In 1788 the First Fleet sailed into Botany Bay under the command of Captain Arthur Phillip – The founding of colonial Australia had begun.
Poor old, mad old King George III, was still smarting over the loss of the American Colonies just five years earlier.
Amadeus Mozart was still being prolific
Bonnie Prince Charlie, the long-time pretender to the British Throne, died in Rome and Lord Byron was born.
Meanwhile, in Belfast (population about 14,000) a group of gentlemen artisans decided to found the Belfast Reading Society. A couple of years later it was renamed the Belfast Society for Promoting Knowledge. A few years more, in 1802, it moved into a building from which it took it’s unofficial, yet permanent, name- the Linen Hall Library.
In its almost 240 years, the library has survived uprisings, war, insurrections and epidemics. On occasions, it slumped almost out of existence only to rise again and become a vibrant and vital part of the City’s cultural heartland. Through it all it has been maintained by public subscription.
Nowadays it is an ‘independent and charitable body’ and relies on donations to survive. I have no doubt it will continue to thrive and under the leadership of its first ever female Director, and Larne-native, Julie Andrews (no, not that one) and it’s first ever female head Librarian, Samantha McCombe, I am sure it will go from strength to strength.
As a final aside, the Linen Hall looks after the National Collection of Northern Ireland Publications, which is an ongoing collection of books, journals, pamphlets, and reports published in Northern Ireland (or written by Northern Irish authors). That means copies of all my books are in their archive. That’s a little piece of history that I hope lasts for another 240 years at least…
Photos (C) Linen Hall Library