Author Archives: Suzi Love

About Suzi Love

I'm an Australian author of contemporary and historical romances, plus history non-fiction. My books range from sexy to erotic, late 1700s to the mid 1800s, and with a dash of Australia thrown into the mix. My heroes and heroines challenge tradition and my stories often expose the seamier levels of life. I now live in a sunny part of Australia after spending many years in developing countries in the South Pacific. My greatest loves are traveling, anywhere and everywhere, meeting crazy characters, and visiting the Australian outback. I hope my books bring history alive and you have fun adventuring with my roguish heroes and feisty heroines.

1807 White High-Waisted Dress With Black Zig-Zag Edging, French. #RegencyEra #JaneAusten #HistoricalFashion

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1807 White High-Waisted Dress, French. Black zig-zag edging and decoration, lemon draping shawl, long gloves, orange Fichu, yellow slippers, pink bonnet. Fashion Plate via Journal des Dames et des Modes, or Costume Parisien.

Definition Empire Style Dress: High-waisted white gown defined women’s fashion during the Regency Era. ‘Empire’ is the name given to the period when Napoleon Bonaparte built his French Empire. High-waisted, loose gowns were adopted by the aristocracy as a symbol of turning away from the fussy, elaborate and expensive clothing worn in the 1700s.

1807 White High-Waisted Dress, French. Black zig-zag edging and decoration, lemon draping shawl, long gloves, orange Fichu, yellow slippers, pink bonnet. Fashion Plate via Journal des Dames et des Modes, or Costume Parisien.
1807 White High-Waisted Dress in Jane Austen Style With Black Zig-Zag Edging. #RegencyFashion #JaneAusten #HistoricalFashionhttps://books2read.com/SuziLoveFashionWomen1805-1809
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Fashion Women 1805-1809 History Notes Book 26 What did Jane Austen and friends wear? https://books2read.com/SuziLoveFashionWomen1805-1809

1775-1777 ca. Gold, Silver and Cut Diamonds Snuffbox With Medallion, Russian. #GeorgianEra #Antiques #Russia

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1775-1777 ca. Snuffbox With Medallion, Russian. Made by Johann Baltasar Gass St Petersburg, Russia. Gold, silver, cut diamonds; chased, engraved and pounced. via liveinternet.ru

18th Century Snuff Boxes. Not only were boxes made to serve a purpose, but decorative boxes of all types were prized, especially in the 18th Century when everything decorative and extravagant was in vogue and taking a pinch of snuff was fashionable. Snuff is made from ground or pulverized tobacco leaves and is sniffed from a pinch of snuff placed on the back of the hand. Flavorings were added to the tobacco to give a fast hit of nicotine and a lasting scent. Snuff began in the Americas and was used in Europe by the 17th Century.

1775-1777 ca. Snuffbox With Medallion, Russian. Made by Johann Baltasar Gass St Petersburg, Russia. Gold, silver, cut diamonds; chased, engraved and pounced. via liveinternet.ru
1775-1777 ca. Snuffbox With Medallion, Russian. Made by Johann Baltasar Gass St Petersburg, Russia. Gold, silver, cut diamonds; chased, engraved and pounced. via liveinternet.ru

Snuff became popular from the mid 1600s to the mid 1800s and was more popular than smoking. Inhaling snuff, or snuffing, was first seen by a European missionary in 1493 in Christopher Columbus’s new world within Haiti’s indigenous Taino. Until then, tobacco had been unknown to Europeans, but its use spread quickly throughout Europe during the 1500s.  By the second half of the 17th century, ornate boxes started being produced to keep the precious powder dry and an entire industry making accessories blossomed around the fashion of taking snuff.  Noblemen, and some women, carried extravagantly decorated snuff boxes with them at all times and would offer a pinch of their own particular blend to friends and family. Therefore, these boxes were always on display and so it became a competition to see who could have the most bejeweled or expensive box possible.

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1812 May Pink Walking Dress With Coat in Jane Austen Style. #JaneAusten #RegencyFashion #HistoricalFashion

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1812 May Pink Walking Dress, English. Coat is called a ‘Spencer Robe’ in the description and the fabric is sarcenet in blossom color. High collar, bobble decoration on the hem, pink sleeveless pelisse dress trimmed with a tufted Chinese silk fringe. The deep vandyke black lace is a loose Polonaise style that sits over the collar of the white muslin dress. The provincial muslin bonnet has two curled white ostrich feathers on the front. Half-boots are of pink kid, gloves are lemon or pale tan kid, and pink reticule, or ridicule or bag, has a drawstring. Fashion Plate via Rudolph Ackermann’s ‘The Repository of Arts’.

Definition Pelisse, Redingote, Or Walking Dress: Jane Austen and her contemporaries wore long coats like these to keep warm when out and about, visiting, shopping etc. The thin muslin dresses worn in the early 1800s were little protection against European winters.

Definition Reticule Or Ridicule Or Bag Or Purse: Because reticules were so popular, Jane Austen and her family and friends would have made reticules for each other for gifts and carried these small purses with them whenever they went out.

Definition Aigret, Aigrette, Egret: Plume of feathers or jeweled ornament in shape of feathers worn on head or hats. During the early 19th century., or Jane Austen’s lifetime, the favorite feathers were osprey and heron.

1812 May Pink Walking Dress, English. Coat is called a ‘Spencer Robe’ in the description and the fabric is sarcenet in blossom color. High collar, bobble decoration on the hem, pink sleeveless pelisse dress trimmed with a tufted Chinese silk fringe. The deep vandyke black lace is a loose Polonaise style that sits over the collar of the white muslin dress. The provincial muslin bonnet has two curled white ostrich feathers on the front. Half-boots are of pink kid, gloves are lemon or pale tan kid, and pink reticule, or ridicule or bag, has a drawstring. Fashion Plate via Rudolph Ackermann's 'The Repository of Arts'.
1812 May Pink Walking Dress With Coat in Jane Austen Style. #JaneAusten #RegencyFashion #HistoricalFashion https://books2read.com/SuziLoveFashion1810-1814
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1804 Lemon Redingote, Or Coat, Or Pelisse, With Shoulder Cape, French. #RegencyFashion #JaneAusten #HistoricalFashion

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1804 Lemon Redingote, or Coat, French. High collar, wide shawl collar or shoulder cape, high-waisted dress buttoned at side waist, long straight sleeves, fitted blue velvet hat, neck scarf and gloves. Fashion Plate via Journal des Dames et des Modes, or Costume Parisien.

Definition Redingote Or Pelisse Or Walking Dress Or Coat: French word developed from English words, riding coat. Long fitted outdoor coat worn over other garments for warmth. Originally made with several capes and trimmed with large buttons. For women, the coat was often cut away in the front or left open to show off the dress underneath. French fashion plates call these coats Redingotes and they were worn by men, women, and children. English fashion plates call the coats a Pelisse, a walking dress, Promenade dress, or Carriage dress.

Definition Shawl Collar: Wide turned down collar used on both women’s and men’s coats.

1804 Lemon Redingote Or Coat, French. High collar, shoulder cape, high-waisted, gloves and blue velvet hat.
1804 Lemon Redingote, Or Coat, Or Pelisse, With Shoulder Cape, French. #RegencyFashion #JaneAusten #HistoricalFashion https://books2read.com/SuziLoveFashionWomen1801-1804
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1800s Flintlock Pistol from Jane Austen and Bridgerton years. #janeausten #bridgerton #britishhistory #gun #history

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1800s Flintlock Pistol.

Flintlock is a firearm that uses a flint-striking ignition and first appeared in Western Europe in the 16th Century and was commonly used during the 17th, 18th, and early 19th centuries until replaced by the percussion cap and then the cartridge-based systems in early to mid 1800s.

Flintlocks are a muzzle-loading firearm that use a mechanism which includes a flint, a hammer, a frizzen, and a pan filled with gunpowder. When the trigger is pulled, the hammer strikes the flint which strikes a steel plate, creating a spark that ignites the gunpowder in the flash pan. This ignition travels through a small hole to the main charge in the barrel, propelling the bullet forward. They fire a single shot and are for short range use. Even under the best of conditions, flintlock weapons misfire about one out of seven times.

This changed with the development of the British dueling pistol as they were highly reliable, accurate, and water resistant. Dueling pistols had little external decoration but excellent internal craftsmanship. They were the size of the horse pistols of the late 1700s, around 16 inches or 41 cm long, and were usually sold in pairs, along with accessories in a wooden case with compartments for each piece. Flintlock pistols were commonly used by soldiers, sailors, and civilians for self-defense or as a sidearm.

1800s Flintlock Pistol from Jane Austen and Bridgerton years.
1800s Flintlock Pistol from Jane Austen and Bridgerton years. #janeausten #bridgerton #britishhistory #gun #history https://books2read.com/suziloveYGD
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1800s Early The Metropolitan Police In Jane Austen and Bridgerton Years, London. #JaneAusten #Bridgerton #BritishHistory #RegencyEra #police #London

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The Metropolitan Police, London Before 1829

  • Policing in the 17th and 18th centuries – one unarmed able-bodied citizen in each parish a man was appointed or elected annually to serve for a year unpaid as parish constable. 
  • Worked in co-operation with the local Justices in observing laws and maintaining order. 
  • In towns, responsibility for the maintenance of order was conferred on the guilds 
  • Later conferred on other specified groups of citizens
  • These supplied bodies of paid men, known as The Watch
  • The Watch guarded the gates and patrolled the streets at night
  • Huge social and economic changes and increases in town populations meant parish constables and Watch systems couldn’t cope. 
  • In 1812, 1818 and 1822, Parliamentary committees investigated crime and policing. 
  • Impotence of the law-enforcement machinery was a serious menace
  • Conditions became intolerable and led to the formation of the New Police
  • The Metropolitan Police
  • Established by an Act of Parliament in 1829 by Sir Robert Peel
  • Peel appointed 2 Commissioners
  • Appointed 895 Constables, 88 Sergeants, 20 Inspectors and 8 Superintendents. 
  • Superseded the local Watch in the London area but the City of London was not covered. 
  • Numbers increased
  • Grew to include the Greater London area (excluding the City of London) 
  • Included parts of the Home Counties and all Royal Naval Dock Yards throughout the country. 
  • First officer was given the warrant number ‘1’ 
  • Today the service is reaching near to a quarter million
  • The warrant number is unique to the officer
  • Different from the shoulder number which changes as the officer moves stations.  Scotland Yard
  • Colonel Charles Rowan and Richard Mayne organized and designed the New Police
  • The two Commissioners occupied a private house at 4, Whitehall Place
  • The back opened on to a courtyard and used as a police station
  • This address led to the headquarters of the Metropolitan Police being known as Scotland Yard.
  • Sir Robert Peel, 2nd Baronet, (5 February 1788 – 2 July 1850) British Conservative statesman who served twice as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, Chancellor of the Exchequer, and Home Secretary. Regarded as the father of modern British policing as he founded the Metropolitan Police Service. 

Other Police organizations

  • Some older police establishments remained outside control of the Metropolitan Police Office  
  • The Bow Street Patrols, mounted and foot, commonly called the Bow Street runners.
  • Police Office constables attached to the offices of, and under the control of, the Magistrates.
  • The Marine or River Police.
  • By 1839 all these establishments had been absorbed by the Metropolitan Police Force. 
  • The City of London Police was set up in 1839 and is an independent force to this day.
Sir Robert Peel, 2nd Baronet, (5 February 1788 ? 2 July 1850) Portrait by Henry William Pickersgill. British Conservative statesman, twice Prime Minister of U.K., Chancellor of Exchequer, and Home Secretary. 1829 Founded the Metropolitan Police Service. Via Wikimedia Commons commons.wikimedia.org
1800s Early The Metropolitan Police In Jane Austen and Bridgerton Years, London. #JaneAusten #Bridgerton #BritishHistory #RegencyEra #police #London books2read.com/suziloveROver
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Michael Brandon travels to introduce the woman he loves to family but is shocked when his missing brother arrives. #mystery #FamilySaga #HistoricalRomance

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Drama and romance at the Duke Of Sherwyn’s snowbound country estate in the English countryside in December. Michael Brandon travels to introduce the woman he loves to family but is shocked when his missing brother, presumed dead for years, arrives at the country estate of the Duke Of Sherwyn where several people are stranded due to a severe snow storm. https://books2read.com/suziloveDS December Scandal, Book 3, Scandalous Siblings Series.

DS_December Scandal Book 3 Scandalous Siblings #HistoricalRomance Michael Brandon travels to introduce the woman he loves to family but is shocked when his missing brother arrives. https://books2read.com/suziloveDS


Michael Brandon travels to introduce the woman he loves to family but is shocked when his missing brother arrives. #mystery #FamilySaga #HistoricalRomance https://books2read.com/suziloveDS
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Rates of Postage of single Letters in Pence In Great Britain in Jane Austen’s times. #JaneAusten #RegencyEra #Postal #BritishHistory

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Rates of Postage of single Letters in Pence In Great Britain in Jane Austen’s times.

  • From any post-office in England or Wales, to any place not exceeding 15 miles from such office – 3
  • For any distance above 15, and not exceeding 30 miles — 4
  • For any distance above 30, and not exceeding 50 miles — 5
  • For any distance above 50, and not exceeding 80 miles – 6
  • For any distance above 80, and not exceeding 12O miles — 7
  • For any distance above 120, and not exceeding 170 miles – 8
  • For any distance above 170, and not exceeding 230 miles — 9
  • For my distance above 230, and not exceeding 300 miles – 10
  • For any distance above 300, and not exceeding 400 miles – 11
  • For any distance above 400, and nut exceeding 500 mites – 12
  • 1802 Picture of London Printed for R. Phillips via Google Books (PD-180)

The Twopenny Post- Office.

  • There are two principal offices, one in the General Post—office yard, Lombard—street  and the other in Gerrard-street, Soho. There are also numerous receiving houses in both the town and country.
  • There are SI X collections and deliveries of letters in town daily, (Sundays excepted) and there are two dispatches from, and three deliveries at, most places in the country, within the limits of this office.
  • 1802 Picture of London Printed for R. Phillips via Google Books (PD-180)

1802 Rates Of Postage Of Single Letters In Pence. From: 1802 Picture of London Printed for R. Phillips via Google Books (PD-180)) © SuziLove.com
1802 Rates Of Postage Of Single Letters In Pence. From: 1802 Picture of London Printed for R. Phillips via Google Books (PD-180))
Rates of Postage of single Letters in Pence In Great Britain in Jane Austen’s times. #JaneAusten #RegencyEra #Postal #BritishHistory https://books2read.com/suziloveROver
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1809 ca. High-Waisted, Hand-Embroidered Dress Typical of Jane Austen Fashion, English. #JaneAusten #RegencyFashion #HistoricalFashion

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1809 ca. Empire Style, Or High-Waisted, Dress, English. Typical of the fsashions worn by Jane Austen and her family. Hand-embroidered white cotton muslin, cotton bobbin lace,shell buttons and linen tape. via National Gallery of Victoria, Australia. ngv.vic.gov

1809 ca. Empire Style, Or High-Waisted, Dress, English. Hand-embroidered white cotton muslin, cotton bobbin lace, shell buttons and linen tape. via Suzi Love ~ suzilove..com National Gallery of Victoria, Australia. ngv.vic.gov.au
HN_26_D2D Fashion Women 1805-1809 https://books2read.com/SuziLoveFashionWomen1805-1809
Fashion Women 1805-1809 History Notes Book 26 What did Jane Austen and friends wear? https://books2read.com/SuziLoveFashionWomen1805-1809