Searching for Regency London

by Michele Ann Young
I received my copies of the Mammoth Book of Regencies and boy are there some neat writers inside the covers.

Can't wait to read everyone's stories. Short stories are great. I have started reading one every day while I am on my exercise bike. Exercising is now a treat.

This is not a very exciting picture, given the scaffolding, but if you were following the earlier post on adventures in London you will remember we paused in Bedford Square.

Everywhere you go, there are these blue signs, noting who lived at various houses.

This one is for Lord Eldon, Lord Chancellor from1801-1827 with a brief respite for one year early on.

The interesting thing about this man for me, is that as well as being Lord Chancellor, he was the son of a coal fitter, and rose to the peerage.

He was also one of those men who as a youth ran off with an heiress, Besse Surtees in November 1772. Using a ladder to get her out of the house no less, he whisked her off to Scotland to be married. And their love endured until her death in 1831. He followed her in 1838. A true romance.

He is certainly an interesting man, (pictured here in his Chancellor's robes) and while we would not agree with many of his ideals today, he was a rogue as a lad, a romantic as a young man and moved up by his own efforts to be involved in the leadership of his country during very interesting times. He certainly warrants more study.

We are going to move on from this square next time. Until then, Happy Rambles