Category Archives: history

Gretna Green: Secret Engagements, Elopements and the World’s Most Famous Anvil, a Guest Post from Eliza Shearer

(This post originally appeared on the Austen Authors’ blog on December 1, 2017. Enjoy!)                   After many years in my “to visit” list, I finally had the chance to make it to … Continue reading

Posted in British history, buildings and structures, Church of England, customs and tradiitons, Georgian England, Georgian Era, Great Britain, Gretna Green, Guest Post, history, Jane Austen, legends, Living in the Regency, marriage, marriage customs, marriage licenses, Pride and Prejudice | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | Comments Off on Gretna Green: Secret Engagements, Elopements and the World’s Most Famous Anvil, a Guest Post from Eliza Shearer

Oh, What Tangled Webs We Weave: The Complicated Banbury Peerage Case

In writing historicals set in England in the early 1800s, it is necessary for me to possess more than a working knowledge of primogeniture, which is both the custom and the law of inheritance in practice at that time. In … Continue reading

Posted in British history, Church of England, historical fiction, history, Inheritance, Jane Austen, marriage, primogenture, titles of aristocracy | Tagged , , , , , | 2 Comments

Roderick Maclean’s Attempt to Kill Queen Victoria

The last of the attempts on Queen Victoria’s life came on March 2, 1882. Unlike the previous attempts, this one was dangerous because by that date, weapons were well beyond the single shot volley stage. Roderick Maclean’s gun held six … Continue reading

Posted in Act of Parliament, British history, England, history, kings and queens, research, royalty, Victorian era | Tagged , , , , , , | Comments Off on Roderick Maclean’s Attempt to Kill Queen Victoria

Albert Young’s Threat Toward and Arthur O’Connor’s Attempt to Kill Queen Victoria

It was twenty-two years after Robert Pate’s ill-fated attempt to kill Queen Victoria before another attempt was made against her. According to Raymond Lamont-Brown in How Fat Was Henry VIII (The History Press, 2009, page 149) Albert Young’s threat against … Continue reading

Posted in British history, England, Great Britain, history, real life tales, research, royalty, Victorian era | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , | Comments Off on Albert Young’s Threat Toward and Arthur O’Connor’s Attempt to Kill Queen Victoria

Celebrating the Release of “Follow Your Star Home” with Jude Knight and the Bluestocking Belles

To be a Princess Have you heard the joke about the girl who wanted to be treated like a princess? So her father married her off to a stranger to cement his trade alliance. That’s not the modern view of … Continue reading

Posted in book excerpts, book release, Guest Post, historical fiction, history, holidays, marriage, reading, reading habits, romance, world history | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 4 Comments

William Hamilton, an Irishman’s Attempt to Kill Queen Victoria

  Thursday, 19 May 1849, William Hamilton, a 22-years-old, orphaned, unemployed Irish bricklayer, fired a pistol at the Queen Victoria, as she drove, yet again, down Constitution hill toward Buckingham Palace. This was shortly after the birth of her seventh child. … Continue reading

Posted in British history, England, Great Britain, history, political stance, real life tales, research, royalty, Victorian era, weaponry | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Rites of Mourning and the Recent Release of “Where There’s a FitzWILLiam Darcy, There’s a Way”

The mourning rites we customarily think of as being so strict during the Regency era, were actually those imposed by Queen Victoria after the death of her husband, Prince Albert. Victoria was known to wear black for many years and … Continue reading

Posted in Austen Authors, book excerpts, book release, books, British history, eBooks, estates, Georgian England, Georgian Era, historical fiction, history, Jane Austen, Living in the Regency, Living in the UK, Pride and Prejudice, reading, research, romance, tradtions, Vagary, Wales, word origins, writing | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , | 4 Comments

Preparing for the September 10 Release of “Where There’s a FitzWILLiam Darcy, There’s a Way” + a Giveaway

IT IS ON ITS WAY!!! The release of Where There’s a FitzWILLiam Darcy, There’s a Way is scheduled for Monday, September 10. The premise behind the story is Mr. Bennet has passed from a heart attack, which, ironically, occurred on … Continue reading

Posted in Austen Authors, book excerpts, book release, excerpt, Georgian England, giveaway, historical fiction, history, Inheritance, Jane Austen, Living in the Regency, Pride and Prejudice, publishing, reading, Regency era, research, Vagary, writing | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , | 38 Comments

Richard Bertie’s Attempt to Become Lord Willoughby d’Eresby ~ Part I

Like Barry Lyndon (see post on November 27, 2017), Richard Bertie was born of humble origins, but aspired to claim a peerage through marriage. Bertie (ca. 1517 – 9 April 1582) made an astounding marriage to the widowed Duchess of … Continue reading

Posted in Act of Parliament, British history, Elizabeth I, family, history, Inheritance, marriage, peerage, primogenture, real life tales | Tagged , , , , | Comments Off on Richard Bertie’s Attempt to Become Lord Willoughby d’Eresby ~ Part I

The Early Origins of the Novel

In the mid to late 1700s, the novel, as a means of literary expression developed to an art form. In many of the Regency-based romances that I read, it speaks of the “novel” being something females might read, rather than … Continue reading

Posted in American History, book excerpts, British history, Georgian Era, Great Britain, history, Jane Austen, publishing, reading habits, writing | Tagged , , , , , , | 3 Comments