Georgian and Victorian Britain

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Britain 1700-1900 with an emphasis on the radical

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Snuff and the Regency Elite
Feb 16, 2026 · original
Rather like today – arguably – the elite Regency drug of choice went up the nose. When the Georgian ruling classes craved tobacco, they reached for their snuffbox, very possibly from a pouch specially designed for that purpose in their waistcoat. Snuff taking was a refined activity, a marker of social status, and a way of showing your sophistication. It was discreet; a smoky tobacco flame was not. Cigars and pipes were unacceptable in the most refined society; the Prince of Wales hated both, and the rest of society followed. Cigars were banned in White’s Club, the home of the Tory establishment, until 1845, although they were becoming more popular from the 1820s; former army officers in White’s might have had a cigar when fighting on the move in Spain and Portugal or may have smoked a pipe when snuff was unavailable or inconvenient, but that was as far as it went. Outdoor smoking in norm
Georgian Judge Lord Ellenborough and his struggle against pornography.
Dec 20, 2024 · original
Available 2025 First, a disclaimer. Pornography was not a word that was used in the Georgian era; the first reference in any Victorian newspaper seems to be the Hereford Times of 1858, when it is used in its absolute literal sense of writings about prostitutes in Roman Pompeii. It gathered its modern meaning in the 1880s, but even then no home-grown responsibility was taken for it; it was regarded as a French (or sometimes Belgian) import. Whatever the name, it was common enough in the Georgian era. Whole shops in London were devoted to it, if you knew where to look and who to ask, but the common source was the itinerant pedlar who could dodge suspicion. One title – ‘The Crafty Chambermaid’ still exists; you have already guessed the plot line. The authorities were occasionally roused, as it were, into action. The most famous piece of Georgian erotica, Fanny Hill , Memoirs of a Woman of P
The Georgian ‘Establishment’: Seen Through the Life and Trials of Edward Law, Lord Ellenborough
Nov 26, 2024 · original
About1816 @jameshobson.bsky.social My new book is a biography of one man and a review of the Georgian ruling class in the period 1770–1820. It covers their institutions, their mentality, their modus operandi, and how they maintained their position as the ruling establishment. The story of Georgian Britain’s top ten thousand is told through one of its members, Edward Law (1750–1818). He was typical of the establishment in most ways, but also untypical, as he was far, far more reactionary than most. He is not a character who garners much sympathy in the twenty-first century, and in the late Georgian period he was hated by the powerless and poor. In turn, his disdain for them turned to contempt if they dared to challenge the authority of the state and the established church in any way. Law lived in an age when the ruling classes neither needed nor wanted to be popular, and he went one step
Interested in the Radical side of Victorian politics?
Oct 27, 2024 · original
Hi there! In the past you have subscribed to my Georgian history website. Just in case the Victorians interest you too, could I offer my book, cheap (99p) on kindle in the UK at the moment ?
Year Without a Summer,1816: Mount Tambora’s Impact on Europe and North America
Jul 25, 2024 · original
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Georgian Dropsy: Symptoms, Cures, and Miseries.
Mar 3, 2024 · original
On Tuesday died, of a dropsy, Miss Sarah Hinves, eldest daughter of Mr. Hinves, plumber, aged 26, after three years affliction, and a sixteenth operation, which she bore with much patience and calm resignation to the divine will. Hampshire Chronicle 29 April 181 1 Poor Sarah died of one of the more dreaded of the Georgian diseases-dropsy, or, as the article says ‘a dropsy’, as it manifested itself in different ways. Dropsy is a form of acute water retention in the tissues. These days, it is much, much less of a problem; it is now called Oedema and the average first-world resident would only encounter dropsy in their pet fish. In the Georgian era, it was different. It could kill you and make your miserable before it did, and if it killed you, you would be a very unattractive corpse. .Poor Sarah died of one of the more dreaded of the Georgian diseases-dropsy, or, as the article says ‘a dro
Anna Kingsford- Victorian Feminist and Animal Rights Campaigner
Sep 15, 2023 · original
An extract from my book which features more Victorian Radicals like Anna In a freezing February in 1888, a vicar’s wife lay dying at the tragically early age of forty-one. Her husband was the vicar at Atcham, Shrewsbury, but her deathbed scene unfolded at their rented flat at 15, Wynnstay Gardens Kensington, a newly-built mansion block of apartments for the respectable middle classes. She had known she was dying since the previous November, but it was taking a very long time. Recuperation in the South of France and the Italian Riviera had not helped. She had suffered with her lungs all through her life; now they were killing her. When the crisis came, she was attended by a catholic priest and the last rites were administered. She was buried modestly at her husband’s church in the presence of close friends, and her grave can still be seen today, placed prudently at a high point above the
The Georgian Childhood of William Hutton
Aug 24, 2023 · original
William Hutton. A face that childhood created Hutton was born in Derby on 30 September 1723 and like most children before or since, his first thoughts were about his mother. Unlike most children today, his memories of his mother were to be limited, as Ann was to survive a mere nine more years after his birth, and for most of the time she struggled – ‘time produced nothing but tatters and children’ said Hutton, in one of his many thought-provoking poetic turns of phrase. Wool Comber In the eighteenth century, the death of your mother at forty-one would bring grief but not much surprise. Her husband William had been a self employed wool comber, but when William junior was two years old his business failed and he became as a journeyman – a day worker for other people. Wool combing was a hot and greasy job which was done at home. Raw wool was straightened with large combs of increasing finen
Breaking sugar in the dusk- the life of the single Regency gentlewoman
Apr 20, 2023 · original
This blogpost is inspired by the online diaries of Fanny Chapman . How did middle-ranking gentlewomen of Georgian England fill their waking hours? Were they mostly bored senseless? It seems that the tentative answer is ‘no’ except that this conclusion only applies to woman who were prepared to put the effort in, and obey the social conventions. This is how it could be done. The first line of defence against ennui was people- friends, family and acquaintances. For the leisured classes of the Regency, it was an era of conversation. You visited, and were visited. When you visited, you chatted and drank tea. There were rules, but there was also flexibility. If it is a nearby close fried or family, it could be unannounced. If they are not in, then there is always tomorrow. You are not that busy. ‘Not being in’ was not the same as ‘not being at home’. You could be ‘in’ but not want to see peop
Jane Austen goes dancing
Mar 21, 2023 · original
What could Jane Austen and similar unmarried gentlewomen of the Regency Age, look forward to? There were certainly a host of activities that could fill and kill time, but what could be anticipated with some pleasure? One of the few prospects was the Ball or the Assembly. Roughly, the former would be held in the house of a local worthy, who would ‘give’ the occasion and would rightly be the centre of attention, and the latter would be a commercial operation run from a large assembly hall or large local establishment. Both public and private balls were a key part of Jane’s social life, and the life of all unmarried people of her class. There would be at least one large rectangular room, with dancing from about 9pm until early the next morning, with supper and some allied amusements like whist for the non-dancers, and normally another, separate room. Jane often liked it when there was a sep

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