1810 ca. Full Dress Jacket, Lothian Yeomanry Cavalry, Britain. The East Lothian Yeomanry Cavalry was raised as a one troop formation at Haddington in May 1797. Five years later a second troop was raised and in 1803 a third and fourth troop. The regiment was reduced to one troop in 1823 and disbanded 15 years later. National Army Museum, London, UK. https://books2read.com/SuziLoveFashionMen1800-1819 In Jane Austen’s time, or the early 1800s, gentlemen were seen in military coats like this often because many Englishmen were involved in the long lasting wars against Napoleon. .
Richard, Earl of Winchester, has no time for their family friend and mad scientist, Lady Laura Jamison, yet when he’s with her, passion and desire explodes. Scenting Scandal By Suzi Love Book 2 Scandalous Siblings Series. books2read.com/suziloveSS
Richard had schooled himself into playing the role of mentor with such brilliance, Laura’s brothers and sisters would applaud his aptitude for match-making. He’d find Laura’s perfect husband as quickly as possible. And at those long and interminable dinners, he’d prove his own unsuitability by arguing until their fellow diners rolled their eyes and closed their ears to another of their battles of wit. When their companions’ eyes glazed over and they turned to more interesting conversation, he’d be free to let his eyes roam and his senses feast on Laura as she raved about the wonders of evolutionary science.
It was more likely that he’d need to dig his fingers into the elegant carvings on his chair to stop himself leaping across the table like a lunatic and shocking everyone at the sixty-seat table. He’d been in control of himself and his minor kingdom since he’d turned eighteen. So, for pity’s sake, why did being within thirty yards of Laura turn him into a wet-behind-the ears randy youth?
After her olfactory tests had proved he wasn’t her ideal mate, he should feel relieved, not affronted. And rather than reveling in a bachelor’s escape from the clutches of another would-be countess, Laura’s rejection had prompted him to childishly extol his own virtues. For an earl who also held minor titles and controlled several estates, being categorized as ‘Examined and Disregarded’ was as abnormal as it was lowering.
“Laura,” he said, dodging lace frills. “Picture my brutalized face if Michael and Jonathon caught me, the one man able to resist your charms and ignore your demands, composing appalling odes to the length of your lashes like your other fawning fops.”
“Is that why Sherwyn needed to coerce you into acting as my keeper?”
Ah yes, trust Laura to demand to know the reason he complied with his cousin’s wishes. “I was the only able-bodied male available for the time required.”
1800s Early Gentleman John Jackson, London, U.K. #Regency Boxing was known as pugilism and was wildly popular in the Regency Era with all classes of men both as a spectator sport and an athletic hobby. Pugilists didn’t wear gloves. Jackson was a champion prize fighter from 1795-1818 ca. Opened his boxing studio where he taught young bucks the manly art of self-defense. via Wikimedia Commons.
1800s Early Gentleman John Jackson, London, U.K. #Regency Boxing was known as pugilism and was wildly popular in the Regency Era with all classes of men both as a spectator sport and an athletic hobby. Piugilists didn’t wear gloves. Jackson was a champion prize fighter from 1795-1818 ca. Opened his boxing studio where he taught young bucks the manly art of self-defense.1800s Early Gentleman John Jackson, London, U.K. #Regency #Boxing #Pugilism https://books2read.com/suziloveYGD Share on XRL_2_D2D_RetailerBuyLink_RL_2
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Covent Garden is within the London boroughs of Westminster and Camden, and the parliamentary constituencies of Cities of London and Westminster and Holborn and St Pancras. The district is divided by the main thoroughfare of Long Acre, north of which is given over to independent shops centred on Neal’s Yard and Seven Dials, while the south contains the central square with its street performers and most of the elegant buildings, theatres and entertainment facilities, including the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane, and the London Transport Museum.
In 1552, the land was seized by Henry VIII and granted to the Earls of Bedford. The 4th Earl commissioned Inigo Jones to build fine houses to attract wealthy tenants. It was the first modern square in London, with Italian arcades and a flat, open space or piazza with low railings. This layout was copied in other new estates in London.
1555 John Russell, 1st Earl Of Bedford. By a follower of John Bettes. Given land of Covent Garden by Herny VIII after the dissolution of the Monasteries.
1650 The piazza of Covent Garden about 1650, as engraved by Wenceslaus Hollar. Courtesy University of Toronto.
1721-1789 ca. St. Paul’s Church, Covent Garden, London, U.K. From between two arches of the plaza. Watercolor with grey wash. By Thomas Sandy. Via British Museum, London, UK. britishmuseum.org
1800s Early Covent Garden Market, London, U.K.
In 1654, an open-air fruit and vegetable market grew on the south side of the fashionable square but over time the market and the surrounding area fell into disrepute. Taverns, theatres, coffee-houses and brothels opened up, the gentry moved away, and rakes, wits and playwrights moved in.
By the 18th century Covent Garden had become a well-known red-light district, attracting notable prostitutes such as Betty Careless and Jane Douglas. Descriptions of the prostitutes and where to find them were provided by Harris’s List of Covent Garden Ladies, the “essential guide and accessory for any serious gentleman of pleasure”.
Covent Garden’s market was always disorderly, the buildings in bad shape, and overcrowded with stalls, donkeys, carts, and peddlers. The small number of passageways into the piazza were small and with bottle necks of carts moving goods and market sellers fighting for right of way. The markets supplied fruits and vegetables, mostly homegrown but with imported goods increasing. Many sellers missed paying tolls for selling in the piazza or refused to pay them so the owner, the Earl of Bedford, took many people to court for not paying tolls. He realized the markets were in such poor condition that he couldn’t charge sellers until he improved them. In 1830, a new market hall was built with sections dividing the kind of goods sold which did improve things, but the markets remained chaotic. By 1890, people were again complaining about the narrow streets and congestion. The market hall provided a more permanent trading centre and Charles Fowler’s neo-classical building was erected to cover the market. As the market grew, the prostitutes moved on. The Houses of Parliament were the centre of Britain’s political world. But there was also an abundance of grand mansions and other buildings of interest in the City.
Covent Garden’s flower girls attracted attention by shouting:
“Two bundles a penny, primroses!”
“Sweet violets, penny a bunch!”
In 1851, Henry Mayhew wrote London Labour and the London Poor describing two types of flower girl. The young girls, or waifs, sold flowers to feed the family. The other type of flower girl stayed out late, doubled as prostitutes, and had bad reputations.
In 1913, Herbrand Russell, 11th Duke of Bedford agreed to sell the Covent Garden Estate for £2 million to the MP and land speculator Harry Mallaby-Deeley, who sold his option in 1918 to the Beecham family for £250,000.
1809 View Of the New Covent Garden Theatre, London. From Hart Street, showing the King’s entrance. Watercolor drawn by James Winston. via British Museum.
1811 Bird’s Eye View of Covent Garden Market, London, UK. Main fruit, flower and vegetable market in London in early 19th century. Began here in 1656 with few temporary stalls in back garden of home of Earl of Bedford. Charles II granted market lease and in 1678 bought by Adam Piggot and others who built permanent stalls. By 1811, smelly, dirty, and overcrowded. Engraver J. Bluck. After Augustus Charles Pugin and Thomas Rowlandson published by Ackermann. Via British Museum, London, UK. britishmuseum.org
1827 Covent Garden Market, Westminster, London, U.K. By Frederick James Havell.
1835 Covent Garden Watch House, London, UK. Next to the church of St. Paul’s Church, Covent Garden. Two story white building with ‘Watch House’ painted on its upper floor is shown with a lively street scene in the foreground. via Museum of London.
1852 J.M.W. Turner’s birthplace in Maiden Lane, Covent Garden. Brick terraced house at night with a figure in top hat walking past and two figures with a candlelight in the doorway. Watercolour with body color over graphite. Drawn by John Wykeham Archer.
In 1913,Herbrand Russell, 11th Duke of Bedford agreed to sell the Covent Garden Estate for £2 million to the MP and land speculator Harry Mallaby-Deeley, who sold his option in 1918 to the Beecham family for £250,000. By the end of the 1960s, traffic had become congested until in 1974 the market relocated to the New Covent Garden Market about three miles (5 km) south-west at Nine Elms. In 1980, the central building re-opened as a shopping centre and then became a tourist location with cafes, pubs, small shops, a craft market called the Apple Market, and another market in the Jubilee Hall.
1860–1870 ca. Pink Silk Bag, Or Reticule, Italian. Two layers of contrasting pink silk with tassels and a drawstring. via Metropolitan Museum New York City, U.S.A. metmuseum.org
Definition Ridicule, Reticule, Indispensable, or Handbag: From the late 1700s, pockets could no longer be sewn into gowns, as skirts fell from just under the bust and were full and flowing. Instead, women began carrying small bags, known at first as ridicules and later as reticules, to keep necessary items on their person e.g. handkerchiefs, coins, vinaigrettes, calling cards, glasses etc. http://books2read.com/suziloveReticules
The term ‘ridicule’ derived from the Latin ‘ridiculum’ and first used in France during the 17th century and meant subjecting something or someone to mockery. As women’s tiny bags were mocked, or ridiculed, for being a useless fashion accessory carried outside when they were first used in the late 1700s, it’s likely this is how the name ‘ridicule’ started. The later term ‘reticule’ derived from the Latin reticulum, meaning ‘netted bag’ and was applied when bags became larger and often made from netting. In the late 1700s and early 1800s, they were also known as indispensables as they carried all the personal items a lady needed upon her person every day. They were easily made by ladies, easy to carry and became an indispensable fashion accessory.
In the early nineteenth century, reticules started to look like future handbags as they were often made from rigid card or molded mâché or card into a variety of shapes. Early bags were circular and with a drawstring but as women wanted their reticules to look individual they could be made with two halves and a hinged metal closure or with concertina sides. Materials varied from silk, cotton and string and shapes were round, hexagonal or lozenge shapes with shell shaped bags becoming very popular during the Regency and Romantic Eras.
1800s magazines were written for well bred women who could read, so they gave plenty of ideas for how ladies could make and embellish reticules for their own use and as pretty gifts. Needlework was highly encouraged as a pastime for a lady so bags were frequently embroidered or decorated with beading. By the 1820s, reticules became more like our modern handbags using soft leather gathered at the top or hard leather with a rigid fastener and metal chain for carrying.
1840 Group In An Outdoor Setting, French. Two men in top hats. Modes de Longchamps’. Men’s outfits, a woman’s riding habit and a small boy, all tailored by Robin of 21 Rue Saint Marc, Paris. via Le Bon Ton. via Victoria and Albert Museum, London, UK. collections.vam.ac.uk.
1760 Mahogany Petit Card Table, English. Mahogany turn over top card table on four tapering legs with pad feet, the top of each decorated with a carved ‘Lamb’s Tongue’. via Graham Smith Antiques.
