Kristine Hughes's Blog, page 176

Victoria (Magazine) at Holker Hall

I guess I have a "thing" about Victorias -- writers, queens, magazines, whatever. I loved the first Victoria magazine, published from 1987 to 2003, and I love the new version, published since 2007.  When it arrives every other month, I put it aside until I have a couple of quiet hours in which to enjoy it uninterrupted.

So in this busy summer, it took me a long time to get around to the September-October issue, which arrived a few weeks ago. On pp. 40-45, I found a lovely photographic story ab...

The Wellington Connection: The Duchess of Kent

It is a little known fact that, had it been up to King William IV, the Duke of Wellington would have been appointed Regent in the event that William died before the heir to the throne, Princess Victoria, reached her majority. In theory, Wellington could have acted in the capacity of King until Victoria became eighteen. However, there were some in the government who felt that the Duke of Wellington had more than enough power already, thank you very much. And besides, the Duchess of Kent was...

Wolf Hall and The Tudors

Victoria here, still breathless after finishing Hilary Mantel's novel Wolf Hall.  I admit I had a hard time getting into the novel at first, but soon I was hooked and hung on every word to the finish. I can understand why Wolf Hall won the Man Booker Prize.  It is exceptionaly well written and seems firmly based in fact.

The novel is set in the time of Henry VIII and the main character is Thomas Cromwell, a man of humble birth who is rising to prominence as an adviser to the king after...

Do You Know About Dr. Finlay?

Yes, yet another medical based British telly series to tell you about. Based on a novella entitled Country Doctor by author and doctor A.J. Cronin, Dr. Finlay's Casebook was a television series that was broadcast on the BBC from 1962 until 1971. The storylines centred on a general medical practice in the fictional Scottish town of Tannochbrae during the late 1920s.  
The latest television series featuring Dr. Finlay is set in the post-WWII era, with the plot lines revolving around a small...

Handel and Hendrix???

Here is a pair for you! 
Jimi Hendrix 1942-1970
George Frederic Handel 1685-1759

Yes, friends, Hendrix and Handel are together at last. Or, rather, at first!  In a wonderful coincidence, the two composer/performers lived in the almost the same building, separated by one wall and about 200 years. Here is the article that explains the new exhibition at London's Handel House Museum.

Handel House Museum
25 Brook Street, Mayfair, London


For more about the Handel House Museum, click here.


For those of...

Jo Manning: Artists and Their Models - Part One of Part Six

GEORGE ROMNEY (1734-1802)


Decidedly a horse of a different color was the artist George Romney… In the parlance of the 18th century, he would be termed an Original, a description used for people who were truly different, as unique as that horse described by Frank Baum in The Wizard of Oz.

Whilst there were, for sure, commonalities with Romney's fellow painters Reynolds and Gainsborough in the area of their very great artistic talent, there were singular differences as well in personality and te...