St. John’s Wood: The Naughtiness

Last week, the development of the area of London known as St. John’s Wood was outlined, from medieval forest to Regency garden suburb. The grand plan for this property, drawn up in 1794, included detached and semi-detached houses, something never before seen in an urban area in England, or anywhere in Europe, for that matter. Though this grand plan was never executed, when the St. John’s Wood area began to be developed in the early nineteenth century, all the residences built there were detached or semi-detached villas and cottages, nestled in a surrounding garden area which shielded them from the sight of their neighbors and any passers-by. With such privacy available, both indoors and out, conveniently located within easy reach of the metropolis, is it any wonder that naughtiness in so many varieties ensued in St. John’s Wood during the Regency and for at least a century thereafter?

St. John’s Wood, secluded, louche and rather naughty …

St. John’s Wood: The Development

St. John’s Wood has been the setting for countless scenes in countless Regency novels. But what many people do not know is that the development of St. John’s Wood into a popular, if somewhat notorious and scandalous, area of London actually began only a few years before the Prince of Wales became Regent. But it was a development very unlike any other development ever before seen in London, though it would set the standard for many more developments to come, all across England and, eventually, the world.

The origins of St. John’s Wood …

Dancing Through the Novels of Jane Austen

I usually receive a book or three each Christmas, as my family and friends are well aware they can hardly go wrong with such a gift to this devoted and steadfast bibliophile. I am always very pleased with these gifts, but one of the books which I received this past Christmas was such a delight that I felt I must share it with those who are interested in the life and works of Jane Austen and in the cultural and social history of Regency England in general.

Shall we dance our way through Jane Austen’s novels?

Dandy Chargers Ride — The 2013 Season

One of my favorite signs of Spring is the arrival in my email box of the Dandy Chargers annual schedule of appearances. For those of you who may not know, the Dandy Chargers are a group of gentlemen, and ladies, in Britain, who are aficionados of that particularly Regency vehicle, the velocipede. Readers of the works of Georgette Heyer may also know this vehicle as the pedestrian curricle which wreaked such havoc in her novel Frederica. These two-wheeled, pedal-less vehicles were also known as hobby-horses, draisiennes, or dandy-horses, and were very popular for a short period during the Regency.

Each year, the Dandy Chargers make appearances through the spring and summer at various venues across Britain, in full Regency costume, riding their hobby-horses. For those of you who live in Britain, or will be spending time there during the next few months, I offer the 2013 schedule of the Dandy Chargers appearances for your perusal and edification.

A Regency Bicentennial: Byron Hides Authorship of The Waltz

This coming Sunday marks the two hundredth anniversary of the writing of a letter by Lord Byron in which he directed his publisher to deny any claims that he was the author of a satirical poem entitled The Waltz. Byron had written the poem the previous year, but it had not been published until February 1813, and was published anonymously. Some people did suspect it had been written by Byron and the rumors were beginning to circulate.

Why did Byron wish to hide his authorship of The Waltz?

Yorkshire Coach Horse: The Regency Aston Martin

Last week, the topic of discussion was the great English coaching horse breed, the Cleveland Bay. This week will be dicussed the taller, lighter, faster cousin of the Cleveland Bay, the Yorkshire Coach horse. More a Cleveland Bay hybrid than a separate breed, the Yorkshire Coach horse was also often known as the New Cleveland Bay. They quickly became popular with the sporting set to horse their curricles, tilburies, high-perch phaetons and other light-weight vehicles.

A gallop through the annals of the Yorkshire Coach horse …

Cleveland Bay: The Bentley of Coach Horses

The Cleveland Bay is the oldest of all the indigenous British horse breeds. Clevelands are large, powerful, and elegant, and they are always bay in color. Though they were considered to be the very best coach horses during the Regency, this magnificent breed came to the very brink of extinction in the 1960s. They were saved, almost single-handedly, by HM Queen Elizabeth II.

A canter through the chronicles of the Cleveland Bay …