Category Archives: herbs

How NOT to Do Away with One’s Hero or Heroine …

Posted on July 26, 2023 by Regina Jeffers

How often have you read a Regency based story and the author uses some sort of concoction to incapacitate the hero or the heroine? Heck, I have written that plot line several times. Yet, what was the truth of this action?

Mostly used during the period were opium based and alcohol based mixtures and were used for pain. Some were plant based in could be found among the herbal realm, but, generally, nothing during the day worked efficiently and safely. Part of the problem was the dosage could not be adjusted for the person’s weight and medical history, as one might find today. A woman like my 95 pounds mother might be given the same dosage as a 200 pounds man. Continue reading →

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Practicing Medicine in Jane Austen’s Regency England

Posted on May 3, 2023 by Regina Jeffers

In Regency England, the medical field consisted of apothecaries, surgeons, and physicians. Only physicians could call themselves “Doctor.” Continue reading →

Posted in British history, Georgian England, Georgian Era, herbs, history, Jane Austen, Living in the Regency, medicine, Pride and Prejudice, real life tales, Regency era, research | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 6 Comments

Admiral Croft’s Gout in Austen’s “Persuasion” and How to Cure It…

Posted on March 15, 2023 by Regina Jeffers

In Chapter 18 of Jane Austen’s Persuasion, Mary Musgrove writes to her sister Anne Elliot of their father’s tenants, the Crofts. “I have this moment heard that the Crofts are going to Bath almost immediately: they think the Admiral gouty.” Continue reading →

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Bleeding a Patient to Cure Apoplexy During the Regency Era

Posted on May 27, 2022 by Regina Jeffers

In Regency novels, the reader frequently reads of one of the characters suffering an apoplexy. Exactly, what does that mean? Apoplexy (from the Ancient Greek, meaning “a striking away”) is bleeding within internal organs and the accompanying symptoms. For example, ovarian apoplexy is … Continue reading →

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Mrs. Beeton’s Book of Household Management, a Guest Post from Gianna Thomas

Posted on March 20, 2018 by Regina Jeffers

This post originally appeared on Austen Authors on October 30, 2017. Enjoy!  Bless Sharon Lathan. She did a series of blogs about servants of the 18th and 19th centuries and had a reference to Mrs. Beeton’s Book of Household Management. I’m … Continue reading →

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The 1832 Cholera Outbreak in England

Posted on November 17, 2017 by Regina Jeffers

Lieutenant-General Lord William Henry Cavendish-Bentinck, known as Lord William Bentinck, was a British soldier and statesman. He served as Governor-General of India from 1828 to 1835. In 1831, he wrote a letter to his brother, the Duke of Portland, in … Continue reading →

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Herbal Medicine Used in Regency Period

Posted on October 6, 2017 by Regina Jeffers

There is a scene in the The Earl Claims His Comfort where my heroine, who is what was known as a “white witch,” meaning she was a healer dealing in herbs and potions, was treating a leg wound of one of … Continue reading →

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Anxiety Treatment, or What Would Mrs. Bennet Take for Her “Nerves”?

Posted on December 8, 2015 by Regina Jeffers

Ever wonder what was available for Jane Austen’s character Mrs. Bennet as treatment for the lady’s “nerves”?  According to Culpepper’s Complete Herbal: Consisting of a Comprehensive Description of Nearly All Herbs with Their Medicinal Properties and Directions for Compounding the … Continue reading →

Posted in American History, British history, Great Britain, herbs, Jane Austen, Living in the Regency, real life tales, Regency era, Victorian era | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments