Regency Wrangles

On this day in history...

2012-02-06T14:22:00.000-05:00

On this day in history, 06 February 1811, the Prince of Wales was sworn in as Regent, officially marking the beginning of the period we know---and love---as the Regency. The Prince was forty-eight years old. (The portrait at right was painted in 1815 by an unknown artist in the style of Sir Thomas Lawrence.)

A Regent was needed because King George III was no longer mentally competent to rule (i.e., the king was mad and not expected to recover). The Regency lasted until 1820, when the king died and the Prince Regent became King George IV.

The Regency was an era of elegance and upheaval, which saw great changes politically, socially, militarily, and technologically. It was also a period of significant industrial and technological changes, agricultural reform, and a general movement of much of the populace from the countryside to the cities. Also during this period, hints of the development of social consciousness and women’s rights could be seen.

As a setting for romance novels, the Regency is appealing in part due to the rich dichotomy of history vs. Society, the real world vs. the apparently oblivious aristocratic world. That small, elegant, glittering world, seemingly insulated from the horrors of the Napoleonic Wars and from all types of reform, provides a real yet complex backdrop for the novels set in the period.

During the first half of the Regency, the Napoleonic War ravaged the Continent, and most British families lost husbands, fathers, sons, brothers, and uncles. During the latter half of the period, returning soldiers starved and the Luddites rioted against industrialization. Throughout it all, Society persevered in its pleasures, wearing silks, satins, velvets, and lace to balls, routs, soirees, and every type of party imaginable.

At the apex of fashionable Society stood the Prince Regent, a fat, fifty-ish, pleasure-seeking womanizer who was self-indulgent almost to the point of hedonism. He was also one of the best educated monarchs England ever had. He was a major supporter of the arts, and the scope of his interests---and his unrestrained spending---included architecture, painting, music, and fashion.

Beset by debts and profligate, the Prince was never popular with his subjects. But his collections formed the basis of the Royal Collection and the National Portrait Gallery, and he transformed Windsor Castle and Buckingham Palace.

George IV died in 1830 at the age of sixty-seven.

Two Books Closer to Goal

2012-01-28T17:17:00.000-05:00

I'm still in my Regency romance reading mood. I have two more books to add to my "read" list, as part of the 100 Books in 2012 Challenge. (Click on the link in the sidebar to learn more.)

The most recent books I read were:
6. The Mammoth Book of Regency Romance editted by Trisha Telep,
7. The General's Granddaughter by Dorothy Mack.

The Mammoth Book of Regency Romance true to its name was large. All the stories were good, and some were excellent. I might have wished some of them were longer, but all the stories were in the 10,000-word range, longer than a short story and about half as long as a novella. I had my favorites, as any reader would. If you've read this book, which story did you like best?

The General's Granddaughter was a book I've had for years, but it had fallen behind a stack of other books. I rediscovered it while dusting the shelf, and enjoyed it very much.

Despite having received three contemporary romances for Christmas, as well as a new research book, I have not yet opened a single one.

Do you ever get in a reading mood? If so, what time period or type of books are you most likely to choose?

Susannah

5 Books Read, 95 to Go

2012-01-14T16:57:00.002-05:00

I took the challenge to read 100 books in 2012. (Click on the link in the left sidebar to learn more.) Most years I read more, but I'm not always good at keeping track of exactly how many I've read.

So far this year, I've read:
1. Marrying the Royal Marine by Carla Kelly,
2. The Admiral’s Penniless Bride by Carla Kelly,
3. A Garden Folly by Candice Hern (a reread from 10-15 years ago, read on the Kindle app on my phone),
4. The Best Intentions by Candice Hern (a reread from 10+ years ago, read on Kindle app),
5. Miss Lacey’s Last Fling by Candice Hern (a reread from 10+ years ago, read on Kindle app).

I'm currently reading The Mammoth Book of Regency Romance, editted by Trisha Telep. True to its title, it's huge. I'm about one-third of the way through the book, and so far I've enjoyed almost all of the stories. Like any anthology, some stories are better than others. A few have been excellent.

As you can see from the list, I'm in a Regency romance mood. What are you reading this week?

Susannah

Contest Results & Answers

2011-12-27T18:33:00.000-05:00

No one entered the contest. Not one person. Surely the quotes weren't that difficult? Some, the first two in particular, were quite easy, I thought.

The answers are below.

1. It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single man in possession of a good fortune, must be in want of a wife.
---Pride and Prejudice, first line

2. But when a young lady is to be a heroine, the perverseness of forty surrounding families cannot prevent her. Something must and will happen to throw a hero in her way.
--Northanger Abbey

3. Everybody likes to go their own way---to choose their own time and manner of devotion.
---Mansfield Park

4. When any two young people take it into their heads to marry, they are pretty sure by perseverance to carry their point, be they ever so poor, or ever so imprudent, or ever so little likely to be necessary to each other's ultimate comfort.
---Persuasion

5. One half of the world cannot understand the pleasures of the other.
---Emma

6. We have all a better guide in ourselves, if we would attend to it, than any other person can be.
---Mansfield Park

7. No one can be really esteemed accomplished who does not greatly surpass what is usually met with.
---Pride and Prejudice

8. In every power, of which taste is the foundation, excellence is pretty fairly divided between the sexes.
—Northanger Abbey

9. Human nature is so well disposed towards those who are in interesting situations, that a young person, who either marries or dies, is sure of being kindly spoken of.
---Emma

10. It isn't what we say or think that defines us, but what we do.
---Sense and Sensibility

I'll try again next year, with different quotes.

Susannah

Jane Austen's Birthday--and a Contest

2011-12-16T14:49:00.006-05:00

Jane Austen was born on 16 December 1775, at Steventon rectory in Hampshire, the sixth child and second daughter of the Rev. George Austen and his wife, Cassandra. That her books are still beloved today, 236 years later, is a testament to the excellence of her work.

Here are a few quotes from Jane Austen's books to test your knowledge. Post your answers in the comments below. You will earn a point if you know the novel from which the quote comes and an additional point if you know the scene/circumstances/character(s). I'll give the answers next week, as well as an autographed copy of one of my books to the person who scores the most points. (The contest entry comments won't appear, since that would give an advantage to the people who enter just before the deadline.)

1. It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single man in possession of a good fortune, must be in want of a wife.

2. But when a young lady is to be a heroine, the perverseness of forty surrounding families cannot prevent her. Something must and will happen to throw a hero in her way.

3. Everybody likes to go their own way---to choose their own time and manner of devotion.

4. When any two young people take it into their heads to marry, they are pretty sure by perseverance to carry their point, be they ever so poor, or ever so imprudent, or ever so little likely to be necessary to each other's ultimate comfort.

5. One half of the world cannot understand the pleasures of the other.

6. We have all a better guide in ourselves, if we would attend to it, than any other person can be.

7. No one can be really esteemed accomplished who does not greatly surpass what is usually met with.

8. In every power, of which taste is the foundation, excellence is pretty fairly divided between the sexes.

9. Human nature is so well disposed towards those who are in interesting situations, that a young person, who either marries or dies, is sure of being kindly spoken of.

10. It isn't what we say or think that defines us, but what we do.

One of my fondest writing memories is of reading Sense and Sensibility while writing A Scandalous Journey. I was searching for quotes to use in the story because the hero reads the novel to the heroine throughout their journey.

I reread all of Jane Austen's books a year and a half ago, before teaching a course called "The World of Jane Austen," so I probably won't reread them again this month. I am, however, contemplating a Jane Austen movie marathon. I did one last year between Christmas and Twelfth Night and enjoyed it immensely.

Susannah

2012 Reading Challenge

2011-12-14T13:38:00.001-05:00

I (and several writer and non-writer friends) have accepted the challenge to read 100 books in 2012. Most years I read that many or more, but there may have been a year or two in the past four when I didn't not reach that level, either because I chose to read a bunch of long books or because I didn't have as much time for reading. Or both.

Want to join us? Click on this link to sign up. I'll be listing the books I read here. For example, last week I read Pillars of the Earth by Ken Follett. Right now, I'm reading another medieval novel, For the King's Favor by Elizabeth Chadwick, which started about the time Pillars of the Earth ended.

I'm also, rather sporadically at the moment, reading The Years of Endurance 1793-1802 by Arthur Bryant, about the early years of Britain's opposition to the French Revolution and Napoleon Bonaparte.

What are you reading this week?

Susannah

Jane Austen Novels and Their Movie Adaptions

2011-12-13T16:15:00.000-05:00

In honor of Jane Austen's birthday, which is later this week (16 December), at Risky Regencies today, my friend Amanda McCabe is talking about the movie adaptions of Jane Austen's novels.

http://riskyregencies.blogspot.com/2011/12/happy-birthday-jane.html

I agree almost completely with Amanda's assessment of the movies. The only version of Mansfield Park I know is the 1983 mini-series, which was slow and drawn out and rather depressing.

I didn't love the 2007 version of Northanger Abbey, but I liked it better than the previous version.

I haven't seen the 2008 version of Sense and Sensibility, but it's hard for me to imagine that it's better than the 1995 version with Emma Thompson, Kate Winslet, Hugh Grant, and Alan Rickman, which I love.

I haven't seen the 2007 version of Persuasion, but it's almost impossible to imagine that it could be better than the 1995 version with Amanda Root and Ciaran Hinds, which---most days---is my all-time favorite. (The Thompson-Grant-Rickman version of S&S occasionally edges it out of first place.)

I haven't seen the 2009 version of Emma, but I like both the Paltrow version and the Beckinsale version movies. I also agree with Amanda that it would be nice to combine aspects of both versions to make a whole greater than the sum of its parts.

In honor of Jane Austen's birthday, let's talk about her books and the movie adaptions of them. Which one(s) is your favorite?

Of the books, my favorite is either Sense and Sensibility or Persuasion, depending on the day you ask. Of the movies, as stated earlier, most days the Root-Hinds version of Persuasion is my favorite, but the Thompson-Winslet-Grant-Rickman version of Sense and Sensibility is a close a second---and occasionally edges out Persuasion.

Last year, I had surgery on my foot three days before Christmas and had to spend three weeks on the couch with my foot propped up on the back of the couch. I could get up for no more than five minutes at a time, and I couldn't walk farther than the bathroom or kitchen. (The first couple days, crutches, which I had never used before, were required.) During that quite long three weeks, I had a Jane Austen movie marathon. I watched every version of every Jane Austen novel adaption I had (11 of them) at least once (MP & NA), and most of them multiple times. The most watched versions were the Root-Hinds Persuasion, the Thompson-Winslet-Grant-Rickman Sense & Sensibility, the Knightley-Macfayden version of Pride and Prejudice, the Paltrow version of Emma, the A&E (Firth-Elhe) version of Pride & Prejudice, and the Beckinsale version of Emma, pretty much in that order.

I'm contemplating another Jane Austen movie marathon this holiday season.

Susannah

Fashions for the Holidays--in 1813

2011-12-06T13:32:00.007-05:00

Two of my author friends, Susan Holloway Scott and Loretta Chase, have an article about holiday fashions in 1813 on their blog, Two Nerdy History Girls. When I was writing A Scandalous Journey and The Marriage Campaign, I spent a lot of time studying fashion plates, including these.

Do you have a new outfit for the holidays? I do not, but I do have several new lace shawls to wear with my two go-to dresses.

The maroon shawl isn't as large as the bluish-purple one, but it's warmer.

Susannah

To Do Lists

2011-11-27T13:05:00.011-05:00

Leonardo da Vinci is definitely pre-Georgian era, but his To Do list is fascinating. I wonder what Isaac Newton's list might have contained? Or Humphrey Davy's?

http://www.npr.org/blogs/krulwich/2011/11/18/142467882/leonardos-to-do-list

What do you think?

From top to bottom: Leondardo da Vinci self-portrait, Isaac Newton, and Humphrey Davy.

Both Newton and Davy were president in the Royal Society: Newton (who had been knighted) from 1703-1727, and Davy (who had been created a baronet) from 1820-1827. But their contributions are stories for another day.

James Guthrie, Army Surgeon

2011-11-20T13:54:00.000-05:00

One of the heroes of the Peninsular War, in the opinion of my soldiers, was Army Surgeon James Guthrie. The article explains why the soldiers and officers had such a high opinion of him.

(The image at right is a mezzotint published by William Walker in 1853 of an earlier portrait by Henry Room.)

http://www.waterloo200.org/articles/surgeon-george-james-guthrie-wellingtons-combat-surgeon/

Despite the bad conditions under which they worked, Guthrie and his assistants had a very good recovery rate.

Susannah

Truth or Fiction?

2011-11-14T16:47:00.000-05:00

A novelist has come up with a new theory about Jane Austen's death. My first reaction was "you have got to be kidding!" A little more thought about the state of medicine in early 19th century England changed my opinion to "unlikely but not impossible." She lived with her mother and sister, so who would poison her?

Read the article, then tell me what you think.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2011/nov/14/jane-austen-arsenic-poisoning

Susannah

Jane Austen Knits

2011-10-17T17:51:00.001-04:00

Jane Austen Knits, 2011 (Pre-Order) - Interweave

I must have one of these books. How about you?

Maybe I'll put it on my Christmas list.

Susannah

Jane Austen: A Woman of Wit

2011-08-21T02:46:00.000-04:00

For those of you in the area, here's a link to an exhibit at the Morgan that I'd love to see.
http://www.themorgan.org/austen/

Enjoy!

Susannah

Want to own a hand-written manuscript by Jane Austin?

2011-06-09T23:50:00.000-04:00

If you're a fan of Jane Austen's books, here's your chance to own a hand-written manuscript of Jane Austen's The Watsons.

Jane Austen rare manuscript for sale

Enjoy!

Susannah

Austen vs. Bronte?

2011-03-27T14:20:00.004-04:00

Are you a Janeite or a Charlottan (a fan of Charlotte Bronte and/or her sisters)?

The Battle of the Bonnets

Which author's books do you like the best?

Which movies based on the authors' books do you like best? Have you seen the new Jane Eyre movie yet. I haven't, but I'm eager to see it.

Even so, I'm a Janeite. Always will be. My favorite movie is, usually, Sense and Sensibility, but depending on the day you ask, might be Persuasion.

Gronow, Rees Howell (1794–1865) from Who Was Who at Waterloo: A Biography of the Battle

2010-11-19T10:34:00.001-05:00

I came across this article on Captain Gronow (he of memoir-writing fame) while during research for my honors seminar this morning.

Gronow, Rees Howell (1794–1865) from Who Was Who at Waterloo: A Biography of the Battle

Susannah

Warped Sense of Humor?

2010-08-15T15:31:00.001-04:00

Yesterday, while driving east on US 6, I saw a sign that makes me want to laugh every time I see it. (I've only seen it once or twice before; continued exposure could evoke a different reaction.) There is a section of highway between Kendalville and Waterloo (that's Waterloo, Indiana, not Waterloo, Belgium) that has been designated "Grand Army of the Republic Highway."

Seeing the sign brings to mind an image of Napoleon and his troops marching toward Belgium in June 1815, smugly confident of victory. Unfortunately for the French, a few days later, they were racing back the way they'd come, pursued by the Prussians.

Although Napoleon and the bulk of the French army defeated the Prussians under General Blücher at Ligny on 16 June 1815, Marshal Soult and the rest of the French army could manage only a stalemate against the much smaller Anglo-Dutch-Belgian forces at Quatre Bras. Two days later, on 18 June 1815, the entire French army (less one corps searching for the Prussians), under Napoleon's command, was defeated by the much smaller Anglo-Dutch-Belgian army under the Duke of Wellington. The Prussians were supposed to be there, too, but they had to march from Wavre, nine miles away, and were delayed by boggy ground and a fire. The Prussians' arrival, though late (4.00 to 6.00 pm, depending on the source), was timely. The Anglo-Dutch-Belgian ranks were sorely decimated, and the Allied army was holding off the French with sheer determination. The arrival of the Prussians disheartened the French, despite Napoleon's attempt to boost their spirits by spreading the rumor that the arriving soldiers were the laggardly General Grouchy and his men, whom Napoleon had sent in search of the Prussians, then (a few hours earlier) ordered to return.

When the invincible Old Guard was routed by the stout-hearted British, Dutch, and Belgian soldiers in their squares, the French army---and its generals---took to their heels. (Or their horses or carriages.)

More about the Battle of Waterloo, the lead-up to it, and its aftermath another time. (Do note, on the map above, that the Battle of Waterloo was not fought at Waterloo, Belgium; it was fought at Mont St. Jean. Wellington, however, always named battles after the town in which he'd stayed the previous night. On the night of 17-18 June 1815, Wellington stayed at Waterloo.)

A bit of research last night told me that the "Grand Army of the Republic Highway" is totally unrelated to Napoleon and Waterloo. The Grand Army of the Republic Highway (which is all of US6, not just the section between Kendalville and Waterloo) was so named to honor the Union soldiers who fought in the Civil War. I also learned that it passes through Napoleon, Ohio, as well as Waterloo, Indiana.

Named for Union soldiers or not, whenever I'm on the Grand Army of the Republic Highway heading toward Waterloo, I think of Napoleon and the soon-to-be-defeated French.

Susannah

Georgian Wrangle #2

2010-07-26T16:54:00.002-04:00

One of the most famous---and infamous---divorces of the 18th century was that of Sir Richard Worsley and his wife, Seymour Dorothy Worsley (nee Fleming). The scandalous behaviour of the participants kept the gossipmongers occupied for weeks, and a summary of the trial transcript underwent seven printings in less than a year! Even George Washington requested one.

Seventeen-year-old Seymour Dorothy Fleming was the daughter of a baronet, the step-daughter of a earl, and a great heiress. Richard Worsley was a handsome baronet of twenty-four with a promising career in government. Their marriage, in September 1775, had the makings of a fairy-tale, but it ended as one of the most sensational and highly publicized divorce cases in history. (The image at right is Sir Joshua Reynolds's portrait, painted in 1775, of Sir Richard Worsley in his uniform as a colonel in the Royal Hampshire Militia. (As always, click on any photo to enlarge it.)) Shortly after the wedding, the couple moved to the Isle of Wight, Sir Richard's family home.

Seymour Fleming's dowry was reputed to be 70,000 pounds (equivalent to almost 10 million dollars today), but was actually about 52,000 pounds (equivalent to 7.3 million dollars). In 1774, after returning from his Grand Tour, Sir Richard had been elected as M.P. for Newport. After his marriage to Seymour, his political star continued to rise. He supported Lord North's government, became a clerk comptroller in 1777, was comptroller of the king's household from 1779-1782, became a privy councillor in 1780, and was Governor of the Isle of Wight from 1780-1782.

Lady Worsley (shown at right in Sir Joshua Reynolds's 1780 portrait of her) presented her husband with a son and heir a year after their wedding, but the boy died at age twelve. During the autumn of 1780, while her husband was electioneering for his seat in Parliament, Lady Worsley, who had already earned a reputation for being free with her affections, began an affair with a local militia captain, George Bisset, who was a friend of Sir Richard's, as well as a fellow officer in the Royal Hampshire Militia. In August 1781, she gave birth to a daughter, fathered by Bisset, which Sir Richard acknowledged as his. In November 1781, the lovers decided to run away to London, well aware that their indiscretion would set Sir Richard on the path to the most public revenge.

Sir Richard launched a criminal conversation ("crim. con.") action, which involved proving that Bisset had defiled his wife and reduced her worth. Sir Richard demanded 20,000 pounds in compensation, an astronomical sum at the time, and one that would have condemned Bisset to debtor's prison for the rest of his life. (Twenty thousand pounds in 1782 is equivalent to equivalent to 2.67 million dollars today.)

The facts of the elopement were clear. The couple had been living in the Royal Hotel in Pall Mall. Servants had been interviewed, the bed linen examined, and witnesses had contrived to see them in bed together. There was no doubt of culpability. Seymour, Lady Worsley was Sir Richard's chattel, and Captain Bisset had made off with her. How was the aggrieved husband to be compensated? What value could be placed on a privy councillor's matrimonial honour?

The subsequent trial left all parties nursing their egos. In order to prove Lady Worsley's worth was tarnished long before the arrival of Bisset, the defence adopted a unique---and unprecedented--- strategy. They attempted, with Lady Worsley's assistance, to prove that she had not only behaved in a manner that was inappropriate for the wife of a nobleman, but that she had done this with the active collusion of her husband. A procession of aristocratic lovers were brought before the bench to testify that Sir Richard had contrived to display his unclothed wife before them and encouraged sexual liaisons, which he had observed from the concealment of her dressing room. (At right, James Gillray's 29 April 1782 caricature, A peep into Lady W!!!!!y's seraglia.)

Three of Lady Worsley's lovers are named in the summary trial transcript. Reputedly, there were 24 others! (The couple had been married only six years.)

Other people, including a bathhouse attendant, testified that Sir Richard had actively encouraged Bisset to peer at his naked wife through a bathhouse window. (At right, James Gillray's 14 March 1782 caricature, Sir Richard Worse-than-sly, exposing his wife's bottom;---o fye!)

The court proceedings gave the scandal sheets and gossip columnists much to write about. Although a large amount of personal correspondence relating to the affair was destroyed, the trial transcript is 300 pages of the most damning evidence one is ever likely to read.

Servants, friends, and family were all called to give evidence, and the tawdry picture of the threesome kept the masses entertained for months. Captain Bisset was eventually found guilty, but because of Worsley's connivance, he was awarded just one shilling in compensation---the price of a pound of soap, a muslin neckcloth, or a roast beef dinner.

At the end of the trial, Sir Richard was a figure of ridicule, but Lady Worsley continued to defy social convention. She never once betrayed a hint of regret and showed no intention of withdrawing from fashionable London life. Sir Richard lost all his political offices when Lord North's government fell in the autumn of 1782, but his political career had already been damaged by the scandals surround his wife and the crim. con. case. He departed for the Continent, and did not return to England until 1788.

Worsley did not grant Seymour a divorce, which prevented her from remarrying, and denied her access to her children and her fortune, both of which remained under his control. (Including her daughter by Bisset, since Sir Richard had claimed the child.) Sir Richard and Lady Worsley entered into Articles of Separation in 1788.

While she was pregnant with her lover's second child, Bisset left her. Sir Richard spent 15 years trying (unsuccessfully) to redeem his character by documenting his impressive art collection in a large leather-bound volume, which also contained drawings of the monuments of Ancient Greece.

On the death of her husband in 1805, Seymour's property and fortune were restored to her. Seymour, who was 47, married her 26-year-old lover, a Swiss musician. Their affection for each other seemed genuine, and he remained at her side until she died 13 years later.

Next post: a scandalous Regency divorce.

Susannah

P.S. Like my last post, this one is straight out of my lecture notes for Jane Austen's England (Spring 2009 honors seminar, Lecture 22). In addition to the references cited in my last post, I would add the following:

Rubenhold, Hallie, Lady Worsley's Whim: an 18th-Century Tale of Sex, Scandal and Divorce, Chatto and Windus, 2008. (The U.S. edition of the book is titled Lady in Red: an 18th-Century Tale of Sex, Scandal and Divorce, St. Martin's Press, 2009.)

Georgian & Regency Divorce

2010-04-25T14:16:00.004-04:00

Before the Matrimonial Causes Act of 1857, divorce was governed by the ecclesiastical Court of Arches and the canon law of the Church of England. As such, it was not administered by the barristers who practised in the common law courts but by the "advocates" and "proctors" who practiced civil law (i.e., canon law), adding to the obscurity of the proceedings. (The image at right is of Doctors' Commons, the place where the practitioners of canon law lived and worked. (As always, click on an image to enlarge it.))

Very few separations and divorces were granted. Between 1765 and 1857, there were only 276 divorces. Between 1697 (the first divorce bill) and 1857, only four divorces were granted to women, the first in 1801.

Divorce was de facto restricted restricted to the very wealthy because it demanded either a complex annulment process or a private bill, either at great cost. The latter entailed sometimes lengthy debates about a couple's intimate relationship in public in the House of Commons.

The upper class accounted for slightly more than half of the divorces from 1803 to 1827. The rest were middle class.

Canon law permitted a separation, called the divortium a mensa et thoro (separation from bed and board), for certain specified causes. The causes were life-threatening cruelty and adultery by the husband, or adultery by the wife.

A divortium a mensa et thoro was a legal separation, permitting the husband and wife to reside separately. It also ended the husband's financial responsibility for his wife. Neither party was permitted to remarry.

If a divortium a mensa et thoro was deemed insufficient, there were two choices: a suit of nullity or a divorce. Nullity challenged the legal validity of the marriage itself. If a suit of nullity was requested, the cause of nullity had to be proved. The grounds for nullifying a marriage included fraud, duress preventing legal consent to the marriage, and sexual impotence of one spouse at the time the marriage was contracted that was unknown to the other spouse. If the grounds were impotence, physical examinations were required of both husband and wife, allowing sufficient time thereafter for possible conception to occur---usually two years. If the ecclesiastical court determined that sufficient cause existed to nullify a marriage, the court issued a decree of nullity. Such a decree declared, in effect, that the man and woman never were married, and (during our eras) it absolved them from all obligations to each other.

If divorce was the means chosen to end a marriage, there were five causes: adultery, impotency (after the marriage was contracted), cruelty, infidelity, and entering religion (e.g., if one's spouse became a nun or monk). Ostensibly, divorce centered on the man's need for a legitimate heir, so a man had only to prove simple adultery by this wife, whereas a woman had to prove adultery plus aggravating offenses by her husband. The most common (relatively speaking, since there were so few divorces granted to women) aggravating offenses were physical cruelty, bigamy, and incest. Incest---adultery with the wife's sister in the couple's home---was the cause for two early 19th-century divorces granted to women.

There were three steps in the procedure for divorce. First, an individual obtained a divorce from one of the Consistory Courts. (There was one in each diocese, run by a chancellor and staff appointed by the bishop.) Appeals were made to the Court of the Arches in London.

Next, the aggrieved individual (almost always the husband) sought a criminal conviction in the civil court, charging the other man with "criminal conversation" and seeking damages. (The offence of criminal conversation (crim. con.), a euphemism for adultery, was tried as a form of trespass or damage to property, a wife being deemed part of a man's property.) Readers familiar with the time period will not be surprised to learn that the wife, whose reputation was the crux of the case, was herself not considered a principal in it. She had no legal identity apart from her husband: she could neither attend nor testify.

The crim. con. case provided a goodly amount of gossip for people from all walks of life. If the aggrieved individual proved his case, he could take the third step.

The final step was to bring a Private Act (or Bill) of Divorcement before Parliament. The passage of such a bill resulted in a divorce a vinculo matrimonii, which permitted both parties to remarry---which the ecclesiastical divortium a mensa et thoro did not. The primary concern at this point in the process was untangling the original settlements made at the time of the marriage.

Divorce was a long, drawn-out process---and a costly one. Only three or four cases a year came before Parliament because so few could afford this final and extremely expensive step.

Next post: a scandalous Georgian divorce.

Susannah

P.S. Since much of this post came directly from my lecture notes for Jane Austen's England (last spring's honors seminar)---Lectures 21 and 22, to be exact---I have a list of the references that I used. I am including the list, for those of you who might want more information.

References:
Bailey, Joanne. Unquiet Lives: Marriage and Marriage Breakdown in England 1660-1800. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2003.
Horstman, Allen. Victorian Divorce. New York: St. Martin's Press, 1985. (Ignore the title; this book covers divorce throughout the 19th century.)
Perkin, Jane. Women and Marriage in Nineteenth-Century England. London: Routledge, 1989.

Stone, Lawrence. Broken Lives: Separation and Divorce in England 1660-1857. Oxford University Press, 1993.

Stone, Lawrence. The Road to Divorce: England 1530-1987. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1990.
Stone, Lawrence. Uncertain Unions: Marriage in England 1660-1753. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1992.

In case you're wondering...

2010-04-24T12:58:00.000-04:00

For those of you who might have wondered at the disappearance of knitting posts in the past few months, I have spun off the knitting into its own blog (Knitting Professor), leaving this blog for Regency, Georgian, and writing-related posts.

I'm still knitting socks every month, and I'm still working to finish the WIPs (works in progress) I had hoped to finish during the Ravelympics. Since the semester is winding to a close---one more week of classes, then a week of final exams---I hope to actually complete those WIPs in the next month.

My next post (later today or tomorrow), which is on the subject of divorce during the Georgian and Regency eras, is an informative prelude to the next two Wrangle posts, one an infamous Georgian divorce, the other an even more infamous (in a different way) unsuccessful Regency divorce.

Susannah

The Spencer...The Latest Fashion Statement?

2010-03-25T21:48:00.002-04:00

Spencers became popular about 1810. These short jackets were well suited to the high-waisted styles of the Regency, and had the advantage of flattering many figures, both svelte and not-so-slender.

Over spring break, while I was searching jacket and sweater patterns to decide on my next big knitting project, I found a pattern for this knitted spencer. The Sideways Spencer, as it is called, was designed by Annie Modesitt, a costumer and clothing historian. The jacket is knit sideways---that is, from cuff to cuff---in a cable pattern that appears to add body to the garment.

I plan to knit this spencer, although it is not my next big project. I can't quite imagine myself wearing such a short jacket, and I wonder if, during the Regency, spencers were worn by not-so-svelte women on the shady side of 50. If I decide against making it for myself, I have a 30-year-old niece who looks great in just about anything. She may be the recipient of this old, yet new jacket.

What is your favorite old-yet-new fashion?

Susannah

Knitting Olympics---The Results

2010-03-10T17:35:00.003-05:00

My knitting olympics was not as successful as I had hoped. I had hoped to knit a pair of socks for my younger sister, as well as finish three WIPs (works in progress)---a sweater-tunic for my oldest grandniece and two Adult Surprise Jackets for myself, one in Noro Silk Garden Worsted, the other in Dream in Color Classy in the Dusky Aurora colorway.

By the closing ceremony, the socks (Wendy Johnson's Nanner Socks) were two-thirds to three-quarters finished. The legs were only about three inches long, which means I knit 10 inches worth of two socks. (To put that into terms non-sock-knitters can readily understand, if I'd been knitting a strip one inch wide, it would have been 44 1/2 inches long by the closing ceremonies.) I have worked on these socks, off and on, since. When I asked my sister over the weekend how long she wanted the leg of the socks, she said she preferred knee socks. So, I still have a few inches to go.

As for the WIPs, I never touched my grandniece's sweater-tunic, which still needs sleeves and a neckband. I also never worked on the Noro Adult Surprise Jacket (a.k.a. the Coat of Many Colors). I need to pick up the buttons I ordered before I can knit the next row---the row with the buttonholes---and I still have not been to my LYS (local yarn store) to pick them up. (Recall, gentle readers, that my LYS is about 25 miles from my house and about the same distance from work, and it closes at 4 pm---a couple hours before I leave work.)

I did, however, add five inches to the other Adult Surprise Jacket, shown here at its pre-Olympics length. (Back to the hypothetical one-inch strip. If I'd been knitting it instead, I would have increased its length by more than 200 inches.) I left the much lighter colored skein of yarn in the jacket, and knit about five more inches---almost two more skeins of yarn. The two skeins after the light one are darker, but not quite as dark as the first three skeins. I'll post a photo of the jacket when it is finished. I am six rows from the part where I pick up and knit the placket, which requires that I know the size of the buttons so that I can properly size the buttonholes. A visit to my LYS is a must this week, and since this is spring break, I will go Friday and join the ladies who knit (and lunch) there. Hopefully, I won't be so busy catching up on all the news that I forget to pick up the buttons!

I have been enjoying my time off this week. So far, I haven't graded a single paper. Grading is the main reason why I didn't make more knitting progress during the Olympics. I only knit during the figure skating and speed skating, and I graded during all the other events.

While I didn't get as much knitting done during the Olympics as I hoped, I did get the better part of a pair of socks knit and made significant progress on one of my jackets. And I didn't fall behind on the ever-present grading. Not medal worthy, perhaps, but nothing to sneeze at, either.

Susannah

Knitting Progress...Slowly But Surely

2010-02-14T15:09:00.026-05:00

I finally finished a pair of socks I started around Thanksgiving, which, although nearly complete, had not been touched since I sprained my wrist and thumb two weeks before Christmas. I call them "the Purple Socks," for obvious reasons, and I pulled them out last week and worked on them. I had two motivations for finishing them: 1) they are a birthday present for my youngest sister, who will be here next weekend to celebrate her birthday, my dad's, and my oldest niece's, and 2) I need the needle for another pair of socks, for my other sister. The pair of socks for my younger sister is my entry in the "Sock Hockey" event in the Ravelympics.

For those of you who have not, perhaps, heard of Ravelry, it is like Facebook for knitters and crocheters. The Ravelympics is a knitting Olympics, in which you are supposed to challenge yourself, the same way the athletes do when they compete.

In addition to my "Sock Hockey" entry, I have three entries in the "WIPs Dancing" event. (A WIP is a work-in-progress.) My first entry is a sweater-tunic for my oldest grandniece, which I started in November. The front and back of the sweater are finished. I knit the shoulders together on 05 January, but have not been motivated to knit the sleeves and neckband. (I also haven't had much time to knit the past month, but that's another story.)

My other WIPs Dancing entries are two variations of Elizabeth Zimmerman's Adult Surprise Jacket. The top one, which I call the Coat of Many Colors, is made of---so far---six different colorways of Noro Silk Garden Worsted; the bottom jacket is knit with Dream in Color Classy in the Dusky Aurora colorway. (Click on the photos to enlarge them.)

Why am I knitting two of these jackets at the same time? I love the mathematical basis of this pattern, and the cleverness of the design, which is knit in one piece. Even more surprising, I'm making both of these for myself. (I generally always give the things I knit to one of my loved ones, but this year I've decided to do more knitting for myself.)

The Coat of Many Colors is closer to being done. The next row is the buttonhole row on the placket, but I can't knit buttonholes until I know the exact size of the buttons. But I don't know their size because I ordered them online from my LYS (local yarn store), but said I would pick them up, which I haven't done yet. Part of the problem is that my LYS is 25 miles away from my house, and about the same distance from work. And the LYS closes at 4 pm, which is about two hours before I ever leave work. The other part of the problem is that the Dean has wanted to meet with me the past three Fridays at 12.30 or 1, which meant that I wasn't able to join the group of ladies who knit at the LYS on Fridays. (The group is known as the Friday Lunch Bunch.) The Coat of Many Colors needs the buttonhole row, then five more rows to finish the placket, plus the sleeves. The placket rows, however, have about 800 stitches, so knitting a row is not a matter of moments. Finishing the knitting before the Olympic Games end shouldn't be difficult, if I can pick up the buttons on Friday. Finishing the jacket, so that it is ready to wear, will take more effort because, with all the color changes, there are dozens of yarn ends that have to be woven into the stitches on the inside of the jacket.

The second Adult Surprise Jacket, the bottom one, has a bit of a problem that I haven't decided how to solve. The fourth skein of yarn---the one closest to the knitting needle---is noticeably lighter than the first three skeins. But since I do most of my knitting at night, in artificial light, I didn't notice how much lighter it was until about a week later, when I was nearly finished knitting that skein. The difference isn't quite as bad as it appears in that picture, but there is a very obvious difference. Since Dream in Color yarn, which is hand-dyed, doesn't have dye lots, there's no way tell what you are going to get until you get it. The remaining skeins of yarn range in color, too, and while none are quite as light as the problem skein, there are a couple of lighter ones. I may ask the Friday knitters their opinion, if I am able to join them this week.

How likely am I to knit the socks for my younger sister, finish my grandniece's sweater-tunic, and complete both Adult Surprise Jackets before the Olympics end? Not very likely, unless I don't give my students any assignments between now and then. (And, much as they might wish it, that is not going to happen.) But the Ravelympics are to challenge yourself, which is what I have done.

Stay tuned for reports on my progress.

Susannah

Jane Austen Reprise

2010-02-11T19:35:00.008-05:00

I'm delighted to report that I have been asked to teach an Honors Seminar, The World of Jane Austen, in the fall. This class will involve less history and more literature than the one last year did.

The class last spring, Jane Austen's England, was intended to be the history of England during the time that Jane Austen was writing. This time, the emphasis will be on Jane Austen's books, since that was what the students in last year's class wanted.

I think it is difficult to appreciate Jane Austen's books (or any author's books) without knowing what was happening in the world at the time, so the class will involve some history. But the history will set the scene and serve as background, not dominate.

In honor of the occasion, I'm giving you a fashion plate to admire. This is from April 1809, although I neglected to indicate in the filename the fashion journal in which this plate was found. The gentleman on the left is wearing "full dress"---full evening attire, from knee breeches, white waistcoat, and dancing pumps to a bicorne hat. He could enter Almack's or any ballroom and be welcomed by his hostess. The gentlemen in the middle is wearing "half dress"---pantaloons, waistcoat, coat, boots, and a top hat; he could attend the opera or the theatre, but the Patronesses of Almack's would not allow him entrance. The lady is wearing an evening gown (notice the demi-train), over which she wears a long pelisse. To me, her bonnet and hairstyle seem very plain for this elegant ensemble.

What do you think? Do the lady's bonnet and hairstyle suit her attire, or do they seem a bit dowdy?

Susannah

To Resolve or Not to Resolve?

2010-01-09T14:39:00.021-05:00

Post intended for 01 January 2010.

Do you make New Year's resolutions? Resolutions are, perhaps, the result of the first month of the year being named for the Roman god Janus. Janus was the god of gates, doorways, beginnings, and endings. He is most often depicted as having two heads, facing opposite directions. A philosophical person, or one searching for symbolism, might say that one of Janus's faces looks forward, the other backward, making him an ideal figure to put in charge of resolutions.

Some years I make resolutions, often I don't. This year, I have made a few.

1. Spend more time with family and friends.
I do pretty well with the family part, not as well with friends.

2. Exercise regularly.
My husband and I have a fitness club membership, and I was exercising three times a week in the summer, after we got it...until my dad had surgery, I was chosen as the new department chair, and my life entered a new dimension. Or four.

3. Write more. Or faster.
I need to do something to get A Diplomatic Alliance finished sooner.

4. Learn something new.
I'm not sure yet what that new thing will be. Perhaps to learn to knit Fair Isle, even though that type of color knitting doesn't appeal to me nearly as much as textured knitting (like Aran sweaters) does.

5. Speaking of Aran sweaters, I'm going to knit one.
It has been about ten years since I have knit an Aran. My husband has been the recipient of the last three. The 2010 Aran will be for me. I have not yet decided which one to knit, but the pattern will come from one of the books below.
The most likely choices are Norfolk, Eriskay, or Fulmar. Possibly Irish Moss or Na Craga.

6. Blog more frequently.
When life gets hectic, I sometimes go for weeks without blogging. I will try to do better this year. I can always blog about a Georgian or Regency wrangle.

7. Get all the boxes unpacked.
Although we have lived in this house for a year, we still have many books in many boxes.

What resolutions did you make? Have to kept them so far?

Susannah

Happy Holidays!

2010-01-09T13:32:00.010-05:00

Post intended for 24 December 2009.

The semester ended (for me) not with shouts of jubilation, but with a whimper of exhaustion. After staying up most of the night to finish grading Senior Design reports, I was too tired, once grades were submitted, to appreciate that the semester really had ended.

I fell on a patch of ice in front of the engineering building two weeks ago and sprained my right wrist and thumb, so doing everything has been difficult---grading included. Knitting has been impossible, until today. I am still working on a sweater-tunic for my oldest grand-niece, which I'd hoped to finish before Christmas. My oldest niece is not getting socks this Christmas; neither is my younger sister.

The photograph I wanted to use (of the church we attended when we lived in the mountains of northern Utah) is not on this computer, so this one will have to do.

My family celebrated Christmas last weekend, since that was the time my sisters and their husbands and most of their children could come, so this has been a quiet week. My husband and I and his brothers will celebrate Christmas tomorrow. Tonight, my husband (if he can stay awake) and his older brother and I will walk to church for the 11.00 pm service. It snowed earlier in the day (and week), but it is not snowing now.

If you celebrate Christmas, I wish you a merry one. If you do not, I wish you, belatedly, a happy holiday. Like the people of Bethlehem, we can all hope for peace on earth.

Susannah

November socks, and more Jane Austen

2009-12-02T20:22:00.006-05:00

I continued my Jane Austen reading marathon, beginning Pride and Prejudice when I finished Persuasion. Mansfield Park is up next, but will have to wait a few weeks, until exams, design reports, etc. are graded and final grades have been submitted.

I am currently reading The Congress Dances by Susan Mary Alsop---a book about the Congress of Vienna and the events leading up to it. It is research (yet more research!) for A Diplomatic Alliance.

I finished my November socks, which I call my "Holiday Socks," exactly two weeks after I started them. The pattern is Wendy Johnson's Slip Stitch Heel Basic Socks, from her book Socks from the Toe Up. Although not very visible in the photograph, there is gold thread running through the yarn, which gives the socks a bit of glitter. Perfect for the holidays!

Currently, I am knitting another pair of socks (for myself), a pair for my oldest niece (for Christmas), and a sweater for my oldest grand-niece. Over Thanksgiving, my grand-niece, who is six, asked, while I was re-measuring her, if the sweater (which she has not seen) could be a tunic. I hope that extra six inches or so doesn't prevent me from finishing the sweater by Christmas. I'd also like to knit a pair of socks for my younger sister for Christmas, but I don't know if I will be able to squeeze in another project. Time will tell.

Of course, if all my students get perfect grades on their final exams, I'll zip through grading and have more time to knit. (I'm not holding my breath on that one.)

Susannah

October Socks...in November & more Jane Austen

2009-11-12T22:09:00.018-05:00

Work has been rather hectic the past few weeks. The last week in October and the first week in November, all mechanical engineering students consulted with their academic advisor about which courses to take next semester, then registered for those courses. This week, it has been my duty to determine how to come up with an additional section of Thermodynamics I and of Mechanical Measurements Lab, and to decide which courses will not be offered. Since I'm still short one faculty member, two courses have to go so that those two extra sections can be added.

The courses on the chopping block are those that are not required for any Mechanical Engineering major, nor for any engineering minor, that have the fewest students registered. No matter what I decide, someone is going to be unhappy. (More likely, several someones.) Fortunately, my colleagues have readily agreed to the changes I've proposed.

There has been no progress on A Diplomatic Alliance these past two weeks; I have not written a word, but I've been pondering an important plot point. I did, however, complete the final two pairs of October socks. The first pair completed (on November 1st), which was the second pair started, was the socks for the Boy Child (a.k.a. Mr. Bigfoot)---Wendy Johnson's Mock Cable socks. It is difficult to see the cables in the dark blue yarn, but they are there.

The final pair completed, which was the first pair I started, was Ms. Johnson's Peace Socks. These are for my mom. They are rather funny-looking because the skein was smaller than I thought---by about 20 yards. Finding leftover yarn of the same weight which would not clash with the colors in the original yarn was a challenge, but I'm rather pleased with the result. I didn't finish these until November 7th, so I suppose they can't really be considered October socks, even though most of the knitting was done in October.

I'm pleased that I was able to complete three pairs in a month---or, to be precise, a month plus a week---despite everything else that was going on. That's a first for me!

Since my last post, I have re-read Jane Austen's Sense and Sensibility, and I'm currently re-reading Persuasion. Jane Austen's books never fail to please.

Susannah

Life's Little Surprises

2009-10-31T13:28:00.015-04:00

Yesterday, at the Freshmen Honors Luncheon (a lunch for freshmen in the Honors Program), at the close of a very strange week, I had the delightful surprise of discovering that I was sitting between two Jane Austen fans. I had chosen a seat at a table with three young ladies, one of whom I knew was an engineering student. In the course of the luncheon, one of the other women at the table (the assistant VP for programs and planning, the assistant VP for assessment, and the Honors Program Director) suggested that I should tell the students about my books. I gave my usual short explanation: "I write comedy of manners novels set in England in the early nineteenth century, similar to Jane Austen's books."

The two young ladies on either side of me, both of whom were engineering students---one a mechanical engineering student interested in biomedical engineering and the other in civil engineering---immediately replied, almost in unison, "Oh, I love Jane Austen!" If that wasn't amazing enough, one of them then told me, "We watch Pride and Prejudice in the dorm almost every Friday night." The dorm in question is the Honors Dorm, in which all freshmen in the Honors Program, 90-plus percent of the sophomores, and more than half of the juniors and seniors in the program reside.

Flabbergasted, but not (quite) beyond speech, I immediately inquired, "Which version? The A&E one or the new one?" "The one with Keira Knightley," Rachel, the young lady on my right, replied. When I confessed that I had not seen that movie yet, she said, "Dr. ----, you will have to come and watch it with us some night!" I told the girls that if they invited me the next time they planned to watch the movie, I'd come.

We had a lovely discussion of our favorite Jane Austen books. Rachel and Samantha share the same favorite Jane Austen novel: Pride and Prejudice. My favorite, depending on the day you ask, is either Sense and Sensibility or Persuasion. I told them the book group at my local bookstore had just read Emma.

When the Honors Program Director suggested that I tell the students about the Honors Seminar I taught last spring (the Honors Seminar in which none of the five students, one of whom was an English major, had ever read a book by Jane Austen), and I gave a three-sentence summary, both Rachel and Samantha exclaimed, "I'd love to take a class like that!", and asked when I would teach it again. Apparently, I will be teaching it again in the Spring of 2011. : )

What is your favorite Jane Austen novel?

Susannah

Progress...or the lack thereof

2009-10-17T23:46:00.006-04:00

Writing of A Diplomatic Alliance (a.k.a. Mission in Rome): None to speak of.

Grading: The pile never seems to get smaller, especially since I keep assigning homework in all my classes. Plus, I gave a test this week.

Knitting: Peace Socks #2 (the first pair I've completed) are done. These socks, which are one of Wendy Johnson's designs, were a fun knit. A quick knit, too, since they are made with sport-weight yarn. They are made with Noro Silk Garden Sock yarn, in color S264. This was the first time I'd used this yarn, and it probably won't be the last. : )

The Boy Child's socks are progressing, but slowly. I'm about two-thirds finished with the foot. Again this month, I'm finding that socks with plain feet are not as interesting as socks with patterned feet. And the larger diameter and longer length do not help.

Susannah

September socks

2009-09-30T20:55:00.016-04:00

I finished my September socks, which were Wendy Johnson's Feather and Fan Socks, last night. I thought that the foot, being plain stockinette stitch, would knit faster than the past few sock feet have, but they did not seem to---because I found the plain foot boring! (Or maybe because classes had started and I had less knitting time.)

Here they are, in all their colorful splendor. The yarn is Lorna's Laces Shepherd Sock, in the Mountain Creek colorway.

Here's a close-up view of the pattern, in which, unfortunately, the colors are rather "washed out."

These socks are for my mom---who now has two pairs of colorful hand-knit socks (see my post for Saturday, 18 July to view her other pair of socks) and who may have the snazziest socks of any 75-year-old woman in northern Indiana. : )

I like both pairs of socks for next month's KAL, and I'm trying to decide which one to knit first. One pair, Ms. Johnson's Mock Cable Socks, will be for the Boy Child; one pair, Ms. Johnson's Peace Socks, either for me or for my youngest sister (for Christmas). The Boy Child's feet are not enormous, but they definitely are not small. Baby Sister's feet are an inch longer than mine, and mine are far from dainty. (In this sock knitting marathon, every pair of socks I have knit so far has been for feet 9-11 inches in length.)

At the moment, I'm inclined to knit the Peace Socks first. I still have to find yarn and needles that will give me gauge. But I have a wad of papers to grade tonight, so sock swatching may have to wait until tomorrow.

How many holiday presents have you made? I've completed one, and am about halfway through another.

Susannah

Georgian Wrangle #1

2009-09-27T23:04:00.032-04:00

When I was preparing for the Honors Seminar I taught last spring, Jane Austen's England, in order to properly set the stage for students unfamiliar with the time period, I did a lot of research on King George III's reign prior to 1790. In the course of that research, I learned about the long-standing dispute that is the subject of this post.

King George III did not like Charles James Fox. Fox was the third son of Henry Fox, 1st Baron Holland, and his wife, Lady Caroline Lennox, daughter of the 2nd Duke of Richmond. Fox's father exerted little control over him and encouraged him to be extravagant and dissolute. Fox lost vast sums gambling, and in 1774 Lord Holland paid his son's gambling debts at a cost of £140,000. (Almost 20 years later, political friends paid off Fox's debts and gave him a comfortable income, and Fox subsequently gave up both racing and gambling.) Fox was Falstaffian in character, and none too clean in appearance. He was openly a rake, and was rumored to be having an affair with Georgiana, Duchess of Devonshire.

In 1768, he became MP for Midhurst, a family pocket borough. He was only 20 years old and, therefore, was under the legal age to sit in Parliament. (MPs could not take their seats until they were 21.) Fox soon attracted attention through his ability and the quality of his speeches. In 1770, he was appointed a junior Lord of the Admiralty, but resigned in 1772 to oppose the legislation that became the Royal Marriages Act (which was enacted later that year). In December 1773, he became a junior Lord of the Treasury, but the king---who considered Fox a vicious, intemperate man and an evil influence on the Prince of Wales (not that Prinny needed help choosing vices), as well as disliking him for opposing the Royal Marriages Act---dismissed Fox in February 1774.

In 1780, Fox became MP for Westminster, which he represented for the rest of his life.

Fox served as Foreign Secretary in Lord Rockingham's second ministry (March 1782-July 1783) and in the Duke of Portland's first ministry (April-December 1783), which was known as the Fox-North Coalition. The king tried for five weeks to avoid appointing what he called "the most unprincipled coalition the annals of this or any other nation can equal," but he had to give in, and the Fox-North coalition took office on 02 April 1783. The king refused to give the ministers any marks of royal confidence, but the ministry was able to maintain the support of the independent country gentlemen in the House of Commons. Fox did not help his precarious position at court by proposing to give his dear friend, the Prince of Wales, an income of £100,000 a year---a proposal that made Fox even more unpopular with the king.

The Fox-North coalition was brought down by the proposed India Bill. On 17 December 1783, the House of Lords rejected the bill after the king made it known that he would consider anyone who voted for it as an enemy. The coalition was dismissed next day, and William Pitt accepted an invitation to form a government. Fox alienated many of his supporters by attacking Pitt at every opportunity, and they showed their discontent by changing sides. In March 1784, Pitt called a general election. After the results were announced, the opposition found itself with only about 145 members in the new House of Commons. Those who lost their seats became known as "Fox's Martyrs."

Fox's attacks on Pitt's proposed commercial concessions to Ireland in 1785 and on a commercial treaty made with France in 1787 damaged his reputation. He made a further error of judgment in 1788-89, when the king was temporarily insane, by supporting the claim of the Prince of Wales to the regency as a right, whereas Pitt maintained that Parliament alone had the right and competence to appoint a regent. This was a total role reversal for both men, since Fox, as a Whig, supported parliamentary supremacy, and Pitt, as a Tory, was in favor of royal prerogative. (I presume that Fox believed the king was permanently insane and Pitt believed the monarch was temporarily so, and that these beliefs account for their seemingly uncharacteristic attitudes.)

Fox welcomed the outbreak of the French Revolution in 1789, and he continued to praise it even after Revolutionary France declared war on Great Britain in 1793. His support of the French Revolution brought his friendship with Edmund Burke to a dramatic and very public end, and a large part of the opposition went over to the government in 1794. The minority of 50 to 60 MPs who continued to support Fox became one of the weakest oppositions ever known in England, and about 1797, many of them ceased to attend Parliament.

Fox approved of the Peace of Amiens, which was signed in 1802, but spoke of the "shameful surrender of all our conquests" to Napoleon. He was critical of Henry Addington's ministry (March 1801-May 1804) for its failure either to maintain the peace or to put the country into an adequate state of defense to meet the threat of invasion after the resumption of the war in 1803. Addington's government resigned a few days later, and Pitt returned to office.

Pitt wanted to form a broad-based coalition, but was unable to persuade George III to accept Fox as Foreign Secretary. When Lord Grenville became prime minister after Pitt's death (in January 1806), the king accepted Fox's appointment as Foreign Secretary. By this time, Fox's health was failing. He made his last speech in Parliament on 19 June 1806. One of the last things he did was pledge to abolish the slave trade. Fox died in London on 13 September 1806. He was buried in Westminster Abbey by the side of his political archenemy, William Pitt.

(The portrait of King George III was painted by Sir William Beechey in 1799 or 1800. The painting of Fox was done by Karl Anton Hickel in 1794. The caricature of the Prince of Wales, which is titled "A Voluptuary Under the Horrors of Digestion," was by James Gillray and was published on 02 July 1792. Of all the excellent caricaturists of the Georgian and Regency eras, Gillray is my favorite, and this particular work is, in my opinion, one of his best.)

Susannah

Gauge is not a constant

2009-09-11T21:08:00.016-04:00

I can't say I've ever given the subject of gauge much thought before. I knit a swatch to determine the correct needle size to use to get the gauge stated in a pattern, but knitting the swatch hasn't ever led me to contemplate the subject of gauge.

Last month, however, when I started my second pair of socks, I (for the first time ever) did not knit a gauge swatch because I had used the same yarn, in a different colorway, for the pair of socks I made in June. (See "June, Glorious June," my post for Tuesday, 30 June 2009, to view that pair of socks.) Imagine my surprise when the same yarn and same needle (a US1) gave me ten stitches per inch, instead of the eight stitches per inch it had produced in June. (Can you spell s-t-r-e-s-s?) I ripped out the toes, started again with a needle a half size larger, and got nine stitches per inch. After ripping out the toes again, I changed to a needle a full size larger than the first one, and finally got the desired eight stitches per inch. By then, when it was too late to finish the socks that month, I'd begun contemplating the subject of gauge.

What I realized was that, between early June and mid-August, there had been a lot of changes in my life and my work, and I was under a lot more stress than I had been two months earlier.

But the "Eureka!" moment didn't come until about a week ago. This month, I'm knitting a pair of socks with the same yarn I used for the pair I made last month for my friend, Kathy. (See "Summer's End," my post for Wednesday, 19 August 2009, to see Kathy's socks in all their glory.) The yarn is Lorna's Laces Shepherd Sock, which I bought at The Loopy Ewe.

Kathy's socks are the Rainbow colorway; this month's socks, which are for my mom, are the Mountain Creek colorway. This month's socks are Wendy Johnson's Feather and Fan socks.

I'd been contemplating gauge, enough to realize that all the changes in my life and work had occurred before I started Kathy's socks. Once again, for the second (and final!) time in my life, I did not knit a gauge swatch. (You'd think I would have learnt my lesson, but....) The very same US1 needle that had given me eight stitches per inch for this yarn in early August gave me, you guessed it, ten stitches per inch in early September. After two more sessions of ripping out the toes until I'd hit a needle that gave me gauge (a US2 again), I realized that Professor O had not yet resigned when I started Kathy's socks. And I finally learnt not to assume that the same needle and yarn I used a few weeks ago will give me the same gauge today.

But the downside of that lesson is that now I'm afraid to work on any project I started more than a few weeks ago, for fear that my now much tighter gauge will ruin it.

I guess that means I should start something new. : )

Susannah

Summer's End

2009-08-19T22:52:00.009-04:00

Technically, summer does not end until the autumnal equinox, which is more than a month away. But for me, as a child and as an adult, the first day of school has always signaled the end of summer. At my university, today was that day. Classes don't start until Tuesday (25 August), but faculty had to be back on campus today, for the first of three "in-service" days.

My professorial colleagues and I, as well as the staff, spent the day listening to a lot of people talk about things that, to me, were not very interesting. The President's "State of the University" talk was informative---and short. It was, in fact, the shortest speech of the day---about 15 minutes. The talk about student retention was also interesting and informative. But does the average professor, or the average maintenance man or groundskeeper, need to listen to an hour-long talk about what the university is doing to market itself? My opinion---and that of one of my colleagues, who was sitting next to me, and of the maintenance men and groundskeepers in the row behind us---was that we did not.

In my opinion, a large chunk of the information presented today was not relevant to a professor. All we care about is that there are students to teach, preferably better, brighter students than in last year's freshman class. (And there will be---the university's enrollment is higher than it has been in 40 years.) Oh, and we'd like to be well-paid for our work.

As a department chair, I'd also like to have a full complement of faculty, instead of starting the year one professor short. But that situation isn't going to change between now and Tuesday, so I just have to grit my teeth and bear it. Two of my colleagues and I will be teaching an extra class.

The bad news of the day was that there was no mention today of the faculty salary increases the president talked about in his address last year. There's money alloted for building dorms and athletic facilities, money for renovations to older buildings, and money for lab equipment, but salaries were not mentioned.

The good news is that I finished another pair of socks, this one for my knitting buddy, Kathy. The pattern is Wendy Johnson's Seaweed Socks; the yarn was from Kathy's stash (which is orders of magnitude larger than mine). Kathy had vowed that 2009 was going to be her "Year of the Sock", and she has yet to knit a pair, so I made these to inspire her. Hopefully, she will knit a least one pair of socks before year's end.

Ever hopeful, I am attempting to knit two pair of socks this month. After several false starts, I gave up on the yarn I'd planned to use because I could not get the correct gauge, even with US2 needles. (I was getting 9 stitches per inch instead of 8.) Instead of a lovely, hand-painted blue-green-purple yarn, I'm using a solid blue. Having used this kind of yarn for the June socks, I know I can get gauge with a US1 needle. So I cast them on tonight. We will see if I can carve out enough time the rest of this week and next to knit a pair of socks.

Susannah

Chaos Controlled

2009-08-16T22:56:00.009-04:00

The chaos of this past week is under control. Barely, perhaps, but it no longer has the upper hand. Professor O is gone (leaving his office full of...stuff and looking like it was struck by a tornado). No white knight has ridden over the horizon, ready to teach Professor O's classes. The teaching schedule has been reshuffled once again---for the third time in less than two months---and all the courses that are supposed to be taught this semester will be taught, except for one graduate class. Of course, to ensure that all those courses are taught, three professors (one of whom is me) will be teaching an extra class, but the students won't suffer due to Professor O's last-minute resignation.

Now, if only peace (and sanity) will prevail.

James Gillray's famous caricature on the Peace of Amiens, entitled "The first Kiss this Ten Years!---or---the meeting of Britannia & Citizen François", published 01 January 1803. The French officer's hat and sword lay on the carpet. Britannia's shield and trident rest on the wall behind her chair. Above them are portraits of George III and Napoleon, facing each other. They almost appear to be shaking hands, but with very bad grace.

The French officer says, "Madame, permittez me to pay my profound esteem to your engaging person!---& to seal on your divine Lips my everlasting attachment!!!" Britannia says, "Monsieur, you are truly a well-bred Gentleman!---&, tho' you make me blush, yet, you Kiss so delicately, that I cannot refuse you, tho' I was sure you would Deceive me again!!!"

The Peace of Amiens lasted only a few months after this caricature was published. A few months of peace sounds divine. A few years sounds better.

Susannah

Bad things come in threes

2009-08-14T01:24:00.009-04:00

If you have ever wondered whether this is true or an old wives' tale, I can confirm that it is true. Bad things do, indeed, comes in threes. I thought the three things I was dealing with were (1) hiring a new professor to replace Professor R, who left in December and whose replacement was fired halfway through spring semester, (2) hiring a new faculty member to replace Professor Q, the former department chair, and (3) hiring a visiting professor to substitute for Professor P, who is taking a year's leave of absence.

Wrong.

Once all three positions were filled (Monday, August 3rd), I spent most of last week juggling the teaching schedule, getting the new faculty assigned courses in their areas of expertise, and trying to arrange classes so that Professor O, the only person other than the now-departed Professor Q who has taught a particular course, could teach that class. Pulling that off involved changing the time the course was taught, which meant I had to look at the class schedule of each student in the class to find a time that would fit every student's schedule. But I did it. And Friday I submitted the revised teaching schedule for Mechanical Engineering to the registrar's office.

On Monday (August 10th) Professor O resigned, effective immediately.

Professor O, who has been at the university for 18 years, is going to the same school where Professor Q will be teaching. This institution, which is in a large Southern state, made Professor O an offer "impossible to turn down." (Presumably Professor Q received the same sort of offer.)

Is loyalty, like chivalry, dead? Why do some people not feel obligated to honor their commitments?

Chaos reigned for a day or two. While I'm not back at square one, I am indisputably short a faculty member...and classes start on August 26th. I have a headache of epic proportions, and I can feel the grey hairs sprouting. Rapidly.

But this morning, I saw this cute little chipmunk just outside the engineering building, and he put a smile on my face.

And today, finally, I had an uninterrupted hour to complete my move into the chair's office---a week and a day after I moved my books in there.

Susannah

"Some days you feel like a chair...

2009-08-07T12:49:00.026-04:00

...other days you feel like a stool." So spaketh one of my colleagues, chair of one of the largest departments in the School of Arts and Sciences.

I'm not sure whether, in his quote, "stool" is intended to mean "a less elegant form of seating" or if the intended meaning was "an essential, multi-purpose piece of furniture." Already I have had days when I felt like a prop holding open doors (or opportunities), and also days when it feels like I am the glue holding the department together. Although people who are not in academia may not be able to relate to that, I think everyone will understand what I mean when I say that I am supposed to be on vacation this week and have spent three days at the University. But...on the first of those three days, I filled my third faculty position for the coming year, so I count that day well spent.

So far, the two worst things about being chair are: (1) trying to match faculty members and courses for the fall semester (a headache I am still trying to resolve) and (2) faculty colleagues (and/or their spouses), who know that my original plans for the summer included writing the middle half of my current WIP, coming up to me at social events and asking, "How is your summer going?" or "How is the writing going?"

There is no easy answer to the first question, except to say that my summer has been very different than I expected. In early May, I had no idea that my father was going to require open heart surgery or that my department chair was going to resign and that the dean would choose me as the new chair. Those two key events have shaped my summer in ways that I could not have imagined in my wildest dreams. They have also, inevitably, affected my writing, or rather, the time I have to write.

For the first three weeks of the summer my writing was going very well. With two years of research behind me, I was writing a chapter a week, sometimes a bit more. But that progress came to a screeching halt when, within four days, my department chair announced his resignation and my dad underwent open heart surgery. The fact that, six weeks later, my dad still requires in-patient care and rehabilitation therapy has effected the course of my days. The fact that I was named the new chair has determined what I do with my time between 8am and 5pm. At 5 o'clock, I drive the 50 miles from work down to see my mom and have dinner with her, then I go to see my dad. After visiting him, I drive the 30 miles back home, rarely arriving before 9pm.

Next week I will be on vacation (I hope!), and writing is one of my big goals. I hope to write at least one more chapter. Until then, I will share with you two caricatures I found in my research. The first (at right) is Parisienne, the second (below) is British, but both mock the fashions of 1810.

The French caricaturist is unknown, but the caricature is titled "Les Modernes Incroyables"; the British caricaturist is Henry Humphrey, who was better known as a print seller (he and his relatives published the caricatures of James Gillray and George Cruikshank, among others), but he also engraved and published a number of caricatures. This caricature, titled "Les Invisibles," brings to mind a number of caricatures in which Gillray satirized the fashionable. It also, undoubtedly, served as a model---or at least an inspiration---for some of George Cruikshank's later works, such as "Monstrosities of 1818" (or 1821, 1822, or whatever year).

Susannah

Is it really almost August???

2009-08-01T13:45:00.007-04:00

One day I turned around, and it was the middle of July. The next time I caught my breath and turned around, it was the last day of the month.

July has been an eventful month. Dad finally got out of Cardiac ICU, then out of the hospital...but only as far as a nursing home/rehab facility. He is doing better, but still has a ways to go. I am still driving the Great Circle Route every weekday: from Auburn to Angola, to work; then from Angola down to southwestern Fort Wayne, to see Dad and check on Mom, with whom I nearly always have dinner and spend a couple hours; then back to Auburn. It's a 108-mile loop, and some days it seems twice that long.

I have spent a lot more days at the university than usual this summer. First of all, because I taught in a two-week science camp, the ExxonMobil Bernard Harris Summer Science Camp; secondly, because the new department chair (me!) is doing her best to hire good new faculty members to replace those who have left the university or will be on leave next year. (Two down, one to go.) The third reason for my extra time at the university this summer is because, as the new department chair, I am expected to show prospective students around any day they (and their parents) want to stop by---and so far this summer, no two have chosen to stop by on the same day.

My big accomplishments the last half of this month, apart from the science camp, hiring a new faculty member, and a (slightly) cleaner office---which must move next door next week---is another pair of socks. These socks, like all the others I have knit this summer, are by designer Wendy Johnson (www.wendyknits.net). They are called Nanner Socks. (This pair is not from Wendy's new book.) I made these for my sister, although she doesn't know that she is getting them for Christmas.

I should have some time off these next two weeks. Hopefully, I can use it to unpack the boxes in my study at home---which have been piled there since we moved in last winter.

Susannah

Where did that title come from???

2009-07-18T23:48:00.010-04:00

If you are wondering how I came up with the title of this blog, it refers to the many government and parliamentary squabbles, as well as some interesting personal squabbles, during the late Georgian and Regency eras. (Not to mention the fact that the first title I thought of was already being used.)

I had the pleasure of teaching an Honors Seminar spring semester about England during the time Jane Austen was writing her novels (1795-1817), and in my research for the course, I learnt about a number of wrangles of which I had not previously been aware. (More about the course and my research at another time.) Also, I love to knit, and I occasionally my knitting becomes a "wrangle," which invariably leads to ripping out a portion of recently knit stitches to correct the mistake. Usually the error is mine, but occasionally it is due to an incorrect pattern.

Speaking of knitting...Here's a picture of this month's socks---On-Hold Socks, from Wendy Johnson's book, Socks from the Toe Up---which I made for my mother. I finished the socks earlier today, and gave them to my mom tonight. They may end up in the "I'm saving it for a special occasion" drawer, but once she passed 70, she seems to be less inclined to save things for special occasions. I may not know for certain if the socks end up in the ISIFASO drawer, but if she wears them, I'm sure to notice. My dad is still recuperating and rehabilitating after his heart surgery, so I go down to see both of them every night, and Mom and I have dinner together.

I spent two days this past week---and will spend three days next week---teaching classes at a summer science camp for rising 6th, 7th, and 8th graders. It's been more than a decade since my son was that age, and I'd forgotten what motormouths kids that age can be! My ears are still ringing from their non-stop chatter Friday afternoon, but I'm looking forward to working with them on their final project next week.

Susannah

June, glorious June!

2009-06-30T13:10:00.000-04:00

Alas, June is nearly at an end. (Where did it go???) It has been a difficult month in many ways, despite the fact that it is summer, with no classes to teach. My dad has been in the hospital twice, the second time for open heart surgery, but he is recovering, slowly but surely. My department chair announced that he was leaving at the end of July. The dean chose me as the new department chair. (Yikes!)

My big accomplishments for the month were not (regrettably) many pages of the current WIP, but two knitted garments, mostly worked in Heart Pavillion at Lutheran Hospital. The first, a Baby Surprise Jacket, is for my oldest niece's best friend's new baby.

The second knitted "garment" is a pair of socks for me. These are called Lacy Ribs Socks, and they are from Wendy Johnson's book, Socks from the Toe Up. The socks came out really well, and the lacy ribs combined with the varigated colors in the yarn proved to be a good choice. (I was not at all sure about that when I started them.)

I have another pair of socks from the book picked out to knit in July. The July socks, Ms. Johnson's On-Hold Socks, will be knit for my mom---as soon as I find a combination of needles and yarn that will give me the correct gauge.

Susannah