Rachel Knowles's Blog, page 2

Book review: The Yorkshire Coiners - the true story of the Cragg Vale Gang by Steve Hartley

On 9November 1769, William Dighton was shot and killed in Halifax, Yorkshire. Itwas a planned assassination of a Supervisor of Excise—an official responsiblefor ensuring the collection of tax.

Dighton wasthe victim of the Cragg Vale Gang—criminals who operated what was perhapsEngland’s largest clipping and coining operation. That is, they createdcounterfeit coins from gold shaved off genuine coins.

SteveHartley, author of The Yorkshire Coiners is a descendant of DavidHartley, or ‘King ...

How Captain Wentworth got rich on prizemoney

A Captain in the Navy from
A book explaining the ranks and dignities
of British Society by C Lamb (1809)You knew your place in Regencysociety. Whether you were born into a hovel or a grand house, you were likelyto end your life in a similar situation. Changing your rank in a societygoverned by rigid rules of precedence was highly unusual. When it happened, itwas normally through unconventional means.

Unless you were an officer inthe Royal Navy. Through Captain Wentworth, Jane Austen’s ficti...

A quick guide to the Napoleonic Wars and the Great War against France (1792-1815)

The Battle of Waterloo in The wars of Wellington, a narrative poem
by Dr Syntax illustrated by W Heath and JC Stadler (1819)Rachel writes: I don’t do military history, but as a Regency romance author, it’s impossible to ignore the war with France that raged during the opening years of the 19thcentury. If I want to make a soldier the hero of a Regency romance, I can’t afford to be completely ignorant about the Napoleonic Wars or was it the Peninsular War or the War of the Something-or-other Coalit...

Everyday Life in Victorian London by Helen Amy - book review

Rachel writes: Although not Regency, it’s helpful to know something about the periods immediately before and after. This book takes a look at everyday life in London in the Victorian era, which started in 1837. 

Andrew's review:

It’s tricky to write a book about everyday life in Victorian London, the city that became the capital of a global empire. That’s because there is no such place as Victorian London. The London of 1837, when Victoria ascended the throne, was very different to that of 1901,...

The First Celebrities: Five Regency Portraits by Peter James Bowman - book review

We all instinctively know what a celebrity is. They’re talked about. They’re a character. They stand out from the crowd.

Arguably, celebrities are as old as humanity. There have always been those who attract the majority of attention. Bowman’s title challenges this, positioning five Regency characters as among the first true celebrities. He opens the book with almost sixty pages justifying his claim, and he makes a good case.

In simple terms, celebrity is about being known for who you are. Fam...

Were there finishing schools in Regency England?

Two young ladies wearing fashionable afternoon
and morning dress from The Lady's Magazine (1807)

One hundred years ago, in the early 1900s, thousands of single young women from wealthy families were sent to finishing schools. The very best were in Switzerland, but wherever the school was, its primary purpose was to turn out refined young ladies fully prepared to be a society wife.

Wind back the clock another hundred years or so to the early 1800s. Were finishing schools doing the same job of pol...

Kissing under the mistletoe in the Regency

The Mistletoe in Popular Pastimes by FW Stephanoff (1816)

A Christmas tradition that romance authors love is kissing under the mistletoe.

But when did the tradition begin? Did young ladies of quality kiss under the mistletoe in the Regency? These are the questions I set out to answer in this blog.

What is mistletoe?

Mistletoe decoration (2022)

Mistletoe—sometimes spelt misletoe in old texts—is an evergreen plant with oval leaves that grow in pairs. It produces small white flowers, but is better ...

Tattersall's Horse Repository in Regency London

Tattersall's Horse Repository
by Rowlandson and Pugin (pub Ackermann 1809)What was Tattersall’s Repository?

Tattersall’s Repository was:

…the most fashionable resort of the sporting world for the purchase and sale of horses, hounds, carriages, &c.1

During the Regency period, when all road travel was horse-powered, there was a constant demand for horses, both to ride and to pull carriages. In addition, sportsmen needed hunters, and gentlemen of the turf bought and sold racehorses.

The best plac...

Fashionable Goodness: Christianity in Jane Austen's England by Brenda S Cox - book review & author interview

You won’t travel very far in England without encountering a parish church building. Likewise, you won’t read much Jane Austen before running into a reference to the church.

The Church of England was deeply embedded in the landscape that Austen lived in and wrote about. But just as many of England’s church buildings are now considered relics, the references to church in her writing are seen as throwbacks to another time. The world she inhabited is no more.

What many Austen fans don’t realise is...

Fashionable Goodness: Christianity in Jane Austen's England by Brenda S Cox - book review & author interview by Andrew Knowles

You won’t travel very far in England without encountering a parish church building. Likewise, you won’t read much Jane Austen before running into a reference to the church.

The Church of England was deeply embedded in the landscape that Austen lived in and wrote about. But just as many of England’s church buildings are now considered relics, the references to church in her writing are seen as throwbacks to another time. The world she inhabited is no more.

What many Austen fans don’t realise is...