Category: British history
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Regency Childbirth
Forceps, anesthesia, and hot, spiced wine: What was it like to give birth in Regency England?
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Unexpected Moments of Reaching Out
One scene has kept me coming back to George Eliot’s Middlemarch for fifty years. Dorothea, a young and engaging woman, has married an older man, clergyman Mr. Casaubon, out of an intellectual and religious ardor for his scholarship. After just eighteen months, she realizes that she is trapped in a loveless marriage with a third-rate…
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Rochester Cathedral and the Villages Surrounding It During the Regency Era and How They Fit Into My Writing Process
I am writing this post on New Year’s Eve 2025, with the idea that I will need this information for the release of the 5th book in my Dragonblade mystery/romantic suspense series. Actually, the first draft of the book,Lyon on the Inside is finished. I am busy typing it. Yes, I know that sounds laborious.…
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The Tolpuddle Martyrs, Changing the Face of Employment Rights in Victorian England
This year is the 185th anniversary of when six Dorset farm labourers were sent to an Australian penal colony, but their ‘crimes’ helped change the face of employment rights for generations to come – and it all began in the small village of Tolpuddle. Tolpuddle is a village near Dorchester in Dorset. During the years…
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When Was a Birthday, Not Really the Day One Was Born? Or Another Meaning for “Double Dating”
Recently, I was attempting to explain this concept to my grandchildren, who were anticipating no school for President’s Day. However, they did you know that George Washington was actually born on February 11, 1731, and NOT on February 22, 1732, as we in the United States celebrate. How is that possible? First, let us look…
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Getting Away With Murder: All About Regency Duels
Why did Colonel Brandon and Willoughby fire one shot and then walk away? This post explores the ins and outs of Regency duels.
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Valentine’s Day in Regency England
Valentine’s Day, associated with love since the late Middle Ages, became popular during the Regency era as a time for expressing romantic interest within societal norms. Common practices included exchanging handwritten Valentine cards with poems, small tokens, and light-hearted customs. It provided a unique opportunity for flirtation amidst strict social codes, despite some skepticism from…
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Just What Does That Mean?
Wonder about some British slang and what it means? Try to figure out what these ones are.
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Two Women, A World Apart
Two books give me joy in the New Year. The first, by Sarah Emsley, is The Austens, a novel about Jane Austen’s relationship with her sister-in-law, Fanny Palmer Austen. The second, by Rebecca Romney, is Jane Austen’s Bookshelf, nonfiction about women writers who shaped the English author. Both works are part of the onslaught of…