The only legitimate child of George, Prince of Wales, and his estranged wife, Caroline of Brunswick, was born on 7 January 1796 – almost nine months exactly after her parent’s wedding night. It was fortunate the royal newlyweds conceived then, because they loathed each other so instantly and profoundly they would never have sex with… Read more Princess Charlotte of Wales
Thanks to everyone who participated in the comments! It’s never too late to put in your 2 cents worth … feel free to comment if you must have your share of the conversation! Day 1 ~ Just Jane 1813 Day 2 ~ Diary of An Eccentric Day 3 ~ Savvy Verse and Wit Day 4… Read more Fanny Price vs. Mary Crawford – The Debate Rages On!
English poet, essayist, playwright, and novelist Thomas Love Peacock was born on 18 October 1785 in Weymouth, Dorset, into a lower-middle class family. From there he rose to become both an admired writer and wealthy, “a rare instance of a man improved by prosperity.” While working as a clerk with Ludlow Fraser Company in London,… Read more The Laughing Philosopher, Thomas Love Peacock
First, let me just say I love the name Mungo. I’ve loved it forever. I first loved it when I found the name St Mungo in a book of Scottish folk tales and saints that I read in high school. I loved it when it popped up in the Harry Potter series as St Mungo’s… Read more Mungo Park, I presume?
William Wilberforce, the spearhead and focal point of the English abolitionists, as well as one of my favorite historical personages, was born in Hull, in the East Riding of Yorkshire, on 24 August 1759. He was the only son of Robert Wilberforce, whose family had become wealthy thanks to maritime trade with Baltic countries,… Read more William Wilberforce, a Truly Great Man
Napoleon Bonaparte, the future Emperor of the French and one of the greatest military leaders Western civilization has ever known, was born on 15 August 1769 in Ajaccio, the capital of the island of Corsica, to Carlo Maria di Buonaparte and Maria Letizia Ramolino. He was the fourth child the stork brought to Casa Buonaparte,… Read more Happy Birthday to Napoleon Bonaparte, the Corsican Who Transformed the Modern World
The worst thing about Jane Austen dying on 18 July 1817, when she was only 41 and should have had decades of writing ahead of her, is that those of us – and we are legion – who love her work must be content with the few novels and scattered essays she left us. We… Read more For the Love of Jane Austen, Peeress of Prose
Jane Austen tragically died at the young age of 41 on 18 July 1817, leaving behind a grieving family and an astonishing literary legacy. Her family was grateful that she did not suffer, or become disoriented, even at the very end of her life. Her brother Henry reported that she, “retained her faculties, her memory,… Read more The Last Thing Austen Ever Wrote
Jane Austen actively detested the Prince Regent, as many people did. In her case it was particularly acute, because she not only found him lacking in moral rectitude or any worthy quality she admired, he was a decided political thorn in the side of the Tory party, which the Austen family strongly favored over the… Read more Jane Austen and the Prince Regent
This weekend my husband and I took the kids to Tenby, Wales to see some seals and some historical sights, and it was a richly rewarding experience on all fronts. As to be expected from a seafront village whose Anglicized name comes from the Welsh title Dinbych-y-pysgod, meaning “little fort of the fish”, there was… Read more Geniuses from Tenby, Wales!