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"Pedro Alonso O'Crouley or O'Crowley (born 21 February 1740, died 8 February 1817, Cadiz, Spain) was one of many Catholics of Irish descent whose relatives immigrated to Spain. O'Crouley is most notable for his 1774 travel narrative of New Spain, Idea compendiosa del Reyno de Nueva España published in English as A Description of the Kingdom of New Spain by Sr. Dn. Pedro Alonso O'Crouley 1774. translated and edited by Seán Galvin in 1972. Life His father, Dermot O'Crowley of county Cork, and mother, Mary O'Donnell of Ballymurphy, county Clare, emigrated from Ireland ca. 1731 to the port city of Cadiz, Spain, where O'Crouley was born. O'Crouley married fellow Cadiz Irish-Spanish resident Maria Power y Gil (1764-1805) when he was 44, and the couple had nine children."O'Crouley genealogy," A Description of the Kingdom of New Spain, p. 142. Their house in Cadiz still stands, with the family coat of arms above the doorway.Galvin, "Editor's Introduction", p. vii O'Crouley became a merchant, spending a decade going between Cadiz and Mexico, starting in 1764. He accumulated wealth that allowed him to become a collector of art and antiquities.Solé, Pablo Antón. "El anticuario gaditano Pedro Alonso O'Crouley.:(Su vida, su Museo y sus diálogos de Medallas antiguas, con una carta inédita a don Antonio Ponz)." Archivo hispalense: Revista histórica, literaria y artística 44.136 (1966): 151-166. He had a collection of Greek and Roman coins, hundreds of paintings, including works by masters Van Dyck, Rubens, Murillo, Velázquez, Zurbarán, and Ribera. While in Mexico, he collected geological specimens. He was a learned man of the era of the Spanish Enlightenment, who became a member of the Spanish Real Academia de Historia, Real Sociedad Vascongada, Real Sociedad Económica Matritense for the improvement agriculture and use of machinery. As with many learned men of the era, he was a corresponding member of other learned societies, in his case the Society of Antiquaries of Edinburgh. He also was a member of the Santa Hermandad in the city of Toledo. Prior to his writing his narrative of travels in New Spain, he read published works on Mexican, including Antonio de Solís, Antonio de Herrera, José de Acosta, Miguel Venegas, and Benno Ducrué.Galvin, "Editor's Introduction". A Description of the Kingdom of New Spain pp. vii-xi A Description of the Kingdom of New Spain, 1774 O'Crouley's description of New Spain in the eighteenth century is a valuable contribution to scholarship, mostly unknown until the late twentieth century when it was published. The original manuscript comprises 202 leaves bound in red leather in the Biblioteca Nacional de Madrid, Ms. 972.02. It was published in English in 1972, as A Description of the Kingdom of New Spain by Sr. Dn. Pedro Alonso O'Crouley 1774.A Description of the Kingdom of New Spain by Sr. Dn. Pedro Alonso O'Crouley 1774. translated and edited by Seán Galvin. Dublin: Allen Figgis 1972. Once published, it was widely reviewed in the scholarly literature.McAlister, L. N. The American Historical Review, vol. 78, no. 3, 1973, pp. 747–748. JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/1847776.Mathes, W. Michael. California Historical Quarterly, vol. 52, no. 3, 1973, pp. 279–280. JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/25157456.Quinn, D. B. "A Description of the Kingdom of new Spain. By S r D n Pedro Alonso O'Crouley. Translated and edited by Seán Galvin. Pp xxii, 148. Dublin: Allen Figgis. 1972." Irish Historical Studies 18.72 (1973): 653-653. In 1975, it was published in a facsimile edition.Idea compendiosa del reino de Nueva España (1774). Intro. Teresa Castelló Yturbide and Marita Martínez del Río de Redo. Mexico City: Talleres Gráficos de Contabilidad Ruf Mexicana 1975. For the English edition, the translator Galvin rearranged some of the text to produce a more readable work. One scholar criticized this, saying "This is a disservice to the text, since part of its overall significance as an 'enlightened' compendium resides precisely in its structure as a miscellany."Katzew, Ilona, Casta Painting. New Haven: Yale University Press 2007, p. 225, fn. 113. The volume is richly illustrated. He drew native plants and flowers (cacao, vanilla, avocado, sapote, mamey, passion flower, and pricky pear cactus) as well as animals not known in Europe. What has gained most attention are his depictions of race mixture (castas), which have been published in works on that topic. O'Crouley provides written text for the illustrations, which were likely copies of existing casta groupings. He devotes an entire section of text to the condition of the Indians, lamenting their current state. Unlike many casta paintings that show scenes of imagined everyday life of the racial types, O'Crouley's lack any further context.García Sáiz, María Concepción, Las castas mexicanas: Un género pictórico americano. Milan: Olivetti 1989, pp. 134-138. He wrote short descriptions of New Spain's principal cities, the capital Mexico City, the second largest city Puebla; Valladolid (now Morelia); Oaxaca; Guadalajara; Durango; Acapulco; and Veracruz. He travelled north to presidios of Los Adáes, in Texas; El Paso del Norte; and the province of Nayarit. His description of New Mexico is considerably longer than the places coming before it. Also lengthy is the chapter on his voyage up the Gulf of California; his description of California itself; and an expedition to Nueva Andalucía (Sinaloa and Sonora). Honors The municipality of Cadiz commissioned a posthumous portrait of O'Crouley in 1855, which still hangs in the city hall. A street in Cadiz is named for him.Galvin, "Editor's introduction," A description of the Kingdom of New Spain p. vii. References Further reading *Leonard, Irving A., ed. Colonial Travelers in Latin America. New York: Alfred A. Knopf 1972. *Pratt, Mary Louise. Imperial Eyes: Travel Writing and Transculturation. Routledge 2007. Category:1740 births Category:1817 deaths Category:Irish emigrants to Spain Category:People from Cádiz Category:People of the Age of Enlightenment Category:People of New Spain Category:Travel writers "
"The Saint-Saphorin Roman Villa () was a Roman villa in the village of Saint- Saphorin in the Lavaux region, canton of Vaud, Switzerland. It is listed as a heritage site of national significance alongside the Reformed Church of Saint- Symphorien and the neighbouring vicarage. History The earliest evidence of human activity in the region date back to 1500 or 1600 BC, as showed by the pilotis excavated in 1893. However, the history of the village of Glerula dates back to the Roman era. At this time, the area was a stage on the route that connected Italy to Gaul through the Great St Bernard Pass. Archaeologists excavated the remains of a Roman villa of the 1st century, as well as a Roman milestone dated 53 CE. In the 5th century, the building was transformed into a Christian mausoleum which was entirely re-built after the tidal wave that caused Mount Tauredunum to collapse in 563: around 590, Bishop of Lausanne Marius of Avenches established a new church over the remains of the former building. The church, dedicated to Symphorian of Autun, later gave its name to the village. The Roman villa, as well as the Reformed Church and the neighbouring vicarage were listed among the Cultural Property of National Significance. See also *Gallo-Roman culture *Switzerland in the Roman era *List of cultural property of national significance in Switzerland: Vaud References Bibliography * External links * Category:Roman villa Category:1st-century establishments in Switzerland Category:Cultural property of national significance in the canton of Vaud "
"Janet Hay Okell (30 August 1922, Neston – February 2005, Brimstage) was an English wargamer who joined the Western Approaches Tactical Unit (WATU) as a young Naval rating in the Women's Royal Naval Service. Shortly after Admiral Admiral Max Horton was appointed Commander-in-Chief of the Western Approaches Command, in November 1942, he visited WATU, and played one of their wargames. As one of the Royal Navy's most experienced submarine commanders he opted to play the role of a U-boat commander. Captain Gilbert Roberts, head of WATU decided that Okell should play the role of the escort group commander. Horton was somewhat dismayed to find that Okell was able to outsmart him five times out of five. Despite his initial horror on discovering he had been beaten by a twenty year old female rating, he soon sanctioned the use of her method, known as Beta Search to be included in the next revision of Fleet Orders. References Category:1922 births Category:2005 deaths Category:Wargamers Category:Women's Royal Naval Service ratings "