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.

Time Off?

It seems most of Britain is going to take time off to watch the England World Cup game this afternoon. What would the Georgians and Victorians have thought? If you worked in a mill, many factory owners only allowed one or two days’ holiday per year. Some mills and collieries closed down for Whit Monday or Wakes Week. Any time off was unpaid; workers saved up all year for their annual holiday. Under the factory acts, women and child workers were allowed two whole days and eight half days holiday per year. Women and children employed in workshops were not legally entitled to any holidays.
Time off to watch a football match? Not likely!

Image: An early nineteenth century cotton mill. Reports of the Inspectors of Factories, October 1873. (Author’s collection.)

Working Hard!

I have only got a few weeks left to finish my new book 'Stolen Childhoods,' so I will only be able to do very brief blog updates until after the end of July. The beautiful sunshine doesn't help - it makes it very hard to concentrate when it looks so lovely outside! 

Keep Those Plates Spinning!

As my students will know, I am a tutor for the Writers Bureau, and this week I am the 'guest blogger' for the Writers Bureau blog  - you can read my post on keeping your writing career on the move here.

Sold out!

I have just heard that the first print run of my book Narrow Windows, Narrow Lives has sold out! I am thrilled. I will update my blog if and when I get news it is going to be reprinted. There are just one or few copies left with sellers on Amazon, so hurry up if you want to buy a copy.

Michael Portillo's Great British Railway Journeys is being repeated at present, so try and catch it if you can.

Sunny and bright

It's a lovely sunny day here in Cheshire. We have got a goldfinch visiting the garden, so maybe he has got a nest nearby.  I am fighting a losing battle at present with snails who will not stop eating our runner beans before they have even had a chance to climb their canes. We have a garden full of blackbirds, but they are obviously not eating enough of the snails - or is it thrushes which eat them?

My book 'Narrow Windows, Narrow Lives' seems to be out of stock at the History Press - I am trying to find out when it will be back in stock.