Bernardo O’Higgins

Day 61 - early cycle along towpath from Kingston to Richmond and back on towpath to Twickenham too. Lots of traffic on main roads now. Revisited blue plaque for Bernardo O’Higgins in Richmond. This was actually the plaque that first got my attention just after lockdown and made me think perhaps it would be a good thing to go and find others. Bernardo O’Higgins(1778-1842) was the illegitimate son of an Irish adventurer who had risen from itinerant mule trader to viceroy of Peru. O’Higgins was born in Chile and sent to study in England at age 17. He lived and studied in Clarence House,the Vineyard, Richmond Hill. This is a very large house and garden which I happened to visit last summer on an Open Garden weekend. On his return to Chile his arrival coincided with the rise of the movement to free nations there from Spanish rule. By 1813 he was commander- in - chief of the Chilean forces. He made the formal Declaration of Independence in 1818.

- had emails to say our flights to Alderney in July have been cancelled
- potted more tomato plants
- planted green beans at allotment