Do-Gooders

I was very interested to see Ian Hislop's new TV series The Age of the Do-Gooders on BBC2 last night, especially as he covered Robert Owen and his mills at New Lanark which I will be discussing in my forthcoming book on child workers, 'The Children History Forgot' for Robert Hale. Next week's episode is on child labour, so I will be fascinated to see which aspects of the story of the fight to get Britain's working class children into school Hislop covers. Lord Shaftesbury will no doubt loom large, but will Hislop mention the factory inspectors such as Leonard Horner who fought so hard to encourage better education for factory and workshop children?  

The Royal Engagement

A couple of days ago, the nation was treated to the exciting news of Prince William's engagement to Kate Middleton. Things were done very differently when Prince George, son of George III, got engaged to Princess Caroline of Brunswick. The Prince was pressured into the marriage. His father wanted him to provide an heir to the throne, and the young prince was deep in debt. Prince George did not meet his royal bride until three days before the wedding; he had only seen a flattering portrait of her.
Princess Caroline of Brunswick arrived at Gravesend to begin her new life in England on Saturday 4 April 1795 and disembarked on one of the royal yachts the next day.
The lady the prince sent to accompany his new bride was his mistress, Lady Jersey. She brought some new clothes for Princess Caroline: 'a white satin gown, and very elegant turban cap of satin, trimmed with crape, and ornamented with white feathers' (New Annual Register, 1795). The clothes did not flatter the princess's somewhat florid complexion. When the prince, resplendent in his hussar uniform, went to St James's Palace to meet his future wife, he 'appeared extremely agitated'. Things did not bode well for the royal nuptials...
Image: Fashionable full dress with turban adorned with white feathers, Lady's Monthly Museum, November 1798.

Great Expectations

Some interesting news that the Dickens Museum in London has been given lottery funding to help preserve the author's home in Doughty St. I would love to go and have a good rummage in Dicken's library!
Image: Charles Dickens, Beeton's Dictionary of Universal Biography, 1870.

Epic Journey

I visited The National Archives at Kew on Thursday to do some research for my book on canal ancestors. I had a very interesting visit; the staff were extremely helpful. The Archives are kept in an amazing building. The British transport system rather let me down, however. The train I was booked on for my journey down was cancelled, and some of those coming back were late or cancelled, too. I was on a total of nine trains that day travelling from Cheshire to Kew Gardens and back again, and was exhausted by the time I got home.


Thank you to my family and all the Londoners and fellow travellers who helped a baffled Northerner trying to cope with the complexities of London transport!

Photo: The National Archives, Kew, Richmond © Sue Wilkes

Tom and Jerry

The original ‘Tom’ and ‘Jerry’ were a smash hit during the reign of George IV. These famous fictional characters were created by sports journalist Pierce Egan (1772-1849). Tom and Jerry’s colourful exploits were celebrated in books, songs and on the stage.

Egan, a Londoner of Irish origin, was a prolific author. Pierce’s first claim to fame was Boxiana (1812), a series on pugilism (prize-fighting). The first monthly instalment of Life in London, priced at one shilling and illustrated by George and Robert Cruikshank, was published by Sherwood, Neely & Jones on 15 July 1821.

You can find out more about Tom and Jerry’s rollicking adventures and the way they took society by storm in my latest feature for Jane Austen's Regency World.

Images: Engravings by George and Robert Cruikshank from author’s copy of the 1869 reprint of Life in London, Pierce Egan, (John Camden Hotten, Piccadilly, 1869.
1. Tom and Jerry pay a shilling to see the exhibition at the Royal Academy. Jane Austen went to picture exhibitions at Spring Gardens and Pall Mall in 1813.

2. Peep O’ Day Boys. A Street Row. The author losing his ‘reader’ (pocket-book), Tom and Jerry showing fight and Logic floored. Pierce Egan is the figure under attack on the left having his pocket picked.

The Children History Forgot

I am very pleased and excited to announce my book on child workers, 'The Children History Forgot', has been accepted by Robert Hale and is now going through the production stages!

The book was originally titled 'Stolen Childhoods', but we belatedly discovered there is another book with a very similar title by another author (with a different historical slant) due out next year.

'The Children History Forgot' will tell the stories of young workers (children and teenagers) during late Georgian and Victorian times in many different industries - from cotton manufacture to candle-making.
I will post an update on my blog as soon as publication date is confirmed.

A new Victoriana site

If you are interested in Victoriana, there's a new website crammed with images and articles from the Victorian world, including features on working life, history and fashion. Do check it out - an image gallery is planned from which you can download images for greeting cards, etc.