Tag Archives: Act of Parliament

The Duke Is Dead, Long Live the Duke . . . Now What?

Posted on May 17, 2023 by Regina Jeffers

During the Georgian era, a will could be declared void it the person was insane or drunk at the time of its creation or be voided if it was proven to have been written for a convicted felon, a prisoner, or an outlaw/thief. So it was also for those who committed suicide or had been excommunicated from the church or if the person was a slave. A married woman required the consent of her husband to have a will drawn up. Worst so, the husband had the right to withdraw his permission up until the will was probated. Because the legal age to marry during the time was 14 for boys and 12 for girls, such was the same ages for wills. Continue reading →

Posted in Act of Parliament, aristocracy, British history, estates, family, Georgian England, Georgian Era, history, Inheritance, laws of the land, legacy, Living in the Regency, Living in the UK, real life tales, Regency era, titles of aristocracy | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

Two Attempts to Assassinate King George III in a Single Day, 15 May 1800

Posted on May 15, 2023 by Regina Jeffers

On 15 May 1800, George III went to Hyde Park to review the 1st Foot Guards. During the review, a shot was fired which narrowly missed the King. Mr Ongley, a clerk in the Navy Office, who was standing only a few paces away, was struck, and it was said that “had the wound been two inches higher it must have been mortal”.

Undeterred, later that same day, at the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane, James Hadfield tried to shoot King George III while the national anthem was being played, and the king was standing to attention in the royal box, along with other members of the Royal Family. Continue reading →

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How Was Gossip Spread So Easily in the Regency Era?

Posted on May 5, 2023 by Regina Jeffers

How feasible was it to discover a “gossip rag” or tabloid devoted to all the “on dits” of society during the late Georgian era? Continue reading →

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Marriage by Proxy, Possible or Myth? + The Release of “Amending the Shades of Pemberley” + a Giveaway

Posted on April 19, 2023 by Regina Jeffers

When the Hardwick Act for the Prevention of Clandestine Marriages went into effect in March of 1754, the rules for marrying in England changed dramatically. Prior to that time, all the couple had to do was to pronounce their vows before a clergyman of the Church of England. Heck, it did not even have to be one’s local clergyman or even one’s local church. In fact, the Fleet Street prison saw quite a few marriages in those days Continue reading →

Posted in Act of Parliament, book excerpts, book release, British history, customs and tradiitons, England, Georgian England, Georgian Era, giveaway, historical fiction, history, Jane Austen, laws of the land, Living in the Regency, marriage, marriage customs, marriage licenses, Pride and Prejudice, publishing, reading, real life tales, Regency era, Regency romance, research, Vagary, writing | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 14 Comments

“Nothing is Certain but Death and Taxes” . . . Death Fits the Bill, Yet What of Taxes?

Posted on April 14, 2023 by Regina Jeffers

There were hundreds of taxes and so a variety of dates on which they would be due. Some were pay as you go, so to speak. For others, the tax man came along and counted the number of windows in the person’s residence and looked at the number of footmen employed and counted the crested carriages owned and other four-wheeled vehicles, etc., and made his demand. A person then had “x” number of days to pay the tax. Some taxes were due in quarter days and some on cross quarter days. Continue reading →

Posted in Act of Parliament, British history, buildings and structures, business, estates, finance, Georgian England, Georgian Era, Great Britain, history, Living in the Regency, Living in the UK, Regency era | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Comments Off on “Nothing is Certain but Death and Taxes” . . . Death Fits the Bill, Yet What of Taxes?

Caroline Norton, a True Case of a Competency Hearing

Posted on March 31, 2023 by Regina Jeffers

Caroline Norton, born Caroline Elizabeth Sarah Sheridan, on 22 March 1808, in London (died 15 June 1877, London), was an English poet and novelist whose matrimonial difficulties prompted successful efforts to secure legal protection for married women. Continue reading →

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A Debt-Ridden Inheritance During the Regency Era

Posted on February 22, 2023 by Regina Jeffers

Those of us who write JAFF are very familiar with Mrs. Bennet’s fears of being driven into the hedgerows after Mr. Collins takes over Longbourn in Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice. Though Mr. Bennet had not left behind a debt-ridden … Continue reading →

Posted in British history, customs and tradiitons, family, Georgian England, Georgian Era, Inheritance, Living in the Regency, Living in the UK, primogenture, real life tales, Regency era, Regency romance, titles of aristocracy | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , | 4 Comments

Changing One’s Name During the Regency

Posted on November 4, 2022 by Regina Jeffers

I wish I could recall where I encountered this information, but I cannot. Therefore, I must apologize up front if someone shared it with me, and I am not giving them credit or whether I read it in a Facebook … Continue reading →

Posted in Act of Parliament, British history, customs and tradiitons, family, Georgian England, history, Inheritance, Jane Austen, Living in the Regency, peerage, real life tales, Regency era, research, titles of aristocracy, tradtions | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

Statute of Wills, Henry VIII’s Answer to Primogeniture

Posted on July 25, 2022 by Regina Jeffers

The Statute of Wills (32 Hen. 8, c. 1 – enacted in 1540) was an English Act of Parliament, which created a mechanism for landowners to name who would inherit their landed property. A written will was required. It permitted a … Continue reading →

Posted in Act of Parliament, Anglo-Normans, castles, Living in the UK, primogenture | Tagged , , , , , | 3 Comments

A Voidable Marriage in History: Marrying the Sister of One’s Late Wife or the Brother of One’s Late Husband

Posted on March 28, 2022 by Regina Jeffers

A plot we readers often encounter in historical romance set in the Regency Period is when the hero takes up with his late wife’s sister. But was it possible? “For most of the nineteenth century, the question of whether a … Continue reading →

Posted in Act of Parliament, British history, Great Britain, Living in the Regency, marriage, real life tales, Regency era, Victorian era | Tagged , , , , , , | 19 Comments