What was Trending in the Winter of 1824

from The Ladies’ Monthly Museum, Volume 21

Domestic News

The high winds, at the close of last month, were productive of the most disastrous consequences at home. At Deal, Brighton, Shoreham, Seaford, Southampton, Weymouth, Lyme, Plymouth, and other places on the southern coast, much damage has been done, both by sea and land. At Dorchester, houses were unroofed and chimneys blown down, by the fury of the gale. The Rev. H. J. Richman and his wife were killed, in bed, by the fall of a stack of chimneys. On the road between Salisbury and Weymouth, the Regulator Exeter coach was. twice overset, by the force of the wind. In various parts of the country, the effects of the storm have been, more or less, felt. It extended to Wales and Scotland. At Landrillo bay, a vessel was wrecked, and two of the crew drowned.

The execution of Mr. Fauntleroy took place on the day appointed, the 30th alt., when a vast concourse of people assembled in the street and houses of the Old Bailey, to view his exit. Measures had been adopted to obviate the danger, which the pressure of such a crowd might have occasioned; and, fortunately, no accident of consequence happened. The unhappy gentleman behaved with that decency and propriety which has characterized his conduct, ever since his apprehension for the offence for which he suffered. It is remarkable, that a person in a similar rank of life with Mr. Fauntleroy, has, since his execution, been taken into custody, on a charge of forgery. This person is a Mr. Savery, son of a banker at Bristol, and himself carrying on business in that city, as a sugar-baker, in partnership with another gentleman. The crime imputed to him is, forging bills with fictitious addresses; by means of which he had, for some time past, been raising money, to a large amount. Alarmed at the fate of Mr. Fauntleroy, he attempted to make his escape to America; but being followed by his partner, he was taken at Cowes, on board the vessel in which he had engaged a passage.

A man named Ledbitter, landlord of the Dolphin Tavern, Ludgate Hill, was tried on the 4th inst. at the Old Bailey, on the charge of taking a reward for the returning of stolen property. The culprit, on the present occasion, was found guilty; but recommended, by the jury, to mercy, on the score of his previous good character.

A girl of 18, living in service;, near Hungerford, jumped into a well, fifty yards deep, in a fit of temporary insanity, arising from the dread of punishment for some domestic offence.

A young lady was killed at Knightsbridge, by a fall from a one-horse chaise, owing to the horse taking fright.

Mrs. Fermon, a very aged lady, residing in Gravel-lane, being left alone reading by the fire-side, was soon after found enveloped in flames. She was taken to Guy’s Hospital, where she expired in a few hours.

An action has been brought by Miss Wharton, of Warborough, in Oxfordshire, against Mr. Lewis, a Lieutenant in the East India Company’s service, for a breach of promise of marriage. The plaintiff obtained a verdict, with damages.

On the 21st occurred the interesting trial between Miss Maria Foote and Joseph Hayne, esq. on a prosecution against the latter for a breach of a matrimonial engagement. The damages were laid at ,£10,000; but the Jury gave the lady, with their verdict in her favour, the sum of £3000, as a compensation for her disappointment.

Epitome of Public Affairs, for December 1824. 

Few occurrences have been announced during the past month which are likely to have any important influence on the state of affairs, either at home or abroad

The city of Petersburg has been visited by a terrible calamity. On the 19th alt. in consequence of a westerly wind, the waves of the Baltic, forced back into the channel of the river Neva, on the banks of which the place is built, and laid it almost entirely under water, At two o’clock the current flowed to the height of six or seven feet above the pavements, in every part of the city, which stands almost on one level. A multitude of houses, sentry-boxes, &c. were swept away, and more than 8000 persons are said to have perished: more recent accounts state the number of lives lost to have been 3,000. The violence of the torrent washed the corpses out of the graves. At Cronstadt, the port of Petersburgh, a ship of 100 guns was floated into the great square, where it remained when the water subsided; and two steam-boats were lying in the middle of the town. The wind, changing after two o’clock, the water rapidly subsided, and by the evening the river had retreated within its banks. The loss of property which has occurred, is immense; and the destruction of provisions has been such as to cause apprehensions of famine. The Exchange has been fitted up to receive some of the houseless sufferers.

Continue reading “What was Trending in the Winter of 1824”

Hot Regency Fashion Trends for Winter 1816

From  Repository of Arts, Literature, Fashions,  by Rudolph Ackermann, Frederic Shober. 1816

Promenade dress. A high dress of cambric muslin trimmed at the bottom with a single flounce of work. The body, which is composed entirely of work, fits the shape without any fullness. A plain long sleeve, finished by a triple fall of narrow lace. Over this dress is worn the Angouleme pelisse, composed of crimson velvet, lined with white sarsnet, and trimmed with a single welt of crimson satin, a shade lighter than the pelisse. The body is made exactly to the shape; the back is of course a moderate breadth, and without fullness; for the form of the front we refer our readers to our print; it is confined at the waist, which is very short, by a narrow velvet band, edged to correspond. A small collar, of a novel and pretty shape, stands up and supports a rich lace ruff, which is worn open in front of the throat. The sleeve has very little fullness, and that little is confined at the wrist by three narrow bands of puckered satin. Bonnet a la Rouale, composed of white satin, very tastefully intermixed with a large bunch of fancy flowers, and tied under the chin by a white satin ribbon, which is brought in a bow to the left side ; a full quilling of tulle finishes the front. Black silk ridicule, exquisitely worked in imitation of the ends of an India shawl, and trimmed with black silk fringe. White kid gloves, and black walking shoes.

Continue reading “Hot Regency Fashion Trends for Winter 1816”

Regency Menu for Four

I struggled writing this post.  I wanted to simply list some menus and recipes from The French Cook, or, The Art of Cookery, by Louis Eustache Ude from 1815.  Unfortunately, the recipes in the original book are difficult to locate because the dish names on the menus don’t match the recipes. After spending  more time on this little project than I intended, I  found a second addition of the book from 1822. Everyone must have complained to Ude, so he made an easy to read version. However, he used the same images for the courses as he did in the original edition, despite switching to English for the dish names, as well as changing some of the dishes. So, I doubt there is a direct correspondence from the French to the English in this post, but I have tried to blend the two editions together to match the illustrations.

I shall endeavor to include more menus in the coming days. If you want to look up the actual recipes, I suggest the 2nd edition of The French Cook on Google Books. Also, Nancy Mayer has a great explanation of table Settings and removes on her site. Bill of fare for a dinner of four entries in summer time.

First course

  • Le Potage printannier,  or spring soup.
  • Les tranches de cabilleau, sauce aux huitres,  or crimp cod and oyster sauce.

 Two removes

  • La poularde à la Montmorencie,  or fowl la Mcntmorenci, garnished with a ragout a I’Allcmande. 
  • Le jambon de Westphalie, à l’essence,  or ham glazed with Espagnole.

Four entrées

  • La fricassée de poulets aux champignons, or fricassee of chicken and mushrooms.
  • Les côtelettes d’Agneau sautés, sauce à la Macédoine, or lamb chops saute, with asparagus, peas, &c. 
  • Le sauté de filets de poulets gras, au suprême, or fillets of fat chicken, saute au supreme. 
  • Les tendrons de veau glacés aux laitues, à l’essence or petits pdtes of fillet of fowl a la bechamelle.

Second course

  • Le chapon, or fowls roasted, garnished with water cresses.
  • Les cailles, or six quails

Four entrées

  • Les pois à la Françoise.
  • La gelée de fraises.
  • Les asperges en bâtonets, or asparagus with plain butter.
  • Les puits d’amour garnis de marmalade, or orange jellies in mosaiques. 
* Later edition includes Cauliflower with veloute sauce and Petit gateaux d’ la Manon.

Two removes of the roast.

  • La tart de groseilles rouges.
  • Le soufflé au citron, or souffle with lemon.
* Later edition includes Ramequin d la Sefton.
First Course

Second Course

Ude writes, “From the above statement it will be easy to make a bill of fare of four, six, eight, twelve, or sixteen entrees, and the other courses in proportion”

Stilton Cheese (for Abigail)

From “Repository of Arts, Literature, Fashions,” by Rudolph Ackermann and Frederic Shoberl, 1816

Process of Making Stilton Cheese

The Stilton cheese, which maybe called the Parmesan of England, is not confined to Stilton and its vicinity, for many farmers in Huntingdonshire, and also in Rutland and Northamptonshire, make a similar sort, sell them for the same price, and give them the name of Stilton cheeses; and there is no doubt that the inhabitants of other counties might make as good cheese as that of Stilton, if they would adhere to the right plan, which is this:

Take the night’s cream and put it to the morning’s new milk, with the rennet; when the curd is separated, let it not be broken, as is done with other cheese, but take it out, disturbing it as little as possible, and suffer it to dry very gradually in  a sieve; and as the whey separates, compress it gradually till it has acquired a firm consistence; then place it in a wooden hoop, and suffer it to dry very gradually on a board; taking care, at the same time, to turn it daily with close benders round it, and which must be lightened as the cheese acquires more solidity.

The celebrated cream-cheese of  Lincolnshire is made by adding the cream of one meal’s milk, to milk which comes immediately from the cow; these are pressed gently two or three times, turned for a few days, and disposed for sale, to be eaten while new, with radishes, salad, &c.

From The Book of the Farm Vol I, by Henry Stephens, 1851

It is improbable that any farmer, not a dairy one, will try to make a Cheddar or a Cheshire cheese, but many dairy-maids may be tempted to make a Stilton cheese for family use. The following is a good recipe for making one. The cheese-vat is a tin-plate cylinder, 10 inches high, 25 round on the outside, without top or bottom, having the side pierced with holes, to let out the whey. The rennet is made in the usual way, only the stomach of the lamb is used; and in addition to the ordinary quantity of salt used in it, a lemon stuck full of cloves is put into the jar amongst it, the lemon adding to the efficacy of the rennet. About 9 gallons of new milk, and the cream from 2 or 3 gallons of milk, warmed before being put in the milk, are used for one cheese.  If sufficient new milk cannot be obtained, the night’s milk and cream are used with the morning’s milk, as well as the extra cream. The rennet is put in warm when the milk is new; and when it has become curd, it is not broken, but a strainer of coarse linen is laid in a cheese basket, and the curd put into it, breaking it as little as possible; the cross corners of which are drawn together, and it remains in this way some hours, until sufficiently firm to slice. The curd is put in the vat in slices, a layer of curd and a sprinkling of salt alternately: this is continued until the vat is full; then a flat square piece of board is placed at the top of the vat, one having been previously laid at the bottom, placing one hand at the top, and the other underneath. The cheese is then to be turned over very quickly; its own weight is a sufficient pressure; keep turning it every two or three hours the first day and two or three times next day. It is to be kept in the vat three or four days, according to the firmness of the curd. When taken out, a thin piece of calico is dipped in boiling water and wrung out, and then pinned tightly round the cheese. This cloth remains on it until it is thoroughly dry. The cheese should be turned twice a-day; it does not require any more salt than that which was put in with the curd. It should be a twelvemonth old before it is used, when it may be expected to have a little blue mould, and be rich in taste and mild in flavour. Stilton cheese sells at ls. 4d. per lb., or £7, 9s. 4d. the cwt. in retail.

Floor Plan of a Regency Era Vicarage

>>Click here to visit Jane Austen’s World blog featuring the floor plans of Highclere Castle.

Otherwise,

So, I’m still digging around in the “Repository of Arts, Literature, Fashions,” by Rudolph Ackermann and Frederic Shoberl. Today, I found the floor plan of a vicarage. It’s fascinating to me because my favorite part of writing is setting. When I’m visiting an old home, I like to walk alone through the rooms to breathe the air, hear my foot steps on the floor, and imagine the energy of the inhabitants from years before as they moved through the same space.

For London floor plans, try The Survey of London

My friend Nancy Mayer sent me this great link which shows the floor plans of Highclere Castle 

 

Enjoy!