Our newspapers are full of accounts of disasters, crises, and crime. Newspapers of the Regency era were not very different. Their knowledge of global disasters was limited, and word of international crises took months to reach English newspapers, but there was plenty of local crime and accident to write about.
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| The Westminster Penitentiary from Repository of Arts March 1817 |
Here are some of the events and cases that excited British readers:
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| Trewman's Exeter Flying Post December 24 1818 |
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| Trewman's Exeter Flying Post December 24 1818 |
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| Evening Mail London February 3 1800 | |
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| Ipswich Journal July 15 1805 |
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| Bell's Weekly Messenger September 24 1815 |
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| Aberdeen Journal - Wednesday 30 December 1812 |
While there can be some comfort in knowing that the goodness of human nature has not changed over the centuries, it is sobering to realize that the darker side of humanity has shown little improvement.
Something more cheerful next time,
'Til then, all the best,
Lesley-Anne
