A Bit on Copperplate Handwriting . . .

Posted on September 18, 2023 by Regina Jeffers

Reader’s Question: Could someone tell if the person was right-handed or left-handed by the slant of their letters on a page?

First, let’s speak to what was known as Copperplate Handwriting, what we now call “calligraphy.” Copperplate script is the style most commonly associated with English Roundhand. First, let us define the terminology.

Calligraphy (from Greek καλλιγραφία (kalligraphía) ‘beautiful writing’) is a visual art related to writing and is the design and execution of lettering with a pen, ink brush, or other writing instrument.

https://www.forcmagazine.com/the-art-of-calligraphy/

Round hand (also roundhand) is a type of handwriting originating in England in the 1660s primarily by the writing masters John Ayres and William Banson. Characterized by an open flowing hand (style) and subtle contrast of thick and thin strokes deriving from metal pointed nibs in which the flexibility of the metal allows the left and right halves of the point to spread apart under light pressure and then spring back together, the popularity of round hand grew rapidly, becoming codified as a standard, through the publication of printed writing manuals. (Round hand)

George Bickham’s Round hand script, from The Universal Penman, c. 1740–1741 ~ Public Domain ~ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Round_hand#/media/File:Bickham-letter.png

Copperplate script is often used as an umbrella term for various forms of pointed pen calligraphy, Copperplate most accurately refers to script styles represented in copybooks [a book used in education that contains examples of handwriting and blank space for learners to imitate] created using the intaglio printmaking method which is largely used today for banknotes, passports, and some postage stamps].

Because in the 18th century good penmanship was primarily considered an important business skill, the copybooks frequently were oriented towards autodidacts wishing to learn business skills, and therefore included chapters on general business management as well as lessons in accounting. Other copybooks, however, focused chiefly on writing literacy and used maxims and sometimes Bible verses as their material. It was intended that students memorize not only correct penmanship, but correct morals as well, through exposure to traditional sayings. [Tamara Plakins Thornton, “Handwriting in America: A cultural history.” Page 12.]

The term Copperplate Script identifies one of the most well-known and appreciated calligraphic styles of all time. Earlier versions of this script required a thin-tipped feather pen. Later, with the rise of industrialization, the use of more flexible and durable fine-point metal nibs became widespread. Many masters offered their contributions in defining the aesthetic canons of the copperplate script, but what really stood out as fundamental was the work of the writing master and engraver George Bickham, who in his book The Universal Penman (1733–1741) collected script samples from twenty-five of the most talented London calligraphers. Copperplate was undoubtedly the most widespread script in the period between the 17th and 18th centuries, and its influence spread not only throughout Europe but also in North America.

People were schooled pretty hard to look exactly as the provided examples. On a side note, my son, who was still ambidextrous at the time, was “forced” in third grade to use D’Nealian, a style of writing and teaching cursive and manuscript adapted from the Palmer Method. Because he had not chosen a dominant hand by then, he would switch hands based on the direction the letters in his name took. The “J” and the “s” and the “a” all swept to the left; therefore, he used his left hand for those. The others letters swept to the right, and he would use his right hand for those. Because of this, his teacher wanted him tested for special education. Though I knew it was foolish, I agree. He was found to possess a very hight IQ, but with a tendency for perfectionism. Even today, one can barely read his handwriting. LOL!

Something more obscure than a particular letter formation would likely be required to tell the difference. Though it could be done. Just not as easy as today when people write all over the place.

Generally speaking, a person cannot tell handedness (left or right, though there can be some clues) or the sex of the writer in handwriting. Yes, we get some good ideas, but not factual. We Romance writers put lots of things about handwriting in our books, and without knowing any better, we customarily come up with the right answer. We do not see the alpha hero with soft, curly writing. He usually slashes his signature across the paper. When we have a strong heroine, she usually has a no-nonsense writing the hero notes. It is just common sense, though it is not something you would take to court. And a character like the Scarlet Pimpernel might try to write in an affected way to look foppish…

Though generally one cannot tell handedness (left or right), though some clues would exist, especially for a historical tale.

When a person is writing with a quill pen, which was the only type of pen available during the Georgian era, the nib of the quill was cut with a split down the middle to allow for the flow of ink. When the nib was pulled across the surface of the paper, as was done by right-handed writers, the ink flowed smoothly onto the paper (unless the nib was in need of mending).

However, left-handed writers had to push the nib over the surface of the paper. Therefore, the two sides of the nib might separate and drag on the paper, especially if it had any texture, (which most hand-made paper did), and the result would be tiny splatters of ink mixed in with the writing. It was for that reason that Leonardo da Vinci, a left-hander, wrote all his notes backwards. His so-called “mirror writing” was not intended as code, he simply wanted to enjoy the better, and cleaner, writing experience of pulling the nib over the surface of the paper instead of having to push it. [As another side note, both my daughter-in-law, who is an elementary school teacher, and my eldest granddaughter are lefties. I often purchase the granddaughter notebooks, etc., made specifically for left-handed students.]

As believed in ancient times (and perhaps even today, especially as our world seems to be returning to many of the earlier maxims) left-handed people were “broken” from those preferences early on. As it was explained to me, left in Latin is sinister, which apparently raised visions of the Devil in most who practiced the Christian faith. For which reason, most Christian children who showed left-handed tendencies were forced to write and do other things with their right hand. With this in mind, there were few “lefties” letters or documents in the early days of writing written by those who were left-handed, at least among the literate.

Elsewhere in the world, writing originally was right to left, as in Arabic countries. But with the invention of ink, the letters were smeared. With so relative few people literate (basically the wealthy and the church), making changes which did not affect the masses ,writing was changed to be a left to right direction. With 90% right-handed, and many left forced to change, most everyone was made to pull the pen instead of push it.

Interestingly, even with the ball point pen, when one rounds a corner (easier to see with a sharper corner), there is a small drop/deposit of ink after the curve. Look at the way most of us make a cursive small “L” or the top of a small “F” or “H.”  One can see the drop of ink after the writer rounds the top and brings the stroke down. Such does not show handedness, but it can be of help with other things. Just saying, in modern terms, the instrument can make a difference.

On a different note: Margins were invented by the monks who made the fantastic Illuminated Manuscripts. Decades of turning the pages spoiled their drawings at the edges, so they made the drawings further in – creating margins – to save their work.

Posted in American History, books, British history, England, Georgian England, Georgian Era, Great Britain, history, Living in the Regency, Living in the UK, reading, Regency era, research, terminology, Victorian era, writing | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , | 4 Comments

Happy 6th Book Birthday to The Earl Claims His Comfort: Book 2 of The Twins’ Trilogy

Posted on September 15, 2023 by Regina Jeffers

On 4 August 2023, I shared an excerpt from Book 1 of the Twins’ Trilogy, Angel Comes to the Devil’s Keep, Book 1 of the Twins’ Trilogy, for that book was celebrating its 7th’s Book Birthday.

Today I have an excerpt in celebration of the 6th Book Birthday of The Earl Claims His Comfort, which is Book 2 of the Twins’ Trilogy. In the previous book, Levison Davids, the Earl of Remmington, loses Miss Angelica Lovelace to his best friend, Huntington McLaughlin, the Marquess of Malvern. Rem has attempted “love” twice – once with his long-time first love, Lady Delia, and then with Angel. He is a bruised soul, and only a “white witch,” a woman who deals in herbs and potions, can heal him. But before Miss Comfort Neville can cure what ails Remmington, a mystery that threatens to steal away his earldom must be solved.

The Earl Claims His Comfort, Book 2 of the Twins’ Trilogy 

2016 Hot Prospects Award Finalist, Romantic Suspense

Hurrying home to Tegen Castle from the Continent to assume guardianship of a child not his, but one who holds his countenance, Levison Davids, Earl of Remmington, is shot on the road and left to die. The incident has Remmington chasing after a man who remains one step ahead and who claims a distinct similarity—a man who wishes to replace Remmington as the rightful earl. Rem must solve the mystery of how Frederick Troutman’s life parallels his own while protecting his title, the child, and the woman he loves.

Comfort Neville has escorted Deirdre Kavanaugh from Ireland to England, in hopes the Earl of Remmington will prove a better guardian for the girl than had the child’s father. When she discovers the earl’s body upon road backing the castle, it is she who nurses him to health. As the daughter of a minor son of an Irish baron, Comfort is impossibly removed from the earl’s sphere, but the man claims her affections. She will do anything for him, including confronting his enemies. When she is kidnapped as part of a plot for revenge against the earl, she must protect Rem’s life, while guarding her heart.

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Chapter One 

“Cannot recall the last time I slept in my own bed,” he murmured to no one in particular as he stood to claim his bearings. The room swirled before his eyes, but Rem shook off the feeling. Of late, it was common for him to know a buzzing in his brain.

Levison Davids, the 17th Earl of Remmington, set the glass down harder than he intended. He had drunk more than he should, but it was the only means to bolster his waning resolve. His home shire often brought on a case of maudlin.

Attempting to walk with the confidence his late father always demanded of his sons, he turned toward the door.

Lev was not supposed to be the earl. His father groomed Rem’s older brother Robbie for the role, but Fate had a way of spitting in a man’s eye when he least expected it.

Outside, the chilly air took the edge off the numbness the heavy drink provided him, and for a brief moment Rem thought to return to the common room to reinforce the black mood the drink induced. A special form of “regret” plagued his days and nights since receiving word of his ascension to the earldom.

“Storm comin’,” the groom warned when he brought Rem’s horse around.

“We’re in York,” Remmington replied in explanation.

Customarily, he would not permit the groom to offer him a leg up, but Rem’s determination to reach his country estate had waned in the hours he had spent at the inn. Nearly a month prior, he received a note via Sir Alexander Chandler that Rem’s presence was required at his home seat, and so he set out from France, where he had spent the last year, to answer another call of duty.

Sir Alexander offered little information on why someone summoned Rem home, only that the message came from his housekeeper. It did not matter that the journey required that Rem leave an ongoing investigation behind for he knew the others in service to Sir Alexander also possessed the knowledge and the stealth to see a successful end. Moreover, the baronet had assured Rem that several missions on English shores required Remmington’s “special” skills.

He caught the reins to turn the stallion in a tight circle. Tossing the groom a coin, he kicked Draco’s sides to set the horse into a gallop.

Even when the dark swallowed them up, Rem enjoyed the power the rhythm of the horse’s gait provided. He and the animal raced across the valley before emerging onto the craggy moors. At length, Rem skirted the rocky headland, and he slowed Draco as the cliff tops came into view. When he reached Davids’ Point, he urged the stallion into a trot. Rem could no longer see the trail, but his body knew it as well as it knew the sun would rise on the morrow. Eventually, Rem jerked Draco’s reins hard to the left, and as a pair they plunged onto the long-forgotten trail.

Rem leaned low over the stallion’s neck to avoid the tree limbs before he directed Draco to an adjacent trail that led upward toward the family estate, setting high upon a hill overlooking the breakwaters.

When he reached the main road again, Remmington pulled up on the reins to bring the animal to a halt. He patted Draco’s neck, as he stared through the night at his childhood home framed against the rising moonlight. It often made Rem sad to realize how much he once loved the estate as a child and how much he now despised it.

“No love left in the bricks,” he said through a thick throat. “Even the dowager countess no longer wishes to live here. How can I?”

It was not always so. Although he was a minor son, Rem always thought to share Tegen Castle with his wife and children. To relate tales of happier days.

“But after Lady Delia’s betrayal and then likewise that of Miss Lovelace, I possess no heart to begin again.”

In truth, of the two ladies, Rem had only loved Lady Delia. “Fell in love with the girl when I was but fourteen and she ten.” Rem crossed his arms over the saddle’s point to study the distant manor house. “Perhaps Delia could find no solace here,” he murmured aloud.

Even today, it bothered Lev to realize Delia did not care enough for him to send Rem a letter denying their understanding. He learned of Delia’s marrying Baron Kavanagh from Sir Alexander with whom Rem served upon the Spanish front. Sir Alexander’s younger brother delivered the news in a cheeky letter.

“I suppose Lady Delia thought being a baroness was superior to being Mrs. Davids. Little did she know I would claim the earldom. More is the pity for her.”

A large raindrop plopped upon the back of Remmington’s hand.

“If we do not speed our return to the castle, my friend, we will arrive with a wet seat.”

Rem caught up the loose reins, but before he could set his heels into Draco’s sides, a shot rang out. By instinct, Rem prepared to dive for the nearby ditch; yet, the heavy drink slowed his response, and Remmington knew the sharp sting of the bullet in his thigh.
Draco bolted forward before he had control of the stallion’s reins. Rem felt himself slipping from the saddle, but there was little he could do to prevent the impact.

He slammed hard into the packed earth just as the heavens opened with a drenching rain. The back of his head bounced hard against a paving stone, and a shooting pain claimed his forehead.

Even then, Rem thought to sit up so he might take cover, but the effort was short coming. The biting pain in his leg and the sharp pain claiming his vision fought for control. The blow to his head won, and Rem closed his eyes to welcome the new darkness.

* * *

“It still be raining, Miss Comfort,” the child said as she crawled into bed.

Comfort tucked the blankets about the girl. Little did she know when Baron Kavanagh ordered her to deliver Miss Deirdre to the Earl of Remmington that she would be more than a month tending the child without any sign of His Lordship.

“The weather shall not stop us from gathering herbs in the morning,” Comfort assured.
Deirdre took to the study of herbs and healing as quickly as had her mother.

Poor Lady Delia had tried every herb possible to increase her chances of delivering an heir for Kavanagh, but the baroness was not made to carry full term. She had lost several babes before Comfort had seen her to a successful delivery. Lady Kavanagh had drawn a shot straw in marrying the baron, and Comfort never understood the woman’s choice. Kavanagh treated his wife poorly and only when Lady Delia delivered the title’s heir did the man permit his baroness any surcease.

“Good,” the child declared. “I enjoy the days when we search for  herbs for our food and for assisting His Lordship’s tenants.”

Comfort smiled easily at the child: the girl was truly the spirit and image of her late mother.

Poor Deirdre suffered the venomous attack of Baron Kavanagh before Comfort and the child departed Ireland. It was a wonder the girl did not fear the world, but the child walked about with hope resting plainly upon her sleeve. Comfort supposed childhood resilience had something to do with how Deirdre had accepted her father’s words as the truth.

“I want Remmington’s bastard from my sight,” Kavanagh thundered as Miss Deirdre cowered behind Comfort’s skirts. “I cannot claim another to marriage while the earl’s by-blow wears my name.”

Comfort wanted to remind the baron that legally Deirdre would always be his responsibility and would never claim the name of Davids. She also wished to warn Kavanagh against using such crude language before the child, but she did neither. Instead, Comfort negotiated additional funds to tend to Miss Deirdre’s needs until Lord Remmington could claim the girl’s guardianship. Although she doubted there was a legal means for Lord Remmington to do so, she prayed the earl would treat Miss Deirdre more kindly than did the child’s father.

She set a candle on the far table to provide the child solace until Comfort could finish her chores and joined the child in the bed.

“My sweet Deirdre,” she thought as she glanced again to the countenance of the sleeping girl.

Comfort wondered at the irony of the choice of the child’s name. Deirdre was a tragic figure in an Irish legend that died of a broken heart when she was forced to marry Ulster’s King Conchobhar. The King killed her lover Naoise. Every true Irishman recognized the name “Deirdre” as coming from the old Gaelic name “Derdriu,’ meaning unknown.

The girl, less than six years of age, certainly held no identity. Kavanagh refused to claim his first born, and Lord Remmington knew nothing of the baron’s accusation.

“What vice have I executed against the child by escorting her to York?” she wondered.
“I pray the earl returns soon,” Comfort murmured. “This not knowing Miss Deirdre’s future has both of us playing a game I fear will break the child’s heart.”

* * *

Rem held no idea how often he had come to only to succumb to the darkness of his soul rushing in once again. Twice he attempted to reach where Draco ate his fill of the wet grass. Once he managed to lift his head to whistle for the stallion. Draco responded as Rem trained the horse to do, but Rem’s efforts to catch the stirrups proved fruitless. At length, Draco moved away to take up his unexpected feast, and Rem permitted the exhaustion to claim him.

Partially conscious throughout his ordeal, Rem knew when the heavy rain dwindled to the steady dripping from the trees. He recognized the slow decline in the temperature as the coolness slipped into every bone of his body except the one supporting the area where the bullet filled his veins with fire.

Will I die on this lonely road? His mind asked the question again and again. Irony. I am but a half mile from my childhood home, and there is no one to tend me.

Except perhaps his mother and his sister, Rem considered again how others would not think his demise worthy of note. He would be simply the latest Earl of Remmington to meet an unexpected death. His father tripped on a loose board upon the stairs and plunged head first to the foyer of the main hall, while his brother had an equally unprecedented accident less than a year into his reign as the 16th Earl of Remmington: Robinson Davids cleaned his favorite gun one too many times. The servants discovered Robinson slumped over his desk with a bullet hole in his chest.

Summoned home from the Continent to assume the earldom, Rem examined all the evidenced that Sir Alexander accumulated, but like the baronet, Rem uncovered nothing more suspicious than a dozen unanswered questions.

At long last, perhaps the baronet will know success, Rem considered. No one can call the bullet in my leg an accident.

* * *

Comfort tugged harder on the vegetable cart she rescued from the shed behind the dowager house she shared with Miss Deirdre. The three-wheeled cart bounced along the root-filled path.

When she and the child arrived at Tegen Castle, the earl’s butler refused them admittance, literally driving her and Miss Deirdre from the threshold. Only by the goodness of Mrs. Stoddard, the castle’s housekeeper, did they find a means to survive.

Against Mr. Flood’s wishes, Mrs. Stoddard presented Comfort the key to the dower house. “Her Ladyship retired to another of Lord Remmington’s properties, but if you are handy with a pot and a few chores, you may remain until I send for the earl.” Mrs. Stoddard caressed Deirdre’s cheek. “His Lordship would expect me to protect Lady Delia’s child. I will have the servants bring you firewood and as many supplies as I can spare from Mr. Flood’s oversight. Can you do as I ask, Girl?”

Needless to say, Comfort made all the necessary promises, but now she held second thoughts. Before she departed Ireland, she sent a letter and a promise to her cousin to join Isolde’s household to tend the Baroness Swenton’s delivery of the baron’s first child. Isolde married the baron six months prior, and Comfort was to assist Isolde’s time. Unfortunately, Comfort was more than a week tardy in her arrival at Swenton Hall.

“For what do we search today?” Deirdre called as she danced along the rutted path before Comfort.

Comfort brought her thoughts to task at hand. “Soapwort for Mr. Thorne’s carbuncle,” she pronounced with a grunt of effort to right the cart when it veered to the left. “Devil’s claw for Mr. Pratt’s sore knee.”

When Mrs. Stoddard learned that Comfort had the gift of healing, the housekeeper turned several of the earl’s tenants to Comfort’s care.

“Shepherd’s purse for Mrs. Stoddard’s niece, Pearl,” Comfort thought aloud. “We can always use dandelion root, watercress, rosemary, parsley, and winter savory for the meals, so keep your eyes sharp for any of those.

“Can we not use the herbs in the estate’s garden?” Deirdre reasoned.

“I would prefer not to be more indebted to Mrs. Stoddard than we already are. The lady places her position in jeopardy to protect us. Moreover, we hold no knowledge of His Lordship’s ready return.”

Deirdre nodded her understanding, but the child appeared distracted by something up ahead.

“What is amiss, Deirdre?” Comfort called as she maneuvered the cart up the incline to the main road leading behind the estate.

Deirdre stood squinting into the early morning sun. “Do you see a bit of red where the forest opens for the lane leading to the manor?”

Comfort wiped her brow against her sleeve and used her arm to block the sun. A sense of dread skittered up her spine. “We should have a closer look,” she murmured. “Likely nothing more than a wildflower or a lady’s ribbon.”

Comfort took up the handles of the cart once more and started toward the spot Deirdre noted. She glanced to the child who walked a half step behind her. The girl knew fright, but she trusted Comfort to protect her. The idea pleased Comfort, but it also brought on her own anxiety. They approached the spot slowly. Neither of them spoke; the road curved at an odd angle, and a deceptively steep incline kept them from discovering the answer until they were within yelling distance of the place.

“It is a horse,” Deirdre declared as she rushed forward.

Comfort abandoned the cart and raced to reach the animal before the child.

“Wait, Deirdre,” she cautioned. “We must be certain a gentleman is not…”

“Not what?” The child screwed up her face in confusion.

Comfort swallowed her embarrassment. “Men are obstinate creatures, and we women cannot predict their ways.”

Her answer made little sense in relation to the child’s question, but Deirdre appeared satisfied.“You wait here. If I tell you to run,” Comfort warned. “Go quickly. Find Mrs. Stoddard.”

“Yes, Ma’am,” Deirdre said in quiet fear.

Comfort edged closer to the horse. It was a beautiful stallion. Strong hindquarter. Black as coal. The bit of red was a line detailing the saddle’s engraving.

“Éasca, mo áilleacht,” she said as she stroked the animal’s neck. “Where is your master?”
Comfort noted the saddle and harness were wet. The horse had been out in the rain all night. “An bhfuil tú gortaithe?” She ran her hands along the animal’s legs to search for swelling or a cut. Catching the harness, she turned the animal back toward the road.

“He is a mighty one,” Deirdre said in admiration. The child always wished for a pony of her own, but Lord Kavanagh denied the girl a place in his heart.

“He is at that,” Comfort spoke in caution. “I just wish I knew the whereabouts of his rider.”

“Do you think he is in the forest somewhere?” Deirdre’s fear flared again. “Should we not seek out Mr. Flood? He’d know if the horse belongs to one of His Lordship’s neighbors.”

Comfort glanced about them. “The horse was out in the rain overnight. A gentleman would never leave such a fine animal unless something amiss occurred. I think we should look about before we seek out Mr. Flood. His Lordship’s servant already holds us in contempt. If we bring a false tale to his attention, Mr. Flood will use it against us when Lord Remmington arrives. The earl’s butler will not be pleased if we set up a stir without proof.”

The child did not appear convinced, but Deirdre followed Comfort’s lead.

“Look for hoof prints. They should be clear after the rain,” she instructed. “But do not go into the woods alone. Just look for where the horse exited the forested area onto the road.”

“Yes, Ma’am.”

Comfort looped the animal’s reins loosely about one of the cart’s handles.

“I shall search this side of the road. You take the other side.”

Deirdre nodded her agreement.

They moved slowly along the lane, inspecting each marking. Comfort smiled when she noted how Deirdre squatted to look at several loose stones: The child embraced every task Comfort presented her. It was a true shame Baron Kavanagh treated the child so poorly. Lord Kavanagh would be blessed by Miss Deirdre’s pure affection.

“I plan to inspect the path upon which we discovered the horse,” Comfort instructed. “I shan’t go far, just deep enough into the passage to determine if the stallion and his rider followed the lane.” She pointed to a large elm overspreading the main road. “You are to go no further than the large tree at the fork. Wait for me there. Call out if you discover anything.”

* * *

In the deepest recesses of Rem’s mind, he thought he could hear someone talking, but the words remained garbled. His last conscious thought was of his impending death, so were the voices that of God’s angels.

Although he was certain his expression did not change physically, the thought brought a smile to Rem’s lips. “More likely the Devil’s disciples,” Rem’s mind announced. “You are not likely to know God’s mercy.”

The voices dwindled to an uncomfortable silence, and Rem fought for the clarity his injury denied him. For several elongated moments, his unconscious mind claimed dominance, and Rem found himself tumbling toward the darkness once again, but just as he abandoned the hope of the angels claiming him, a comfortably heavy weight landed upon his chest.

Thump.

The suddenness of the attack had Rem searching for his next breath.

“Here!” A screeching voice demanded. “Down here!”

There was fear and anxiousness in the tone, and something in Rem’s body reacted to the cry for assistance. His mind shut the door leading to the dark pit and began its climb toward the speck of light beckoning to him.

“Wake up!” the voice demanded.

Hands caught the lapels of Rem’s jacket to tug him forward. Even so, it was several seconds before he ventured to open his lids. When Rem did so, the light pierced his eyes causing him to blink hard to protect his sight.

“Can you hear me?” the voice asked as a body blocked out the sunlight to tower over him.

“I’m not deaf, demme it,” he hissed as he cracked his eyelids open to claim the light once more.

At length, the face hovering above his took on a familiar form. Dark curls. A heart-shaped face. The soft complexion of youth. The image brought him comfort while it frightened him beyond reason for he knew the figure before him dead.

“So, it is true?” Rem struggled through a dry throat, swallowing hard against the unreality of the situation. “God prefers his angels to possess the innocence of children.”

“I am no angel,” the face assured.

“You are…” Rem stumbled over the familiar name.

“Deirdre.”

“Delia.”

They said together.

“What?” Rem squeezed his eyes shut to clear his vision, but when he opened them again, the childlike image remained. “Are you Delia or not?” he demanded testily.

“Not,” the figure pronounced as confusion crossed her features.

Yet before Rem could gather his thought, the image retreated to be replaced by another. Blue-green eyes. Golden-red wisps of hair flamed with the light behind it. Full lips. Creamy white skin touched with flecks of the sun’s kiss. This was Remmington’s idea of an angel. Unfortunately, concern crossed the celestial being’s expression.

“Can you tell me what occurred? Are you injured?”

The “angel” ran her hands over Rem’s body to search for his wounds, but Rem held no thoughts of the woman’s charity. Her clean, slightly floral scent tempted him as nothing had in some two years. It claimed his reason and his desire to know the truth of the one “not” called “Delia.”

“Oh, my,” the woman said on a gasp as her fingers grazed his bloody leg. She jerked a scarf from her head and leaned over Rem’s body to wrap the cloth about his leg.

Rem knew he should warn her not to touch his wound, but the heat of her body draped over his danced through his veins. Her breasts brushed against his manhood, and despite his every limb feeling the numbness of inaction and the overnight rain, his body reacted to her closeness.

“We must remove you to safety,” she said in anxiousness as her image returned to a point above him. Without the scarf to cover her locks, the woman was more spectacular than before, and Rem permitted himself the hint of a smile.

“I shall return to the manor and plead for assistance,” she said as she prepared to stand. “You must have the services of a surgeon.”

Her words cleared the fog clinging to Rem’s mind. “No!” he snapped as he caught the stranger’s arm to stay her rise.

“You require a surgeon,” she reiterated.

Rem knew her correct, but his wound was no accident: He did not know whom he might trust among those at Tegen Castle.

“Even though I recovered your horse, I simply cannot permit you to attempt to ride on your own.”

“You found Draco?” he asked with an attempt to sit up only to have the woman shove downward on his shoulders.

“You cannot ride without assistance,” she insisted.

“You are not my demme mother,” Rem accused.

She shoved hard against his frame, and although he knew the woman meant it as part of her chastisement, his mind returned to the pleasure of having her so draped across his body. It was the first time in more than a year that he had felt an instant attraction to a woman.

“First, Sir, will not speak so freely before the child. If you continue to act without respect for Miss Deirdre’s tender nature, I shall leave your carcass here to rot.” The woman poked Rem’s chest with one of her fingers to punctuate her threat.“Moreover, from the cut of your clothes, I presume you to be a gentleman; therefore, you are expected at Tegen Castle.”

“Is Remmington not at the castle?” Rem said suspiciously. Some of his renowned reasoning had returned: After all, the woman leaning over him was a stranger. Perhaps she was involved in the attack upon his person.

“The earl is expected,” the woman repeated in what sounded of earnestness.

When she looked with more purpose upon his countenance, Rem noted a flicker of confusion crossed her expression.

“Even though you object,” Rem spoke with the authority he developed during his time serving under Wellington, “I mean to mount Draco and seek my own assistance.”

The woman continued to study Rem’s expression closely–too closely for his ease.

“Very well,” she said at length. “Permit me to lead your stallion to the shade of the tree. Draco will be waiting for you there.”

With that, the woman strode away to catch the girl by the hand and tug the child along behind her. In her anger, the female was magnificent. Rem raised himself to his elbows so he might observe her retreat. It was as he expected: He enjoyed the sway of her hips as she sidestepped her way across the short expanse leading to the back road of his estate.

Swallowing a cry of pain as he lifted his weight to a seated position, Rem calculated how many steps it would take to reach the large elm. “Twelve,” he grunted while rolling to his one good knee. Grabbing the spindle-like branches of a large shrub, Rem pulled himself to a standing position, purposely not placing weight on his left leg.

Blowing out a short breath, he took a tentative step forward, followed by a hobble step. His good leg remained numb from lack of use, while his injured one shot pains through his body to lodge in his tightened jaw. “Four,” Rem hissed as he repeated the maneuver, and his determination took hold.

However, the rocky path had a mind of its own. It rose up to claim his footing, and he stumbled to land face first in the mud.

“Hold the horse,” the woman instructed the child. She was scampering over the short distance to reach him.

“Keep back?” Rem growled as he shoved himself upward. The woman came to a stumbling halt. “I require no assistance.”

Biting down on his stubborn will, Rem slowly repeated the process of standing–this time without the aid of the shrubbery. Yet, his resolution had suffered a blow with his fall, and he swayed in place. His disorientation was enough to send the woman into action again. She rushed forward to brace Rem’s stance, and her floral scent filled his lungs, causing the dizziness to increase.

“Please permit me to assist you,” she pleaded.

“It is not necessary,” Rem insisted.

“Allow the woman her due,” a very masculine voice called out from behind where the child waited with Draco.

“What the bloody hell are you doing here?” Rem snapped as he took in the countenance of his former friend.

Yet before the Marquess of Malvern could respond, the woman shoved hard against Rem’s chest, sending him backward to land upon his posterior.

“I warned you, Sir, I would not tolerate your foul tongue!”

Posted in book excerpts, book release, books, British history, castles, estates, family, Georgian Era, Great Britain, historical fiction, Living in the Regency, marriage customs, medicine, mystery, primogenture, Regency era, Regency romance, writing | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , | 4 Comments

What is a “Letters Patent” and Why Is the Term Always Plural?

Posted on September 13, 2023 by Regina Jeffers

Letters patent is defined as a “type of legal instrument in the form of a published written order issued by a monarch, president or other head of state, generally granting an office, right, monopoly, title or status to a person or corporation. Letters patent can be used for the creation of corporations or government offices, or for granting city status or a coat of arms. Letters patent are issued for the appointment of representatives of the Crown, such as governors and governors-general of Commonwealth realms, as well as appointing a Royal Commission. In the United Kingdom, they are also issued for the creation of peers of the realm.”

Letters patent are so named from the Latin verb pateo, to lie open, exposed, accessible. The originator’s seal was attached pendent from the document, so that it did not have to be broken in order for the document to be read. They are called “letters” (plural) from their Latin name litterae patentes, used by medieval and later scribes when the documents were written in Latin. This loanword preserves the collective plural “letters” (litterae) that the Latin language uses to denote a message as opposed to a single alphabet letter (littera). [Cassell’s Latin Dictionary, revised by Marchant & Charles, 260th. thousand: “Literae, Plur: that which is written; Cicero: Dare alicui literas (plur) ad aliquem: to give to a messenger a letter for a third person” via Wikipedia]

Letters patent issued by Queen Victoria on 29 October 1900, creating the office of Governor-General of Australia as part of the process of Federation. Transcript: http://www.foundingdocs.gov.au/resources/transcripts/cth3i_doc_1900.pdfPDF ~ Public Domain ~ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Letters_patent#/media/File:Letters_Patent_Australia.jpg

Basically, it is a legal statement which takes the form of a published written order. The person in charge of the government is generally the one who issues this type of document/order, though I will mention a few exceptions further down in this piece. The person receiving the letters patent is being presented with an exclusive right, privilege, title or office.

Letters patent are used to create peerages. Letters patent must explicitly name the recipient of the title and specify the course of descent; the exact meaning of the term is determined by common law. For remainders in the Peerage of the United Kingdom, the most common wording is “to have and to hold unto him and the heirs male of his body lawfully begotten and to be begotten”. Where the letters patent specifies the peer’s heirs male of the body as successors, the rules of agnatic succession apply, meaning that succession is through the male line only. Some very old titles, like the Earldom of Arlington, may pass to heirs of the body (not just heirs-male), these follow the same rules of descent as do baronies by writ and seem able to fall into abeyance as well.

In the UK, letters patent are issued for appointing representatives of the Crown (i.e., the governor of one of the Commonwealth realms), as well as appointing a Royal Commission. They can be used for the creation of a peerage, as in this example of Wellington being made a duke.

CREATION OF FIELD-MARSHAL the Marquis of Wellington

to be Marquis of Douro and Duke of Wellington

64 Geo. III

1814

George the Third, by the grace of Godof the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland and of our other realms and territories, to all archbishops and all Lords Spiritual and Temporal, and all other of Our subjects whatsoever to whome these presents shall come, Greetings! Know ye that we of Our especial grace, certain knowledge and mere motion, have advanced, preferred and created our right trusty and entirely beloved cousin and councillor Field-Marshal Arthur, Marquis of Wellington, in our county of Somerset, Knight of the Most Noble Order of the Garter, to the state, degree, style, dignity, title and honour of Marquis Douro, And for Us Our heirs and successors do appoint, give, and grant unto him the said name, state, degree, style, dignity and honour of Marquis of Duoro. And moreover it being Our will and pleasure to dignify the said Arthur, Marquis of Wellington, with the title of Duke, and to admit him amongst the Dukes of our United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland of our more abundant especial grace and of our certain knowledge and mere motion, We have advanced, preferred, dignified, constituted and created the said Arthur, Marquis of Wellington, Duke of Wellington, in our county of Somerset, Also to the state, degree, style, title, dignity, name and honour of Duke of Wellington aforesaid. And him the said Arthur, Marquis of Wellington, Duke of Wellington, in our county of Somerset, Do by these presents advance, prefer, dignify, constitute and create, And we have appointed, given and granted by these presents for us, our heirs and successors, Do appoint, give and grant unto him, the said Arthur, Marquis of Wellington, the name, state, degree, style, dignity, title and honour of Duke of Wellington aforesaid. And him the said Arthur, Marquis of Wellington, by these presents we do dignify, invest and really enoble with such name, style, title, state, degree, dignity and honour of Duke of Wellington, in our county of Somerset, by girding him with a sword and putting a cap of honour and a coronet of gold on his head and by giving into his hand a rod of gold. To have and to hold the name, state, degree, style, dignity and honour of Duke of Wellington aforesaid, with all and singular pre-eminences and other honours belonging or appertaining to such name, style, title, state, degree, dignity and honour of Duke of Wellington aforesaid unto him the said Arthur, Marquis of Wellington, and the heirs male of his body lawfully begotten and to begotten for ever. And further we will and by these presents for us, our heirs and successors, Do give and grant unto the said Arthur, Marquis of Wellington, and his heirs male aforesaid, that he and his heirs male aforesaid, and every of them successively may bear and have the name, style, title, state, degree, dignity and honor of Duke of Wellington, and that they and every one of them successively may be called and styled by the name of Duke of Wellington. And that he, the said Arthur, Marquis of Wellington, and his heirs male aforesaid, and every one of them successively, may be held and deemed Dukes of Wellington, and be treated and reputed as dukes, and that they and every one of them successively may have, hold and possess a seat, place and voice in the Parliaments of us, our heirs and successors, within our United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland amongst other nobles and peers of this our United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland as Dukes of Wellington, and also that the said Arthur, Marquis of Wellington, and his heirs male aforesaid may enjoy and use, and every one of them successively may enjoy and use by the name of Duke of Wellington aforesaid, All and singular the rights, privileges, pre-eminences, immunities and advantages to the state of a duke in all things duly and of right belonging which other dukes of this our United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland have heretofore honourably and quietly used and enjoyed or as they do at present use and enjoy. And further we will and by these presents for us, our heirs and successors of our more ample grace Do grant unto the said Arthur, Marquis of Wellington, and his heirs male aforesaid, that these our letters patent or the enrolment thereof shall be sufficient and effectual in the law for the dignifying, investing and really enobling him, the said Arthur, Marquis of Wellington, and his heirs male aforesaid, with the several respective names, titles, dignities and honours of Marquis Douro and Duke of Wellington, in our county of Somerset, and this without any investiture, rites, ornaments or ceremonies whatsoever in this behalf due and accustomed which, for some certain reasons best known to us, we could not in due manner do and perform any ordinance, use, custom, rite, ceremony, prescription or provision due or used, or to be had, done or performed in conferring honours of this kind or any other matter or thing to the contrary thereof in any wise notwithstanding..

In witness whereof we have caused these our letters to be made patent. Witness Ourself at LOCATION) the nth day of MONTH in the xth year of Our Reign

The British monarchy might also use a letters patent to make an important announcement. Our dearest Queen Elizabeth II signed a letters patent only a few days before her passing. In it, the town of Colchester was presented the status of a “city.”

https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-essex-63741872

Here in the U.S., a letters patent (which we have a tendency to shorten to “patent,”) presents someone the patent for a new invention or discovery. The modern patent is protected by U.S. patent law, granting exclusive rights in an invention or a design.

Investopedia tells us, “Rights to a patent are effective only in the jurisdiction that granted the patent. The new invention is required to provide a different way of doing something or a unique solution. The opposite of letters patent is letters close, which are personal in nature and sealed so that only the recipient can read their contents.

“A letters patent is not sealed. Instead, it is open for public viewing at the patent and trademark office or another appropriate venue. A letters patent gives the rights of an invention to a person or entity for a limited period, usually for 20 years. The government may also refer to a patent as a ‘license’ giving its holder rights to the innovative process, design, or invention for a certain amount of time.

“The term appears to have originated from the Latin words “litterae patentes,” translated as “open letters” or “exposed letters” for public documents published by a monarch. The phrase evolved in English to refer to public documents signifying the rights to a new patent.”

The primary source of letters patent in the United States are intellectual property patents and land patents, though letters patent are issued for a variety of other purposes. They function dually as public records and personal certificates.

Public Domain ~ The Cooper Collection of Historical US Documents.
A U.S. General Land Office land patent for 40 acres of land in Dixon, Illinois, dated September 1, 1845. It is signed on behalf of President James K. Polk by Col. J. Knox Walker, the President’s private secretary and nephew. ~ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Letters_patent#/media/File:US_General_Land_Office_Deed_1845.jpg

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Frances “Fanny” Austen and the Character of Mrs. Croft in Jane Austen’s “Persuasion”

Posted on September 11, 2023 by Regina Jeffers

Before discussing Fanny Austen, we must, first, establish the lady’s relationship to the author Jane Austen by mentioning the lady’s husband, Rear Admiral Charles John Austen (23 June 1778 – 7 October 1852), who was the sixth and youngest son of the Reverend George Austen. Like his elder brother, Sir Francis Austen, Charles joined the Royal Navy Academy, eventually becoming a midshipman on HMS Daedalus and served throughout the French Revolution, the Napoleonic Wars, and beyond, achieving the rank of Rear Admiral.  

Austen married Frances Palmer, the subject of this piece, in 1807. She was the youngest daughter of the late Attorney-General of Bermuda. Together, they had three children. [Please note: After the death of Frances in 1814, Charles married his late wife’s sister, Harriet Palmer in 1820, which was, at that time contrary to the law of the land and considered a Voidable Marriage. Charles and Harriet had 4 children. One of his sons by Harriet followed in his father’s footsteps and joined the British Royal Navy.]

Yet, this piece is designed to use Fanny Austen as the model for Mrs. Croft in Jane Austen’s novel, Persuasion. Do you recall this scene? 

“Oh! Frederick! But I cannot believe it of you. –All idle refinement! –Women may be as comfortable on board, as in the best house in England. I believe I have lived as much on board as most women, and I know nothing superior to the accommodations of a man-of-war. I declare I have not a comfort or an indulgence about me, even at Kellynch Hall,” (with a kind bow to Anne), “beyond what I always had in most of the ships I have lived in; and they have been five altogether.”

“Nothing to the purpose,” replied her brother. “You were living with your husband, and were the only woman on board.”

“But you, yourself, brought Mrs Harville, her sister, her cousin, and three children, round from Portsmouth to Plymouth. Where was this superfine, extraordinary sort of gallantry of yours then?”

“All merged in my friendship, Sophia. I would assist any brother officer’s wife that I could, and I would bring anything of Harville’s from the world’s end, if he wanted it. But do not imagine that I did not feel it an evil in itself.”

“Depend upon it, they were all perfectly comfortable.”

“I might not like them the better for that perhaps. Such a number of women and children have no right to be comfortable on board.”

“My dear Frederick, you are talking quite idly. Pray, what would become of us poor sailors’ wives, who often want to be conveyed to one port or another, after our husbands, if everybody had your feelings?”

“My feelings, you see, did not prevent my taking Mrs Harville and all her family to Plymouth.”

“But I hate to hear you talking so like a fine gentleman, and as if women were all fine ladies, instead of rational creatures. We none of us expect to be in smooth water all our days.”

“Ah! my dear,” said the Admiral, “when he had got a wife, he will sing a different tune. When he is married, if we have the good luck to live to another war, we shall see him do as you and I, and a great many others, have done. We shall have him very thankful to anybody that will bring him his wife.”

“Ay, that we shall.”

“Now I have done,” cried Captain Wentworth. “When once married people begin to attack me with,–`Oh! you will think very differently, when you are married.’ I can only say, `No, I shall not;’ and then they say again, `Yes, you will,’ and there is an end of it.”

He got up and moved away.

“What a great traveller you must have been, ma’am!” said Mrs Musgrove to Mrs Croft.

“Pretty well, ma’am in the fifteen years of my marriage; though many women have done more. I have crossed the Atlantic four times, and have been once to the East Indies, and back again, and only once; besides being in different places about home: Cork, and Lisbon, and Gibraltar. But I never went beyond the Streights, and never was in the West Indies. We do not call Bermuda or Bahama, you know, the West Indies.”

Mrs Musgrove had not a word to say in dissent; she could not accuse herself of having ever called them anything in the whole course of her life.

“And I do assure you, ma’am,” pursued Mrs Croft, “that nothing can exceed the accommodations of a man-of-war; I speak, you know, of the higher rates. When you come to a frigate, of course, you are more confined; though any reasonable woman may be perfectly happy in one of them; and I can safely say, that the happiest part of my life has been spent on board a ship. While we were together, you know, there was nothing to be feared. Thank God! I have always been blessed with excellent health, and no climate disagrees with me. A little disordered always the first twenty-four hours of going to sea, but never knew what sickness was afterwards. The only time I ever really suffered in body or mind, the only time that I ever fancied myself unwell, or had any ideas of danger, was the winter that I passed by myself at Deal, when the Admiral (Captain Croft then) was in the North Seas. I lived in perpetual fright at that time, and had all manner of imaginary complaints from not knowing what to do with myself, or when I should hear from him next; but as long as we could be together, nothing ever ailed me, and I never met with the smallest inconvenience.”

From Austen’s letters, as well as others in her family such as Caroline Austen (Fanny’s niece) and Fanny Knight who wrote in her diary in May 1807, “Uncle Charles and the lovely Fanny Palmer are married at Bermuda.” (Deidre Le Faye’s Chronology of Jane Austen and Her Family, page 339)

Charles Austen first met Frances Fitzwilliam Palmer when Fanny was but 15. Charles was twelve years her senior. They, however, reportedly fell deeply in love. Eventually, they were married in St. Peter’s Church, Bermuda on 19 May 1807. She was 17, at the time.

His land base during their early years of marriage was St. George’s, Bermuda, where Fanny tended to their daughters, Cassandra Esten (born in December 1808) and Harried Jane (who arrived in February 1810). We know something of her life with Charles in the letters she wrote to family during their years together. From those letters we know that Fanny looked up to her husband with much admiration. We know they appeared to be a happily married couple, who enjoyed each other’s company. They had an active social life together in Halifax, as his promotion to post captain and the command of the Swiftsure, the flagship of his commander-in-chief, Admiral Sir John Borlase Warren, placed him thusly.

As to the character of Mrs. Croft, like Fanny, Mrs. Croft was noticeably content in sharing her husband’s lifestyle. Mrs. Croft and the Admiral were a “particularly attached and happy” pairing. Austen allows the reader to view their relationship in some detail. For example, when the Crofts are out driving in a gig, we read: “But by coolly giving the reins a better direction herself, they happily passed the danger; and by once afterwards judiciously putting out her hand, they neither fell into a rut, nor ran foul of a dung-cart; and Anne, with some amusement at their style of driving, which she imagined no bad representation of the general guidance of their affairs, found herself safely deposited by them at the cottage.” Mrs. Croft does not criticize her husband, she simply assists him where needed.

As did Mrs. Croft when she said: The only time I ever really suffered in body or mind, the only time that I ever fancied myself unwell, or had any ideas of danger, was the winter that I passed by myself at Deal, when the Admiral (Captain Croft then) was in the North Seas. I lived in perpetual fright at that time, and had all manner of imaginary complaints from not knowing what to do with myself, or when I should hear from him next…, Fanny Austen wrote of her anguish when Captain Austen delivered troops close to the battle ground in Portugal during the Peninsular War. She wrote (summer 1810): “Captain Austen’s sudden departure, and the uncertainty of his returning…if he is not here by the middle of September, I shall give him up.” 

Later, in late 1813, Fanny wrote to her brother-in-law, James Christie Esten, who resided in Bermuda, at the time. “Charles is very anxious to be in active serve just now…should he be fortunate enough to get a frigate before the American War is over, he will certainly endeavor to go out to that station and has promised I shall accompany him.” 

We know that Fanny made several journeys with her husband, especially between Bermuda and Halifax on a variety of ships. She also made a transatlantic voyage back to England in June 1811. As noted above, Mrs. Croft lived on five of her husband’s ships and crossed the Atlantic four times. Also above, one must note how Mrs. Croft tells Mrs. Musgrove, “[W]e do not call Bermuda or Bahama, you know, the West Indies.” One can easily assume Jane Austen learned something of Bermuda from Frances Austen, her sister-in-law. 

Others have dared to compare Fanny Austen to the ill-fated Fanny Harville, also in Persuasion. If one recalls, Captain Benwick, Captain Wentworth’s lieutenant when they were sailing on the Laconia, had been engaged to Captain Harivlle’s sister, Fanny. Benwick was attempting to win enough prize money so they might marry. Unfortunately, Fanny Harville dies while Benwick is away at sea. He goes into a deep depression. Ironically, Fanny Austen died early also (at age 24) from complications of child birth, Charles Austen’s short-lived daughter, Elizabeth. This event happened in September 1814, before Jane wrote Persuasion. Many wonder if Charles Austen grief was recorded in the character of Captain Benwick. 

 

 

 

 

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Happy 5th Book Birthday to “Lord Radcliffe’s Best Friend”

Posted on September 8, 2023 by Regina Jeffers

“Lord Radcliffe’s Best Friend” was originally part of the anthology A Regency Christmas Together. The idea behind the stories in the anthology was the hero and heroine are “trapped” together at Christmas. The “trapping” could be anything from being snowed in to being in a dangerous situation. My story “Lord Radcliffe’s Best Friend“ is something of the latter nature, for those who regularly follow me know I adore a bit of drama in my tales. 

To write the story, I did my usual LOADS of research, but I also spoke to experts near my home to learn the “do’s” and “don’t’s” of what I was thinking of putting my hero and heroine through.

Lord Radcliffe’s Best Friend 

Hendrake Barrymore, Lord Radcliffe, is a typical male, a bit daff when it comes to the ways of women, especially the ways of one particular woman, Miss Adelaide Shaw, his childhood companion, a girl who plays a part in every pleasant memory Drake holds. 

Yet, since he failed to deliver Addy’s first kiss on her fifteenth birthday, his former “friend” has struck him from her life just at a time when Radcliffe has come to the conclusion Adelaide is the one woman who best suits him. 

This tale is more than a familiar story of friends to lovers for it presents the old maxim an unusual twist.

Kindle https://www.amazon.com/Escape-Love-Regina-Jeffers-ebook/dp/B09Q4568PB/ref=sr_1_1?crid=8EXH1AQPYUOB&keywords=an+escape+to+love+by+regina+Jeffers&qid=1641992893&sprefix=an+escape+to+love+by+regina+jeffers+%2Caps%2C59&sr=8-1

Also Available to Read on Kindle Unlimited 

BookBub https://www.bookbub.com/books/an-escape-to-love-by-regina-jeffers

Plus, you can find it paired with The Courtship Lord Blackhurst in the An Escape to Love duo (basically two stories for the price of one).

Kindle https://www.amazon.com/Escape-Love-Regina-Jeffers-ebook/dp/B09Q4568PB/ref=sr_1_1?crid=8EXH1AQPYUOB&keywords=an+escape+to+love+by+regina+Jeffers&qid=1641992893&sprefix=an+escape+to+love+by+regina+jeffers+%2Caps%2C59&sr=8-1

Also Available to Read on Kindle Unlimited 

BookBub https://www.bookbub.com/books/an-escape-to-love-by-regina-jeffers

Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Escape-Love-Regina-Jeffers/dp/B09QFDJTM1/ref=tmm_pap_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=1641992893&sr=8-1

Excerpt:

from Chapter Three

Wednesday, 6 October 1819

Drake waited in Lord Shaw’s study to speak to Adelaide’s father. Before the window was the cage with the birds he had presented her for her fifteenth birthday. He wondered when she had moved the cage into her father’s sanctuary. Had it been the night which had marked the end of their relationship or later? Perhaps she realized the gift had been his mother’s inspiration, rather than his. He had arrived upon her father’s threshold with nothing more upon his mind than to steal a kiss from a willing female. Obviously, the songbirds were a poor replacement for what she had asked of him: He had failed to present Adelaide the one gift she thought was indicative of their friendship.

Thinking upon how much had changed between their families since that disastrous evening, Drake was not certain what he would say to Shaw. Drake just knew he could not spend another day obsessing over the baron’s daughter. 

He wanted to walk over and look upon the birds. He realized, belatedly, his mother had been correct in her choice: The birds would have been a thoughtful gift for a girl of Adelaide’s nature. Yet, he remained perfectly still; even so, his emotions churned as if he were a duck upon a crystal-clear lake. He hoped he appeared composed on the surface, but beneath the proverbial water, his mind raced to know what he could do to change Adelaide’s opinion of him. 

“My lord,” her father said in the terse tones the man often used when they were forced to converse over business. “How may I be of service, Radcliffe?”

Drake rose to his feet and presented the man a bow. “I have come on a mission of which I expect you, initially, will disapprove, but I pray you provide me time to persuade you otherwise.” 

Shaw pointedly closed the door. “You have piqued my interest, Lord Radcliffe.” The man crossed to a table in the corner of the room and poured himself a drink. “Might I interest you in a brandy, my lord?”

Although Drake would have enjoyed several drinks to bolster his resolve, he politely refused the offer. “I am satisfied, my lord.” 

Shaw claimed the seat across from Drake. The man’s desk separated them. “Is this another issue with Sultan? I have spoken to Lord Shelton and a reimbursement has been settled between us, as he will no longer receive the stud fee from you for your mare Everlee. Obviously, I will not require a like fee from you for Sultan’s efforts. You may sell the foal with no complaints from me.” 

“It is not Sultan.” Drake nervously straightened the line of his coat. “My business is of a more personal nature.” 

Shaw’s eyebrow rose in question. “More personal, you say?”

Drake swallowed hard before announcing, “I am seeking your permission to court Miss Shaw.”

Shaw’s frown deepened, and Drake’s heart plummeted to the pit of his stomach. He would be refused. “You wish to marry our Adelaide? Have you spoken your wishes to my daughter?”

Drake switched his legs to cross the left over the right, seeking a more comfortable position, but it was no use. “I thought it best to approach you first, sir.” 

Shaw folded his hands to rest them on his desk. “As Adelaide is of age, or will reach her majority in three weeks’ time, my daughter would take offense if I chose to speak for her.” 

“I see,” Drake said shakily. He had hoped to convince her father first, allowing the baron to soften Adelaide’s regard. “Then I must speak to Miss Shaw.” He sucked in a steadying breath. “Might I tell your daughter you hold no objections to my suit.” 

Shaw leveled a serious expression upon Drake. “I did not say I possess no qualms regarding your joining. I said Adelaide would have something to say to the acceptance or rejection of your proposal.” 

There was a rush to silence. At length, Drake asked, “May I inquire as to why Miss Shaw would refuse to accept my courtship? We have known each other most of our lives. At one time, we were quite good friends. As my wife, she would be a countess, and she would remain near you and her brother, eliminating her removal to another part of England if she chose another.” 

“All true,” Shaw said, “but I doubt Adelaide will consider any of those points when deciding whether to accept your attentions or not, my lord.” 

Swallowing the dryness in his throat, Drake asked, “Then you suspect Miss Shaw wishes to claim a husband she could love and know affection in return?” Drake held Adelaide Shaw in deep affection—they shared so many common interests, and he was more than just a little attracted to her; yet, he had never thought he would marry for love. His parents’ marriage had been one of convenience, although he knew, for a fact, for he had walked in on them more times than he cared to count, the late Lord and Lady Radcliffe had a satisfying physical marriage. 

“In truth, my daughter and I have never held a discussion regarding what she would or would not expect of her future husband. It was the late Lady Shaw in whom Adelaide confided.” Lord Shaw sighed heavily in honest regard. The muscles along his jaw bunched in obvious disapproval. “On her death bed, my Claire shared what occurred on my daughter’s fifteenth birthday.” 

“I swear,” Drake began, while a flush of color rushed to his cheeks. “My actions that evening were not indicative of the man I have become. I promised Miss Shaw I would confess my ‘sins’ to your wife, and I did so despite Miss Shaw’s disbelief regarding my honesty. When Lady Shaw saw the necessity to dispense with Iris’s services, I spoke privately to my mother, apprising her of my poor choices and asking Lady Radcliffe to offer Iris a position at our Cornwall estate. I did not think then, nor do I now, think the maid should be punished for my lack of judgement.” 

Some nameless emotion crossed Lord Shaw’s features, and Drake felt a sense of dread creep up his spine. “All admirable behavior,” his lordship said through tight lips. A long pause held between them. “Did you believe such would soften Adelaide’s disdain?”

Drake’s temper flared, but he reined it in quickly. Even so, when he spoke, his tone remained biting. “Am I to be held accountable forever? Am I permitted no forgiveness?”

Obviously, from the man’s expression, Lord Shaw neither agreed with nor appreciated Drake’s tone. Shaw inclined his head as if seeing Drake for the first time. Despite that fact, his tone remained cold when he spoke. “Are you not aware of what occurred that evening? Of how my daughter’s world was turned upon its head?”

Drake could not imagine how his forgetting to present Adelaide with her first kiss could have altered Addy’s life to the point she held him in contempt. He stiffened. “You offend me if you suggest my poor choice that evening has kept Miss Shaw from reaching her full potential as a woman of Society.” 

Shaw rose and came around the corner of his desk where he propped a hip upon the edge and looked down upon Drake critically. “You will not approve of what I will share, but it is important you know it all.” 

Drake felt his entire body grow taut, as if in preparation for a blow of the magnitude to bring him down in defeat.

There was an uneasy pause before Lord Shaw began to speak in flat and uncompromising tones. “When Lady Shaw shared Adelaide’s tale, it was all I could do not to race to London, but as my lady wife had sworn me to keep her confidences, I had no choice but to protect Adelaide with my silence. However, perhaps it should be you who protects her, especially if you mean to make her your wife, and, more importantly, it was your foolishness which ruined Adelaide’s chances at happiness.” 

Fearful of what he would learn, instinctively, Drake’s shoulders hitched higher, and his chin jutted out in defiance against the blow he was to receive. “Please speak whatever it is you believe I should know, my lord,” he pleaded. In reality, if he would not be judged cowardly, he would have exited immediately, as fast as his legs would carry him. He was certain what Lord Shaw was about to disclose would change Drake’s life forever, and he wondered if he were man enough to bear some of Lord Shaw’s trials. Unfortunately, for Drake, he possessed many faults, but cowardice was not among them: He would hear, and he would act upon the tale. 

A brief moment of resignation crossed the baron’s features. “This is my wife’s tale, and I will attempt to provide her credit for all I must share. I know nothing beyond the words she provided me, for she did not permit me the liberty of answers to the string of questions rushing to my lips at the time. Therefore, I may not be able to respond responsibility to all of yours.” 

“Fair warning,” Drake said softly. 

Shaw sucked in a breath. “I must have your word of honor you will never tell Adelaide I allowed her story to go beyond these walls.” 

Drake did not wish to look upon the worried expression upon Shaw’s countenance, but he did, nevertheless. “I swear on the honor of all my ancestors, my lord.” 

Something dark settled in Lord Shaw’s eyes as he began the tale. “I understand my daughter had hoped her first kiss would come from a young man she trusted as a friend.” 

Drake meant to protest, but Shaw waved off Drake’s words of regret. 

“Evidently,” the baron continued, “some time or another, you shared Adelaide’s secret with Lord French and Mr. Scott.” 

Drake frowned as he searched for a memory of speaking so intimately of Adelaide to his former friends. Although he did not recall doing so, he knew he had often shared much of his life in Kent with the two in order to impress his good fellows and be taken into their confidences and their companionship. “I did not do so to make light of what I shared with your daughter,” he said because he felt he must voice some sort of defense. “I have always cherished my time with Miss Shaw, even when she was simply ‘Addy’ and I was ‘Drake.’”

Lord Shaw nodded his acceptance before continuing. “On the night of Adelaide’s birthday celebration, your friends convinced you to solicit a kiss from Iris. Am I correct?”

“Yes,” Drake said reluctantly. “But, in truth, I had forgotten the promise to share a kiss with Miss Shaw. I had had more than one glass of champagne, attempting to shore up my courage to steal a kiss from a servant, something I had never considered doing in the past. Naturally, such is no excuse, but I was well on my way to being in my cups, for I was never much of a drinker.” 

Shaw said in reproof, “It appears you were easily persuaded by your companions. I pray you are not so quick to allow others to lead you about by the ear now as you were then. If so, this conversation will know a quicker ending than either of us would wish. I will not place Adelaide’s confidences in the hands of a man who permits others to navigate his life when he should be in charge.” 

“I assure you, sir,” Drake said in honest tones. “After the incident with Iris, my father was quick to rein in my foolish steps. I broke ties with French and Scott and a few others at school. My life at university those last few years was lonelier, but infinitely better than my previous years away at school.” 

Shaw nodded his understanding. “Such is a hard lesson for men, especially those in titled positions, to learn. I am glad some good came from that evening.” The baron claimed the seat beside Drake. “Then you should know the rest. Unfortunately, unlike you, Lord French and Mr. Scott did not forget the intimacies you shared with the pair of your and Adelaide’s relationship. Scott took Adelaide to the side and told her you awaited my daughter in the library. I do not approve of Adelaide’s actions that evening, but I was not blind to my daughter’s fascination with you. Your parents, Lady Shaw, and I often expressed our pleasure at the idea of you and Adelaide forming an affection for each other.”

Shaw sighed heavily before continuing. “After speaking to Scott, during the evening, my daughter rushed to the library to meet you, but it was your friends who awaited her. French attempted to force himself upon my sweet innocent child. When she refused to cooperate, the reprobate raised his hand to her and slapped her hard on the cheek, leaving a bruise.” Lord Shaw’s voice hardened, and Drake realized his own hands fisted into tight knots. “Thankfully,” Shaw bit out the words as if they tasted sour, “you had shown Adelaide something of how to use a sword. She elbowed French’s ribs and caught up the fireplace poker as her weapon.” Shaw chuckled ironically. “It is my understanding Adelaide managed to stab French in the man’s private parts.”

Drake did not know whether to laugh or to curse. He, too, thought it quite appropriate Adelaide had thought to strike French where the man thought himself the strongest; yet, he wished he had known something of what had occurred, at the time. He would certainly have enjoyed beating French into a pulp, for, after his confrontation with Adelaide over Iris, Drake would have enjoyed a bit of fisticuffs to ease the pain of Adelaide’s withdrawal. “Mr. Scott and Lord French departed my parents’ house early the next morning and without an explanation,” Drake shared. “As they were aware of my apologies to Lady Shaw and of my speaking to my mother regarding Iris, I assumed they did not wish to be called to task by my father. Most assuredly, they were the last thing on my mind when I stood to the accounting before the earl.”

Shaw’s gaze settled upon Drake again, and Drake knew there was more to the tale than the birthday celebration incident. With dread, he watched as his lordship pressed his lips together in a tight line. “If that incident had been the end of it,” the baron said in cold tones, “it would have been enough, but French and Scott were in London when Adelaide made her debut. They made a nuisance of themselves, but, what I consider to be most reprehensible, they told others of how they had seduced her.” 

Drake could not breathe. He had delivered the vehicle for Adelaide’s destruction to her door. He had failed her in every means possible. No wonder she despised him. 

“Lady Shaw’s tendency toward first one illness and then another proved a balm for Adelaide’s misery. They were able to leave London with a proper excuse. However, Adelaide blames her own weakness for causing my dear Claire’s death. Although my baroness’s constitution was a weak one, Adelaide believes if she had stayed in Town, then her mother might still be with us. I do not see it as such, but you are aware of my daughter’s nature to fret over her shortcomings. 

“Moreover, you are intelligent enough to know such stories of a woman’s lax morals never go away. They are spoken again and again, true or not, despite the source of the tale.” Tears formed in Shaw’s eyes. “And there is nothing I can do beyond calling French out to defend my daughter’s honor. I have thought of doing just that more times than I care to admit. Each time I look upon my daughter’s woebegotten face, I wish I had done so. I admit I was never a crack shot or so handy with a sword, but it would be satisfying to see that particular pair of scoundrels brought to account. Yet, as my dear Claire pointed out, a duel would not only confirm Adelaide had something to hide, but if I lost, and I would surely expect to do so, there would be no one to oversee the care of my dearest child. I would resign her to becoming a spinster in her brother’s house when her brother Robert comes of age. At least, in this path I have chosen to follow, my silence provides her the glimmer of hope for Adelaide to claim a country gentleman to husband—a man who would gladly accept her dowry despite the whispers of her suitability.”

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September 6, 1620, The Voyage of the “Mayflower” Begins with Captain Christopher Jones at the Helm

Posted on September 6, 2023 by Regina Jeffers

Some of you have heard me say previously that my 10th great-grandparents were John Alden and Priscilla Mullins of Pilgrim and the Mayflower fame. So, when I came across a piece about Christopher Jones, I, naturally, stopped to read more of the man who captained the ship which brought the Pilgrims to America.

Jones is believed to have been born in the seaside town of Harwich in 1570, and was the son of Christopher Jones Senior, who was also a mariner and ship owner. He lived at No. 21 Kings Head Street. He married Sara Twitt, his seventeen-year-old neighbor, in December 1593, but Sara died at the age of 27. Their son in 1596, at age three. They had no more children.

Thomas Twitt, Sara’s father, held expansive shipping interests. He left a small share of his ship Apollo to the couple upon his death. Christopher’s family and that of Sara combined their shipping interests.

Christopher Jones House in Harwich
the house in Harwich ~ Visitors tracing the history of the Mayflower to Harwich can look inside the home of the man who mastered and captained the Mayflower ship on that pioneering journey in 1620. Visitors to the historic town in Essex will be able to experience home life as it was back in the 1600s when the Captain’s home is opened as a tourist attraction for the 400th anniversary – subject to reaching an agreement with its owner. The house is being converted into a museum in time for the 2020 commemorations and a large part of it will be restored to its original features to give visitors a real taste of what it would have been like to live there. ~ https://www.mayflower400uk.org/education/who-were-the-pilgrims/2019/july/christopher-jones/

Jones’s second wife was a widow at the young age of 19 when they married. Her name was Josian Gray. Her late husband, Richard Gray, and many of her relations had friends among mariners and among the Captains of the 1588 Armada fleet. Christopher and Josian had 8 children: Christopher, Thomas, Josian, John, Roger, another Christopher, Joane, and Grace.

Jones took the oath as freeman in 1601. He was named as a burgess of Harwich in a town charter granted by King James.

Later still, he built a 240-ton ship of his own, which he named Josain, to use for trading purposes. With the aid of his wife’s family in 1609, he became master and part owner of the Mayflower. The ship was chartered by various groups to travel from England to parts of Europe. This development had Jones moving his family to Rotherhithe on the Southbank of the River Thames so he might make his voyages. There is some speculation that he traded the Josain for a quarter share of the Mayflower. He profited heavily from the wine trade between Europe and England, bringing wines to his homeland from Spain, France, Portugal, etc.

https://www.london-unattached.com/mayflower-harwich-history/

In the summer of 1620, a group seeking religious freedom during the reign of King James I. “After two attempts to leave England and move to Holland, a Separatist group was finally relocated to Amsterdam where they stayed for about one year. From there the group moved to the town of Leiden, Holland, where they remained for about ten years, able to worship as they wished under lenient Dutch law. Fearing their children were losing their English heritage and religious beliefs, the resumption of war and their inability as non-citizens to find decent jobs, a small group from the Leiden church made plans to settle in Northern Virginia – as New England was known at the time. In August 1620 the group sailed for Southampton, England, where other English colonists who hoped to make a new life in America met them. They planned to make the crossing to America in two ships, the Speedwell and Mayflower. However, after many problems the Speedwell was forced to return to England where the group was reorganized. In their second attempt to cross the Atlantic, they boarded the Mayflower in September 1620 bound for the New World. They arrived as winter was settling in and endured significant hardships as they struggled to establish a successful colony at Plymouth.” [Pilgrim History]

Christopher Jones captained the Mayflower with 102 passengers onboard. They departed Plymouth on September 6, 1620, and suffered much on the Atlantic Ocean to land in what came to be called Plymouth Harbor on November 11, 1620. The Mayflower remained in America through the 1620-1621 winter, during which half the passengers and some of Jones’s crew died from a variety of diseases.

Jones departed America in April 1621, arriving in Rotherhithe on May 5, 1621. He returned to his trading voyages, but his health had been badly affected by the trans-Atlantic journeys. He died in early March 1622.

Christopher jones statue
https://www.mayflower400uk.org/education/who-were-the-pilgrims/2019/july/christopher-jones/ ~ A statue in the grounds of the church commemorates his role in the Mayflower story. It is represented in the guise of St Christopher, patron saint of travellers, holding a child. The adult is looking back towards the Old World and the child is looking towards the New World. The statue is by Jamie Sargeant and was unveiled in 1995 to mark the 375th anniversary of the voyage of the Mayflower. The plinth is in the form of a stylised boat, with sharp prow and rounded stern. Around the plinth is written: “To the memory of Christopher Jones 1570 – 1622, Master of the Mayflower. He landed 102 planters and adventurers at Plymouth Massachusetts 21 Dec 1620. They formed the Mayflower Compact & the first permanent colony in New England.”
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What did Jane Austen Know of Prize Money Awarded by the British Royal Navy During the Late Georgian Era?

Posted on September 1, 2023 by Regina Jeffers

Prize money awarded by the British Royal Navy usually came about during naval warfare, but there were other means for a man to earn “his fortune.” The capture of enemy ships or of cargoes belonging to an enemy in time of war customarily earned the men upon a ship prize money. The captured ship could be in port at the outbreak of the war or captured in international waters or other waters that were not the territorial waters of a neutral state. A Prize Court customarily adjudicated the claim for prize money, first, condemning the prize before any distribution of cash or good could be made to the captors. 

La Blanche towing La Pique, a French prize, 1795 by Robert Dodd

Contraband goods being shipped to enemy-controlled territory and used to make war was considered part of the “prize.” Occasionally, prizes were awarded for the capture of pirate ships, slave ships (after the abolition of the slave trade) and ships in breach of The Acts of Trade and Navigation (a long series of English laws that developed, promoted, and regulated English ships, shipping, trade, and commerce between other countries and with its own colonies). “Similar monetary awards include Military Salvage, the recapture of ships captured by an enemy before an enemy Prize Court has declared them to be valid prizes (after such ships have been condemned, they are treated as enemy ships), and payments termed Gun money, Head Money or Bounty, distributed to men serving in a state warship that captured or destroyed of an armed enemy ship. The amount payable depended at first on the number of guns the enemy carried, but later on the complement of the defeated ship.

“Certain captures made by armies, called Booty of War, are distinct from naval prize because, unlike awards under naval prize legislation, the award of booty is only made for a specific capture, often the storming of a city; the award does not set a precedent for other military captures in the same war, and does not require adjudication by a prize court. When the British army and navy acted together, it was normal for instructions to say how any prizes and booty should be shared, and the shares allocated. In this case, combined naval and military force to be dealt with under naval prize law rules. Although prize law still exists, the payment of prize money to privateers ceased in practice during the second half of the 19th century and prize money for naval personnel was abolished by those maritime states that had provided it at various times in the late 19th century and the first half of the 20th century.” [Prize Money]

If you wish more information on pay scale, prize money distribution, etc., you might find “An Introduction to Pay and Prize Money in Aubrey’s Royal Navy” helpful. 

Jane Austen’s naval brother Charles was assigned to command the Indian (18 guns) in January 1805. His primary role in Britain’s war efforts at that time off the North American coast was to protect trade, transport troops, and search American ships for British deserters. Those duties did not keep Charles Austen and his fellow shipmates and officers from hoping to capture an “enemy” ship to earn prize money. We know the Indian captured several privateer vessels. Some of these belonged to France’s allies. Some belonged to neutral nations. Most carried munitions, goods required by the French soldiers, or other contraband.

From 1805 – 1811, Charles Austen and his men brought claims to the Vice Admiralty courts in Halifax and Bermuda against some twelve vessels. As was custom at the time, the capturing captain of a ship could expect to receive a three-eighths share of the prize money. 

Therefore, we can expect that if her brother was in such a position, Jane Austen would have held more than just general details on the ships, goods, and the prizes involved. 

Comparing Charles Austen to Austen’s most famous sea captain, Captain Frederick Wentworth, Charles did not do as well as did the fictionalized Captain Wentworth. In reality, Charles Austen earned only about £1200 in prize money, while Wentworth accumulated some £25,000. Even so, the Austens knew of several of Charles’s associates who had earned much more than did he. 

from Chapter 8 of Jane Austen’s Persuasion: 

Anne suppressed a smile, and listened kindly, while Mrs Musgrove
relieved her heart a little more; and for a few minutes, therefore,
could not keep pace with the conversation of the others.

When she could let her attention take its natural course again,
she found the Miss Musgroves just fetching the Navy List
(their own navy list, the first that had ever been at Uppercross),
and sitting down together to pore over it, with the professed view
of finding out the ships that Captain Wentworth had commanded.

“Your first was the Asp, I remember; we will look for the Asp.”

“You will not find her there.  Quite worn out and broken up.
I was the last man who commanded her.  Hardly fit for service then.
Reported fit for home service for a year or two, and so I was sent off
to the West Indies.”

The girls looked all amazement.

“The Admiralty,” he continued, “entertain themselves now and then,
with sending a few hundred men to sea, in a ship not fit to be employed.
But they have a great many to provide for; and among the thousands
that may just as well go to the bottom as not, it is impossible
for them to distinguish the very set who may be least missed.”

“Phoo! phoo!” cried the Admiral, “what stuff these young fellows talk!
Never was a better sloop than the Asp in her day.  For an old built sloop,
you would not see her equal.  Lucky fellow to get her!  He knows there
must have been twenty better men than himself applying for her
at the same time.  Lucky fellow to get anything so soon,
with no more interest than his.”

“I felt my luck, Admiral, I assure you;” replied Captain Wentworth,
seriously.  “I was as well satisfied with my appointment as you can desire.
It was a great object with me at that time to be at sea;
a very great object, I wanted to be doing something.”

“To be sure you did.  What should a young fellow like you do ashore
for half a year together?  If a man had not a wife, he soon wants
to be afloat again.”

“But, Captain Wentworth,” cried Louisa, “how vexed you must have been
when you came to the Asp, to see what an old thing they had given you.”

“I knew pretty well what she was before that day;” said he, smiling.
“I had no more discoveries to make than you would have as to
the fashion and strength of any old pelisse, which you had seen
lent about among half your acquaintance ever since you could remember,
and which at last, on some very wet day, is lent to yourself.
Ah! she was a dear old Asp to me.  She did all that I wanted.
I knew she would.  I knew that we should either go to the bottom together,
or that she would be the making of me; and I never had two days
of foul weather all the time I was at sea in her; and after
taking privateers enough to be very entertaining, I had the good luck
in my passage home the next autumn, to fall in with the very French frigate
I wanted.  I brought her into Plymouth; and here another instance of luck.
We had not been six hours in the Sound, when a gale came on,
which lasted four days and nights, and which would have done for
poor old Asp in half the time; our touch with the Great Nation
not having much improved our condition.  Four-and-twenty hours later,
and I should only have been a gallant Captain Wentworth,
in a small paragraph at one corner of the newspapers; and being lost
in only a sloop, nobody would have thought about me.” Anne’s shudderings
were to herself alone; but the Miss Musgroves could be as open
as they were sincere, in their exclamations of pity and horror.

You might also wish to visit these resources for more information: 

Golden Harvest: The British Naval Prize System 1793-1815

Prize Money: Frigates, Treasure, Snobbery —and Jane Austen 

Half-Pay and Prize Money: Making a Living in Britain’s Navy

“Master and Commander’s” Prize Money

Naval Prize Manual 

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Half-Pay Officers During the Regency Era

Posted on August 30, 2023 by Regina Jeffers

Question from a follower: I’ve often wondered about the term “half-pay officer.” Does an officer who sells out still receive half pay or only officers who retire without selling their commissions (if there is such a thing). My question concerns a major who sold out after Waterloo. Does he still receive half-pay?

First, let us clarify what “Half Pay Officers” mean.

Definition: Half-Pay (h.p.) was used from the 18th to early 20th centuries in reference to the British Army or the Royal Navy to refer to the pay or allowance an officer received when in retirement or not in actual service.

The half-pay option developed during the late 17th and early 18th centuries, which was about the same time as the concept of purchasing commissions and promotions by officers found its footing. The officers who were not required at that time could go on half-pay voluntarily or be required to do so until they were summoned to return to their regiments. For example, all listed half-pay officers were required to return to service during the 1715 Jacobite Rising. Many well-to-do officers used this loophole after the Napoleonic Wars, especially if their regiments were ordered to other wars and uprisings, such as those in India. They simply purchased new appointments to regiments assigned to home service in Britain. The Secretary of War was responsible for approving or rejecting transfers to and from the half-pay list.

This list includes the wars which finished out the 1800s:

Half-Pay officers were similar to what we now think of a reserve officers. My husband spent thirty years in the U.S. Army, but most were with the Army Reserves. In Britain during the 19th century, officers who were retired or otherwise not required for active service received half of the salary of their fully-commissioned counterparts.

“The half-pay list could also serve as a means of ridding the service of ineffective or incompetent officers who had too much political influence to be dismissed entirely. Such officers would be placed on half-pay and never recalled to active service. In periods of extended conflict, the half-pay lists became a significant expense for militaries when it was coupled with the selling of half pay-commissions, which was common in the British Army.” [Half-pay]

Further Explanation: Wondrium Daily explains the term in this manner: “Because of the cost of entering this career, commissioned army officers were largely drawn from the upper classes. A commission might be purchased for, say, 2000 pounds, to take up a position that paid 200 pounds a year. Thus, it might pay off after 10 years of service, depending on tours of action and active duty.

“Officers could request permission to be on half-pay. Unless some crisis necessitated a regiment’s call to active duty, individual requests were routinely approved, especially with the right connections, as favors. Some officers used this route, the leave of absence, to avoid going abroad with their regiments.

“When, in [the PBS series] Sanditon, Lady Denham refers with such disdain to half-pay officers coming to their resort town, that’s what she’s talking about. These were often officers on hiatus, or even on vacation, at reduced pay. Her complaint is both that they have lesser social status and less money to spend.”

Follow-Up Question: So if an officer bought his commission and sold it upon retiring, he was paying for his own retirement? i.e., he just paid for his pension up front? Then, if he died, what happened to that money? A pretty good deal for the Army. It sounds like the military didn’t actually pay any pension, they just gave you back what you paid them for the honor of fighting and possibly dying.

Yes, it was an excellent deal. As officers, up until 1790, were overwhelmingly gentry [thus ‘gentlemen’] the expectation was most officers did not require the money to survive or to support their families, and upper class families were doing their civil duty by buying a commission and then supporting them while serving. As Colonels ran their regiments as a business, this was also important. After all, one was purchasing a commission in a regiment, not the army. The idea that officers did not require the money while being the upper crust of society, they:

  1. Were expected to supply their uniforms and all equipment.
  2. They were paid a quarterly salary that simply did not cover the expenses of being an officer in the army at any rank.
  3. There was no need for pensions or much in the way of compensation for those serving their country. The officer was a part of a rich family.

This slowly changed during the wars, because the war covered some 20 years and so many officers were required, the middle class, and in some cases [about 5%] enlisted men were commissioned without buying a commission.

Did someone who paid for their commission receive an additional pension as well? It doesn’t sound like it from your response. So the paid commission officer paid for his own retirement and the free commission officer didn’t?

No, there was no pension for a purchased commission, for the reasons given above. The upper class did not require the money. The families were expected to support their sons monetarily while in the army.  I just read “A Light Infantryman with Wellington”, the letters of Captain George Ulrich Barlow. Throughout his service, Barlow was receiving money from his family, not just father, but uncles and cousins too.

If I am understanding correctly, I see the incentive as the “free commission” route is the best deal? One does not have to pay for one’s pension (outside of the bribe fee), and there is an improved social status which is otherwise impossible to attain in Regency England? i.e., it was very difficult to improve one’s social status in this era. Even making money was frowned upon (the merchant class). But the new status only went so far? (shunned later by one being equal in military rank if not in birth). So how far did the “officer” status really go socially?

Exactly. How far did the status go ‘socially?’  During the war, pretty far, particularly if one could move up the ranks. Everyone was equal in the regimental Mess. After the war? Not as much, which created some resentment among the middle class officers who were now seen again as less that socially acceptable among the gentry. Obviously, retiring as a colonel was much better than as a captain. Read “The Reminiscences and Recollections of Captain Gronow, being anecdotes of the camp, court, clubs and society 1810-1860”  He gives great descriptions of the social relationships and social movement of war and post-war officers. [copies are available at many book outlets, as well as on Google]

Just as an aside, I had understood that officers never fraternized with soldiers, that it was an unwritten code. Is this true?

True,  a rule no more unwritten than gentlemen did not ‘fraternize’ with the lower classes. Same social structure Officers=upper class  NCOs=Middle Class  Enlisted=Lower classes.  Officers communicated with NCOs [Who actually did all the professional work], but rarely with the enlisted men.  

I’m very interested in this topic. I have thought a lot about “honor” lately, what that used to mean, and if anyone cares about honor anymore. i.e., if honor is so removed from our culture (people question why one would do anything if it does not serve him/her, one is almost thought to be “stupid”, and getting away with something is revered as clever instead of dishonorable) that it is difficult to write about honor as a subject readers can relate to and understand. When we watch a film and someone fights a duel of honor, the modern viewer wonders why anyone would risk his life for his perceived ‘honor’, mentally labeling the character as foolish and naive. I can understand that perspective, but having character, knowing the difference between right and wrong, and putting someone else before oneself does not seem to be revered and is even ridiculed. If honor is defined as one’s reputation and one’s character, how is honor defined if none of that matters? i.e., if the only thing that matters is what one can get for oneself? Sometimes we really are in living history, our culture is changing, and it feels like the ground is boiling underneath our feet. I’m not meaning to go on a diatribe, but I’m trying to come to terms with what honor used to mean, what it means today, and how to write a novel from the perspective of a different culture and make it sympathetic to the modern reader.

The self-serving and self-sacrificing parts of Regency Honor is not that hard to understand.

1. Only the Gentry and Upper Class were seen as possessing or concerned with ‘Honor,’ as they understood it.

2. Honor was the reputation of you AND your family. So often duels were fought to ‘preserve one’s honor,’ which was one’s social reputation. Honor was part of an upper class family’s duty to the Crown, to serve and support the government and the running of society.

3. Winning ‘glory’ was in part garnering more honor for the and his family. All this goes way back to the Sun King and earlier where the main responsibility or goal of a prince was to win glory and honor for the family . . . either through war or extravagant spending . . . or both.

4. Saving face, personal pride, winning social acceptance or more acceptance today is not all that different from the Regency period honor. It was just seen as being achieved differently at times. ;

The wars and the infusion of middle class officers widened and generalized the ideals of honor and what it meant to be a gentleman, actions slowly superseded the notions of family honor and rank. One can see this conflict in “Pride and Prejudice”.  Darcy feels to be a ‘gentleman’ means to make and enforce social distinctions, where Elizabeth sees it more as an issue of proper behavior. In the end, she still has to argue with Darcy’s aunt about whether as a gentleman’s daughter she is equal to Darcy in social status, while Lady Catherine de Bourgh operating on the older distinctions says, yes, but who are your family, aunts and uncles? During the Regency there were deep social changes going on and Jane Austin really illustrates them. In each of her books she contrasts class and rank against behavior and ethics. Being a Gentleman went from being a specific social rank to being primarily a code of behavior. 

“This is not to be borne. Miss Bennet, I insist on being satisfied. Has he, has my nephew, made you an offer of marriage?”

“Your ladyship has declared it to be impossible.”

“It ought to be so; it must be so, while he retains the use of his reason. But your arts and allurements may, in a moment of infatuation, have made him forget what he owes to himself and to all his family. You may have drawn him in.”

“If I have, I shall be the last person to confess it.”

“Miss Bennet, do you know who I am? I have not been accustomed to such language as this. I am almost the nearest relation he has in the world, and am entitled to know all his dearest concerns.”

“But you are not entitled to know mine; nor will such behaviour as this, ever induce me to be explicit.”

“Let me be rightly understood. This match, to which you have the presumption to aspire, can never take place. No, never. Mr. Darcy is engaged to my daughter. Now what have you to say?”

“Only this; that if he is so, you can have no reason to suppose he will make an offer to me.”

Lady Catherine hesitated for a moment, and then replied:

“The engagement between them is of a peculiar kind. From their infancy, they have been intended for each other. It was the favourite wish of his mother, as well as of hers. While in their cradles, we planned the union: and now, at the moment when the wishes of both sisters would be accomplished in their marriage, to be prevented by a young woman of inferior birth, of no importance in the world, and wholly unallied to the family! Do you pay no regard to the wishes of his friends? To his tacit engagement with Miss de Bourgh? Are you lost to every feeling of propriety and delicacy? Have you not heard me say that from his earliest hours he was destined for his cousin?”

“Yes, and I had heard it before. But what is that to me? If there is no other objection to my marrying your nephew, I shall certainly not be kept from it by knowing that his mother and aunt wished him to marry Miss de Bourgh. You both did as much as you could in planning the marriage. Its completion depended on others. If Mr. Darcy is neither by honour nor inclination confined to his cousin, why is not he to make another choice? And if I am that choice, why may not I accept him?”

“Because honour, decorum, prudence, nay, interest, forbid it. Yes, Miss Bennet, interest; for do not expect to be noticed by his family or friends, if you willfully act against the inclinations of all. You will be censured, slighted, and despised, by everyone connected with him. Your alliance will be a disgrace; your name will never even be mentioned by any of us.”

“These are heavy misfortunes,” replied Elizabeth. “But the wife of Mr. Darcy must have such extraordinary sources of happiness necessarily attached to her situation, that she could, upon the whole, have no cause to repine.”

“Obstinate, headstrong girl! I am ashamed of you! Is this your gratitude for my attentions to you last spring? Is nothing due to me on that score? Let us sit down. You are to understand, Miss Bennet, that I came here with the determined resolution of carrying my purpose; nor will I be dissuaded from it. I have not been used to submit to any person’s whims. I have not been in the habit of brooking disappointment.”

“That will make your ladyship’s situation at present more pitiable; but it will have no effect on me.”

“I will not be interrupted. Hear me in silence. My daughter and my nephew are formed for each other. They are descended, on the maternal side, from the same noble line; and, on the father’s, from respectable, honourable, and ancient—though untitled—families. Their fortune on both sides is splendid. They are destined for each other by the voice of every member of their respective houses; and what is to divide them? The upstart pretensions of a young woman without family, connections, or fortune. Is this to be endured! But it must not, shall not be. If you were sensible of your own good, you would not wish to quit the sphere in which you have been brought up.”

“In marrying your nephew, I should not consider myself as quitting that sphere. He is a gentleman; I am a gentleman’s daughter; so far we are equal.“

“True. You are a gentleman’s daughter. But who was your mother? Who are your uncles and aunts? Do not imagine me ignorant of their condition.“

“Whatever my connections may be,” said Elizabeth, “if your nephew does not object to them, they can be nothing to you.”

Other Sources:

Reading the Regency

Half-Pay and Prize Money

Advancement in the British Army

How Could an Officer Retire from Army Service in Regency England

Enlisting in the British Army During the Regency

Posted in aristocracy, British history, British Navy, Georgian England, Georgian Era, Great Britain, history, military, Napoleonic Wars, Pride and Prejudice, Regency era, Regency romance, research, war, War of 1812 | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

During the Regency, Could a Female Run an Estate in the Absence of the Male Heir?

Posted on August 28, 2023 by Regina Jeffers

Recently, one of my author friends sent me her Work in Progress manuscript for me to comment on what she had written to that point. She and I often bounce ideas off each other. Although beautifully written, making me sorry not to be more eloquent in my word choices, the initial plot possessed a major flaw from an historical standpoint. Her heroine runs the family estate in the absence of her father, who has passed, and the notion that her brother has gone missing—or, rather, the military cannot account for him being absent, after a major battle. The story takes place some two years after the end of the Napoleonic War, and she has heard nothing of her brother’s demise or a possible act of cowardice.

My friend’s story is one I have read “before,” meaning this is a relatively common plot line in Regency-based novels. I used something similar in one of my JAFF (Jane Austen Fan Fiction) vagaries. In Where There’s a FitzWILLiam Darcy, There’s a Way, Elizabeth Bennet returns earlier to Longbourn from Rosings Park, than in the original novel, because she has received a letter announcing the death of her dear father, Mr. Bennet. Having often imagined that Mr. Bennet’s love of his second daughter had him sharing something of the running of Longbourn with Elizabeth, I have her struggling to keep the estate afloat until Mr. Collins arrives to assume control of the property. Even so, I was cognizant that such a situation would not be accepted in the Regency. Quite quickly, Darcy arrives, having been pressed into service by his aunt, Lady Catherine de Bourgh, to act in Mr. Collins’s stead until she can employ a new clergyman for the living at Rosings. If you are interested, that particular plot line discusses what can and cannot be inherited by the females of the family. Moreover there is a WILL (notice the title) that provides some solace for the Bennet females.

However, that is not the subject of this piece. What was incorrect about my friend’s plot line? 

Generally speaking, a woman would not have been left to manage an entailed estate. Instead, a group of predetermined trustees would have assumed that role. In the running of any estate, there were many legal documents, contracts, tenant agreements, purchases for the running of the estate, selling goods produced upon the estate (wheat, wool, etc.), paying taxes, paying tithes, etc., which required a male to sign the papers. (Some of you may recall that in my novel, A Touch of Scandal: Book 1 of the Realm Series, Lady Eleanor Fowler had her father, in the month’s leading up to his demise, sign blank pages when he was conscious enough to do so. Therefore, she could create the necessary documents to keep the estate running until she could convince her brother, Brantley, to return home and assume the dukedom. Please note, be that as it may, I added a cousin who would inherit if Brantley Fowler did not return to claim the peerage, which would keep everything legal. In fact, Eleanor knows where to discover her brother. It is simply a matter of convincing him to return to a place he despises.)

ViewImageLocal

If a peerage is in question, as it was in my example above,  it would go dormant, if there was a question as to whether the one to inherit was dead or not. The property could not go to another until it could be proven that the one to inherit, as in the case above, Brantley Fowler, was dead. Bran was the former duke’s only son. If no such proof existed, a “committee” of trustees would run the property and its subsidiaries with the next male in line (the cousin mentioned above) in charge, but always it was with the understanding that the property had to be turned over to the legal son, if said son made an appearance.

Nowadays, we think a person is presumed dead if he cannot be located within seven years, but that was not the case during the Regency. Much of the court’s rulings over such a matter was determined by the efforts to locate the lost/missing person. It could be a year or two or go on indefinitely. Even if there was a younger brother and the lady was acting in his stead until he reached his majority, the situation would not be a go. Once the father died, an estate descended to the oldest son, unless a will said otherwise. If that oldest son was declared dead, the question would exist as to whether or no he had time to sire a legitimate son before he died. The younger might be allowed to assume the responsibilities, but he would not be the “owner” until the eldest is proven dead beyond a reasonable doubt, and it is proven the eldest did not sire a legitimate male child.

A property, like that of Mr. Bennet in Pride and Prejudice, which was under an entailment, was different from a peerage. Someone could be named to assume charge of the property as manager for the “supposed” owner, but only as a life tenant (meaning the property could not be inherited by that “manager’s” sons) and only until the court decided that the current occupant could continue in that role, even if a legitimate heir of the other man shows up. The peerage (dukedom, earldom, barony, etc.) stayed dormant until it could be proven the oldest son was dead. The peerage could remain dormant forever. 

Are you confused? Could not a woman be able to assume the estate? Here is part of the gobbledygook that makes this even more bewildering.

Though the lady being female had a definable impact on her ineligibility to run the estate, the main reason for her not being permitted to do so was the lack of legal authority to act in her brother’s stead, whether her older brother is declared dead or not. Even if there was a younger brother who had reached his majority, he would also lack the legal authority to run the estate. Her being female was both a Society-restrictive (frowned upon) problem and a legal one. If she had had the legal authority to act in her brother’s place, she could have hired a good manager who could execute the necessary transactions in her name. 

Except for the fact that as quickly as the father dies, the executor has the legal right to see to the legal matters associated with the estate, and her land steward no longer can assist in that matter unless employed by the new executor. The woman could have the right to remain at the estate until she marries, but, without the oversight of an executor, she had no legal right to to sell anything, not even the crops or goods produced by the cottagers, nor could she pay anyone from estate funds (servants) if she did not hold some sort of power of attorney.

Last Will and Testament document with quill pen and handwriting

Are there other scenarios that could work in this plot line? Keep in mind the property cannot be entailed upon the eldest for any of these situations to work. 

  1. If the eldest son made a will naming his younger brother as his heir, this might work. Even then, the eldest would have likely added restrictions to the inheritance. First and foremost, the youngest must be 21 years of age before he inherits. If the youngest is less than 21, the eldest could have appointed a friend or business associate as a co-trustee along with the sister. Perhaps, then that male trustee could have died or could have ignored his responsibilities, and then the sister could have acted in her younger brother’s stead. 
  2. Or it might be stipulated in the eldest brother’s will that the younger could not touch the capital produced by the estate until he reaches an age, of say, 25. Then the sister could still be a trustee. 
  3. The eldest could not have a will, but he did grant power of attorney to his sister. This would work, perhaps, if his leaving was a planned absence, such as accepting a commission in the war. This would only work if there was a power of attorney (letter of attorney). She could be running the estate under a constructive trust for the eldest brother’s benefit. If the eldest were to be declared dead, she would not have the authority to continue running it for the youngest unless the eldest brother appointed her as his steward or power of attorney. 
  4. If the eldest brother stormed off years ago and the father recently died (as is what happened in A Touch of Scandal above), the father could have named her executor of his will and his estate if she were 21. Then she would have had the right to handle the estate for a specific period of time. [Nevertheless, in my story A Touch of Scandal, not all those restrictions were available. Lady Eleanor is but 20 when the story begins, and her father was a duke, not a member of the gentry. Those properties involved with the peerage play by different rules than say one owned by a country gentleman.]
  5. If the property was not entailed, her father could have left it to her to handle until the eldest son returned. Such would provide her the legal authority for contracts, etc., likely with the assistance of a good man of business, and it would also provide her many suitors hoping to assume the position of her husband, who would legally take those tasks off her hands.
  6. Again, if the property is not entailed, the father could have made her the executor of his will. The will could also state that she could own the property if the eldest brother did not return within a specific period of time, say 10 years or 20 years. Then the younger son would inherit after her death. Such a legal stipulation would keep the property out of the hands of her husband, if she chose to marry. If it were just she and her older brother, who had gone missing, even with the will presenting her the property, if she married, the property comes to her husband. 
Posted in British history, family, Georgian England, Georgian Era, history, Inheritance, Living in the Regency, marriage, Napoleonic Wars, Pride and Prejudice, Realm series, research, titles of aristocracy, Vagary, writing | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , | 7 Comments

This and That Regarding the Concept of “Heirs” and “Naturalization” – A Bunch of Historical Facts Tossed Together for Your Enjoyment

Posted on August 25, 2023 by Regina Jeffers

The first boy born to a marriage is usually referred to as the “heir,” though a more legal term might be “heir apparent.”

Birth notices are usually something to the effect of: “The Duchess of Devonshire, a son and heir.”

The rights of inheritance to peerage of England, Great Britain or the United Kingdom had to follow the rules of England.

I remember reading somewhere that the male heir could be up to the third cousin.  After that, the procedure becomes a bit murky. And do not even start on rights of inheritance in Wales and Scotland. I was lost in some of those documents.

Rules of inheritance to other property varied from place to place, even within England. There were different rules in Kent, for instance, than there were for Devonshire. However, these rules of inheritance were only applied if there was no will, deed, settlement, or other document disposing of property. 

All peerages by patent descended according to the patent. Peerages by writ by common law heirs general. If a man with much property died, the various pieces of property could all descend to different people.

If a peerage was 400 years old, the hunt for an heir could go back as far as the younger sons of the original peer.

In stories, we usually have the heir or newly-minted peer being pressed to marry and have children. The supposition was that if they married, they would have children. Yet, we know such was not always true.

The peerages were supposed to go straight down the line from father to son. In reality, I would say a peerages always going directly father to oldest son only happened slightly more than half the time.

It was not at all uncommon for peers who were in the British Navy to die either without children or without sons.

One would think a peerage held by a man who had ten children, with four or more boys included, would be safe from extinction, but that was not always the case.

See my piece on What is the Difference Between a Peerage that is Dormant vs. Extinct vs. in Abeyance?

More than one peerage has descended from uncle to nephew and then to cousins.

Can a duke’s heir sit in the House of Lords in place of his sick father? Answer: Not unless he is given a writ of acceleration and sent to the House of Lords in one of his father’s lesser titles, such as a barony. In that case, he will sit with the barons and use the baron’s title in the House, but still be the more prominent title outside of it and for most questions of precedence.

All heirs have to prove their pedigree and legitimacy to sit in the House of Lords.

See Nancy Regency Researcher post on Introduction of a New Peer to the House of Lords. [I included bits of this procedure in my short novel, Courting Lord Whitmore.]

The man has to have the pedigree going back to the ancestor from whom he descends and show all the marriages and legal births in his line. He has to show the line of the late peer ended and how he is the only legitimate heir around.

The Committee on Privilege of the House of Lords hears all cases of contested claims.

The College of heralds, Bibles, letters, parish registers and living people’s memories can be accepted as “evidence” in such cases.

A Brit living in America could assume the title. However, if he were an American citizen he did not receive a seat in the House of Lords and at various periods there were laws against “aliens” owning property, so what property could go to him would probably be fought over.

He could ask to be naturalized.

Americans could always inherit the titles. The peerage law made the point that whoever was next in line was the absolute owner of the title. However, the American either took up the title or it went dormant and no one could have it in his place unless he or his father had been attainted for treason or some other egregious crime.

Some Australians have been eligible for a title for nearly a century. The title is still dormant, no one else can have it, but the property has long since been handled by others. 

U. S. law said no citizen could be granted a title by a foreign government without permission of Congress, but succession to it was not the same thing.

It did not much matter if any one took up the title or not as a title was not real property.

What mattered was the property and that was a more complicated story.

One book I read had an American captain who fought against Great Britain succeeding to a title and walking into the House of Lords. If he was English enough to be entitled to sit in the House of Lords, he was a traitor for fighting against his country. If he was American, so was not a traitor, then he could not become a member of the House of Lords. One cannot have one’s cake and eat it too.

The seat in the House of Lords and property went to natural citizens and some naturalized ones.

Dual Citizenship did not exist in those days, as far as I have been able to discover. Correction of my perception is welcomed. Except for USA, which allows citizenship to any born inside its borders. For the most part, diplomatic corps take their nationality with them and a child born to a diplomat in a foreign country is considered as born at home. The father’s domicile was still England though his residence was in a different country.

A man could live for decades outside of England and yet have his main domicile be England as long as he did not become involved in foreign politics or apply for naturalization elsewhere. [In my upcoming Lady Glynis and the Earl, the heroine lives with her aunt and uncle. He is a British diplomat and owns an estate which carries a title. Such was the type of relationship required, though he had not lived in England for more than twenty years.]

The USA and Great Britain fought a couple of wars against each other, and people of the US were considered aliens. If a subject of the king stayed on after the revolution, for example, and took part in the new country, he was considered as having changed his allegiance. It cost one woman an inheritance. [Another book plug: The heroine’s father in Captain Stanwick’s Bride is a Scottish surgeon in the U.S., working for the U.S. Army. He cannot go back to Great Britain and claim land he inherited.]

Americans could hold British titles. For example, the title of Lord Fairfax of Cameron was held by Americans for several generations starting in 1798:

A small portrait of Bryan Fairfax, in an article by Constance Cary Harrison, his great-granddaughter. ~ Public Domain

Rev. Bryan Fairfax, 8th Lord Fairfax of Cameron (1736—1802) was an Anglican clergyman and Scottish peer (the title was created in 1627 before the Union of 1707). He was a lifelong friend of George Washington and became the first American-born Lord Fairfax; his predecessors were born in the UK. The Rev. The Lord Fairfax was the first cousin once removed of the seventh Lord. He lived in Virginia. He was the grandson of Reverend the Hon. Henry Fairfax, second son of the fourth Lord. However, it wasn’t until 1800 that he was confirmed in the title by the House of Lords. Fairfax did not pursue his peerage until 1798, while on a business trip to England. The previous Lord Fairfax, his cousin Robert, had died in 1793. After his death in 1802, his widow sued his executor, but the Supreme Court found for the executor in 1809. His son Thomas Fairfax became the 9th Lord Fairfax of Cameron.

The title was forgotten by the family except as a curiosity until one of the heirs returned to England and was confirmed in the title in 1908.

Albert Kirby Fairfax, 12th Lord Fairfax of Cameron (23 June 1870 – 4 October 1939), was an American-born Scottish Representative Peer and politician in the British House of Lords.

Born at Northampton, in Largo, Prince George’s County, Maryland, Fairfax was discovered to be the rightful holder of his title after it had been essentially forgotten by his family (which had resided in the United States for several generations). After researchers determined Albert Kirby Fairfax to be the 12th Lord Fairfax of Cameron, his title was allowed by the House of Lords in 1908. His father was John Fairfax, 11th Lord Fairfax of Cameron, and his mother was Mary Brown Kirby

He was a member of Fairfax & Company, of George Street, London. He was a partner of Bonbright & Company, George Street, London. He was naturalized as a UK citizen on 17 November 1908. He was elected a Scottish Representative Peer and served in that capacity from 19 October 1917 to his death on 4 October 1939.

Naturalization took what ever time it took for a private act of parliament when it was in session.

Rev. Bryan Fairfax never renounced his British citizenship so was not really an American. Albert Fairfax became a  British subject. However, despite the fact the men did not claim the peerage while it was forgotten by their heirs, it remained dormant, as such, no one else could claim it. When Albert Fairfax wished to claim it, he had to prove he was next in line, as does everyone else who claim a peerage. Sons succeeding fathers merely had to prove that they were born after the parents married. To succeed, one had to trace his legitimate lineage back to the last known peer or to the first one, if not a direct descendant of the last one.

But he could NOT sit in the House of Lords. I think they probably managed to take the entailed property that went with the title because such only gave the man a life interest in it. He needs to marry quickly and have a son born in England.

Citizenship was also complicated by the fact once a woman married, she assumed the citizenship of her husband. My great-great grandmother’s U.S. passport application in the late 19th century stated she was a U.S. citizen by virtue of her marriage to her husband, who had been born in the States.

An act of March 2, 1907, also known as the Expatriation Act, changed all this. Congress mandated that “any American woman who marries a foreigner shall take the nationality of her husband.” Upon marriage, regardless of where the couple resided, the woman’s legal identity morphed into her husband’s.

Find more information: When Saying “I Do” Meant Giving Up Your U.S. Citizenship

The Cable Act, or the Married Women’s Independent Nationality Act, was passed by Congress in 1922. The Cable Act was written in response to sections of the Expatriation Act of 1907 that stripped women of their U.S. citizenship if they married non-citizen men.

The 1931 amendment to the Cable Act allowed women to retain their American citizenship even if they married a person ineligible for naturalization.

Peerage, Abdicationg, Inheritance, and Questions of Legality might be of interest to some of you.

As for why some peers did not marry, another reason was venereal disease, including such situations as his parents were afflicted and he was born sterile (many had mistresses, but did they have children by these liaisons?), or they had contracted it themselves and did not want to pass it on to an unsuspecting bride.

William Spencer Cavendish, 6th Duke of Devonshire (1790-1858) oil on panel 76 x 63.5 cm later inscribed t.l.: William Spencer; / 6th.. Duke of Devonshire ~ Public Domain

I am surprised at the number of peers who never marry. The young man who became the Duke of Devonshire in 1811 was one of them. William George Spencer Cavendish, 6th Duke of Devonshire, , styled Marquess of Hartington until 1811, was a British peer, courtier, nobleman, and Whig politician. Known as the “Bachelor Duke”, he was Lord Chamberlain of the Household between 1827 and 1828 and again between 1830 and 1834. The Cavendish banana is named after him. I have not read any real reason why he never married, though reasons have been presented:

One Wikipedia page says he was devastated when his cousin Lady Caroline married another, so he chose never to marry. As he was 21 in 1811 and she married in 1805 or so, such an attraction could be called “calf love” for a lovely older cousin.

Another Wikipedia page suggests he stayed single because he liked the young cousin and his wife who was next in line to inherit. As the heir was in line to succeed to an earldom, he would not actually be sending a man into poverty if he had married and fathered a son.

Other reasons given:

He felt that he was not the son of the Duke of Devonshire so not entitled to the dukedom, though he treated it as his and used the money while he lived so that does not hold water.

He never felt enough interest in a woman to marry her. There are letters to his mistresses which I have not seen, but that does not preclude him not having a desire to marry.

Reading the peerage or even Wikipedia pages about peers shows the peers were generally closely related to each other, and the aristocracy could be called “the cousins. ” Also, there are some stories there which are stranger than fiction.

Posted in Act of Parliament, America, American History, aristocracy, British history, estates, Georgian England, Georgian Era, Great Britain, history, Inheritance, laws of the land, Living in the Regency, Living in the UK, peerage, real life tales, Regency era, research | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Comments Off on This and That Regarding the Concept of “Heirs” and “Naturalization” – A Bunch of Historical Facts Tossed Together for Your Enjoyment