Winston who?

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bromley mum
Posts: 1061
Joined: Tue Oct 20, 2009 5:04 pm

Winston who?

Post by bromley mum »

Royal Mail commissioned a study to see how many people could identify Winston Churchill. The results:

1 in 5 adults could not recognise him

1 in 3 of 25 - 34 year old could not recognise him

Nearly half of 16 - 24 could not recognise him.

Some confused him with Stephen Fry!!

If this continues then no one will recognise him by 2090!!

I'm lost for words (which doesn't happen very often :)
yoyo123
Posts: 8099
Joined: Mon Jun 18, 2007 3:32 pm
Location: East Kent

Post by yoyo123 »

that's easy, isn;t he the dog from the car insurance ads?
Chelmsford mum
Posts: 2113
Joined: Sat Feb 21, 2009 7:16 pm

Post by Chelmsford mum »

yoyo123 wrote:that's easy, isn;t he the dog from the car insurance ads?

Ooohh yes !

Sorry bromley mum...couldn't resist :oops:
mike1880
Posts: 2563
Joined: Sat Sep 27, 2008 10:51 pm

Post by mike1880 »

Worrying considering they "do" WW2 about eight times at various stages of school!

Mike
andyb
Posts: 645
Joined: Tue Dec 04, 2007 10:27 am
Location: Buckinghamshire

Post by andyb »

mike1880 wrote:Worrying considering they "do" WW2 about eight times at various stages of school!
More worryingly - he appeared in an episode of Dr Who a couple of weeks back :wink:
zee
Posts: 360
Joined: Thu Mar 05, 2009 10:43 am

Re: Winston who?

Post by zee »

bromley mum wrote: Some confused him with Stephen Fry!!
As with many news stories about surveys that generate surprising results, it was probably multiple choice. So it wasn't necessarily that lots of people confuse the two, but that if they don't know, they just opt for one of the limited number of choices.
inkypinkyponky
Posts: 1863
Joined: Fri Feb 27, 2009 1:41 pm
Location: Gravesend, Kent

Post by inkypinkyponky »

I'm amazed at what I consider to be standard British history, learnt from school, parents, books, telly etc, and yet some people have absolutely no idea and don't care where they come from or where they live, only being interested in what's on Emmerdale/'Stenders/ Corrie etc.

A good friend of mine, a TA in local primary school asked me if I'd heard of some bloke called Oliver Cromwell?

Er, yes, of course, says I.

Well, was he a goody or a baddy?

Erm, depends what strata of social hierarchy one was in, a peasant or aristo, continues moi, and launched into a short guide to the Divine Right of Kings, the civil war, Parliament etc

How do you know all that stuff? was the stunned reply, and yet I was just as stunned that she didn't know about such an important part of history.

Thankfully her teenage daughter loves history and adores wandering around stately homes and castles, much to the chagrin of her mother!
KS10
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Joined: Sun Mar 07, 2010 12:39 am

Post by KS10 »

ipp,

Although I know about Oliver Cromwell, I am :oops: to say that I am one of those whose knowledge is sadly lacking. I am improving all the time, but having spent 6 years elsewhere (8-14) I was taught the history of that country. Even worse, I can't remember a single thing!

Loved history when I returned to England. It was so interesting learning about the French and Russian Revolutions and when told that we would be learning about yet another revolution I felt the usual stirrings of anticipation ... it took till the end of the Agrarian Revolution for it to dawn on me that there would be no heads stuck on poles and no poisoning of some Russian monk with a dodgy reputation. (Yes, I was rather slow - not even the explanation that revolution could also mean change helped with the dropping of the proverbial penny.) I really can't believe that the only formal teaching I have had with regard to British history involved imo the most boring stuff ever!! (Sorry all you diehard spinning jenny enthusiasts.)

Btw, I love soaps, but I promise you they are not responsible for my ignorance.
yoyo123
Posts: 8099
Joined: Mon Jun 18, 2007 3:32 pm
Location: East Kent

Post by yoyo123 »

always surprises me that people know so little about such a milestone in British history. KS2 jumps from Tudors to Victorians..

yet we talk about the mother of parliaments , which only came about because of Cromwellian government and the aftermath
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