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Princess Caroline of Great Britain
Caroline’s story is but short and sweet. She was born on 10th June 1713 at her family’s home in Herrenhausen Palace in Hanover, She was the fourth child, third daughter of her parents, George of Hanover and Caroline of Ansbach. Caroline’s birth was followed by a further five children, one of whom was stillborn, one who died aged three months. A tenth pregnancy ended in miscarriage. When Caroline was around a year old, her grandfather, George I succeeded the throne of England, following the deaths in rapid succession of his mother and his cousin Queen Anne Stuart. Her father accordingly became Prince of Wales. By Act of Settlement 1701, Princess…
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Queen Victoria – Born to be Queen
In 1817, at aged 21 Princess Charlotte, heir to the throne of Great Britain, died following a long and difficult birth to her first child, a son. Her father, George Prince Regent, was ruling in place of his father George III, whose mental deterioration has earned him the title Mad King George. Charlotte’s son was stillborn. Her father would later, on his father’s death in 1820, become George IV, ruling the country for 10 years until his own death upon which he was succeeded by his younger brother, William. When Charlotte died, George III had urged his sons to marry and between them produce an heir. He had six surviving…
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The Dangers of Heating your Home in Georgian (and Regency) England
A roaring fire in your fire place, snow falling outside your windows, a cup of coffee (or tea) in your hands, a really good book all while curled up on the couch under a warm blanket. Sounds like a great way to spend a cold winter’s night, am I right? A fire lit in your fireplace in the 21st century is a romanticized version of what it was like to have one in the late 18th and early 19th centuries. So, the first aspect to truly grasp is that wood was not the first choice for many in England. The price of wood was becoming increasingly expensive as deforestation from…
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Sophia of Hanover
Sophia of Hanover was born on 14th October 1630, in the Wassaener Hof in The Hague, where her parents were exiled during the thirty years war. Her father, Frederick of Bohemia and mother, Elizabeth Stuart, only surviving daughter of James VI of Scotland and I of England already had eleven children. During her young years, Sophia was courted by her cousin King Charles II in the hope of a betrothal but nothing became of the courtship. Sophia instead married Ernest Augustus of Brunswick at the age of 27, quite late for a woman of the period. The marriage was successful, although Ernest was known to have a bad temper and…
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Dick Turpin – Stand and Deliver
On the 7th April 1739, notorious highwayman Richard Turpin was hanged for his crimes, most notably horse, cattle and sheep stealing, robbery with violence, and murder at the Knavesmire in York. Turpin was documented to have been born in the Blue Bell Inn, Hempstead, the son of John Turpin who has been accredited with trades including butchery, farming and inn-keeping, and Mary Elizabeth Parmenter in c1705, the fifth out of their six children and as a young man completed an apprenticeship as a butcher, in Whitechapel. He set up in business for himself in the Essex area. Some sources claim that his father had links with smuggling and as a…
