News about George Eliot

Britain is entering its first 'atheist age' as parents fail to pass on religious beliefs to children, a study says. For the first time in history, the UK now has more atheists than people who believe in the existence of a god, researchers have found. The team also discovered that the stereotype of the 'purposeless unbeliever' - that atheists lead lives devoid of meaning, morality and purpose - simply isn't accurate.

It was one of Britain's greatest ever structures, constructed in London's Hyde Park in just 190 days between 1850 and 1851 - in time for Prince Albert's Great Exhibition. Now, a study answers the mystery of how London's 1,850-foot-long Crystal Palace - at the time was the world's largest building - was assembled so quickly. Designed by renowned English architect Sir Joseph Paxton, the Crystal Palace was built in Hyde Park at a cost of £80,000 (nearly £10 million in today's money).

One night, I idly decided to look him up on social media (I know I shouldn't have), but couldn't find a trace. I tried a search engine, and because I found nothing tried a few longer versions of his name (He had told us he was called 'Jim', I tried 'James'). I was shocked to find a news article, with picture, about him being convicted and jailed for having child pornography several years ago. Some of my neighbours have young children and there's a little playground on the green. I'm horrified to think this man lives in our midst, and none of my neighbours know what he's capable of.

Eliot (inset), whose real name was Mary Ann Evans, but who later published The Mill on the Floss and Middlemarch, as well as under a male pseudonym, grew up at Griff House, near Nuneaton, Bedfordshire. Although Eliot went away to attend college, she returned aged 16 in 1836 after her mother's death to work in the dairy and as a housekeeper. The main store is now a restaurant run by Whitbread's Beefeater brand. The original bricks are also owned by Whitbread, which the George Eliot Fellowship now plans to demolish and replace with a museum and visitor center (inset). The Victorian Society, which promotes the establishment of a visitor center in principle, is vehemently opposed to the proposals. The buildings, which are believed to have been built in the early 19th century, were considered part of the world' Eliot, who grew up rather than demolished.

A dramatic mixture of tension, passion, and intrigue can be obtained during period dramas. But with so many options across so many streaming services, where should you start? Well, our reporters have done the hard work for you by sifting through copies to bring you an unbeatable selection of 30 options that will take you back to the excitement and passion of long-past eras.

Middlemarch by George Eliot would be Philippa Gregory's desert island pick, not least for its complicated women characters. It's a book she could read over and over again.

MAIL ON SUNDAY COMMENT: In the most recent advancement of the Coronation Service, there's something rather thrilling (at least the highest so far). For the first time since this opulent celebration started more than 1,000 years ago, the people of this world are invited to take an active part, pledging the oath of allegiance to the new king. It is actually no more than an invitation in this democratic world. We are not the kind of place where all its residents must obey loyalty oaths.

They fell in love with each other's sparkling minds in literary London; the nose, teeth, whiskers, and pockmarks seem to have been no obstacle to their ecstatic bliss. They will be married for 24 years. Even though Marian was still married to another woman on the day of their elopement, she referred to Lewes as "my husband."

The Gold, the BBC's new Sunday night drama, came to an end last night. I'm delighted that a second series has been ordered. It all started with a 1983 Brink's-Mat robbery, with six men breaking into a warehouse near Heathrow in the hopes of stealing £1 million but instead crashing upon a gold bullion worth about £26 billion. But how to move that amount of gold? Any gold purchased in the United Kingdom since 1984 is expected to have traces of Brink's-Mat bullion, according to one of the nuggets relayed.

When moving to a new house, the majority of us would like to know our neighbors. Charlotte Goldthorpe's experience was a slightly different tale. In 2019, the fashion lecturer bought her cemetery lodge. When I tell people that I live in a graveyard, they always ask if it's haunted.' Well, no, it isn't 'The neighbours are quiet,' she says. 'I wouldn't want them to be squeamish, but I wouldn't want them to be noisy.'

JMW Turner's former home has gone up for auction for £11 million. The River Thames runs through Chelsea's Cheyne Walk. Turner, who produced The Battle Temeraire, 2005 – Britain's best artwork and which appeared in Bond's Skyfall – died in the Grade II Listed building in the 18th century. The artist, whose Turner Prize for Art is named, is said to have installed the balustrading on the roof as a place where he could paint from, as well as use the main bedroom as his studio. Many of his artworks were inspired by the River Thames in the area. Turner came to Cheyne Walk near the end of his life and died there.

The three-bedroom boat moored in Chelsea, west London, comes complete with air conditioning, underfloor heating, broadband, and a large terrace. The property is listed on the lower deck as having a 1,848 square foot kitchen, dining, and living room on the upper deck, as well as three bedrooms and two bathrooms in a neighborhood where a flat on dry land would cost you £5 million.

SARAH VINE: Queen Boadicea, Joan of Arc (right) and Elizabeth I (left) are two of the most kick-ass women in history. Both men distinguished themselves in a male-dominated world, with Joan in conflict and Elizabeth as a Monarch in a period when women were given very few rights, save those offered them by their husbands or fathers. Queen Bess has often stated that she intended to have "the body of a young and feeble woman but not the king's heart and stomach." No man ever met her marriage requirements, and she remained - or at least so she claimed - a virgin until her death.