text:
Talk:General aviation

Definition
"General aviation (GA) encompasses all civil aviation other than scheduled airline flights and government aviation." -- I'm going from memory here, but isn't all government non-military aviation also GA? For example, police, fire fighting, search and resuce, and so on. I think the word "government" should be changed to "military". (No objections noted, change made.)

Issues
I've got a few issues here. 1)I work for a charter airline, which makes us comercial aviation, but my company has a MEDEVAC contract ans so we operate medical flights and the pilots must hold a commercial licence because they are being paid. i would therefore classify med flights as commercial aviation. I thinks that if the pilots are being paid for their services it makes it commercial aviation and many of the examples of GA in this article should not be here. 2) Except for the few aircraft we have that operate at high altitude, very few of our flights operate IFR. Trevor MacInnis 00:29, 22 Jun 2004 (UTC)

OK, I see that my above comments are adressed in the GA section of Aviation, I guess its just this page that has to be reworked to reflect that info.Trevor MacInnis 00:34, 22 Jun 2004 (UTC)

-

I think you have it wrong. Whether something is GA or commercial aviation has nothing to do with whether the pilots are paid or not. Flight instructors are paid, and that's definitely GA. Basically, GA is part 91.

Yes, I just checked. The FAA defines GA as 14CFR91.

Pilot certificate
Earning a pilot certificate is NOT easy. If you mean "easy" in terms of availability of flight training, and cost in the US as compared to Europe or other nations for example, then I agree with you. Anyone who thinks flying is as easy as driving a car for example will not be flying very long. Please don't promulgate the myth that flight training, passing the many rigorous exams, and keeping one's license and ratings current is "easy".

In the U.S., general aviation is not limited to Part 91 (Private, non-commercial/revenue operations). Part 135 on-demand charder and corporate ("industrial aid") flying is also general aviation. Revenue operations, other than flight instruction and sightseeing flights operating within 25 nm of the departure airports and returning to the same airport, require an FAA air carrier certificate and the pilot and aircraft must meet many other requirements not required of Part 91 operations. By the way, non-military government flying is considered "Public" operations. Public aircraft (owned by the US government) are exempt from many of its own (FAA) regulations. Nice isn't it?

It's also "prohibitively" expensive in Europe as a result of the high taxes attached to almost everything there, in keeping with the social engineering mindset of most of Europe (keep the average person from flying, driving a fast car, etc. by taxing him/her out of the market).

History

 * I'd love to see some discussion of the history of general aviation in the US. As I understand, in the 70's it was quite a popular hobby, and up to 20,000 small planes were sold a year... then the 80's became a dark age, lots of lawsuits and awards, and all the manufacturers of small aircraft pretty much dropped out... then into the 90's legislation was passed to limit the manufacturer's liability and it has come back a tiny bit, but still only ~2,500 small planes sold a year in the US. I came to this article looking for more info on this (this is all I know -- not enough to contribute it!!)  -josh

Geographic bias
There is a strong geographic bias in the article towards the U.S. Whilst I don't think there's a problem with the content as it stands, it could do with being placed in a better international context. I've marked it with a tag accordingly Andrewferrier 20:25, 20 January 2006 (UTC)

Rewrite
I've rewritten the page to remove excessively narrowly-focussed or US-specific information, and provide a simple introduction to GA in general. I don't think detailed discussions of the cost/benefit of private light aircraft ownership really belong here, nor do the specifics of FAA part 91 regs. David 23:16, 12 February 2006 (UTC)

Definition of "General Aviation" outside North America?
A good example of the common definition of GA in North America appears here: "General Aviation, which includes all flying except for military and scheduled airline operations, makes up more than 1 percent of the U.S. GDP." However, during a discussion on Talk:Civil aviation, User:Treesmill has pointed out a UK example that defines GA as "All Civil Aviation operations other than scheduled air services and non-scheduled air transport operations for remuneration or hire", which might be much narrower, depending on how "air transport operation" is defined — basically, GA there might be only private aviation.

Granted, Canada and the US together account for well over half of the world's GA operations, but we should still make sure that the article takes into account what general aviation means to people outside North America. Can anyone else give local definitions or citations from Europe, Asia, Africa, South America, Latin America, Australia/New Zealand, etc? David 12:25, 12 September 2006 (UTC)

Earlier in this discussion somebody noted that earning and maintaining a PPL is not an easy task. In reality, I believe that the ease of which someone can accomplish this can only be determined on a case by case basis and therefore should not be incorporated into any factual article about general aviation. Personally, I did find it reletively easy to acquire my PPL.

Majority of Air Traffic
It is asserted that the majority of air traffic is General Aviation. It would really be a good idea to back that up with a reference, as it seems pretty counter-intuitive to me as a non-pilot. --Booch 17:50, 12 October 2006 (UTC)

 * This one's U.S.-specific and a few years out of date, but in 2001 general aviation accounted for 79.82% of all non-military U.S. flights David 00:44, 13 October 2006 (UTC)

 * Ditto. It is counter-intuitive, but it's also quite accurate.  Commecial aviation (United, Delta, etc.) doesn't put near the passenger miles through the sky that general aviation does.  - Mugs 19:01, 13 January 2007 (UTC)

 * I'm not sure about passenger miles, but definitely number of flights and probably flight hours. David 22:46, 13 January 2007 (UTC)

Stub
Added stub tag. This article surely needs expanding...it doesn't begin to do justice to the diversity and importance of general aviation worldwide. Additional images showing the range of aircraft (say, from a Flybaby to a Gulfstream) would be useful. The Safety section is generally unsourced and of questionable accuracy. There are excellent data on GA safety available from AOPA ASN and the NTSB...more authoritative information would be a great plus. Cmichael 07:43, 31 January 2007 (UTC)

Rewrite and additions
Just did a pretty extensive rewrite and some additions, particularly involving the utility and safety of GA. Relied heavily on info from AOPA sources, which are generally considered to be authoritative. I don't think I coded the citations correctly, and would welcome some help on this. I'd still like to expand the list of examples of GA activities to include a brief description of each one. I also admit to being a GA booster, and would welcome well-cited criticisms of GA to balance out the article. Cmichael 07:45, 1 February 2007 (UTC)

 * Thanks for the rewrite. I removed a lot of the advocacy stuff (despite the fact that I'm also a private pilot and a big GA fan), both because it doesn't belong in Wikipedia and because it was all U.S.-centric.  I also added some more accurate stats — according to most of the aviation publications, GA (involving light aircraft) is about 7 times more dangerous per hour than driving in a car, roughly equivalent to driving a motorcycle; however, I didn't find an authoritative government source for the motorcycle comparison, so I simply cited the numbers comparing GA and airlines from the NTSB. David 13:05, 1 February 2007 (UTC)

 * David: Thanks for adding the International flavor to the regulatory information...I was wanting to get there, but didn't have the information close at hand.  If I went overboard on advocacy, I apologize.  But, on reflection, I think I was responding to the histrionic slant that I perceived, and continue to perceive, in the two safety paragraphs of the article.   As ChadScott correctly points out, all of the comparative safety numbers are slippery.  Nobody really knows how many hours general aviation flies, how many per-passenger miles are either flown or driven. All we have are estimates, then statistics and comparisons built on those estimates.   At best, they are all WAG’s.

 * I respectfully disagree that the AOPA numbers (which I had posted) are inaccurate or even less accurate than the NTSB numbers.  For example, I quoted AOPA as saying that there were 321 fatal accidents in 24.4 million hours of flight operations.  You quote the NTSB as reporting 1.31 fatal accidents per 100,000 hours.  Both organizations are reporting the same thing...the AOPA numbers cite the raw data, while the NTSB converts the data into the standard "per 100,000 hours" metric. (Here is the math:  24,400,000 / 100,000 = 244.  244 * 1.31 =  320.  That's pretty close to AOPA's 321. The difference is probably due to rounding.)

 * The real difference between the AOPA's numbers and the NTSB's is that, cognitively, 321 accidents in 24.4 million hours "seems" pretty safe, while 1.31 per 100,000 "seems" pretty dangerous. Cmichael 07:09, 16 February 2007 (UTC)

 * You didn't find a source for the motorcycle comparison because it's inaccurate. GA opponents have been trying to compare airplanes to cars for years and it just doesn't work: airplanes aren't cars.  The conversion from "flight hours" to "hours driven" or "flight miles" to "miles driven" is like trying to convert apples to oranges.  You can massage the numbers to demonstrate either one is safer than the other.  That said, I do like how you have presented the raw numbers and drawn obvious conclusions comparing scheduled to unscheduled (general) operations (apples to apples). -- ChadScott 18:51, 2 February 2007 (UTC)

safety comparison
To put the safety statistics into meaningful context, there should be additional statistics for travel by railroad, bus, auto, and maybe walking/hiking. Even some comparison to being struck by lightning, or fatalities from bowling and swimming would be useful. Some might be hard to put into a 1:X per activity hour form, but surely a range could be approximated. —EncMstr 00:39, 15 February 2007 (UTC)

 * I agree, but the statistics are surprisingly hard to find and even harder to compare. For example, do you compare the chance of dying per mile, the chance of dying per hour, or the chance of dying per calendar year (given the average number of hours a pilot flies and a driver drives)?  Do you count fatal accidents or fatalities?  If you count fatalities, you'll need numbers on the average number of passengers in a GA flight, and I don't think those are available anywhere.  David 04:32, 15 February 2007 (UTC)

 * Yep, there definitely are challenges. Several dimensions should be presented:  per hour seems more useful than per mile for my way of thinking, though someone planning a cross country trip would think of it the other way around.
 * Have you heard the bit of conventional wisdom that the drive to the airport is statistically the most dangerous part of the journey? About 1992 AOPA published statistics indicating that was wrong, at least for GA.  In the end, it's up to the reader to decide which statistic is relevant.  —EncMstr 17:10, 15 February 2007 (UTC)

 * Do you have a good source for fatal automobile accidents per mile and per hour in the U.S. or some other country? One problem with hourly figures for GA is that they're sometimes based on estimates from avgas sales, which are tricky (both because of differences in fuel burn, and because some GA planes burn Jet-A, mogas, or diesel instead of avgas). David 21:01, 15 February 2007 (UTC)

 * I've been chewing over this for a couple of weeks now, and I honestly think the best thing to do is take most of the safety section out of this article, make some general reference to the fact that safety varies from one segment of general aviation to another because of the range of activities included under the category "general aviation," reference the aviation safety article, and have done with it. The current wording of the section has a histrionic flavor to it, in my opinion.  The comparisons are purely speculative, for all the reasons already cited here by others.   The citation  of the statement about the dangers of bush flying in Alaska is weak, if one tracks it down to its origin.  In point of fact, most of general aviation safety is controlled in the cockpit, by the risk management decisions that each individual pilot makes.  Finally, if you look up airlines, rail transport, cycling, walking or other forms of transportation, you'll find a lot of information about how that mode of transportation works, its history, infrastructure, and what not, and very little about its safety.  Let's leave most of the safety debate in the air safety article, where it belongs. My two cents.  Cmichael 06:58, 16 February 2007 (UTC)

Aerial Burial
Put "aerial burial" back in list, as virtually all aerial burials, or ash scatterings, are performed by general aviation aircraft under Part 91 (US reg). Cmichael 06:18, 28 February 2007 (UTC)

List cleanup
The length of the list of GA examples has become excessive, so I've tagged it with a cleanup template. Can we cut it down to 5–8 solid examples? If someone wants to create an article "List of general operations", we could move the full list there and link to it. David 21:49, 28 February 2007 (UTC)

 * Works for me. Maybe then we could concentrate on developing the article, rather than developing the list .  Cmichael 05:53, 1 March 2007 (UTC)

 * Done — I've created a new article List of general aviation activities and moved most of the list there. David 21:58, 15 March 2007 (UTC)

One Six Right
I've removed the section about the film One Six Right — I know that the film is well-loved in the U.S. general aviation community, but a lengthy description (or even a quick mention) is out of place in an article dealing with general aviation world-wide. David 21:49, 15 March 2007 (UTC)

Removing AOPA link
I just removed a link to AOPA in the External Links section. We already have a link to iaopa.org, which links on to AOPA (for the U.S.) along with more than 60 other national GA organizations from around the world -- if we start linking to country-specific ones like AOPA, we'll end up with a very long section. David (talk) 12:14, 29 January 2008 (UTC)

Airport Security
When an airport severs both commercial and general aviation, do passengers on general aviation flights have to go through the same security checkpoints as everyone else? Are there different rules about what can/cannot be brought on board the aircraft? Can a general aviation pilot carry a gun? A knife? I'm both currious about the answers to these questions and think that they might deserve mention in the article. Thanks. ce1984 (talk) 10:04, 21 September 2008 (UTC)

 * I don't think this really fits the article, because there's no single answer — it depends on the country and the airport. Often, GA is far from the passenger terminal, and the space around the passenger terminal is restricted, but again, it depends on the airport. David (talk) 17:05, 21 September 2008 (UTC)

External links modified
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Table
I have some doubts about including the table of "current aircraft". First off it is not all the current GA aircraft, just some of the ready-to-fly production types and even then misses many ready-to-fly UL and LSA types in production. It ignores kit built aircraft, non-certified types and aircraft built via other means, like plans, partial kits, etc. I have re-labelled it to try to explain that. If it was complete it would be a very, very long table. Does this serve any purpose in a general introduction article? - Ahunt (talk) 13:09, 7 August 2018 (UTC)

 * Hello, I put this table here because I needed it otherwise, so I thought it would add some value to Wikipedia as I stumbled upon a good ref (flying's buyers guide). Of course it's limited to certified, in production types. An ultralight list would belong in ultralight aviation (but would be indecently long), a LSA list in Light-sport aircraft (already there), and a list of kits and plans in homebuilt aircraft. This certified GA table is more useful here than in certified aircraft. The point is to show some starter points to further explore through comparables : from the mentioned Cessna 172 you can explore Cessna's timeline and competitors, etc. Otherwise the only starter point is the random DA20 pictured. --Marc Lacoste (talk) 07:02, 8 August 2018 (UTC)

 * I can understand the concept of providing links to some example GA aircraft, but even as a list of current production, certified light aircraft it is incomplete. For instance, the Vulcanair V1.0 is missing. The other factor is that it gives the impression that GA only includes certified aircraft, when GA includes ULs, homebuilts, LSAs, warbirds, gliders, balloons and many other categories of aircraft. I just think a table of one small corner of GA aircraft will leave readers with the impression that is all that there is to GA. Then there is the question of who will maintain this table, adding and removing types as they go in and out of production. Basically even for production certified types it will always be out of date, unless someone is right on top of it. I would rather have a short list of a few representative types. - Ahunt (talk) 12:30, 8 August 2018 (UTC)

 * So maybe we should move it to General aviation certified aircraft. It may be US-centered but as it is the largest GA market, it should be the most representative one. The Vulcanair V1.0 had its FAA certification last December, maybe an importer is searched for. We should not maintain it as a borderline WP:OR table with specs from multiple sources, Flying's buyers guide is updated yearly. Making a list of representative types would be difficult to establish a standard (numbers produced, maybe?)--Marc Lacoste (talk) 12:53, 8 August 2018 (UTC)

 * I would be fin with moving it to something like List of current production certified light aircraft or similar. I think it might be a battle to keep people from adding aircraft, though, especially through the year as aircraft go in and out of production. - Ahunt (talk) 12:59, 8 August 2018 (UTC)

 * or maybe in the already existing Light aircraft, more adapted than here, which I did not saw earlier?--Marc Lacoste (talk) 13:14, 8 August 2018 (UTC)

 * I'd rather see it as a stand-alone list, as Light aircraft is the same issue as general aviation, it includes everything 12,500 lbs and below, not just certified aircraft. - Ahunt (talk) 13:21, 8 August 2018 (UTC)

 * OK then!--Marc Lacoste (talk) 13:26, 8 August 2018 (UTC)

Scope of this article
Firstly, I hope everyone can accept my attempt to ensure the images of one type of GA do not dominate the article by adding to the gallery. Rather than start an edit war, would anybody who disagrees, please discuss on the talk page. Secondly I am confused about the definitions of GA and Private flight. The article on private flight states "In most countries, private flights are always general aviation flights, but the opposite is not true: many general aviation flights (such as banner towing, charter, crop dusting, and others) are commercial in that the pilot is hired and paid." This is at variance with this GA article which excludes aerial work. JMcC (talk)

 * The main problem is that in different countries there are different definitions or at least understandings of what is included. In most places it is "all civil aviation excluding airlines", so does include aerial work, like crop dusting and banner-towing.

 * As per WP:GALLERY "Wikipedia is not an image repository. A gallery is not a tool to shoehorn images into an article..." so we shouldn't be using a gallery to cram in lots of images as you have tried to do. Instead we should only use as many representative images that fit into the article alongside the text and then linking to Commons. Also, as per MOS:IMGSIZE we normally don't force image sizes as it messes up user preferences and is difficult for users on mobile devices, too. - Ahunt (talk) 14:48, 12 June 2020 (UTC)

 * I would be curious to know about countries which don't adhere to the ICAO definition (GA excludes aerial work), as most countries adhere to the ICAO.--Marc Lacoste (talk) 15:58, 12 June 2020 (UTC) please correct my poor grammar if it's necessary!
 * Also, I agree the article should not be an image repository, but Commons can host one!--Marc Lacoste (talk)

 * User:Marc Lacoste: Thanks for fixing the lede image, as it was way too big. The gallery has to go too, though. We just need to figure out which images should be retained as "representative" without overwhelming the text. In the past my approach has been that a string of images on the right side, as long as the text is (using a browser width of about 1000px), is fine, but anymore is crowding, as per "a gallery is not a tool to shoehorn images into an article...."

 * Many countries don't have a legal definition of GA. Canada doesn't and neither does the US. Because a definition isn't needed for regulatory reasons (i.e. they regulate private vs small commercial ops vs airlines) they don't have a definition. - Ahunt (talk) 17:57, 12 June 2020 (UTC)

 * If they don't have a specific definition, the ICAO definition applies if they are members then? For wikipedia purposes, I think we should avoid other definitions unless we have one.--Marc Lacoste (talk) 07:10, 13 June 2020 (UTC)

 * The way ICAO rules work is that countries have to adopt ICAO SARPs in national legislation (CARs, FARs) for them to have force in the individual country. Nations are supposed to file "differences" with ICAO if they do something different, but the definition of GA is not a "regulation", just a definition and if it isn't needed, then it isn't adopted or a difference need be filed. Essentially in those countries that haven't legally defined it, then it has no "legal meaning", although it may have some common use or understanding. When I worked at COPA from 2000-07 I put a push on to use Richard L. Collins' preferred term for our work there, "personal aviation", instead, as it more represented what we were engaged in (private, non-commercial aviation). In Canada and the US the term "general aviation" remains quite nebulous. I am sure most pilots or members of the public have no idea what it encompasses.

 * Considering the lack of formal definitions outside of ICAO, regardless of the variations in common use, I agree with you that we should just go with the ICAO definition and perhaps note any nations that do formally define it and are different, if we find any. - Ahunt (talk) 12:33, 13 June 2020 (UTC)

 * OK, the mechanism for EU legislation is similar, it has to be transposed in the local legislation to be enforced. I agree we should point out that some nations do not formally define it and could have different common understanding.--Marc Lacoste (talk) 13:55, 13 June 2020 (UTC)
 * I think a general statement like that would be useful. - Ahunt (talk) 14:02, 13 June 2020 (UTC)

 * Even ICAO recognises that aerial work is better classified as GA for statistical purposes. I suggest that we use the ICAO definition in Appendix A of this document Review of classification. I agree about the gallery. I was trying to placate a user who has restored the photo of the Cirrus in the main body of the article. Now there are more people interested, we can maintain a more rigorous policy. JMcC (talk) 17:06, 13 June 2020 (UTC)

 * While I think your recent changes are helpful, there is one area of confusion that was introduced. You have included "aerial application" as part if GA, but excluded "agriculture" as being part of aerial work. I realize that different refs support either claim, but it is inconsistent as currently written. - Ahunt (talk) 11:52, 17 June 2020 (UTC)

Drones
Under the definitions given in this article, they would could as GA. Is this correct?  Tu rk ey ph an t 12:35, 14 February 2021 (UTC)

 * GA is all non-airline and military aviation, so civil drones would be GA, yes. - Ahunt (talk) 14:42, 14 February 2021 (UTC)
 * Slight correction: GA is all non-airline and non-commercial civil aviation. A distinction is made between commercial air transport and aerial work. cagliost (talk) 08:28, 8 October 2021 (UTC)

Retracted merger proposal
I propose merging Private aviation into General aviation.

The article Private aviation makes the following unreferenced claim: "In most countries, private flights are always general aviation flights, but the opposite is not true: many general aviation flights (such as banner towing, charter, crop dusting, and others) are commercial in that the pilot is hired and paid." I don't think this is true. The article on general aviation defines these as Aerial Work. I don't see a clear distinction between this article "Private aviation" and GA. Since GA has a well-referenced definition, and "Private aviation" does not have a referenced definition, it would make sense to merge this article in to General aviation. cagliost (talk) 08:21, 8 October 2021 (UTC)

 * Comment: I am not opposed to merging Private aviation into General Aviation, since the PS article is pretty deficient, but I think we need to be clear on what is what first. General Aviation is all civil aviation that is non-airline. It includes commercial aviation such as flight training and aerial work (such as forest fire fighting, banner towing, aerial surveying and so on) and also includes private aviation. Private aviation includes only non-commercial aviation activities, such as light aircraft pleasure flights and business aviation. - Ahunt (talk) 12:02, 8 October 2021 (UTC)
 * I see from the above discussion that ICAO has two definitions of GA (the second is here). I still think we should merge the articles, but make the explanation of the two definitions clearer. Civil aviation would also need to be updated as part of the merge. cagliost (talk) 13:49, 8 October 2021 (UTC)
 * That ref says General aviation is  defined,  for statistical  purposes,  as  all  civil  aviation  operations  other than  scheduled air  services  and  non-scheduled  air  transport  operations  for  remuneration  or  hire, which the same as I had stated. I don't see a second definition. Where do you find that? - Ahunt (talk) 14:02, 8 October 2021 (UTC)

I retract my merger proposal. I see value in keeping the commercial/private articles, since that is a separate axis from the general aviation/aerial work/commercial air transport dimension. cagliost (talk) 15:22, 10 October 2021 (UTC)

 * Okay. I had a look though your changes to General aviation and, given the limits of the ICAO refs, it seems okay. - Ahunt (talk) 15:44, 10 October 2021 (UTC)

title: Talk:General aviation


text:
Thomas Pennant

Thomas Pennant (27 June 1726 – 16 December 1798) was a Welsh naturalist, traveller, writer and antiquarian. He was born and lived his whole life at his family estate, Downing Hall, near Whitford, Flintshire, in Wales.

As a naturalist he had a great curiosity, observing the geography, geology, plants, animals, birds, reptiles, amphibians, and fish around him and recording what he saw and heard about. He wrote acclaimed books including British Zoology, the History of Quadrupeds, Arctic Zoology and Indian Zoology although he never travelled further afield than continental Europe. He knew and maintained correspondence with many of the scientific figures of his day. His books influenced the writings of Samuel Johnson. As an antiquarian, he amassed a considerable collection of art and other works, largely selected for their scientific interest. Many of these works are now housed at the National Library of Wales.

As a traveller he visited Scotland and many other parts of Britain and wrote about them. Many of his travels took him to places that were little known to the British public and the travelogues he produced, accompanied by painted and engraved colour plates, were much appreciated. Each tour started at his home and related in detail the route, the scenery, the habits and activities of the people he met, their customs and superstitions, and the wildlife he saw or heard about. He travelled on horseback accompanied by his servant, Moses Griffith, who sketched the things they encountered and later worked these up into illustrations for the books. He was an amiable man with a large circle of friends and was still busily following his interests into his sixties. He enjoyed good health throughout his life and died at Downing at the age of seventy-two.

Family background
The Pennants were a family of Welsh gentry from the parish of Whitford, Flintshire, who had built up a modest estate at Bychton by the seventeenth century. In 1724 Thomas' father, David Pennant, inherited the neighbouring Downing estate from a cousin, considerably augmenting the family's fortune. Downing Hall, where Thomas was born in the 'yellow room', became the main Pennant residence. This house had been built in 1600 and the front and main entrance were set back between two forward-facing wings. By the time the Pennants moved there, it was in a state of disrepair and many alterations were set in hand. It had many fine rooms including a well-stocked library and a smoking room "most antiquely furnished with ancient carvings, and the horns of all the European beasts of chase". The grounds were also very overgrown and much effort was put into their improvement and the creation of paths, vistas, and pleasure gardens.

Pennant received his early education at Wrexham Grammar School, before moving to Thomas Croft's school in Fulham in 1740. At the age of twelve, Pennant later recalled, he had been inspired with a passion for natural history through being presented with Francis Willughby's Ornithology. In 1744 he entered Queen's College, Oxford, later moving to Oriel College. Like many students from a wealthy background, he left Oxford without taking a degree, although in 1771 his work as a zoologist was recognised with an honorary degree.

Pennant married Elizabeth Falconer, the daughter of Lieutenant James Falconer of the Royal Navy, in 1759 and they had a son, David Pennant, born in 1763. Pennant's wife died the following year and fourteen years later he married Ann Mostyn of Mostyn Hall, daughter of Sir Thomas Mostyn, 4th Baronet of Mostyn, Flintshire.

Interests
A visit to Cornwall in 1746–47, where he met the antiquary and naturalist William Borlase, awakened an interest in minerals and fossils which formed his main scientific study during the 1750s. In 1750, his account of an earthquake at Downing was inserted in the Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society, where there also appeared in 1756 a paper on several coralloid bodies he had collected at Coalbrookdale, Shropshire. More practically, Pennant used his geological knowledge to open a lead mine, which helped to finance improvements at Downing after he had inherited the estate in 1763.

In 1754, he was elected a fellow of the Society of Antiquaries but by 1760 he was happily married and resigned his fellowship because "my circumstances at that time were very narrow, my worthy father being alive, and I vainly thought my happiness would have been permanent, and that I never should have been called again from my retirement to amuse myself in town, or to be of use to the society." When his financial circumstances later improved, he became a patron and collector. He amassed a considerable collection of works of art, many of which had been commissioned and which were selected for their scientific interest rather than their connoisseur value. He had several works by Nicholas Pocock representing topographical landforms, mostly in Wales, and others by the artist Peter Paillou, probably commissioned, representing different climate types. His portrait by Thomas Gainsborough shows him as a country gentleman. Also included in the "Pennant Collection", housed at the National Library of Wales, are many watercolours by Moses Griffith and John Ingleby, and some drawings by Pennant himself.

The artist Moses Griffith, a native of Bryncroes in the Llŷn Peninsula, provided illustrations to most of Pennant's books. He was employed full-time by Pennant and accommodated at Downing. Many of these paintings are included in the Pennant Collection held by the National Museum of Wales. Another artist whom Pennant employed on an occasional basis was John Ingleby of Halkyn. He mostly supplied town scenes and vignettes.

Pennant was an improving landowner and active defender of the established order in church and state. He served as high sheriff of Flintshire in 1761, and actively opposed popular agitation for parliamentary reform. In 1784 he supported the prosecution of William Davies Shipley, the Dean of St Asaph, for seditious libel.

Early works
Pennant's first publications were scientific papers on the earthquake he had experienced, other geological subjects and palaeontology. One of these so impressed Carl Linnaeus, that in 1757, he put Pennant's name forward and he was duly elected a member of the Royal Swedish Society of Sciences. Pennant felt very honoured by this and continued to correspond with Linnaeus throughout his life.

Observing that naturalists in other European countries were producing volumes describing the animals found in their territories, Pennant started, in 1761, a similar work about Britain, to be called British Zoology. This was a comprehensive book with 132 folio plates in colour. It was published in 1766 and 1767 in four volumes as quarto editions, and further small editions followed. The illustrations were so expensive to produce that he made little money from the publication, and when there was a profit, he gave it to charity. For example, the bookseller Benjamin White, brother of the naturalist Gilbert White, received permission, on payment of £100, to publish an octavo edition, and the money thus raised was donated to the Welsh Charity School. Further appendix volumes were added later and the text, largely written from personal observations, was translated into Latin and German. The observations Pennant recorded in British Zoology were sufficiently detailed and accurate that it was possible to use them to recreate a modern ecological study that had used a decade's worth of laboratory-based molecular data.

The book took several years to write and during that time, Pennant was struck by personal tragedy when his wife died. Soon afterwards, in February 1765 and apparently as a reaction, he set out on a journey to the continent of Europe, starting in France where he met other naturalists and scientists including the Comte de Buffon, Voltaire, who he described as a "wicked wit", Haller and Pallas, and they continued to correspond to their mutual advantage. He later complained that the Comte used several of his communications on animals in his Histoire Naturelle without properly attributing them to Pennant. His meeting with Pallas was significant, because it led Pennant to write his Synopsis of Quadrupeds. He and Pallas found each other's company particularly congenial, and both were great admirers of the English naturalist John Ray. The intention was that Pallas would write the book but, having written an outline of what he planned, he got called away by the Empress Catherine the Great to her court at St Petersburg. At her request he led a "philosophical expedition" into her distant territories that lasted six years, so Pennant took over the project.

In 1767 Pennant was elected a fellow of the Royal Society. About this time he met the much-travelled Sir Joseph Banks and visited him at his home in Lincolnshire. Banks presented him with the skin of a new species of penguin recently brought back from the Falkland Islands. Pennant wrote an account of this bird, the king penguin (Aptenodytes patagonicus), and all the other known species of penguin which was published in the Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society.

Tours in Scotland
While work on the Synopsis of Quadrupeds was still in progress, Pennant decided on a journey to Scotland, a relatively unexplored country and not previously visited by a naturalist. He set out in June 1769 and kept a journal and made sketches as he travelled. He visited the Farne Islands off the Northumberland coast on the way and was much impressed by the breeding seabird colonies. He entered Scotland via Berwick-on-Tweed and proceeded via Edinburgh and up the east coast, continuing through Perth, Aberdeen and Inverness. His return journey south took him through Fort William, Glen Awe, Inverary and Glasgow. He was unimpressed by the climate but was interested in all he saw and made enquiries about the local economy. He described in detail the scenery around Loch Ness. He enthused over the Arctic char, a fish new to him but did not mention a monster in the lake. He observed red deer, black grouse, white hares and ptarmigan. He saw the capercaillie in the forests of Glenmoriston and Strathglass and mentioned the pine grosbeak, the only occasion on which it has been recorded from Scotland. He enquired into the fisheries and commerce of the different places he passed through and visited the great houses, reporting on the antiquities he found there. He finished his journey by visiting Edinburgh again and travelling through Moffat, Gretna and Carlisle on his way back to Wales, having taken about three months on his travels. On his return home, Pennant wrote an account of his tour in Scotland which met with some acclaim and which may have been responsible for an increase in the number of English people visiting the country.

In 1771 his Synopsis of Quadrupeds was published; a second edition was expanded into a History of Quadrupeds. At the end of that same year, 1771, he published A Tour in Scotland, 1769. This proved so popular that he decided to undertake another journey and in the summer of 1772, set out from Chester with two companions, the Rev. John Lightfoot, a naturalist, and Rev. J. Stewart, a Scotsman knowledgeable in the customs of the country. They travelled through the Lake District, Carlisle, Eskdale, which Pennant much admired, Dumfries and Glasgow. In passing, he was fascinated by the account of the inundation of the surrounding farmland by a bursting out of the Solway Moss peatbog. The party set sail in a ninety-ton cutter from Greenock to explore the outer isles. They first visited Bute and Arran and then continued to Ailsa Craig. Pennant was interested in the birds, frogs and molluscs and considered their distribution. The boat then rounded the Mull of Kintyre and continued to Gigha. They would have continued to Islay but were becalmed. During this enforced idleness, the ever-industrious Pennant started on his ancient history of the Hebrides. When the wind picked up they continued to Jura.

Here, as elsewhere, they were hospitably welcomed, lent horses to explore the island and shown the principal sights and the improvements that had been made. Pennant records the scenery, customs and superstitions of the inhabitants with many an anecdote. They later reached Islay where Pennant found geese nesting on the moors, a more southerly nesting site for geese than had previously been recorded. Their journey next took them to Colonsay, Iona and Canna and eventually to Mull and Skye. A projected journey to Staffa was prevented by adverse weather. Returning to the mainland, the party paid off their boat and attempted to travel northwards to the most northerly tip of Scotland. In this they were thwarted and had to retrace their route, having met bogs, hazardous rocks and country that even their "shoeless little steeds" had difficulty in negotiating. They returned to Skye for a while before parting company, Pennant continuing his tour while his companions returned to England, Lightfoot carrying with him most of the material he would later use when writing his Flora Scotica. Pennant visited Inverary, Dunkeld, Perth and Montrose. In the latter, he was surprised to learn that sixty or seventy thousand lobsters were caught and sent to London each year. He then travelled via Edinburgh, through Roxburghshire and beside the River Tweed to cross the border at Birgham. Once in England he travelled rapidly home to Downing.

Later works
Pennant's next publication, in 1774, was his account of the second journey to Scotland. This was in two volumes with the second appearing in 1776. These works include so much detail of the countryside, its economy, natural history and the customs of the inhabitants that they are still of interest today by way of comparison with the very different state of things now. While these volumes were in preparation, he started some new projects. In 1773 he returned to Cumberland, Westmorland and Yorkshire to visit the parts of them that he had missed previously. As with all his tours, he travelled on horseback, keeping his daily journal and accompanied by Moses Griffith who made copious sketches on the way. Pennant seems to have been an unpretentious man of simple tastes, who was welcomed into the homes of strangers wherever he went. He also made tours in Northamptonshire and the Isle of Man. Whenever he travelled to London he took a slightly different route, again recording what he saw and did and on the basis of these details, some years later he wrote his Journey from Chester to London. On one of these journeys, the church he visited at Buckingham in the morning collapsed into ruins that evening.

Over the next few years, Pennant made various excursions in North Wales. As with his other tours, he started from Downing. Almost one hundred pages in the first volume that he subsequently wrote were about the ancient city of Chester. His emphasis in these books was on history and the antiquities he saw, rather than on natural history. He was interested in Owain Glyndŵr and his struggle with Henry IV for supremacy in Wales. The first volume of Tour in Wales was published in 1778 but covered a limited area of the country. In an attempt to remedy this, it was followed by a Journey to Snowdon (part one in 1781 and part two in 1783), and these later jointly became the second volume of his Tour. Although these also concentrated on the history of the places visited, they provided some information on the zoology and botany, in the later case with the assistance of Reverend Lightfoot. Pennant includes tales of the strongwoman and harpist Marged ferch Ifan although he never met her. Pennant mentions tales of the beaver's presence on the River Conwy with a deep stretch being known as "Llyn yr afangc" (Beaver's pool). He also records herons nesting at the top of the cliffs at St Orme's Head above the noisy gulls, razorbills, guillemots and cormorants which had their own nesting zones further down.

Pennant's interests ranged widely. In 1781, he had a paper published in the Philosophical Transactions on the origins of the turkey, arguing that it was a North American bird and not an Old World species. Another paper, published at the instigation of Sir Joseph Banks, was on earthquakes, several of which he had experienced in Flintshire. In the same year he was made an honorary member of the Society of Antiquaries of Scotland and in 1783, he was elected a foreign member of the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences, and separately, a member of the Swedish Royal Physiographic Society in Lund. In 1791, he was elected a member of the American Philosophical Society.

In 1782, Pennant published his Journey from Chester to London. He had then intended to write a "Zoology of North America" but as he explained in the "Advertisement", since he felt mortified by the loss of British control over America, this was changed to Arctic Zoology. The book was published, with illustrations by Peter Brown, in 1785–1787. The first volume was on quadrupeds and the second on birds. Compilation of the latter was assisted by an expedition Sir Joseph Banks had made to Newfoundland in 1786. The work was translated into German and French, and part of it into Swedish. The volumes were much acclaimed and Pennant was elected a member of the American Philosophical Society. In 1787, a supplementary volume was published which included extra information on the reptiles and fishes of North America.

Pennant is rarely thought of as a poet, but in 1782 he was moved to write an "elegant little poem", Ode to Indifference, as he explains "on account of a Lady speaking in praise of Indifference". In it he "wittily constructs an erotic lyric from the invocation to John Milton's L'Allegro." It includes the lines

In 1790 he published his Account of London, which went through a large number of editions. It was written in the style of his previous works and contained information on things of historical interest in the parts of the capital to which his wanderings led him. By this stage of his life he preferred to make tours in his imagination rather than in reality and he published a second edition of his Indian Zoology. He also conceived the idea of publishing a work on a global scale and set to work on the first two volumes of what was planned to be a fourteen volume series. Each country was to have maps and sketches, colour plates and an account of the country's production with notes on its natural history. All this was to be gleaned from the writing of others who had seen these places themselves. The first two volumes appeared early in 1798 and covered most of India and Ceylon. Volumes three and four included the parts of India east of the Ganges, Malaysia, Japan and China but before these were published he suffered a gradual decline in health and vigour and died at Downing, in December 1798. These two volumes were edited and published posthumously by his son, David, as were also several other short papers and an autobiographical work, The literary life of the late Thomas Pennant, Esq. By himself.

Correspondents
Pennant met and corresponded widely over many years with other naturalists. This gave him privileged access to manuscripts and specimens, and his writings sometimes provide information about otherwise lost discoveries. For example, he visited the botanist Joseph Banks in September 1771 on his return from Captain James Cook's four-year voyage of exploration; Banks appears to have passed his bird specimens on to Pennant. Pennant's manuscripts describe the birds that Banks saw on the voyage; and when he read John Latham's A General Synopsis of Birds (1781–1785), Pennant saw that Latham had omitted some of the land birds from Eastern Australia that Banks had collected, and wrote to Latham to fill in the gaps. The naturalist Peter Simon Pallas asked Banks to inform Pennant of "the unhappy fate of Captn. Cook", and in December 1779 he wrote to Pennant himself, telling the story.

Letters to Pennant from the parson-naturalist Gilbert White form the first part of White's 1789 book, The Natural History and Antiquities of Selborne. It is almost certain that the men were introduced by Gilbert's brother Benjamin White, Pennant's publisher; Gilbert seized on the opportunity to correspond, as a way of overcoming the intellectual isolation of Selborne in the absence of suitable learned societies at which he could read papers and share ideas. He knew that Pennant, with little skill or inclination as a field naturalist, was gathering observations to publish in his books; he quickly determined that he would make his own use of the correspondence, and kept copies of every letter he sent to Pennant. White was more careful than Pennant, and was sometimes critical; for example, in 1769 he objected that the goatsucker did not only make its sound while flying as Pennant asserted, so it was wrong to suppose that the noise must be made by the air beating against its "vastly extended mouth". Pennant accepted White's criticisms graciously. Unfortunately Pennant's letters to White have been lost: White's Natural History begins with 44 of White's letters to Pennant, of which the first nine were never posted; the remaining 35 letters are dated between 4 August 1767 and 30 November 1780, covering topics as varied as whether swallows hibernate or migrate (letter 10), ring ousels (letter 20), whether peacock trains are really tails (letter 35), and thunderstorms (letter 44).

Works by Pennant
WorldCat listing:-
 * The British Zoology, Class 1, Quadrupeds. 2, Birds. J. and J. March, 1766.
 * A Tour in Scotland 1769. John Monk, 1771.
 * A Synopsis of Quadrupeds. John Monk, 1771.
 * A Tour in Scotland, and Voyage to the Hebrides 1772. John Monk, 1774.
 * Genera of Birds. Balfour and Smellie, 1773.
 * British Zoology. Benjamin White, 1776–1777.
 * A Tour in Wales. H.D. Symonds, 1778 & 1781.
 * A History of Quadrupeds. John Monk, 1781.
 * Free Thoughts on the Militia Laws. Benjamin White, 1781.
 * The Journey to Snowdon. Henry Hughs, 1781.
 * The Journey from Chester to London. Benjamin White, 1782.
 * Arctic Zoology. Henry Hughs, 1784–1787.
 * Of the Patagonians. George Allan (private press), 1788.
 * Of London. Robert Faulder, 1790.
 * Indian Zoology. Robert Faulder, 1790.
 * A Letter to a Member of Parliament: On Mail-Coaches. R. Faulder, 1792.
 * The Literary Life of the Late Thomas Pennant. Benjamin and J. White, 1793.
 * The History of the Parishes of Whiteford and Holywell. Benjamin and J. White, 1796.
 * The View of Hindoostan. Henry Hughs, 1798–1800.
 * Western Hindoostan. Henry Hughs, 1798.
 * The View of India extra Gangem, China, and Japan. L. Hansard, 1800.
 * The View of the Malayan Isles, New Holland, and the Spicy Isles. John White, 1800.
 * A Journey from London to the Isle of Wight. E. Harding, 1801.
 * From Dover to the Isle of Wight. Wilson, 1801.
 * A Tour from Downing to Alston-Moor. E. Harding, 1801.
 * A Tour from Alston-Moor to Harrowgate, and Brimham Crags. J. Scott, 1804.

Reception
Pennant's two Scottish tours were praised by critics, as were his natural history books. The Critical Review called the Tour in Scotland 1769 "the best itinerary which has hitherto been written on that country". Pennant's two Scottish tours made him the best known writer on Scotland, and stimulated the great literary figure of the age, Dr Johnson, to travel in Scotland and especially to the Hebrides, resulting in notable works by both Johnson (A Journey to the Western Islands of Scotland, 1775) and his friend and biographer James Boswell (The Journal of a Tour to the Hebrides, 1786), According to the historian David Allan, all three of these "famous" texts were "deliberate attempts... to educate their English readers about Scotland. The intention here was usually to instil both a genuine curiosity and a profound sympathy for their fellow Britons" in marked contrast, in Allan's view, to the prevailing English ignorance and hostility to the people of Scotland; and he cites evidence that readers found it "a beguiling vision that literally prescribed how they would now see and respond—positively, fondly, inquisitively—to Scotland and its culture". With rare praise, Johnson said of Pennant "... he's the best traveller I ever read; he observes more things than anyone else does." And in 1777, Johnson said to Boswell "Our ramble in the islands hangs upon my imagination. I can hardly help imagining that we shall go again. Pennant seems to have seen a great deal which we did not see. When we travel again let us look better about us."

The Gentleman's Magazine of 1797 reviewed The History of the Parishes of Whiteford and Holywell, commenting on his claim ("Resurgam", Latin for 'I shall rise') to have returned from the dead (having announced the end of his literary life back in 1791), and continuing to joke about his excesses throughout. For example, the review remarks that the portrait of "the late Pretender" to the throne "at a certain time, might have cost its possessor [Pennant] his seat on the bench of justices".

Legacy

After Pennant's death, the French zoologist and naturalist Georges Cuvier wrote of him "When the life of a man is entirely devoted to the sciences, it cannot be expected that it will present a variety of incident; it will be found most truly in the analysis of his works." Pennant is cited as an authority by Thomas Bewick throughout his pioneering field guide, A History of British Birds (2 volumes, 1797 and 1804). For example, under "The Golden Eagle", Bewick writes that "Pennant says there are instances, though rare, of their having bred in Snowdon Hills". Bewick cites him for facts about rare species like "The Sclavonian Grebe": "This species is not numerous in the British Isles. Pennant says, they inhabit and breed in the fens near Spalding, in Lincolnshire, and that the female makes a nest not unlike that of the Crested Grebe, and lays four or five white eggs." On occasion, Pennant's knowledge could be highly specific: for "The Great-Crested Grebe", Bewick records that the nest "is made of various kinds of dried fibres, stalks and leaves of water plants, and (Pennant says) of the roots of bugbane, stalks of water-lily, pond-weed and water-violet; when it happens to be blown from among the reeds, it floats about upon the surface of the water".

The naturalist Richard Mabey wrote that Pennant was "a doughty and open-minded traveller, and his various Tours were best-sellers in their time", adding Samuel Johnson's comment that Pennant was "the best traveller I ever read". Mabey however comments that he "had no great aptitude or instinct for field-work and nothing approaching [Gilbert] White's critical intelligence", arguing that Pennant "was essentially an intellectual entrepreneur, a popularizer and compiler of other people's observations and ideas, and was able to produce a large number of very readable guides as a result." Mabey adds that Pennant had a "pushy and bombastic manner, and a reliance on second-hand information that at times came close to plagiarism" but admits that he was an innovative author of books, in particular by seeking original reports "from a wide network of field observers", meeting the fashion in the 1760s for natural history journalism.

Pennant's exploration of the Western Isles of Scotland was revisited by Nicholas Crane in a television documentary programme first broadcast on BBC Two on 16 August 2007, as part of the "Great British Journeys" series. Pennant was the subject of the first in the eight part series.

Cymdeithas Thomas Pennant (Thomas Pennant Society) was formed in 1989, aiming to foster Pennant's memory. It arranges a programme of events connected with him including publishing leaflets and booklets, holding lectures, an annual dinner and arranging walks in "Pennant Country". In 2013, the society proposed to Flintshire County Council that "Holywell and the north Flintshire area" be designated 'Pennant Country'. Some Holywell town councillors voiced reservations.

Species named after him
The following marine species were named with the epithets pennanti, pennantii and pennantiana:
 * Anchomasa pennantiana Leach in Gray, 1852 : synonym of Barnea parva (Pennant, 1777)
 * Arca pennantiana Leach in Gray, 1852 : synonym of Striarca lactea (Linnaeus, 1758)
 * Argentina pennanti Walbaum, 1792 : synonym of Maurolicus muelleri (Gmelin, 1789)
 * Blennius pennantii Yarrell, 1835 : synonym of Chirolophis ascanii (Walbaum, 1792)
 * Cardium pennanti Reeve, 1844 : synonym of Laevicardium crassum (Gmelin, 1791)
 * Cardium pennantii Reeve, 1844 : synonym of Laevicardium crassum (Gmelin, 1791)
 * Coregonus pennantii
 * Ebalia pennantii Leach, 1817 : synonym of Ebalia tuberosa (Pennant, 1777)
 * Funambulus pennantii
 * Gibbula pennanti (Philippi, 1846)
 * Lamna pennanti (Walbaum, 1792) : synonym of Lamna nasus (Bonnaterre, 1788)
 * Maurolicus pennanti (Walbaum, 1792) : synonym of Maurolicus muelleri (Gmelin, 1789)
 * Ovula pennantiana Leach, 1847 : synonym of Simnia patula (Pennant, 1777)
 * Pasiphaë pennantia Leach in Gray, 1852 : synonym of Timoclea ovata (Pennant, 1777)
 * Pekania pennanti (1771) common name: fisher
 * Procolobus pennantii Waterhouse, 1838
 * Selachus pennantii Cornish, 1885 : synonym of Cetorhinus maximus (Gunnerus, 1765)
 * Squalus pennanti Walbaum, 1792 : synonym of Lamna nasus (Bonnaterre, 1788)
 * Tetrodon pennantii Yarrell, 1836 : synonym of Lagocephalus lagocephalus lagocephalus (Linnaeus, 1758)
 * Trochus pennanti Philippi, 1846 : synonym of Gibbula pennanti (Philippi, 1846)
 * Venus pennanti Forbes, 1838 : synonym of Chamelea striatula (da Costa, 1778)
 * Venus pennantii Forbes, 1838 : synonym of Chamelea striatula (da Costa, 1778)
 * Vermilia pennantii Quatrefages, 1866 : synonym of Pomatoceros triqueter (Linnaeus, 1758): synonym of Spirobranchus triqueter (Linnaeus, 1758)

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title: Thomas Pennant


text:
Edward Hyde

Edward Hyde may refer to:

 * Edward Hyde (priest) (1607–1659), English royalist cleric
 * Edward Hyde, 1st Earl of Clarendon (1609–1674), English historian and statesman
 * Edward Hyde (died 1665), British MP for Salisbury
 * Edward Hyde, 3rd Earl of Clarendon (1661–1723), Governor of New York and New Jersey
 * Edward Hyde (Governor of North Carolina) (1667–1712), first Governor of North Carolina (January–September 1712)
 * Edward Hyde (fictional character), The Antagonist of Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde
 * Edward Hyde (Northamptonshire cricketer) (1881–1941), cricketer
 * Edward Hyde (Cambridge cricketer), cricketer

title: Edward Hyde


text:
Floriana

Floriana (Il-Furjana or Il-Floriana), also known by its title Borgo Vilhena, is a fortified town in the Port Region area of Malta, just outside the capital city Valletta. It has a population of 2,205 as of March 2014. Floriana is the birthplace of many famous Maltese, amongst which the composer of the national anthem, 'L-Innu Malti', Robert Samut; former Bishop of Malta Dun Mauro Caruana, the poets Oliver Friggieri and Maria Grech Ganado, the writer and politician Herbert Ganado and Swedish Idol winner Kevin Borg.

Etymology
Floriana is named after Pietro Paolo Floriani, an Italian military engineer who designed the Floriana Lines, the line of fortifications surrounding the town. In Maltese, the town is called Il-Floriana by the local council. However, it is popularly known as Il-Furjana, and the latter is regarded as the official name by the National Council for the Maltese Language. Government sources use both variants.

The town's original official name was Borgo Vilhena (or Subborgo Vilhena) after Grand Master António Manoel de Vilhena, but the name fell out of use in favour of Floriana or Furjana. The name Borgo Vilhena is now used as a title, just like Valletta has the title Città Umilissima.

History
The origins of Floriana go back to 1636, when construction of the Floriana Lines commenced. The line of fortifications was built outside the fortifications of Valletta as an outer defensive line for the capital city. The lines were named after Pietro Paolo Floriani, the Italian military engineer who had designed them. The fortifications were partially defensible by 1640, but construction and modifications continued throughout the 17th and 18th century, being fully completed in the 1720s.

The area between the Floriana Lines and the Valletta Land Front began to be built up in 1724, when Grand Master António Manoel de Vilhena founded the suburb Borgo Vilhena.

The New Suburb 1700-1800
The new suburb, in 1746, consisted of twenty residential blocks, which were arranged on both sides of St. Anne's Street and also of the church of St. Publius which was to the north of the residential area. By the mid-eighteenth century the suburb had un- dergone some expansion, with Montgomery House built in 1730 as a country house for the Grandmaster of the time. Also during this time, under the orders of the Grandmaster, there were two Welfare Institutions built: one was the Ospizio (1732) and the other was the Conservatorio (1734). The Argotti gardens were also laid out (1741) and the trend of Religious buildings located in Floriana continued with the building of the Chapel of St. Calcedonius, dedicated in 1743, which became part of the new Seminary in 1751, (Tonna, 1979). Four new residential blocks were also laid out around the Seminary soon after.

At this time, the Knights were still in control of Malta and it was under their supervision that Floriana developed. The new gardens and buildings made Floriana a spacious and attractive suburb and a welcome contrast to the dense buildings and population of Valletta.

In 1806, 25 soldiers who had participated in the Froberg mutiny were executed at the Floriana parade ground.

Floriana in the time of the British
The British developed Floriana as a garrison town and during the nineteenth century they built several barracks within it and took over large buildings for military use. It was during this period that the Lintorn Barracks, Casemate Barracks and St. Francis Barracks were built. In this period, that is at around 1857, a school was built and there was also the development of port facilities along the wharfs on both sides of the peninsula.

In the early twentieth century, several gardens were laid out. These were the Rundle (1915), the Kalkara Gardens (1927), Luigi Preziosi (1930) and King George the Fifth. The playing fields and the hospital were also built.

Sports
The Assoċjazzjoni Sport Floriana, or Floriana Sports Association, sponsors a number of sports in the town, as well as hosting the Floriana Supporters Club. Sporting clubs include:
 * Floriana Football Club which was the most successful football club in Malta of the 20th century
 * Floriana Amateur Football Club
 * Floriana Basketball Club
 * Klabb Boċċi Floriana (trans.: Floriana Bocce Club)
 * Young Stars Hockey Club
 * Floriana AFC

The Vikings Sailing Club is also located in Floriana, though it is not associated with the Sports Association.

Patron saint
Saint Publius is one of the patron saints of Malta and also the patron saint of Floriana. The Archipresbyteral Church of Floriana is dedicated to Saint Publius, traditionally acclaimed as the first Bishop of Malta.

According to Maltese folklore, Publius supposedly lived in Malta and at one point received the Apostle Paul after the shipwreck in 60 A.D..

Publius is considered as the first Maltese saint and thus the devotion he enjoys among locals.

Pope John Paul II spoke at St. Publius Square during his two visits to Malta, and on his second visit he held the beatification of three Maltese:
 * Saint Ġorġ Preca (founder of the Society of Christian Doctrine)
 * Nazju Falzon
 * Maria Adeodata Pisani

Main sights

 * St. Publius Parish Church
 * St. Publius Square, including the Granaries
 * The Mall Gardens
 * The Floriana Lines, including Porte des Bombes
 * Wignacourt Water Tower
 * Sarria Church
 * Robert Samut Hall
 * The Valletta Waterfront, including the Church of the Flight into Egypt
 * War Memorial
 * Malta Memorial
 * King George V Recreational Grounds
 * Argotti Botanical Gardens
 * Sir Luigi Preziosi Gardens
 * Vilhena Gardens
 * Polverista
 * St. Philip's Garden
 * Herbert Ganado Gardens
 * Jubilee Grove (which demarcates the town from Ħamrun and Pietà)
 * Msida Bastion Historic Garden, near Hay Wharf, another landmark which has been restored and reportedly contains the grave of Mikiel Anton Vassalli, an 18th-century writer and reformer who is much associated with Malta's national identity.
 * Hydrofoil terminal, which is very busy during summertime with daily departures to Sicily.

Village Core

 * Pjazza Emm. S. Tonna (E.S. Tonna Square)
 * Pjazza San Kalċidonju (St. Calcidonio Square)
 * Triq il-Konservatorju (Conservatory Street)
 * Triq il-Mall (Maglio Street)
 * Triq il-Miratur (Gunlayer Street)
 * Triq is-Suq (Market Street)
 * Triq l-Argotti (Argotti Street)
 * Triq l-Iljun (Lion Street)
 * Triq l-Isqof M. Caruana (Bishop M. Caruana Street)
 * Triq San Publju (St. Publius Street)
 * Triq San Tumas (St. Thomas Street)
 * Triq Sarria (Sarria Street)
 * Trejqet il-Fosos

Government
Floriana is a leading administrative centre, hosting the Ministry and Dept of Education, the Ministry for Resources and Rural Affairs, Police Headquarters and the Public Works Dept, The Licensing and Testing Office, and Land Transport Directorate of Transport Malta, as well as other financial and commercial companies spread around the former Colonial Administrative Area of Belt-is-Sebħ. The National Audit Office along with the Department of Contracts and the Malta Environment and Planning Authority, are located in two ravelins, Notre Dame and St. Francis, respectively.

The Floriana Local Council was established in 1993 along with Malta's other local councils to administer the town. It is located at Emmanuel S. Tonna Square.

Festival
The annual Isle of MTV music festival has been held in Floriana since 2007.

Floriana is home to the Hotel Phoenicia as well as other places to stay, including boutique hotels.

Maltese Carnival
Floriana is the scene of the Maltese Carnival, held in St. Anne's Street in February leading up to Lent.

Climate
Floriana features a Mediterranean climate with warm, dry summers and mild, wet winters. Floriana experiences a lack of precipitation during the summer months and heavier precipitation during the winter months. Winter temperatures are moderated by the city’s proximity to the sea. As a result, Floriana enjoys mild winters, however windy in some areas. The official climate recording station in Malta is at Luqa Airport, which is a few miles inland from Floriana. Average high temperatures range from around 16 °C in January to about 32 °C in August, while average low temperatures range from around 10 °C in January to 23 °C in August. The Köppen Climate Classification subtype for this climate is "Csa" (Mediterranean Climate).

Music

 * Vilhena Band Club (Soċjetà Filarmonika Vilhena) was founded in 1874. The first musical director of the band was Mro. Giuseppe Borg, and the first president of the Society was Baldassare Portanier.

Floriana community services

 * St. Publius Parish Church, Triq Sarria (Sarria Street)
 * Floriana Local Council, Pjazza Emanuel S. Tonna (Emanuel S. Tonna Square)
 * Floriana Police Station, Triq Sant' Anna (St. Anne Street)
 * Floriana Malta Labour Party Club, Triq Sant' Anna (St. Anne Street)
 * Floriana Partit Nazzjonalista Club, Pjazza Sant' Anna (St. Anne Square)
 * Sir Paul Boffa Hospital, Sqaq Ħarper (Harper Lane)
 * Floriana Health Centre, Triq Franġisk Saver Fenech (Frances Xavier Fenech Street)
 * Central Public Library, Triq Joseph J. Mangion (J.J. Mangion Street)

Zones in Floriana

 * Balzunetta Named after Barcelonnette in France, hence translated to " Balzunetta"
 * Belt il-Ħażna, limits of Blata l-Bajda
 * Belt-is-Sebħ
 * Msida Bastions
 * Crown Works, limits of Blata l-Bajda
 * Fuq il-Biskuttin
 * Foss Horns
 * Foss Notre Dame
 * Ġnien tal-Milorda
 * Il-Funtana ta' Tritoni (Triton Fountain (Malta))
 * Hay Wharf (Xatt it-Tiben)
 * The Granaries (Pjazza San Publju/Il-Fosos )
 * Il-Mall
 * Independence Arena (Xagħra tal-Furjana)
 * Jubilee Grove
 * Sa Maison
 * Sarria
 * Tal-Bombi
 * Valletta Waterfront/Pinto Wharf (Xatt ta' Pinto)
 * Xatt il-Kanuni

The Granaries (Pjazza San Publju - il-Fosos)
The granaries are pits dug into the ground and covered by circular stone slabs. They were primarily used for the storage of Grain. Granaries can be found throughout Valletta and Floriana. The first granaries were built by the Knights to provide for storage within the fortifications in case of a siege. As the system of storage was reliable and efficient, the British authorities copied in all details the Knights’ granaries. The Granaries proved their worth as they continued to provide grain for the starving population during World War 2. The highest grouping of granaries (a total of 76) is found here.

‘Il-Fosos’ or The Granaries and now officially named Pjazza San Publju, is also one of the largest urban open spaces in Malta and is therefore use for mass gatherings. One important gathering was held in May 1990 during the Pope John Paul II visit to Malta. During the second Papal visit on 9 May 2001, the Pope beatified three Maltese in this square, one of whom was eventually canonised (St Gorg Preca). As Malta is a predominantly Catholic country, this is considered to be an important event in Malta’s history. A third papal visit took place on 18 April 2010 by Pope Benedict XVI. The Isle of MTV summer festival is among other major events held here.

In 2018, James Aaron Ellul started a campaign to safeguard the granaries as nobody seems ready to take ownership for damaged Granaries. Ellul, insisted that the appropriate care required to preserve the Granaries is not being provided, and that even government authorities were not taking ownership of the historical site and that the square is yet to receive a damage assessment over its constant use as a mass meeting place.

Notable people

 * Edwin Busuttil, politician and public figure
 * Oliver Friggieri, author, lecturer
 * Henry Frendo, historian, lecturer
 * Peppi Azzopardi, producer, TV Presenter
 * Michael Frendo, politician
 * Maria Grech Ganado, writer, lecturer
 * Robert Samut, music writer, doctor
 * Kevin Borg, singer
 * Mauro Caruana, bishop
 * John Holland, footballer

Twin towns – sister cities
Floriana is twinned with:
 * 🇮🇹 Macerata, Italy
 * 🇫🇷 Rieux-Volvestre, France

title: Floriana


text:
Joshua the Stylite

Joshua the Stylite (also spelled Yeshu Stylite and Ieshu Stylite) is the attributed author of a chronicle which narrates the history of the war between the Byzantine Empire and Persians between 502 and 506, and which is generally considered to be one of the earliest and most reliable historical documents to be preserved in Syriac.

The work owes its preservation to having been incorporated in the third part of the Chronicle of Zuqnin, and may probably have had a place in the second part of the Ecclesiastical History of John of Ephesus, from whom (as François Nau has shown) Pseudo-Dionysius copied all or most of the matter contained in his third part. The chronicle in question is anonymous, and Nau has shown that the note of a copyist, which was thought to assign it to the monk Joshua of Zuqnin near Amida (Diyarbakir), more probably refers to the compiler of the whole work in which it was incorporated. In any case, the author was an eyewitness of many of the events which he describes, and must have been living at Edessa during the years when it suffered so severely during the Roman–Persian Wars. He has a more complex approach to historical causation than many of his contemporaries, which takes into account human motivations, economic interests, tribal versus imperial politics, as well as the force of divine providence. For this, he has been called by some the Syriac Thucydides. His praise of Flavian II, the Chalcedonian patriarch of Antioch, in warmer terms than those in which he talk about his great Monophysite contemporaries, Jacob of Serugh and Philoxenus of Mabbog, has led some to think that he was an orthodox Catholic. But his exact religious orientation is far from being clear, since he praises the emperor Anastasius for his religious policies, which predominantly favoured the Monophysites.

The chronicle was first made known in Assemani's abridged Latin version (B O i. 260–83) and was edited in 1876 by Paulin Martin and (with an English translation) by William Wright in 1882. After an elaborate dedication to a friend the priest and abbot Sergius, a brief recapitulation of events from the death of Julian in 363 and a fuller account of the reigns of the Persian kings Peroz I (457-484) and Balash (484-488), the writer enters upon his main theme: the history of the disturbed relations between the Persian and Roman Empires from the beginning of the reign of Kavadh I (489–531), which culminated in the great war of 502–6.

From October 494 to the conclusion of peace near the end of 506, the author gives an annalistic account, with careful specification of dates, of the main events in Mesopotamia, the theatre of conflict such as the siege and capture of Amid by the Persians (502–3), their unsuccessful siege of Edessa (503), and the abortive attempt of the Romans to recover Amida (504–5). The work was probably written a few years after the conclusion of the war. The style is graphic and straightforward, and the author was evidently a man of good education and of a simple, honest mind.

A modern German translation with an extensive historical commentary was published 1997.

title: Joshua the Stylite


text:
Earl of Clarendon

Earl of Clarendon is a title that has been created twice in British history, in 1661 and 1776.

The family seat is Holywell House, near Swanmore, Hampshire.

First creation of the title
The title was created for the first time in the Peerage of England in 1661 for the statesman Edward Hyde, 1st Baron Hyde. He was Chancellor of the Exchequer from 1643 to 1646 and Lord Chancellor from 1658 to 1667 and a close political adviser to Charles II, although he later fell out of favour and was forced into exile. Hyde had already been created Baron Hyde, of Hindon in the County of Wiltshire, in 1660, and was made Viscount Cornbury, in the County of Oxford, at the same time he was given the earldom. These titles were also in the Peerage of England. His second son Laurence Hyde was also a politician and was created Earl of Rochester in 1682. Lord Clarendon's daughter Anne Hyde married the future King James II and was the mother of Queen Mary II and Queen Anne.

Lord Clarendon was succeeded by his eldest son Henry, the second Earl. He was also a politician and served as Lord Privy Seal and Lord Lieutenant of Ireland. His son, the third Earl, represented Wiltshire and Christchurch in the House of Commons and served as Governor of New York, before succeeding to the earldom; he had married Katherine, 8th Baroness Clifton, but she died in New York before becoming Countess of Clarendon. Their only son Edward Hyde, Viscount Cornbury, succeeded his mother as ninth Baron Clifton in 1706; he died ten years before his father, unmarried. The only daughter Lady Theodosia succeeded her elder brother as tenth Baroness Clifton (see the Baron Clifton for later history of this title).

Lord Clarendon was succeeded by his first cousin Henry Hyde, 2nd Earl of Rochester, who became the fourth Earl of Clarendon; he was the only son of the first Earl of Rochester. He had earlier represented Launceston in the House of Commons and served as Lord Lieutenant of Cornwall. His only surviving son and heir apparent Henry Hyde, Viscount Cornbury, was summoned to the House of Lords through a writ of acceleration in his father's junior title of Baron Hyde in 1751. However, he died childless in April 1753, eight months before the death of his father. Consequently, on Lord Clarendon's death in December 1753 all the titles became extinct.

Second creation of the title
Lady Jane Hyde, eldest daughter of the fourth Earl of Clarendon, married William Capell, 3rd Earl of Essex. Their daughter Lady Charlotte Capell married the prominent diplomat and politician Thomas Villiers, second son of William Villiers, 2nd Earl of Jersey. Villiers was Envoy to Vienna and Berlin and served as Joint Postmaster General and as Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster. In 1748 he was made a Baron of the Kingdom of Prussia, an honour which he received Royal licence to use in Great Britain, and in 1756 the barony of Hyde held by his wife's ancestors was revived when he was raised to the Peerage of Great Britain as Baron Hyde, of Hindon in the County of Wiltshire. In 1776 the earldom of Clarendon was also revived when he was made Earl of Clarendon in the Peerage of Great Britain.

Lord Clarendon was succeeded by his eldest son, the second Earl. He sat as Member of Parliament for Christchurch and Helston. He never married and was succeeded by his younger brother, the third Earl. He represented several constituencies in the House of Commons and served as Comptroller of the Household between 1789 and 1790. He had one daughter but no sons and was succeeded by his nephew, the fourth Earl. He was the eldest son of George Villiers (1759–1827), third son of the first Earl. Known as the "Great Lord Clarendon", he was a prominent diplomat and Liberal politician. He was three times Foreign Secretary of the United Kingdom and also served as Lord Privy Seal, Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster, President of the Board of Trade and Lord Lieutenant of Ireland.

Lord Clarendon was succeeded by his second but eldest surviving son, the fifth Earl. In early life he briefly represented Brecon in the House of Commons as a Liberal but later joined the Conservative Party and held minor office from 1895 to 1905 under Lord Salisbury and Arthur Balfour. On his death the titles passed to his only son, the sixth Earl. He was a Conservative politician and served under Bonar Law and Stanley Baldwin as Captain of the Honourable Corps of Gentlemen-at-Arms and Under-Secretary of State for Dominion Affairs. He was later Governor-General of South Africa from 1931 to 1937. His grandson, George, the seventh Earl, who succeeded in 1955 died in July 2009. He was the only son of George Herbert Arthur Edward Hyde Villiers, Lord Hyde, who died in 1935. The title has passed to his son, George, eighth earl.

As descendants of the second Earl of Jersey, the Earls of Clarendon are also in remainder to that peerage and its subsidiary titles.

Several other members of this branch of the Villiers family have also gained distinction. Thomas Hyde Villiers, second son of George Villiers (third son of the first Earl), represented three constituencies in the House of Commons before his early death in 1832. His son Reverend Charles Villiers was the father of 1) Edward Cecil Villiers, a Rear-Admiral in the Royal Navy, whose son Sir Michael Villiers was a vice-admiral in the Royal Navy and Fourth Sea Lord from 1960 to 1963, and 2) Ernest Amherst Villiers, Liberal Member of Parliament for Brighton from 1906 to 1910. The successful businessman and racehorse owner Charles Villiers (born 1963) who co-founded the local newspaper company Score Press Limited, which was sold for £155 million in 2005, is the great-great-great grandson of the aforementioned Thomas Villiers MP. Charles Pelham Villiers, third son of George Villiers, was a prominent Liberal politician and served as President of the Poor Law Board (with a seat in the cabinet) from 1859 to 1866. Between 1890 and 1898 he was Father of the House of Commons.

The Conservative politician Theresa Villiers is the great-great-great-granddaughter of Edward Ernest Villiers, fourth son of George Villiers. Henry Montagu Villiers, fifth son of George Villiers, was Bishop of Durham from 1860 until his death the following year. Sir Francis Hyde Villiers, fourth and youngest son of the fourth Earl, was a diplomat and served as British Ambassador to Belgium from 1919 to 1920. His grandson was the actor James Villiers.

The family main home is Holywell House, Swanmore, Hampshire. The family's main home 1753-1923 was the largest of the three main manors of Watford, the Grove which is today a hotel in Sarratt (civil parish).

The Earls of Clarendon had the property of Kenilworth Castle in 1670-1937.

Earls of Clarendon, First creation (1661)

 * Edward Hyde, 1st Earl of Clarendon (1609–1674)
 * Henry Hyde, 2nd Earl of Clarendon (1638–1709)
 * Edward Hyde, 3rd Earl of Clarendon (1661–1723)
 * Edward Hyde, Viscount Cornbury, 9th Baron Clifton (1691–1713)
 * Henry Hyde, 4th Earl of Clarendon, 2nd Earl of Rochester (1672–1753)
 * Henry Hyde, Viscount Cornbury, 5th Baron Hyde (1710–1753)

Earls of Clarendon, Second creation (1776)

 * Thomas Villiers, 1st Earl of Clarendon (1709–1786)
 * Thomas Villiers, 2nd Earl of Clarendon (1753–1824)
 * John Charles Villiers, 3rd Earl of Clarendon (1757–1838)
 * George William Frederick Villiers, 4th Earl of Clarendon (1800–1870)
 * Edward Hyde Villiers, Lord Hyde (1845–1846)
 * Edward Hyde Villiers, 5th Earl of Clarendon (1846–1914)
 * George Herbert Hyde Villiers, 6th Earl of Clarendon (1877–1955)
 * George Herbert Arthur Edward Hyde Villiers, Lord Hyde (1906–1935)
 * George Frederick Laurence Hyde Villiers, 7th Earl of Clarendon (1933–2009)
 * George Edward Laurence Villiers, 8th Earl of Clarendon (b. 1976)

Present peer
George Edward Laurence Villiers, 8th Earl of Clarendon (born 12 February 1976) is the only son of the 7th Earl and his wife Jane Diana Dawson. He married Bryonie V. L. Leask, daughter of Major-General Anthony de Camborne Lowther Leask, while still styled as Lord Hyde. He was Page of Honour to Queen Elizabeth II in 1988. On 4 July 2009 he succeeded as Earl of Clarendon and Baron Hyde of Hindon. The heir apparent is the present holder's eldest son Edward George James Villiers, Lord Hyde (born 2008).

title: Earl of Clarendon