The World of "The Charming Devil"

My latest book "The Charming Devil" was published on February 15, and it has been a busy month since then.

The book is set in 1807, and at the beginning of each chapter I have included a newspaper clipping giving the flavour of the time. Most of the clips are from Wiltshire or Bath newspapers or journals.

I thought in this blog to give you a wider view of 1807 in England from books of the period as well as newspapers.

I hope you enjoy this look into the past.



Fashions, below, from Anecdotes of the Manners and Customs of London during the Eighteenth Century...with a Review of the State of Society in 1807 by James Peller Malcolm 

Off to the races, below, from Trewman's Exeter Flying Post July 2 1807

Frontispiece, below, from Trivia: or, The Art of Walking the Streets of London: a Descriptive Poem, by Gay

Royals in the news, below, from Kentish Weekly Post or Canterbury Journal Friday 5 June 1807

The news then, as now, was often bad:

below, from The Lady's Magazine February 1807

and below, from Oxford University and City Herald Saturday 5 December 1807

 

But business went on. Below from Trewman's Exeter Flying Post July 2 1807

Below, more finery, from La Belle Assemblee January 1807

And below, an advertisement later in the year from La Belle Assemblee May 1807

Charities were universal. Below a leaflet Members of a friendly society compensating one of its members for ill-health. Pen and ink and watercolour, c. 1807

from Wellcome Images

The theatres were ubiquitous. Below, from La Belle Assemblee January 1807

It was a busy world in 1807. The hero of "The Charming Devil" living in the isolated countryside of Wiltshire appreciated his newspapers. We appreciate his newspapers also, looking at them two hundred years later.

'Til next time,

Lesley-Anne

Images, except where noted, from Google Books and British Newspaper Archive

Wiltshire - The Perfect Setting

I have started a new book--my twelfth! I can hardly believe it. And this Regency romance is set in Wiltshire, with a foray into Somerset for a visit to Bath.

The year is 1807, and all is tranquil in the county that is home to Stonehenge, Salisbury, the River Avon, and smugglers who gave the nickname Moonrakers to its native residents. The days are quiet at least in the fictional village that I have created for my characters. This village lies on the edge of the Vale of Pewsey with Salisbury Plain to its south, and the North Wessex Downs to the north.

My village is quiet, but Wiltshire in 1807 was a busy place.

Political concerns were in front of the public in May as new members were required for Parliament. Thomas Calley, the High Sheriff for 1807, was occupied with meetings and paperwork for the nominations and elections.

And then there were Quarter Sessions, promising justice, social gatherings and a great deal of business for everyone involved.

Salisbury and Winchester Journal - Monday 11 May 1807

The Wiltshire Yeomanry Cavalry was busy in the autumn of 1807. The Yeomanry had been formed in 1797, and although it did not fight abroad in the Napoleonic Wars, it was kept busy with internal skirmishes such as machine riots, and other civil troubles.

Salisbury and Winchester Journal - Monday 26 October 1807

Charitable activities abounded, and the turnpike trust was busy about the county improving the roads.

Salisbury and Winchester Journal - Monday 20 April 1807

The social life was likewise active with concerts available, and shops eager for business.

The proximity of Bath added to the social possibilities for residents of Wiltshire, and it is possible my heroine may have take advantage of advertisements like the last one in this trio--for lodgings.

Salisbury and Winchester Journal - Monday 26 October 1807

 So this is my life at present, researching lovely Wiltshire. I must say it is delightful work!

'Til next time,

Lesley-Anne

J. C. Loudon and his Gardening Vision

J. C. Loudon 1783-1843

John Claudius Loudon was a Scot, educated in horticulture (biology, botany, etc.) at the University of Edinburgh and a prolific garden and landscape designer and writer, despite significant physical frailty.

His most notable publications appeared in the 1820's after the Prince Regent had become King George IV. But Loudon published pamphlets and articles almost from moment he began designing gardens, landscapes and the layout of farms.

One of his most interesting pamphlets was published in 1807. Titled

Engravings, with Descriptions, illustrative of the difference between The Modern Style of Rural Architecture
and the Improvement of Scenery, and that displayed in A Treatise on Country Residences,
and practised by Mr. Loudon

the pamphlet contained 'before' and 'after' engravings of some of Loudon's work. He aimed to improve the 'picturesque' work of Capability Brown with his own 'gardenesque' style.

Mr. Loudon describes the intent of his pamphlet in the introduction:

His engravings of Barnbarroch (Barnbarrow) House, in Scotland, show clearly the significant extent of the changes he proposed.

Barnbarrow House in 1805

Barnbarrow as it would look three years after renovations commenced

In his pamplet, Loudon also used illustrations of some grounds at Harewood House (where he undertook a substantial renovation). In this area he proposed to join three sections of water into one.

Harewood House grounds 1805

Same Harewood location with proposed changes

In a telling series of illustrations of a 400-500 acre portion of an imaginary estate, Loudon shows the progression of design through one hundred years.
Figure 1 shows the formal early 18th century plan:

Figure 2 shows the layout as it would have been conceived by Brown, Repton and their contemporaries:

And Figure 3 shows his own concept for such a property. In all three cases the house is difficult to locate, clearly secondary to the overall landscape design.

A study of Loudon's work shows the development of landscape architecture into the early years of Queen Victoria's reign. In his later years, he undertook city and cemetery planning. But he began his work, in gardens, in the early 1800s, challenging the ideas of the great Repton who died in 1818.

Many of Loudon's works including his "Gardener's Magazine" are available free from Google Books. Those of his wife, Jane (nee Webb), an established author who undertook to write also on botany and flower gardening, are likewise available.

'Til next time,

Lesley-Anne

Let's go shopping!

It's a beautiful summer day, and I fancy a little shopping. If we consult La Belle Assemblee, for the first months of 1807, we can find exactly the kind of shops that will interest us today.

I always love a sale and it appears we can find one or two, in Oxford Street and Bond Street.

Specialty items are always a treat. Lace, and shoes (possibly for husband or brother?), and shawls--these stores might need a return visit another day!

If we are tired of shopping for clothes, we can look at sundries--or perhaps even furniture:

And for that writing case I bought at Middleton's (above) I'll need good writing paper.

It was fortunate we brought the carriage; the shops are spread all over the City. What about one last stop in St. James Street--a new hat perhaps?

'Til next time,

Lesley-Anne