Searching for Regency London

News.
One Night as a Courtesan is out. 
 A short e-story for your reading pleasure.
Widow Julia Partridge is desperate. To repay a debt, she's forced to sell herself in an auction at the most exclusive bawdy house in London. Julia only has to get through one night with one man--though she never imagined that man would be Alistair Crawford, the dissolute Duke of Dunstan! Alistair has the face of a fallen angel...and a reputation for vice to match. Yet when he turns his attentions to Julia, he unexpectedly arouses more passion in a few moments than she'd felt in her entire marriage....

Harlequin Historicals Undone, exclusively available in eBook.
Mills and Boon
The picture will take you to Amazon.com

Regency London

It is always fun to have something new to show and tell, but I did promise you a blog so staying with Hampstead Heath, I next walked to Keats House

Keats became much better known after his death and it makes me feel quite sad to know that such a talented young man died young, age 25, died almost alone, and was unrequited in love. The woman  he loved lived in the same house in a separate apartment. He lived here from 1818 to 1820 and it was where he wrote his most intensely moving poems.

 It is a small house and very peaceful, even though it is surrounded by a subdivision of houses.

It was not the happiest afternoon for me, I think I found it to affecting that someone so talented should have so little time.

There is lots to be read about Keats, his work, his life, but I don't think I wish to do more than show where he lived.

So that is all from me tonight.


Until next time, Happy Rambles.

Flora and Fauna of Regency England ~ September

by Ann Lethbridge

Here are some of the not so favourite creatures you will find in the Regency at this time of year.


September is a time for wasps, August too. Never my favourite insect it becomes a real nuisance if you want to eat out of doors. They also eat any fruit that is ripe on the trees.



Another not favourite is the earwig. It is an old wives tale that earwigs go in ears, isn't it?

Earwigs are predisposed to hiding in warm humid crevices and may indeed occasionally crawl into the human ear canal (much like any other small organism). yuch.

I defy the Saint Helena earwig at three inches long to climb in anyone's ear. I only mention it because Saint Helena was Napoleon's home during the Regency.

And to creep myself out.

Oh now I'm itchy. But we can't have just all the pretty stuff, can we.

So one last creature in the ych category for September.

Snails. They breed in September and our Diarist says:

The gardener ought to consider that this and the succeeding month are the breeding months of earth-worms and snails, and, therefore, that one of those reptiles destroyed now, is as good as a dozen killed in spring.

Now if you can bear to walk amid the flora and fauna after that --- Happy Rambles.

Where am I?

Today, I am blogging at http://community.eharlequin.com/content/being-there. Do pop in and answer my question.

Regency Fashion for September

by Michele Ann Young

Sorry to be missing for a week, I have had family visiting. Now it is the end of the summer I hope I can get back into the swing of things.

September Fashion

I am sure you have no trouble recognizing this as a mourning gown.  Interesting to me is that for once we have the front of one gown and the back another. They look almost the same.

This plate is from 1805 From the Ladies Museum

The first is a chemise dress of Italian gauze; full front, fastened in the centre with a jet broach, over a black sarcenet slip; sleeves and front trimmed with black net trimming, fastened with bugles. Leather gloves, and black jean shoes.

The second gown is made of of imperial lustre and has short sleeves. Gloves and shoes are the same as the first figure.

I couldn't resist this one, although it seems odd to me that this would be a fashion for September because it is.....


A Fashionable Sea-Side Walking Dress From La Belle Assemblee, 1810


It is described as follows:


A gown of white French cambric, or pale pink muslin, with long sleeves, and antique cuffs of thin white muslin, trimmed with Mechlen edging; made high in the neck, without a collar, and formed in points at the centre of the bosom, with three rows of letting-in lace; confined down the front of the dress with small buttons; and hemmed round the bottom with three rows of deep Mechlen lace; made rather short, and worn over trowsers of white French cambric, which are trimmed the same as the bottom of the dress.

A cap composed of lace and light green silk trimming, tied under the chin, with a bunch of natural flowers in front. Hair in full ringlet curls, divided in the front of the forehead. A figured short scarf of pale buff, with deep pale-green border, and rich silk tassels; worn according to fancy or convenience; with gloves of pale buff kid; and sandals of pale yellow, or white Morocco, complete this truly simple but becoming dress.

Isn't this interesting. She is wearing trowsers. And look at the strappy sandals. Don't they look like something we would wear today? It is very unusual to see a gown buttoned down the front I think. I am glad to see this as I am currently working on a seaside scene. Fortuitous is the word I am looking for, I think.

That is my fashion article for this month.  Flora and Fauna up next.  Then we return to London.  Until next time, Happy rambles

Searching for Regency London

Fenton House Continued
by Ann Lethbridge

Another view of the garden just to tempt you.





There are two more smaller rooms on the first floor, and their size make photographs less than satisfactory, so I can give you only a glimpse. Note that the first room also had a powder room and the second was originally linked to the master bed room.















Interestingly enough there were six more small rooms in the "attic". I assumed this was where the servants would sleep. But no. Although they could only be reached by the servants' staircase, these would have been family rooms too. Likely the younger children. Most of the families inhabiting this house had from seven to nine children. I was unable to visit these rooms on this occasion but it is on my list for another time.

The servants would have slept in the basement, not open to visitors.

Next time we have our fashion article, before we do more searching in London. Until then Happy Rambles.

Searching for Regency London

Fenton House, Hampstead, Continued
by Michele Ann Young

How about that for a garden and a view from a window. So green and well organized. The weeds in my garden won the battle this year.

This is just a small sample of the lovely views. I took more but thought this was probably enough to "get the idea". I might add another one at the end.



So leaving the ground (first) floor we go up stairs. Here you can see down from the top and get a better sense of the twisted balusters and the large window.

On this floor there are four rooms set around a square landing. The servant's stairs also emerge on this landing, making the two north facing rooms quite small.



This bedroom is the largest. It once had a closet, now an alcove beside the fireplace for powdering ones wig (rather than one's nose).

The columns were thought to be added in 1810 replacing a wall which created the narrow access passage to the clock in the centre east front wall. Where the plates are was originally another concealed or jib door to the adjacent bedroom. The instrument shown in the alcove is a spinet.









This next room is a drawing room, and apparently was always a drawing room. So this house only had three bedrooms on this second floor. The decoration of this room, the dentil frieze and the arched alcoves are likely early nineteenth century.














We still have two more rooms on this floor, but the photos take forever to load and the sunny day is calling me outside. So until next time, Happy Rambles.

Searching for Regency London

By Michele Ann Young


Fenton House continued

We saw the narrow servants' stairs in the previous set of pictures. Here are the stairs the family would have used.  Not the impressive staircase of some of the houses we have seen, but clearly wide, with lighting from a large window on the first landing, which itself is wide enough for a chair. The window looks out over the walled garden.

This is the original seventeenth century staircase with twisted balusters. Now we go upstairs

This next room on the ground floor has been described as a small sitting room, or study and displays some of the finest figurines from England and the continent in the eighteenth century. Some of the English makers are Bristol, Bow, Chelsea and Derby.

The mirror between the windows is fine gilt gessor, or sconce, once equipped with branches for candles from 1715. The instrument is a 1612 harpsicord.

This is the last room on the ground floor, and its use in our time is not described. The alcove off to the right would have been a closet, not open as it is now.

It now displays early Chinese ceramics some of which were imported into England in the late seventeenth and early eighteenth centuries.

Next time we will climb the staircase and look around upstairs. Until then Happy Rambles.

Searching for Regency London

by Ann Lethbridge


One of my most interesting visits this summer was to Fenton House in Hampstead.

Pictured first is the South Front, which faces down Holly Hill (a particularly steep hill I might add)

In the regency period, Hampstead was a small city separate from London and a place where the middle class professionals lived, rather than the fashionable, though the Heath itself drew many visitors. The village and the heath sits high on a hill overlooking London and at one time could be seen as wooded hills behind the city from the other side of the river.

Fenton House has remained remarkably untouched since it was built in 1756, being a substantial brick house with extensive gardens of fruit trees and kitchen gardens enclosed in a brick wall.

Today much of the house is given over to collections of pictures and musical instruments which are interesting. My main interest however was with the house itself. The way it would have been lived in.

Various parts of the house has been altered over the years, but still it retains much of its original structure.

The entrance hall shown here, with the service stairs behind which can be shut off by a door is a far more modest area that we see in the grand houses we have visited. The frieze around the ceiling dates from about 1810.

The long case clock you can see dates from 1700.


Here is a closer look at the frieze:


Moving into the dining room we can see that it was once divided into two rooms, a dining room and a drawing room.

The chairs at the table are 18th century mahogany. The harpsicord off in what was a drawing room is a Shudi and Broadwood from 1770. One of the earliest with the Broadwood name.








These lyre back chair are Regency and there is also a winecooler in the shape of a classical sarcophagus tucked under the sideboard which is also Regency.








The alcove, part of what was the drawing room which clearly goes into one of the protrusions you can see on the outside of the house contains one of the very popular Broadwood Square pianos, this one from 1774





Sadly this is all we have time for today. But lots more next time. Until then, happy rambles.

by Michele Ann Young

I'm late. I'm late.......

Glow Worms

There was a bit of a discussion about the presence of glow worms in Britain on one of my lists, and when browsing the Naturist for 1815 this is what he had to say for August:

... compensated by the presence of the lady-bird and the glow-worm; the first for its utility and the second for the beautiful effect it produces.

A bit of research on glow worms in the uk reveals that British glow worms are different from North American fire flies. They are females trying to attract a male, they do not fly during this lighting up phase and always have been rather rare, and only live about two weeks.

However one can imagine a romantic evening in August and the sight of some glow worms adding to the charm of the scene. As an aside, during a walk last July in Washington DC at dusk I was enchanted by the hundreds of fireflies hovering just above the grass, it was like being in fairyland.

Ladybirds

Ladybird ladybird fly away home,
Your house is on fire and your children are gone
All except one and that's little Ann
And she crept under the frying pan

I can remember singing this to ladybirds, and blowing on them to make them fly away. There are several ideas about the origins. One is: In Medieval England farmers would set torches to the old hop (used in flavoring beer) vines after the harvest in order to clear the fields for the next planting. This poem was sung as a warning to the ladybugs that were still crawling on the vines in search of aphids.

The reason our naturist thinks they are useful is that they feed on aphids, scale insects, mealybugs, and mites throughout the winter .

Until next time, Happy Rambles

What I am reading:
Dangerous Desires by Dee Davis

Regency Fashion for August

by Ann Lethbridge
A fun reminder that the Anthology New Voices
is out this month. You won't see this kind of cover on my blog very often, so I hope you enjoy. My story is called The Governess and the Earl. I do hope you will check it out.

While this book is out in print in the UK you can find it in all the usual on line places in North America too. Here is the link for the UK
New Voices

Now to the important stuff.


From the Ladies Magazine for August 1810

A morning dress of white Indian muslin with high front and collar, edged with lace, and confined with silk buttons from the throat to the feet. A yellow silk pelisse trimmed with broad white lace, and lined with pink sarscenet. Woodland straw bonnet, with yellow and pink feather. A cottage cap of lace, ornamented with an artificial white rose. Pink sandal shoes; with yellow kid gloves.


The Evening Dress is described as a white frock of French cambric, with short plain sleeves. A long scarf of light blue silk; a turban composed of the same, and white satin. Jewels, sapphire, and gold. Gloves and shoes of white kid.

The scarf is indeed long.



This one is from the Ladies Magazine for 1800.

While we do not have a description of this plate as we do of some others here are some of the remarks relevant to this costume.

Nothing is now so elegant as a straw hat of open work, thick- set with points of plaited straw


The medallions, called breviaries, and the chains from their crossing called saltiers, are much worn:


In plain silks, jonquil is the prevailing colour.

And that is all we have for now. Until next time, Happy Rambles.

RWA News

Cool news! My novel, The Rake's Inherited Courtesan won one of the prestigious Daphne's here at the RWA conference in Orlando.


Here you see me with two other nominees from Harlequin Historicals, Julia Justiss and my chapter mate Kate Bridges, and the two harlequin editors, Joanne Grant and Linda Fildew. Needless to say we were all very happy.

Thank you Kiss of Death!

What an exciting evening.

Searching for Regency London

by Michele Ann Young

Another week gone already? Oh no. I want summer to last forever.

After Horse Guards I wandered back to my hotel. Refreshed, the next day I had one very particular spot on my mind. St. George's, Hanover Square, because Ann had just written a wedding scene there for "The Gamekeeper's Lady", due out in Hardcover in December. Anyway, my luck wasn't in. The Church is closed for renovations. They need lots of donations and I am providing you with a link to the official site. http://www.stgeorgeshanoversquare.org/ Dame Judi Dench is their Patron. However, I did take some pictures, as we were interested in the steps and the access.

One thing you need to know, the Church is not in Hanover Square, but on St George's Street to the south of the square.  You will see this quite clearly on Google if you wish, and probably in the A to Z of Regency London.

Here you can see along the street, with Hanover Square behind on the left.  There are several very nice Georgian buildings remaining in this street.On the right is a picture taken looking up towards the square, where the trees are. Again, more Georgian buildings.

These are views of buildings from the steps.  I thought it particularly interesting that one of the shops, the one with the bow front was a bespoke taylors which now incorporates Hicks and Sons, established in 1797.  Hicks and sons would have been most likely located in Saville Row, but the building they occupy now might well have been around at the time.

And below are the steps up which the hero's brother dashed just in time!

Since I had walked to Hanover Square, in search of my church, we ought to pay it a visit too.

Hanover Square was the first square built in London. Started in 1717, it was originally surrounded by fields. This picture shows it around 1754 looking north.

Included in the surrounding buildings in our time were the Hanover Square rooms built in 1774-75 in place of the original Number 4. They were built by the Swiss-Italian dancing master to the royal family, Sir John Gallini. Bach was a shareholder in the rooms and gave concerts there from 1775-1782, as did Hayden between 1791 to 1794.  The musical connection continued well past the Regency until 1874.

Number 21 was occupied by the French Ambassador, Prince Tallyrand, but after our period.

Today, there are a great many more trees, a whole lot more traffic of a very different sort, and it is fenced in with iron railings.

That is all I have time for tonight, I hope you enjoyed this visit. Lots more to come, until then, Happy Rambles.

What I am reading right now.
The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo