The Georgian Theatre Royal ~ by Cheryl Leigh

A visit to the Georgian Theatre Royal in Richmond, North Yorkshire, is a delightful, wondrous experience and akin to stepping back in time. Theatres often burned down during the eighteenth century, but this Georgian gem of a playhouse survived with most of its original features intact.  

Stage from pit (c) Cloud 9 Allen Tod

In the eighteenth century, Richmond was an important market town with a thriving provincial social scene, consisting of balls, race meetings and Assemblies. But the town lacked a theatre as royal patents were given to only a few provincial theatres. An Act was passed in 1788, allowing licences for classical plays to be performed for sixty days at any one time, which enabled Samuel Butler to open the Theatre in Friars Wynd in September that year. Butler had married a twice-widowed, forty-six-year-old Richmond actress when he was twenty-three in 1773 and took over the running of her troupe of travelling players. The Butler Company continued to stage regular productions until the lease expired in 1830. The Theatre closed in 1848 and became an auction house, wine store, and later, a corn chandler. Extensive restorations over the years have ensured the Theatre retains its authenticity, so audiences today enjoy the same intimate atmosphere as in past times. 

The new front attached to original building (c) Cloud 9

In those days, patrons entered through the only entrance, the double doors in Friars Wynd, and handed their coins to Mrs. Butler in the pay box. The cheapest seats were in the gallery. For a shilling, the young and dissolute climbed the narrow, wooden stairs and sat on the benches. People in the front row would kick the board at the base of the panels to indicate their disapproval of an actor's performance. The original pay box and staircase are still there - the tight squeeze on the steep stairs would have made exiting difficult and dangerous if a fire had occurred.

The pit cost two shillings and benches ran from wall to wall. Today there are removable bench ends that extend over the aisles, and detachable cushions and backs make the theatre experience more comfortable. At three shillings per person, the boxes were the best seats. Or were they? While the crowd in the pit could be hit by flying oranges and such, my guide informed me people sat for four hours or more and had nowhere to relieve themselves, so the rich patrons in the boxes sometimes ended up with wet wigs or clothing from urine dripping through the floorboards overhead! 

view from stage (c) Cloud 9

The eleven boxes are named after playwrights. Only the inscription on the centre one, Shakespeare, spelled the old-fashioned way, is original. The two boxes on the edge of the stage allowed for intimate involvement between the audience and actors. Juliet boxes, used for balcony scenes, are on either side of the stage above the proscenium doors. The Royal Box is, of course, the best seat as it has a direct line to the actors on stage. I can confirm this is true after sitting on the same chair used by Prince Charles and other royals. That's the closest I'll ever get to royalty! As I drank in the atmosphere and admired the blue-green Georgian colour scheme, it was easy to imagine the laughter from the pit, the actors raising their voices over the unruly crowd in the gallery, the rustle of my silk gown as I turn to greet a friend in the next box...oops, back to the present. 

As there were no tickets in those days, wealthier patrons would send their servants to pay earlier in the evening and mind a seat for them. A peephole in the door to the boxes slid open so they could see where their servants were sitting. Mrs. Butler also used this to keep an eye on the performance and the audience's behaviour. The ceiling has been painted with a blue sky and white clouds,   imitating the open courtyard where plays were watched before theatres were built. The Theatre seats 214, but Samuel Butler could cram in 400 people.   

Playbill courtesy of The Georgian Theatre Royal

The floor of the stage was raised at the back to give audiences a better view. Candles on dishes, floating in a trough of water, lit the foot of the stage. On chilly evenings, the fireplace at the back of the stage was used to warm the actors. Both dressing rooms also have a fireplace. Actors often slept on the floor of the dressing rooms when accommodation was unavailable during the busy Season. The machine room under the stage contained the mechanism to winch the trough of footlights to the stage, and a counter-weighted platform to shoot an actor through a trapdoor, which often resulted in injury. Once there were three trapdoors, now there is one. The museum at the back of the Theatre houses many original objects, as well as the Woodland Scene, believed to be the oldest known scenery, painted between 1818 and 1836.

This video shows a detailed tour inside the Theatre.

Here is the link to the Georgian Theatre Royal. Museum Week, held every summer, gives visitors an even greater insight into the Theatre's early beginnings.

* Many thanks to Sarah at The Georgian Theatre Royal for the photos of the Theatre.

Sources:

Curtis, Vaughn, and Waugh, Doug, eds. The Georgian Theatre Royal.

Richmond: Castle Print

 

 

History was written on the back of the horse.

By Danielle Lisle

As Wednesday, August the 1^st, is the horses celebrated birthday here in Australia, I thought I’d honour them by discussing their input into history.

"History was written on the back of the horse," an inscription at The Horse Park in Kentucky, USA.   How very true.

The Nobleman, groom and steed.

Our four-legged friend, the horse, has played a substantial role in the world of historical romance. From the simple but strong carriage horse in the Regency novel, to the adaptable mountain pony in the Scottish Highlands, or the stunning steed which the duke rode upon as he whisked his future duchess off her feet, the horse has always been by our hero’s side.

These days horses do not appear in modern day novels as much as they once did, simply because ownership of horses has turned from an essential form of transport, to an ownership of pleasure.

Like today, horses were not a ‘cheap’ commodity to own or maintain. Horses ranged in price, depending on their use. Where they part of a matching team for a stately carriage, a well breed hack for a gentlemen or lady, or perhaps a horse with superior speed offering the gentlemen a potential taste of victory on the track. I read somewhere (of which I can’t recall, much to my frustration) that William Cavendish, the 6th Duke of Devonshire, paid a thousand pounds (about $100,000 today) for a race horse which had to be shot two weeks later as it broke it leg in its first race. Bummer...

In the Regency, one could not own a carriage or keep the horses to draw it if you didn’t earn at least 1,100 pounds a year. This equates to about $110,000 in today’s markets. Don’t forget it is not simply just the initial cost of buying the steed that will set you back, which could range from one to several hundred pounds for a midrange animal, but you had to maintain the horses and keep grooms and drivers. A horse kept in stable in London cost a lot more to feed than a horse at a country estate. It wasn’t like the London horses had access to pasture to graze and therefore cost more to feed in grain.

A post-chaise carriage

Instead, most people hired horses and drivers when they travelled or used the services of a hackney coach (taxi) while in London. While still rather expensive, they did not tie one down to the ongoing costs of the animals keep or their handler’s wages. An example of costs for a longer journey, hiring two horses and a post-chaise carriage and a postilion (rider/driver) at the cost of 1/- per mile (1.6kms). The distance from Longbourn to Rosings we know was about 50 miles (about 80kms), so the cost of travelling there would be 50/-, 2 pounds ten, or in today’s equivalent about $250. This was the most cost effective way for people to travel.

**Please forgive me if I’ve offered a seemingly large section on how much it all cost, it just blows my mind! Allrighty, different track – jockeys ready?

Tattersall's 1865

What do you think of when you hear, “Tattersall’s”? I think of my mother and her weekly trip to the newsagency to buy her lotto ticket.
Well, back in the Regency, Tattersall’s was a horse sale yards in London, established in 1766 by Richard Tattersall, horse master to the Duke of Kingston. These sale yards become a popular place to buy and sell horseflesh, carriages and even hounds, with sale days being twice a week in winter and one a week in summer. It housed stabling for over a hundred horses with plenty of room to inspect carriages or the yapping hounds in their kennels (think of the noise!).

While there was always the opportunity to visit the sale yards, most of the gentry took an avid interest in breeding their own horseflesh, some actually became well known for it.

Horses were also fashion statements. Who had the best horse or the most stunning steed?

"I say, did you see the stallion Lord Percy rode upon in Lester Square yestereve? The beast was simply the most stunning horse I have ever laid eyes upon!"

In 1711, Queen Anne established regular race meetings at her park at Ascot (heard of it anyone?) while several gentlemen also arranged private ‘match races’ between themselves, the stakes often quite high.

But we woman cannot be forgotten. Flat and steeple racing was also held for women. Mrs. Bateman wrote in 1723, "Last week, Mrs. Aslibie arranged a flat race for women, and nine of that sex, mounted astride and dressed in short pants, jackets and jockey caps participated. They were striking to see, and there was a great crowd to watch them. The race was a very lively one; but I hold it indecent entertainment." Some women--such as the infamous Letty Lade, who reportedly swore like a coachman, rode and drove to please themselves, and made their own fashion statement by bucking the trends for demure ladies. (I think I would have liked these woman...)

But horse racing was a increasingly expensive sport (yes, at the costs again). Prince Regent’s stud farm for his horses was rumoured to have an annual cost of 30,000 pounds a year for its upkeep. That’s 3 million a year today! Sheesh!

How many of you out there dreamed of owning your own horse, riding it off into the sunset and feeling the wind fly through your hair?

My boy, Rain Ridge

I was one of the few lucky kids out there, owning my own horse since the age of seven. To this day I still own the Thoroughbred I brought (after working and saving for a year as a checkout chick at Woolworths) when I was fifteen. Rain, or Rain Ridge as was his racing/show name, carried me through the years of Pony Club and Eventing. We even tried PoloX once, but after my teammate hit me in the head with a bat, I determined the sport was not for me. Today he lives the cosy life in retirement, with the occasion weekend trail ride through the bush or on an excursion to the beach. It’s not a bad life for a horse in his late twenties, though once a horse ‘retired’ in the days gone past, their fate was not always guaranteed to be a relaxing one.

Once a horse became old, no longer able to keep up with the other horses in the team or simply because it became injured, the quickest answer was a bullet. This was not always the case and sometimes if the horse was deemed favourably by its owner or horse master, it would be sent out to a farm to work for its remaining days. But sadly, a true retirement, of lazy days roaming a lush paddock, wasn’t a rarity. Good to see some things have changed.

Happy Birthday Horses! Have a carrot on me.

In my debut novel, THE ROSE’S BLOOM (that coincidently hits the shelves today) my hero and heroine relied a great deal on their trusty steeds, whether it be to take them on a hunt, journey or simply a pleasure ride. My hero was actually out on a hunt when he noticed a young woman by the riverbank, her unexperienced fingers seeming to get her nowhere. He was a gentleman after all, and who is he to allow this poor damsel to go unaided? *giggle*

THE ROSE'S BLOOM

THE ROSE'S BLOOM is the first instalment in my ROGUES OF DECEPTION series with Total-E-Bound Publishing.

Comment below to go in the running for a change to win your very own copy! Just remember to leave your email address so I can contact you if you’re the lucky winner!

Danielle can be contacted on her Facebook and Twitter accounts or alternatively comment below.

Quote reference: Website, Rakehell, Regency Horses

The Georgian Chamber Horse

by Cheryl Leigh

For the Georgian gentleman, riding was a favorite activity to keep fit. But what if the weather turned inclement, as British weather was inclined to do? Those fortunate to own a chamber horse had the perfect solution for indoor exercise.

Chamber Horse 1790-1820 from the V&A

The chamber horse was probably the first prototype for today's home exercise machines. This device, which resembled a concertina, consisted of a raised leather seat that contained tiers of springs separated by boards. The user would sit on the chair, grip the arms and bounce up and down in simulation of horse riding.

George Cheyne (1671-1743), the pioneering Scottish physician, believed exercise helped cure various ailments. He recommended the machine to his patient, the writer Samuel Richardson, who suffered from 'spleen' (hypochondria), an eighteenth-century form of depression. Cheyne happily reported that Richardson could still read, direct servants or dictate letters while exercising on the chamber horse - much like many twenty-first century writers use treadmill desks.



George Cheyne 1671-1743

The first advertisement for a chamber horse appeared in the London Daily Post and General Advertiser in March 1739 with Henry Marsh of Clare Market claiming to be the inventor. The machines' popularity continued as shown by Thomas Sheraton's illustration in 1802 in his Cabinet-Maker and Upholsterer's Drawing Book, and in the 1823 edition of the London Chair-maker's Book of Prices, which detailed how to make a chamber horse.

Most chamber horses were kept in bedrooms, but John Wesley liked to keep his in his dining room. Even Lady Denham, a character in Jane Austen's unfinished novel Sanditon, mentions a chamber horse: "There is the sea, and the downs, and my milch asses: and I have told Mrs. Whitby that if anybody enquires for a chamber horse, they may be supplied at a fair rate (poor Mr. Hollis's chamber horse, as good as new); and what can people want more?" (Memoir of Jane Austen by James Edward Austen-Leigh, 1871.)

During the eighteenth century, exercise played an increasingly significant role in the maintenance of health. The chamber horse and rocking horse were designed for adults and children with this in mind. George Cheyne blamed the rich food and high life of many of his well-to-do patients as the cause of the "English Malady", a type of nervous disorder. Cheyne himself suffered depression due to his weight of 32 stone (203 kg). He went on a strict diet with the result he promoted physical activity and a vegetarian diet as a treatment for melancholy. He believed the body and spirit were linked and diet and exercise, such as using a chamber horse, was the best treatment for a range of illnesses.

This video from Edward and Eva Pinto's Bygone Collection, shows how to ride a chamber horse. The actual section starts at 01:16, but there are several fascinating items throughout the clip.

Sources:

Gloag, John. A Short Dictionary of Furniture. London: George

Allen & Unwin Ltd, 1952

Edwards, Clive D. Eighteenth-Century Furniture. Manchester:

Manchester University Press, 1996

BBC Radio 4. George Cheyne and His Work.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio4/history/longview/longview_20031007_readings.shtml

The City of London.

Because my historical romances are set in London or other parts of England, I am fascinated by the enormous growth of the City of London and its importance throughout history. 

I hope you enjoy learning a little more about the Square Mile which is now only a tiny part of 'Greater London' yet is so famous.

Enjoy, 

Suzi Love.

General 

The City of London is an area in central London, England, which made up most of London in Medieval times but is now only a small part of ‘Greater London’. It is just over one square mile (1.12 sq mi/2.90 km2) in area, so is referred to as the ‘City’, or the ‘Square Mile’.

Add Borders of the City of London, showing surrounding London boroughs and the pre-1994 boundary (where changed) in red. The area covered by the Inner and Middle Temple is marked.

 It is one of London’s 32 boroughs, alongside the City of Westminster and only has a little over 11,000 residents, although around 316,700 people work there, mainly in financial services. It is England's smallest ceremonial county by area and population and the fourth most densely populated.

City and financial district

In the 19th century, the City was the world's primary business centre and today it still ranks above New York City as the leading centre of global finance. The legal profession takes up most of the Western area, especially with the Inns of Court in the Temple and Chancery Lane areas, having the Inner Temple and Middle Temple both within the City of London.
Many Roman sites and artefacts can be seen in the City of London today, including the Temple of Mithras, sections of the London Wall (at the Barbican and near the Tower of London), the London Stone and remains of the amphitheatre beneath the Guildhall. The Museum of London, located in the City, holds many of the Roman finds and has permanent Roman exhibitions, as well as being a source of information on Roman London generally.

Boundary

Borders of the City of London, showing surrounding London boroughs and the pre-1994 boundary (where changed) in red. The area covered by the Inner and Middle Temple is marked.
The City borders Westminster, crosses the Victoria Embankment, passes to the west of Middle Temple, along Strand and north up Chancery Lane, where it borders Camden. It turns east to Holborn Circus, with Baltic Street West as the most northerly boundary and in the south in includes Bishopsgate and Petticoat Lane. The City controls the full span of London Bridge but only half of the river underneath it.
Boundaries are marked by black bollards bearing the City's emblem, and by dragon boundary marks at major entrances e.g. Holborn, with a similar monument at Temple Bar on Fleet Street.

 Dragon statue atop the Temple Bar monument, which marks the boundary between the City and Westminster.

Roman London was established as a trading port by merchants on the tidal Thames around 47 AD but by the time of the construction of the London Wall, the city's fortunes were in decline, with problems of plague and fire. Alfred the Great, King of Wessex and arguably the first king of the 'English', began resettlement of the old Roman walled area in 886 and appointed his son-in-law Earl Æthelred of Mercia over it as part of their reconquest of the Viking occupied parts of England.

  The 1666 Great Fire destroyed nearly 80% of the City.

Map showing the extent of the Great Fire of London.

The 18th century was a period of rapid growth for London, reflecting an increasing national population, the early stirrings of the Industrial Revolution, and London's role at the centre of the evolving British Empire. The urban area expanded beyond the borders of the City of London, most notably during this period towards the West End and Westminster.
By the beginning of the 19th century, London was expanding rapidly in every direction and railways and the Tube allowed it to spread over a greater area. To the East, the Port of London grew when new docks were needed because the Thames at the City could not cope with the volume of trade. In 1894, an attempt was made to amalgamate the City and the surrounding County of London, but it did not succeed so the City elected four members to the unreformed House of Commons, which it retained after the Reform Act 1832 and into the 20th century.

St Paul's Cathedral, 1896.

During World War II, The City was aerial bombed in ‘The Blitz’ and although St Paul's Cathedral survived, large swathes of the City did not and the particularly heavy raids of late December 1940 led to a firestorm called the Second Great Fire of London.
 
In the decades following the war, there was a major rebuilding programme with modern and larger-scale developments.

They altered the City's urban landscape, although the parts which survived the bombings retained smaller buildings and old character.

The street pattern, which is still largely medieval, was altered slightly in certain places, although there is a more recent trend of reversing some of the post-war modernist changes made, such as at Paternoster Square.

Political and Legal   

The City is a ceremonial county, although it has a Commission of Lieutenancy, headed by the Lord Mayor, instead of a Lord-Lieutenant. Instead of a High Sheriff, two Sheriffs hold quasi-judicial offices and are appointed by the Livery Companies, another ancient political system based on the representation and protection of trades. Senior members of the Livery Companies are known as Liverymen and form a special electorate called the Common Hall and this body chooses the Lord Mayor of the City, the Sheriffs and certain other officers.
The local authority for the City, the City of London Corporation, has unusual responsibilities, eg. the police authority for the City, and holds ownerships beyond the City's boundaries. The Corporation is headed by the Lord Mayor of the City of London, an office separate from, and much older than, the Mayor of London.

The Guildhall - the ceremonial and administrative centre of the City

Numerous Functions of the City 

The City has an independent police force, the City of London Police, and the Common Council is the police authority, while the rest of Greater London is policed by the Metropolitan Police Service from New Scotland Yard.

The Corporation owns and runs both the Smithfield and Leadenhall Markets  and a number of locations beyond the boundaries of the City, which include parks, forests and commons eg most of Epping Forest, Hampstead Heath and many public spaces in Northern Ireland through The Honourable The Irish Society.

It also owns Old Spitalfields Market and Billingsgate Fish Market, both of which are within the neighbouring London Borough of Tower Hamlets, owns and helps fund the Old Bailey, the Central Criminal Court for England and Wales, as a gift to the nation, it having begun as the City and Middlesex Sessions.
In 1123, the only hospital, St Bartholomews at Smithfield, was founded. Known as 'Barts', the hospital is undergoing a long-awaited regeneration.

The City is the third largest UK funding-patron of the arts. It oversees the Barbican Centre and subsidises several important performing arts companies.

The Corporation is The Port of London's health authority, includes the handling of imported cargo at London Heathrow airport, oversees the running of the Bridge House Trust which maintains five key bridges in central London, London Bridge, Blackfriars Bridge, Southwark Bridge, Tower Bridge and the Millennium Bridge. The City's flag flies over Tower Bridge, although neither footing is in the City.

Mansion House - the official residence of the Lord Mayor

Former Lord Mayor of London John Stuttard during the Lord Mayor's parade of 2006

Night Watchmen Through the Ages (with a little help from Richard Armitage)

On my last visit to Bath, I was delighted to discover by accident an eighteenth-century watchman's sentry box. Not in a museum, not roped off, but standing on the corner of a quiet, pretty crescent as if waiting for the watchman to return. Situated in Norfolk Crescent beside a grassy expanse and opposite the Georgian terrace, Cumberland House, this circular structure (erected in 1793 and restored in 1896) piqued my interest in the history of night watchmen.

© Cheryl Leigh

Watch-boxes increased in number during Queen Anne's reign. Made of timber or stone, the wooden ones provided targets for bored young "gentlemen" who tipped them over (and the snoozing watchman within) for sport.

© Museum of London

A regular night watch came into existence after the passing of the Statute of Winchester in 1285, which required householders to maintain the peace in their parishes. At first the Watch assembled only a few times a year, but by the beginning of the 16^th century it assembled nightly. Constables supervised the "Charlies", a nickname watchmen acquired during Charles II's reign.

The watchmen's duties included crime and fire prevention, waking people who needed to rise early, calling out the time and weather, and helping drunks home. Men could avoid their duty by paying a fine or hiring a deputy. By the eighteenth century, deputies had become common and watchmen tended to be elderly, often drunk, usually incompetent and highly ridiculed by the public. According to The London Encyclopaedia, this mock advertisement appeared in 1821: "Wanted, a hundred thousand men for London watchmen. None need apply for this lucrative situation without being the age of sixty, seventy, eighty or ninety years; blind with one eye and seeing very little with the other; crippled in one or both legs; deaf as a post; with an asthmatical cough that tears them to pieces; whose speed will keep pace with a snail, and the strength of whose arm would not be able to arrest an old washerwoman of fourscore returned from a hard day's fag at the washtub...."

© Museum of London

In the first half of the eighteenth century, city marshals and beadles patrolled the streets during the day. Nights were the watchmen's responsibility. Various Watch Acts in the 1700s established an annual wage of thirteen pounds for watchmen, their hours of duty, and ordered them to be at their posts every night. The men gathered nightly at the watch house at nine o'clock in winter and ten o'clock in summer where the ward beadle called the roll and wrote their names in a book. Armed with a staff (which had replaced the earlier halberds), a lantern, and later a clapper to signal another watchman for help, they then took their positions at watch-boxes or where they had a good view of a street. Their locations were printed and posted in public areas to notify citizens. Watchmen worked in pairs, patrolling their beat twice, once calling the time, the other silently. They came off duty in the morning at seven o'clock in winter and five o'clock the rest of the year. Anyone nabbed by a watchman would spend the night in the watch-house. In the morning, the constable would take the offender to a magistrate.

Citizens had long resisted the idea of a professional police force, viewing it as a threat to their liberty as well as an unwarranted expense, but the increase in crime changed public feeling in the latter part of the eighteenth century. When the novelist, Henry Fielding, was appointed magistrate at Bow Street in December 1748, he pressed for improvements and organized a force of official thief-takers that became known as the Bow Street Runners. The Gordon riots brought home the need to implement a new police system, but a professional police force for London was not created until 1829. The old watch system was now abolished.

So, what is the connection between this post and Richard Armitage? The occupation of night watchman has continued in various forms down the centuries. A different kind of watchman was the one who guarded the night skies over England during wartime such as in Edward Shanks's* poem, The Night Watch for England. Here is Richard Armitage's moving recitation. Enjoy!

*Edward Shanks (1892-1953) was a member of the "Georgian Poets", a title coined by the poet, Harold Munro, in the year of George V's coronation. The name was given to the writers who contributed to the five volumes of Sir Edward Marsh's anthology, Georgian Poetry, 1912-1922.

Sources:

Beattie, J.M. Crime and the Courts in England, 1660-1800. New Jersey: Princeton

University Press, 1986

Hibbert, Christopher. London: The Biography of a City. London: Penguin, 1977

Hitchcock, Tim. Down and Out in Eighteenth-Century London. London: Hambledon

Continuum, 2004

Reynolds, Elaine A. Before the Bobbies: The Night Watch and Police Reform in

Metropolitan London, 1720-1830. Stanford: Stanford University Press, 1998

Statt, Daniel. "Law Enforcement." Britain in the Hanoverian Age, 1714-1837: An

Encyclopedia. Eds. Gerald Newman and Leslie Ellen Brown, et al. New York

& London: Garland Publishing, 1997

Weinreb, Ben, and Christopher Hibbert, eds. The London Encyclopaedia. London:

Book Club Associates, 1983