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was finally defeated by the duke of WELLINGTON at the Battle of WATERLOO.

See also ABOUKIR BAY; MOORE, SIR JOHN; VIENNA,

CONGRESS OF.

Naseby, Battle of (1645)

The decisive battle of the CIVIL WAR. In May 1645 Prince RUPERT had captured Leicester, and the rebel army, which had been besieging Oxford, marched to engage the royalists. At first Rupert had some success with his cavalry, but the NEW MODEL ARMY under Thomas FAIRFAX and Oliver CROMWELL badly defeated the much smaller royalist force. About 5,000 men were taken prisoner, and CHARLES I’s hopes of victory were crushed. The king’s private correspondence was captured, and its publication proved embarrassing, as it exposed his plan to use a Catholic army

from IRELAND.

Nash, John (1752–1835) architect

The foremost English architect of the early 19th century, Nash was the son of a millwright in LONDON. In the first stages of his career, he suffered financial problems and moved to WALES, where he built a number of country houses until he was able to return to London and reestablish himself there. The prince regent (later GEORGE IV) employed him to rebuild much of the west end of London, including Regent Street and Regent’s Park as well as Trafalgar Square and St. James’s Park. He also made additions to BUCK- INGHAM PALACE and contributed to the rebuilding of the Brighton Pavilion.

Natal

British traders settled at Port Natal (later Durban) in SOUTH AFRICA as early as 1824. A colony was declared in 1843, and settlement of British colonists was encouraged. This was part of an ongoing British effort to gain control at the expense of Dutch Afrikaners and native peoples.

The economy of the colony was based on sheep farming and sugar cultivation. In 1910 Natal was made a part of the Union of South Africa.

National Assistance

A major part of the WELFARE STATE. In 1948 the National Assistance Act provided cash benefits for those in need, referred to as a “safety net” for the poor. This marked the end of the old POOR LAW, and it was the beginning of a system of targeted benefits that later included supplements to income and housing and emergency grants.

national debt

Government borrowing, backed by the security

of PARLIAMENT’s power of TAXATION. The

national debt was first formally recognized in the 1690s. The term also stands for the accumulated excess of expenditure for which loans must be obtained. The debt around 1900 was about 10 percent of national income. It rose to nearly 50 percent in WORLD WAR II, and at the end of the 20th century the debt was about 8 percent of national income.

National Gallery

The British government acquired several private collections of paintings at the beginning of the 19th century, and they were housed in a building constructed on Trafalgar Square in 1838. With government and private support, the National Gallery has become one of the major collections in the world. National galleries were also established in EDINBURGH (1859) and DUBLIN (1864).

National Health Service

There had been considerable discussion of the provision of health care from the 1920s onward, and the subject was a theme of William BEV- ERIDGE’s wartime report. The service was to provide free medical care for all, and in order to

implement such an ambitious plan, there were protracted negotiations between the government and the medical profession and hospitals. When it began in 1948, local authorities, panels of physicians, and nationalized hospitals were the main administrative groups. The costs of the service were much higher than expected, and when charges for prescriptions, dentures, and spectacles were introduced in 1951, Aneurin BEVAN, the minister responsible for the act, resigned. Since then, the service has been plagued with rising medical costs and peppered with assorted reform proposals, but it has retained wide public support.

National Insurance

As early as 1911 there was legislation to insure those who were victims of economic distress. Based on contributions from employers and employees, the early acts were limited to specific occupations. An act in 1946 made the system national: contributions provided insurance for unemployment, sickness, maternity benefits, widowhood, and old age.

nationalization

The LABOUR PARTY set out the objective of compulsory purchase of private enterprises from their owners in its constitution in 1918. Several public enterprises were created in the interwar years (Central Electricity Board, 1926; BRITISH

BROADCASTING CORPORATION, 1927; London Pas-

senger Transport Board, 1933; British Overseas Airways Corporation, 1939). This type of public corporation became the model for nationalized industry. The first state purchase was the BANK OF ENGLAND in 1946. The coal, gas, electricity, railway, and road haulage businesses were next. But the iron and steel industry proved to be a challenge. The CONSERVATIVE PARTY victory in 1951 returned that industry to private hands, though it was renationalized in 1967. There were few other changes until the series of privatizing efforts of the 1980s under Margaret THATCHER. Nationalized industries were gone by 1996.

National Service

Compulsory military service which was continued from WORLD WAR II. The National Service Act of 1947 ordered all males over 18 to report for military service. At first the term was 12 months; this was increased to two years by 1950. The intake was reduced in 1957, and no one was called after 1960, due to cutbacks in the military and general reductions in public expenditure.

National Trust

A private voluntary organization, founded in 1895. Conservationists like Octavia HILL, who led the effort, were concerned about the deteriorating environment, and their first effort was to preserve the cliffs around Cardigan Bay. Other natural sites were soon joined by houses and other buildings as part of the inventory. The body is funded by private and corporate gifts; by fees; and, since 1946, by state support. The National Trust now owns some 350 stately homes. The National Trust for Scotland was established in 1931.

navigation acts

These were the legislative expression of MER- CANTILISM. The first act in 1651 required goods shipped to ENGLAND to be in English ships, or those of the cargo’s country of origin. This was clearly aimed at Dutch shipping (see DUTCH WARS). The next act in 1660 said that colonial goods had to be carried in English ships. A ban on foreign vessels in all colonies was passed in 1663, and further acts placed restrictions on specific articles. The acts were not fully enforced, but they were still an irritant to colonial merchants. The structure of trade regulation was attacked by FREE TRADE supporters, and the navigation acts were repealed in 1849 and 1854.

navy

The peoples of island communities can hardly avoid developing maritime skills. Consequently, from the earliest times the inhabitants of BRITAIN and IRELAND took to the sea for fishing, trading,

and travel. A navy, an organized fleet of ships under the command of the sovereign, was unknown until the 17th century. There were earlier occasions when the Crown commanded the owners of vessels to serve. There were special provisions for supplying those ships, as with the CINQUE PORTS during the Middle Ages, and the demands for SHIP MONEY in times of emergency. By the time of HENRY VIII there was at least the germ of a naval establishment. But ELIZ- ABETH I’s victory over the Spanish ARMADA was still the work of a temporary assembly of ships. The twin forces that drove naval organization into the modern era were the rapid expansion of trade and the increasing size and armament of vessels. In Oliver CROMWELL’s time the organization developed under an ADMIRALTY board. After the RESTORATION there was further improvement in organization, growth of the royal dockyards, and a steady increase in the size and number of ships. By the end of the 18th century, GREAT BRITAIN had created the world’s most powerful fleet. This force surpassed its rivals until the end of the 19th century, when the growth of naval power in Germany, Japan, and the United States began to overtake the British superpower.

Nehru, Jawaharlal (1889–1964) prime minister of India, 1947–1964

Son of a leader of the Indian National Congress, Nehru was educated in ENGLAND and trained in the LAW. A follower of Mohandas GANDHI, though a socialist, he became the Congress’s president in 1929. Active in the negotiations for British withdrawal, he approved the partition of INDIA and PAKISTAN. The first prime minister of India, he was reelected several times. He wrote

Glimpses of World History (1934–35), Autobiography (1936), and The Discovery of India (1946).

Nelson, Horatio Nelson, viscount

(1758–1805) admiral

Entering naval service at the age of 12, Nelson sailed to the Arctic and the WEST INDIES. His first

Painting of Lord Nelson in the cabin of the Victory (Library of Congress)

command was during the American Revolution. In the war against revolutionary France, he lost his right eye in battle in 1794, his right arm in 1797. In 1798 he pursued the French fleet across the Mediterranean, where he won the Battle of ABOUKIR BAY (Battle of the Nile). He defeated a rebellion in Naples, where he became the lover of Lady Emma Hamilton, wife of the British ambassador. As second in command in the Baltic, in 1801 he won the Battle of Copenhagen, disregarding his orders and defeating the Danish fleet. Taking command in the Mediterranean, Nelson blockaded the French fleet in Toulon (1803–05). When it escaped, he pursued it to the West Indies and back, finally engaging

and destroying the enemy at the Battle of TRAFALGAR. He was killed by musket fire as his flagship Victory engaged the enemy. Nelson is

buried in ST. PAUL’S CATHEDRAL.

Neville, Richard See WARWICK, RICHARD

NEVILLE, EARL OF.

New Brunswick

Coastal province of CANADA, settled by the French in the 16th century. New Brunswick is part of Acadia, which the British took and renamed NOVA SCOTIA. This part was detached and renamed when thousands of American loyalists came to settle in 1783. Self-government was granted in 1848, and the territory was a key battleground in the formation of the Canadian federation in the 1860s.

New Caledonia See DARIEN.

Newcastle, Thomas Pelham-Holles, duke of (1693–1768)

prime minister, 1754–1756, 1757–1762

One of England’s wealthiest peers, Newcastle supported the house of HANOVER and was a leading member of the WHIGS, holding high government office for over 40 years. He was an eccentric figure who devoted himself to the details of political patronage rather than lofty statesmanship. A SECRETARY OF STATE from 1724, he was a supporter of Robert WALPOLE, the chief minister from 1721 to 1742. With his brother Henry PELHAM, he led what was called a “broad bottom” administration—one that included members of most factions (1743–1754). When his brother died, Newcastle became sole leader but proved to be ineffective. In 1756 he resigned after a series of military defeats by the French. But soon he was back, in a coalition with William PITT, who directed the victorious campaigns of the SEVEN YEARS’ WAR, while Newcastle managed PATRONAGE. That skill was less

admired by the new king, GEORGE III, who preferred the services of Lord BUTE, and Newcastle resigned in 1762.

Newcomen, Thomas (1663–1729) inventor

An ironmonger in Devon, Newcomen became the partner of Thomas SAVERY, whose steam engine (patented 1698) was an elementary boiler and piston. Newcomen made significant improvements to the design, producing an atmospheric self-acting engine. These engines were adopted for pumping water from coal mines and a variety of other uses. Up to 50 of them were in use by the 1730s.

New Delhi

New Delhi was made the capital of British INDIA (in place of CALCUTTA) in 1912. Located next to the old capital of the Mogul empire, it was continued as the capital of the new republic of India in 1947.

Newfoundland

The easternmost province of CANADA, discovered by John CABOT in the 1490s. The territory was claimed for the English Crown in 1583 by Humphrey GILBERT, but control was disputed by the French, and both countries had extensive fishing operations. An elected assembly was created in 1832 and the province became self-gov- erning in 1855. Union with the new federal government was rejected in 1869. With a desperately poor economy, Newfoundland reverted to colonial status in 1933. In 1949, after a close vote, it became the last province to join the

DOMINION OF CANADA.

Newgate Prison

First located in one of LONDON’s city gates in the 12th century, Newgate Prison was rebuilt twice, after the FIRE OF LONDON in 1666 and after the GORDON RIOTS in 1780. Notorious for the cor-

ruption of its officers and the conduct of its inmates, Newgate was the site for public executions, from 1783 to 1868. In 1902 the prison was torn down, and the Central Criminal Court (the OLD BAILEY) was built on the site.

Newman, John Henry (1801–1890) cardinal

The son of a London banker, educated in Ealing and at Trinity College, OXFORD UNIVERSITY, Newman became a Fellow of Oriel College and vicar of St. Mary’s, the university church (1828–43). He gained a reputation as a compelling preacher, and he was the leading figure in the OXFORD MOVEMENT. In the 1830s high church leaders were mobilized by the interference of government in church affairs. This added fuel to an existing revival of Anglo-Catholic sentiment. Newman was editor of a series of essays called Tracts for the Times, in which the positions of the ANGLICAN church were compared with those of the Roman Catholic church. He left the CHURCH OF ENGLAND in 1843 and converted in 1845. After that he established religious communities in ENGLAND and a Catholic university in DUBLIN. He was made cardinal in 1879. His spiritual autobiography, Apologia pro vita sua, was published in 1864.

New Model Army

In the course of the CIVIL WAR, there was discontent in the LONG PARLIAMENT with the performance of its armies, and the SELF-DENYING ORDINANCE was passed in 1645. This removed most of the aristocratic officers and allowed the reorganization of the army, with unified command under Thomas FAIRFAX. This body of 20,000 was more professional in its behavior and more EVANGELICAL in its faith. The army defeated CHARLES I at the Battle of NASEBY and in ensuing battles, bringing him to surrender in 1646. The new army was more formidable in politics as well as in battle, and it played a central role in government through the interregnum. After the RESTORATION, most of its units

disbanded, the rest becoming part of the new royal standing army.

See also CROMWELL, OLIVER.

Newton, Sir Isaac (1642–1727) mathematician, scientist

Born in Lincolnshire and raised by his mother, Newton was educated at King’s School, Grantham; and Trinity College, CAMBRIDGE UNI- VERSITY. He became professor of mathematics at Cambridge in 1669. His first scientific paper explained that white light consisted of all colors. He devised laws of motion, including a universal law of gravitation, described in his Philosophia naturalis principia mathematica (1687). He was also the inventor of differential and integral calculus. His own religious views were probably deistic, but he received a dispensation to hold a university post without being in holy orders. He was twice elected MEMBER OF PARLIAMENT for the university, and he was master of the royal mint.

New Zealand

An archipelago 1,000 miles east of AUSTRALIA, in which the two main islands together are somewhat larger than the UNITED KINGDOM. The native Maori mainly inhabited the North island, and their numbers rapidly declined as colonists brought new diseases and guns into their simple culture. The small English settlement in the 1830s was built up by IMMIGRATION, and British sovereignty was recognized after the Treaty of Waitangi (1840). A form of responsible government was set up in 1846 and a federal constitution in 1852. Democracy came with votes for men (1879) and women (1893). New Zealand became a DOMINION in 1907. Meanwhile, the Maori were decimated by a series of wars (1860–72). Discovery of gold in the 1850s accelerated immigration and heightened interest in the colonial economy. By the 1880s refrigeration allowed export of meat to GREAT BRITAIN. In the 20th century New Zealand was a stout supporter of Britain in time of war, and in 1947 the country became an independent member of the

Commonwealth. New Zealanders fought beside the Americans in Korea and in Vietnam. In the 1990s the population of 3.6 million included 400,000 Maori, who had been thought to be nearing extinction in 1900. As with other former colonies, the matter of land rights for indigenous peoples became a major item on the political agenda at the end of the 20th century.

Nigeria

Contact with this former COLONY in West AFRICA began with slave traders, and forts were established by the Royal African Company in the 1670s. After Britain’s activity in that enterprise ended, explorers and missionaries came in the 1840s. GREAT BRITAIN’s first colonial government was in Lagos and the south. Other regions were contested by French and German interests. In the north there were native Muslim princes, with other forms of tribal rule in the south. A federation was created under British authority in 1914, and after independence in 1960, a federal scheme was implemented. But in 1966 the government was overthrown in the first of many military takeovers. Ethnic violence caused the breakup of the federation with the secession of the eastern region of Biafra. The successive military regimes seemed to create more and more subordinate states, and the instability spread to the once-successful oil industry, which was disrupted in the 1990s. With 115 million people in 2000, Nigeria’s population was twice as large as any other African state, its resources were abundant, but its social and political fabric was in tatters.

Nightingale, Florence (1820–1910) nurse, reformer

Born into a wealthy family, Nightingale prevailed upon her father to allow her to enter the then lowly profession of nursing. After she founded a women’s clinic in LONDON, she heard of deplorable conditions in the hospitals in the Crimea. She led a team of nurses there (1854),

Florence Nightingale (Hulton/Archive)

and through hard work and efficient organization they radically reduced the death rate among injured soldiers. She herself was taken ill and returned in 1856. But she remained a tireless campaigner for reforms: in the army medical service, in nursing education, and in hospital construction. She founded a school of nursing at St. Thomas’s Hospital, London, in 1860, and thus launched the modern nursing profession in

GREAT BRITAIN.

Nile, Battle of the See ABOUKIR BAY.

Nineteen propositions

In June 1642 PARLIAMENT presented these 19 demands to CHARLES I. They wanted to control

the selection of ministers, to reform the church, and to control the MILITIA. The king parried with a plausible rejection of the terms, and the CIVIL WAR began in August.

nisi prius

The essential feature of the ASSIZE system: where at one time juries were brought to trials before the Court of COMMON PLEAS, in 1285 a statute said that trials would be held in Westminster, “unless before that” (nisi prius) the trial was held before a judge at assizes. This endorsed the circuit system which meant more efficient and regular judicial proceedings, while it also insured more consistent and uniform judicial practice.

nonconformists

Protestants not conforming to the doctrine or practice of the CHURCH OF ENGLAND. The earliest PURITANS sought to remodel the established church, but they were punished under acts of UNIFORMITY, causing them to separate from the main body of the church. Those who continued to dissent were disciplined more severely in the

reign of CHARLES I (BAPTISTS, INDEPENDENTS) and

CHARLES II (QUAKERS, PRESBYTERIANS). In the 18th

century there was less systematic persecution, but there was continuing deviation from the established church, by UNITARIANS and later by followers of METHODISM. In 1828 the old laws against dissenters were repealed, but many other disabilities were only slowly dropped over the rest of the 19th century. Because of their status as outsiders, nonconformists tended to align with the LIBERAL PARTY, and they were one of that group’s main bodies of support.

nonjurors

The ANGLICAN clergy and laymen who refused to take the oath supporting WILLIAM III and MARY II in 1689. Their position was that this oath violated their earlier oath to JAMES VII AND II. If not

JACOBITES, they were typically high-church anglicans who did not approve of the new WHIG regime. Archbishop William SANCROFT, six BISH- OPs, and some 400 other clergy maintained this position, and for several generations nonjurors held their own consecrations. Eventually they were reabsorbed into the established church.

nonresistance

A doctrine calling for obedience to authority, even if it was exercised unjustly. The concept was advocated in the reign of CHARLES I, but it took on special strength after the regicide and INTERREG-

NUM, in the reigns of CHARLES II and JAMES VII AND

II. Oaths of nonresistance were required in 1661 as a result of the corporation Act. However, such oaths were declared to be unnecessary in 1689, and the act was repealed in 1719.

Norfolk, Thomas Howard, third duke of (1473–1554)

politician

Howard served at sea, operating against Spanish corsairs in 1511. He became lord admiral in 1513, and in the same year he fought at the Battle of FLODDEN and was ennobled. He was LORD LIEUTENANT of IRELAND in 1520, and he led raids on France in 1521 and 1522. The uncle of Anne BOLEYN and Catherine HOWARD, he was a constant royal servant, a strong supporter of the more conservative elements in government, and himself a lifelong Catholic. He was imprisoned in 1546, saved from execution by EDWARD VI’s death, and later released by Queen MARY I.

Norman Conquest (1066)

The forces of Duke William of Normandy landed in southern England in October. King Harold of Wessex, who had just defeated an invading force under Harold of Norway, marched south to confront the new threat. At the Battle of Hastings, the Normans defeated the Saxons, killing Harold and a large part of the English nobility. William