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Federal Air Marshal Service

The Federal Air Marshal Service (FAMS) is a United States federal law enforcement agency under the supervision of the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) of the United States Department of Homeland Security (DHS).

Because of the nature of their occupation, federal air marshals (FAMs) travel often. They must also train to be highly proficient marksmen. A FAM's job is to blend in with other passengers on board aircraft and rely heavily on their training, including investigative techniques, criminal terrorist behavior recognition, firearms proficiency, aircraft-specific tactics, and close quarters self-defense measures to protect the flying public.

History
In 1961, Gen. Benjamin O. Davis Jr., presented the idea of armed security forces on commercial flights. President John F. Kennedy ordered federal law enforcement officers to be deployed to act as security officers on certain high-risk flights. The Federal Air Marshal Service began on March 2, 1962, as the Federal Aviation Administration's (FAA) FAA Peace Officers Program. On this date, the first 18 volunteers from the FAA's Flight Standards Division graduated training. They received training from the U.S. Border Patrol at Port Isabel, Texas, and later went through recurrent yearly training in Brownsville, Texas. These initial FAA peace officers were named by FAA Administrator Najeeb Halaby. Later, it became an integral part of the Civil Aviation Security Division of the FAA. As early as 1963, after an article in FAA Horizons Magazine, the FAA peace officers were referred to as Sky Marshals internally within the FAA, although the term would not be used by the media for nearly a decade. Many years after their initial inception, personnel were given firearms and some close quarters combat training at the FBI Academy located on the U.S. Marine Corps training grounds at Quantico, Virginia.

In October 1969, due to the increasing violence of hijacked aircraft in the Middle East, the U.S. Marshals Service started a Sky Marshal Division out of the Miami Field Office. The program was run by John Brophy and staffed with a handful of deputies. Since the majority of hijackings were occurring out of Florida in the late 1960s, the U.S. Marshals Service started their program to try and combat air piracy given their broad jurisdiction.

The "Sky Marshal Program" of the 1970s later became a joint effort between the then United States Customs Service and the FAA and was led by General Benjamin O. Davis Jr., a former Tuskegee Airman. On September 11, 1970, in response to increasing acts of air piracy by hijacking to Cuba and Islamic radicals, President Richard Nixon ordered the immediate deployment of armed federal agents on United States commercial aircraft. Initially, the deployed personnel were federal agents from the U.S. Department of Treasury. Subsequently, the United States Customs Service formed the Division of Air Security, and established the position of Customs Security Officer (CSO). Approximately 1,700 personnel were hired for this position and were trained at the Treasury Air Security Officer (TASOS) training complex at Fort Belvoir, Virginia. Customs security officers were deployed on U.S. flagged commercial aircraft, flying on both domestic and international routes in an undercover capacity in teams of two and three. Customs security officers also handled ground security screening on selected flights at domestic U.S. airports.

Following the mandatory passenger screening enacted by the FAA at U.S. airports beginning in 1973, the customs security officer force was disbanded and its personnel were absorbed by the U.S. Customs Service. By 1974 armed sky marshals were a rarity on U.S. aircraft. The former customs security officers were reassigned as customs patrol officers, customs inspectors, and customs special agents.

A small force of Federal Air Marshals were retrained at the FAA starting in 1974. The personnel trained under this program was limited to 10–12 people. For the next several years after customs security officer disbandment, the FAA air marshals rarely flew missions.

In 1985, President Ronald Reagan requested the expansion of the program and Congress enacted the International Security and Development Cooperation Act, which expanded the statutes that supported the Federal Air Marshal Service. The FAM program was begun in response to domestic hijackings and FAM operational flights were almost exclusively conducted on domestic U.S. flights until 1985. After the hijacking of TWA Flight 847 in 1985 and the enactment of the International Security and Development Cooperation Act, the number of FAMs was increased and their focus became international U.S. air carrier operations. Due to resistance of several countries including the United Kingdom and Germany to having individuals carrying firearms entering their countries, the coverage of international flights was initially limited. Resistance to the entrance of armed personnel to their countries was overcome through negotiations and agreements about the terms and handling of weapons when they were brought in country. Hence the FAMs could operate worldwide in carrying out their mission to protect U.S. aviation from hijackings.

Air marshals were originally designated as U.S. Customs security officers assigned by order of President Kennedy on an as-needed basis, and later were specially trained FAA personnel. The customs officers were phased out in 1974. Many of them transferred to the FAA's Civil Aviation Security Division to serve as aviation security inspectors and also in the volunteer FAM program directed by the FAA's Civil Aviation Security Division (later renamed the Office of Civil Aviation Security). This program later became non-voluntary, required of all FAA Inspectors, breeding other problems within the FAA's Office of Civil Aviation Security. In 1992, Retired Major General Orlo Steele, then the Associate Administrator for Civil Aviation Security, hired Greg McLaughlin as Director of the Federal Air Marshal Program. McLaughlin was hired as an air marshal after the hijacking of TWA 847 and was working in Frankfurt, Germany, investigating the bombing of Pan Am 103. McLaughlin turned the Federal Air Marshal Program into an all-voluntary program. The voluntary nature of the program and efforts by McLaughlin and Steele turned the small force of Federal Air Marshals into an extremely capable one. From 1992 to just after the attacks on 9/11, the air marshals had one of the toughest firearms qualification standards in the world. A study from the Joint Special Operations Command (JSOC) later came out with a classified report during this time period, placing Federal Air Marshals among the top 1% of combat shooters in the world. This is no longer the case due to changes in capabilities and training.

Before the September 11, 2001 attacks, the Federal Air Marshal Service consisted of varying numbers of FAMs dependent on government funding. Although 50 positions were authorized by Congress, only 33 FAMs were active on September 11, 2001. As a result of the 9/11 attacks, President George W. Bush ordered the rapid expansion of the Federal Air Marshal Service. Many new hires were agents from other federal agencies, such as the United States Border Patrol, the Federal Bureau of Prisons (BOP), the DEA, NPS, FBI, ATF, INS, U.S. Housing and Urban Development Office of the Inspector General (OIG), U.S. Postal Inspection Service (USPIS), IRS CID, and many others. Immediately after the attacks on 9/11, then-Director McLaughlin was tasked with hiring and training 600 air marshals in one month. A classified number of applicants were later hired, trained, and deployed on flights worldwide. As of August 2013, this number is estimated to be approximately 4,000. Currently, these FAMs serve as the primary law enforcement entity within the Transportation Security Administration (TSA).

On October 16, 2005, Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff approved the transfer of the Federal Air Marshal Service from U.S. Immigration & Customs Enforcement (ICE) to TSA as part of a broader departmental reorganization to align functions consistent with the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) "Second Stage Review" findings for the following:

 * 1) consolidating and strengthening aviation law enforcement and security at the Federal level;
 * 2) creating a common approach to stakeholder outreach; and
 * 3) improving the coordination and efficiency of aviation security operations.

As part of this realignment, the director of the Federal Air Marshal Service also became the assistant administrator for the TSA Office of Law Enforcement (OLE), which houses nearly all TSA law enforcement services.

In March 2014, Director Robert Bray announced six of the service's twenty-six offices would be closed by the end of 2016. Bray attributed the cuts to a reduction of operating budget from $966 million to $805 million and the Transportation Security Administration stated no positions would be eliminated.

Securing other modes of transportation
Since July 2004, TSA has provided supplemental personnel, including federal air marshals, to assist mass transit systems during major events, holidays and anniversaries of prior attacks. These TSA personnel deploy as Visible Intermodal Prevention and Response Teams (VIPR teams), whose goal is to provide both seen (random, unannounced, and unpredictable) and high-visibility (seen) presence in mass transit or passenger rail environments. The level of assistance transit systems request depends on a transit system's local political and security environment. Beginning in July 2007, TSA significantly increased the number and frequency of VIPR deployments from an average of one exercise per month to one or two per week.

There were issues with Federal Air Marshals and early VIPR deployments. TSA field officials said the initial exercises put their safety at risk. TSA required Federal Air Marshals to wear raid jackets or shirts identifying them as air marshals, which potentially compromised their anonymity. In response to this concern, TSA changed the policy such that Federal Air Marshals began attending VIPR exercises in civilian clothes or jackets that simply identify them as DHS officials. Some transit security officials reported that Federal Air Marshals were unfamiliar with local laws, local police procedures, the range of behavior encountered on public transportation and the parameters of their authority as federal law enforcement officers. In 2011, Amtrak temporarily banned VIPR teams from its property after screenings at the Savannah, Georgia station because Amtrak Police chief John O'Conner called their activities illegal and violations of Amtrak policy.

Organization

 * Executive Assistant Administrator of Law Enforcement/Director of FAMS
 * Deputy Executive Assistant Administrator of Law Enforcement/Deputy Director of FAMS
 * Assistant Administrator, Field Operations
 * Assistant Administrator, Flight Operations
 * Assistant Administrator, Operations Management

Rank structure
The Federal Air Marshal Service uses the following rank nomenclature, introduced in 2011.

 * Director
 * Deputy Director
 * Assistant Director
 * Deputy Assistant Director
 * Supervisory Air Marshal in Charge (SAC)
 * Deputy Supervisory Air Marshal in Charge (DSAC)
 * Assistant Supervisory Air Marshal in Charge (ASAC)
 * Supervisory Federal Air Marshal (SFAM)
 * Senior Federal Air Marshal
 * Federal Air Marshal (FAM)

Previously, the supervisory ranks had different naming. A SAC was known as a Special Agent in Charge as were the Assistant and Deputy SACs and a Supervisory Federal Air Marshal was known as an Assistant to the Special Agent in Charge or ATSAC. The rank change was introduced in 2011 to reduce an "us versus them" perception between supervisory and non-supervisory air marshals.

Field offices
The Federal Air Marshal Service has field offices located in or near the following cities:
 * Atlanta
 * Baltimore
 * Boston
 * Charlotte
 * Chicago
 * Dallas
 * Denver
 * Detroit
 * Houston
 * Las Vegas
 * Los Angeles
 * Miami
 * Minneapolis
 * Newark
 * New York
 * Orlando
 * Philadelphia
 * San Francisco
 * Seattle
 * Washington, D.C.

Starting in 2014 and ending in 2016, the following field offices were closed:
 * Cincinnati
 * Cleveland
 * Phoenix
 * Pittsburgh
 * San Diego
 * Tampa

Training
Federal Air Marshals go through an intense, two-phase training program. The first phase of the program is a twelve-week basic law enforcement course. This training is completed at one of two Federal Law Enforcement Training Centers: either Artesia, New Mexico or Glynco, Georgia. Air marshals also receive follow-on training at the William J. Hughes Technical Center in New Jersey at the Federal Air Marshal Service Training Center. Their training is tailored to their role. Some of the subjects covered in this training include constitutional law, marksmanship, physical fitness, behavioral observation, defensive tactics, emergency medical assistance and other law enforcement techniques. On April 7, 2023, the first instructional textbook on aviation-specific tactics used by Federal Air Marshals was published by CRC Press, Routledge.

The second phase trains the candidates for tasks that they will be expected to carry out in the field. This training places an emphasis on perfecting marksmanship skills, including tactics for close-quarters combat and active-shooter situations, as well as close-quarters defensive skills. This is a necessity of the job due to both the confines of aircraft and the number of bystanders. Candidates who successfully complete this training are assigned to one of 20 field offices, where they begin their missions.

Equipment
Federal Air Marshals carry the following equipment:
 * Glock 19 Gen5 9mm or Glock 26 9mm
 * SIG Sauer P229 or SIG Sauer P239 chambered in .357 SIG
 * ASP 16″ expandable baton
 * Handcuffs

According to an anonymous marshal, they are trained to "shoot to stop", typically firing at the largest part of the body (the chest) and then the head to "incapacitate the nervous system."

In early 2020, the Federal Air Marshal Service announced that it would be transitioning to the Glock 19 Gen 5 9mm handgun, and it awarded SIG Sauer the contract for ammunition.

Early in the program in the 1970s, Air Marshals carried the Charter Arms .44 Bulldog revolver loaded with Glaser Safety Slugs (a type of frangible bullet). This was designed to stop the threat without penetrating either the target or the aircraft.

Practices
The air marshals may be deployed on as little as an hour's notice and at high-risk locations. Undercover air marshals were deployed on flights in and out of New Orleans during Super Bowl XXXVI in 2002; flights coming near Salt Lake City during the 2002 Winter Olympics; and cities visited by the President.

Federal Air Marshal Frank Terreri of the Federal Law Enforcement Officers Association (FLEOA) successfully sued senior executives of the Department of Homeland Security complaining that policies prevented air marshals from speaking out that current policies (such as their strict dress code, "Federal Air Marshal discount" mandatory grouping hotel policy, airport policies that force air marshals to walk up security checkpoint exit lanes, and priority aircraft pre-boarding before handicapped passengers and passengers flying with small children) make marshals easy targets for any possible hijackers, making them stand out as the government agents concealing firearms, and thus eliminating their effectiveness.

A policy change in August 2006 allowed air marshals to wear whatever clothing they want, in addition to staying at any hotel of their choice to protect their anonymity.

On May 30, 2013, the first book on the history of the air marshals was published in the United States by Federal Air Marshal Clay Biles, who resigned three days after its publication. The book, entitled The United States Federal Air Marshal Service: A Historical Perspective, 1962–2012, gave never-before-released information on the more than fifty years of Federal Air Marshal Service. On July 1, 2014, a new book and personal memoir was published by Biles. The book, titled Unsecure Skies, gave a behind the scenes look at the inner workings of the Federal Air Marshal Service under the Transportation Security Administration, including discussions on alleged bureaucratic strain and favoritism within the agency.

Immigration and Customs Enforcement
Budgeting issues within the TSA created tension between funding for airport screeners versus the FAMS, and in time the FAMS was realigned to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). The reasoning was that the FAMS could be re-designated as criminal investigator/special agents and would have a career path. ICE has an investigative division, Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), that is the critical investigative arm of the Department of Homeland Security whose special agents investigate criminal organizations illegally exploiting America's travel, trade, financial and immigration systems. HSI special agents would be cross trained to serve as supplemental FAMS in the event of a national emergency or in response to intelligence requiring additional marshals on flights.

Ultimately, one of Asa Hutchinson's final decisions before resigning as head of DHS's Border and Transportation Security Directorate was the issuance of a memorandum determining that air marshals would not be HSI special agents. In 2005, Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff conducted a second-stage review of DHS' organization and ordered the FAMS to be moved from ICE and back to the TSA. This move to TSA was effective October 1, 2005.

Rigoberto Alpizar incident
On December 7, 2005, two Federal Air Marshals shot and killed 44-year-old U.S. citizen Rigoberto Alpizar, a passenger of American Airlines Flight 924, on a boarding bridge at Miami International Airport.

According to initial media reports of the incident, a fight broke out between Alpizar and his wife, after which Alpizar suddenly ran up the aisle from the back of the plane. Lonny Glover, national safety coordinator for the Association of Professional Flight Attendants, said, "As the man came forward it was obvious that he was upset ... That's when one of our attendants at the front of plane told him, 'Sir, you can't leave the plane.' His response, she said, was implying that he had a bomb in his backpack. It was at that point that the air marshals gave up their cover and pursued him out the door and up the jet bridge."

On December 8, 2005, White House Press Secretary Scott McClellan said that President George W. Bush was satisfied that air marshals acted appropriately in the Alpizar shooting.

Termination of Robert MacLean
Sensitive Security Information (SSI) is a label used for unclassified information that could compromise aviation safety.

On July 29, 2003, the FAMS Agency Executive Vice President for the Federal Law Enforcement Officers Association (FLEOA), FAM Robert MacLean, disclosed that the FAMS planned to remove air marshals from long haul flights in order to avoid the cost of an overnight hotel stay. The plan was ordered when TSA was faced with a budget shortfall and right after DHS issued a July 26, 2003 warning that terrorists were planning to smuggle weapons onboard aircraft leaving the U.S. East Coast, United Kingdom, Italy, and Australia with the intention of hijacking them. After Congressional outrage, this plan was cancelled before going into effect. This plan was also at odds with the Aviation and Transportation Security Act (ATSA), whose Section 105 states that "Deployment of Federal Air Marshals... [on] nonstop, long distance flights, such as those targeted on September 11, 2001, should be a priority."

MacLean was fired for "Unauthorized Disclosure of Sensitive Security Information (SSI)" as a result of his whistleblower disclosure. After challenging this charge in the U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, which found that Maclean was protected under the Whistleblower Protection Act, he was unconditionally reinstated as air marshal.

Alcoholism
The New York Times quotes: "Several air marshals said they took medication or drank alcohol to stay awake — despite a policy prohibiting alcohol consumption within 10 hours before work." Thirteen marshals received DUIs between 2016 and 2018. One marshal who was a recovering alcoholic, saw himself featured in a TSA alcohol awareness promo video and subsequently died by suicide. TSA opted to monitor whether employees were sober before boarding flights.

Other controversies
In recent years, the Federal Air Marshal Service has been the subject of controversies related to the number of flights that air marshals actually fly on and of criminal activities involving air marshals. CNN conducted an investigative report by Drew Griffin that included current and former air marshals that accused TSA of exaggerating the numbers of flights with on-board air marshals and of poor quality training. The TSA has rejected the report and pursued investigations into personnel who gave interviews to the media. They also responded to the accusations.

Another investigation was conducted by reporter Amy Davis of Houston news station KPRC into the possibility that air marshals with criminal convictions were still being employed by FAMS. The investigation discovered that 28 had been hired with pre-existing misdemeanors and that several current air marshals had been convicted of or were awaiting trial for offenses including disorderly conduct, DUIs, and sexual crimes against children. In a congressional hearing on aviation security, U.S. Congressman Ted Poe of Houston questioned then-Assistant Secretary for the TSA, Kip Hawley, about some of the investigation's findings, saying, "there are some concerns about criminal record, criminal violations while they're in air service, and then what happens to them when they're on light duty still receiving full pay."

On August 6, 2006, two air marshals were sentenced in the Southern District of Texas (Houston) after having been convicted of conspiring to possess with intent to distribute cocaine and also on bribery charges. According to a Department of Justice press release, "Shawn Ray Nguyen, 38, and Burlie L. Sholar, 33, were sentenced to 87 months and 108 months in federal prison, respectively, by United States District Judge Kenneth Hoyt on Monday, August 28, 2006. Nguyen's lesser sentence is a result of the court's consideration of his cooperation with the United States."

FAMS effectiveness against crime and terror, has also been questioned. According to Congressman John J. Duncan, the air marshal program has led to only 4.2 arrests a year, at an average cost of $200 million per arrest. He argued that this represents a win of the perceived dangers of terror, supported by a profit center-type approach, over realistic spending priorities.

On August 20, 2018, two air marshals were detained at the Minneapolis–Saint Paul International Airport after one of them allegedly showed their gun to the air crew during the flight, instead of their badge, as is required. The flight crew became suspicious and declared an emergency and landed the aircraft.

title: Federal Air Marshal Service


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2001 MLS SuperDraft

The 2001 Major League Soccer SuperDraft was held on February 5, 2001, at the Signature Grand in Davie, Florida.

Player selection

 * Key

Unresolved 2001 SuperDraft Trades

 * 18 February 1999: Chicago Fire traded Zak Ibsen to Los Angeles Galaxy for 2001 second-round pick
 * 24 February 1999, Colorado acquired GK Ian Feuer from New England Revolution in exchange for future considerations . It is unclear whether this trade was fulfilled through a 2001 first-round pick (#6), a 2001 second-round pick (#18), or why New England gave up draft picks to unload a player.
 * 2 August 1999, Tampa Bay Mutiny traded defender Sam George, midfielder Paul Dougherty, and a conditional draft choice to Chicago Fire in exchange for defender Richie Kotschau and midfielder Manny Lagos. The draft pick may be 2001 pick #20.

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

title: 2001 MLS SuperDraft


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Bhiwani district

Bhiwani district is one of the 22 districts of the northern Indian state of Haryana. Created on 22 December 1972, it was the largest district of the state by area, before the creation of Charkhi Dadri as a separate district, as it occupied an area of 4778 km2 and administered 442 villages with a population of 1,634,445. Sirsa is now the largest district of the state.

The district headquarters is the city of Bhiwani, which is around 124 km from the national capital Delhi. Other major towns in the district are Siwani, Loharu, Tosham, Bawani Khera, Kohlawas, Lamba.

As of 2011 it is the third most populous district of Haryana (out of 21), after Faridabad and Hisar.

History
Pre-Indus Valley Civilization mine, smelt and houses have been found at Khanak hills of Tosham Hill range. Excavations (1968–73 and 1980–86) in the village of Mitathal in Bhiwani have unearthed evidence of pre-Harappan and Harappan (Indus Valley civilisation) culture in the area. Near the village of Naurangabad, about 10 km east of Bhiwani city, preliminary diggings in 2001 revealed artefacts including coins, tools, sieves, toys, statues and pots up to 2,500 years old. According to archaeologists the presence of coins, coin moulds, statues and design of the houses, suggests that a town existed here sometimes in the Kushan, Gupta and the Youdheya period till 300 BCE.

Bhiwani city is mentioned in the Ain-i-Akbari and has been a prominent centre of commerce since the time of the Mughals.

Divisions
The district comprises four sub-divisions: Bhiwani, Loharu, Siwani and Tosham. These sub-divisions are further divided into five Tehsils: Bhiwani, Loharu, Siwani, Bawani Khera and Tosham and one sub-tehsil, Behal.

There are four Vidhan Sabha constituencies in this district: Bhiwani, Loharu, Tosham and Bawani Khera. Bawani Khera is part of the Hisar (Lok Sabha constituency) while the rest are part of Bhiwani-Mahendragarh (Lok Sabha constituency).

Previously in Bhiwani district, sub-divisions Badhra and Charkhi Dadri and sub-tehsil Baund Kalan became part of the new Charkhi Dadri district in 2016.

Demographics
According to the 2011 census Bhiwani district has a population of 1,634,445, roughly equal to the nation of Guinea-Bissau or the US state of Idaho. This gives it a ranking of 306th in India (out of a total of 640). The district has a population density of 341 PD/sqkm. Its population growth rate over the decade 2001–2011 was 14.32%. Bhiwani has a sex ratio of 884 females for every 1000 males, and a literacy rate of 76.7%. After bifurcation the district has a population of 1,132,169. Scheduled Castes make up 251,736 (22.23%) of the population.

Languages
At the time of the 2011 Census of India, 79.98% of the population in the district spoke Haryanvi and 18.12% Hindi as their first language.

Degree colleges

 * Adarsh Mahila Mahavidyalya
 * Rajiv Gandhi College for Women
 * Raja Neempal Singh Govt College
 * Vaish P.G. College

Technological colleges

 * BRCM College of Engineering
 * Technological Institute of Textile & Sciences

University

 * Chaudhary Bansi Lal University

Religious places

 * Kirorimal Mandir - Located in the heart of the city, temple of Vishnu.
 * Shri Khakhi Baba Mandir - Located on the bank of Tal. The whole Ramayana is inscribed on its walls.
 * Shri Jogi Wala Math - Devoted to Shiva and associated to Naath Pant.
 * Shri Jahargir Mandir - Devoted to Shiva and associated to Giri Pant.
 * Shri Bhoja Wali Devi Mandir - Devoted to Durga, also known as 84 Ghantiyon Wala Mandir (84 Bells Temple).
 * Dhareru Dhaam - It is a village 12 km far from the district. Dedicated to Shyam Baba
 * Devsar Dhaam - It is located on a hillock on Bhiwani-Luharu road. It has a temple devoted to the goddess Vaishno Devi.
 * Manheru Dhaam - It is a village 11 km far from the district. There is a temple of Balaji Maharaj (Hanuman).

Sports
Sports played in the area include wrestling, volleyball, boxing and running. Hawa Singh won the Asian Games gold medal in Heavyweight category in consecutive editions of the games in the 1966 Asiad and the 1970 Asiad. Bhiwani has emerged as a centre of Indian boxing as all four boxers representing India at Beijing Olympics 2008 are products of Sports Authority of India (SAI) boxing hostel at Bhiwani. To top that three of them Akhil Kumar, Vijender Kumar and Jitender Kumar reached the quarterfinals of their respective categories. While Akhil Kumar and Jitender Kumar lost in their respective quarterfinals bouts Vijender Kumar qualified to the semifinals thereby ensuring India's first ever Boxing medal (Bronze) in the 2012 Summer Olympics. Paramjeet Samota who won a gold for India in the 2010 Commonwealth Games also lives in a large village called Dinod in the Bhiwani district.

Notable people

 * Rohit Bhaker - Badminton Player
 * Banarsi Das Gupta - Former Chief Minister of Haryana
 * Dinesh Kumar - Boxer
 * Jitender Kumar (flyweight boxer)
 * Jitender Kumar (middleweight boxer)
 * Arvind Kejriwal - Chief Minister of Delhi
 * Bansi Lal - Former Chief Minister of Haryana
 * Richhpal Ram - Victoria Cross winner in World War-II
 * Paramjeet Samota - Boxer
 * Brijpal Singh, Vir Chakra
 * Hawa Singh - heavyweight boxer, Asian Games gold medal winner
 * Hukam Singh - Former Chief Minister of Haryana
 * Jagdish Singh - Boxer
 * Air Marshal Prithi Singh
 * Vijay Kumar Singh PVSM, AVSM, YSM, ADC - COAS of Indian Army
 * Vijender Singh - Olympic Bronze medal winner in boxing
 * Air MarshalVikram Singh

Villages

 * See List of villages in Bhiwani district.

title: Bhiwani district


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Debra Fischer

Debra Ann Fischer is an American astronomer who is the Eugene Higgins professor of astronomy at Yale University researching detection and characterization of exoplanets. She has detected hundreds of exoplanets and was part of the team to discover the first known multiple-planet system.

Education
Fischer received her degree from the University of Iowa in 1975, a masters of science in physics from San Francisco State University in 1992, and her PhD in astrophysics from the University of California at Santa Cruz in 1998.

Research and career
Fischer has co-authored more than 300 papers on dwarf stars and exoplanets. In two papers with Jeff Valenti, she quantified a correlation between the chemical composition of host stars and the formation of orbiting gas giant planets. She led the N2K Consortium with Gregory P. Laughlin, detecting dozens of exoplanets around metal-rich stars at Keck Observatory, Subaru Observatory, and the Magellan Observatory. Her work "The Twenty Five Year Lick Planet Search" is summarized in a 2014 paper. In 2015, she organized an international workshop on Extreme Precision Radial Velocities at Yale University and led the conference proceedings paper with 55 co-authors. With the Oxford Zooniverse team, Fischer co-founded the Planet Hunters Citizen Science project.

Fischer has worked on instruments to improve measurement sensitivity for the detection of exoplanets. In 2011, she started the Fiber-optic Improved Next-generation Doppler Search for Exo-Earths with the Planetary Society, an improvement that helped planet hunters find smaller, more Earth-like extrasolar planets. In 2014, she worked with colleagues at Yale University on a microcomb for precise wavelength calibration. She was the principal investigator for three spectrographs: CHIRON, the CTIO High Resolution Spectrometer. , VUES, the Vilnius University Echelle Spectrograph and EXPRES, the EXtreme PREcision Spectrograph.

Fischer and colleagues  have also helped to advance statistical and machine learning methods to improve data analysis and sensitivity to low mass planets. Fischer served as the Division Director at the National Science Foundation from 2021 - 2023.

Honors and awards

 * Elected Member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences in 2012
 * Elected a Legacy Fellow of the American Astronomical Society in 2020
 * 2021 class of Fellows of the American Association for the Advancement of Science
 * Elected Member of the National Academy of Sciences in 2021

title: Debra Fischer


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Elizabethtown-Kitley

Elizabethtown-Kitley is a township in eastern Ontario, Canada, in the United Counties of Leeds and Grenville. Its southern border lies along the St. Lawrence River and it extends north into many rural hamlets and villages. The township was created on January 1, 2001, by the amalgamation of the former Township of Elizabethtown and Township of Kitley.

Communities
The township comprises the following communities:

 * Elizabethtown Ward: (former Elizabethtown Township) - Addison, Forthton, Greenbush, Lyn, New Dublin, Rocksprings, Seeley, Spring Valley, Tincap; Bethel, Butternut Bay, Fairfield, Fairfield East, Fernbank, Glen Buell, Hallecks, Hawkes, Hillcrest, Jellyby, Lillies, Manhard, Redan, Row's Corners, Woodridge
 * Kitley Ward: (former Kitley Township) - Bellamys Mill, Frankville, Jasper, Lehighs Corners, Newbliss, Toledo; Bellamys, Blanchard's Hill, Crystal, Eloida, Judgeville, Motts Mills

The township administrative offices are located in New Dublin.

Bellamys Mill
During the time of its settlement in the late 1700s, Bellamys Mill would have been situated among thick forest with small spring-fed streams whereas currently, the site now sits on a lake called Bellamy Lake. The lake was the result of damming, which created a large swamp. During the late eighteenth century the land was ideal for building a settlement, and in 1798, a man named John Livingston established a gristmill here which a community later surrounded. The mill was likely made of stone, as sawn lumber would have been hard to obtain in the settlement that early, however there is no confirmed account of the building materials used. There is no trace of the mill today; only records from the township and other histories as well as the remnants of an old stone bridge indicate its existence. The building was destroyed by fire. In 1822, a sawmill was established nearby this mill which ran until the 1900s.

Bellamys Mill was its own common school section, known as school section #10. The school, first built in 1836, was named S.S. #10 Mahon's School. The first log schoolhouse burned down and was rebuilt in the 1850s across the road. The school ran successfully until the 1910s when it was periodically closed and reopened until its permanent closure in the 1940s. At the time of its closure it was converted into a private residence. Additionally at Bellamys Mill was a Roman Catholic separate school, known as R.C. #10.

Around 1830, land owned by the Livingston family was being used as a community burial ground. Although commonly called Dayton's Cemetery, the burying ground's name upon establishment was Livingston's Cemetery after the family who started it and were first buried there. The first burial was a member of the Livingston family, buried there in 1803 before it became a community cemetery. The cemetery is slightly unique, as instead of tombstones, most of the graves are marked by primitive field stone markers. There are around one hundred stones in the cemetery, however it is estimated there are around two hundred individuals actually buried here. Presently, the cemetery sits on the northern tip of Bellamys Lake and is maintained, but not open to burials.

By the mid-1800s, the village had its own post office; the original grist mill had been destroyed, and a shingle mill was erected nearby. At this time, Chauncey Bellamy established a frame sawmill as well as a new grist mill. Around 1866, a woollen mill was constructed. The woollen mill burned in 1883, and the other mills ceased operations shortly after. At this time, Bellamy and another local man opened and operated a cheese factory in the community. The three-storey tall factory burned down once but was rebuilt; it operated until 1937 when it closed and was later demolished.

In 1840, the Roman Catholic congregation of Bellamys Mill built a stone church on a hill overlooking the millpond measuring 34 by 53 feet with a large steeple. The church was surrounded by a stone fence and a cemetery was located beside it. Prior to the church, mass was conducted from local homes by a travelling priest. There are no remains of the church today. The cemetery from the church is still standing but is no longer in use.

By the mid-to-late 1900s, all the businesses including the church had disappeared from Bellamys Mill. Like many other pioneer communities in the area, improved infrastructure led to its obsolescence and decline. Today, the area exists as a rural residential community. Almost none of the original structures remain except in ruins, aside from three small graveyards still standing in the area. Currently, the former site of the settlement is a campground and park.

Newbliss
The area that would become Newbliss was settled mostly by Loyalists or immigrants from the British Isles who received their land here as grants from the Crown. Located at a crossroads, it was originally referred to as Dack's Corners, followed by Dodd's Corners which has still been used in recent history to describe the main intersection. One of the first businesses to operate here was Dack's Tavern, built in 1817 and established as a tavern around the 1830s. The tavern had five rooms, three bed and horse stables, and also hosted Orange Lodge meetings.

Newbliss had two schoolhouses to serve the community, each its own section. The first school was built around 1830 and was titled S.S. #5 Newbliss School. It is believed the first schoolhouse for S.S. #5 was made of log, however no records of the school exist. In 1858, the stone schoolhouse which replaced the log structure was erected. This schoolhouse is still standing, located at the intersection of Highway 29 and Line Road 4. The other school section in Newbliss was #6, with its school being called S.S. #6 Coad's School. Originally, Coad's School was known as Dack's. This schoolhouse was also constructed of log before being replaced by a stone building in 1870. Upon its closure in the 1940s, Coad's School was sold to the Orange Lodge.

By the mid-1800s, the village began to flourish when roads improved in the area. By this time, the settlement consisted of two hotels, a blacksmith shop, a wagon shop, a general store, a post office, as well as its own schoolhouse. A cheese factory also operated from Newbliss consisting of three buildings. The main building was later turned into the general store, however the building burned down in the 1980s. The curing building was converted into a home. In the late 1850s, Newbliss received its name when an Irish immigrant from Newbliss, Ireland who was a respected citizen began calling the community Newbliss after his former home.

According to Lovell's gazetteer of 1873, Newbliss' population by the 1870s had reached 250 individuals. By this time, the community had gained a Temperance Hall, an Orange Lodge and became home to many more pioneer tradespeople. By the end of the century, Newbliss hit its peak. The community was then home to around 600 individuals. In 1904, a plot of land was donated to erect an Anglican church in Newbliss called St. Paul's Anglican Church. The congregation had been in existence for around forty years, having services in the schoolhouse. In 1910, a large shed was added to the ground for horses and in 1930 a parish hall was built.

After the 1930s, Newbliss began to decline. By 1950, Newbliss had only 25 residents and only a church, post office, school, general store and restaurant in operation within the community. Currently, none of the original businesses are still conducting business here.

Luckey murders
On October 8, 1892, the community of Newbliss was the scene of a gruesome triple homicide. Charles Sanford Luckey, was released from the Central Prison in Toronto and made his way to Newbliss, Ontario where his father, John Luckey and his second-wife Martha Luckey lived in a farmhouse with their daughter Mary Ann "Minnie" Luckey. Charles had just served a year for larceny and was known to be on bad terms with his father.

Shortly after two o'clock in the afternoon, neighbours noticed smoke emanating from the Luckey farmhouse. When they arrived on scene, the neighbours realized the entire interior of the house was completely engulfed in flames. While the fire was being attended to, some neighbours attempted to enter the farmhouse in order to rescue the family; when they got to the building every window and door was secured shut. When entrance was finally gained, the bodies of John, Martha and Mary Ann Luckey were discovered, having been severely burned to the point they were unrecognizable, and were removed from the farmhouse. The house then burned completely to the ground. The neighbours immediately suspected murder followed by arson due to the locked windows, the nature of the fire and the fact two axes were found at the scene.

According to residents' accounts in a Smiths Falls newspaper from October 13, 1892, a strange man was seen by many lurking around the farmhouse. Since Martha was home alone, it was believed amongst the neighbours that she must have been murdered first, followed by John who was seen running errands shortly before the fire. It was assumed that Mary Ann was killed last as her teeth were found in the driveway, indicative of a struggle, as though she may have foreseen danger and attempted escape.

Charles Luckey was a suspect due to the known tension between himself and his father, coupled with his criminal past. To add to the suspicion, he was later found in Smiths Falls, a short distance from Newbliss, staying in a hotel under an alias. When questioned, blood was found on his clothing and he admitted to being in Newbliss earlier in the day. The police chief also noted he seemed to be apathetic to the murders of his family.

Charles Luckey was found guilty of the murders, and sentenced to be executed. On December 14, 1893, Charles Luckey was hanged in Brockville, Ontario. Luckey's last meal was a bun and tea before he read from the bible, recited hymns, then was marched to the scaffold for his execution.

Former localities, settlements or communities
There are many sources which reference communities or localities within the township that are unrecorded on contemporary maps or no longer in use. According to a local history, there was a settlement called Shane's Corners located along Highway 29. Statistics Canada also provides the names of further localities no longer in use or not listed on contemporary maps: Bell, Bells Crossing, Glen Elm, Gosford, Hawkens, Heather Heights, Hutton, Linden Bank, and Story.

Shane's Corners
Shane's Corners was a small settlement located along Highway 29 near what was the First Concession of Kitley. Shane's Corners was settled by a man named Lawrence Shane and his wife; Mrs. Shane kept a private school here at one time. The settlement consisted of a few homesteads and very few businesses.

The settlement was large enough that it was able to become its own school section in the late nineteenth century. The school was known as S.S. #2 Shane's School, and at the time was located along the boundary of Kitley and South Elmsley townships. The stone building was constructed in 1875, replacing an older school further down the road which was subject to arson, possibly committed by a pupil. The schoolhouse was used after hours as the community church, as well as a meeting hall. Well into the 1900s, the building was used by the Shane's Women's Institute.

In 1860, the settlement became home to a Temperance Hall, called Mount Albion Lodge No. 60, I.O.G.T., and located on the first concession.

In the late 1800s, Shane's Corners had its own cheese factory, Cameron's Cheese Factory. This factory was originally built on a local homestead, however was later moved to the lot across the road from Shane's School, a more central location.

At some point in the 1800s, an Anglican cemetery was established.

Cemeteries
The amalgamated townships of Elizabethtown-Kitley are dotted with numerous old cemeteries, many of which lay abandoned. There are a total of 67 cemeteries recorded in the township. The majority of these cemeteries are old family burying ground dating from the late 1700s to the early 1800s - a time when burying the dead on the family's land was common. Many have been fully transcribed through local volunteer efforts however many are not, possibly due to the fact the stones are now illegible from deterioration. Most of the old family burial plots are completely abandoned or located on private properties. Additionally, the Brockville cemeteries are located within Elizabethtown-Kitley.

The following is an incomplete list of all registered cemeteries recorded as being within Elizabethtown-Kitley township by the Ontario Genealogical Society:

 * Bell's
 * Hill
 * Bell
 * Weir
 * Earl
 * Lucas
 * Smith
 * Jelly's
 * Booth
 * Bolton
 * Bolton
 * Soper's
 * Forbes'
 * Lehigh
 * Toledo
 * Gosford
 * Cornell
 * Foxton
 * Horton
 * Oakland
 * Howard's
 * Campbell
 * Campbell's
 * Brennan's
 * Manhard
 * Fernbank
 * Davidson
 * Sherwood
 * Glen Buell
 * Browntown
 * Ellis Family
 * Whitehurst
 * Greenback
 * New Dublin
 * Sopertown
 * Blanchard's
 * Plum Hollow
 * Mallorytown
 * David Family
 * Livingstone's
 * Old Greenbush
 * Fulford Pioneer
 * Bellamy's Pond
 * Rowsome Place
 * Tincap/Sand Hill
 * Dayton/Livingston
 * St. Phillip Neri R.C.
 * Davis Family Plot
 * Davis (abandoned)
 * Davis (abandoned)
 * Davis (abandoned)
 * Toledo Presbyterian
 * Hanton (abandoned)
 * Weeks (abandoned)
 * Toledo United Church
 * Acheson (abandoned)
 * Forthton (abandoned)
 * Gallinger (abandoned)
 * unnamed (abandoned)
 * unnamed (abandoned)
 * St. Francis Xavier R.C.
 * Brockville Old Protestant
 * Montgomery (abandoned)
 * St. Peter's Anglican/Old Catholic

It bears mentioning that many of these cemeteries are also known by other or multiple names, the names listed here are those specified by the Ontario Genealogical Society.

Fulford Pioneer Cemetery is a designated historical location situated along the bank of the St. Lawrence River along Fulford Point Road, Woodridge, west of Brockville. It was designated for being one of the oldest cemeteries in the township, having been dedicated in 1786. The cemetery is on land originally granted to one of Jessup's Rangers, Jonathan Fulford. On June 7, 1786, the cemetery was opened with the burial of Fulford's infant son. The cemetery contains the graves of members of Fulford's family as well as the Cole family, who were related through marriage, and a few other local families.

Demographics
In the 2021 Census of Population conducted by Statistics Canada, Elizabethtown-Kitley had a population of $9,545$ living in $3,791$ of its $4,029$ total private dwellings, a change of NaN% from its 2016 population of $9,631$. With a land area of 555.96 km2, it had a population density of in 2021.

In the year 2011, 19.6% of Elizabethtown-Kitley's population was aged 65 years or older. around two percent higher than the national percentage. 65.8% of the population were of working age (aged 15–64), while 14.6% were under 14 years of age. The national percentage for those aged 0–14 was 16.7% and 68.5% for working aged individuals. The median age in the township in 2011 was 47.4 years old, seven years older than the national average.

In 2011, the number of census families in the township of Elizabethtown-Kitley had dropped 3.9% from 2006 to 2,945 families. Of these families, 79.1% were married couples while 11.9% were common-law and 9.2% were single-parent households. Among the couples in this census division in 2011, 41.7% of couples were with children aged 24 years or younger living in the household; this was below the national numbers.

For the total population aged 15 or older during 2011, the marital statuses in the township break down as follows: 57.5% were married, 8.4% were living with a common-law partner, 8% were widowed, 6% were divorced or separated and 20% were single (never married).

Language, immigration and diversity
In the township in 2011, the vast majority, 93.8%, of the population spoke solely English as their mother tongue. Only 2.4% reported speaking only French and 3.4% reported speaking only a non-official language as their mother tongue. This is a contrast from national percentages which are 68.2% for English only and 25.7% for non-official languages only as a mother tongue. Multiple responses were given by 0.4% of the population.

In 2011, 98.3% of the population spoke English as their primary language at home; 0.8% spoke French and 0.5% spoke a non-official language in their home.

Of non-official languages, Dutch, German and Italian were cited as being the most common languages spoken. Dutch speakers accounted for 42.4% of the non-official language speakers. German accounted for 18.2% and Italian 4.5%.

In the year 2011, only 155 individuals (1.7%) of the population of Elizabethtown-Kitley township identified with an Aboriginal identity. Of the individuals with an Aboriginal identity, 58.1% reported having a First Nations identity while 41.9% reported Métis.

During 2011, it was estimated that 90 individuals within Elizabethtown-Kitley belonged to a visible minority group. This accounted for 1.0% of the township's total population; in Ontario, the percentage is 25.9%. The biggest visible minority groups were South Asian and Black.

The three most reported ethnic origins in 2011 in Elizabethtown-Kitley were Canadian (43.6%), Irish (35.5%), and English (31.5%).

In 2011, the National Household Survey determined that 8,725 individuals in the township were Canadian-born, accounting for 94.2% of the total population. 525 individuals, 5.7% of the population, were foreign-born immigrants. Recent immigrants, those who immigrated between 2006 and 2011, accounted for 5.7% of the immigrant population. The most common countries of origin for the immigrant population of the township were the United Kingdom and the Netherlands who accounted for 39% and 19% of the population of immigrants, respectively.

Mother tongue (Canada 2006 Census ):
 * English as first language: 92.3%
 * French as first language: 1.7%
 * English and French as first language: 0.1%
 * Other as first language: 5.9%

Population trend:
 * Population in 2016: 9,854 (+1.3% from 2011)
 * Population in 2011: 9,724 (-4,7% from 2006)
 * Population in 2006: 10,201
 * Population in 1991:
 * Elizabethtown: 7,439
 * Kitley: 2,191

title: Elizabethtown-Kitley


text:
Thomas Erpingham

Sir Thomas Erpingham (c. 1357 –27 June 1428) was an English soldier and administrator who loyally served three generations of the House of Lancaster, including Henry IV and Henry V, and whose military career spanned four decades. After the Lancastrian usurpation of the English throne in 1399, his career in their service was transformed as he rose to national prominence, and through his access to royal patronage he acquired great wealth and influence.

Erpingham was born in the English county of Norfolk, and knighted when a young man. During the reign of Richard II he served under the King's uncle John of Gaunt, Duke of Lancaster, in Spain and Scotland, and was with Gaunt's son Henry Bolingbroke on crusades in Lithuania, Prussia and the Holy Land. Erpingham accompanied Bolingbroke into exile in October 1398, and was with him when he landed at Ravenspur in July 1399 to reclaim his inheritance as Duke of Lancaster, after his lands had been forfeited by Richard. Bolingbroke rewarded Erpingham by appointing him as constable of Dover Castle and warden of the Cinque Ports, and after ascending the throne as Henry IV he made him chamberlain of the royal household. Erpingham later helped to suppress the Epiphany Rising and was appointed guardian of Henry's second son Thomas. He was a member of the Privy Council, acting at one point as marshal of England. He attempted to have Henry le Despenser, the anti-Lancastrian bishop of Norwich, impeached as a rebel.

On becoming king in 1413, Henry IV's son Henry of Monmouth appointed Erpingham as steward of the royal household. Henry IV's reign had been marked by lawlessness, but Henry V and his administrators proved to be unusually talented, and within twelve months law and order had been re-established throughout England. In 1415 Erpingham was indentured to serve as a knight banneret, and joined Henry's campaign to recover his lost ancestral lands in France and Normandy. Erpingham presided over the surrender of Harfleur. On 25 October 1415, he commanded the archers in the Battle of Agincourt, where he was positioned alongside the king.

Erpingham married twice, but both marriages were childless. He was a benefactor to the city of Norwich, where he had built the main cathedral gate which bears his name. He died on 27 June 1428, and was buried in Norwich Cathedral.

Ancestry and early life
Thomas Erpingham was born in about 1357, the son of Sir John de Erpingham of Erpingham and Wickmere in Norfolk, England. His grandfather, Sir Robert de Erpingham was recorded as holding Erpingham manor in 1316 and Erpingham and Wickmere in 1346. Sir Robert represented Norfolk in Parliaments during the 1330s and 1340s. In 1350, Sir Robert and his son Sir John de Erpingham both witnessed a deed of feoffment by Nicholas de Snyterle, rector of "Matelask" (Matlaske near Erpingham), to Philip Tynker and Maud his wife of a messuage there.

Sir John owned a house in Norwich in Conisford Lane, now King Street. Thomas, who would have known the house, was possibly born there. The identity of Erpingham's mother is not mentioned by his biographers. In September 1368 he may have travelled with his father to Aquitaine in the service of Edward the Black Prince.

His grandfather died in 1370, after 8 March but before 1 August, the date of death of the father of Thomas. On 8 March 1370 at Erpingham, Sir Robert de Erpingham and his son Sir John, both signed their names and left seals on a charter of an inescutcheon between eight martlets. In his will, Robert left legacies to all the friars of Norwich. He was buried near the south door of Erpingham church. Sir John de Erpingham succeeded his father Robert, but did not survive him long, dying later that same year on 1 August 1370. He was buried in the church at Erpingham in the east end of the south aisle.

Early military service
Erpingham served under William Ufford, 2nd Earl of Suffolk in 1372 and was with Suffolk in France the following year. In 1379 he was serving under the Captain of Calais, William Montagu, 2nd Earl of Salisbury. In the summer of 1380 he was indentured into the retinue of John of Gaunt, Duke of Lancaster, a military leader and the third surviving son of Edward III of England, with whom Salisbury had recently served. Indentured retainers gave their allegiance for life in a personal written contract—conditions of service and payment were agreed, and these were rarely relaxed.

The year Erpingham was knighted is unknown, but he is likely to have been at least 21. In June 1380 he was named as 'Sir Thomas' in an order of payment made by Lancaster, the earliest known date at which his knighthood is referred to. The payment, provided by the ducal manor of Gimingham, was for a considerable annual income of £20—it has been estimated that during the 15th century only 12,000 households in England had an income of between £10 and £300. Erpingham was with Lancaster during the English invasion of Scotland in 1385.

Lancaster's determination to rule the Kingdom of Castile after his marriage to the Castilian princess Constance in 1371 dominated his life for 15 years. In 1386 Richard II of England agreed to release the funds needed for Lancaster to lead a Castilian campaign. Lancaster's royal status gave him a prominence in affairs of state that created tension between him and Richard, and the cost of the Castilian campaign was seen by the King's advisers as a price worth paying for the political freedom Richard would gain from Lancaster's absence.

Erpingham was with Lancaster when his army set sail from Plymouth in July 1386. It landed at Brest, France, and temporarily relieved the besieged English garrison. After leaving Brest the army arrived at A Coruña, and went on to bring Galicia under English control. John I of Portugal joined with Lancaster in March 1387, but because of a lack of food for their animals, and the successful defensive tactics employed by the Castilians, their campaign was abandoned after six weeks. In 1388, Erpingham participated before Charles VI of France in a jousting tournament at Montereau, his adversary being Sir John de Barres. As related by the French chronicler Jean Froissart, half way through the tournament, Erpingham was struck violently on his shield by his opponent, and was knocked off his horse. Stunned by the blow, he managed to recover and continue the joust, "to the satisfaction of the king and his lords".

Erpingham was sent back to England to watch over Lancaster's son Henry Bolingbroke and went into his service. In 1390 he was with Bolingbroke's retinue when it crossed the English Channel with the intention of joining Duke Louis II of Bourbon in a siege of the Tunisian port of Mahdia on a crusading expedition via Marseilles. The expedition was abandoned when Charles VI refused him permission to travel through France. Bolingbroke then went on a crusade in Lithuania. Erpingham, one of the most trusted and experienced of Lancaster's men, belonged to what the historian Douglas Biggs describes as "the 'adult' portion of Henry's force"—older men who were probably sent by Lancaster to guide and protect his son. The "crusade" resulted in an unsuccessful siege of Vilnius and the capture of Lithuanian women and children, who were then converted to Christianity. It is not known if Erpingham was present with Bolingbroke at the siege.

Erpingham was with Bolingbroke when he returned unnecessarily to Prussia in July 1392—a peace was being made in Lithuania between its ruler, Władysław II Jagiełło, and his cousin Vytautas, and the crusaders who had supported Vytautas had already left. Bolingbroke and his reduced retinue journeyed through Europe and the Near East, visiting Prague, Vienna, Corfu, and the Holy Land. It is thought that it was in Italy that Erpingham obtained the silk for the chasuble which bears his name, now in the Victoria and Albert Museum.

Revolution of 1399
The historian Helen Castor has described the Lancastrian presence in East Anglia as a "disparate collection” that lacked coherence or a single identity. Erpingham rose to become the most important of Lancaster's retainers in the region. He was appointed to a commission of peace, and given powers to preserve order in Norfolk in the aftermath of the Peasants' Revolt in the summer of 1381. He had a part in supervising the defence of Norfolk in 1385, when a French invasion seemed imminent. In 1396 Lancaster granted him the legal right to use the land within the hundred of South Erpingham, a reward for his loyal service to the Duchy of Lancaster.

In January 1398 a dispute erupted between Bolingbroke and Thomas de Mowbray, 1st Duke of Norfolk, after Mowbray had attempted to ambush and kill Lancaster, and which the King ordered be settled by a trial by battle between the two men. During the five months before 16 September, the day the trial was due to take place, Bolingbroke travelled throughout England on a tour of the Lancastrian lands. Richard stopped the contest as it was about to begin and banished Bolingbroke from the kingdom for ten years, and exiled Mowbray for life. Those assembled were told that the trial had been stopped to avoid dishonouring the loser and to prevent a feud from arising, but chroniclers (writing after Henry IV's accession) considered Richard's decision an act of revenge. Bolingbroke, as one of the five Lords Appellant, had rebelled in November 1387; for a year they maintained Richard as a figurehead with little actual power.

Erpingham was one of 17 named companions who volunteered to accompany Henry Bolingbroke into exile. He entrusted his lands and property to Sir Robert Berney and others. The party headed for Paris, where they were welcomed by Charles VI and presented with lavish gifts. Following the death of his father on 3 February 1399, Bolingbroke's inheritance was confiscated by Richard, and his banishment was increased by the King to life. On 17 June 1399, Erpingham witnessed a secret pact made in Paris between Bolingbroke and Louis I, Duke of Orléans, the brother of Charles VI, stating that as allies they would support each other against each other's enemies—the kings of England and France excepted.

Erpingham was one of Bolingbroke's supporters who landed with him at Ravenspur, probably at the end of June 1399. Whilst Bolingbroke was gaining support for his cause to restore his rightful inheritance of the Duchy of Lancaster as he moved across northern and central England, Richard was delayed in Ireland. He eventually found ships to cross the Irish Sea, and reached Wales by around 24 July. Realising the strength of the threat posed by his rival, he deserted his court and moved across country with a small group of followers.

By 27 July Bolingbroke had reached Berkeley, near Bristol, where he had a meeting with Richard's uncle the Duke of York. At Berkeley, York deserted the King's cause and joined Bolingbroke. Shortly afterwards, Erpingham arrested Henry le Despenser, bishop of Norwich and one of the few remaining supporters of Richard prepared to resist Bolingbroke.

Richard had reached Conwy Castle when Chester fell to Bolingbroke on 5 August. The King was persuaded by the Earl of Northumberland to leave Conwy and travel 17 mi to Rhuddlan Castle, but during the journey his party was ambushed and he was taken prisoner. According to a French chronicle, the ambush was devised by Northumberland and carried out by his men, led by Erpingham. When Richard saw armed men everywhere, Northumberland's plans were revealed to him, and: "As he spoke, Erpingham came up with all the people of the Earl, his trumpets sounding aloud." Taken to London under armed guard and kept under Erpingham's custody in the Tower of London, Richard was given no option by Bolingbroke and his representatives—including Erpingham—but to relinquish the throne.

Erpingham was given two important positions at court by Bolingbroke. He was made lord warden and constable of Dover Castle as early as 21 August, and appointed to be chamberlain of the royal household after Henry's accession, a post which made him the head of the royal household with overall responsibility for the arrangement of Henry's domestic affairs, and which he held until 1404. His appointment as lord warden and constable involved the command of a garrison at the castle, and gave Erpingham a position in the King's council when strategic matters were discussed; as constable, he was paid over £300 a year.

Career under Henry IV
Henry's coronation took place on 13 October 1399 at Westminster Abbey. As part of the ceremony, Erpingham carried one of the King's swords during the procession to the abbey. He was one of 11 men who petitioned Henry in person to have Richard killed. He was a commander in the army that suppressed the Epiphany Rising of 1399–1400, led by the duketti (the disparaging term given to a large group of noblemen, many of whom had received titles from Richard). Erpingham supervised the execution of two of the leading rebels, Sir Thomas Blount and Sir Benedict Kely. As Blount watched his own bowels being burnt before him, he cursed Erpingham for being a "false traitor": "Art thou the traitor Erpingham? Thou art more false than I am or ever was; and thou liest, false knight as though art . . . thou utterest thy false spleen like a false and disloyal traitor; for by thee, and by the false traitor, the Earl of Rutland, the noble knighthood of England is destroyed. Cursed be the hour when thou and he were born."

Henry rewarded Erpingham with the custody for life of a house called 'le Newe Inne' in London. The following year, Erpingham was appointed as guardian of the King's second son, Thomas, Duke of Clarence, and in about 1401 he was appointed to the Order of the Garter. He acted briefly as steward of the royal household the same year and became acting marshal of England in October. In July 1407 the Duke of Burgundy was authorised to negotiate a permanent peace settlement between the French and the English. A mission led by Erpingham went to Paris the following month, and were lavishly entertained by members of the French king's council.

Despite the military nature of the office of constable of Dover, Erpingham took little part in the warfare of the early years of Henry IV's reign, and he generally remained at court. He campaigned in Scotland in August 1400, when Henry made a futile attempt to make the Scots acknowledge him as king of England and pay him homage.

According to one tradition, Erpingham was a supporter of John Wycliffe's English translation of the Bible, which was considered heretical. Supposedly, Erpingham was spared from persecution by the Church because he was favoured by Henry IV, and so merely paid a fine, which financed the construction of the Erpingham Gate. The historian Veronica Sekules considers it unlikely that Erpingham supported Wycliffe, and suggests that if he had such a dispute with the Church, it was more likely over Erpingham's arrest of Despenser.

Power and influence in Norfolk
Sir Thomas Erpingham was one of Henry IVs closest associates, and after 1399, influence in Norfolk shifted from Despenser to Erpingham and his friends. Due to his local connections, his links with the Duchy of Lancaster and his position in the centre of government, Erpingham held a prominent position in East Anglian society; he was named to every commission of the peace in Norfolk during the reign of Henry IV. During the 1400s, Erpingham's authority in north Norfolk was extended to other parts of the county and into Suffolk. Gentry from East Anglia who were associated with Erpingham benefited from his powerful position at court: Sir John Strange of Hunstanton became controller of the royal household in 1408; Sir Robert Gurney of Gunton became Erpingham's deputy at Dover Castle in 1400; and John Winter of Barningham became controller of Prince Henry's household in 1403. Other beneficiaries of Erpingham's friendship included Sir Ralph Shelton, John Payn, and John Raynes of Overstrand, who succeeded Payn as the constable of Norwich Castle in 1402.

The principal citizens of Norwich had become disillusioned with Richard II's policies, the city having lost its charter in 1388 when it supported the Lords Appellant. Despenser had remained within his diocese after Henry's coronation, but his nephew Thomas Despenser, 1st Earl of Gloucester had been executed for his part in the Epiphany Rising. Erpingham attempted to have Despenser impeached for actively supporting the rebels; at Erpingham's suggestion, Norwich petitioned Henry with charges against Despenser, which were presented to the King by Erpingham.

At Despenser's hearing in London, Erpingham was publicly congratulated by the King for his loyalty to the Crown. Despenser was forced to accept Henry's authority and publicly rebuked; he was later pardoned. Henry awarded the city a new charter, and Norwich showed its gratitude by showering Erpingham with lavish gifts "for bearing his word to the King for the honour of the city and for having his counsel". The city authorities cooperated with him as an important member of Henry's inner circle.

Career under Henry V
Henry IV died at Westminster on 30 March 1413, and was succeeded by his son Henry of Monmouth, the Prince of Wales. Monmouth had replaced Erpingham as warden of the Cinque Ports in 1409, but relationships between the two men remained good, and after the coronation on 9 April 1413, Erpingham was appointed steward of the household, a post he held until at least 1415. After Henry IV's reign, which had been marked by banditry and rioting, Henry V acted quickly to restore law and order throughout the country. This was achieved within a year. Henry's administrators—Erpingham included—were unusually talented, and order was maintained in England throughout his reign.

Henry's great-grandfather Edward III had lost Aquitaine in 1337 when it was confiscated from the English by Philip VI of France, and as a grandson of Philip IV of France, Edward had a claim to the French throne. In November 1414, Henry launched a campaign to recover Aquitaine and France. It was an effective way of establishing his authority as king at the start of his reign. Strategic planning for the expedition in February 1415 involved discussions with Erpingham and other soldiers in Henry's inner circle, part of what the historian Anne Curry describes as the King's "strong infrastructure and amply supply of manpower". Erpingham was indentured to serve as a knight banneret. His retinue, which mustered on heathland outside Southampton where they obtained provisions, consisted of two knights, 17 squires and 60 archers.

Participation at Harfleur and Agincourt
Erpingham crossed over from England to Normandy with Henry's army on 11 August 1415. The King's ship reached the mouth of the River Seine on 13 August, and the army landed 3 mile from Harfleur, a landing point likely to have been decided on beforehand. Erpingham's men were present during the siege of the town, and on 22 September he led the procession to the walls and presided over the truce that led to its surrender. The English army then marched towards Calais, shadowed by the French, who forced them to divert away from the coast. The English successfully forded the River Somme at Voyennes; two days' march short of Calais, they were blocked by the French near Agincourt.

Erpingham was one of the middle-aged English commanders on the field at Agincourt, and at 60 was one of the oldest men present. Although having never experienced a pitched battle before, he had taken part in lesser actions and, as noted by Curry, was "undoubtedly one of the most experienced soldiers present" at Agincourt. He is not mentioned in any contemporaneous English versions of the battle, but three French chroniclers, Jean de Wavrin, Enguerrand de Monstrelet and Jean Le Fèvre, all give detailed descriptions of his role in the battle. The three main divisions (or 'battles') of the English army were commanded by Henry and two veteran soldiers: the rearguard (to the right of the King) was led by Thomas Camoys, 1st Baron Camoys; and the vanguard (on the King's left) was led by Edward, Duke of York.

The battle
On 25 October, the day of the battle, the English army was in position by dawn. With both of its flanks protected by the woods of Tramecourt and Azincourt, the army consisted of 5,000 archers and 800 dismounted men-at-arms—in proportion to the number of men-at-arms present, the number of English archers was high. Because of the authority his seniority would carry, Erpingham was given command of the archers. The men-at-arms were positioned fours ranks deep in the centre of the gap between the two woods. Most of the archers were positioned on the flanks of the men-at-arms, but a few archers were placed amongst them, and 200 were hidden in a clearing in the Tramecourt woods, close to the French lines. Each archer had a stake, double-pointed and 6 ft long, which was planted deep into the ground and—according to an eye-witness account—"sloping towards the enemy higher than a man's waist above the ground". The stakes gave protection against a charge by the French cavalry. "... the King of England, who had appointed a knight called Sir Thomas Erpingham to place his archers in front in two wings, trusted entirely to him, and Sir Thomas, to do his part, exhorted every one to do well in the name of the king, begging them to fight vigorously against the French in order to secure and save their own lives. And thus the knight, who rode with two others only in front of the battalion, seeing that the hour was come, for all things were well arranged, threw up a baton which he held in his hand, saying ' Nestrocq,' which was the signal for attack; then dismounted and joined the king, who was also on foot in the midst of his men, with his banner before him."

After the French army failed to attack, Erpingham was ordered to warn the army that it was about to advance to within bowshot of the French. He threw his baton upwards as a signal to advance, and commanded "Now strike!". Erpingham's strong Norfolk accent may have caused the French to mishear him, as some chroniclers recorded the command as "Nestroque". He then dismounted and moved with his banner to join the King, where he remained during the rest of the battle.

When the English advanced with a great shout, the French responded by beginning their own advance, each army moving roughly the same distance. The English paused and the main body of archers replanted their stakes. They then began to continuously discharge their arrows, which signalled the concealed archers to start firing into the French flanks. The French plan was to use mounted men-at-arms to overcome the English archers, leaving the battles and the men in the wings to attack their heavily outnumbered English counterparts. This plan failed when the cavalry were halted by the storm of arrow fire and the stakes planted by the archers; their retreat was disrupted by the advancing French foot soldiers. The chaos that ensued allowed the English men-at-arms to penetrate the French battles.

The ensuing melee was the most important part of the battle. Once the men-at-arms in the two armies engaged, the English archers fired into the flanks of the French. Evidence suggests the English vanguard, led by York, who was killed, bore most of the fighting. Advancing through deep mud, the French were exhausted when they reached the English. Those killed or knocked down at the front hindered others behind them, causing men to pile up. The immobilised French were killed where they stood, the English suffering far fewer casualties. Any of the French attempting to retreat were blocked by their advancing comrades; if they tried to move to the flanks they were targets for the English archers. At this stage in the mêlée, the archers abandoned their bows and attacked the flanks of the mass of the French with any weapons to hand. This, and their failing position to their front, caused the French to break, and many were cut down or captured by pursuing English archers and men-at-arms. Not all the French had engaged in the fighting and only the vanguard had been defeated. When much of the main French battle were destroyed by the English men-at-arms and the re-armed archers firing into them, the largely leaderless French army withdrew from the field, except for a group of 600 men who were killed or captured when they charged the English.

Aftermath of the battle
After the battle, Henry's army marched to the English enclave of the Pale of Calais, embarked from Calais on 16 November and returned to England. Erpingham was among 300 men-at arms—which included four barons and 22 knights—and 900 archers who garrisoned the town over the winter. The seniority of the men-at-arms was a reflection of how important it was to Henry that the town was not lost to the French.

On his return to England, Erpingham's reward for the services he rendered had during the war included the farm of Lessingham manor and an annuity from the King of 50 marks. In July 1416, in his capacity as the steward of the royal household, he travelled back to Calais with John Wakering, the bishop of Norwich. There they welcomed the Duke of Burgundy, before his meeting with King Henry.

Personal life
When staying in Norwich, Erpingham and his family and servants lived in a large house located between Norwich Cathedral and the River Wensum, with his land going down to the river. The house was acquired from Sir Robert Berney in 1409. Known variously as 'Berney's Inn', 'the Erpingham' or 'Calthorpe's House', it was only accurately located in 1981. No remains survive, although it was a major source of employment for the local area during the time that it was occupied by Erpingham. It was inherited by his niece. In the 17th century, the house and its associated land was subdivided and built upon.

Erpingham's connections with the Lancastrians and his increasing wealth led to his acquisition of lands, rents and services in Norfolk, Suffolk and Essex, manors sometimes being held in joint possession with his neighbours or relatives. Curry lists over 40 manors he held during his life, some permanently: three were inherited from his father, such as the manor at Erpingham; seven came to him during the 1370s and 1380s; eight manors were given to him in 1399 by Henry IV and a further seven were acquired that year by other means; another seven were acquired during the 1400s; and he purchased twelve manors from 1410 to 1421. He also lost the tenure of some of his lands, a common occurrence at the time when manors were awarded 'for life'; the hundred, which included his home village, was lost in 1398, when King Richard gave to Katherine Swynford, third wife of the Duke of Lancaster, "the manors of Erpingham and Wyckmere, and of all lands, rents, services, villeins with their villeinages etc. there and in all other towns in Norfolk sometime of Robert Erpingham knight". In 1407 Berney helped Erpingham to buy the manor at Blickling. His family sold Blickling to the soldier Sir John Fastolf in 1431.

Erpingham married Joan Clopton, the daughter of Sir William Clopton of Clopton, Suffolk, sometime before 1389; Erpingham was widowed in 1404. His second marriage was to Joan Walton, the daughter of Sir Richard Walton, and widow of Sir John Howard, who died in 1409 or 1410. Joan died in 1425. Evidence that Erpingham was twice married comes in part from a window opposite the chantry of Norwich Cathedral, which once displayed him and his two wives, as well as church records, which state he was buried with both of his wives. Both marriages were childless.

Erpingham had a profound influence on the careers of the two sons of his sister Julian, who married Sir William Phelip (or Philip) of Dennington. Erpingham's position in court helped the elder son William to become a member of Henry IV's personal household; William's brother John held a similar position at the court of Henry of Monmouth. The brothers remained closely attached to their uncle. William and Erpingham were often recorded as co-feoffees of estates in East Anglia, and William stood surety for his uncle at the Exchequer. The family's fortunes improved still further when Henry of Monmouth became king, although John died at Harfleur in 1415. His brother was knighted on the eve of the coronation and later fought at Agincourt.

From 1417, Erpingham seems to have retired and lived out his remaining years in Norfolk, having relinquished his position as steward that May. King Henry died in 1422, after which Erpingham had no further contact with the court. He died on 27 June 1428, and was buried on the north side of the presbytery of Norwich Cathedral. Sir William Phelip, who was an executor of his uncle's will, "inherited his substantial possessions in Norfolk". Dated 25 March 1427, the will contains bequests to Norwich Cathedral, churches in Norfolk and London, two Norwich hospitals and several East Anglian convents. Erpingham specified that "all my armour and the harness of my person to be delivered up to the Holy Trinity [Cathedral] in Norwich".

Architectural legacy
Erpingham was a benefactor to the city of Norwich. In 1420 he had built the cathedral gate which bears his name, opposite the west door of Norwich Cathedral leading into Cathedral Close. He funded the rebuilding of the Church of the Blackfriars in Norwich after a fire in the city caused serious damage to the original friary complex in 1413. Today it forms part of the most complete friary surviving in England. The west tower of St. Mary's Church, in the village of Erpingham, was paid for by him.

In 1419, Erpingham paid for the east chancel window of the church of St. Austin's Friary in Norwich to be glazed. The window contained eight panes, containing dedications to 107 noblemen or knights who died without producing an heir since the reign of Edward III. The building was demolished in 1547 after the priory was suppressed in 1538.

Appearance in the Henriad
Sir Thomas Erpingham appears twice in Act IV of William Shakespeare's play Henry V, first printed in 1600, and is mentioned (but does not appear) in Act II of Richard II. According to the Shakespearean scholar Thomas M. Cranfill, Erpingham plays a "considerable, affecting role". Just after the beginning of Scene 1, Erpingham enters and is acknowledged by the King. As the old man departs, Henry replies (probably out of Erpingham's hearing), "God-a-mercy, old heart! thou speak'st cheerfully", a line, as historian Lawrence Danson writes, "poised at gratitude and irony, admiration and desperation": Later in the same scene, Erpingham re-enters to inform the King that his nobles are looking for him, and in a simple line conveys the burden of being a ruler. Erpingham is a counterpart to the character of John Falstaff, his brief appearance in the Henriad contrasting with the much larger part given to Falstaff. Henry emphasises the knight's old age and marks him apart by consistently referring him by his full name, and the character is used to accentuate the connection between old age and goodness.

In film depictions of the play, Erpingham's part is largely silent, as in Laurence Olivier's film of 1944. Erpingham first appears near the end of the film, during the night before the battle of Agincourt. Kenneth Branagh, in his 1989 film, used the character more often and in, according to Curry, in a way that was "notably more inventive" than Olivier and showed more of an awareness of Erpingham's place in history. Identifiable in both films by his distinctive coat of arms and his white hair—in contrast with that of the youthful looking Henry and his courtiers—Branagh includes Erpingham to good effect in the court scenes set in England, as well as during the battle and its aftermath. The character is given a more central (if largely silent) role by Branagh, without distorting Shakespeare's original intentions for the part.

title: Thomas Erpingham


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Chamberlin

The Chamberlin is an electro-mechanical keyboard instrument that was a precursor to the Mellotron. It was developed and patented by the American inventor Harry Chamberlin from 1949 to 1956, when the first model was introduced. There are several models and versions of the Chamberlin. While most are keyboard-based, there were also early drum machines produced and sold. Some of these drum patterns feature the work of Chamberlin's son Richard.

Development
Harry Chamberlin's idea for the instrument came from recording himself playing an organ and conceiving its playback as entertainment. He designed the first Chamberlin instrument as early as 1949, intended as a home entertainment device for family sing-alongs and playing the big band standards of the day.

The Chamberlin's use as a commercial instrument in rock (or rock and roll) music was not considered, as Harry Chamberlin disliked rock music and rock musicians.

The Chamberlin has a piano-style keyboard. Underneath each key is a tape-playing mechanism. Each tape is prerecorded with various musical instruments or special effects. When the musician presses a key, a pressure pad pushes the tape against a tape head, and a pinch roller beneath the key pulls it forward into storage box (or onto a roller mechanism). The electric signal generated by the tape head is amplified and heard through a loudspeaker. When the player releases the key, the sound stops, and the tape rewinds by either metal spring rods (on the early Chamberlins) or by a return-roller mechanism (on the later M1 models). Each tape is only a few seconds long (eight seconds on many units).

Harry Chamberlin converted a walk-in closet into a home studio and spent considerable time (usually from sunrise to sunset) experimenting with sounds. After modifying the acoustics in the studio, and also in other rooms in his house, the first Chamberlin recordings were made. All Chamberlin recordings were contracted and performed by members of the Lawrence Welk Orchestra throughout the 1950s. Welk was impressed with the idea of a tape playback instrument and offered to fund its manufacture if it was called a "Welk" machine. Chamberlin refused Welk's offer.

Chamberlin used Neumann U47 microphones to record the sounds. The sounds are characterized by a very clean output and heavy vibrato, which was customary of the music styles of the time. The Chamberlin sounds have little compression and possess dynamics true to the instruments recorded on the tapes (such as the air in the flute, or the flow in of the strings). The Chamberlin instruments were designed to accurately replicate the sound of the instrument recorded on the tape. They were meant to be stationary and not transportable. so there was little effort devoted to reliability. Many early Chamberlins have no internal chassis and are prone to go out of adjustment.

As Chamberlin refined the design he began to demonstrate it at music trade shows, and competitors such as Hammond and Lowrey were curious about the origin of Chamberlin sounds. In an effort to compete, these companies created drum rhythms and added plastic tabs with orchestral instrument names on them. These tabs would generate tones that simulated the sound of the instrument selected. The American Federation of Musicians took notice and attempted to limit live performances of Chamberlin instruments fearing that their members would be put out of work. Despite the controversy, musicians worldwide embraced the Chamberlin. "Mack the Knife" singer Bobby Darin was one of the first customers, buying a customized model 300 without the rhythm section tapes. Elvis Presley was also an early owner, occasionally using it for home entertainment.

Chamberlin's company grew by employing his wife, his children, and his window cleaner Bill Franson as his salesman. Franson travelled the country offering the Chamberlin instruments to music stores, parlours, and cocktail lounges. Offers of wider distribution were made, but Harry Chamberlin preferred word of mouth advertising and did not like the terms and conditions of distributorship and eschewed it. Chamberlin favoured doing business directly with lounges, nightclubs and musicians who embraced big band music.

In 1962 Bill Franson went missing for several months. A radio could be heard playing music in his apartment but attempts to contact him proved futile. Franson had left for England by boat taking two Chamberlin 600 models with him (one of these eventually became the possession of Todd Rundgren's studio and appears on XTC's Skylarking album in 1986). Franson placed an ad asking for a company that could manufacture seventy standard playback heads. Bradmatic Ltd. (an engineering company) responded to the ad.

Franson removed the Chamberlin labels and sold the rebadged "Franson" instrument without Harry Chamberlin's knowledge. Refining the 600's design into the Mellotron Mark 1, Bradmatic eventually became Streetly Electronics and began manufacture of the Mellotron Mark 2 in 1963. In 1965 Harry Chamberlin became aware of the fraud after discovering a copy of his instrument being marketed at an American musical instrument trade show. He forced a legal settlement with Streetly Electronics. After visiting owners Frank, Norman, and Les Bradley in person (and having an intense discussion with Franson), an arrangement was made that Mellotrons would only be sold in the UK and Chamberlins would be sold in the US. Chamberlin would receive royalty payments from the Mellotron company, though this apparently ended in the late 1960s. Through this same royalty system, he licensed the Chamberlin "3 violins" sound to be used as the violins sound in the Mellotron library. This sound was used on much of the British Mellotron music since the mid-1960s. Consequently, it can be difficult to tell whether a recording features a Mellotron or Chamberlin when the three violins tapes are used, other than by the country of origin of the recording.

Mistaking Chamberlin sounds for real instruments is common because they were recorded with no processing and because there were fewer mixdown master tapes used compared to the Mellotron library. The M series Chamberlins wide bandwidth playback heads also enhanced fidelity.

Chamberlin instruments were never distributed for sale outside the US and Canada. Chamberlin Co. continued to refine and sell their products, and invested more effort into reliability to compete with the Mellotron. Sales to major US studios resulted in Chamberlins being heard on many pop records of the 1960s including recordings by The Lettermen, Marvin Gaye, Bobby Goldsboro ("Honey" in 1968), The Beach Boys, and educator Edmund Bordeaux Szekely.

A new Chamberlin design emerged in the late 1960s, ending the use of rhythm tapes. This was the much more durable M1 which appeared in 1970 with a flawless tape-return roller system. This model has higher-quality playback tape heads with no tape warble and greater bandwidth than the Mellotron. The unit is a table-top version of the earlier models and much smaller than the competing M400 Mellotron model. About 130 M1 Chamberlins were built.

These musicians included Disneyland/Disney Worlds' live performance artist Michael Iceberg in his shows featuring electronic instruments. Others include Skip Konte with Three Dog Night, Olivia Newton-John, Leon Russell (Carney in 1972), Neil Merryweather, James Taylor, Stevie Wonder, Ambrosia, Mike Pinder with The Moody Blues on the album Seventh Sojourn (1972), American progressive rock band Ethos, David Bowie (from Low in 1977 through Scary Monsters in 1980), Edgar Winter (Jasmine Nightdreams in 1975), Joe South, Iron Butterfly, Chip Taylor, New York session player Barry Frederick, Canadian musicians Joe and Gino Vannelli, jazz/fusion group Shadowfax (Watercourse Way in 1976), and Bob Seger keyboardists Robyn Robbins and Tom Neme.

Chamberlin Co. continued to earn revenue by licensing patents to Mattel for their Optigan keyboard, which uses its prerecorded loop as well as some Chamberlin music tapes in the Optigan library. By the end of the 1970s, digital synths eroded the market for tape-based keyboards and Chamberlin ended M1 production in 1981, building the last few units in an Ontario, California factory, and later in the family garage with previously unreleased sounds. Harry Chamberlin died in 1986.

In the 1980s Chamberlin recordings were minimal but producers Mitchell Froom (Crowded House) and Todd Rundgren (XTC's Skylarking in 1986) used the instrument. The Chamberlin experienced a revival in the 1990s with a new generation of musicians using them and appreciating the unique sounds produced by playing them in unorthodox ways. These included Michael Penn and his keyboardist Patrick Warren (March, Free-for-All, Resigned, MP4 as well as Penn's film scores for Boogie Nights in 1997), singer/songwriter Sam Phillips on her album Cruel Inventions (1991), and singer/songwriter/producer Jon Brion on the soundtrack to the film I Heart Huckabees (2004). Tom Waits also used the instrument on albums such as The Black Rider (1993) and Bone Machine (1992).

Models
Various models exist of the Chamberlin. There are both keyboard-based instruments and drum machines (which are called Rhythmate). Approximately 500–700 units were made, but the exact number is unknown.

Sounds

 * Keyboards: Marimba, Piano, Vibraphone (with vibrato), Bells (glockenspiel), Organ, Tibia Organ, Kinura Organ, Harpsichord, Accordion, Electric Harpsichord, and Flute/String Organ.
 * Brass: Trombone, Trumpet, French Horn, Do Wah Trombone, Slur Trombone, and Muted Trumpet.
 * Woodwinds: Alto and Tenor Saxophones, Flute, Oboe, and Bass Clarinet.
 * Voice: Male Voice (solo) and Female Voice (solo).
 * Strings: 3 Violins, Cello, and Pizzicato Violins.
 * Plucked strings: Slur Guitar, Banjo, Steel Guitar, Harp Solo, Harp Roll, Harp 7th Arpeggio (harp sounds were not available to the public), Guitar, and Mandolin.
 * Effects: Dixieland Band Phrases and Sound Effects.

title: Chamberlin


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Richard Rowley (writer)

Richard Rowley was the pseudonym of Richard Valentine Williams (2 April 1877 – 25 April 1947 ), born at 79 Dublin Road, Belfast, Ireland, who wrote poetry, plays and stories.

Early life
At the age of 16 he entered the family firm, McBride and Williams, which manufactured cotton handkerchiefs and eventually became its managing director. After the collapse of the company in 1931 he was Chairman of the Northern Ireland Unemployment Assistance Board. His early poems, in The City of Refuge (1917), were rhetorical celebrations of industry. His next volume, City Songs and Others (1918), included his most quoted poem The Islandmen, and is regarded as containing his most original work: "Browning-like monologues straight from the mouths of Belfast's working-class."

Later life
He moved to Newcastle, County Down. He also wrote short stories: Tales of Mourne (1937), as well as at least one highly successful play, Apollo In Mourne (1926). During World War II, Rowley founded, and ran from his Newcastle home, the short-lived Mourne Press. He published first collections of Sam Hanna Bell and Michael McLaverty, but the press failed in 1942.

With Bell, Rowley was one of a set of Linen Hall Library members who would retire regularly to Campbell's Cafe. The regulars, at various points, included writers John Boyd and Denis Ireland, actors Joseph Tomelty, Jack Loudon and J.G. Devlin, poets John Hewitt and Robert Greacen, artists Padraic Woods, Gerald Dillon, and William Conor and (an outspoken opponent of sectarianism) the Rev. Arthur Agnew. The ebullient atmosphere the circle created was a backdrop the appearance of Campbell's Cafe in Brian Moore's wartime Bildungsroman, The Emperor of Ice-Cream.

Rowley died at Drumilly, County Armagh, in 1947. The poet's Newcastle home, Brook Cottage, has since been demolished. George MacCann and Jack Loudan presented a commemoration of Rowley's life on the radio in 1952. The programme used recordings of his friends Lady Mabel Annesley, who illustrated several of his publications, along with the poet John Irvine, the playwright Thomas Carnduff and William Conor. In Newcastle Rowley's name is remembered through the Rowley Meadows housing development and the Rowley Path, which runs along the southern boundary of the Islands Park.

Works

 * The City of Refuge and Other Poems (1917)
 * City Songs and Others (1918)
 * Workers (1923)
 * County Down Songs (1924)
 * The Old Gods and Other Poems (1925)
 * Apollo In Mourne (1926) (play)
 * Selected Poems (1931)
 * Tales of Mourne (1937) (short stories)
 * Ballads of Mourne (1940)
 * One Cure for Sorrow and Other One-Act Plays (1942)
 * Sonnets for Felicity (1942)
 * The Piper of Mourne (1944)
 * Final Harvest (1951)

title: Richard Rowley (writer)