Newspapers / The Brunswick Beacon (Shallotte, … / June 30, 1994, edition 1 / Page 101
Part of The Brunswick Beacon (Shallotte, N.C.) / About this page
This page has errors
The date, title, or page description is wrong
This page has harmful content
This page contains sensitive or offensive material
cad vAiin m a 1 V/IV 1V/UH 1LAWL IN THE SUN ^30 ? Home Furnishings ? Condo Packaaes ? \A/in^l Aiti - TVIIIVIVW IICUIMICIIId Bedding ? RlinHc viii ? w ?rorcn KocKers Large Selection Accessories ? Discount Prices From one piece to a whole home, complete satisfaction from the minute you walk in our Ooor until everything is in place in your home. This is our commitment to you! .J. l.IVIXC.STON Furniture ? Window Treatments ? Wallpaper Highway River. SC (8031249-6188 s, 1 658 Wedding Gave f Brunswick Its Name BY JIM MEGIVERN Brunswick County would not be named Brunswick if it were not for a wedding that took place in the old university town of Heidelberg. Germany, in September, 1658. Nobody involved in that event could possibly have foreseen the weird set of circumstances that more than a half-century later would install the House of Hanover on the British throne, a develop ment that accounts for the 18th cen tury adoption in the British colonies of such German place names as Brunswick, Hanover and Mecklen burg. The marriage that was to bring the destinies of England and north Germany so close together actually took place when the British throne was vacant, its last occupant, Charles 1, having been beheaded nine years earlier. The bride, that morning in Hei delberg, was an unimportant heir, the 12th child of the daughter of King James I. Her name was So phia and she was a talented woman who spoke five languages fluently and had a grasp of the politics of that era. The groom was a minor L" ?i rtft A ? ? ?*? ? ?"? H ? r? L> 1 J , / lU^U.llUO, &?1W IU1 of Hanover. The marriage lasted 41) years (Emest died in 1698) and pro duced seven children. George Lewis, Sophia's oldest son, now crossed the channel to be come King George I, and that takes us back to our opening statement. The throne of England would not have gone to the Duke of Bruns wick, the House of Hanover in 1714, if it had not been for that wedding in Heidelberg in 1658. It would have been a far more glori ous story, however, if Sophia her self had been the one to link Bruns ?1 ?? /-?lr rtn/4 C nnlnn/4 no f ?* ?v?\ uiiu i?i i ^uinu aa v/utCll, IOI George 1 was a dull, vindictive cha racter with none of his mother's tal cnts. The entrance of Brunswick and Hanover into English life was thus not accompanied by any kind of glory. The "Catholic threat" had been avoided, but only by letting the throne fall to the "Hanoverian vultures." George kept his divorced wife imprisoned on the continent and brought his two German mistresses with him. Irreverent Englishmen with a fine eye for the female fig ure, quickly dubbed them, "the Elephant" and "the Maypole," as they exercised the regal power for the English king, who coud not speak English. It was this man's alienated son, George II, who was on the throne two decades later when Bruns wicktown was settled and named, and it was his great-grandson, George III, against whose taxation policies the colonists revolted in 1776. All in all, the House of Hanover did not exactly signal an era of greatness for the British crown. There was a kind of poetic jus tice, therefore, in 1917, when an tipathy toward things German led the English to drop the name of Brunswick from royal titles, replac ing it with Windsor. Had North Carolina been as close to Britain in 1917 as it was in 1*71 .1 1*1 A / IT, U1 UII^VT IV. IV VUUIIIJ' WUU1U probably have changed its name to Windsor County as part of the English effort to purge itself of the "German Connection." On the one hand, that would have meant that this thrilling article, instead of appearing in The Brunswick Beacon, would probably have surfaced in The Windsor Weathervane On the other hand, by keeping the names of Brunswick and Han over in North Carolina counties, one can always say that the failure to find creative solutions for such tiling:* as iandnii, zoning and edu cation, is simpiy pan of the legacy of unimaginative leadership re ceived from George i. Dr. James J. Megivern teaches in the philosophy and religions de partment at the University of North Carolina at Wilmington. Enjoy A Bang-Up 4th (Continued on Page 40) Notes choral group at Waterfront Park. Monday (July 4) is parade day, beginning with a 7 a.m. pancake breakfast at Trinity United Methodist Church and a flag-rais ing ceremony at Waterfront Park at 10:30 a.m. The Fourth of July parade, aired by WWQQ radio, will be led by Grand Marshal Lt. Col. Harry Gore of Southport and will be lavish in its display of feminine beauty, as well as lively band music, with an assortment of area queens and high school bands. Festival President Carolyn Price said a new celebrity this year is Smoky the Bear, who is now 50 years old. "We're aiming for 100 units in this parade,'' she said. After the parade, the Air Force band from McGhee -Tyson Air Base near Knoxville, Tenn. will play at Waterfront Park, as will the Mirage band. A mid-afternoon treat, especially for children is the giant ice cream sundae served on Moore St. at 3:30 p.m. Associated Artists of Southport will hold a raf fle at 5 p.m. and at 8:45 p.m. Southport Lions Club will raffle a boat. All this is a prelude to the tradi tional climax of every Fourth of July celebration, the fireworks dis play. After entertainment by The Embers at Waterfront Park, fire works, beginning around 9 p.m., will conclude the day and the festi val.
The Brunswick Beacon (Shallotte, N.C.)
Standardized title groups preceding, succeeding, and alternate titles together.
June 30, 1994, edition 1
101
Click "Submit" to request a review of this page. NCDHC staff will check .
0 / 75