“In fiction as well as in reality the dramatic element nearly always was supplied by the Bow Street Runner, popularly supposed to be a miracle of detective skill though indeed at the beginning of the century the establishment at Bow Street for the detection of crime was of a character that would have made a … Continue reading
Filed under Regency Science and Invention …
Regency Science and Invention: Pollution
“Hell is a city much like London — A Populous and smoky city” -Shelley At the later part of the 18th century, as the beginning stages of the industrial revolution began to change the face of country and city life, the increasing use of hydrocarbon fuels including coal, oil and natural gas resulted in one … Continue reading
Regency Science and Invention: The Weatherman
We all love to lament about the Weatherman. Although I have only lived in a few other countries, its not hard for me to imagine this is a universal trend. To be fair, even with the “inexact science” of meterology, it does afford probabilities which help us plan our lives. It also has an impact … Continue reading
Regency Science and Invention: The Tin Can
Man, the tin can is pretty amazing. Not only can you tie it with some string and make a phone call, or use it for a variety of upcycled home decor/storage uses, but it also does a pretty fine job of keeping the pantry stocked and stacked. In 1810 British merchant and inventor Peter Durand … Continue reading
Regency Science and Invention: The Luddites Rage Against the Machine
The recent local debates about Occupy movement and random acts of anarchy that sometimes follow protest got me thinking… About the Regency, of course! I love the Regency primarily because of my deep love for the urban form and all of its social implications. And because, on the cusp of the Industrial Revolution, it transformed … Continue reading
Regency Science and Invention: The Steam Locomotive
Ah, the scourge of the coaching roads. No wonder the railway was destined to become a staple of British travel. Richard Trevithick (1771-1833) was a British inventor. Growing up in the mine rich landscape of Cornwall, he was also a mining engineer. It was as a child where he first saw steam pumps in action, … Continue reading
Regency Sex Symbols: Sir John Frederick William Herschel
This stone cold fox was born in 1792, so he would have been a young buck at the time of the Regency. Son of well reputed astronomer Sir Friedrich Wilhelm Herschel, Sir John contributed to astronomy, chemistry, physics, and photography. A Cambridge man, he invented a reflecting telescope just three years after matriculating. During … Continue reading
Regency Science and Invention: Veterinary Medicine
One thing a Regency man (or woman) never took for granted was their horse. So its natural that the horse spawned a whole new field of study in England. According to the Royal Veterinary College history, the famous Georgian racehorse Eclipse was responsible for the desire to learn about the success of the horse and … Continue reading
Regency Science and Invention: Illustrations of Madness
John Haslam, Bethlem’s resident apothecary, undertook the enormous task of cataloguing an unknown condition paranoid schizophrenia. Determined not to allow the release of James Tilly Matthews, a London tea broker who suffered delusions of the political variety, in 1810 Haslam detailed verbatim accounts of Matthew’s hallucinations and beliefs and became the first to conduct a … Continue reading
Regency Hot Spots: Bethlem Hospital (Bedlam)
This is Bethlem Hospital in Moorgate (above) It moved from its spot on Bishopsgate Street (by current Liverpool Station) to Moorfields in 1675 until a new building was completed in St. George’s Fields, Southwark in 1815 (below). Moorfields housed refugees, poor, and the unsavory of the victims of Great Fire of 1666. It was therefore … Continue reading
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