What was happening in the Regency?
One major thing going on was the war with Napoleon, but there were lots of additional items in the newspapers two. Here is a selection.
One major thing going on was the war with Napoleon, but there were lots of additional items in the newspapers two. Here is a selection.
- Mar.1 A stone weighing fifteen pounds fell from the clouds in Russia.Oops. I bet that was a surprise.
- Mar.5: The battle of Barossa gained by Gen. Graham, against the French under Marshal Victor. Sergeant Patrick Masterson captured the first French eagle to be taken in battle by th British from the French, in this case from the 8th of the Line
- Mar.11: Badajos surrendered to the French.
- Mar.11: The House of Commons voted a loan of six millions for the relief of merchants and manufacturers. You will see why, later.
- Mar.12: Riots at Nottingham, in consequence of distress among workmen.
- Mar.20: Birth of Bonaparte's son. The king of Rome. Pictured on the left as the Duke of Reichstadt, he became the Emperor of France for fifteen days, when his father abdicated in 1815, though it is doubtful he was aware of it, as he and his mother had fled to Austria.
- Mar.23:A riot in Bristol caused by a rise in the price of butter,
- Mar.26: Sequestrated English merchandise to the amount of £100,000 sterling, burned at Swinemunde.
- Mar.31: Confiscated English manufacturer to the amount of £50,000 burned at Rugenwalde.
- Apr. 1: Confiscated English manufactures to the amount of £60,000 burned at Memel.What a lot of waste and loss. This was part of the blockade.
Apr.3: At the late Duke Queensberry's sale, his Tokay wine sold at eighty four pounds per dozen. So to put that in perspective when you go to the liquor store, or wherever you buy your wine, that is about £2,852.64 for 12. Tokay is really Tokaji wine. It comes from Hungary and is a sweet wine and was the subject of the world's first appellation control, established several decades before Port wine and over 120 years before the classification of Bordeaux. Vineyard classification began in 1730 with vineyards being classified into 3 categories depending on the soil, sun exposure and potential to develop noble rot, botrytis cinerea, first class. A royal decree in 1757 established a closed production district in Tokaj. The classification system was completed by the national censuses of 1765 and 1772. Introduced to the French court, it was also a very popular wine during the regency in England, as indicated by the price.
- Apr.4: A proclamation to the Berlin Court Gazette, forbidding any English man, or any other foreigner, to enter the Prussian territory without a passport.
- Apr.8: several persons killed by the fall of two houses in Ironmonger Row, Old Street.
- Apr.10: a riot at Brighton between a party of the South Gloucester militia, and a party of the inhabitants,
- Apr.10: William Gibbs reprieved at the moment when about to be hanged for a robbery committed by his sweetheart of which he had taken upon himself the guilt in order to save her life. Talk about true love. And the save sounds a bit last minute too.
- Apr,14: The French Garrison of Olivenza surrendered at discretion to the allied army.
- Apr.20: Eight persons perished in the conflagration of a house in Half Moon Alley, Bishopsgate.
- Apr.21: A Young nobleman lost £24,000 at one of the fashionable gambling houses. In today’s money, according to the British National Archives this would be worth in the order of £814,0000 or in US $1,337,238.10. Now I don’t know how you feel about that but my little flutters at the casino amount to $30 in a night.
- Apr.24:Mackerel sold at Billingsgate, at eight shillings a piece by the hundred. Not so expensive, then.
- Apr.24: A subscription set on foot at the London Tavern for the relief of the Portuguese.
- Apr.25: Thirty five men killed, and eighteen wounded, by an explosion of inflammable air in a coal mine near Liege. Interesting how they call it air rather than gas.
- Apr.29: The commissioners of Hyde Park turnpike let their tolls for £17,000 per annum. A profit of £580,000 in today's money. One can only imagine how much the person taking the tolls actually made.