Rachel Knowles's Blog, page 17

Reclaim Time – a historical fiction writing contest by Inkitt

What is Inkitt?

Inkitt is a free writing platform whose objective is to help writers achieve their fullest potential. You can take a look at their website here.

Reclaim Time

On 24 July, Inkitt launched a new historical fiction writing contest called Reclaim Time. Writers are invited to submit their original historical fiction stories of any length to the competition. Readers vote for their favourite stories and the Inkitt staff will choose the winners from the top 10% of entries based on this vo...

Mrs Jordan's Profession by Claire Tomalin - a review

I found Claire Tomalin's biography of the great Georgian comic actress Mrs Dora Jordan  both readable and comprehensive. It tells of her rise to fame on the stage of the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane, and how she became the longstanding mistress of the Duke of Clarence, the future William IV.

Let down by the men in her life

I was particularly struck by the number of men in Dora’s life who let her down: her father, who abandoned her mother to marry an heiress; her first theatre manager, Richard...

Princess Augusta, Duchess of Cambridge (1797-1889)

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Augusta, Duchess of Cambridge (25 July 1797 – 6 April 1889) was the wife of Adolphus, Duke of Cambridge, seventh son of George III.

Birth of a German princess

Princess Augusta Wilhelmina Louisa was born in Cassel (1) on 25 July 1797, the third daughter of Frederick, Landgrave of Hesse-Cassel, and his wife Caroline Polyxena of Nassau-Usingen.

A royal marriage

On 7 May 1818, Augusta married her second cousin, Adolphus, Duke of Cambridge, the seventh son of George III, in Cassel. (2)...

Clandon Park - remembering the house before the fire

Never the same again

On 24 July 2014, my husband, Andrew, and I visited Clandon Park, Surrey, in the blazing sunshine. Today, it is pouring with rain and Clandon is but a shadow of the house we looked round, having being gutted by fire in April 2015. I always meant to blog about Clandon, but we visited so many National Trust properties last summer that I did not get around to it.
Since our visit, I have used Clandon in my writing - there...

Lady Jersey in miniature

I was recently contacted by Jayne Parkes who had inherited a wonderful historical booklet from her mother and wanted to know whether I could tell her anything about it. Jayne has very kindly agreed to let me share her booklet with you.

A souvenir booklet

The booklet is labelled ‘Souvenir’ and contains a miniature of a lady and a lock of hair...

Mrs Dora Jordan - The Comic Muse (1761-1816)

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Dora Jordan (22 November 1761 – 5 July 1816) was a Georgian actress famous for her comic roles. She was the long-standing mistress of William IV when he was Duke of Clarence.

Early years

Dorothy Bland was born on 22 November 1761, the daughter of Francis Bland and Grace Phillips. Dorothy—or Dora as she liked to be called—was born in London, although her parents normally lived in Ireland. Grace was an actress and Francis’ father—a ju...

What happened to Napoleon's carriage?

How Napoleon’s carriage came to London

Napoleon’s carriage was captured by Major Von Keller at Genappe on the night of 18 June 1815 as Napoleon fled the battlefield of Waterloo. The Prussian Major “reserved the carriage as his own booty” and “brought it to England to gratify the curiosity of the people of this country, who have now an opportunity of viewing it at the London Museum, Piccadilly”. (1)...

The Battle of Vitoria 21 June 1813 - a live report from the battlefield

“We have had a great day, and have been successful,” (2) wrote Major Augustus Frazer, commander of the Horse Artillery in Wellington’s army, at 9pm on 21 June 1813. The dust would still have been settling after a day of ferocious military action.

Frazer wrote a letter almost every day during his time in Wellington’s army, providing us with dramat...

In the shadow of the Battle of Waterloo - three days in June: part 3 - 18 June 1815

The Battle of Waterloo in The wars of Wellington, a narrative poem
by Dr Syntax illustrated by W Heath and JC Stadler (1819)For two days, Friday 16 and Saturday 17 June 1815, the population of Brussels, including many visitors from England, had endured painful uncertainty. They could hear the sounds of cannon to the south and knew that Wellington's army was engaging the French under Napoleon. But it was far from clear who had the upper hand.
Read about Day 1: Friday 16 June 1815
Read about Day 2...

In the shadow of the Battle of Waterloo - three days in June: part 2 - 17 June 1815

The Battle of Waterloo from Historic, military and naval anecdotes
of particular incidents by E Orme & illustrated by JA Atkinson (1819)On Friday 16 June 1815, the city of Brussels listened in fear and awe to the sound of distant cannon fire. The British and their allies had marched from the city in the early hours to face the advancing French under Napoleon.
Read about Day 1: Friday 16 June 1815
All day rumours and reports from the nearby battlefields reached the increasingly nervous inhab...