History essay winner goes forward to national contest
Tonbridge Sixth Former Hector Money has been selected for a prestigious national contest which tests skills in historical research, analysis and writing.
Hector (HS4) was chosen as the Tonbridge winner in the first stage of the SHP (Schools History Project) 1066 Essay Competition, and his essay will now be judged alongside those of hundreds of students from across the country.
Entrants were given the task of answering a question set by world-leading Oxford historian Professor Peter Frankopan, author of The Silk Roads – A New History of the World. The question read: “If 1066 is said to be the most important date in English history, what is the equivalent in another country?”
Hector chose to write about the fall of Constantinople in 1453, drawing interesting parallels between the significance of this event on Turkish history and the impact of 1066 on England and Western Europe.
Teachers from each school chose one student to go forward to the national stage, following which Professor Frankopan and his panel of expert historians will put together a shortlist in both primary and secondary age-groups. Shortlisted essays will be recorded by professional actors and presenters and placed online, with the eventual winner being chosen by public vote via social media.
After careful consideration of all the Tonbridge essays submitted in this first stage, Melanie Robinson, Head of History, selected Hector’s work. She said: “There were some excellent entries and I would like to congratulate all who took part. They displayed not only the historical interest, but also the ‘geographical and chronological ambition’ that the competition was keen to encourage. It is an exciting prospect that Hector’s work will now be pitted against that of many other pupils around the country.”
Melanie awarded a ‘highly commended’ status to three students for their entries: Rory Smith (JH4), who chose to research 2334 BC and the Akkadian Empire; Max Pearl (Sc4), who looked at New Zealand and the Treaty of Waitangi in 1840; and Patrick Thomson (Sc4), who analysed the significance of 632 and the triumph of Abu Bakr for the Arabic people and the Islamic Empire.
