What's the weather like?
Chatting about the weather is always acceptable in British Society and in a lot of other areas as well. (Although possibly not in Antarctica: "How's the weather today?" "Cold").
But if you are in the Georgian period, it can be tricky. If you were at the end of January in 1809 it would be a solecism not to mention the fact that floods on the Thames destroyed bridges at Eton and Windsor among others. It would be a hot topic of conversation.
The elderly, of course, would be unimpressed and would tell you at great length about the terrible flood of 1768 where the London-Exeter coach was washed away and all the passengers drowned.
Fear not, help is at hand for conversational gambits. A long list of weather events from 1700 to 1850 is now available at my site http://www.pascalbonenfant.com/18c/we...
The information has been taken (with permission) from Martin Rowley's weather site at http://booty.org.uk/booty.weather/cli... - if you are interested in weather events from 4000BC the site is well worth a visit. All I have really done is make it easier to read.
A little study and you can remark that the terrible Scottish storms of October and November of 1829 caused the loss of many ships, which was tragic for those who had sunk money into coal transport (and, of course, for the sailors involved).
Have fun.
But if you are in the Georgian period, it can be tricky. If you were at the end of January in 1809 it would be a solecism not to mention the fact that floods on the Thames destroyed bridges at Eton and Windsor among others. It would be a hot topic of conversation.
The elderly, of course, would be unimpressed and would tell you at great length about the terrible flood of 1768 where the London-Exeter coach was washed away and all the passengers drowned.
Fear not, help is at hand for conversational gambits. A long list of weather events from 1700 to 1850 is now available at my site http://www.pascalbonenfant.com/18c/we...
The information has been taken (with permission) from Martin Rowley's weather site at http://booty.org.uk/booty.weather/cli... - if you are interested in weather events from 4000BC the site is well worth a visit. All I have really done is make it easier to read.
A little study and you can remark that the terrible Scottish storms of October and November of 1829 caused the loss of many ships, which was tragic for those who had sunk money into coal transport (and, of course, for the sailors involved).
Have fun.
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