Launceston Aldermen
Aldermen, Anglo-Saxon, Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, Beowulf, Byrhtnoth, council, councillors, county, ealdorman, government, Launceston, Lindisfarne Gospels, local government, Old English, shire, Tas, Tasmania, website.
<p>While most local government councils in Australia are presided over by a mayor and councillors, Launceston City Council in Tasmania has a mayor and aldermen. This has been the case since the first election of alderman to the council in 1853, which were the first local government elections held in Van Diemen’s Land (Tasmania). Alderman comes from the Old English term ealdorman, literally ‘old man’. They were high ranking royal officials in charge of a shire or county and its army until the term began to be superseded by eorl (earl), probably from Old Norse jarl, from the late tenth-century. The term ealdorman appears in such Anglo-Saxon texts as Beowulf, the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, and the Lindisfarne Gospels. Perhaps the most famous ealdorman was Ealdorman Byrhtnoth of Essex who lost the battle of Maldon to a Viking army in 991.</p>
<p>For a list of current aldermen see <a href="http://www.launceston.tas.gov.au/lcc/?c=10">http://www.launceston.tas.gov.au/lcc/?c=10</a></p>
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Launceston City Council
Launceston City Council
Hyperlink
‘Alfred Was Great King’
Alfred the Great, Anglo-Saxon, Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, Charters Towers, Danes, education, England, King Alfred, law, literature, navy, The Northern Miner, Old English Chronicle, Qld, Queensland, Vikings, Wessex.
<p>‘Alfred Was Great King’ is an anonymous article that appeared in the Charters Towers, Queensland, newspaper <em>The Northern Miner</em> in 1954. The article is about the ninth-century Anglo-Saxon/English king Alfred of Wessex, or Alfred the Great. The article enthusiastically supports his title and discusses Alfred’s achievements – saving Wessex from Danish (Viking) invaders, laying the foundations for English law, beginning its naval tradition, and promoting education and prose literature. A lot of text is devoted to another of Alfred’s achievements, the establishment of the Old English Chronicle, now usually referred to as the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle. It is described in the article as ‘the first great work in English prose’. </p>
<p>The article can be found at <a href="http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article81658763">http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article81658763</a> </p>
Anon.
The Northern Miner
February 6, 1954
Public Domain
Newspaper article; hyperlink