Consistently Eccentric History

When setting up a brand new colony it is important to ensure that you have a long term plan. Unfortunately for the convicts being sent to Botany Bay in Australia, it seemed that their ongoing welfare was more of an afterthought. And when the first Governor left and placed the leader of the New South Wales Corps in temporary charge things went downhill fast. Which is always a likely outcome when alcohol becomes the primary currency...The impact of allowing the New South Wales Corps to abuse their power, even for a short time, led to nearly 20 years of struggle to get the colony in Australia under some sort of control.This week we will be talking about these efforts, how they were undermined, and how eventually the Colonial Office got so desperate that they appointed the former captain of the HMS Bounty, William Bligh, to be the new Governor. Because surely you could trust everyone to follow orders under his watch?Guest Host: Ollie Green

To commemorate Remembrance Sunday this week we are talking about a man who gave more than most to the British Army, during a career that spanned both world wars.Despite being born in Belgium, Adrian Carton de Wiart's desire to see excitement saw him lying about both his age and nationality in order to fight for the land of his grandmother against the Boers in South Africa. This was the start of a long, distinguished and regularly painful military career.A man apparently with no fear, and with a reputation for being damned near un-killable, Adrian would take any mission sent his way, no matter how impossible and no matter what he might lose in the process.Guest Host: Emma Heathcote

This bonus episode is coming to you from long time listener, two time guest host and now first time main host Pamala Loetterle. Because we at Consistently Eccentric are always looking to encourage other people to start their own podcasts and become more successful than we are!A mystery involving animal bones buried in a coffin in London. Pamala has been investigating the why, the who on a tale that takes us into the strange world of Sir Richard Owen, an anatomist who appeared much more at home around bits of dead animals and humans than he did around his wife (if the length of their engagement was anything to go by).So join us for a podcasting debut and some extra talk regarding how to get human bones through airport security, amongst other topics. Guest Host: Joe Heathcote.

How frustrated would you feel if you were the first King of a united England, but practically no one knows who you were? This week we will be trying to do our part to address this injustice by talking about the life and times of King Athelstan. A man who took the chances that were presented to him in order to create a brand new country.With a good quota of vikings, many a fortunate death along the way and some of the most difficult to pronounce names we have come across in a while, join us to learn about this important Wessex monarch.Now if only we could figure out where we left him....Guest Host: Ollie Green

This week we are discussing the origins and eventual demise of the most successful women's football team of the 20th century. Starting as a way to keep workers motivated in a munitions factory in Preston, the Dick Kerr Ladies quickly developed a reputation as the best team in the country (and specifically as a better team that the French could muster). Their charitable aims and massive crowds shining a spotlight on the fact that the women's game could be every bit as competitive and exciting as the men's.Unfortunately the FA didn't like the idea of having to compete, and so hatched a dastardly plan to prevent Women's football from continuing to grow...Guest Host: Evie Heathcote (Goalkeeper)

When we found out that some people believe the subject of our most recent episode was Jack the Ripper, we at Consistently Eccentric HQ knew that we needed to come together to decide for ourselves if we would be adopting this theory moving forwards.So enjoy a bonus conversation between Joe, Ollie and Emma to determine if cotton merchant James Maybrick was indeed the most notorious criminal of the 1800s......if Joe can manage to keep them both on topic.Guest Hosts: Ollie Green and Emma Heathcote

What happens if you take a hypochondriac with masses of cash and give him unlimited access to whatever medicines / drugs / potions he fancies? Well you might end up with a man like James Maybrick who became obsessed with patent medicines to an apparently deadly degree. A successful Liverpool Cotton Merchant, James married a young American woman called Florence, however he neglected to mention that he already had a secret family (which seems like it might have been an important). When this secret finally got out it led to a series of events that resulted in death, accusations of murder and the acquisition of many many cats.So join us this week with a tale of Late Victorian scandal and the perils of an unregulated medicine industry.Guest Host: Ollie Green

Like all primary school children in Britain, Evie will be studying the Ancient Egyptians at some point. So we have decided to give her a head start by talking about one of the most famous events of the 20th Century, the discovery of the tomb of Tutankhamun.With quick explainers of why Pharaoh's started being buried in the Vally of the Kings, and how Tutankhamun came to die at the age of only 19 (though without mentioning the fact he was a child of incest and was married to his own sister). We follow the story of Howard Carter, a self-taught illustrator with a single-minded ambition who would do anything to stay in Egypt and keep searching for the elusive boy-king and in doing so became one of the most famous archeologists ever......Shame he hated talking to people.Guest Host: Evie Heathcote