The word chuffed is, in my opinion, one of the most British verbs in existence. It comes from a Tudor term meaning “swollen with fat”, but in today’s parlance it means absolutely swollen with delight. Filled with squee. Full of happiness that something really pleasing happened, often in a very flattering context. Frequently one is… Read more Well, I’m Chuffed
The worst thing about Jane Austen dying on 18 July 1817, when she was only 41 and should have had decades of writing ahead of her, is that those of us – and we are legion – who love her work must be content with the few novels and scattered essays she left us. We… Read more For the Love of Jane Austen, Peeress of Prose
Jane Austen tragically died at the young age of 41 on 18 July 1817, leaving behind a grieving family and an astonishing literary legacy. Her family was grateful that she did not suffer, or become disoriented, even at the very end of her life. Her brother Henry reported that she, “retained her faculties, her memory,… Read more The Last Thing Austen Ever Wrote
Jane Austen actively detested the Prince Regent, as many people did. In her case it was particularly acute, because she not only found him lacking in moral rectitude or any worthy quality she admired, he was a decided political thorn in the side of the Tory party, which the Austen family strongly favored over the… Read more Jane Austen and the Prince Regent
Four alleged co-conspirators in the assassination of Abraham Lincoln — George Atzerodt, David Herold, Lewis Powell, and Mary Surratt – were “hanged by the neck until dead” at the Old Arsenal Penitentiary on 7 July 1865. Mary Surratt was the first woman executed by the US government, and the subject of Susan Higginbotham’s excellent book,… Read more Hanging Mary by Susan Higginbotham
Contrary to popular belief, Henry VIII wasn’t a tyrannical monster who chopped off heads willy-nilly … until 1535. Prior to that year, Henry was reluctant to use the axe when other solutions were possible and the worst thing he had done was separate Katherina of Aragon from their daughter, Mary. Even that wasn’t just being… Read more The Bloodbath Begins: Henry VIII Turns to the Axe
On 3 June 1839 a Chinese patriot, moralist, and scholar-official of the Qing dynasty named Lin Tse-hsü (his name was also spelled Lin Zexu, and he additionally went by the courtesy name Yuanfu) ordered the destruction of approximately 1.2 million kg (2.6 million poiunds) of opium from British merchants in Guangdong Province. There was so… Read more The Beginning of the Opium Wars
On 25 May 1553, Lady Jane Grey married Lord Guilford Dudley, the fourth son of John Dudley, Duke of Northumberland, at the insistence of the dying King Edward VI. Although the whole thing was young king’s idea, poor Northumberland was cast as a criminal mastermind using a union between Lady Jane and his son to… Read more The Unjust Unpopularity of John Dudley, Duke of Northumberland
Napoleon Bonaparte, one of the greatest generals in the history of the Western world, died on 5 May 1821 in exile on the Island of Saint Helena, after his ambition exceeded even the limits of his military genius. The last word he ever spoke was the name of his first wife and true love, “Joséphine“.… Read more The Death of Napoleon Bonaparte
On 26 April 1923, the Duke of York, Albert Frederick Arthur George (the second son of King George V and his queen Mary of Teck, known as Bertie to his family) wed Lady Elizabeth Bowes-Lyon at Westminster Abbey, thereby gaining an admirable wife and even more admirable father-in-law. Lady Elizabeth Angela Marguerite Bowes-Lyon was born… Read more Happy Anniversary to King George VI and the Queen Mum!!