Kristine Hughes's Blog, page 10

A Regency Road Trip Story with a Side of Romance Legend (and a Twist) Part Two

A good road trip story, no matter the era, usually includes at least one good vehicle breakdown and Between Duty and the Devil’s Desires is no exception. Add the elements of roads not as well-maintained as the Great North Road, mud, snow, and sleeting rain, and it is little wonder the company sought the security … Continue reading "A Regency Road Trip Story with a Side of Romance Legend (and a Twist) Part Two"

IS IT HAUNTED? WELL OF COURSE IT IS! IT’S ENGLAND!

Generally, in England Halloween is not the celebrated holiday it is here in the United States. Of course, as happens all too frequently, it has crept Across the Pond and become more Americanized, but until recently there was simply no need to celebrate things that go bump in the night on one night of the … Continue reading "IS IT HAUNTED? WELL OF COURSE IT IS! IT’S ENGLAND!"

A Regency Road Trip Story with a Side of Romance Legend (and a Twist)

I love a good road trip movie. From It Happened One Night to Romancing the Stone a witty battle between two people forced to travel together under the most impossible of conditions is a comfort watch for me. Everything that can go wrong usually does, and when it ends up crashing those people directly into … Continue reading "A Regency Road Trip Story with a Side of Romance Legend (and a Twist)"

DO YOU KNOW ABOUT . . . . 24 HOURS IN THE PAST?

24 Hours in the Past is a BBC One living history TV series first broadcast in 2015. Six quasi-celebrities were immersed in a recreation of impoverished life in Victorian Britain. Each of the four episodes represented 24 hours living and working in four different occupations – dust yard (filmed at the Black Country Living Museum), coaching inn (the New Inn … Continue reading "DO YOU KNOW ABOUT . . . . 24 HOURS IN THE PAST?"

GUNSMITHS OF REGENCY LONDON – James Wilkinson, Edward James Bond, Edward London and Boss & Co.

By Louisa Cornell   James Wilkinson, Gunmaker No. 10 Ludgate Street Established 1804 Henry Nock died in November, 1804 and listed no legal heirs in his will. He left his stock and business to James Wilkinson, his foreman. The pertinent entry in the will read: I leave to my foreman, James Wilkinson, my stock in … Continue reading "GUNSMITHS OF REGENCY LONDON – James Wilkinson, Edward James Bond, Edward London and Boss & Co."

GUNSMITHS OF REGENCY LONDON – CHARLES LANCASTER AND JAMES PURDY

By Louisa Cornell   Charles Lancaster and Company 151 New Bond Street Established 1826   Charles Lancaster was Joseph Manton’s barrel maker and in 1811 he went on to set up his own shop in Drury Lane, supplying barrels to Manton and the rest of the London Gun Trade and later went on to making complete … Continue reading "GUNSMITHS OF REGENCY LONDON – CHARLES LANCASTER AND JAMES PURDY"

GUNSMITHS OF REGENCY LONDON – JOHN BLANCH AND EZEKIEL BAKER

By Louisa Cornell     John Blanch 29 Gracechurch Street Established 1809 Born in 1784, at the age of 16 John Blanch was apprenticed to London gun maker, Jackson Mortimer. After a short-lived partnership with Mortimer, who at this point had become Blanch’s father-in-law, Blanch established his own business in 1809. He worked mainly for … Continue reading "GUNSMITHS OF REGENCY LONDON – JOHN BLANCH AND EZEKIEL BAKER"

SHOOTING THE WAR

Shooting the War: Frontline Home Movies, is a documentary that uses home movies, both British and German, shot on the front lines to document WWII. Their films captured all aspects of the war, including life on the home front, camp life, battles and the D-Day Landings. Narration and interviews with ex-servicemen and experts put the … Continue reading "SHOOTING THE WAR"

GUNSMITHS OF REGENCY LONDON – HENRY NOCK

By Louisa Cornell     Henry Nock, Gunmaker Elm Street, Mount Pleasant, Clerkenwell, London No. 10 Ludgate Street – Shop No. 9 Castle Alley, White Chapel – Manufactory Established 1768 Henry Nock learned his trade as a gunsmith in Birmingham in what was known as the Gun Quarter, an area of Birmingham known for years … Continue reading "GUNSMITHS OF REGENCY LONDON – HENRY NOCK"

GUNSMITHS OF REGENCY LONDON – THE EGG BROTHERS

By Louisa Cornell   Durs Egg St. James, Piccadilly (1778) Coventry Street (1786) 132 Strand 1 Pall Mall In 1770 Durs Egg appeared in London “with 3 shillings and 6 pence in his pocket” and found work with the then famous British gunsmith Henry Nock. By 1772 he had his own business with rented premises … Continue reading "GUNSMITHS OF REGENCY LONDON – THE EGG BROTHERS"