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| Augustus Mongredian |
The Broad Street cholera outbreak (or Golden Square outbreak) was a severe outbreak of cholera that occurred in 1854 near Broad Street (now Broadwick Street) in the Soho district of the City of Westminster, London, England, and occurred during the 1846–1860 cholera pandemic happening worldwide.
This outbreak, which killed 616 people, is best known for physician John Snow's study of its causes and his hypothesis that germ-contaminated water was the source of cholera rather than particles in the air (referred to as "miasma"). Snow later called it "the most terrible outbreak of cholera which ever occurred in this kingdom." His discovery came to influence public health and the construction of improved sanitation facilities beginning in the mid-19th century.
Cholera is fatal if not treated right away. Key symptoms are diarrhea and dehydration. Rarely, shock and seizures may occur in severe cases. Modern treatment includes re-hydration, IV fluids, and antibiotics.
Augustus Mongredien (1807–1888) was a merchant, a political economist and a writer. Born in London, he was the son of a French Army officer who fled to England in 1798 after the Coup of 18 Brumaire brought Napoleon to power.
Educated in a Roman Catholic college in Penn, a hamlet a few miles NW of London, Mongredien's education never stopped as he became an expert in many subject, including economics and botany.
After college he briefly became the owner of what was called a screw steamer because they were powered by a steam engine, using one or more propellers.
In 1859, he joined the firm of H. J. Johnston & Co. and when it was broken up in 1864 he became a self-employed corn broker. If any body is interested in this profession you can find out how to become a corn broker in four easy steps HERE.
Mongredien gradually withdrew from business and devoted most of his attention to literary pursuits and wrote on free trade and botanical subjects. His subjects included tress and shrubs for English plantations, a manual on hardy trees and shrubs, England's foreign policy and free trade, farming in Western America, wealth creation and the Suez Canal.
In addition to being a good musician and he spoke seven languages. He could recite many pages of the Koran and spoke modern Greek like a native.
Mongredien was also a prominent amateur chess player. He learned to play chess in his early youth, but did not take much interest in it until about 1829 after which he soon became one of the leading British players.
He was elected president of the London Chess Club in 1839, but that was not the only club to which he belonged. He was also a member of the National Political Union in 1831, as well as a spinoff organization, The Radical Club and the Cobden Club, under the auspices of which several of his books were published.
In 1859, he played a match against Morphy and after drawing the first game, he lost the next seven. He duplicated the feat of drawing on and losing seven to Daniel Harrwitz the following year. Mongredian was fluent in seven languages, could speak Greek like a native and could quote a large number of passages from the Koran.
In 1862 he played in the first international tournament in London in which he tied for 11th-13th out of 14.
In 1863 he lost a match to Wilhelm Steinitz, but was unable to duplicate the success he had in the matches against Morphy and Harrwitz. Against Steinitz he lost seven games without scoring a single draw.
His opponent in the following game was Elijah Williams (1809 - 1854), an eminent British player of the period. He was the first president of the Clifton Chess Club and published a book of games from the Divan Club. His most notable result was at the 1851 London tournament, in which he defeated Howard Staunton in the play-off for third place.
He was accused by Staunton of taking an average of 2.5 hours per move during some matches, a strategy thought to cause opponents to lose their focus on the match. According to Staunton, following a particularly slow moving performance by Williams in the London 1851 tournament, a 20-minute per turn time limit was adopted for standard play the next year. Other sources contradict this and it was not uncommon for Staunton to attribute his losses to the intolerable slow play of his opponents. Staunton is quoted as remarking while playing against Williams, "... Elijah, you're not just supposed to sit there – you're supposed to sit there and think!"
In The Complete Chess Addict by Mike Fox and Richard James he was dubbed "the Bristol Sloth" due to his alleged extreme slowness. This sobriquet inspired a musical tune "The Bristol Sloth" by guitarist Leo Kottke (who also applied the term sitzkrieg in describing Williams' playing style).
Augustus Mongredien - Elijah Williams
Result: 1-0
Site: London
Date: 1844
Queen's Gambit Accepted
[...] 1.d4 d5 2.c4 dxc4 3.e3 This rather slow system of development has results comparable to the far more frequently seen 3.Nf3. Also interesting is 3.e4 3...e6 4.♘c3 ♘f6 5.♗xc4 c6 This is probably too passive. A more energetic approach would have served black better. (5...c5 6.♘f3 a6 7.a4 ♘c6 8.O-O ♗e7 with equal chances.) 6.♘f3 ♗e7 7.O-O O-O 8.e4
8.♖e1 b5 9.♗d3 ♘bd7 10.♘e4 ♗b7 11.♕c2 is completely equal. Wolfangel,C (1852)-Germain,D (1430)/Salon de Provence 2006
8...b5 9.♗d3 ♘a6 10.e5 ♘d5 11.♘e4 f6 12.exf6 ♗xf6 13.a3 ♕c7 14.♗e3 ♘xe3 15.fxe3 Thanks to black's passive play, whit has managed to build up a promising position and even after his best replies of either 15...Qe7 or 15...g6, white would still have a huge advantage. 15...e5 This rash move only hastens the end. 16.♘xe5
16.♘fg5 was even better. 16...exd4 17.♘xh7 with a winning attack. For example... 17...♔xh7 18.♘xf6+ mates next move.
16...♗e6 17.♕h5 g6
17...♗xe5 doesn't help... 18.♘g5 ♗xh2+ 19.♔h1 g6 20.♗xg6 hxg6 21.♕xg6+ ♕g7 22.♕xg7+ ♔xg7 23.♘xe6+ and wins.
18.♘xf6+ This wins, but 18.Nxg6 was even quicker.
18.♘xg6 hxg6 19.♕xg6+ ♕g7 20.♘xf6+ ♖xf6 21.♖xf6 ♕xg6 22.♖xg6+ ♔f7 23.♖f1+ ♔e7 24.♖g7+ ♔d6 25.♖f6 ♖e8 26.♗f5 wins
18...♖xf6 19.♕h6
19.♘xg6 was still possible, but also more complicated to calculate. 19...hxg6 20.♕g5 ♖xf1+ 21.♖xf1 ♕g7 22.♖f6
19...♖af8 20.♖xf6 ♖xf6 21.♖c1 ♕b7
21...♘b8 This doesn't save the game, but it makes white's task more difficult. 22.♗xb5 ♗d5 23.♗d3 ♕d6 White has a won position, but there is no forced win.
22.♖xc6 ♘b8 Mongredian now concludes the game with a nice finish. 23.♘g4 ♘xc6 (23...♖f8 24.♖xe6) (23...♕xc6 24.♘xf6+ ♔f7 25.♘xh7 ♘d7 26.♕xg6+) 24.♘xf6+ ♔f7 25.♕xh7+ Black resigned. Powered by Aquarium
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