate. The novel is told in an epistolary format, and draws from contemporary genres like the estate poem and conduct books . The women in the novel have intense, complex relationships with each other that extend beyond the typical confines of female relationships as they nurture each other's well-being, both intellectual and emotional. A recurrent theme of

8132-485: The relationship; their relationship ends and she leaves London to go to the country. Lady Sheerness passes away, and with her death, Lady Mary is left in destitution. Lady Brumpton (a relative of hers) takes her into her care, but later dies; however, she leaves Lady Mary with ten thousand pounds and access to all her “plate and jewels”. The narrator first describes Mrs Morgan as having “[a] universal and tender benevolence beam[ing] from every glance she casts around her”; she

8239-427: The resources required to recreate the hall were only accessible to the gentry, this becomes an unrealistic model for the lower classes. Millenium Hall begins with two men – an unnamed narrator and his friend's son, Mr. Lamont – stumbling upon a utopian society called “Millenium Hall” after their carriage breaks down. Upon arriving at the Hall, the men are greeted by Mrs. Maynard and Mrs. Selyvn who kindly offer to help

8346-560: The result of the philanthropy was always to help “victimized single women” find husbands. Millenium Hall , on the other hand, does not aim its philanthropic projects toward restoring single women to homes and family life again; instead, it makes the women of the Hall appear reasonable and “[establishes] philanthropy as a defining characteristic of the domestic woman and to sanction women's writing about social, political, and economic problems”. In conversations surrounding women and their roles in society, they oftentimes were subject to being seen in

8453-491: The road to Hildenborough has been converted to a small theatre called the Oast Theatre . Tonbridge Medical Group built a substantial new medical centre in 2020 to replace their ageing Pembury Road and Higham Lane sites. Tonbridge railway station is one of Kent's busiest with 4.1 million passengers using it each year. It is an important railway junction with lines to London, Ashford , Hastings and Redhill . The town

8560-444: The sight of a man, whose eyes would always seem to reproach me!” She stays unmarried for the duration of the novel. Mrs. Trentham's physical features are described by the narrator to have been affected by smallpox, but that she was probably beautiful once. Mrs. Maynard tells the men that Mrs. Trentham's mother passed away quickly after she gave birth to her, and her father only lived for eight years after her mother passed. Mrs. Trentham

8667-420: The source. Sic may show that an uncommon or archaic expression is reported faithfully, such as when quoting the U.S. Constitution : "The House of Representatives shall chuse [ sic ] their Speaker ..." However, several writing guidebooks discourage its use with regard to dialect, such as in cases of American and British English spelling differences . The appearance of a bracketed sic after

8774-533: The style manuals of New Zealand, Australian and British media outlets generally do not require italicisation. However, italicization is common in the United States, where authorities including APA Style insist upon it. Because sic is not an abbreviation, placing a full stop /period inside the brackets after the word sic is erroneous, although the California Style Manual suggests styling it as

8881-467: The time included Robinson Crusoe by Daniel Defoe and Gulliver's Travels by Jonathan Swift . These novels, like Millenium Hall , were marketed as true stories, a common legitimizing convention for fiction of the time. The English dictionary was also published in 1755, which was a remarkable achievement for the time. Romanticism in literature and culture was gaining traction, where inspiration and emotions were being drawn on to further one's thinking,

8988-678: The town but were repulsed. In 1740 an Act of Parliament was passed to make the River Medway navigable to Tonbridge by the Medway Navigation Company, allowing such materials as coal and lime to be transported to the town, and gunpowder, hops and timber to be carried downriver to Maidstone and the Thames. For a hundred years the Medway Navigation Company was highly profitable, paying out good dividends to its investors, but after

9095-502: The town centre. The high street has a variety of bars, restaurants, estate agents, clothes shops, hairdressers, banks, charity shops, cafes, bakers, a butchers and a fishmongers. There are relatively few empty high street premises compared to the mid-1990s, reflecting the town's increasing prosperity. There are relatively few high street chain stores that have tended to move to large shopping centres such as Tunbridge Wells, Maidstone and Bluewater , although there are some major retail outlets

9202-551: The town include the estates off Brook Street which have Radburn layouts (south west), the Victorian railway terraces around Douglas Road and Barden Park, and Vauxhall (to the south east). In 2014 the Angel Community Garden was created to eliminate eyesores in the area, and encourage bees which are declining. The garden was put along the edge of Sainsbury's car park. It was formed in collaboration with Tonbridge Friends of

9309-514: The town remained to the north of the river, since the land to the south was subject to extensive seasonal flooding. One part of the town is called 'Dryhill'. Richard Fitz Gilbert de Clare founded the Priory of St Mary Magdalene in 1124. A motte and bailey castle was built here in the 11th century by Richard Fitz Gilbert , son of the murdered guardian of the infant William the Conqueror . Richard

9416-534: The town was chosen for a place of execution of a number of Protestants; and in 1555 James Tutty and Margery Polley were burned at the stake in the town and Joan Beach met the same fate in 1556 at Rochester. A memorial to Margery Polly is on the green at Pembury . During the Civil War , the town was garrisoned by the Parliamentarian side who refortified the castle. Royalist sympathisers made several attempts to take

9523-476: The traditionally masculine realm of philanthropy. Sarah Scott emphasizes the difference between feminine sociability and “masculine self-centeredness” throughout Millenium Hall. The novel suggests that men, no matter how good they are, often end up getting in the way of their own virtue because of their self-centeredness. For example, Sir Edward Lambton is a very virtuous character: he is good looking and very kind (despite his insistence of marrying Louisa Mancel); he

9630-444: The very end of their tour through the Hall and the women's lives, the two men share an awakening. They both feel enlightened by the women and their charitable projects, philanthropy, and tight-knit community. They also enjoy the various philosophical conversations they have with the women. At the end of their time in the Hall, the narrator finds Mr. Lamont reading the New Testament (something he normally would not do before). Additionally,

9737-571: The waters at the nearby springs at Tunbridge Wells. Another speciality in the town was until recently the production of cricket balls (the original cricket ball factory in Preston Road was demolished in 2012 to make way for housing) and other sports goods. The Corn Exchange in Bank Street, which was originally conceived as a chapel, dates from 1790. During the March 1880 parliamentary election, Tonbridge

9844-449: The well-maintained Castle Gatehouse, a large country park and activities based around the river. Sports facilities including an indoor/outdoor swimming pool , a leisure centre and a large sports ground are all located close to the town centre. Many of the facilities are provided or subsidised by the local authority. Most of the town's shopping facilities are concentrated on the High Street, which runs for about 1 mile (2 km) through

9951-416: The west is retained as floodplain including Tonbridge Park. Tonbridge experiences an oceanic climate ( Köppen climate classification Cfb ), like all of Kent, and similar to almost all of the United Kingdom. Temperatures all year round are mild, with a low amount of precipitation. Snow sometimes occurs in the winter. On 22 July 1868, the temperature was supposed to have reached 38.1 °C (100.6 °F),

10058-410: The women's stories. He generally appears to be responsive to the women's ideas in the novel, but has a few moments of resistance or genuine misunderstanding. At the end of the novel, we see him wanting to imitate something like the hall because of his profound interest in it. Mr. Lamont is the son of the narrator's friend. He's conceited and takes part in debauchery; his overall attitude is indicative of

10165-440: The word analyse in a book review led Bryan A. Garner to comment, "all the quoter (or overzealous editor) [sic] demonstrated was ignorance of British usage". Occasionally a writer places [ sic ] after their own words, to indicate that the language has been chosen deliberately for special effect, especially where the writer's ironic meaning may otherwise be unclear. Bryan A. Garner dubbed this use of sic "ironic", providing

10272-476: The “masculine component” from philanthropy. In addition to using female philanthropy to de-sexualize the women in the novel, Scott uses it as a means of showing that women who are husband- and child-less can be something else other than an “old maid” or a “fallen woman”. Women like them can thrive and live a meaningful life without fulfilling the role of being a wife and/or a mother, and they can actively reject these labels of being “old” or “fallen” through engaging in

10379-527: The “masculine” conversation, which would typically only involve men as the interlocutors. We can see a lot of the influence of bluestocking feminism in Millenium Hall . Much of the female characters are highly educated, and they are able and willing to discuss difficult topics with George Ellison and Mr. Lamont, like class and gender. The women also break from the expectation that they are to be financially dependent upon any man: They pool their funds and gather donations so they can rely on their own finances to run

10486-498: Was absorbed by Decca, which was itself purchased by Polygram (Philips). Some manufacturing still remains in Tonbridge: Enalon Limited, founded in 1946, is the last remaining plastic moulder and toolmaker based in the town. In 1999, Harvester Trust Tonbridge bought a derelict site on Medway Wharf Road, in the centre of Tonbridge. A£4 million building which can be used as a church, community centre and conference centre

10593-550: Was established in 1552 under letters patent of Edward VI , to educate the sons of local gentry and farmers (There was already a nearby school in existence for poorer boys, now Sevenoaks School.) During Queen Mary's reign Tonbridge was involved in an unsuccessful uprising against the Queen's marriage to the King of Spain, with 500 townspeople involved in the Battle of Hartley in 1554. As a result,

10700-688: Was founded as Tonbridge Printers in 1948. On the club's 50th anniversary in 1998, it was decided to make a name change in honour of Lord Colin Cowdrey of Tonbridge. Cowdrey Cricket Club has a junior section and academy, as well as two Saturday teams – the 1st XI playing in Division III of the Kent League, and the 2nd XI in Division IV. The club plays at the Swanmead Sports Ground. Tonbridge Cricket Club

10807-452: Was given planning permission in March 2000. Work began in 2001. The River Centre was officially opened in January 2003, and hosted a wide variety of events from product launches to awards ceremonies, as well as international church conferences. In August 2016, Hillsong Church purchased the building and is the current owner. The police station, on Pembury Road, was previously the headquarters of

10914-529: Was married at the registry office in Tonbridge on 8 November 1950. Tonbridge was the location of the largest cash theft in British criminal history. On 22 February 2006, over £53.1 million was stolen from the Securitas cash-handling depot in Vale Road to the east of the High Street. During the following police investigation, around half of the money was recovered. On 28 January 2008 five people were convicted at

11021-550: Was responsible for governing England in William I's many absences. The town was besieged by William Rufus , soon after his accession to the throne, because the Earl had pledged allegiance to William's brother, Robert . William Rufus died from an arrow wound a few years later, in an incident generally reported as a hunting accident, when he was shot by Walter Tirel , Richard Fitz Gilbert's son-in-law, & born in Tonbridge himself. The town

11128-484: Was soon afterwards taken again, this time by King John only a few months after the signing of the Magna Carta . Both the Earl and his son were signatories and guardians of the document responsible for its compliance. It was subsequently besieged by Prince Edward , son of Henry III . On this occasion the besieged garrison burnt the town rather than see it fall. The town and Tonbridge Castle were rebuilt after this and in

11235-592: Was the scene of a riot. On the announcement of the results, several thousand people started to hurl stones and cobbles at each other in the High Street near the Rose and Crown Hotel. The county's Chief Constable Captain Ruskin, with over a hundred policemen, charged the crowds many times during the evening, only to end up as the target of the crowd, who started hurling stones and cobbles at them instead of each other. Many people, including twelve policemen, were seriously injured before

11342-448: Was written around the time bluestocking feminism was becoming more common among upper- and middle-class women. Bluestocking feminism was a movement that enabled women of upper-class status to gather in informal settings and speak about topics with more depth than they normally would be afforded. Bluestocking feminism had a focus on uplifting the woman in her intellectual standards and educating her. Historically, women were not allowed to be

11449-550: Was written during a time when Protestantism was prominent within England. This is apparent in the ways in which the women of the hall discuss marriage and intimacy. Among the hall, religion serves as a guiding principle for the characters, shaping their beliefs, actions, and interactions. In many of the stories of the women who live in the hall, religion and the Protestant views of the time are still important. In Mrs. Selvyn's story religion

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