George Fraser: Flashman

Flashman saw Ellenborough at his worst. Arrogant, theatrical, and given to flights of rhetoric, the Governor-General went to extravagant lengths to honour the "heroes of Afghanistan", and was widely ridiculed. But in the main he was an able and energetic administrator.

Punch began publication in 1841; the "Pencillings" were its first full-page cartoons.

The "Opium War" in China had ended with a treaty whereby Hong Kong was ceded to Britain.

The Duke’s reference to the Queen’s impending visit to Walmer Castle fixes the date of Flashman’s appearance at Buckingham Palace very closely. Wellington wrote to Sir Robert Peel on October 26, 1842, assuring him that Walmer was at the Queen’s disposal, and she visited it in the following month.

Macaulay’s Lays of Ancient Rome was first published on October 28, 1842.

The Queen’s Medal. That Her Majesty was piqued at Lord Ellenborough’s decision to issue medals is evident from her letter to Peel on November 29, 1842.

Dr Thomas Arnold, father of Matthew Arnold and headmaster of Rugby School, had died on June 12, 1842, aged 47.