Regency - Research - The Years of Endurance 1793 - 1802

Regency - Research - The Years of Endurance 1793 - 1802 by Arthur Bryant, the first of a trilogy.
"For twenty-two years this country fought against aggression and despotism to restore the law of nations and the liberties of mankind. She went to war in 1793 because the tyrants who had turned the French Revolution to violent and despotic ends had invaded Holland on the pretext of establishing the "natural frontiers".
As well as tracing the war against France this book also examines the social history and much more."

Guest at Unusual Historicals

This week I am a guest at Unusual Historicals. The link is: unusual historicals@optimum.net. Apart from reading about Rosemary Morris and her novels, you can scroll down and find out about other interesting works of fiction.

Regency - Research - Britain against Napoleon

Britain against Napoleon by Carola Oman (Georgette Heyer's friend) is out of print, but as readable today as it was when my copy was published in 1943. Apart from tracing the events in the long war it is full of anecdotes.

Fierce Sun Overhead and Gardening

Going over to daughter's house later on this afternoon with the intention of splashing in the inflatable pool with the grandchildren, and helping the youngest to blow bubbles. Lots of fun.
I deserve it, I was out in the garden in the heat finishing the narrow border planted with veronica, lavenders and fuchsias. It looks gorgeous. Tomorrow I need to dig up a sadly overgrown patch and stand my potted, purple-red-leaved Japanese Acacia on it.

Regency - Research - Bucks and Bruisers

Bucks and Bruisers, Pierce Egan and Regency England by J.C. Reid

Yesterday, I collected the book from the library. I have leafed through it, and it looks very interesting.

Regency - Research - Bucks & Bruisers

Yesterday, I collected Bucks and Bruisers, Pierce Egan and Regency England by J.C. Reid from the library.

I've leafed through the book, and it looks as though it will be very interesting.

"Pierce Egan, whose Boxiana was the incomparable record of the golden age of pugilism, was by profession printer, publisher, journalist, hack-writer, actor and dramatist. His great success was a book called Life in London...

"In this the f
irst study of Pierce Egan J.C. Reed outlines his life and descrbes his careet, his intimate knowledge of London low life, and his eccentric, cocky, resilient personality...."

Regency Research - The Gentlemen's Clubs of London

Today I collected The Gentleman's Clubs of London - Text by Anthony Lejeune - Photographs by Malcolm Lewis,, which I had reserved at the library. I have yet to read it. However, a glance through the book with many illustrations confirmed that it is a history of 39 gentlemen's clubs from their inception to about 1980. The Regency reader or researcher will find details of clubs in existence during that era. I'm looking forward to reading it.

Midday Sun

I am a mad Englishwoman out in the midday sun. Actually I finished my writing session (6a.m.-10a.m.) and went into the garden to plant out perennial fuchsias, French lavender in two shades and Veronica. I dug up the cornflowers that have finished flowering and added compost. Mind you, it's so hot that I retreated indoors every 20 minutes to drink some water and study a cookery book.

Regency - Research - Wellington The Years of the Sword

Wellington, The Years of the Sword by Elizabeth Longford.

"In the first volume Elizabeth Longford covers his (the Iron Duke's) martial life that ended abruptly, when he was a handsome resilient forty-six, in the holocaust of Waterloo. After Waterloo, Wellington was never asked to fire another shot.

This first volume shows the sensitive, withdrawn child of Irish aristocrats pushed into the army as 'food for powder', stumbling his way through the Flanders field , an abortive love affair, and the roistering banquet halls of Dublin Castle to reach India at twenty-seven. There he made his name and, as Sir Arthur Wellesley, returned to England and marriage to Kitty Pakenham ...etc."

I read this biography with great enjoyment and will consult it while writing my new novel, Monday's Child, the sequel to Sunday's Child published by MuseItupPublishing.

Blackbirds Having a Bath

England is having a heat wave. Yesterday evening I turned on the sprinkler to water the veggie patches and top up my very small pond. After I came upstairs, I looked out of the window on the landing and saw 3/4 grown blackbird fledglings chasing their mother begging to be fed. Then the mother fluttered across the lawn and obviously enjoyed being showered by the sprinkler. The fledglings followed her. The four blackbirds ran in and out of the shower. After five minutes or a little more,  they spread their wings and shook off the water before having a drink at the bird bath. As you can imagine, it was a delightful scene.

Regency - Research - High Society in the Regency Period

I found High Society in the Regency Period 1788 - 1830 by Venetia Murray very useful, and often refer to it.

"A delightful book well-researched and highly entertaining." Christopher Hibbert."

"Spanning the years from the French revolution to the Age of Reform, the elegant, dissolute Regency era was one of glorious paradox and turbulent change. Drawing on original material from the Royal Archives at Windsor and the Chatsworth Archives, as well as diaries, letters, memoirs and menus covering the whole spectrum of society..."

Regency = Research - The Jane Austen Handbook

The Jane Austen Handbook. A Sensible Yet Elegant Guide to Her World.

"Every young lady dreams of a life spent exchanging witty asides with a dashing Mr Darcy, but how should you let him know your intentions? Seek counsel from this charming guide to Jane Austen's world. "

I found this handbook interesting and informative.

Gymnastics & Proud Grandmother

A very busy day yesterday which included Year Six's production of Aladdin at two of my grandsons' school.
The elder boy has bee practising gymnastics for 6 years. He is a member of a country team and has performed more than once in a theatre. Yesterday his performance looked effortless but he trains for 3 hours 3 times a week and sometimes on 5 days a week when a competition is imminent. ( He has already won a gold, silver and bronze medal. Not bad going for an 11-year old.)
Yesterday he came down the aisle between the audience and executed forward flips, cartwheels, handstands etc.,. Later he performed again in the from of the stage and once more at the final curtain call.
He received ample praise and, as you can imagine, I am very proud of him and admire his dedication and determination.

Regency - Research - Everyday Life in Regency & Victorian England

The Writer's Guide to Everyday Life in Regency and Victorian England From 1811 - 1901 by Kristine Hughes.

"In this time saving reference book, respected author Kristine Hughes brings 19th century England to life as she leads you through the details that characterise this fascinating era.

From slice-of life facts, anecdotes and first hand accounts, to sweeping timelines and major historical events, this book presents the delightful and often surprising daily realities of Regency and Victorian England. With it you'll craft a vibrant story while you learn." 

Regency Research - Walking Jane Austen's London

Walking Jane Austen's London, A Tour Guide for The Modern Traveller, by Louise Allen, is a beautifully illustrated gem of a book. Even if you will never physically tread in Jane Austen's footsteps it is well worth reading.

"This book presents nine walks through both the London Jane Austen knew and the London of her novels.  Follow in Jane Austen's footsteps to the Prince Regent's vanished palace, see where she stayed when she was correcting the proofs of Sense and Sensibility, accompany her on shopping expeditions. ...etc."

Regency - Research - Gardens

I have a rough book nearly filled with notes - non-fiction books for research, places of interest to visit including the ones I have been blogging about, websites and much more. Today I began to put them to good use. I reserved some books from the library, ordered some books from Amazon and visited lots of interesting websites. 

When I wrote Sunday's Child I found Regency Gardens by Mavis Batey published by Shire Publications Ltd., very useful.

"Regency architecture and gardening inherited the stylish elegance of the 18th century but added a lively touch, consistent with the mood of the new century and a high-spirited monarch in waiting."   

Regency - Reference Book - Costume

Two of my Regency Novels have been published and I am writing a third. The (out of print) Handbook of English Costume in the Nineteenth Century by C.Willet and Phillis Cunnington interesting and useful.

5* review of Far Beyond Rubies

Far Above Rubies has received five star reviews, one of which is as follows:-

“Hot Hero, Great Research, Touch of the Exotic, 24 Mar 2013

By

J. Pittam "Maythorn. "This review is from: Far Beyond Rubies (Kindle Edition)

It was great to see that there's a new Rosemary Morris out. I like her exquisite attention to detail, and she writes in the reign of Queen Anne, which is something a bit different from the usual Regency romance. In this new book, which I have to admit I raced through and will now read again, the heroine Juliana is stunned to discover that, according to her half-brother William, she and her sister are bastards.

The tale of how Gervaise Seymour helps her, how she helps herself, her sister and her various strays is quite enchanting.

Rosemary uses her knowledge of India, very pertinent in this period, to bring a spice of something different to this novel. Her 'tanned hero' is no pallid, painted Englishman but one who has travelled, married and been widowed on that exotic continent, thus earning himself the nickname 'Beau Hindu' amongst the fashionable in London.

This novel is not a light book, as it contains research into the politics, religion and morality of the reign of Queen Anne. However the research informs the novel quite naturally and I found this to be a lovely, sparkling romance. It is somewhat in the style of the late Georgette Heyer, although I think after four novels Rosemary Morris is developing a voice of her own.

Suitable for those who like a cracking good historical romance set in England, wll-researched, sensual but no explicit sex.”

 

Unusual Historicals

I'm delighted to have been invited to be featured at Lisa Yarde's group, Unusual Historical

Book Covers

This afternoon, I attended an interesting talk by Jane-Dixon Smith at the London Chapter meeting of the Romantic Novelists Association.

Her websites are well-worth visiting.

www.jsmith.design.co
www.facebook.com jdsmith.design

Writing - planning and plotting.

I am writing the Monday's Child set pre the Battle of Waterloo. It is the sequel to my novel Sunday's Child set in England in 1813, which is published by MuseItupPublishing.

Today, I took time out from writing to think about the novel. While doing so I made lettuce and pea soup.

My home grown Little Gem lettuces had bolted and the leaves were bitter so I stripped off the leaves.

The recipe is as follows:-
2 tablespoons of olive oil.
1 sliced leek
Leaves from 3 Little Gem or other lettuces.
Half a pound of peas.
One and a half pints of vegetable stock.
Salt and pepper to taste.
2 generous tablespoons of cream.

Fry the leek add all the ingredients except for the salt, pepper and cream. Bring to the boil then simmer until the lettuce is cooked. Tip it into a blender and liquidise. Taste and add salt and pepper to taste, then stir in the cream. Delicious.

Museums Relevant to the Regency

I've come to the end of my personal list of museums relevant to the Regency, but I'm sure there is much more to be found. Visits to the British Museum and art galleries would probably be worthwhile.

Place of Regency Interest - Windsor Castle

Of course Windsor castle originated in the mediaeval era and there are collections from may historical eras, however, there are rooms related to George IV and William IV. Windsor, Berkshire.

Museum of Costume of interest to Regency Authors and Fans

Museum of Costume - Many examples of male, female and children's period clothing, including royal examples, are displayed in room settings covering over a century of history. A Fashion Research Centre and Library are affiliated and located at 4, The Circus, within walking distance. If you know what you are looking for the staff might suggest where you might find it. Assembly Rooms, Bennett Street, Bath, Avon BA1 2QH

Mounted Police Museum

Mounted Branch Museum. The history of the force - from the beginning as London's Bow Street Patrol to the present day. Metropolitan Police Mounted Branch, Imber Court, East Molesey, Surrey, KT8 OBT.

Real Life and Writing

Every time my writing routine, including blogging, is going smoothly real life intervenes.  Anyway, I'm not going to complain so here is the next place of historical interest.

Metropolitan Police Thames Division Museum. The River Police were founded in 1798, and the museum illustrates their history with documents, uniforms, crime relics and a wide range of equipment. Wapping Police Station, 98 Wapping High Street, London E1 9NE

House of Regency Interest

Mellerstain House - One of the finest examples of Robert Adam's architecture, the house contains plasterwork, period library, furniture,needlework and art collection. Mellerstain, Gordon, Berwickshire TD3 6LG

Lilliput Museum of Antique Dolls and Toys

Lilliput Museum of Antique Dolls and Toys - Dolls form the 18th and 19th centuries are exhibited, including examples from Madame Augusta Montanari of London, active in the 1860's. High Street, Brading, Isle of Wight PO36 ODJ

Place of Regency Interest - Keats House

Keats House. The poet lived here from 1818 - 1820. The interiors are as they were when he lived there. Visitors can see books, letters, portraits and personal items. Wentworth Place, Keats Grove, Hampstead, London NW3 2RR.

New laptop.

Time to get a new laptop. The motherboard on my old one is unstable so as soon as I get the new one all the files must be transferred to it. I have saved all the important ones but there are some less important ones I risk losing. Deep sigh.

In the meantime, I've cut down on my blogging, e-mailing and writing as I find it uncomfortable to sit at the computer for as long as I work on the laptop.

Regency Place of Interest - Jane Austen's House.

Jane Austen's mother moved to Chawton with her daughters in 1809. The house contains many family items, including a large number of letters and documents/ Chawton, Hampshire, GU34 1SD

Although so many Jane Austen and Regency fans know about the house I decided it would be cheating not to mention it in my places of Regency Interest.

Royal Naval Museum/HMS Victory

The Victory was Admiral Lord Nelson's flagship at the Battle of Trafalgar (1805) amd cam now be boarded by visitors. The nearby Naval Museum covers the history of the navy from Tudor Times. HM Naval Base, Portsmouth, Hampshire, PO1 3PZ

Costume Museum

Gallery of English Costume. One of the most comprehensive collections in the country, it is supplemented by a research library (with heopful curators) and 18th and 19th-century magazines, etiquette books and fashion plates. Platt Hall,Platt Fields, Rusholm, Manchester,M14 5LL.

My Laptop is being repaired

I have not blogged for a few days because there is a problem with my laptop. Until I get it back I won't be able to write, blog, e-mail etc., for as long as usual.

My laptop died. I changed the fuse in the plug. Nothing. Perhaps the battery needs to be changed. Anyway, I'm really fed up because I find the laptop more convenient than the computer, which I am working on at the moment. I shall drop it of at Twin Technology's office. (M twin sons own an international I T company.)


Although I have saved my important files on the computer and the memory stick, there are less important ones I have not saved so I hope the laptop will recover after it has been hospitalised

Regency & Victorian - Museum of Interest

Duke of Cornwall's Light Infantry Museum. The staff are described as friendly, and ready to answer questions about the history of the regiment and the amazing display of Napoleonic uniforms, weapons, maps, soldiers personal items and much more. The Keep, Victoria Barracks, Bodmin, Cornwall PL31 1EG

Regency & Victorian - Museums of Interest

There are few museums which display only items of interest to Regency fans, visitors and researchers so I am describing the ones I am posting as Regency and Victorian Museums of Interest.

Churchill Gardens Museum. The exhibits are housed in a Regency House with Victorian additions including a coach house. The museum contains costumes, furniture, paintings and period rooms. Victorian nursery, butler's pantry and parlour. Venns Lane, Hereford, Hereford and Worcester.

Regency - Museum of Interest

British in India Musuem concentrates on the life and achievements of the British in India. Collections of photgraphs, uniforms, coins, documents and paintings. Sun Street, Colne, Lancashire BB8 0JJ

My main interest is the British in India from the days when the East India Company first traded in India up to and including the Regency era, so I would find out as much as possible abou the museum before visiting it.

Regency - Museum of Interest

British in India Museum

Regency Place of Interest

Arundel Toy Museum. The collection of period dolls, dollhouses, soldiers, bears, games etc., are housed in an early 1800 cottage. 23 High Street, Arundel, West Sussex BN18 9AD

The inclusion of bears in the collection means it is a mixture of Regency and Victiorian toys. Before I made a special trip to visit this museum I would phone up to find out more about it.

Regency Places of Interest

I have shared all the places of particular interest to me which are related to the Regency era in London tha I would like to visit, beginning on the 2nd June when a friend and I are going to visit Apsley House.

I also have a list of places outside London which I would like to visit which might be of interest to some of you.

The first on my list, in alphabetical order, is:-

Abbey House Museum which exhibits nineteenth - twentieth century costume,toys, dolls, domestic appliances. Also included are constructions of street scenesof the late eighteenth and nineteenth centuries representing such trades as chemist, haberdasher, hairdresser, saddler, tobacconist and printer. Abbey Road, Kirkstall, Leeds, West Yorkshire LS5 3EH.

If I decide to visit places far from home it would be worthwhile seeing if I could find several places not far apart and stay near by for a few nights.

Regency - Place of Interest

National Maritime Museum. Exhibits cover ship design,ships' logs and furnishings, telescopes,maps, weapons, uniforms and personal items, such as the coat in which Lord Nelson died. Romney Road, Greenwich, London SE10 9NF

Regency Place of Interest

Metropolitan Police Thames Division Museum. The River Police were founded in 1798. The museum illustrates their history with documents, uniforms, crime relics and a wide range of equipment. Wapping Police Station, 98 Wapping High Street, London E1 9NE.

Regency Plase of Interest

Regency Plase of Interest

M

Regency Plase of Interest

Regency place of interest

Another place I want to visit is The Imperial War Museum - housed in the former Bethlem Royal Hospital or Bedlam, collections illustrate all areas of military affairs with uniforms, documents, medals and photographs. Lambeth Road, London SE1 6HZ

Regency - Place of Interest

Another place I want to visit is The Imperial War Museum - Housed in the former Bethlem Royal Hospital or Bedlam (1815)

Regency ;Place of Inerest to Visit

Gunnersby Park Museum is another place of interest I plan to visit. Once the home of the Rothschild banking family its displays include 19th century kitchens, items of domestic life, tools, costume and textiles, toys and dolls and two of the family carriages. Gunnersbury Park Museum, London W8 8LQ.

Regency Place of Interest to Visit

A friend of mine and I have decided to visit Apsley House - home of the first duke of Wellington, the musueum displays collections of paintings, plate, furniture, porcelian an personal items related to the duke. 149 Piccadilly, London WIV 9FA.

Regency Era - Places of Interest

To begin with I am making a list of places I would like to visit in London. Of course, there are many other places throughout the British Isles I would enjoy seeing but London is closer to home.
|
The first is the Court Dress Collection. It dates from 1750 and includes court dress and uniforms. The exhibition is at Kensington Palace, London W8 4PX

Regency Snippets - Extracts from my file.

Well, I've been through my file of Regency Snippets that I originally compliled for my personal reference. I hope you have enjoyed reading some of them.

I am now engaged in research for my new novel, Monday's Child, the sequel to Sunday's Child, and other novels set in the Regency era that I plan to write.

There are a number of books I intend to beg, borrow or buy to add to my modest library.

Captain Gronow:His Reminisences of Regency and Victorian Life 1810 - 1860 by Christopher Hibbert.

The Gentlemens' Clubs of London by Anthony Lejeune.

Regency Furniture 1800 -1830 by Clifford Musgrave.

Bucks and Bruisers:Pierce Egan and Regency England by John Reed.

Life in Regency England by R.J. White.

Regency Snippets - Waltz

Questions have been raised about when the waltz was first danced in England so you might find this interesting.

"Some such dance, it appears, had been known in England nearly a score of years before, for in The Times of February 19, 1796, we read: "The balls at Southampton are exceedingly lively and well-attended. The young ladies are particularly favourable to a German dance, called the Volse: for squeezing, hugging etc., it is excellent, and more than one Lady has actually fainted in the middle of it. The "Volse" however, had not penetrated the metropolis, or at least to the fashionable circles thereof;and when in 1813 it was danced at Almacks for the first time - it was then in a slow movement trow temps - by Madame de Lieven and "Cupid" Palmerston, and Princess Esterhazy and Baron de Neumann. It divided society into two camps; those who welcomed it with open arms and those who resented the introduction to them as a most indecorous proceeding. Lampoon after lampoon was provoked by the new dance, and more than one of these has come down to posterity."

The Beaux of the Regency by Lewis Saul Benjamin (1908)

However, beware Princess Esterhazy was not in England in 1813. I hope the rest of this is accurate.

Regency Snippets - Tourists

"Travellers of repute regarded it as a matter of course that they should be allowed to view the seats of the aristocracy and gentry, and contemporary letters and journals aboud in descriptions of visits to notable houses. In an age of elegance and creative taste those who owned beautiful properties were proud and gratified for them to be shown to a small but discriminating public. The conducted tour was usuallly guided by the housekeeper, but for visitors to Blenheim there was a lyrically written and elegantly written guidebook entitled A New Description of Blenheim. Not only the gardens and park but also the Palace were open to visitors at stated times, even when the family was in residence."

The Profligate Duke by Mary Soames.

Regency Snippets - Servants, Rules

"1817 - Rules to be Strictly Observed

The Servants are all to dine at one o'clock, before the Parlour Dinner, both Upper and Under Servants, and to breakfast and sup at nine - and no hot suppers.

The Butler, or Groom of Chambers, to see that the Servants' Hall and Powder Rooms are cleaned and locked up every night before 11 o'clock.

All the Servants to sleep in the house when the family is at Blenheim; unless with special leave for any particular cause.

The Under Butler to be assisted by all the Footmen in turns, as there will be be no Plate Maid.

The plate to be washed by the Stillroom Maids and in the Stillroom, from whence the Under Butler must fetch it.

The plate to be kept and cleaned in the Pantry, and the present dark Plate Room to be shut up.

All the Glass etc., to be kept in the waiting room and closets adjoining; and to be cleared out of the dining room after dinner.

The Butler to keep the key and take charge of the Ale Cellars; also to superintend all the menservants and to keep the Accounts, passing them all with Mr Fellows.

No meals to be allowed anywhere, excepting the Servants' Hall and Stewards' Room. Breakfast excepted.

No Garden Men or Milkmen to have their meals here.

No Posthorses or hacks to be taken into the Stables; being so near Woodstock.

This ended on a firm note. Should any objections be made to these reforms those persons may retire."

The Profligate Duke by Mary Soames.

I found this very useful when I wrote Sunday's Child an e-booki published by MuseItUpPublishing.

Pre-Regenxcy Snippet - The Prince of Wales in1780

Georgiana the Duchss of Devonshire's impressions of the future Prince Regent in 1780

"The Prince of Wales is rather tall and has a figure which though striking is not perfect. He is inclined to be too fat and looks much like a woman in men's clothes, but the gracefulness of his manner and his height certainly make him a pleasing figure. His face is very handsome and he is fond of dress, even to a tawdry degree,which, young as he is, will soon wear off. He is good-natured and rather extravagant...But he certainy does not want for understandding and his jokes sometimes have an apearance of wit. he appears to have an inclination to meddle with politics, he loves being of consequence, and whether it is intrigues of state or of gallantry, he often thinks more is intended than it really is.

Regency Snippets - Prince of Wales

This is pre-Regency but nevertheless pertinent.

At 17 "The Prince was not the fat, lecherous, dissipated hedonist of later years, depicted in so many satirical cartoons. When Mary Robinson first met him he was handsome, cultivated and good-tempered. He was known as a man of enormous charm, intelligence and taste. Mary was not exaggerating when she described him as 'the most admired and most accomplished Prince in Europe'. He fenced and boxed, but also played the cello, drew and had a deep appreciation of painting One of the members of the royal hosuehold, Mrs, Papeneiek, wrote in her journal, 'he was not so handsome as his brother,but his countenance was of a sweetness and intelligence quite irresistible. He had an elegant person, engaging and distinguished manners, added to an affectionate disposition and the cheerfulness of youth.'

Perdia
The Life of Mary Robinson By Paula Byrne

Regency Snippets - Wellington and his wife

Arthur Wellesly's (later the Duke of Wellington) was agitated during his last weeks in England. His wife, Kitty's youngest brother, Henry, "had run into debt  through gambling and persuaded her to lend him the housekeeping money. Arthur's imminent departure for Portugal brought in all the unpaid bills, Kitty could not settle her accounts and one of the tradesmen dunned Sir Arthur. His anger was unforgiving. She had misappropriated his funds.

This painful episode spoilt the last days together of husband an wife. Its echoes were to haunt Arthur's memory for the rest of their married life."

Wellington. Elizabeth Longford.

Regency Snippets - Religion

"Popery was despised.

It was the last age in which a majority of educated men grew up without doubt.

The old church and non-conformists were at loggerheads. Scornful squires forbade tenants to hear Methodists and Weslyans.

Methodists united Britain in the face of revolutionary peril by convincing the more serious minded workders of the validity of Christian ethics, the great 18th century evangelists inoculated the poor against the Jacobin fever that was sweeping the Continent. Only where there was hunger and intolerable injustice did the virus triumph and then only for so long as the more extreme hardships remained unalleviated."

Arthur Bryant

Regency Snippets - Army Officers

"Among the officers a chivalrous sense of honour was more than an instinct. It was a code. They were almost too ready to take on a bully hat and too punish a cheat. Charles Napier flattered himself that his leg was as straight a one as ever bore up the body of a gentleman or kicked a blackguard. He regarded the treatment of women as the measure of civilisation; the tenderness towards the helpless and adherence to one's word constituted for him the tests of a gentleman. A man who broke his parole was beneath contempt; George Napier held it up to his children as the unforgivable offence - that and cowardice. One rode straight, spoke the truth and never showed fear. There was little outward religion in Wellington's officers;skylarking and often uproariously noisy, they were like a pack of schoolboys. Yet under the surface was a deep fund of Christian feeling; their beau ideal was a man like John Colborne of the 52nd - upright, fearless and gentle - or John Vandeleur - his friends never heard to speak harshly of any man. 'The British army is what it is," said Wellington long afterweards, (after the Battle of Waterloo?) "because it is officered by gentlemen; men who would scorn to do a dishonourable thing and who have something more at stake than a reputation for military smartness."


The Age of Elegance. Arthur Bryant.

Regency Snippets - Prince Regent & the Army & His palaces.

"Of one activity the Prince Regent never tired. He would have made, it was said, a splendid upholsterer. He filled Army Orders with instructions about epaulettes, gold lace and feathers, sent the 23rd Dragoons to Spain so arrayed that the could not be distinguished from the French, and rigged out his own Regiment of Hussars like padded monkeys in crimson breeches and yellow boots. 'His whole soul is wrapped in Hussar saddles, caps,cuirasses and sword belts.

Yet wonderful as were the costumes he designed, they were surpassed by the settings he chose for them. His guests complained that the splendour of his rooms made their clothes insignificant. This palaces were constantly being rebuilt. Sydney Smith remarked that the Brighton Pavillion looked as if The Krelin had pupped. Its walls decorated with mandarins and flluted yellow draperies, its peach blossom ceilings and canopies of tassels and bells, its imperial five-clawed dragons darting from every chandelier and overmantel. Outre and grotesque it was yet informed by its creator's exquisite taste. On its statuary carpets, pictures - he was an early collector of Dutch masters - china and ormulu he lavished an inexhaustible care.

...Carlton House rivalled St Cloud and Versailles."

The Age of Elegance. Arthur Bryant

Regency Snippets - Mourning - Widows and Widowers.

"There were degrees of mourning. Full mourning for a husband by a widow was the stricttest. For a year and a day she wore a black dress and a mantle of bombazine, a mixute of silk and wool. The dress had to be almost completely covered with crape. Crape was a silk fabric that had been treated so it was completely without luster. There could be no hint of shine in anything worn by a widow. There were no trimmings allowed at all. No shiny buttons, no buckles on her shoes, no jewelery except her wedding rihg and mourning jewelry made of jet. The widow had to wear a mourning bonnet with a widow's cap and a crape veil. She wrote all her letters on black bordered paper. After 12 months and one day, she could replace her crape covered dress with a black silk one, trimmed with crape. After about another half year of mourning the death, the widow could go into half-mourning. The colours allowed were grey, lavender, mauve, violet or black and grey with white stripes. She could wear half-mourning jewelry - pearls and amethysts. Some widows never went into half mourning and wore  black for the rest of their lives.

During the first year of mourning, the widow had no social life. She could not go to parties, dinners or the theatre and it was considered bad taste to even be seen in public. Her soical life consisted of receiving calls and that was about it. After one year, the widow could resume her social life, but she had to do so very gradually. The power of public opinion was strong and a widow who did not show proper respect to the memory of her dead  husband faced being socially ostracised.

Mourning for men was much simpler. They wore a black mourning band on the sleeve of their coats for about 6 months and could take part in soical occasions sooner than could a widow."

Source unknown,.

Regency Snippets - Regency Drapery Misses

In the penultimate canto of Don Juan, George, Lord Byron mentioned drapery misses, young ladies of pleasing appearance who were walking advertisemants for some dressmaker or other. The woman would give their families a large discount on the clothes if the girls were willing to tell everyone where her their gowns etc., were made. Naturally, the girls needed to be pretty and mingle with members of society who could afford the dressmaker's prices.

Regency Snippets - Princess Amelia

Princess Amelia's sufferings shocked the Prince of Wales. He described so accurately the pain caused by the affected knee that it is possible to hazard a diagnosis of acute arthritis. The smallest touch in any part of her sofa conveys on occasions the most dreadful agonies. Apart from the local disease she had little appetite, could eat nothing without vomiting and had a 'most dreadful cough.' Laudanum had been relied on in an attempt to control the pain and cough, and as a tonic she had been given porter to drink which upset her. But soon after the Prince sent his report to the Queen she was electrified.

Regency Snippets - Hunting Season

"June, when spring finally begins to gleam into summer. This year it was slow in coming, as winter decided to remind us that it was always here, lurking in the bakgrond. Now, as I write, the sun is shining happily again, the insects and birds are busy and so, unfortunately, are the cats. However, out aristocratic forebears would be leaving London for the country at this time, the season fading to its close. Most years there was no definite end to the season, just a fading away. Sometimes a great ball would be designated the last of the season, and afterwards, the ton felt free to return to the place where most of them felt more comfortable - the great country estates they and their forebears had carved out of the english countryside. Houseparties, necessary estate business, maybe some scheming would take place, and the huntsmen would wait impatiently fo August 12th and the shooting season."

I collected the snippets I'm posting regularly for my own reference, and, sometimes, did not note the source. I cannot remember where the above quote came from.

Regency Snippets - London Hotels

April 20th 1814 Louis XVIIII  stayed for three nights at Grillon's Hotel in Albermarle Street.

The Tsar stayed in Pultney's Hotel in Piccadilly.

21st February(year?) Prince Leopold arrived in London and put up at the Clarendon Hotel in Bond Street.

The Life and Times of George IV
Alan Palmer

Regency Snippets - Gigs

A gig is an elegant 2-wheeled cart used by the well-to-do (originally it actually was considered a cheap carriage, but by the 19th century,the design and manufacture had improved so much it was the vehicle of the wealthy gentleman who wanted a convenient way to transport himself and one other person). It was usually built quite high off the ground and with curving shafts. It is pulled by a flashy horse. There are quite a few different styles of gigs, all named after their amnufacturers, and as society became more mannered, certain styles got associated with male or female drivers. The Stanhope gig and Dennett were driven by men. Women could drive the Tilbury.

As the gig tended to be heavy and pulled by a flashy animal, who was often a handful, it tended to be more of a gentleman's vehicle. Ladies would drive govenerness carts or dog carts, which were easier to hop in and out of in an emergency.

Regency Snippets - Gloves for Driving

Unike riding reins which are the same colour as the bridle (i.e., brown or black) carriage driving reins are always brown, even when the harness is black. Sometimes the reins will be black part way down, from the bit about halfway down, but then the last part will always be brown. I believe this is so the blacking used on some harness doesn't rub of on the driver's clothing. anyway, one of the principles of handling horses is that your hands should be unobtrusive. So drivers, correctly, should be wearing brown not black gloves.

Regency Snippets - Royal Furnishing

1. Large glass basins of goldfish on carved and gilded stands.

2. Toiletries and Bathroom. William Wyatt ftted at least one Bath Tub, and the royal dressing rooms held Windsor and Naples soap, tooth sponges, almond powder, eau de luce, lavender water and tortoiseshell combs.

3. 1812 - 1813. Mrs Warren Hastings had given Queen Charlotte a carved ivory sofa with a canopy of white satin which stood in the India Room among ivory armchairs fantastically gilded and carved with tigers' heads.

4. The Regent had taken Lower Lodge at Windsor as his occasional residence and it reflected his elegent taste in Chinese chintz.

Queen Charlotte by Olwen Hedlery

Pre-Regency Snippet - Royalty Menus & Sandwiches

"The King preferred the old-fashioned early dinner, and a homely menu such as roast mutton, souercrout, brawn, two cowsheels and Ribbon Pudding, the Queen began, about 1806, to take luncheon. Chicken broth, lamb cutlets, two pullets and sandwiches were a typical choice. Mutton sandwiches had appeared in the lord steward's ledgers as early as 1784 and on the 5th January, 1792 the eight-year-old Princess Amelia, after dining off roast beef and plum pudding, ate chicken sandwiches with oysters for supper. In the early years of the 19th century sandwiches became a staple article of diet in the Queen's informal meals, which seem to have varied according to the King's wish. Sometimes she dined with him, sometimes she took luncheon and then a separate 'late' dinner at four, or on special occasions at six o' the clock."

Queen Charlotte by Olwen Hedley

Regency Snippets - Forced off the Land

"Enclosures, game laws, contributions to the Poor Relief, forced many husbandmen off their land and into stinking factories. After Waterloo falling price for corn, Corn laws and taxes added to poor people's hardships.

Taken from my notes on Arthur Bryant's history books.

Regency Snippets - Costume The Beau Monde 1807

January, 1807 a description of the clothing from "The Beau Monde" magazine 1807. 

"The return of the rigid season brings with it once more to every loyal bosom the happy occasion of doing honour to the birth-day of our gracious and aimiable Queen. Fancy and taste have been long busy in making preparations, and the condescension of a noble lady has enabled us to aniticpate some of the characteristics that are likely to distinguish the habilments of the day. The design which she has given us the honour to communicte brings the whole into a central point of consideration, and we have therefore only to describe it.

Illustration - Ladies - The hair dressed in natural curls round the face, with a coronet, bandeau or other ornament in gold - feathers of every kind. The body, sleeves and petticoat, of rich, full coloured satin or velvet the draperies of gauze or tiffany spotted with gold embroidery, the trimmings and false sleeves of the same, edged with rich lace, and the cords and tassels that festoon the draperies of gold. The bracelets round the sleeves, the zone and the binding of the petticoat to be of plate gold, we suppose in commemoration of the lately achieved conquest of South America.The petticoat is decorated with artificial wreaths of white thorn made in relief.

Illustration - 2 - Gentlemen - Dark green or other dark colour coat and small-cloaths of silk, velvet or fine cloth, covered with a small spot somewhat lighter of the same kind of colour, edged with silver lace, and embroidered with any kind of wild flower of acknowledged British growth:waistcoat of white satin, embroidered in a very light pattern of gold thread. Silk stockings perfecly white.

Regency Snippets - The Last London Frost Fair - 1814

It was and exceptional winter that caused 'Old Father Thames' to freeze solidly enough for people to walk across - rather than pay a boatman or the toll on the bridge - but the holding of fairs on such occasions had a long history. There were fairs in 1564, 1608, 1634, 1715, 1739 and 1789.


In 1811 the river froze hard leaving only a narrow channel so that people could walk on it from Battersea Bridge to Hungerford Stairs. But only three years later it froze hard again at the beginning of January after a week-long fog. The streets were piled high with snow, the ice on the river dirty and 'lumpy' but firm enough on the 30th for 70 people to walk across from Queenhithe to the opposite bank. More people soon ventured onto the ice and by Monday, February 1st the river was so solid from Blackfriars Bridge to some way below the Crane Stairs that thousands were tempted onto it.


By Tuesday the whole area was a fair. The 'main road' was named City Road and went straight down the middle of the Thames rather than across it. It was lined on both sides with about 30 stalls decorated with streamers, flags and 'signs', set up for the sale of porter, spirits, and other drinks (unlicensed) as well as for skittles, dancing, and a variety of games. The next day, Wednesday, was the same. In addition 8 or 10 printing presses had been erected, the typographers setting up their type for the printing or cards and broadsides to commenmorate the great frost...

On Thursday, to most people the ice seemed to be a solid rock. The fair continued to grow and attract more visitors. There were swimgs, bookstalls, skittles, dancing-booths, merry-go-rounds,sliding barges, just like Greenwich and Bartlemy Fairs. Friday the 4th brought even more, and scores of pedlars...

The Thames watermen far from being ruined made a huge profit by charging a toll of twopence or threepence to enter 'Frost Fair' - and demanding a tip on leaving. Some were rumoured to have made £6 a day...

In 1823 London Bridge was rebuilt upstream and the old one demolished in 1831. The new arches re-directed the flow of the river so that it was too swift to freeze.

Regency Snippets - 1814 The Last Frost Fair on The Thames

It was an exceptional winter that caused 'Old Father Thames' to freeze solidly enough for people to walk across - rather than pay a boatman or the toll on the bridge - but the holding of fairs on such occasions had a long history. There were fairs in 1564, 1608, 1634, 1715, 1739 and 1789.

In 1811 the river froze hard leaving only a narrow channel so that people could walk on it from Battersea Bridge to Hungerford Stairs. But only three years later it froze hard again at the beginning of January after a week-long fog. The streets were piled high with snow, the ice on the river dirty and 'lumpy' but firm enough on the 30th for 70 people to walk across from Queenhithe to the opposite bank. More people soon ventured onto the ice and by Monday, February 1st the river was so solid from Blackfriars Bridge to some way below the Crane Stairs that thousands were tempted onto it.

By Tuesday the whole area was a fair. The 'main road' was named City Road and went straight down the middle of the Thames rather than across it. It was lined on both sides with about 30 stalls decorated with streamers, flags and 'signs', set up for the sale of porter, spirits, and other drinks (unlicensed) as well as for skittles, dancing, and a variety of games. The next day, Wednesday, was the same. In addition 8 or 10 printing presses had been erected, the typographers setting up their type for the printing or cards and broadsides to commenmorate the great frost...

On Thursday, to most people the ice seemed to be a solid rock. The fair continued to grow and attract more visitors. There were swimgs, bookstalls, skittles, dancing-booths, merry-go-rounds,sliding barges, just like Greenwich and Bartlemy Fairs. Friday the 4th brought even more, and scores of pedlars...

The Thames watermen far from being ruined made a huge profit by charging a toll of twopence or threepence to enter 'Frost Fair' - and demanding a tip on leaving. Some were rumoured to have made £6 a day...

In 1823 London Bridge was rebuilt upstream and the old one demolished in 1831. The new arches re-directed the flow of the river so that it was too swift to freeze.

Regency Snippets - Waltz

"At Almack's, as elsewherein London, the day had passed when in the ball-room the minuet and other stately movements were fashionable;and during the early years of the Regency the dances in vogue were the English country dances,Scotch jigs and Highland reels, the last, introduced into London, it is said, by Jane, Duchess Gordon, and performed by her to the accompaniment of an orchestra from Edinburgh conducted by Niel Gow, the composer of  "Bonnie Prince Charlie". It was the introduction of a new dance that shook, not only Almacks, but all England to its foundations. In 1815 Lady Jersey and Count Aldegonde, Lady Harriet Butler and Mr Montgomery, Lady Susan Ryde and Mr Montagu, and Miss Montgomery and Mr Charles Standish (or some authorities say MrHaytey) danced the first set of quadrilles, which presented by such sponsors, at once became fashionable. The quadrilles evoked much interest, but this was nothing compared with the sensation that had been caused two years earlier by the introduction from abroad of the waltz.

Some such dance it appears, had been known in England nearly a score of years before, for in The Times of February 19, 1796, we read: "The balls at Southampton are exceedingly lively and well-attended. The young ladies are particularly favourable to a German dance, called the Volse: for squeezing, hugging, etc., it is excellent, and more than one Lady has actually fainted in the middle of it. The "Volse", however,had not penetrated to the metropolis, or at least to the fashionable circles thereof; and when in 1813 it was danced at Almack's for the first time - it was then in a slow movement in trow temps - by Madame de Lieven and "Cupid" Palmerston, and Princess Esterhazy and Baron de Neumann, it divided society into two camps:those who welcomed it with open arms, and those who resented the introduction of what appeared to them as a most indecorous proceeding. Lmpoon after lampoon was provoked by the new dance, and more than one of these has come down to posterity."

Lewis Saul Benjamin (1908)  The Beaux of the Regency

Regency Snipets - Princess Charlotte Heir to the Throne

Princess Charlotte Augusta born 9.45 a.m. 7th January, 1796

5th February, 1813. Princess Charlotte allowed to attend a proper grown-up function. A ball at Carlton House ostensibly given in her honour and to which some members of the Oppostion were invited. Dressed in white and silver and for the first time wearing in her hair the ostrich-feather plumes of full Court dress, Charlotte appeared handsome and self posessed and, rather ot her own surprise, really enjoyed herself, althhough she was disappointed not to see the young Duke of Devonshire, whom she had expected as her partner, and nettled by the way her Aunt Mary pushed in to claim the privilege of opening the dancing - 'always the couple above me, as jealous and ill-natured the whole night as she could be.'

Alison Plowden. Caroline and Charlotte.

I am enjoying revisiting all the snippets in my files, and some of them will be useful for my new Regency novel.

Regncy Snippets - Christmas

Around Christmas 1814  a large family party was gathered at Blehheim* among whom were Lord Blandford, his wife and three of their children. Their days were passed in te traditional country way, with riding and wild duck shooting, and a good deal of eating and drinking.

The Profligate Duke by Mary Soames.

In the Iberian Peninsula.

"In every interval between our active services, we indulged in all manner of trick and amusement...We lived, united as men always are who are about to face death in the face on the same side, and, who, caring little about it to each new day added their lives as one more to rejoice in...We invited them every evening to a dance at our quarters...alternately...We used to dance the bolero, fandango and waltz and we wound up early in the evening with a dish of roast chestnuts."

Sir John Kincaid of the 95th Rifles which was in the light Division.

"Here for the first time in the Peninsula we kept Christmas. Every man contributed money, meat or wine. A sheep or two were bought and killed. Plum puddings were baked, etc., Plates, knives and forks, were not pelentiful. We managed to diminish the stock of eatables in quick time. For desert we had apples; and for a finish, two or three of the bandsmen played merry tunes, the men warmed their toes by dancing jigs and reels."

John Cooper of the 7th Royal Fusiliers, 1813.

Regency snippets - Population - London and other towns.

The Regency snippets which I have been uploading are taken from a file of notes that I compiled.

"Of England's own 10,000,000 a tenth lived in the capital. Apart from its suburbs of new villas it was really five towns, the mercantile City, the royal West End, the riverside port, the Borough of Southwark, and the slums.These last croweded out of sight though not always out of smell of the rich, behind the grander houses and spread ever futher eastwards into the Essex and Kentish meadows, leaving a string of low, dingy towns on either side of the Thames. They were still what they had been in the Middle Ages, fever-ridden haunts of vice and wretchedness:a maze of alleys and lanes fading into the unwholdesome vapour that always overhung them, of dirty, tumbledown houses with windows patched with rags and blackened paper, and airless courts crowded with squabbling women and half-naked children wallowing in pools and kennels (channels which carried refuse away.)

"Apart from London there were only two towns in England, Manchester and Liverpool with 100,000 inhabitants and five others - Bristol, Glasgow, Birmingham, leeds and Sheffield with over 50,000."

The Age of Elegance.
Chapter Five - Triumphant Island.
Arthur Bryant. 

Regency Snippets - Charity

."..visitors saw something too, of the great charities - the offspring of private benevolence - which the islanders had endowed their capital (London). They visited the Charterhouse, the Foundling Hospital in the northern fields, the palaces built for naval and military pensioners at Greenwich and Chelsea , and dined in the hills of the Goldsmiths and Merchant Taylors - reresentatives of corporations, which spent between them as much on relieving the poor as a Continental sovereign maintaining his Court. The British capital had 20 voluntarily supported hospitals, a hundred and twenty almhouses, fifty free dispensaries, forty-five endowed free schools and two hundred and fifty parochial schools, educating, clothing and feeding nearly 20,000 children. Though the palace of St James was the smallest and least imposing in Europe, her real palaces were hospitals. Wren's Greenwich and Chelsea, Gibb's St Bartholomews with its Hogarth staircase, St Thomas with its four great quadrangles treating and discharging 11,000 patients a year; the new "Bethlem" and "St Luke's" for the insame with their enormous classical facades were buildings that a king might have been proud to inhabit. In no other country was there so much voluntary corporate goodness towards the hungry and diseased and weak. When, on Holy Thursday 6,000 London charity children marched in procession to St Pauls the Prussian General Yorck delcared nothing had ever moved him so deeply."


Arthur Bryant.
The Age of Elegance.
Chapter Five. The Triumphant Island.

Regency Snippets - Charity

."..visitors saw something too,  of the great charities - the offspring of private benevolence - which the islanders had endowed their capital (London). They visited the Charterhouse, the Foundling Hospital in the northern fields, the palaces built for naval and military pensioners at Greenwich and Chelsea , and dined in the hills of the Goldsmiths and Merchant Taylors - reresentatives of corporations, which spent between them as much on relieving the poor as a Continental sovereign maintaining his Court. The British capital had 20 voluntarily supported hospitals, a hundred and twenty almhouses, fifty free dispensaries, forty-five endowed free schools and two hundred and fifty parochial schools, educating, clothing and feeding nearly 20,000 children. Though the palace of St James was the smallest and least imposing in Europe, her real palaces were hospitals. Wren's Greenwich and Chelsea, Gibb's St Bartholomews with its Hogarth staircase, St Thomas with its four great quadrangles treating and discharging 11,000 patients a year; the new "Bethlem" and "St Luke's" for the insame with their enormous classical facades were buildings that a king might have been proud to inhabit. In no other country was there so much voluntary corporate goodness towards the hungry and diseased and weak. When, on Holy Thursday 6,000 London charity children marched in procession to St Pauls the Prussian General Yorck delcared nothing had ever moved him so deeply."

Arthur Bryant.
The Age of Elegance.
Chapter Five. The Triumphant Island.

Regency Snippet - Buckingham Palace

This snippet is pre-Regency but I think it deserves a mention.

In May 1762 King George III and Queen Charlotte moved into Buckingham House, which was called Queen's House.

In 1800 Wyatt built a new grand staircase with a central and two branching flights....Although the palace was being gradually adapated for ceremonial use, Queen Charlotte continued to find nostalgic pleasures around her. The royal 'Bookbinders Shop' was there and in the Queen's Garden she had carnation stages, and evergreens as in earlier years. Her elephant and zebra were gone, but the King's flocks and herds remained, and the patoral scene, enlivened in due season by haymaking and harbvesting of crops from plantations of fruit trees, preserved unchallenged the tradition of the Duke of Bucking ham...

Queen Charlotte by Olwen Hedley.

Writing and Gardening

I have been busy with many writerly matters but had set myself a deadline to begin a new novel today - Monday's Child - the sequel to my Regency Novel, Sunday's Child - and kept to it. I've spent so much time thinking about it that the first few pages flowed well.

I didn't have time to write for as long as usual because the gardener who works for me once a fortnight arrived and I needed to give him some instructions etc. We removed my peach tree from a large container and planted it in the the garden. He then laid wee suppressent over an 5 foot by 8 foot vegetable patch bordered by fir trees. The trees drain the soil and nothing flourished in the patch so we put two four by four foot raised beds over the weed suppressant which will filter the water.

After the gardener left I finished cleaning the greenhouse and repotted more of my orchids in a special growing medium.

All in all, a very satisfying morning.

Gardening

At long last, some decent weather her in S.E.England. Yesterday, I cleaned my greenhouse and potted up pumpkins, winter squash and courgettes which were growing indoors in a heated propagator. I also potted up my orchids. I removed all the old compost, trimmed the roots, repotted the plants in orchid compost and fed them with a special liquid feed. Hopefully, they will thrive and flower for months.

Yesterday, I sowed sweetcorn,sweetpeas,basil and other seeds in seed-tray. Today, I transplated four clumps of rhubarb to a well-manured sunny spot, planted a dessert gooseberry and nearly finished tidying up my  greenhouse.

Regency Snippets - Bazaar

John Trotter, an army contractor, became rich during the Napoleonic Wars. Afte the war ended he turned his warehouse in Soho Square, London, into a bazaar, which opened in 1816. He intended the bazaar to provide a space in which the wives and daughters of army officers could sell their handiwork. The bazaar was entirely encolsed. The stalls were for hire fore three pence a foot.

Guest Blogger at Fresh Fiction.

Today, I am a guest blogger at Fresh Fiction.

The link is: http://freshfiction.com/page.php?id=4898

Regency Snippets - Birth

Ladies were allowed to participat in social functions from the beginning to the very end of their pregnancies.

The birth of a child, particularly when an heir was expected, took place in the paternal family's house.

During the last weeks of pregnancy, aristocrats usually went to London for the confinement, especially when an heir was expected.

While getting ready to give birth, more often than not an accoucheur was hired to deliver the baby, and so was a monthly nurse. Her duty was to deliver the baby if the accoucheur did not arrive in time and to look after the mother for a month.

While giving birth, relatives and friends would wait, drinking caudle, a hot spiced wine also given to the mother in labour to strengthen her.

After the baby was born aristocratic visitors paid calls on the mother during her lying in, which ended when the mother was churched and the christening, an important occasion, had taken place. 

Most ladies, who had recently given birth, took between a month and six weeks to leave the confinement of their bedrooms and houses.

(I think most of these notes were taken from In the Family Way by Judith S. Lewis.)

Regency Snippets - Barristers

The differences between solicitors and barristers were greater in the Regency period than they are now. The terms are still  in  use but the words sarjeant and attorney were used more often than barrister. In the early decade of the 19th century the training and work of barristers and solicitors was being standardished. To this day barristers are called to the bar at one of the four Inns of Court. In the Regency they were sometimes called pleaders and were hired by solicitors.

Regency Snippets - Solicitors

Solicitors dealt with wills, land conveyances, trusts, marriage settlements, employment contracts, leases - and dealing with the bank. They were often retained as a family's man of business.

In many criminal cases, as well as civil suits, the injured party had to prosecute the case against the alleged perpetrator. Those who could afford it hired a solicitor who briefed a barrister to act for the plaintiff.  Because of the cost, merchants banded together to share the cost of prosecuting shoplifters and those who charged for goods but did not deliver them.

Regency Snippets - Baby Carriage

Charles Elliot, cabinet maker and upholsterer, designed for the baby a cushioned chaise, with a white carpet, a large lustrine umbrella and a mahogany turned stick for the front of the chaise.

Extract from Queen Charlotte by Olwen Hedley

Regncy Snippets - Almacks

In James Grant's book The Great Metropolis published in 1837 he lists the following patronesses of Almacks.

"The commitee consists of six ladies-patronesses. Formerly there were seven; but since the Princess Lieven, the celebrated Russian politician and beauty, quitted this country the number has been only six. They are the Countess of Jersey, the Marchioness of Londonderry, Lady Cowper, the Countess of Brownlow, Lady Willoughby D'Eresby and the Countess of Euston. These ladies are self-elected."

* * * *

D'Orsay, who was in London for a first visit in April 1823 and went to France later that year, not to return before 1829, wrote.

"At the upper end, on a raised seat or throne, sat the all powerful dames. There might be seen the splendid figure and handsome face of the Countess of Jersey; by her side the slim yet graceful form of the female representative of the Court of the Czar; there the good-humoured enbonpoint Lady Castelreagh, all smiles and good humour; the ladylike aristrocratic Lady Gwydir; and the dark-haired daughter of France, Lady Tankerville.

"On the side benches, the lovely nieces of Rutland's Duke - the peerless Eliza, afterwards Hon. Mrs Smith; the fascinating Isabella, who married George Anson, and Anne, now Countess of Chesterfield. Mark the magnificent aristocratic and beautiful sisters, Ladies Caroline and Jane Paget. The Fitz Clarences - Sophia, afterwards Countess of Errol; Mary, still Lady M.Fox."

A list of distinguished men present follows as wekk as mention of other female beauties."

When writing my new Regency novel, Monday's Child, the sequel Sunday's Child, if I mention a patroness or patronesses of Almacks I shall be very careful to make sure who they were in 1814.

Research for My New Regency Novel

I plan to begin the sequel to my novel Sunday's Child which ends when Napoleon Bonaparte escaped from Elba.

My research will begin when re-reading Dancing into Battle A Social History of the Battle of Waterloo by Nick Foulkes.

I am browsing through a very large file of notes and cuttings about the period and intend to share some snippets from it. The first ones are from notes I made on Regency advertisements.

"Rowland's Essence of Tyre will produce a brown or black hue for hair."

"Anodyne Necklace - for use of children cutting teeth. Sugar plums for worms for children and grown up persons. Necklace 9 shillings. Sugar plums - box 2 shillings and eight pence."

"At Repositaire a la Mode. Dresses for Christmas balls for 12 shilings and swansdown muffs for 1 pound ten shilings."

"Need to learn the latest dances for the Christmas ball? Only 2 guineas a quarter at Mr Leiven's select Evening Academy.

(Unfortunately I did not note the source of these ads.)

Christina Courtenay

The first novel which I read by Christina Courtenay was The Scarlet Kimono set in 1611. In Japan, HannahMarston is abducted by Kumashiro, who has been warned about her by a seer. I enjoyed it so much that in future I shall read it again.

Yesterday, with a satisfied sigh, I finished reading Christina's novel The Silent Touch of Shadows in which dreams and visions concerning a mediaeval knight and a young woman plague genealogist Melissa Grantham. Jake Precy, a vet, also dreams about the past.  Neither Melissa nor Jake can decide whether they are in love or whether ghosts are manipulating them.

Now, I am looking forward to reading Chistina's new novel The Gilded Fan.

Books I Have Ejoyed

For as long as I can remember, I have always been an avid reader, particularly of historical fiction and non-fiction. As a child I read Jeffrey Farnol and Geoffrey Trease’s children’s historical fiction and, at the library, always chose to read historical fiction and non-fiction. Later, I read the classics, Thomas Hardy, Charles Dickens, Charlotte Bronte and Jane Austen. At around the age of fourteen or fifteen, I borrowed my next door neighbor’s novels by Georgette Heyer and could not read them fast enough. I also read the works of Elizabeth Goudge, Anya Seton, and, I think, in my late teens began reading the Angelique series by Seargeanne Golon. These authors and many more invoked my wish to become a published historical novelist. More recently I have read and enjoyed Helen Hollick and Elizabeth Chadwick’s novels. By the way, if you browsed through my personal home library, you would find The Bhagavita, The Song of God by A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada and the great Indian classics The Mahabharat and the Ramayan, which rival The Odyssey and the Illiad which I own, as well as the St James Bible and the Book of Common Prayer. You would also find The White Witch by Elizabeth Goudge, all of Elizabeth Chadwick’s mediaeval novels, Benita Brown’s novels, Gone With the Wind by Margaret Mitchell, These Old Shades and Devil’s Cub and other novels by Georgette Heyer, the works of Jane Austen, The Far Pavilions, The Shadow of the Moon and Trade Winds by M.M.Kaye, Ivanhoe by Sir Walter Scot, and many others by authors I appreciate such as Baroness Orczy’s Scarlet Pimpernel series and the novels of Francis Parkinson Keyes. 

Novels On My 'Henry III' To Be Read List

I enjoy reading non fiction and fiction.


At the moment I want to read some historical novels set in the reign of Henry III.

On a pile of novels I intend to read is Sharon Kay Penman's Falls the Shadow.

On my to buy, beg or borrow list are Thomas B Constain's novels - The Magnificent Century. Katherine Ashe 5 part Montfort series about Simon de Montfort, Edith Parteger's The Marriage of Megotta and Arthur Diggan's Leopards and Lilies, as well as a number of non fiction books which I can't share because I have misplaced the list.

Allotment Society and Gardening

Yesterday, I visited the shop at the local allotments. The allotment holders who run it know the local conditions and always give good advice.  Although I have chitted my first early potatoes I was advised that it is still too cold to plant them out, something I had suspected. If the sprouts grow much more I shall plant them in pots and ease them into the ground later on.

In need of something cheerful, I bought a pot of Little Red Riding Hood tulips. I really like their dark green and white striped leaves and pillar box-red flowers. I've put the pot in a ceramic container on the front doorstep to welcome visitors when the tulips flower.

I also bought second early potatoes to chit, and a desert gooseberry bush which should produce large red and yellow striped berries. I dream of having home grown fruit, soft and stone all year round - in the winter I rely on bottled and frozen fruit. Last year it was so wet that my strawberries rotted, this year it's been so cold and wet with icywinds that farmers are badly affected. This means the prices of vegetables will go up.  Deep sigh.

Today, unless it's really too cold I shall make a start on clearing out the greenhouse, and setting my second early potatoes to chit. While doing so I shall think of gardeners in the past, particularly in mediaeval times when the sequel to my novel set in Edward IInd's reign will be set.

Easter Sunday

Easter Sunday, the sun's shining after days of snow, bitterly cold winds and rain. Berengia, crocuses and daffodils are blooming in my garden. I've been given three beautiful bouquets which I've arranged in vases, and am looking forward to spending time with most of my family throughout the day. Thank you God for all the good things in my live.

Easter Shopping

Today, I took three of my grandchildren to buy flowers for their mother to give to her tomorrow, Easter Sunday.

While we enjoyed drinks and snacks, we talked about the meaning of Easter and holy days observed by different faiths. As we chatted I appreciated how important it is for children to be taught at school and elsewhere about religions other than their own, and to respect the ways in which people worship God. After all, as my young grandson put it, God is God even if people have different names for Him.

The three children are really happy with their choice of flowers, and are looking forward to giving them to their Mum tomorrow.

Cold Weather and Sunshine

At long last the sun is shining although it is still bitterly cold outside. The weather forecast predicts cold,blustery,rainy weather and maybe snow from now until mid April. My plans for my vegetable patches have been thwarted by the weather. However, while it is cold I shall remain indoors writing, reading  and taking the opportunity to tidy up the bedroom in which I had a large filing cabinet which I have disposed of after decluttering.

The north-facing room is decorated in sunshine yellow and cream. to make it cheerful and welcoming throughout the year.

I bought a single bed with a second bed that pulls out from beneath it in order to preserve the floor space.

A little more clutter to clear out and some pictures on the wall and I'll be pleased with the room's appearance.

On Line Group

E-mailing, blogging and joining on-line groups can be interesting and rewarding unless things go wrong. This morning I joined an online group, and uploaded a brief author biography on group to introduce myself as a historical novelist. I then tried to add details of my historical novel Tangled Love to my biography. I nearly completed the form for Tangled Love before I made a mistake and the form disappeared from the screen. My attempts then went from bad to worse. Frustrated, I had to abandon the attempt and get ready to go out. I shall try again and hope I will be successful.

Another Five Star Review of Far Beyond Rubies

Hot Hero, Great Research, Touch of the Exotic, 24 Mar 2013


By

J. Pittam "Maythorn"

This review is from: Far Beyond Rubies (Kindle Edition)

It was great to see that there's a new Rosemary Morris out. I like her exquisite attention to detail, and she writes in the reign of Queen Anne, which is something a bit different from the usual Regency romance.

In this new book, which I have to admit I raced through and will now read again, the heroine Juliana is stunned to discover that, according to her half-brother William, she and her sister are bastards. The tale of how Gervaise Seymour helps her, how she helps herself, her sister and her various strays is quite enchanting.

Rosemary uses her knowledge of India, very pertinent in this period, to bring a spice of something different to this novel. Her 'tanned hero' is no pallid, painted Englishman but one who has travelled, married and been widowed on that exotic continent, thus earning himself the nickname 'Beau Hindu' amongst the fashionable in London.

This novel is not a light book, as it contains research into the politics, religion and morality of the reign of Queen Anne. However the research informs the novel quite naturally and I found this to be a lovely, sparkling romance. It is somewhat in the style of the late Georgette Heyer, although I think after four novels Rosemary Morris is developing a voice of her own. Yum yum.

Suitable for those who like a cracking good historical romance, set in England, well- researched, sensual but no explicit sex.

5* review of Far Beyond Rubies

Far Beyond Rubies is a little action packed gem of romance, intrigue, adventure, villainry and excitement. The hero is so hot you'll need a cool drink to go along with your read. There is a hint of love's embrace holding its memories across time and space, and sparkles of exotic India twinkling through the mix. Rosemary's best novel to date! V.L.Murray www.natterandreview.wordpress.com