19th Century Street Vendor: Woman Selling Salop

This 1808 image of an old vendor woman selling salop in London seems simple at first glance. Created by William H Pyne for The Costumes of Great Britain (one of 60 beautifully produced hand-colored drawings), the image shows the vendor surrounded by customers waiting for a warm drink, which she pours fresh and hot into white bowls [...]

Read Full Post »

Privies and Water Closets by David J. Eveleigh: A Review

I have reviewed several Shire Library books this past year and have yet to be disappointed. Case in point, Privies and Water Closets by David J. Eveleigh, an excellent small book on the history of fixed and portable sanitation and waste management. I have discovered that this topic is of everlasting curiosity and many of [...]

Read Full Post »

The Sale of Hyde Park Corner Tollgate

“The last time! a going! gone.” “Auctioneer. “Down! down! derry down!” “Public. A toll-gate was moved in 1721 from Piccadilly, near Berkeley Street and the present location of the Ritz Hotel, to the west end of Hyde Park in London. It was a real barrier, its gates stretching across the road, and the area was illuminated [...]

Read Full Post »

John Nash: The Prince Regent’s Architect

Update: Every once in a while, I plan to revisit old posts to update links and include additional information, as in this instance. My original post about John Nash (1752-1835) was woefully inadequate. John Nash’s buildings exemplified the neoclassical style of early 19th Century Architecture. His sweeping changes transformed London, from the graceful curve of [...]

Read Full Post »

The World in Miniature: W. H. Pyne

William Henry Pyne (1769 – 1843) Many of the illustrations of London and the working class that we see of the regency era can be atttibuted to the artist and writer, William Henry Pyne. W.H. Pyne, the son of a leather seller and weaver, chronicled the working class in The Costumes of Great Britain. In [...]

Read Full Post »

A Walk Through Regency London

Now industry awakes her busy sons, Shops open, coaches roll, carts shake the ground, And all the streets with passing cries resound. – John Gay, Walking the Streets of London Oh, how should I describe my three short days in London when I went on a deliberate search for the sites, establishments and objects that [...]

Read Full Post »

Drinking Milk in Regency London

Louis Simond, a Frenchman who lived in the United States, landed in Falmouth on Christmas Eve, 1809 to begin a twenty-one month journey of the British Isles. During his tour, Louis set down his observations, which resulted in a well-received book, Journal of a Tour and Residence in Great Britain during the Years 1810 and [...]

Read Full Post »

1814 Frost Fair

During a mini ice age two hundred years ago, the winters were so cold that the river Thames would freeze in solid sheets of ice. The old London Bridge was bulkier than the new London Bridge built in 1823, and it acted like a dam. After the new bridge was built and the old one [...]

Read Full Post »

Crossing Sweepers

…dirt accumulated faster than all measures to contain it: Cattle were still driven through the streets to and from Smithfield Market until the mid-nineteenth century and horse-drawn vehicles added to the labours of the sweepers stationed at street crossings. Smoke from brick kilns and thousands of sea coal fires polluted the air. In 1813 Henry [...]

Read Full Post »

Life in London

Here I am once more in this Scene of Dissipation & vice, and I begin already to find my Morals corrupted. – Jane Austen writing about London to Cassandra, August 23, 1796 Jane wrote her remark a quarter of a century before Pierce Egan published his book, Life in London: Or the Day and Night [...]

Read Full Post »

John Nash, the Architect Who Transformed London

View the updated version of this post here. John Nash’s buildings exemplified the neoclassical style of early 19th Century Architecture. His sweeping changes transformed London, from the graceful curve of Regent Street to the majestic terraces and vistas in Regent’s Park. View some of his edifices below: 1. Regent’s Park 2. Regent Street 3. Buckingham [...]

Read Full Post »