Anna Lætitia Aikin Barbauld was a renown English poet and author, and her works were eagerly anticipated. She was one of the most admired female writers in the Georgian era, and was lauded both at home and abroad. (In the below picture, Nine Living Muses of Great Britain by Richard Samuel, Barbauld is the one… Read more Eighteen Hundred and Eleven, a Poem
The only legitimate child of George, Prince of Wales, and his estranged wife, Caroline of Brunswick, was born on 7 January 1796 – almost nine months exactly after her parent’s wedding night. It was fortunate the royal newlyweds conceived then, because they loathed each other so instantly and profoundly they would never have sex with… Read more Princess Charlotte of Wales
Jane Austen’s novel Emma was first published on 23 December 1815, just in time for Yuletide gift-giving. Emma sold well, and was giving good reviews, including one by Sir Walter Scott. Although Austen famously claimed that the title character, Emma Woodhouse, “handsome, clever, and rich,” was a protagonist that no one but the author “will… Read more Happy Birthday to Emma
The Louisiana Purchase was officially completed on 20 December 1803, when Napoleon Bonaparte handed over New Orleans and 828,000 square miles of French territory (never mind the pesky natives who had been on it for thousands of years) to the USA. The Americans had paid only sixty-eight million francs (about $250 million) to double their country. Why did Napoleon Bonaparte give… Read more Napoleon Sold the Louisiana Territory because Haitians Kicked His Butt
Jane Austen came into the world, considerably past her due date, on 16 December 1775 at Steventon Rectory. Her parents had been expecting her arrival for more than three weeks, and since she was the seventh child the stork had bequeathed to the Austen’s, they had been sanguine about their estimation of her appearance and… Read more Happy Birthday Jane Austen!
In my novel, Mansfield Parsonage, my heroine, Mary Crawford, loves Indian food. How, you may ask, is this possible in 1812? Its not like there were Indian restaurants in London that early in the 19th century! Well, there’s were you are going to be surprised. The first Indian restaurant in London was the Hindoostane Coffee House,… Read more Indian Food in Regency London
Ada Lovelace was born Augusta Byron, the only legitimate child of celebrated poet George Gordon Byron, 6th Baron Byron and his wife, intellectual prodigy and heiress Anne Isabella Milbanke, on 10 December 1815. Lord Byron christened his daughter after his half-sister, Augusta Leigh, and nicknamed her Ada. Lord Byron would only see his daughter… Read more Ada Lovelace
Willem Frederik George Lodewijk, the future William II of the Netherlands, was born the eldest son of Willem Frederik, Prince of Orange-Nassau, on 6 December 1792 and would become a popular figure in England during the Regency Era thanks to his purported heroics during the Napoleonic Wars. The Dutch were fellow protestants and allies of… Read more Slender Billy, William II of the Netherlands
Princess Augusta of Saxe-Gotha-Altenburg, wife of Frederick, Prince of Wales and mother of George III of the United Kingdom was born on 30 November 1719, the youngest surviving daughter of Frederick II, Duke of Saxe-Gotha-Altenburg and his wife, Magdalena Augusta. Princess Augusta came to Britain as a teenager who could speak no English on 27… Read more Queen in Waiting, Princess Augusta of Saxe-Gotha-Altenburg and Wales
William Blake was born on 28 November 1757 in London, the third child of a working class hosier. He would remain an obscure artist and poet while he lived, but would be posthumously recognized as one of the leading artistic figures of the Romantic Age. When he was 11 years old Blake’s parents paid £52.10… Read more In Praise of William Blake