Trouble At T'Mill

A new drama, The Mill, airs on Channel 4 on Sunday 28 July. It's based on the true-life stories of Esther Price and Lucy Garner, two parish apprentices who lived and worked at Quarry Bank Mill, Cheshire. The drama was filmed at Quarry Bank Mill, which was owned by the Greg family. The Gregs built a school for their child workers. There's more info on the drama and clips here. I for one can't wait to see it!

Photo of Quarry Bank Mill © Sue Wilkes.

Royal Baby

The whole nation (well the press pack part of it anyway) is on 'royal baby watch', as the Duchess of Cambridge's new baby should make an appearance soon.

So I thought it would be nice to look at some of Queen Victoria's family: she had nine children with Albert, the Prince Consort.  The first, born in 1840, was  'Vicki', or the Princess Royal.  Next came the heir to the throne, the Prince of Wales, Albert Edward (Bertie), then came Alice, Alfred, Helena, Louise, Arthur, Leopold, and finally Beatrice.  Queen Victoria outlived three of her children.

It will be interesting to see which name the Duke and Duchess choose for the new heir to the throne - and I wonder how long it will be before the baby has its own Twitter account?

Update: The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge had a baby boy on Monday 22 July 2013.
Update 25 July: The new prince has been named George Alexander Louis - so when he becomes King (and if he decides to use that name) he will be George VII. 

Images:
Mother and baby, Family Magazine, Cassell, Petter & Galpin, 1879. 
An early portrait of Princess Victoria before she became queen. 
The Princess Royal aged 17 months and the Prince of Wales aged 5 months.
The Princess Royal.
The Queen's Resolve, A Jubilee Memorial, London, c.1887.

Peterloo veterans

A wonderful image of Peterloo veterans in 1884 is now on Flickr.

A Historical Gem

One of the exciting things about holidaying in Britain is how much history can be packed into one small village, and Skenfrith in Monmouthshire, which we visited recently, was an amazing place to explore.  It has a 12th century castle (left) and an unusual church, St Bridget's, which is home to some very interesting tombs and a beautifully preserved pre-Reformation cope (below). 

Apparently the village featured in a Dr Who episode, but luckily there were no Daleks around when we pottered about - just peace and tranquillity, and history oozing from every moss-covered stone.

 All images © Sue Wilkes.

Vaccination Pioneers

Vaccination registers are a fabulous way to research your ancestors' childhood, and they are the subject of my latest feature, for the July issue of Discover Your Ancestors.  Smallpox was a killer disease and your ancestors' families were very likely to have known someone who had suffered from it even if they were lucky enough to escape the disease themselves. Smallpox inoculation was first popularized in England by Lady Mary Wortley Montagu. Dr Jenner helped to develop the use of cowpox material instead of smallpox matter; people sometimes died after being immunised.   

 

In Regency Cheshire, Dr John Haygarth (1740–1827), helped to promote inoculation, He was the author of An Inquiry How to Prevent the Smallpox (1784), and pioneered separate wards for fever patients. 

Images: Dr Edward Jenner, Beeton’s Dictionary of Universal Biography, Ward, Lock and Tyler, 1870. Author’s collection.
John Haygarth. Engraving by W.Cooke from a painting by J. H. Bell. Gentleman’s Magazine, Vol. XCVII, Part 2, London, 1827. Author’s collection.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Smallpox Hospital, King’s Cross, London in 1800.  The Hospital, founded in 1746, was founded to treat smallpox patients and to provide vaccinations. Old and New London Vol. V., Cassell, Petter & Galpin, c.1890. Author’s collection.

Review of Deirdre Le Faye's Jane Austen's Letters

Deirdre Le Faye's Jane Austen's Letters (Oxford University Press, 2011) is an invaluable addition to the bookshelves of Jane Austen fans and scholars of her life and times.  The updated fourth edition includes a new preface, revamped biographical and topographical indexes (i.e. indexes of people and places mentioned in Jane's letters).  The biographical index is particularly helpful if, like many of us, you find the complex network of Austen's family and friends confusing (and it is a very complicated family tree, especially if you include the remarriages of Jane's brothers). The new subject index is a 'must-have' if you are interested in the social history of Austen's day.

Victorian reviewers of the Brabourne edition of Jane Austen's letters did not appear to find them particularly interesting compared with those of, for example, Fanny Burney, who wrote her letters with a view to their eventual publication, but this is to do Austen an injustice.  Her wit and charm shines out of her surviving letters, and I think they are the closest thing we will ever have to a 'conversation' with Jane in which we can hear her 'voice'.

The history of the letters' publication, and their provenance (explored in the preface and notes) are fascinating.  Jane's sister Cassandra burned many letters containing any very personal information (precisely those which would interest us most today). Several letters have been lost since their first publication, and others are known only in part, because they were cut up and distributed amongst the family. 

Le Faye has methodically documented the provenance, current location (if known) and publication of each letter and put them in sequence.  She clearly explains many seemingly puzzling references in the letters.

One phrase, however, she finds 'unexplained': in a letter to Cassandra (26 November 1815), Jane says that they have not had many visitors that week, but now she is 'in terror' because it is a 'fine bright Sunday, plenty of Mortar and nothing to do'.  Le Faye suggests that 'mortar' might be slang for 'money', and that this is a reference to a popular song of the day.

A quick glance at Grose's Classical Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue (1788 and later editions) doesn't support 'mortar' as a euphemism for money, however.  At the risk of putting my head on the block, I humbly suggest that 'plenty of Mortar and nothing to do' sounds as if it's something a builder or stonemason might say if he'd mixed lots of mortar, but then had nothing to build, and was left twiddling his thumbs in the sunshine. Could this perhaps be something that a builder or workman had said when doing some work for the Austen family?  I'd be very interested to hear what other readers think, anyway.

Discover Your Ancestors Review

Launching a new family history publication may be considered a brave step by some following the recent demise of the online Discover My Past (back issues still available), and the much lamented Family History Monthly.   

However, the new Discover Your Ancestors Periodical is hoping to build on the success of the glossy annual bookazine, available from newsagents or the publisher. The monthly magazine is published in association with theGenealogist.

The first issue (May) had an article on tracking down archives by expert author Simon Fowler, social history articles on the early aviators and on child labour, a look at records available for Essex, book reviews and more.The June issue focussed on the suffragette movement, records for the legendary Dambusters squadron, how to research Welsh Anglican and Nonconformist ancestors, plus a look at Birmingham resources and more.

Looking at the first two issues, I would say that the magazine is initially aimed at those starting out in family history.  However, hardened campaigners should still find the social history articles and focus on particular records valuable, particularly if you like to put your ancestors’ lives in context. Next month's features are listed here, including one on vaccination registers by yours truly.

Subscribers can download the whole magazine in pdf. format or you can just browse each article online. Unfortunately I can’t comment on how easy the magazine is to read on mobile devices as I am old-fashioned and just use my phone for texts and calls!

The monthly periodical is 20 pages long, fully illustrated, and comes with free subscriber data.  It costs £1 per month (£12 for a year’s subscription). 
This compares with £4.99 for BBC Who Do You Think You Are? (100 pages long).  Your Family History and Family Tree are both £4.99 I think (the latter is £3.99 for its digital edition).  These magazines also have subscriber offers and offer free data sets.

As always with the family history magazines, I think which you choose very much depends on your budget, how experienced a researcher you are, and which datasets are useful for your personal research.  You may like to flit between each magazine according to which records are being discussed that month, or you may prefer to treat yourself to a subscription so that you don’t have to remember to buy it each month, and so that you can keep up with the latest news.  

Do you prefer a print magazine which you can thumb through (in or out of the bath!), or do you prefer to read articles on your mobile device or PC?  I’d love to hear your views!