Category Archives: real life tales

Death and Dying in Regency England

As with any good (or bad) mystery, there are several deaths in my next Jane Austen adaptation/sequel, The Mysterious Death of Mr. Darcy. However, death and funerals were not on the order of present day “farewells.” If one has ever … Continue reading

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The Nomenclature of Nineteenth Century Address

How did one keep all those numerous titles straight when he addressed the members of the aristocracy and the titled? Here are some of the MANY differences of which one needed to be aware: “Lady” – used for the wife … Continue reading

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A Lesson on Victorian Prison Reform

Victorians were worried about the rising crime rate: offences went up from about 5,000 per year in 1800 to about 20,000 per year in 1840. They were firm believers in punishment for criminals, but faced a problem: what should the … Continue reading

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Ed Gein: The Real-Life Norman Bates

Of late, I’ve spent a lot of research hours on grave robbing, especially as it was practiced during the early 1800s. The need for medical schools to rob graves of “fresh” corpses to use as cadavers is common knowledge, but … Continue reading

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Stir-Up Sunday: Do You Know How to Celebrate with the Christmas Pudding?

Stir-up Sunday is an informal term in Anglican churches for the last Sunday before the season of Advent. The term comes from the opening words of the collect for the day in the Book of CommonPrayer of 1549 and later (a translation of … Continue reading

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