Thursday, December 1, 2016

Christmas in 1805

Although I have done other blog posts about Regency Christmases from newspapers of the day, I thought it might be interesting to focus on one particular year. In 1805, the Ordnance Survey had begun publication of its detailed maps of England, Walter Scott had published The Lay of the Last Minstrel, the Eton/Harrow cricket match had taken place for the first time, and the Battle of Trafalgar (with Lord Nelson's tragic death) had taken place in October.

In 1805, mention of Christmas does not appear in the newspapers I surveyed until the week before the 25th of December. Perhaps predictably, the first notice is from a retailer.
Morning Post - Wednesday December 18 1805
Advertisements for Christmas gifts are not so numerous as one might expect given today's retail frenzy, but they do exist.
Salisbury and Winchester Journal - Monday 23 December 1805
Evidence of the celebration of Christmas continuing through until Twelfth Night--January 6--is contained in the advertisements for the Season.
The Courier - Tuesday 31 December 1805
But then, as now, there was more to the Season than commercialism. There were songs and poems:
Staffordshire Advertiser - Saturday 05 January 1805

There were some funny, some impenetrable, and some rather rude jokes:

Morning Advertiser - Friday 27 December 1805
Evening Mail - Monday 30 December 1805

The solemnity of the Season and the importance of charity were not overlooked:

The Courier - Tuesday 24 December 1805
And the activities of the royals, and the notables of society, were reported in detail:
Kentish Weekly Post or Canterbury Journal - Tuesday 01 January 1805

London Courier and Evening Gazette - Saturday 21 December 1805
London Courier and Evening Gazette - Tuesday 31 December 1805
 And finally, in a note that seems oddly contemporary, the Lotteries are touted:
Morning Advertiser - Monday 23 December 1805

Morning Advertiser - Thursday 26 December 1805
There you have a picture of a Regency Christmas in the year 1805--a Christmas not so very unlike our own.
 I hope that you enjoy a very Happy Holiday Season, and every joy in the New Year.

'Til next time,

Lesley-Anne



All illustrations in this blog post are from http://randolphcaldecott.org.uk/

More Christmas information and illustrations can also be seen at my website: http://www.lesleyannemcleod.com/rw_christmas.html

Monday, October 24, 2016

More than monkeys and bears--traveling menageries in the Regency era

British life has always involved animals. From the hounds used in hunting to the house dogs and the horses that were common in every life, animals abounded. Portraits were painted of prize farm animals and deer roamed parks and estates throughout the island. Nevertheless Britain during the Regency era was very nearly devoid of wild animals. Those that did exist were small and more apt to be deemed nuisances than creatures of worth and benefit.

When the opportunity arose to see a bear (whether dancing or being baited in the village square), or a monkey (begging for money for its organ grinder), the general populace took full advantage. They were excited to see something beyond the everyday. When the traveling menageries took to the roads of Britain in the mid-1700's, people were agog. The wonders that the world held dazzled and astonished.
Morning Post - Friday 13 May 1808
George Wombwell had purchased two boas from the London docks and, discovering an insatiable interest in the public, built his business on those two snakes. A remarkable number of animals from abroad arrived on the ships that docked in London and they were soon traveling the country.
Cheltenham Chronicle - Thursday 06 August 1818

Lancaster Gazette - Saturday 31 January 1818
Wombwell's was not the only menagerie traveling Britain, and the common people were not the only ones fascinated by the wonders the menageries held as this account of Gillman and Atkins' display recounts.
Stamford Mercury - Friday 18 April 1817
There was Ballard's Menagerie:
Windsor and Eton Express - Sunday 19 October 1817

Pidcock's Menagerie housed at the Exeter Exchange in London also traveled the country as well, as early as 1770.
courtesy British Museum - 1799
And there was Polito's! This item is long but the descriptions and the hyperbole in the article/advertisement are wonderful.


Tyne Mercury; Northumberland and Durham and Cumberland Gazette - Tuesday 03 June 1817
There were accidents. Lions escaped, elephants died (Wombwell was particularly adept at marketing even dead animal viewings), and people were bitten. Mr. Soper (below) eventually died. He had put his hand in the cage to regain a dropped tool.
The European Magazine and London Review vol 56 Dec 1809
George Wombwell certainly used the available print media to best advantage among all the menageries. And his family's work at fairs continued through to the 1930s.
Worcester Journal - Thursday 16 August 1821
His tomb in Highgate Cemetary in London is appropriately crowned by a statue of one of his lions.

The conditions in which the animals were kept in traveling menageries were no doubt abysmal by modern standards. The food offered them and the cold climate of their new home took a great toll. But perhaps the pleasure they brought to the lives of people pinched by circumstance and lack of opportunity was partial recompense for the animals' sufferings. And perhaps generations of explorers and travelers were galvanized by the glimpse offered by traveling menageries of the world beyond their experience.

'Til next time,

Lesley-Anne

More can be read about traveling menageries here:
www.georgewombwell.com/gw_blog/
https://www.sheffield.ac.uk/nfa/projects/menagerieshistory
fairground-heritage.org.uk/learning/the-fairground-show/animal-magic/ 


Thursday, September 15, 2016

Messrs. Pellatt and Green in the News

from Ackermann's Repository of Arts
Pellatt and Green, premier glassmakers in Britain in the 19th century, have had their work and their premises documented across the Internet--Wikipedia has good basic information on the company and the Pellatt family.

But I thought it might be interesting to see what the newspapers of the era had to say about the company. They were in business more than fifty years in London, and their name was widely recognized for excellence. They also had a presence in the philanthropic community:

They appear for many years in the lists of donors for the above association and their donation listed is generous -- twenty pounds.

They took part in community events such as Illuminations. The Caledonian Mercury reported on events in London celebrating the Allied success at the Battle of Vittoria--note the last sentence:

Caldonian Mercury Saturday 10 July 1813

Like any long-running business they had their difficulties:
Morning Chronicle - Thursday 19 February 1818
 Tragedies that occurred among their staff were also newsworthy:
Bury and Norwich Post - Wednesday 05 February 1812
Their glassware was beautiful --
This claret glass was part of a table service ordered by Mr Bayard from America in 1818 for his daughter's wedding gift.

NYPL Digital Collections -- This illustration of Pellatt and Green products is from a mid-19th century book of glass designs
 But it was their innovations and inventions that were reported in the newspapers:
Morning Chronicle - Saturday 30 March 1811
The 'illuminators' were a great success and widely adopted by ships.

Pellatt and Green was a successful multi-generational business, and a prominent part of London's business scene, and its history. The newspapers confirm its eminence, and its celebrity.

'Til next time,

Lesley-Anne

Tuesday, August 2, 2016

The Newsworthy Duel

I have never used a duel in my Regency stories, but I have read many books which include a plot line that contains a duel. At least one non-fiction book about dueling sits on my TBR shelves, waiting. I have sometimes regarded duels as exotic, rare,  and very clandestine events.
French, cased duelling pistols, Boutet,Versailles,1794-1797 Royal Ontario Museum
In the last day or two of research, I have learned how wrong are my preconceptions. Though dueling was frowned upon by authorities, and any death resulting from a duel was considered a murder, often a blind eye was turned to the event by officialdom.
from The English Spy by Bernard Blackmantle, 1825

The newspapers, however, reported every duel. They seem to have been commonplace events in the first decade of the 1800's, and are noted along with fires, burglaries and murders. Nothing special indeed:
Carlisle Journal - Saturday 04 September 1802

Chester Courant - Tuesday 22 March 1803

Duel au pistolet au XIXème siècle
Source     La Lecture - Le Journal de Romans
Author     Bauce et Rouget
Wikimedia Commons

Friday 20 May 1803, Morning Post, London, England
Wednesday 01 March 1809, Morning Post, London, England

Wednesday 13 August 1806, Evening Mail, London, England

Saturday 17 March 1804, Lancaster Gazette, Lancashire, England


London Courier and Evening Gazette - Monday 27 April 1801

The newspaper articles went on and on. And so, apparently, did the duels. The 'honour' which required such extreme satisfaction is largely a mystery to western society today. And the duel does seem, as I first thought, dramatic and romantic. Perhaps I will include one in a story some day.

'Til next time,

Lesley-Anne