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This Day in History

20th May 1856
The Celebration of Peace
After the Crimean War.
(click for full story)

The Celebration of Peace

20th May 1856

Although there is no organised movement, that we are aware of, to take measures to ensure a patriotic celebration of the peace in Bicester, yet we find that several of our neighbours intend to illuminate the evening of the 20th. We hope the light up will be pretty general. Anything will be better than glum silence when all the rest of the land are rejoicing. Our readers who also observe in an adjoining column, an advertisement from a townsman, who offers to exhibit a public display of Fireworks for a very small sum. We shall be happy to receive contributions towards the subject, and hope that it may be circumvented. [The cost of the Crimean War to the United Kingdom was: 22,182 dead, 4,602 combat deaths, 17,580 non-combat deaths.]

Source: Bicester Advertiser, 24th May 1856

Thank you for visiting the Bicester Local History Society (BLHS) website. We hope that this website will be of particular interest to anyone wanting to discover more about the history and development of the town of Bicester and its environs, as well as the ever-increasing activities of the society. Simply use the menu on the left to navigate your way around the site.

The Upcoming Talks page in the Meetings & Events section lists the forthcoming popular talks (February-June & September-December) that we have organised, some of which focus on Bicester, others on more general local history themes. Or to get a flavour of Past Talks, you can also view comprehensive summaries of those we've already had.

Over the years, BLHS has amassed an impressive selection of photographs and postcards - visit the Gallery to see some of them - as well as an Archive of local history objects and documents.

Bicester Local History Society is always looking out for new sources of material to further our knowledge of the history of the area. If you have any photographs, drawings, maps, artefacts, stories or other relevant information, we would like to hear from you.

We are proud of our town and its heritage, and the ultimate aim of this website is to bring the local history of Bicester to life, and to make it accessible to as many people as possible.

The Contact Us page gives you the opportunity to provide feedback on the website, to contact us regarding activities organised by BLHS, to share memories, or to ask and answer questions about Bicester.


This site was last updated on: 7th May 2026