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Civil partnership in the United Kingdom

Civil partnership in the United Kingdom is a form of civil union between couples open to both same-sex couples and opposite-sex couples. It was introduced via the Civil Partnership Act 2004 by the Labour government. The Act initially permitted only same-sex couples to form civil partnerships, but the law was expanded to include opposite-sex couples in 2019.

History
Civil partnerships were introduced for same-sex couples under the terms of the Civil Partnership Act 2004. Before this, an informal London Partnership Register had been set up in 2001 by then-Mayor of London Ken Livingstone but without any legal recognition.

In February 2018, the United Kingdom and Scottish governments began reviewing civil partnerships, potentially to expand them to include opposite-sex couples. In June 2018, the Supreme Court of the United Kingdom ruled that restricting civil partnerships to same-sex couples was incompatible with the rights guaranteed by the European Convention on Human Rights as enacted in Schedule 1 to the Human Rights Act 1998. The UK Government was obliged to change the law to allow opposite-sex couples in England and Wales to enter into civil partnerships. This change was unsuccessfully opposed by the Church of England and many Christian denominations.

Opposite-sex couples have been able to enter into civil partnerships in England and Wales since 2 December 2019. Similar reforms have been in place in Northern Ireland since 13 January 2020. In Scotland, legislation to allow opposite-sex civil partnerships passed the Scottish Parliament on 23 June 2020. These changes extend the legal recognition of relationships granted under the Civil Partnership Act 2004, allowing couples irrespective of sex to obtain essentially the same rights and responsibilities as civil marriage.

Civil partners are entitled to the same property rights as married couples, the same exemption as married couples on inheritance tax, social security and pension benefits, and also the ability to obtain parental responsibility for a partner's children, as well as responsibility for reasonable maintenance of one's partner and their children, tenancy rights, full life insurance recognition, next of kin rights in hospitals, and others.

When the Marriage (Same Sex Couples) Act 2013 legalised same-sex marriage in England and Wales in March 2014, civil partnerships remained available to same-sex couples and granted those couples in a civil partnership the ability to convert their civil partnership into a marriage. The equivalent Marriage and Civil Partnership (Scotland) Act 2014 does not grant that ability to couples in Scotland, but includes provisions for its later introduction, and does permit those already in civil partnership to marry without first dissolving the mutual civil partnership; it is not possible to have both. When same-sex marriage became legal in Northern Ireland on 13 January 2020, couples married elsewhere were legally recognised as married in Northern Ireland. Couples in Northern Ireland have been allowed to convert their civil partnerships into marriages since 7 December 2020.

Law and procedure
A civil partnership is a relationship between two people, formed when they register as civil partners of each other, which ends only on death, dissolution or annulment. Part 2 of the Act relates to England and Wales, Part 3 to Scotland and Part 4 to Northern Ireland.

Formation and registration
A civil partnership is formed once both individuals have signed the civil partnership document in the presence of a registrar and two witnesses.

Under the standard procedure, before registration, each party will usually have to give notice to the appropriate authority. Each party must have resided in the British jurisdiction in which they intend to register (England and Wales or Northern Ireland) for at least seven days immediately preceding the giving of notice, and there will, in most cases, be a fifteen-day waiting period after notice is given.

A civil partnership in Wales (Partneriaeth Sifil) may be conducted either in English or – provided that both registering parties, the registrar and witnesses are able to understand and write in the Welsh language – in Welsh. Civil partnership documents issued in Wales (regardless of the registering language) follow a standardised bilingual English and Welsh format.

In Scotland there is no minimum residence requirement to contract a valid partnership.

During the waiting period, the proposed partnership is publicised and anyone may make a formal objection. If there is such an objection, the proposed civil partnership cannot be formed unless the objection is withdrawn or if the registration authority is satisfied that the objection ought not to prevent the formation of the civil partnership. Provided no objection has been recorded, or any recorded objections have been cleared, the registration authority must issue a civil partnership schedule at the request of either party upon the expiration of the waiting period. The civil partnership must then be registered within twelve months of the notice first being given.

Specific registration procedures apply to certain special circumstances, e.g. concerning the housebound, detained persons and those seriously ill and in danger of death.

Eligibility
Each party to the civil partnership must be at least 16 years of age. Anyone below 18 years of age will usually need parental consent, except in Scotland where such consent is not required. Furthermore, the parties to the proposed partnership must not be within the prohibited degrees of relationship specified in part 1 of schedule 1, paragraphs 1 and 2 of the Act (paragraph 3 was not brought into force following a ruling from the European Court of Human Rights against similar provisions for marriage). Any party who is already in a marriage or a civil partnership is ineligible to register.

Where permitted, civil partnerships may be registered at British embassies or consulates-general. As of October 2009, the British Embassy in France listed 28 such places as being authorised to hold civil partnerships. For such registrations, at least one partner must be a British citizen. Overseas couples wishing to register their partnership in the UK must reside in the country for seven days prior to application for the partnership, and wait a further fifteen days before the civil partnership may be formed.

Venues
It is prohibited for civil partnerships to include any readings, music or symbols that are religious. It was originally prohibited for the ceremonies to take place in religious venues. On 17 February 2011, the UK government announced that, as the result of the passing of the Equality Act 2010, it would bring forward the necessary measures to remove the latter restriction in England and Wales, although religious venues would not be compelled to offer civil partnerships. This was implemented by The Marriages and Civil Partnerships (Approved Premises) (Amendment) Regulations 2011. The first civil partnership to be registered in a place of worship in the UK was at Ullet Road Unitarian Church in Liverpool on 6 May 2012.

Same-sex marriage
On 26 September 2011, the Home Office published the following statement on its website:

A public consultation to consider how to make civil marriage available to same-sex couples will begin in March 2012, the government announced today.

As part of its commitment to advancing equality for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender individuals the government announced in February this year its intention to look at how legislation could develop on equal civil marriage. Minister for Equalities Lynne Featherstone said:

"I am delighted to confirm that early next year, this government will begin a formal consultation on equal civil marriage for same-sex couples. This would allow us to make any legislative changes before the end of this Parliament. We will be working closely with all those who have an interest in the area to understand their views ahead of the formal consultation."

The consultation will only cover civil marriage for same sex couples – not religious marriage.

It falls within the respective jurisdictions of the Scottish Parliament and Northern Ireland Assembly to decide whether or not to remove the restrictions in the areas of civil partnerships and marriage. From September to December 2011, the Scottish Government held a consultation on not only removing religious prohibitions for civil partnerships but also legalising same-sex marriage within that country. In the foreword to the consultation document, Deputy First Minister, Nicola Sturgeon stated"'The Scottish Government is choosing to make its initial views clear at the outset of this consultation. We tend towards the view that religious ceremonies for civil partnerships should no longer be prohibited and that same sex marriage should be introduced so that same sex couples have the option of getting married if that is how they wish to demonstrate their commitment to each other. We also believe that no religious body or its celebrants should be required to carry out same sex marriages or civil partnership ceremonies.'"

Unlike the English and Welsh Consultation due to begin in March 2012, the Consultation for Scotland dealt with the issue of same-sex marriage in a religious context. On 10 December 2011, The Scotsman newspaper reported that some 50,000 responses had been received and that a government spokesperson stated that an analysis would be published in the spring of 2012. Despite the legalisation of same-sex marriage by the Scottish Parliament in February 2014, the Government of Scotland has yet to decide whether or not to open civil partnerships to opposite-sex couples. Other aspects of Scotland's Marriage and Civil Partnership Act which legalised same-sex marriage in Scotland and relate to civil partnership include:
 * Possible tests for religious and belief bodies to meet when solemnising marriages or registering civil partnerships, in light of increasing concerns over sham and forced marriages
 * Introducing religious and belief ceremonies to register civil partnerships

Changes of gender
The Gender Recognition Act 2004 allows transgender people to obtain legal recognition for their 'acquired gender' allowing individuals to obtain a change in sex on birth certificates. Under special provisions of the Civil Partnership Act 2004, in such situations a couple may dissolve their marriage and enter into a civil partnership the same day, and under the provision of the Civil Partnerships, Marriages and Deaths (Registration etc) Act 2019 a same-sex marriage can be converted to an opposite-sex civil partnership. Alternatively they can stay married or in a civil partnership if their spouse signs a statutory declaration that they agree to the gender change changing the opposite sex marriage into a same sex marriage or vice versa.

Overseas relationships
Where a same-sex couple has registered an overseas relationship which is specified in Schedule 20 of the Civil Partnership Act, or meet certain general conditions, they are treated as having formed a civil partnership. The requirements can be found in section 212 and sections 215 to 218 of the Act.

For an overseas relationship to meet the general conditions it must, under the law of the country or territory in which it was formed:

 * be exclusive in nature (i.e., the law must not permit a person to be in a civil or marital relationship with more than one person);
 * be indeterminate in duration (this would exclude an arrangement whereby the parties agreed to live together for a fixed period of time); and
 * result in the parties being treated as a couple (thus excluding local registers which have no legal effects under state/provincial or national law).

Property and financial arrangements
The position of civil partners in relation to financial arrangements mirrors that of spouses. For instance, Section 11 of the Married Women's Property Act 1882 applies to civil partnerships; thus, money payable to a surviving partner under a policy of life assurance no longer forms part of the deceased partner's estate.

The laws governing wills, administration of estates and family provisions also apply to civil partners as to spouses; thus, provisions governing financial relief under Part 2 of the Matrimonial Causes Act 1973 (MCA) and the Domestic Proceedings and Magistrates' Court Act 1978 also apply to civil partnerships. Tax exemptions available to spouses under s.18 of the Inheritance Tax Act 1984 are available to civil partners under the Civil Partnership Act 2004. In Scotland the centuries-old system of minimum legal rights to a deceased estate for a widowed spouse were expressly extended to civil partners by section 131 of Act.

In any dispute between civil partners as to title or possession of property, either partner may apply to the Court, which can then make any order in relation to the property, including an order to sell such property. Contributions by either partner to property improvement are recognised if the contributions are substantial and in actual money or money's worth.

Children
When dealing with an application for dissolution, nullity or separation where there is a child in the family, the Court must consider if it should exercise its powers under the Children Act 1989. Section 75 amends the definition of 'a child of the family' accordingly.

Other amendments were also made to equalise the position of civil partners with that of spouses. Civil partners are able to acquire parental responsibilities as a stepparent under Section 75 of the Act. They may also apply for residence or contact orders. Further, the right to apply for financial provision for children under schedule 1 of the 1989 act was extended to civil partners. Adoption provisions were amended to treat civil partners the same as married couples in Britain, although this does not apply to Northern Ireland at 18 November 2011. The Northern Ireland Adoption law is due to go to the judicial review in December 2011.

Other provisions
The Act also amended other areas to equalise the position of civil partners. Such areas included matters relating to housing, tenancies and the Fatal Accidents Act 1976. Applicable parts of the Family Law Act 1996 were also amended.

Name changing
There is no requirement that either party must change their surname upon entering a civil partnership. However, many couples wish to follow marital traditions and seek to change their surname to that of either partner, or combine their names to make a double-barrelled surname. This change can be made after the civil partnership is registered, and authorities will accept a certificate of civil partnership as evidence of name change, e.g. when applying for a passport or a driving licence. In Scotland, names need not be changed to be considered valid (deeds poll do not exist under Scots law), though some English-based companies may still ask for proof from an official such as a Justice of the Peace. Civil partners of male peers or knights do not receive a courtesy title to which the spouse of a peer or knight would be entitled.

Ending the partnership
Section 37(1) of the Act provides for the making of dissolution, nullity, separation and presumption of death orders. These provisions broadly mirror those governing marriage.

Dissolution
No applications for dissolution may be made within one year of the formation of the civil partnership, except in Scotland. Like marriage, irretrievable breakdown is the only ground on which the court may make a dissolution order. Also, Section 44 provides that the Court may not make such an order unless the applicant satisfies as to certain facts which are the same as those for divorce under the Matrimonial Causes Act 1973 (MCA), except that adultery cannot be relied on for a civil partnership dissolution: the respondent's behaviour, 2 years' separation and consent, 2 years' desertion or 5 years' separation. If the applicant satisfies the court in this respect, the court must make a dissolution order unless it is not convinced by the evidence that the partnership has indeed broken down irretrievably. The MCA section 5 defence is also available. While adultery cannot be cited as a reason in itself for dissolving a civil partnership, it could be cited as an example of unreasonable behaviour.

As with the breakdown of a marriage, the court will have powers to provide financial relief upon dissolution of a Civil Partnership. The court may make Maintenance and lump sum orders, Orders for Sale, Pension Sharing Orders or Property Adjustment Orders.

Nullity, separation and presumption of death orders
A nullity order is one which annuls a void or voidable civil partnership. Section 49 of the Act provides that a civil partnership is void on grounds of ineligibility to register, if the parties: disregarded certain requirements as to the formation of the partnership, where any party is a minor, where any person whose consent is required (e.g. a parent) has forbidden the formation of the partnership and the court has not given its consent. Where a civil partnership is voidable, applications for nullity orders are subject to the bars of time, knowledge of defect and approbation.

A presumption of death order dissolves the partnership on the grounds that one of the partners is presumed to be dead, while a separation order provides for the separation of the parties. These orders are governed by Sections 55 and 56 of the Act and they largely mirror the position for married couples.

Differences from marriage
The contracts of marriage and civil partnerships are very similar though there are some technical differences: venereal disease is a ground for annulment of marriage, but not civil partnership; adultery is a ground for divorce, but not dissolution of civil union; and titles may not be inherited or passed to partners of a civil partnership. Where laws differ for wife and husband, both partners are generally treated like opposite-sex couples. Otherwise, the rules for pensions, survivor benefits, annulment and dissolution are very similar.

The first same-sex civil partnerships
The first civil partnership formed under the Civil Partnership Act 2004 took place at 11:00 GMT on 5 December 2005 between Matthew Roche and Christopher Cramp at St Barnabas Hospice, Worthing, West Sussex. The statutory 15-day waiting period was waived as Roche was suffering from a terminal illness: he died the following day. The first partnership registered after the normal waiting period was held in Belfast on 19 December 2005.

The first partnerships formed in Great Britain, after the waiting period, should have occurred on 21 December, but due to a misinterpretation of the rules, the first in Scotland were held on 20 December. The first civil partnerships in England and Wales were formed on 21 December 2005, with Westminster, Hampshire, The Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea, Hammersmith and Fulham and Brighton & Hove conducting the largest numbers.

Responses from churches
Civil partnerships were introduced to allow same-sex couples almost identical advantages to marriage without using the word, and were designed to sidestep opposition from Christian churches, especially the Church of England and Catholic Church, which regarded the initiative as undermining conventional marriage.

On 17 February 2011, the UK Government announced its intention to remove the legal barrier to civil partnerships being registered on religious premises by implementing section 202 of the Equality Act 2010, and ran a consultation on this proposal from 31 March to 23 June 2011, and published a summary of its findings on 4 November 2011. The Marriages and Civil Partnerships (Approved Premises) (Amendment) Regulations 2011 came into force on December 2011. This voluntary provision allowed religious organisations that wish to do so to host civil partnership registrations on their religious premises. Faith groups which have applied to have their premises approved for the registration of civil partnerships include the Society of Friends (Quakers), Spiritualists, Unitarians, and United Reformed Church. The first civil partnership to be registered in a place of worship in the UK was at Ullet Road Unitarian Church, Liverpool, on 6 May 2012.

Church of England
As the established church in England, the Church of England has discussed and established guidelines for clergy entering into civil partnerships. Within the guidelines, "The House of Bishops does not regard entering into a civil partnership as intrinsically incompatible with holy orders, provided the person concerned is willing to give assurances to his or her bishop that the relationship is consistent with the standards for the clergy...The House of Bishops considers it would be a matter of social injustice to exclude from ministry those who are faithful to the teaching of the Church, and who decide to register a civil partnership."

In 2010, the General Synod extended pension and employee rights to clergy who have entered in a same-sex civil partnership. In 2013, the church ruled that priests in civil partnerships could become bishops. Speaking on its support for partnerships, the church has communicated that "The Church of England recognises that same-sex relationships often embody fidelity and mutuality. Civil partnerships enable these Christian virtues to be recognised socially and legally in a proper framework." The Anglican Church was also among the institutions that supports keeping civil partnerships as a legal option. In 2018, the Church said "We believe that Civil Partnerships still have a place, including for some Christian LGBTI [lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex] couples who see them as a way of gaining legal recognition of their relationship."

In December 2023, the Church authorised blessings for same-sex couples following a civil partnership or marriage during ordinary church services. Informal prayers may also be said with couples as the Chancellor of the Diocese of London explained, "There is no prohibition on prayers' being said in church or there being a 'service'".

The Church of England Archbishops' Council confirmed that:

 * Clergy may enter into a civil partnership as this does not conflict with the church's doctrine on marriage
 * Clergy may offer "prayers of support" on behalf of same-sex couples following a civil partnership or civil marriage

Statistics
18,059 couples entered into a civil partnership between December 2005 and the end of December 2006, with a further 8,728 taking place in 2007, 7,169 in 2008, 6,281 in 2009, 6,385 in 2010, and 6,795 in 2011.

The end of 2011 also saw a total of 53,417 civil partnerships between 106,834 people, meaning estimates by the 2004 Labour government of between 11,000 and 22,000 people entering partnerships by 2010 were less than a fifth of the actual amount. 25.5% of civil partnerships in the UK were granted in London, followed by Brighton and Hove. The average age for a civil partnership was 40 for men and 38 for women in 2011.

By 2009, 487 couples in 20 countries were registered at British Consulates. Six of these countries have since legislated for same-sex marriage, civil partnerships or something similar. British Embassies in a further nine countries are licensed to conduct British Civil Partnership but had yet to perform their first.

In 2020, 7,566 opposite-sex civil partnerships were formed in England and Wales, of which 7,208 were registered in England and 358 in Wales. This is the first year in which statistics on opposite-sex civil partnerships were gathered. In comparison, 785 civil partnerships formed between same-sex couples in England and Wales in 2020, of which 745 were registered in England and 40 in Wales; 2020 saw the lowest number of same-sex civil partnerships recorded since 2005.

In the Crown dependencies and British overseas territories
Most of the overseas territories have not indicated plans to introduce civil partnerships. The British Crown dependency of Jersey has civil partnerships available, but only for same sex couples; a law to allow for opposite-sex civil partnerships was passed by the States Assembly on 3 March 2022 and, following approval by the Privy Council, will take effect by the end of 2022. Both opposite-sex couples and same-sex couples within the Falkland Islands, Isle of Man and Gibraltar have civil marriage and civil partnerships available as of 2016.

Civil partnerships are legal within the Cayman Islands following enactment of the Civil Partnership Law on 4 September 2020.

Civil partnerships for opposite-sex couples
After the establishment of civil partnerships, several individuals and groups advocated extension to opposite-sex couples. A campaign group known as Equal Civil Partnerships was organised, specifically to call upon the government to extend civil partnerships to all couples. A London couple, Rebecca Steinfeld and Charles Keidan, sued for recognition of their relationship as a civil partnership, but were unsuccessful in the High Court on 29 January 2016 and again in the Court of Appeal on 21 February 2017. The Civil Partnership Act 2004 (Amendment) Bill 2016–17, a private member's bill, was filed by Tim Loughton on 21 July 2016 to amend the Civil Partnership Act 2004 and extend civil partnerships to opposite-sex couples, but after second reading debate took place on 13 January 2017, further debate was postponed and eventually cancelled due to the calling of a general election in June 2017.

By July 2016, the Isle of Man was the only part of the British Isles where both same- and opposite-sex couples could choose between civil partnership and marriage. The Isle made this possible at the same time as the legalisation of same-sex marriage in the territory.

In June 2018, the Supreme Court ruled in the Steinfeld-Keidan case that restricting civil partnerships to same-sex couples was discriminatory and mandated that the Government change the law, though did not set a timeline for doing so. In response, the Prime Minister announced in October 2018 that civil partnerships would be opened to heterosexual couples.

On 19 July 2017, a bill, the Civil Partnerships, Marriages and Deaths (Registration etc) Act Bill requiring the Secretary of State to issue regulations amending the Civil Partnership Act, so that opposite-sex couples may enter into civil partnerships was introduced by Tim Loughton as a private member's bill through the ballot of private members. The bill received royal assent on 26 March 2019 and came into effect on the same day. Section 2 of the Act required the Secretary of State to amend the Civil Partnership Act 2004 by 31 December 2019, so that people of the opposite sex could enter into civil partnerships. The regulations came into effect on 2 December 2019, the date upon which opposite-sex couples could register their intent to form a civil partnership. This expansion of civil partnerships to opposite-sex couples applied only in England and Wales, and not Scotland or Northern Ireland.

Steinfeld and Keidan became one of the first mixed-sex civil partners in the UK on 31 December 2019, with a ceremony at Kensington and Chelsea Register Office. 167 opposite-sex couples entered into civil partnerships on the same day in England and Wales.

Northern Ireland and Scotland
Civil partnerships became available to opposite-sex couples in Northern Ireland on 13 January 2020. This change came at the same time as the UK Government issued regulations extending same-sex marriage to Northern Ireland. The Scottish Government introduced legislation allowing opposite-sex civil partnerships to the Scottish Parliament on 30 September 2019, and the bill passed the parliament by a vote of 64–0 on 23 June 2020. It received royal assent on 28 July 2020 and has been in effect since 1 June 2021.

title: Civil partnership in the United Kingdom


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William Daniel Phillips

William Daniel Phillips (born November 5, 1948) is an American physicist. He shared the Nobel Prize in Physics, in 1997, with Steven Chu and Claude Cohen-Tannoudji.

Biography
Phillips was born to William Cornelius Phillips of Juniata, Pennsylvania, and Mary Catherine Savino of Ripacandida, Italy. He is of Italian descent on his mother's side and of Welsh descent on his father's side. His parents moved to Camp Hill (near Harrisburg, Pennsylvania) in 1959, where he attended high school and graduated valedictorian of his class in 1966. He graduated from Juniata College in 1970 summa cum laude. After that he received his physics doctorate from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. In 1978 he joined National Bureau of Standards (currently NIST).

In 1996, he received the Albert A. Michelson Medal from The Franklin Institute.

Phillips' doctoral thesis concerned the magnetic moment of the proton in H2O. He later did some work with Bose–Einstein condensates. In 1997 he won the Nobel Prize in Physics together with Claude Cohen-Tannoudji and Steven Chu for his contributions to laser cooling, a technique to slow the movement of gaseous atoms in order to better study them, at the National Institute of Standards and Technology, and especially for his invention of the Zeeman slower.

Phillips is also a professor of physics, which is part of the University of Maryland College of Computer, Mathematical, and Natural Sciences at University of Maryland, College Park.

Phillips is one of the 20 American recipients of the Nobel Prize in Physics to sign a letter addressed to President George W. Bush in May 2008, urging him to "reverse the damage done to basic science research in the Fiscal Year 2008 Omnibus Appropriations Bill" by requesting additional emergency funding for the Department of Energy’s Office of Science, the National Science Foundation, and the National Institute of Standards and Technology.

He was one of the 35 Nobel laureates who signed a letter urging President Obama to provide a stable $15 billion per year support for clean energy research, technology and demonstration.

He is one of three well-known scientists and Methodist laity who have involved themselves in the religion and science dialogue. The other two scientists and fellow Methodists are chemist Charles Coulson and 1981 Nobel laureate Arthur Leonard Schawlow.

In October 2010, Phillips participated in the USA Science and Engineering Festival's lunch with a laureate program where middle and high school students got to engage in an informal conversation with a Nobel Prize-winning scientist over a brown-bag lunch. Phillips is also a member of the USA Science and Engineering Festival's advisory board.

Awards and honors
Phillips has been awarded numerous honors.

 * Outstanding Young Scientist Award of the Maryland Academy of Sciences, 1982.
 * Silver Medal of the Department of Commerce, 1983
 * Samuel Wesley Stratton Award of the National Bureau of Standards, 1987
 * Arthur S. Flemming Award of the Washington Downtown Jaycees, 1988
 * Gold Medal of the Dept. of Commerce, 1993.
 * Election to American Academy of Arts and Sciences 1995
 * Election as a NIST Fellow, 1995
 * Michelson Medal of the Franklin Institute 1996
 * Election to the National Academy of Sciences 1997
 * Nobel Prize in Physics 1997
 * Arthur L. Schawlow Prize in Laser Science (APS) 1998
 * Golden Plate Award of the American Academy of Achievement 1999
 * Richtmeyer Award of the Am. Assoc. of Physics Teachers 2000
 * Election to the European Academy of Arts, Sciences and Humanities (titular member), 2000
 * Appointed an Academician of the Pontifical Academy of Sciences 2004.
 * Presidential Rank Award, 2005
 * Service to America Award – Career Achievement - 2006
 * Honorary Liveryman of the Worshipful Company of Scientific Instrument Makers

Personal life
Phillips married Jane Van Wynen shortly before he went to MIT. Neither had been regular churchgoers early in their marriage. However, in 1979, they joined the Fairhaven United Methodist Church in Gaithersburg, Maryland because they appreciated its diversity. He is a founding member of the International Society for Science and Religion. He and his wife have two daughters; Caitlin Phillips (born 1979) who founded Rebound Designs, and Christine Phillips (b 1981) who works in Science Communication.

During a seminar at the University of Maryland Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry titled Coherent Atoms in Optical Lattices Phillips stated, "Rubidium is God's gift to Bose–Einstein condensates."

license: Creative Commons - Attribution Share-Alike - https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/

title: William Daniel Phillips


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User:Daeron/Scratch

The country is the western half of New Guinea, the world's largest tropical island and archipelago; sharing its eastern border with Papua New Guinea. The islands are mountainous, with some active volcanoes; the climate is tropical except at higher altitudes; and vegetation is luxuriant with a predominance of rain forests.

Papuans are Melanesian, a Pacific ethnic people with dark complexion including those of the Solomons, Vanuatu, New Caledonia and Fiji. Like the mountains of Greece, Papua has developed a diversity of separate cultures and languages; it has 312 known cultures / languages and over two hundred additional dialects.

West Papua has been an Indonesia territory since being annexed in 1969; the region has had several names West New Guinea, West Papua (1961), Irian Barat, Irian Jaya (1973), and is currently known as  Propinsi Papua, Indonesia (2002). Note that the name Papua is the original name of New Guinea, and is still used worldwide including Indonesia.

History
New Guinea is also known as Papua and the indigenous people who have lived throughout the island for an estimated forty to fifty thousand years are known as Papuan. They have always considered themselves part of a wider spread society which is today known as Melanesia, a Pacific cultural group which also shares common ancestry.

It is believed the first European sighting was by the Portuguese, Don Jorge de Meneses, who in 1526 named the island Papua after seeing its north west coast; and it was the Dutch vessel Duyfken which first recorded its travel along the southern coast of west Papua and south into the Australian Gulf of Carpentaria around 1605.

In 1828, in Europe the Dutch claimed the south coast west of the 141st meridian and in 1848 of the north coast west of Humboldt Bay, with the first Christian missionaries arriving during the 1860's. In treaties of 1885 and 1895 Britain and Germany recognized the Dutch claims and Holland quickly sent expeditions to establish trading or administrative posts in Fak-Fak and Manokwari in 1898. In 1910 Holland founded a capital city and seaport called Hollandia at Humboldt Bay.

The Papuan people welcome the Dutch as fellow traders conditional to mutually acceptable behaviour. The majority of the estimated 800 villages of West Papua would have been unawares of the Dutch claim to their country. The first known independence movement was not until the 1930's when Papuans from a teacher's college discussed the need for a national government, first amongst themselves and later the wider community and its three hundred languages.

In 1942 the northern coast and nearby islands came under Japanese occupation before being liberated by the Allies in 1944. With Papuan cooperation a huge US military base was constructed at Hollandia (now Jayapura), it was from this new Papuan headquarters that Gen. MacArthur launched his return to the Philippines. Some Papuans were also recuited to aid the Americans with regional knowledge and language skills.

The Dutch retained possession of West Papua from 1945; but nearly 4,000 km to the west the people of Java were encouraged by Japanese Imperial officers to create a new country from Dutch possessions. Though loath to relinquish lands to a social elite which Holland suspected of being collaborators, the Dutch in 1949 gave independence to a new nation called Indonesia. Indonesia immediately demanded possession of Dutch Borneo and Dutch New Guinea.

In 1952, the Netherlands recognized Papuan self-determination as a right in accordance with Article 73 of the Charter of the United Nations, and began preparing the nation for independence. The territory was given a governor and an administration of its own, directly under the Hague. After repeated Indonesian claims for Papua, Holland invited Indonesia to present their claim to an International Court of Law, they declined. Concerned that invasion might be a possibility, Holland accelerated its education and technical programs in preparation for independence.

In 1961, a New Guinea Council, the first parliament, was installed; and the Dutch Foreign Minister, Joseph Luns, launched a plan to involve the UN in the transition of West New Guinea to recognised independence. The Brazzaville Group, a coalition of twelve African countries, also supported this UN aided transition to independence. On 19 October the Papuan National Committee elected a national anthem, the Papuan flag (Morning Star), and ''West Papua" as their nation title. West Papua declared independence December 1, 1961, with West Papuans providing policing and other services.

Independence was short lived. On December 19, 1961, Indonesia commenced a guerrilla war against Dutch forces including a minor naval battle January 19, 1962.

As later revealed in US Dept. of State documents (see Refer to US Dept. State declassified Summary of South East Asian Foreign Policy for 1962, third paragraph), the US become convinced it was in danger of the Domino theory of communist conquest. As a result Indonesia gained United States support for their invasion and claim in exchange for their non-engagement with the Soviet Union. Unknown to the Papuans, the Netherlands was pressured (see US letter to Dutch PM) into negotiations with Indonesia which in August produced the "New York Agreement". The Australian government, which had been a firm supporter of the Dutch independence position until then, also reversed its policy.

The agreement, ratified in the UN September 21, 1962, stipulated the Dutch would transfer authority to a United Nations Temporary Executive Authority (UNTEA) on October 1, 1962, and the UNTEA to hand the territory to Indonesia on May 1, 1963, until a UN-conducted "Act of Free Choice" could determine the will of the people.

Since 1962 consistent reports have surfaced of programs of suppression (see West Papuan Genocide) including mass murder, aerial bombardments; imprisonment; and torture. The Papuan population then commenced their resistance to Indonesian integration and occupation, both from through civil disobedience such as raising their national flag the Morning Star, and the forming of the Organisasi Papua Merdeka (OPM, or Free Papua Movement) in 1964.

In 1969 the UN allowed Indonesia to conduct the poll of Papuan will. Indonesia deemed public voting was unnecessary and the military selected representatives accordingly, then provided some training in the Indonesian language and wishes; and finally these selected people were ready to line up and provide a public vote for the assembled troops and two western observers. The observers left after witnessing the first two hundred votes for integration.

In August 1969, Indonesia deemed Papuans had voted in support of integration into Indonesia and formally annexed the territory.

Aerial bombardment of the Akimuga homelands in 1977 announce construction of the worlds largest copper and gold mine (also the worlds largest open cut mine). Under a Indonesian agreement signed in 1967 two years before the "Act of Free Will", the US company of Freeport-McMoRan Copper & Gold Inc. holds a 30 year exclusive mining license for the region from the official opening (1981). Though locals make several violent attempts to dissuade the mine owners including blowing up a pipeline in July; these are easily stopped.

The 1990s saw Indonesia accelerate its Transmigration Program and ship approximately 1.2 million Islamic Javanese into Papua (mostly Catholic and Protestant) during the next ten years or so. As the new settlers are based in town, whereas the Melanesian Papuans are dispersed throughout the country including its mountainous interior, this changes the demographics.

A West Papuan congress in 2000 again calling for independence resulted in a military crackdown on independence supporters. In 2001 a now majority Islamic population was given limited autonomy. An August 2001 US State Department travel warning advised "all travel by U.S. and other foreign government officials to Aceh, Papua and the Moluccas (provinces of North Maluku and Maluku) has been restricted by the Indonesian government".

In 1999 it was proposed to split the province into three government controlled sectors, sparking Papuan protests (see external article). In 2003 Megawati signed her order dividing Papua into three Islamic controlled provinces: Central Papua (Papua Tengah), Papua (or East Papua - Papua Timur), and West Papua (Papua Barat); though this has yet to be implimented.

Indonesian Government
Indonesia has a form of government which is unique in the world; though it has achieved a form of democracy for the population of Java since the end of the Suharto (Soeharto) regime 1998, the government remains subject to a controlling force from its military which retains 38 seats in government in addition to the political and commercial influence of its generals.

Though claimed to be a province, West Papua remains in effect a colony without authority to determine its own governance; limit commercial exploitation or decide which countries receive those profits or how they are spent; or to direct regional police forces (see colonialism). As the TNI receives over half its funding from such commercial ventures, under no circumstances should any tourist attempt social statements.

Excerpt from US Country Studies - Library of Congress about Indonesian government structure
 * "Since independence the nation has been centrally governed from Jakarta in a system in which the lines of authority, budget, and personnel appointment run outward and downward. Regional and local governments enjoy little autonomy. Their role is largely administrative: implementing policies, rules, and regulations. Regional officialdom is an extension of the Jakarta bureaucracy. The political goal is to maintain the command framework of the unitary state, even at the cost of developmental efficiency. Governments below the national level, therefore, serve essentially as subordinate administrative units through which the functional activities of Jakarta-based departments and agencies reach out into the country."

Indonesia in Jan 2003 divided West Papua into three Indonesian provinces, the formality of installing a local government for Jaraka in Papua Barat (west) took place in Feb 2003 and a governor was appointed in November; a government for Papua Tengah (central) was delayed from August 2003 due to violent local protests, it appears the creation of a government for this area has been shelved.

Background
West Papua nationalism struggle started in 1930s at the Dutch Protestant Missionary Teachers College in Mei Wondama, Manokwari, West Papua. Rev. Izaak Samuel Kijne, Principal, had taught the students on the Pan-Papuan nationalism and also composed the Hai Tanahku Papua-"Oh My Land Papua" to inspire the Melanesian folk. The teachers who graduated from the college became the source and pioneers of Pan-Papuan nationalism.

During the Pacific war, the Japanese invasion revealed to West Papuans the need to address the outside world, the Angganita movement opposed Japanese and all non-Papuan incursions. The arrival of the US troops requesting Papuan assistance help pacify the Angganita movement and reinforced the need for a Papuan nation.

In 1961 the Revolutionary Provisional Government of West Papua adopted a flag and arms on 19 October in Dakar, Senegal. The Dutch recognized these symbols on 18 November 1961 (Government Gazettes of Dutch New Guinea Nos. 68 and 69). An elected Niew Guinea Raad (New Guinea Council) became the first Papuan Parliament. When Indonesia took over the territory, the teachers were the first targets and victims of the Indonesian security forces.

Representative organizations
Niew Guinea Raad (New Guinea Council) an Papuan Parliament elected in 1961. The majority of Council members where killed or disappeared without trace between 1961 and 1969 (see West Papuan Genocide).

Organisasi Papua Merdeka (OPM or Free Papua Movement) is a pro-independence movement dating from 1964 seeking a peaceful solution to the Indonesian occupation and denial of self-determination. Most NGO groups concur that the Papuan support for the OPM is appears to be universal and complete for all intents and proposes.

Papuan Presidium Council : 31-member umbrella group established in 2000 to negotiate a progress and referendum to end the Indonesian 1969 annexing of West Papua. Theys Eluay, 64; was chairman and assassinated 11 Nov 2001, Chief of the Sentani tribe and Chair of the Act of Free Choice Council established by Indonesia in 1969. Theys had fought against the misconduct of Act of Free Choice and its resulting illegal annexation by Indonesia.

OPM/TPN : separate from the OPM movement, the OPM/TPN promote armed resistance to occupation; they are armed largely with traditional and ceremonial weapons and operate from the jungles.

Representatives
An army of doctors, philosophers, and activists.
 * Nicolas Jouwe, b.1921:Deputy Chairman of Niew Guinea Raad; he had been a member of the US Allied Forces sent to Borneo in 1940s, returning to West Papua as an liasons, after the allies left he became important in his tribe (Kayu-Pulau, Kayu-Batu, Tobati, Enggros, Nafri, and other villages in Port Numbay). He protested the Act of Free Choice, and managed to attend the UNGA in New York and submitted his Note of Protest. He then went to Holland and established an NGO called HAPPIN, a NGO supporting Indonesian and Papuan students.
 * John Rumbiak:Head of West Papua Institute for Human Rights Study and Advocacy (ELSHAM), Jayapura
 * Dr John Ondawame:international spokesperson for the Free Papua Movement (OPM) and Asia-Pacific representative of the Papua Presidium Council (PDP), Papuan in exile, Centre for Peace and Conflict Studies at Sydney University Australia -2002, West Papuan People's Representative Office Vanuatu 2003-2004.
 * Moses Werror:chairman OPM Revolutionary Council
 * Rex Rumakiek:representative of the Free Papua Movement, Melboune Australia.
 * Theys Eluay, 64:chairman of the Papuan Presidium Council, assassinated 11 Nov 2001. Chief of the Sentani tribe and Chair of the Act of Free Choice Council established by Indonesia in 1969. Theys had fought against the misconduct of Act of Free Choice and its resulting illegal annexation by Indonesia.

Regions
Indonesia structures regions by Regencies and districts within those. Though names and areas of control of these regional structures can vary over time in accord with changing political and other requirements, in 2001 the Irian Jaya (Papua) Province consisted of 12 regencies (kabupaten), 1 city (kotamadya), 117 subdistricts (kecamatan), 66 kelurahan, and 830 villages (desa).

The Regencies in 2001 were: Biak Numfor; Fak-fak; Jayapura; Jayawijaya; Manokwari; Merauke; Mimika; Paniai; Sorong; Timka; Wamena; and Yapen Waropen. See main article Indonesian Regencies of Papua for further details.

Hollandia, founded in 1910 had by 1962 developed into a city with modern civil, educational, and medical services. Since Indonesian administration these services have been replaced by Indonesian equivalents such as the TNI (military) replacing the Papuan police force. The name of the city has been changed from Hollandia, to Kotabaru then Sukarnopura and finally Jayapura.

Jayapura is the largest city, boasting a small but active tourism industry, it is a neat and pleasant city built on a slope overlooking the bay. Cendrawasih University campus houses the Jayapura Museum. Tanjung Ria beach well known to the Allies during the WW II, is a popular holiday resort now with facilities for water sports, and General Douglas Mc Arthur's World War II quarters are still intact.

As many primary businesses in the province are owned or conducted in cooperation with the TNI (such as Freeport employing TNI troops to maintain an large exclusion area around its Grasberg mine), it is advisable to stay a distance away from such mining or forestry operations.

Geography
A central East-West mountain range dominates the geography of West Papua and New Guinea, over 1600 Km in total length, the West Papuan section is around 600 Km long and 100 Km across. Steep mountains 3 to 4 Km and up to 5Km high along the range ensures a steady supply of rain from the tropical atmosphere. The treeline is around 4Km high and the tallest peaks are snowbound year round.

Both North and West of the central ranges the land remains mountainous mostly 1 to 2 Km high covered by thick rain forests and a warm humid year round climate.

The third mainland terrain is the south east lowlands with extensive wetlands steching for hundreds of kilometers.

The country has 40 major rivers, 12 lakes, and 40 islands. The famous Baliem Valley home of the Dani people is a tableland 1600m above sea level in the midst of the central mountain range; Carstensz Pyramid (Puncak Jaya) is a mist covered limestone mountain peak 5030m above sea level.

Ecology
A vital tropical rainforest with vast biodiversity and the world's tallest tropical trees, the known forest fauna includes marsupials (including opossum, wallabies, tree kangaroos, cuscus), other mammals (including the endangered long-beaked echidna), many bird species (including birds of paradise, casuarius, parrots, cockatoos), the world's longest lizards (Papua monitor) and the world's largest butterflies. The island has an estimated 16,000 species of plant, 124 genera of which are endemic to Papua.

The extensive waterways and wetlands of West Papua are also home to salt and freshwater crocodile, tree monitors, flying foxes, osprey, bats and other animals; while the equatorial glacier fields remain largely unexplored.

Ecological dangers include deforestation at an alarming rate; the spread of an exotic monkey (Macaca fascicularis) which now threaten the existence of many species; pollution such as Grasberg mine dumping 190 000 tons of copper and gold tailings into the rivers system each day;

Postage stamps
During the 1960s, the region had its own postage stamps. The first were overprints reading "UNTEA" (United Nations Temporary Executive Authority) applied to the stamps of Dutch New Guinea, issued in 1962. There are four slightly different types of overprint, three types applied locally, and a fourth made in the Netherlands and sold by the UN in New York City.

These were superseded on 1 May 1963 by stamps of Indonesia overprinted "IRIAN BARAT" and a series of six commemoratives whose designs included a map of Indonesia stretching "from Sabang to Merauke" and a parachutist landing in New Guinea. These, as were later issues in 1968 and 1970, were inscribed both "IRIAN BARAT" and "REPUBLIK INDONESIA". The last issue specifically for the territory consisted of two depicting birds (Black-Capped Lory and Bird of Paradise), issued 26 October 1970.

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Rob Brydon

Robert Brydon Jones (born 3 May 1965) is a Welsh actor, comedian, impressionist, presenter, singer and writer. Brydon gained prominence for his roles in film, television and radio. Brydon was appointed Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) in Queen Elizabeth II's Birthday Honours in 2013 for services to comedy and broadcasting, and for charitable services.

Brydon gained fame for his roles in the black comedy series Human Remains (2000), the mockumentary series Marion and Geoff (2000–2003), the chat show spoof The Keith Barret Show (2004–2005), and the comedy series Supernova (2005–2006). From 2007 to 2010 he played Bryn West in the BBC sitcom Gavin & Stacey for which he received a BAFTA Award nomination for Best Comedy Performance.

He has acted in a number of shows for the BBC with Steve Coogan starting with 24 Hour Party People (2002) and A Cock and Bull Story (2005). Brydon and Coogan then starred in The Trip (2010) followed by The Trip to Italy (2014), The Trip to Spain (2017), and The Trip to Greece (2020). He has also acted in the films Cinderella (2015), The Huntsman: Winter's War (2016), Holmes & Watson (2019) and Barbie (2023).

Since 2009, Brydon has presented the BBC One comedy panel show Would I Lie to You? after previously playing himself as host of a fictional panel show in Rob Brydon's Annually Retentive, which ran on BBC Three from 2006 until 2007. In addition to presenting his own late-night chat show, The Rob Brydon Show, for two years and hosting the 2014 Saturday-night game show The Guess List for BBC One.

Early life and education
Brydon was born on 3 May 1965 in Baglan, Glamorgan. His mother, Joy Jones (née Brydon), was a school teacher, and his father, Howard Jones, was a car dealer. He grew up in Baglan, with his younger brother Peter (born 1973).

Brydon was educated at two private schools: St. John's School in Porthcawl, which Eddie Izzard also attended, and Dumbarton House School in Swansea until the age of 14. This was followed by Porthcawl Comprehensive School, where he met Ruth Jones (with whom he later worked in Gavin & Stacey) and became a member of the school's youth theatre group. While at Dumbarton, he once stole the lunch money of fellow pupil Catherine Zeta-Jones (which he admitted while participating in a series 4 episode of Would I Lie To You?).

Brydon has said that his primary childhood influences in comedy were Barry Humphries, Frankie Howerd and Woody Allen. He has also said that he used to memorise entire sketches by Peter Cook, Dudley Moore and Peter Sellers.

1982–1999: Early radio work
Brydon attended the Royal Welsh College of Music & Drama, Cardiff. He left after a year, to join Radio Wales at the age of 20. His early broadcasts included work as a disc jockey on BBC Radio Wales, when his Saturday morning shows included contributions from stand-up comedian Pete Park-Walker. Between 1992 and 1994, on Radio Wales (where he stayed for six years) he was the main presenter of Rave, one of BBC Radio 5's youth magazine and music programmes, with Alan Thompson. He developed his Marion and Geoff story from this. In 1994 and 1995 Brydon appeared in numerous episodes of the original Radio Wales version of the cult comedy Satellite City with Boyd Clack. Although he has stayed with radio as a comedy performer on BBC Radio Five Live's The Treatment, Brydon also does occasional stints as a stand-in presenter on BBC Radio 2 including for Ken Bruce before Bruce resigned from the BBC in 2023. Notably on 1 April 2011, Brydon appeared during Bruce's absence, as him, as an April Fools' Day joke, for the entire show.

During an episode of Would I Lie To You?, Brydon admitted that he had pretended on the phone to be his own agent, using one of his repertoire of different voices in the early part of his career. This was done to justify enhancing his freelance work fees.

For a brief period in the early 1990s Brydon was a presenter for the Home Shopping Network. He began to find small roles in several successful films and television series. Brydon was first known nationally as a voice artist. He provided several voices for the Discworld computer games, radio & television programmes like Eurotrash and continuity announcements for BBC 1. He is also known for voice-over work in television advertising, including for Renault, Tango, The Times, Tesco, Abbey National, Sainsbury's, McDonald's, Pot Noodle, Domino's Pizza, Crunchy Nut Cornflakes, The Observer and Fairy Liquid. He voiced the main character, Lewton, in the Discworld computer game Discworld Noir, and provided voices in animated films such as The Gruffalo, The Gruffalo's Child and Room on the Broom.

2000–2009: Television roles and acclaim
In 2000 he made his mark in television comedy, with two series which he co-wrote and performed for the BBC: Human Remains, co-written by Julia Davis. From 2000 to 2003 he starred in the BBC television mockumentary Marion and Geoff which was commercially successful. Brydon plays as Keith Barret, a naïve taxi driver going through a messy divorce from his wife, Marion, who, though he fails to realise it, has had a long-standing affair with her colleague, Geoff. Each episode is presented as a monologue, filmed by a fixed camera in the confines of his car. From 2004 to 2005 Brydon starred in The Keith Barret Show which was a fictional spoof of a BBC chat show. In 2006 he parodied comedy panel shows such as QI, Mock the Week and Have I Got News For You in the BBC Three series Rob Brydon's Annually Retentive. Ed Potton of The Times found that the series "provides the perfect platform for host Brydon, playing a demonic version of himself, to mimic (often hilariously) and abuse (often brutally) his guests". In 2005 he portrayed a version of himself in the British comedy A Cock and Bull Story directed by Michael Winterbottom. Brydon starred opposite Steve Coogan. Dana Stevens of Slate wrote, "Rob Brydon, plays Tristram’s Uncle Toby, a blustering war veteran with a wound in an unspeakable place. In the modern-day scenes, Rob Brydon is, surprise, Rob Brydon, an actor with an ego even more pitifully in need of stroking than Coogan’s. The unscripted-sounding exchanges between these two are the funniest part of the movie". From 2007 to 2010 Brydon gained prominence for his leading role as Uncle Bryn in the BBC sitcom Gavin & Stacey starring Matthew Horne, Joanna Page, and James Corden. In the 2009 Brydon was nominated for the BAFTA Award for Best Comedy Performance as Bryn. Starting in 2009 Brydon has hosted the game show Would I Lie to You?. Since these series Brydon has developed a career path as a character actor, in both comedic and serious roles. He portrayed controversial theatre critic Kenneth Tynan in the BBC Four film Kenneth Tynan: In Praise of Hardcore (2005), opposite Julian Sands as Laurence Olivier.

Also in 2006, Brydon first appeared on the BBC Radio 4 comedy panel game I'm Sorry I Haven't a Clue. His singing voice earned the unprecedented accolade from the former host, Humphrey Lyttelton, of being "not bad". When the team went on a tour of non-broadcast stage shows, Brydon filled in as chairman when Lyttelton was in hospital to repair an aortic aneurysm. Lyttelton died in hospital after surgery. Brydon narrated a two-part programme on BBC Radio 4, The Pain of Laughter: The Last Days of Kenneth Williams. It explored the latter part of Williams's life, featuring many of the performer's friends and contemporaries. In other radio work Brydon sat in for Ken Bruce on BBC Radio 2 for one day only on 25 August 2008. In addition to this, on 1 April 2011, Brydon impersonated Bruce for the entire two-hour and thirty minutes show. Bruce came on the air at the end of the show to reveal the prank. Brydon has appeared on the TV comedy quiz QI. In his first appearance (Series A, episode 5), his talent for mimicry was displayed with impressions of Alec Guinness, James Dean, and Michael J. Fox. In the 2008 Christmas special, he provided impressions of Richard Burton and Tom Jones.

His character Bryn West in Gavin & Stacey, written by Ruth Jones and James Corden, allowed him to return to his South Wales roots. In this role Brydon performed the 2009 Comic Relief charity single, "(Barry) Islands in the Stream", with Ruth Jones (both actors appearing as their characters from Gavin & Stacey) and singer Tom Jones. It reached No.1 in the UK Singles Chart on 15 March 2009. In February 2009, it was announced that Brydon would be one of three people to replace Lyttelton as chairman of the 51st series of I'm Sorry I Haven't a Clue (the others being Stephen Fry and Jack Dee). Brydon also appeared as guest panellist in the first two episodes of series 52, chaired by Jack Dee. He returned as a guest panellist in the last two episodes of series 54 in January 2011. Additionally, in 2009 he took over as host of Would I Lie To You?, replacing Angus Deayton. Brydon had also appeared as a guest panellist on the show during the previous season. Brydon has presented an episode of Have I Got News for You and has appeared on BBC Radio 4's panel game Just a Minute.

2010–present: The Trip and other roles
Between September and October 2011, Brydon starred alongside Kenneth Branagh in Francis Veber's play The Painkiller at the Lyric Theatre in Belfast. He reprised his role with Branagh, in March and April 2016, at the Garrick Theatre in London's West End. Whilst not calling himself an impressionist Brydon says he "started out as an impressionist" but will "bristle" when described as such. His impressions include Alec Guinness, James Dean, Michael J. Fox, Richard Burton, Tom Jones, Michael Caine, Mick Jagger and Ronnie Corbett. He is also noted for his "Small Man in A Box" impression.

In 2010 Brydon starred alongside Steve Coogan in Michael Winterbottom's partially improvised BBC Two sitcom series The Trip, in which both actors played fictionalised versions of their public personas (Brydon, optimistic and always eager to do an impression; and Coogan, misanthropic and bitter that he's not the major international star he believes he should be). Coogan and Brydon reprised their roles as themselves in the follow up films The Trip to Italy (2014), The Trip to Spain (2017), and The Trip to Greece (2020). The films have been met with critical acclaim with many critics describing them as "hilarious and heartbreaking". Elizabeth Nelson of The Ringer comparing their chemistry to that of Bob Hope and Bing Crosby in the Road movies. Nelson also compared the films to Tom Stoppard's Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead.

Brydon's book Small Man in a Book (the title a play on his "small-man-in-a-box" impression) was published in November 2011. In 2009/10 Brydon had his first stand-up tour in the UK as Rob Brydon (rather than as a differently named character). The resulting DVD of the 2009/10 show, Rob Brydon: Live, was released on 23 November 2009. Brydon appeared as a host on episode two of series five of the BBC series of Live at the Apollo. In 2010 Brydon took part in Channel 4's Comedy Gala, a benefit show in aid of Great Ormond Street Children's Hospital, filmed live at the O2 Arena in London on 30 March. He was one of six compères for the Queen's Diamond Jubilee Concert held outside Buckingham Palace on 4 June 2012. The following year he dubbed the voice of Beto in the animated film The Unbeatables for the United Kingdom edition of the film.

In 2015 he had a uncredited role as Master Phineus in the Kenneth Branagh directed romantic fantasy Cinderella for Walt Disney Pictures. The following year he played Gryff in The Huntsman: Winter's War (2016) alongside Charlize Theron, Chris Hemsworth and Emily Blunt. That same year he played various roles in the BBC One animated series Revolting Rhymes (2016) which was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Animated Short Film. In 2018 he played Inspector Lestrade in the mystery-parody Holmes & Watson starring Will Ferrell and John C. Reilly. Brydon also had roles in the stop-motion animated film Early Man (2018) and the British comedy Swimming with Men (2018). He also portrayed Richard Nixon in the FX series Trust (2018). The following year he had roles in the musical comedy Blinded by the Light (2019) and in the coming-of-age film Days of the Bagnold Summer (2019).

In 2021 he acted in the first episode of the second series of the show McDonald & Dodds. That same year he narrated The Chasers Road Trip: Trains, Brains and Automobiles, was a contestant on Celebrity Catchphrase, and voiced The Crow in Superworm alongside Olivia Colman and Matt Smith. The following year he voiced the Pied Piper in The Amazing Maurice (2022) alongside Hugh Laurie, Emilia Clarke, David Thewlis and Hugh Bonneville. In 2023 he had a brief role as Sugar Daddy Ken in Greta Gerwig's comedy Barbie starring Margot Robbie and Ryan Gosling.

In 2022 Brydon appeared in Stephen Sondheim's Old Friends revue, including alongside Haydn Gwynne in "The Little Things You Do Together", the marital battle from Company.

Personal life
Brydon was married to Martina Fitchie from 1992 to 2000. They had two daughters and a son.

On 6 October 2006, Brydon married Clare Holland, a former producer on The South Bank Show, at Windsor church. They live in Strawberry Hill in the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames. They have two sons. A keen golfer, Brydon is also a Swansea City fan and is an ambassador to their 1912 foundation.

In August 2014, Brydon was one of 200 public figures who were signatories to a letter to The Guardian opposing Scottish independence in the run-up to the 2014 Scottish independence referendum.

Radio
 Other appearances
 * Rob Brydon's Identity Crisis (March 2008)
 * The One Show (December 2009)
 * Desert Island Discs (May 2010), his favourite track was "Born to Run" by Bruce Springsteen
 * TV advertising campaign for P&O Cruises (2014–)
 * Script editor for a season 2 of Little Britain

Honours and awards
Brydon was made an honorary fellow of the Royal Welsh College of Music & Drama where he previously studied. Brydon was appointed Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) in the 2013 Birthday Honours for services to comedy and broadcasting, and for charitable services.

Discography
Singles

title: Rob Brydon


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Al-Mu'tamid ibn Abbad

Al-Mu'tamid Muhammad ibn Abbad al-Lakhmi (المعتمد محمد ابن عباد بن اسماعيل اللخمي; reigned c. 1069–1091, lived 1040–1095), also known as Abbad III, was the third and last ruler of the Taifa of Seville in Al-Andalus, as well as a renowned poet. He was the final ruler of the Arab Abbadid dynasty of Seville, before being deposed by the Almoravids in 1091.

Early life
When he was 13 years old, Al-Mu'tamid's father bestowed on him the title of Emir and appointed the Andalusi Arabic poet Ibn Ammar as his vizier. However, Al-Mu'tamid fell strongly under the influence of Ibn Ammar. Al-Mu’tamid's father was wary of Ibn Ammar and the influence he had, ultimately sending him into exile.

Reign
After the death of his father Abbad II al-Mu'tadid in 1069, Al-Mu'tamid inherited Seville as caliph. One of his first acts was to recall Ibn Ammar and to bestow military honours and high political offices on him, including as Governor of Silves and Prime Minister of the government in Seville. This reconciliation would later be rebuked for unknown reasons.

More likely the cause of resentment grew from the fact that the Prime Minister had let al-Mu'tamid's son, Prince al-Rasid, be captured and held hostage during a military campaign. He had also declared himself Emir of Murcia without properly acknowledging the rights of his own sovereign. The two men exchanged verses full of bitter criticisms and accusations. Murcia was subsequently lost and Ibn Ammar himself taken hostage. A final attempt to conspire with the young prince against his father proved too much for al-Mu'tamid, who "fell into a rage and hacked him to death with his own hands". After Ibn Ammar's death, the caliph was reported to have grieved bitterly and gave his former friend a sumptuous funeral.

Large parts of al-Andalus were under the dominion of al-Mu'tamid: to the west his territory encompassed the land between the lower Guadalquivir and Guadiana, plus the areas around Niebla, Huelva and Saltes. In the south it extended to Morón, Arcos, Ronda, and also Algeciras and Tarifa. The capital, Córdoba, was taken in 1070, lost in 1075, and regained in 1078.

Nevertheless, the family was still subject to taxation by the King of Castile, to whom they were vassals. The drain of these taxes effectively weakened the kingdom's power: al-Mu'tamid's decision to stop paying these taxes caused King Alfonso VI of Castile (who had already conquered Toledo in 1085) to besiege Seville. Al-Mu'tamid asked help from the Berber Almoravids of Morocco against the Castilian king. Al-Mu'tamid supported the Almoravid ruler Yusuf ibn Tashfin against Alfonso in the Battle of Sagrajas in 1086. The Almoravids established themselves at Algeciras and, after defeating the Christians, occupied all the Islamic taifas, including Seville itself in 1091. After they ravaged the city, al-Mu'tamid ordered his sons to surrender the royal fortress (the early Alcázar of Seville) in order to save their lives. When his son, Rashid, had advised him not to call on Yusuf ibn Tashfin, Al-Mu'tamid had rebuffed him:

"I have no desire to be branded by my descendants as the man who delivered al-Andalus as prey to the infidels. I am loath to have my name cursed in every Muslim pulpit. And, for my part, I would rather be a camel-driver in Africa than a swineherd in Castile."

In 1091, Al-Mu'tamid was taken into captivity by the Almoravids and exiled to Aghmat, Morocco, where he died (or was perhaps assassinated) in 1095. His grave is located in the outskirts of Aghmat.

Legacy
Al-Mu'tamid, one of the most eminent men of 11th-century al-Andalus, was highly regarded as a writer of poetry in Arabic. He was the father-in-law or father of Zaida of Seville, a concubine of Alfonso VI of Castile, possibly identical to his later wife, Queen Isabella. Iberian Muslim sources say that Zaida of Seville was the wife of Al-Mu'tamid's son Abu Nasr al-Fath al-Ma'mūn, Emir of the Taifa of Córdoba. Bishop Pelayo of Oviedo asserted that Zaida was the daughter of Abenath (Al-Mu'tamid ibn Abbad), a claim repeated by later Iberian Christian chroniclers that persisted in written histories for hundreds of years. However, the Islamic chroniclers are considered more reliable,  and the general consensus among scholars now is that Zaida was Al-Mu'tamid's daughter-in-law.

title: Al-Mu'tamid ibn Abbad


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Talk:Northern Dancer

Wiki Education Foundation-supported course assignment
This article was the subject of a Wiki Education Foundation-supported course assignment, between 9 September 2020 and 18 December 2020. Further details are available on the course page. Student editor(s): Ameliadodds.

Above undated message substituted from Template:Dashboard.wikiedu.org assignment by PrimeBOT (talk) 05:25, 17 January 2022 (UTC)

Untitled
I would love to see some information regarding updated legacies for Northern Dancer. There is a public school in Oshawa, Ontario named after the racehorse.Ameliadodds (talk) 16:28, 30 September 2020 (UTC)

Untitled
Northern Dancer's stud fee reached $1,000,000.

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BetacommandBot 23:44, 1 July 2007 (UTC) ṣṜṜṢṢṢṢṢṢ —Preceding unsigned comment added by 99.243.113.50 (talk) 00:30, 27 March 2008 (UTC)

Controversy
It might be worth mentioning the controversy over whether too much inbreeding to the Northern Dancer line is producing unsound horses. It would have to be neutrally and carefully handled, but it's out there. Montanabw (talk) 19:55, 4 July 2016 (UTC)

 * I usually see the unsoundness inbreeding concern raised with Raise A Native and Mr. P., where there is a physical problem that needs to be compensated for. I've read some more casual mutterings against Northern Dancer inbreeding (mostly among casual race fans), but the people who do the number crunching don't see a problem. http://www.bloodhorse.com/horse-racing/articles/106095/pedigree-analysis-doubling-down-on-danzig I was thinking about adding something about one of the reasons for the rise of the AP sire line is as an outcross to Northern Dancer. I saw that mentioned when I was looking at Tapit. Jlvsclrk (talk) 02:41, 5 July 2016 (UTC)

 * I think that is a good idea. I'll look at the inbreeding stuff; I know there was a lot about it back with Barbaro broke down.  It is a controversy that's out there, I will see what the sourcing looks like (though Secretariat is ahead in the queue.)  I'll post what I find and see what you think.   Montanabw (talk)  06:02, 7 July 2016 (UTC)

 * Thanks. I'm working on this periodically when I get burned out looking at Secretariat. I'm going to look through some of the books I've got for more racing details - lots of online stuff on his career as a stallion, but not so much as a racehorse. As for the inbreeding, I'm curious if there might have been some controversy on Big Brown, because he was 3 x 3 to Northern Dancer (which is kinda crazy IMO) and wound up having the same quarter crack issues that the Dancer experienced. Was the section on the sire line overkill? There already is the ND category, but that doesn't show the relationships. Jlvsclrk (talk) 21:55, 7 July 2016 (UTC)

 * There was when he scratched from the Belmont. I did a google search on the topic and the big rant is about Native Dancer and both Northern Dancer and Mr. Prosepector get the rap. So, arguably, the whole debate could move to the Northern Dancer article, except for a passing comment. There was also an uproar after Eight Belles' breakdown.  In essence, if we apply WP:SCIRS, I did find this, but there is a lot in the popular press.  I'll list the non-hysterical stuff (the best I can, a lot of it is kind of hyterical)  Montanabw (talk)  02:10, 8 July 2016 (UTC) :

 * http://www.theinformant.co.nz/features/2015bs/UW41375/History-reveals-inbreeding-in-a-more-positive-light
 * https://tuesdayshorse.wordpress.com/2008/05/13/is-gray-ghost-haunting-todays-thoroughbred-stars/ This one discusses why not to blame this bloodline.
 * http://articles.baltimoresun.com/2008-05-14/sports/0805140239_1_native-dancer-eight-belles-sagamore article cited in the above blog
 * http://www.taylormadestallions.com/eskendereya_ped_anthony.html discusses nicks in a positive light

The articles suggesting it IS a problem here:
 * http://therail.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/05/31/frowning-on-big-brown/comment-page-1/?_r=0
 * http://www.wsj.com/articles/SB120968356843561083
 * http://espn.go.com/sports/horse/triplecrown08/columns/story?id=3399004 (this by William Nack)
 * http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/wondermonkey/2011/11/bred-to-destruction.shtml (broad overview of the issue, doesn't point fingers except in the comments)
 * http://www.horsefund.org/horse-racing-breeding-for-trouble-part-2.php

 * I'd put the main controversy under Native Dancer, because that's where the fingers are really being pointed, which is grossly unfair IMO. Raise a Native and Mr. P though, yeah, that's fair game :> Or perhaps the big discussion should go in the inbreeding section in the breeding theories article, which I've been meaning to work on. Anyways, for Northern Dancer, I'll mention there is a controversy about inbreeding - the bbc article is very sensible (and it had a good point about the impact of the large foal crops), talk about breeding through the best to avoid problems (eg, Big Brown was inbred through a horse (Boundary) who didn't exactly tear up the tracks and his dam wasn't a proven racehorse either), mention outcrossing options still available (AP Indy line, German breds, some old French stock - who knows, the need for outcrosses may help revive the Byerley Turk line that's on the brink of extinction.) Sound good? Jlvsclrk (talk) 06:45, 8 July 2016 (UTC)
 * Works for me.  Montanabw (talk)  07:26, 9 July 2016 (UTC)

 * Updating Northern Dancer now. Looks like Raise A Native of the Native Dancer line was the horse that raised the red flags about Eight Belles' breeding. He was definitely unsound and is known to pass that on, and yet Eight Belles was 5 x 4 x 5 to him. Sad. Jlvsclrk (talk) 15:38, 9 July 2016 (UTC)

 * Just chipping in here and mounting my hobby-horse. I don't think that the inbreeding issue can be considered as entirely separate from the drug issue in US horse racing. If problems with soundness are masked by medication horses will run their hearts out until they sustain career-ending injuries. And if they've won a big race or two before their legs give way, they go to stud and pass their infirmities on. And I also know that this is just me whining rather than trying to improve the article. Sorry.  Tigerboy1966  17:04, 9 July 2016 (UTC)

 * Oh, I agree. I'd say modern training practices, including medication to mask unsoundness or breathing problems, and modern breeding practices, including using such medicated horses who pass on their faults, are FAR more likely to be contributing factors to unsoundness than inbreeding to a horse like Northern Dancer. But where to put this in an encyclopedia? Jlvsclrk (talk) 18:40, 9 July 2016 (UTC)

 * I agree with both of you. We actually have some places where we can add this, so long as we have good, solid sourcing and a really thick flamesuit!  One place is at the articles on Lasix and other medications, where their impact on horses can be noted. We also have a convoluted mess of an article titled Equine drug testing that could easily be improved and made into some sort of decent piece (It was Drugs in horse racing, but I changed the title -- drugs are a problem in other area of equestrian sport too, so a general overview is probably best there).   Montanabw (talk)  04:56, 10 July 2016 (UTC)

Article improvement drive
Per your question at WP Horse racing, Here's what I'm seeing in the current article: I might make a few in-text tweaks, but here's the main stuff I think needs work. Montanabw (talk) 17:55, 2 December 2019 (UTC)
 * 1) A fair number of deadlinks and 404 errors. Need to check/fix all the citations.
 * 2) First paragraph of biography, the pedigree stuff, is a bit of a mishmash. Might want to just put in the basics about the sire and dam, them move the rest down to the pedigree section... I did a bit of this, hope it helped.
 * 3) Needs a chart of his races and racing stats, standard for most of our racehorse biographies. I started it, but needs sourcing
 * 4) End of life and burial section should be moved up by Stud career. The stuff on inbreeding and all should come after the pedigree section.
 * 5) I don't think we need the female family numbers for all mares in the pedigree, just the tail-female line.
 * 6) The lists of famous offspring are messy, overdone and best placed into a separate, stand-alone list (List of stakes winners by Northern Dancer or something). The leading sires can similarly be summarized because I see you already have that list in a stand-alone article.  His contributions are so enormous that what's needed is a secondary source explaining the 4-5 major contributions to the breed he made, not the whole laundry list.
 * 7) Photos need to be reexamined and not overdone. Focus on the horse himself and only a few offspring.
 * 8) The photo of the statue may not pass muster as a free image, depending on when the sculpture was created (pre or post-1976, or whenever the law changed).
 * 1. I've tried to fix the deadlinks - most of it was the Northern Dancer timeline article that I've now linked to via wayback (in many ways, it's an online summary of Lennox's book). I'll go through all the other citations now. 2. yes, works better now. 3. done. 4. for me, inbreeding logically follows the sire of sire section. we can play with it. 5. done. 6. I did a table for the major offspring - similar to say galileo. I've tidied up the sire of sires section too but it's a balancing act. The phenomenal sales results in his later years were the result of the success of nijinsky, lyphard et al as sires themselves - that's what made him "the most valuable commodity on earth" to quote hunter. 7. pruned back 8. in Canada, I think the copyright is quite different. https://laws-lois.justice.gc.ca/eng/acts/C-42/FullText.html 32.1 (1)(b)(2) allows for reproduction of statues on permanent display in a public place.
 * I think we're in good shape now. Jlvsclrk (talk) 02:11, 20 January 2020 (UTC)

Statistics section - racetrack or racecourse?
In the list of ND's races in the statistics section, Woodbine and Aqueduct are variably named as "Racecourse" and "Racetrack" - is this a deliberate thing due to renamings or just something which needs to be fixed for consistency? --Bcp67 (talk) 08:16, 10 December 2019 (UTC)
 * Good catch! Turns out they're both Racetrack so I fixed the table entries Jlvsclrk (talk) 23:06, 10 December 2019 (UTC)
 * Sorry I sort of dropped that project in the middle, got distracted.  Montanabw (talk) 04:20, 25 December 2019 (UTC)

People magazine description
I have been exploring the origin of the People magazine description of Northern Dancer, quoted in the article and by secondary sources as "the only celebrity that could earn a million dollars before breakfast". The closest I have found is:

NORTHERN DANCER (4 BEES)

On some days he can earn $1 million—before lunch. Twenty years after he quit the track, Northern Dancer spends part of his mornings during the mating season in a breeding shed in Maryland, where he has sired 550 offspring—109 of whom have already won stake races. Dancer’s syndicate has turned down an offer of $40 million for the stallion, who, at an elderly 24—an age roughly equivalent to that of a 75-year-old man—can still “cover” 36 mares a year. – "How Hard Do They Work?" Fred Bernstein, People 23(3), January 21, 1985

which suggests that the secondary sources have misquoted the original. There does not seem to be a separate article in People that also includes "only celebrity" and "breakfa=st". So it appears a number of reputable news outlets have (probably unsurprisingly) not bothered to check their sources, including the article's current citation [11 ], as well as The Guardian, The Sport, and others. ~ RLO1729💬 10:32, 12 April 2020 (UTC)
 * Great researching - I can never find anything in their archives. Looks like the secondary sources "improved" on the original. I'll change the article accordingly. Jlvsclrk (talk) 17:18, 12 April 2020 (UTC)

title: Talk:Northern Dancer


text:
Wikipedia:Articles for deletion/Parco dei Principe

This page is an archive of the discussion surrounding the proposed deletion of the page entitled Parco dei Principe.

This page is kept as an historic record.

The result of the debate was deletion.

 * Advert for hotel in Rome. Delete. Deus Ex 16:48, 2 May 2004 (UTC)
 * Copyvio: -- Cyrius|&#9998 19:41, May 2, 2004 (UTC)
 * Delete. Wikispam. Alcarillo 15:58, 3 May 2004 (UTC)
 * Delete. It's even a poor excuse for an advertisement, let alone an encyclopedia entry. - Lucky 6.9 18:34, 3 May 2004 (UTC)
 * Delete. What Lucky said. DJ Clayworth 18:24, 7 May 2004 (UTC)
 * Delete. Cribcage 02:46, 8 May 2004 (UTC)

This page is now preserved as an archive of the debate up to the point of deletion and is no longer 'live'. Subsequent comments on the issue, the deletion or on the new method of assessing voting, should be placed on other relevant 'live' pages. Please do not edit this page.


text:
Gavrus

Gavrus is a commune in the Calvados department in the Normandy region in northwestern France.

title: Gavrus


text:
Géfosse-Fontenay

Géfosse-Fontenay is a commune in the Calvados department in the Normandy region in northwestern France.

title: Géfosse-Fontenay


text:
Genneville

Genneville is a commune in the Calvados department in the Normandy region in northwestern France.

title: Genneville


text:
Gerrots

Gerrots is a commune in the Calvados department in the Normandy region in northwestern France.

title: Gerrots


text:
Giberville

Giberville is a commune in the Calvados department in the Normandy region in northwestern France.

International relations
Giberville is twinned with:
 * Murlo (Italy) since 2007.

title: Giberville