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Anne Gainsford
Originally identified as Anne Zouche, the sitteris now thought to be Mary Zouche Anne Gainsford was born at Crowhurst, Surrey. The date of her birth is unknown. She was the daughter of John Gainsford...
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Historical Reads: The Oyster Eater – Brixton’s Hungriest Prisoner
Christopher Impey discusses The Life and Death of Dando, The Celebrated Oyster Glutton:Indeed it was John Dando’s insatiable appetite that frequently put him in prison. His modus operandi was simple:...
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Germaine De Stael's Failed Escape Attempt
Like many liberal French aristocrats, Germaine De Stael had greeted the revolution enthusiastically, believing it would bring freedom and much-needed reforms to the country. Pretty soon though, as the...
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The Months By Robert Dighton
In around 1785, Robert Dighton, an English caricaturist, print-seller and actor, produced 12 allegorical representations of The Months. Each plate depicts a woman wearing an outfit and doing an...
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Books Reviews: I Always Loved You, Hair Story, & The Fine Print Of...
Hello everyone,I've been reading quite a lot lately and today I have three reviews for you. The first book is one of the best historical fiction/romance novels I've ever read, the second one discusses...
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A Spotless Palace
After her husband's death, the Dowager German Empress Victoria lived a quiet and retired life at Castle Friedrichshof. The eldest daughter of Queen Victoria was a demanding mistress. According to her...
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Movie Review: Bright Star
Bright star, would I were stedfast as thou art--Not in lone splendour hung aloft the nightAnd watching, with eternal lids apart,Like nature's patient, sleepless Eremite,The moving waters at their...
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Historical Reads: Emerald Green Or Paris Green, The Deadly Regency Pigment
Emerald Green, or Paris Green, was a very popular pigment in the Regency Era. It was also deadly, as Vic reminds us over at Jane Austen's World. To quote:Eventually, the use of this pigment was...
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Street Etiquette
The manners of a person are clearly shown by his treatment of the people he meets in the public streets of a city or village, in public conveyances and in traveling generally. The true gentleman, at...
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Princess Helena Of The United Kingdom
On May 25, 1846, Queen Victoria gave birth to her third daughter, and fifth child, Princess Helena Augusta Victoria. The long name was, soon, affectionately shortened by her father, Prince Albert, in...
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Book Reviews: Girl On The Golden Coin, The Gondola Maker, & Getting Waisted
Hello everyone,this week I'm reviewing two historical fiction novels and a biography. Ready? Let's get started:Girl On the Golden Coin by Marci JeffersonI've always had a bit of a crush on Charles II,...
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A Constitutional Plum Pudding
In 1848, revolutions broke out all over Europe, and even in some parts of Latin America. Over 50 countries were affected. But everything remained quiet in Great Britain. A cartoon published in an...
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Mrs Austen's Pudding Recipe
Martha Lloyd was a close friend of the Austen family. Cassandra, Jane's mother, even contributed to the book of recipes she wrote at Chawthon. Here's her entry:If the vicar you treat,You must give him...
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Historical Reads: 10 Famous People In History And Their Bizarre Pets
People have always kept bizarre pets, like this article in History Extra reminds us:John Quincy Adams’s pet alligatorThe Marquis de Lafayette wasn’t just buddies with George Washington. In 1825, after...
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The Laundry Maid
Much responsibility rests on the Laundry-maid. Independently of her having the care of the family linen, &c., in and through the wash, and after it has been ironed, aired, and put away to use, she...
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Marie Louise of Schleswig-Holstein
Don't let the name fool you. Franziska Josepha Louise Augusta Marie Christina Helena, commonly called Marie Louise, of Schleswig-Holstein, was born and bred in England. Her German father Prince...
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Book Reviews: Englanders And Huns, Vienna Nocturne, & The Boleyn Bride
Hello everyone,today it's all about history. Up for review are two historical novels, one about Anna Storace and the other about Elizabeth Boleyn née Howard, and an essay about the relationship between...
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On The Authenticithy Of Marie Antoinette's Last Letter
Some people are still disputing the authenticity of Marie Antoinette's last letter, which she wrote a few hours before her death and addressed to her sister-in-law, Madame Elizabeth. Many historians,...
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In The Garden
Mr. And Mrs. Andrews, by Thomas GainsboroughSir George and Lady Strickland in the Park in Boynton Hall by Arthur DevisSir Nathaniel and Lady Caroline Curzon, by Arthur DevisA detail of The English...
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Historical Reads: Mary Toft
Heather Carroll remembers Mary Toft, the woman who gave births to rabbits. To quote:Not long afterward, the local surgeon and male mid-wife, John Howard, was summoned to the Toft home because Mary had...
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