My favourite Georgian posts of 2014

As the year draws to a close, I have chosen 21 of my favourite posts of 2014 to share with you.

For a review of my year and my favourite posts on Regency History, click here. 

1 post about lost heritage rediscovered

The discovery of the lost Georgian Marine Baths on Aberystwyth promenade after storms by Susan Fielding on the Heritage of Wales News page.

2 posts about Georgian spectacles

Sir Joshua Reynolds - self-portrait c1788 from
The Literary Works of Sir Joshua Reynolds
ed J Farrington and E Malone (1819)

Georgians in spectacles by Sarah Murden on All Things Georgian.

Tinted spectacles by Dr Lindsey Fitzharris on The Chirurgeons Apprentice.

3 posts about funerals and mourning

The funeral procession of Princess Charlotte at Windsor
from Memoirs of Her Late Royal Highness
 Charlotte Augusta by Robert Huish (1818)

The cost of a funeral in 1786 by Stephenie Woolterton, alias @ANoonDayEclipse on Twitter, on her blog dedicated to the private life of William Pitt the Younger.

Mourning in the Georgian era by Geri Walton, alias @18thCand19thC on Twitter.

Night funerals by Kathryn Kane on The Regency Redingote.

4 posts about famous Georgians

Mrs Fitzherbert from The Creevey Papers (1904);
Jane Austen from A Memoir of Jane Austen by JE Austen Leigh (1871)
William Pitt from Memoirs of George IV by R Huish (1830)
Fanny Burney from Diary and letters of Madame D'Arblay (1846)

Mrs Fitzherbert, long-time mistress/secret wife of the future George IV:
Mrs Fitzherbert’s Grand Tour by Laura Purcell.

A little bit of Jane (Austen of course):
Madame Gilflurt celebrating the 200th anniversary of the publication of Pride and Prejudice.

A little insight into the love life of Britain’s youngest Prime Minister by Stephenie Woolterton: William Pitt the Younger’s ‘soft susceptibility’ to Eleanor Eden.

Part of author Fanny Burney’s life that I was too squeamish to write about:
The gruesome tale of Fanny Burney’s mastectomy operation – without anaesthetic by Madame Gilflurt.

5 posts about travel in the Georgian period

Travelling chariot at the National Trust Carriage Museum,
Arlington Court

Travel in the 18th century by Mike Rendell, alias the Georgian Gentleman, illustrated with excerpts from his ancestor Richard Hall’s diary and notebook.

The hazards of travelling by chaise c1770 on the Two Nerdy History Girls' website.

The dangers of travel in Jane Austen’s time by Sarah Waldock.

More on travel by Louise Allen, author of Stagecoach Travel, on Jane Austen’s London.

Lots of background information on horses by Sue Millard on English Historical Fiction Authors.

6 posts about fashionable life

Vauxhall Gardens,
from The Microcosm of London (1808-10)

The big hair styles of the 1770s by the Two Nerdy History Girls in two parts: part one and part two.

Calling cards by Regina Jeffers.

A lovely description of Vauxhall Gardens from Charles P Moritz’s Travels in England 1782, courtesy of Isobel Carr on History Hoydens.

The changing dinner hour by guest blogger Sue Wilkes, author of A Visitor’s Guide to Jane Austen’s England, on All Things Georgian.

A helpful guide to quarter days by Linda Banche.

Adam Dant’s map of coffee houses by the gentle author on Spitalfields Life.

All photographs © Andrew Knowles - www.flickr.com/photos/dragontomato