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I am delighted to announce that my Fairfax web site about Black Tom has been chosen to be archived by the UK Web Archiving Consortium as part of a project to develop a testbed for selective archiving of UK web sites. This organisation is made up of the following institutions :-
British Library (Lead partner), The National Archives, National Library of Wales, National Library of Scotland, JISC, Wellcome Trust.
The site was nominated by a person unknown. Once sites have been archived, catalogued and checked for completeness, they are accessible through the UK Web archiving Consortium Site. Users will be able to browse the archive - using broad subject headings - or search for specific sites and topics.
It is one of only 62 history sites in their catalogue at the moment and I am greatly honoured that my efforts have been recognised. Also it is very pleasing that Black Tom and the Fairfax name are so prominently featured in this worthy and ground breaking project.
While on the subject of Black Tom I spotted this medal for sale on eBay today.
ENGLISH CIVIL WAR LORD FAIRFAX MEDAL English ca 1645
“A very rare English Civil War medal in brass with 90% of silver gilt remaining. The image of the Parliamentary Commander, Thomas Lord Fairfax appears on the face with an inscription for merit on the reverse. Dated 1645, these medals are believed to have been given to all ranks for service at the battle of Marston Moor and perhaps later to New Model Army regiments for participation at Naseby in June 1645. This medal measures 1 inch by 1.5 inch and has its integral suspension loop in tact. This medallion was purchased from the premier coin and medallion firm of A. H. Baldwin & Sons, London, in late 1980s, by a well-known English Civil War arms and armour collector in the United States.”
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A very nice item indeed but somewhat beyond my budget I suspect.
Readers may also be interested in these pictures I took of Black Tom’s armour set on display at the York Museum last year.
I understand from an expert armourer that this set exhibits several unusual features. He did not go into details but said he would like make a copy at some stage. For my own part I was surprised at the size. If those are indeed back and breast plates worn by Black Tom he certainly was not a big man. I certainly could not get those on. He must have been very slim.
Finally an interesting picture of Black Tom’s wheel chair used by the great man in his later years. This pic was provided by John Thomson.
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