Silk and Stewarts

It’s been so long since I’ve had time to update my blog that I’ve got lots of news!

First and most importantly, my son Gareth has just won a silver medal at the International Physics Olympiad in Croatia! Well done and congratulations to Gareth and all the other British team members for such as sterling effort, and a big thank you to his Croatian hosts for looking after him so well.

My book ‘Stolen Childhoods’ has gone in the post at last, so a big thank you is due to all my family for putting up with me while I’ve been glued to the PC for weeks.

The Highlander has just published my feature ‘Banned to Beloved’ which discusses the pacification of the Highlands and the impact on the clans’ traditional way of life, and tartan’s triumphant return thanks to Sir Walter Scott and others.

You can also read my hints and tips on tracing your silk ancestors in the July issue of  Discover My Past England, and on tracing your Stewart (Stuart) ancestors in this month’s Discover My Past Scotland.

Images:

Mary Queen of Scots. Scotland Picturesque and Traditional, Cassell & Co. Ltd, 1895. (Artist unknown, author George Eyre-Todd.)

A Highland Outpost. Engraving after the painting by John Pettie for Good Words, 1893.

December fashions, 1837. Morning visiting dress of fawn-coloured silk with pink satin hat. Ladies’ Cabinet of Fashion, Music and Romance, Vol. XII, 1837.

All images from the author’s collection.

A fantastic review from Jane Austen’s Regency World!

I was thrilled to read Jocelyn Bury’s lovely review of Regency Cheshire in this month’s Jane Austen's Regency World!
Here is a very brief extract:

‘Sue Wilkes has produced a vivid and highly readable portrait of Jane Austen in the age of Jane Austen. …Massive social and industrial change took place in England during the Regency period, laying the foundations for the prosperity and growth of the Victorian age. Wilkes is an adept and engaging chronicler of this fascinating period in the history of Britain, mirrored in that of her home county’.
Thank you ever so much, Jocelyn!
Image: an illustration from Regency Cheshire.