Christmas 1817

 This year we are celebrating a very different sort of Christmas. It has happened before because of wars, and other pandemics and plagues. In 1817, it was a different Christmas in England because the much-loved heiress to the throne had recently died. Nevertheless, Christmas went ahead and was celebrated in some old and some new ways.

Richard Rush, a visitor to London as the new ambassador from the United States of America, recorded Christmas Eve 1817 in his diary and recounted it in his book "A Residence At The Court Of London".

December 24 [1817].--Go through several parts of the town: Bond Street, Albemarle Street, Berkeley Square, Piccadilly, St. James's Street and Park, Pall Mall, St. James's Square, the Strand, and a few others. Well-dressed persons, men and women, throng them. In the dresses of both, black predominates. It is nearly universal. This proceeds from the general mourning for the Princess Charlotte, late heiress apparent to the throne, who died in November. The roll of chariots, and carriages of all kinds, from two until past four, was incessant. In all directions they were in motion. It was like a show--the horses, the coachmen with triangular hats and tassels, the footmen with cockades and canes--it seemed as if nothing could exceed it all.  ....
Being the day before Christmas, there was more display in the shops than usual. I did not get back until candle-light. The whole scene began to be illuminated. Altogether, what a scene it was! The shops in the Strand and elsewhere, where every conceivable article lay before you; and all made in England... 

The Ladies' Monthly Museum posted fashion notes of the aforesaid black clothes. They were certainly a  visible, notable difference in the season that year.

The Liverpool Mercury posted one of the typical offerings of amateur poetry that filled newspapers and journals of the time.

And the Suffolk Chronicle; or Weekly General Advertiser & County Express recorded the usual school treat:

The Bury and Norwich Post offered two happenings that illustrated that human nature does not alter, despite the changes that might occur in circumstances from year to year.

Wherever you are this year, whoever you are with, I hope that you can celebrate Christmas and the holiday season in a way that is meaningful to you. Change is not always bad and hardship engenders gratitude for that which we do have...next year will be better.

Stay safe, and have a Happy Christmas,

'Til next time,

Lesley-Anne

Queen Charlotte visits Bath, October 1817

In October of 1817, Queen Charlotte was recommended by her physicians to visit Bath. She had been struggling with poor health--'spasms' and pain-for some time and it was hoped the spa town would refresh her health and spirits.

The 'Annals of Bath' described her arrival:

 

 The rest and change of scene seemed to help. Her Majesty took an airing the next day, and in the following days visited the Pump-room, received city officials at her house, and visited a charitable institution, Bailbrook Lodge, of which she was patron.

Within days however, disaster struck the Queen, and the nation. Princess Charlotte died in childbirth at Windsor. Queen Charlotte departed Bath in haste on November 7. The funeral, the attendant ceremonies, and grief took a toll on the Queen's health. By November 24, she returned to Bath, but this time the Queen's visit was notable for its lack of ceremony. She stayed a month taking short excursions and attending briefly at the Pump-room every morning.

'Walks Through Bath', written in 1819 by Pierce Egan, described the Queen's House, and provided an illustration of it.

 

Queen Charlotte died just under a year later. Her visit to Bath passed into history.

But the house in which she stayed has survived in part. Queen Charlotte's Orangery, 93a Sydney Place, a bed and breakfast inn, purports to be part of the original building. And a stock photo website has two pictures taken at the site (which I cannot reproduce with paying) here http://www.alamy.com/stock-photo-metal-plaque-commemorating-queen-charlotte-living-in-georgian-city-60444771.html and here http://www.alamy.com/stock-photo-window-of-queen-charlottes-house-bath-somerset-england-76922087.html

Queen Charlotte's visit to Bath, touched by tragedy, lives on in word and in stone.

'Til next time,

Lesley-Anne

Sources: Annals of Bath
              Walks Through Bath
              and several Memoirs of Queen Charlotte are all available for download from                 Google Books.

Dottator et Lineator Loquitur

I just came across this most interesting illustration and poem in Ackermann's Repository of Arts for February 1817, and I just had to share it.

Click on the illustration to open a large version so that you can read the words under the charming stick figures.

The artist of the plate, and the composer of the accompanying poem are given no credit or identification. You must read the poem to make sense of the intention of the illustration.

This is what might be called, I think, a charming conceit, and I hope you enjoy it!

'Til next time,

Lesley-Anne

Ackermann's Repository of Arts 1817 available from archive.org