by Merryn Allingham | Nov 27, 2017 | Uncategorized
The hunt for a husband in Regency England was a serious business and upper class families invested large sums of money to give their daughters a ‘season’ in London. An unattached woman had no occupation other than to find a husband but on no account must...
by Merryn Allingham | Nov 27, 2017 | Uncategorized
Originally opened in 1765 as a gaming club, the tone and structure of Almack’s had changed radically by the Regency. In a period where social ranking was crucial, Almack’s served as a means of vetting those aspiring to high society. It was the curtain...
by Merryn Allingham | Nov 27, 2017 | Uncategorized
From the end of the 18th century mailcoach and stagecoach services developed rapidly as the pace of the economy quickened. Between 1800 and 1830 traffic increased in speed and numbers beyond anything which had ever been known. Over one thousand vehicles left London...
by Merryn Allingham | Nov 27, 2017 | Uncategorized
Gambling was endemic among the upper classes during the Regency period. High stakes were common and a man could lose his entire estate while gambling. Gambling debts had to be paid at once and failure to pay, at least in aristocratic circles, was a serious...
by Merryn Allingham | Nov 27, 2017 | Uncategorized
Prior to the mid nineteenth century men and women in England were routinely imprisoned for debt at the pleasure of their creditors, sometimes for decades. They would often take their families with them, the only alternative for the women and children being uncertain...
by Merryn Allingham | Nov 27, 2017 | Uncategorized
The Prince of Wales first visited Brighton – originally Brighthelmstone – in 1783. He was aged twenty-one and he stayed with his uncle, the Duke of Cumberland, at Grove House on the Steine, a broad street that led from the seafront into the heart of the town. ...
by Merryn Allingham | Nov 27, 2017 | Uncategorized
In 1752 Dr Richard Russell wrote A Dissertation: Concerning the Use of Sea Water in Diseases of the Glands which argued that bathing in, and even drinking, iodine-rich sea water could cure glandular conditions. The Prince of Wales on his second visit to Brighton...
by Merryn Allingham | Nov 27, 2017 | Uncategorized
In the Regency period the reasonably well-off were able to afford a life of cultivated leisure. Reading, writing letters, sauntering in parks and gardens such as the Sydney Gardens below, filled the day. Conversation was considered an art and concerned itself with...
by Merryn Allingham | Nov 27, 2017 | Uncategorized
Highway robbery seems an unlikely female profession but through the ages there have been women who demonstrated the same physical strength, the same courage and aggression as their male counterparts. They most often dressed very similarly, too, taking to the road in...
by Merryn Allingham | Nov 27, 2017 | Uncategorized
Smuggling was unknown until Edward I established a customs system. Up until that time, trade had been free. Edward was searching for money and since wool was the most important raw material produced in England (at least until the Industrial Revolution), he devised a...
