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Age of Sail Resources - Links to sites on the web.
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| HH query |
[Jun. 8th, 2008|12:52 pm] |
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Do any HH fans remember for sure: in The Examination for Lieutenant (aka The Fire Ships in the US), when Hornblower, Foster and Hammond sail off in their rowboat to intercept the fireship, is Captain Harvey with them in the boat or not? I'm writing a fic in which I think he has to be my POV character and if he wasn't in that boat I have to reconsider. I've tried looking at the ep screencaps on the Two Evil Monks site but it doesn't show for sure. (And does anyone know if his soubriquet "of the Dockyard" indicates that he was shore-based and stationed at Gib?) |
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| Regency Misc |
[May. 10th, 2006|06:18 pm] |
Regency Colors
Ever picked up a Regency novel and wondered about the strange color descriptions? The coquelicot ribbons that raise the plain white muslin gown of the debutante above the ordinary. The dashing heroine in a very low cut pomona green silk ball dress. The flattering primrose morning dress on the freckled redhead who's been outside without a hat. (Good gracious!) The jonquil gown of the young widow just out of mourning. And don't forget the puce waistcoat on the boring suitor. Here they are in all their splendor!
Link Here |
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| Georgian/Regency - Food |
[Apr. 10th, 2006|12:04 am] |
Historic Food
this site has a collection of recipes from eras, as well as a history of how they were served. Such as this page on Georgian Ices
It comes as a great surprise to most people when they learn that ices were popular dessert foods in eighteenth century England. It has often been incorrectly assumed that the ice cream of this period was quite primitive and consisted of a hard mass of flavourless icy crystals. The truth is that the quality was very high and the astonishing variety of flavours available in a Georgian confectionery shop would easily compete with that offered today in a modern Italian gelateria!
Recipe Index |
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| Georgian/Regency - Fans |
[Mar. 16th, 2006|09:14 pm] |
The Fan Circle International
The 19th century displays one of the widest varieties of fans produced over the centuries. Fans of every sort can be found in the period from 1801 to 1900, from splendid specimens that equal the best of previous centuries to home decorated examples that were popular from the mid 19th century onwards and promoted as a 'lady-like' hobby.
At the beginning of the 19th century, fans, after their heydays through the 17th and 18th centuries were in a period of decline. With fashion,'simplicity' and rusticity were the order of the day. Fans became very dainty and were often no longer than the size of a persons palm as dresses were slimmer and had smaller pockets. The most popular materials were silk and sequins, ivory and tortoishell. When ivory or tortoishell were used they were often pierced or inlaid with sequins. While presenting a beautiful and delicate facade, these fans were not very practical when it came to cooling a person down and their main function was as a 'necessary' accessory or as an accent to modesty or flirtation. The finest ivory carving was done in London; printed leaves with stipple engravings printed in colours were a Parisian speciality.
Click here and follow the links on the sidebar to history of fans |
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| Georgian/Regency - Clothing (mens) |
[Feb. 9th, 2006|03:01 am] |
Between a Gentleman and His Tailor
Casual country dress became the choice of the younger generation after the American Revolutionary War. Young men began to wear their riding clothes in London's drawing rooms, scandalizing the older generation. It was Beau Brummell who helped to popularize a more conservative color palette for men's clothing and more comfortable and practical clothing. With the help of some of the finest tailors in London, he took the practical riding costume from country squire dowdy to a costume known for its excellent fit, comfort, quality materials and workmanship, and freshly washed crispness. A smart sort of riding costume became the standard for men's wear from 1797 to 1810.
The best known tailors of the day were Schweitzer and Davidson of Cork street, Weston of 34 Old Bond street, Meyer of Conduit street, and Guthrie. All clothing at this period was handmade because the first practical, functioning sewing machine would not be created until 1830 and would not be mass produced until the 1850s. There was a hierarchy in the tailors trade with cutters able to layout and cut cloth to make close fitting clothes at the top followed by finishers who could do detail work such as buttonholes. Last was the lowly "table monkeys" who did the actual stitching of garments.
The Georgian Index |
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| Georgian/Regency - Books |
[Jan. 15th, 2006|04:57 pm] |
British Fiction, 1800–1829: A Database of Production, Circulation, and Reception
British Fiction, 1800–1829: A Database of Production, Circulation, and Reception was produced in Cardiff University’s Centre for Editorial and Intertextual Research, supported by substantial grants from the Arts and Humanities Research Board (AHRB) and Cardiff University. British Fiction allows users to examine bibliographical records of 2,272 works of fiction written by approximately 900 authors, along with a large number of contemporary materials (including anecdotal records, circulating-library catalogues, newspaper advertisements, reviews, and subscription lists).
Cardiff University |
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| Georgian/Regency - Garden Design |
[Jan. 15th, 2006|04:39 pm] |
A History of British Gardening
Georgian and Regency themes
Pineapples
Henry Telende in 1720 created a hotbed that enabled pineapples to be grown in Britain. By the 1750s pineapple pits were all the rage among the well-heeled gentry of English society.
Apples
William Forsyth published the Treatise on the Culture and Management of Fruit in 1802 . Fruit growing was becoming increasingly popular and books on practical fruit growing were selling fast. William Forsyth's Treatise on the Culture and Management of Fruit went through seven new editions between 1802 and 1824. The books lists 300 different apples and 100 pears that could be grown and - because of the development of greenhouses - exotic fruits, such as apricots and nectarines.
BBC Website |
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| Georgian/Regency - Theatre |
[Jan. 15th, 2006|04:32 pm] |
An Evening at the Theater
A typical evening at a London theater began at six and lasted at least three hours. The program began with music played by the theater's orchestra from the time the doors opened at four or five, followed by a prologue and then a full-length play. An afterpiece, usually a pantomime, farce, or comic opera, completed the evening. The intervals between acts were filled with variety acts, which ranged from singing, dancing, magic tricks, acrobatics, through trained animals.
The Georgian Index
Georgian Theatre Research Resources
The "New Plays" data base (over 530 pages) attempts to document over 2,600 new plays on the London stage during the eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries (1700-1810). All material ©2006 by William J. Burling.
The "Daily Calendar" data base (over 630 pages) attempts to provide basic documentation for every daily performance at five major London theatres during 1800-1810: Drury Lane, Covent Garden, the King's Opera House, the Theatre Royal Haymarket, and the Lyceum. Details include date, venue, play titles, designation of premieres, authorship of new plays, box office receipts (if available), and occasional miscellaneous comments (but not casting information, except for a very limited number of performances). Please note that the calendar for the King's Opera House is still incomplete, especially for 1806-1810. All material © 2006 by William J. Burling.
Link
Richard Brinsley Sheridan
Sheridan was educated at Harrow School, and was to study law. However, his highly romantic elopement with Elizabeth Linley (daughter of Thomas Linley), and their subsequent marriage in 1773, put paid to such hopes. When he returned to London, he began writing for the stage. His first play, The Rivals, produced at Covent Garden in 1775, was a failure on its first night. Sheridan cast a more capable actor for the role of the comic Irishman for its second performance, and it was a smash which immediately established the young playwright's reputation. It has gone on to become a standard of English literature.
Wikipedia
Oliver Goldsmith
AFTER a course at Trinity College, Dublin, made miserable by his personal ungainliness and bad manners, Oliver Goldsmith was on the point of emigrating to America. If he had not missed his ship, high school students might not find in their course of prescribed reading such literary gems as The Deserted Village or The Vicar of Wakefield, nor play lovers enjoy the absurdities of his dramatic masterpiece, She Stoops to Conquer.
Theatre History
Theatre Illustrations
Links to various illustrations of British theatre
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| eBook - Buccaneers and Pirates of Our Coasts |
[Jan. 2nd, 2006|11:19 pm] |
Buccaneers and Pirates of Our Coasts by Frank Richard Stockton
The first pirates who made themselves known in American waters were the famous buccaneers; these began their career in a very commonplace and unobjectionable manner, and the name by which they were known had originally no piratical significance. It was derived from the French word boucanier, signifying “a drier of beef.”
Some of the West India islands, especially San Domingo, were almost overrun with wild cattle of various kinds, and this was owing to the fact that the Spaniards had killed off nearly all the natives, and so had left the interior of the islands to the herds of cattle which had increased rapidly. There were a few settlements on the seacoast, but the Spaniards did not allow the inhabitants of these to trade with any nation but their own, and consequently the people were badly supplied with the necessaries of life.
But the trading vessels which sailed from Europe to that part of the Caribbean Sea were manned by bold and daring sailors, and when they knew that San Domingo contained an abundance of beef cattle, they did not hesitate to stop at the little seaports to replenish their stores. The natives of the island were skilled in the art of preparing beef by smoking and drying it,—very much in the same way in which our Indians prepare “jerked meat” for winter use.
But so many vessels came to San Domingo for beef that there were not enough people on the island to do all the hunting and drying that was necessary, so these trading vessels frequently anchored in some quiet cove, and the crews went on shore and devoted themselves to securing a cargo of beef,—not only enough for their own use, but for trading purposes; thus they became known as “beef-driers,” or buccaneers.
Link to online book |
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| Georgian/Regency - Christmas |
[Dec. 17th, 2005|07:59 am] |
Christmas in the Regency
The nature of Christmas during the English regency (1811-1820) is surprisingly difficult to uncover -- which might be the clearest sign that it was not made as much of as we expect. Jane Austen hardly mentions it in her frequent letters. In one letter written to her beloved sister Cassandra on December 24th and 25th, she does wish her a "merry Christmas" but does not seem to be bothered by being apart at that time, or make mention of particular festivities. She is invited to dine at a nearby house but does not plan to go because the weather is bad. The weather clears, so she goes after all.
Link
THE REGENCY CHRISTMAS FEAST
Christmas celebrations are as individual and personal as the family. Each family has its own favorite traditions and recipes handed down through the generations, or perhaps some begun anew by the younger set. Yet, everyone seems to fall back on the customs and heritage native to their country. The English are no different.
A family of the Regency era may have chosen to celebrate with relatives only, or perhaps elected to dine with close friends. Either way, several foods formed the staple of their Christmas Dinner.
Link
Christmas Poetry
A list of traditional poems. Where known, dates are given for their origin.
Link
Christmas in the British Army during the War of 1812
Christmas during the time of the War of 1812 had little resemblence to today's holiday celebrations. Indeed Christmas day was recognized as an important religious event and was marked by the English and Germans with a special church service, a fine dinner and simple decorations but absent were large celebrations that one would expect. For the French Canadians and Scots, New Years Day was the focal point of their seasonal festivites. In contrast to this, the protestant Upper Canadians and newly-arrived American settlers, looked scornfully upon Christmas celebrations, particularly its decorations, as a "rag of Romanism". An English immigrant coming to Canada noted in the 1820s: "I was much surprised at the cold indifference which most people showed in their observance of Christmas day -with the exception of the then few residing English families, the church was scantily attended."
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| Valentine Joyce - Naval Mutineer of 1797 |
[Dec. 15th, 2005|01:54 pm] |
Valentine Joyce - Naval Mutineer of 1797
Extract from page:
As unequivocally stated by Mr. Dugan, the 'leading spirit was a quartermaster's mate of Royal George, Valentine Joyce, who had served a sentence for sedition, lost his tobacco shop in Belfast as a result, and had recently come aboard in the quota'. Even on first reading, I was doubtful of this. For a landsman to have made quartermaster's mate in such a short period of time (the various Quota Acts having been passed in 1795 and 1796) would have meant spectacular promotion. Even if most past published works had also maintained a similar line on this individual's background, one stood out in contradiction. Written in the 1930s, within The Floating Republic was analysis of the leading characters as experienced seamen and Valentine Joyce was specifically mentioned in this way. In fact, this work goes further. Not only does it pour cold water on rampant political objectives by the mutineers, Joyce himself is stated as having been born in Jersey and apparently having family in Portsmouth. A relatively recent doctoral thesis, Mutiny in the Public Eye by David London, clearly shows these mutinies to have been industrial relations disputes, primarily in relation to naval pay that had not been improved in over 140 years. Joyce's background and naval career are outlined, from information supplied by Ann Coates and this is identical to that in a published modern entry in the Oxford Dictionary of National Biography. Unfortunately, the information given in these two accounts is not particularly accurate either.
Link here |
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| English Harbour - Antigua |
[Dec. 12th, 2005|03:36 pm] |
Known today as Nelson's Dockyard
Extract from page:
In Antigua’s southeastern corner lies a jewel of a harbour, completely enclosed by land and rugged hills. During the 18th and 19th centuries, when the sugar trade, so economically important to Europe’s warring nations, was threatened, the admirals of England’s navy chose this harbour to establish a repair yard in the Eastern Caribbean. This historic treasure, the Dockyard, was built using the skill, ingenuity and combined effort of the colonial residents of both African and European descent. Our ancestors laboured to build it under difficult conditions, and we must treasure this heritage.
Nelson's Dockyard |
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| The London Season |
[Nov. 29th, 2005|02:33 am] |
British Social History
Extract:
The London Season is one of the most glamorous events in the world. Usually it starts after Easter and ends in August. Events include the horse races, the Derby, the even classier Ascot, the Chelsea Flower Show, concerts, balls, dances and The Proms, of course. However, the Season is not as elegant as it once was when young ladies were presented to the Court and men and women swirled around huge ball room floors in their finest evening wear.
The Season was regarded as a ‘marriage market’, a chance for the young men and women of the aristocracy and upper middle classes to meet each other and choose partners. As the girls were chaperoned it was difficult for them to meet privately so girls would often marry the first acceptable partner. Marriages were often not love matches but formed on the basis of eligibility, money and, perhaps, common interests. This was especially true in the Regency period when the idea of marrying for love was relatively new. An example of this is Fanny, in Mansfield Park, who was severely chided for refusing the rake Henry, by her uncle Sir Thomas Bertram. He regarded Fanny, who came from a poor family, as very lucky to receive this offer from such an eligible young man and told her that she may never receive another one!
Link to Article (Scroll down past the ads) |
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| Cherbourg - The Roadstead |
[Nov. 29th, 2005|01:41 am] |
The roadstead
Extract from site:
In 1780, a naval officer, Louis Le Couldre de la Bretonnière, suggested closing the roadstead with a "rampart of rubble" almost four kilometres long, with no link to the coast. In 1783, construction was entrusted to an engineer of the Public Works Department, future architect of the Pont des Arts in Paris and of bridges over the Loire, Alexandre de Cessart. He imagined a sea wall formed by the juxtaposition of ninety wooden "chests", in the shape of truncated cones, almost 20 metres high and 50 meters in diameter at their base. These cones, prefabricated on dry land, then towed out to the site, were designed to be sunk and filled with stones.
Link to Cherbourg Tourism Site
History of the harbour from the same site |
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| General: The food Timeline History |
[Nov. 9th, 2005|11:30 pm] |
The Food Timeline
Extract
Ever wonder what foods the Vikings ate when they set off to explore the new world? How Thomas Jefferson made his ice cream? What the pioneers cooked along the Oregon Trail? Who invented the potato chip...and why? Welcome to the Food Timeline.
Food history is full of fascinating lore and contradictory facts. Historians will tell you it is not possible to express this topic in exact timeline format. They are quite right. Everything we eat is the product of culinary evolution. On the other hand? It is possible to place both foods and recipes on a timeline based on print evidence and historic context.
Click Here |
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| Language Resources - Etymology |
[Oct. 19th, 2005|10:02 pm] |
Online Etymology Dictionary
This dictionary, based on a number of authoritative works, is a great place to find the origin of words and avoid anachronistic language by checking first usage dates. For instance, "sea-dog" in the sense of old sailor is attested from 1840; "tar" from 1676. It includes numerous nautical terms and gives alternatives where the etymology is uncertain (e.g. "mizzen"). Search options include exact match and "natural language", which will find any part of a compound word or phrase. |
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| Royal Navy: Newspaper Extracts of Ships movements |
[Oct. 15th, 2005|07:38 pm] |
Newspaper Extracts 1810 -> 1841 Index
This page contains indexes before 1810
Extract from the 1791-1798 Merchant ship index:
Nov 19, 1795
La Nymphe, Capt. Losack, convoying the cavalry from the Elbe, met with a violent gale of wind from the North Seas, in which she lost her rudder, and became so ungovernable, that for some time she was in imminent danger of being lost. She is, however, fortunately arrived safe in Margate Roads.
We are sorry to learn that all the convoy did not escape as well ; the Cleopatra and three other transports from Bremerlee, having run on shore near Calais, and it is feared the crews will be made prisoners.
By a letter from Corunna, from Captain Malyar, of the De Terfey, we are informed, that he anchored under the cannon of that Castle, along side of a French schooner-privateer, of 14 guns and 180 men, that cruises between that place and Vigo. This privateer anchors at night at Corunna, and weighs in the morning, and a strict watch is kept on the hills, to make signals when any vessel appears in sight, and by that means she had done a great deal of mischief.
Main page index |
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| Royal Navy - Tactics, daily life |
[Oct. 3rd, 2005|03:51 am] |
Naval Evolutions
Extract:
Definitions of Lines or Orders
We call naval evolutions the diverse movements performed by fleets or squadrons at sea, in ranging or forming them into such lines or positions as may be thought most proper or expedient, either by engaging, defending, or retreating to the greatest advantage. This term we have borrowed from land armies, where they signify, by the word evolutions, the different motions or wheelings they give their battalions or squadrons, as may seem most advantageous, in the various methods of attacking, defending, or retreating.
Naval Evolutions
Seaman's Rations
Extract
Sun
Pork 1 Pound
Pease ½ a Pint
Page here
Duties of the Crew
Extract
Master
1.He is to repair on Board, and obey his Commanders Orders, for the Dispatch of what is to be done towards her fitting out. 2.He is to inspect the Provisions and Stores sent a Board, and of what appears not good, he is to acquaint the Captain. 3.He is to take care of the Ballast, and see that it be clean and wholesome, and sign the Quantity delivered. 4.He is to give his Directions in stowing the Hold, for the most Room, Trimming the Ship, and for Preservation of the Provisions. 5.He is to take singular Care that the Rigging and Stores be duly preserved; and to sign the Carpenter's and Boatswain's Expence Book, taking care not to sign to undue Allowances. 6.He is to navigate the Ship, under the Directions of his Superior Officer, and see that the Log and Log-Book be duly kept. 7.He is duly to observe the Appearances of Coasts; and if he discovers any new Shoals or Rocks under Water, to note them done in his Journal, with their Bearing and Depth of Water. 8.He is to keep the Hawser clear when the Ship is at Anchor. 9.He is to provide himself with proper Instruments, Maps, and Book of Navigation, and keep a regular Journal, nothing therein the going out and coming in of all Stores and Provisions; and when the Ship is laid up, he is to deliver a Copy of the same into the Navy-Office, together with his Log-Book. 10.He is to be very careful not to sign any Accounts, Books, Lists or Tickets, before he has thoroughly informed himself of the Truth of every Particular contained in the same.
Page here |
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| US Navy: Operations Against Tripoli 1804 |
[Oct. 2nd, 2005|01:12 pm] |
NAVAL OPERATIONS AGAINST TRIPOLI
Commodore Edward Preble to the Secretary of the Navy
Extract from PDF document
US SHIP CONSTITUTION, Malta Harbor, 18 September 1804 I had the honor to write you from Messina, under date of the 5th of July; I then expected to have sailed the day following, but was detained, by bad weather, until the 9th when I left it, with two small bomb vessels under convoy, and arrived at Syracuse, where we were necessarily detained four days. On the 14th I sailed, the schooners NAUTILUS and ENTERPRISE in company with six gun-boats and two Bomb vessels, generouslyloaned us by His Sicilian Majesty. The bomb vessels are about thirty tons, carry a thirteen-inch brass sea-mortar and forty men. Gun-boats, twenty-five tons, carry a long iron twenty-four pounder in the bow, with a complement of thirty-five. They are officered and manned from the squadron, excepting twelve Neapolitan bombadiers, gunners, and sailors, attached to each boat, who were shipped by permission ot their Government. This step I thought found necessary as every vessel in the squadron was considerably short of complement.
This is a nine page PDF document of the logs of the Constitution
Link here |
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| Royal Navy: Fireships |
[Oct. 2nd, 2005|12:57 pm] |
What is Fire ship?
Extract from site:
A fire ship is a ship that is deliberately set on fire and collided with enemy ships in order to destroy them, or to create panic and make them break formation.
Warships of the age of sail were highly vulnerable to fire. With seams caulked with tar, ropes greased with fat, and holds full of gunpowder, there was little that would not burn. Accidental fires destroyed many ships, so fire ships presented a terrifying threat.
Link to definition page
Thomas Cochrane
Extract:
In April 1809, Cochrane led a successful fireship attack on a powerful French squadron anchored in Basque Roads, off Rochefort. In the confusion of the attack, all but two of the French ships were driven hard on shore. However, Cochrane tried to have his superior officer, Lord Gambier, court-martialled for not following up the attack in full.
National Maritime Museum Site
The Project Gutenberg eBook, Some Principles of Maritime Strategy, by Julian Stafford Corbett
Extract
Towards the middle of the eighteenth century indeed the occasions on which the fireship could be used for its special purpose was regarded as highly exceptional, and though the type was retained till the end of the century, its normal functions differed not at all from those of the rest of the flotilla of which it then formed part. [page 122]
Project Gutenberg
The Life of Thomas, Lord Cochrane
Tenth Earl of Dundonald, G.C.B., Admiral of the Red, Rear-Admiral of the Fleet, Etc., Etc.
Extract from page
The most brilliant deed of all, one of the most brilliant deeds in the whole naval history of England, was his well-known exploit in the Basque Roads on the 11th, 12th, and 13th of April, 1809. Much against his will, he was persuaded by Lord Mulgrave, at that time First Lord of the Admiralty, to bear the responsibility of attacking and attempting to destroy the French squadron by means of fireships and explosion-vessels. The project was opposed by Lord Gambier, the Admiral of the Fleet, as being at once "hazardous, if not desperate," and "a horrible and anti-Christian mode of warfare;" and consequently he gave no hearty co-operation. On Lord Cochrane devolved the whole duty of preparing for and executing the project. His own words will best tell the story.
eText of book |
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