Editors Weekly Round-up, May 6, 2018

by the EHFA Editors

Every week, contributors to English Historical Fiction Authors post on various aspects of British history. Enjoy this week's round-up!

The Honourable Mrs. Graham

by Lauren Gilbert

The Wapping Coal Riots of 1798

by Regina Jeffers

(an Editor's Choice from the Archives)

Common Myths of the Wars of the Roses: 

Richard III: Victim of Tudor Propaganda? Part 2

by Derek Birks

Life Below Stairs - Compensations and Obligations

by Regina Jeffers

With the popularity of Upstairs, Downstairs and Downtown Abbey, the populace has become more aware of the British servant class. So what do we know of those who lived “below stairs”? First, rank and precedence ruled those of the servant class as much as it did their masters. What was known as the “pugs procession” was commonplace among servants. Instead of the chatty scenes between upper and lower servants on Downtown Abbey, most household were ruled by “silence.” All the servants would take their dinner together in the servants’ hall, but then the upper servants (the house steward, the butler, and the housekeeper) would move to a private sitting room for their dessert.

The order of the day involved being neither seen nor heard. It was not unusual for maids to turn and face the wall if she encountered her master or mistress in the passageways. The appearance of the rooms were the responsibility of the upper housemaids. They addressed the draperies, the floral arrangements, the chair covers, etc. The under housemaids did the physical duties of laying a fire, polishing, cleaning the grates, etc. In Letters from England, Elizabeth Davis Bancroft, the wife of the U.S. Minister to England (1846-49), wrote, “The division of labour, or rather ceremonies, between the butler and the footman I have now mastered, I believe in some degree, but that between the upper and under housemaid is still a profound mystery to me, though the upper has explained to me for the twentieth time that she did only ‘the top of the work.”


from "Jane Austen's World"

Richard Henry Dana, son of the author of Two Years Before the Mast, spoke of a similar demarcation of duties in his Hospitable England in the Seventies. Dana had been invited to spend some time with Earl Spencer at Althorp. He and Lord Charles Bruce wished to play some lawn tennis, but they could find no one to whitewash the court’s markings in the grass. It seems that the job belonged to the “man-of-all-work,” but the servant was no where to be found. Dana said, “Neither the gardener, nor the footmen, nor the valets, nor the bootblacks nor, of course, the maids would help. Our hostess knew this so well that she did not even ask them.”

Servants did receive certain “compensations” for their service. They had a roof over their heads and four full meals per day – breakfast, dinner, tea, and supper. If they were enterprising enough, they could also have the remains of the masters’ meals. They received either a pint of home brewed beer (half pint for women) with each meal or a beer money allowance, usually 8d per day. The upper servants often were provided with wine for their meals. Wages were paid quarterly. Except for clothing, servants had few expenses, and a wise servant could save enough for a nest egg, to start a small business, or assist his struggling family. Loyal servants received pensions of £20 to £25. Smart upper servants could “earn” extra funds from tradesmen seeking the master’s business. The cook, traditionally, claimed the roast’s drippings as her own. The butler and footmen laid claimed to the candle butts. A smart butler might siphon off some of the master’s wine stock, either a decanter at a time or a whole bottle.

In “Life Below Stairs” by Frank Huggett, there is a list of wages (1888) from the records of the Duke of Richmond and Gordon paid out to the duke’s servants for a year’s service:

the house steward £100

the groom of the chamber £70

the valet, the housekeeper, and the cook £60 each

the butler £45

the footmen £26 to £34

the ladies’ maids £26 to £28

the stillroom maid £22

the kitchen maids £14 to £24

the housemaids and laundry maids £12 to £26

the scullery maid £12

Servants also EXPECTED to receive a tip from the master’s guests. A guest would leave a half-sovereign for the housemaid in honor of the condition she maintained his quarters, a sovereign for the groom of the chambers for lighting the candles each evening, likewise a sovereign for the butler for his personal advice and favors and a footman who acted as valet to a gentleman traveling without his personal servant. A guest might also tip the gamekeeper, etc. etc., etc. The list could easily grow to a tidy sum. Even visitors making tours of great estates were expected to tip the housekeepers guiding their tours.

And Heaven help the guest who did not meet his obligations. Upon his next visit, he might be housed in a drafty chamber or find his cut of meat the least desirable ones.

For more on Life Below Stairs, please visit my blog

Part II - Snobbery and Rules of Engagement
http://reginajeffers.wordpress.com/2012/01/24/life-below-stairs-part-i/
Part III - The Role of Male Servants
http://reginajeffers.wordpress.com/2012/01/30/life-below-stairs-part-3-the-role-of-the-male-servants/
Part IV - The Work Never Ends
http://reginajeffers.wordpress.com/2012/01/31/life-below-stairs-part-4-the-work-never-ends/

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The Dissapearance of Georgiana Darcy
A Pride and Prejudice Mystery
By Regina Jeffers
(Released April 10, 2012)
A thrilling novel of malicious villains, dramatic revelations, and heroic gestures that stays true to Austen’s style

Darcy and Elizabeth have faced many challenges, but none as dire as the disappearance of Darcy’s beloved sister, Georgiana. After leaving for the family home in Scotland to be reunited with her new husband, Edward, she has disappeared without a trace. Upon receiving official word that Georgiana is presumed dead, Darcy and Elizabeth travel to the infamous Merrick Moor to launch a search for his sister in the unfamiliar and menacing Scottish countryside. Suspects abound, from the dastardly Wickham to the mysterious MacBethan family. Darcy has always protected his little sister, but how can he keep her safe from the most sinister threat she has ever faced when he doesn’t even know if she’s alive? Written in the language of the Regency era and including Austen’s romantic entanglements and sardonic humor, this suspense-packed sequel to Pride and Prejudice recasts Darcy and Elizabeth as a husband-and-wife detective team hunting for truth amid the dark moors of Scotland.

Eccentric Aristocrats

by Regina Jeffers

When we think of the aristocracy, we assume a life immersed in riches and leisure. We rarely think of how such decadence could be skewed. Meet some of those whose "quirks" set them apart from their peers.

William Thomas Beckford (1 October 1760 – 2 May 1844), was an English novelist, a profligate and consummately knowledgeable art collector and patron of works of decorative art, a critic, travel writer and sometimes politcian, reputed to be the richest commoner in England. He was Member of Parliament for Wells from 1784 to 1790, for Hindon from 1790 to 1795 and 1806 to 1820. He is remembered as the author of the Gothic novel Vathek, the builder of the remarkable lost Fonthill Abbey and Landsdown Tower ("Beckford's Tower"), Bath, and especially for his art collection.

On 5 May 1783 he married Lady Margaret Gordon, daughter of the fourth Earl of Aboyne. However, Beckford was bisexual, and was hounded out of polite English society when his letters to the Hon. William Courtenay, later 9th Earl of Devon, were intercepted by the boy's uncle, who advertised the affair in the newspapers. Beckford chose exile in the company of his wife, whom he grew to love deeply, but who died in childbirth at the age of 24. He had an affair with his cousin Peter's wife Louisa Pitt (c.1755-1791).

At Fonthill Abbey, Beckford refused the use of servants’ bells in the rooms, except the one his daughter, the Duchess of Hamilton, used. Instead, his servants were made to crouch in low, narrow ante-rooms so that they could respond immediately to his command. When traveling, he took his French cook with him to prepare his omelettes, as well as transporting his bed for a good night’s sleep. Although Beckford rarely entertained, he often order an elaborate dinner set for twelve. However, Beckford would dine in solitude, eating only one course and sending back the rest.

William Lamb, 2nd Viscount Melbourne, (15 March 1779 – 24 November 1848) was a British Whig statesman who served as Home Secretary (1830–1834) and Prime Minister (1834 and 1835–1841). He is best known for his intense and successful mentoring of Queen Victoria, at ages 18–21, in the ways of politics. Historians conclude that Melbourne does not rank high as a prime minister, for there were no great foreign wars or domestic issues to handle, he lacked major achievements and enunciated no grand principles. "But he was kind, honest, and not self-seeking." Melbourne held a great dislike for carrying a watch, but with his position, he must be on time for appointments and other matters of business. Therefore, he would shout out to his servants for the time.

Adeline Louisa Maria, Countess of Cardigan and Lancastre (24 December 1824 - 25 May 1915) was the second wife of English peer James Brudenell, 7th Earl of Cardigan, who led the Charge of the Light Brigade, and later the wife of the Portuguese nobleman Don António Manuel de Saldanha e Lancastre, Conde de Lancastre. She was the author of scandalous memoirs, My Recollections, published in 1909 under the name Adeline Louisa Maria de Horsey Cardigan and Lancastre, though strictly speaking she was not allowed by the rules governing the British peerage to join her former and current titles together. Her book detailed events and people coupled with gossip concerning the establishment of Victorian England. After her marriage to the Earl of Cardigan in 1858, Queen Victoria had refused to have her at court because Cardigan had left his first wife after wooing her away from her husband, Lt. Col. Christian Johnstone, a childhood friend. Adeline liked to “dress” for dinner: she would often appear as a nun or a Spanish dancer. In her final years, she kept her coffin in the hallway. Several times per day, she ordered her butler to lift her into the box to assure herself that she fit.

Henry Cavendish (10 October 1731–24 February 1810) was a British scientist noted for his discovery of hydrogen or what he called "inflammable air.” Cavendish lived the life of a recluse. He would communicate with his housekeeper by scribbling messages that he left on a table outside his bedroom. He was also known to dismiss any female servant to cross his path during the day. The female servants were to be neither SEEN nor HEARD.

George William Francis Sackville Russell, 10th Duke of Bedford (16 April 1852 – 23 March 1893) was a Liberal member of Parliament for Bedfordshire between 1875 and 1885, when the constituency was abolished. He was High Sheriff of Bedfordshire in 1889. In 1891, Russell inherited the title of Duke of Bedford, together with Woburn Abbey and several other estates, which went with it. Like Cavendish, Bedford was something of a recluse. He would dismiss any female servant he encountered after noon, when her work must be completed.

Francis Henry Egerton, 8th Earl of Bridgewater (11 November 1756–11 February 1829), known as Francis Egerton until 1823, was a noted British eccentric, and supporter of natural theology. Egerton was known for giving dinner parties for dogs, where the dogs were dressed in the finest fashions of the day, down to fancy miniature shoes. Each day Egerton wore a new pair of shoes, and he arranged the worn shoes into rows, so that he could measure the passing time. An animal lover, Egerton kept partridges and pigeons with clipped wings in his garden, allowing him to shoot them despite failing eyesight. Egerton never married, and upon his death, his title became extinct.

William John Cavendish Cavendish-Scott-Bentinck, 5th Duke of Portland (12 September 1800 – 6 December 1879), styled Lord William Cavendish-Scott-Bentinck before 1824 and Marquess of Titchfield between 1824 and 1854, was a British aristocrat eccentric who preferred to live in seclusion. He had an underground maze excavated under his estate at Welbeck Abbey near Clumber Park in North Nottinghamshire.

Welbeck Abbey contains none of the normal show of grandeur. The rooms were stripped of portraits and tapestries. The rooms were painted pink and touted bare parquetry floors, with no furniture other than a commode. The Duke lived in 5 rooms in the west wing. They, too, were sparsely furnished. The 22 acres’ kitchen gardens had braziers within the walls to help ripen the fruit. A riding house (396 feet x 108 feet x 50 feet) was lit by 4000 gas jets. The Duke’s stables contained 100 horses, but he never rode them in the riding house. One can also find a roller skating rink.

Underground, one finds a series of tunnels and usable rooms. Totaling 15 miles, the tunnels connected the underground rooms to those above ground level. There was a 1000 yards tunnel that connected the house to the riding house. These were not narrow crawl-through structures. Instead, a person could stand upright within them. One tunnel, 1.25 miles long, ran northeast from the coach house to South Lodge. Reportedly, within, carriages going in opposite directions could pass each other safely. Domed skylights and gaslights illuminated the tunnel.

Like those above ground, those underground chambers were painted pink. A great hall, which served as a chapel, a portrait gallery, and occasionally as a ballroom, was 160 feet long and 63 feet wide. Reportedly, the ballroom was equipped with a hydraulic lift that could carry 20 guests from the surface to the ballroom. The ceiling was painted to represent a setting sun. One could also find a 250-foot long library, an observatory with a large glass roof, and a vast billiards room.

Giveaway: A Touch of Velvet by Regina Jeffers

Regina Jeffers is giving away a copy of A Touch of Velvet. You can read about the book HERE. Then return to this post as prompted and enter by commenting below. Please be sure to leave contact information!

The Border Reivers

by Regina Jeffers
The political struggle that has dominated much of England/Scotland's history was often a result of the border wars. In Elizabethan times the Anglo-Scottish border counties, especially Northumberland, were the home of lawless clans who spent their lives raiding and marauding. The Border Reivers were not necessarily men of lower class. In fact, many were members of the Realm. They were excellent fighters and knew how to survive in a desolate land.

From BBC Home, we find that "Reiv - means to steal. The Reiver period is roughly categorised as 1450 - 1610. The movement came to its height in the late 1500's and ended around 1610. The Reiver history is a mixture of fact and folklore. The English crown destroyed almost all of the documentation relating to Reiver life and so the Reiver's story has passed down through oral history and folk traditions, rather than formal documentation. As a result, it is hard to untangle the mythological from the material when describing the Reiver movement."

Following the Cheviot Hills, a bleak line of ridges and valleys that forms the border between England and Scotland, was the land upon which much blood was shed. Hadrian's Wall, built by the Romans from Solway Firth to Berwick, never successfully kept either nation apart. The Chevoits sport peat bogs, broad rivers, hidden valley, salt marshes, and wooded areas. Raiding was an important way of life for those who lived on the borders. Neither treaties nor truces could prevent the continual struggle to survive in this desolate area. The purveyor of the strongest sword ruled the land.

The Borders were not the romantic lands often portrayed in many current novels. It was a cruel, brutal land. The times were peppered with feuds between families. Clan loyalties were stronger than allegiance to either crown. Intermarriages brought about new alliances, but what really tied the area together was the geography, the belief in independence, and the society in which this people lived. English fought Scots, but they also fought Englishmen. The same held true for the Scotsmen. This created a dual nationality among men who lived along the Cheviot Hills. Not spoken of openly, it would not be unusual for the English to share "the spoils" with their Scottish brothers, or vice versa.

Autumn brought an increase in activity for the reivers. These families were often nomads, of sorts. The houses were of the type that they could be moved at a moment's notice. We must remember that these people were violent, aggressive, and often ruthless, but they had a "sense of honor." They consider reiving a way of life, but murder was looked down upon (even during a raid) unless there was no other option. A reiver's object was to make a quick strike, plunder his enemy's land, and return with his loot in tact - all this without loss of life, if possible.

Using a series of beacons as warning signals, the retreat was the most risky part of a reiver's foray. If he managed to avoid the local watches, the warden's troopers, the paid militia, the broad rivers and mossy bogs, he might fall victim to the Hot Trod, the legal pursuit of the reivers, who were loaded down from their loot and by driving stolen cattle and sheep to their own keeps. During the Hot Trod, all male neighbors, between the ages of 16 and 60 of the victim, were required by law to join in the pursuit of the attackers. The posse also had the legal right to recruit others along the way. If a person refused to aid in the pursuit, he could be considered a traitor and put to death.

David Simpson of The Roots of the Region website (http://www.englandsnortheast.co.uk/BorderReivers.html ) says, "George M Trevelyan the great British historian, (a Northumbrian) superbly summed up the nature of the Border Reivers and their ballads when he wrote;

'They were cruel,coarse savages, slaying each other like the beasts of the forest; and yet they were also poets who could express in the grand style the inexorable fate of the individual man and woman, the infinite pity for all cruel things which they none the less inflicted upon one another. It was not one ballad- maker alone but the whole cut throat population who felt this magnanimous sorrow, and the consoling charms of the highest poetry.' Many of the Border Ballads still survive today, due to the avid collecting of the famous Border poet, Sir Walter Scott (1771-1832), himself the descendant of a famous border clan."

Border Clans included the Armstrongs, Bells, Cecils, Croziers, Dodds, Douglases, Elliotts, Fenwicks, Forsters, Grahams, Homes, Howards, Irvines, Johnstones, Kerrs, Maxwells, Nixons, Robsons, Scotts, Storeys, and Taits.

A superb source that summarizes and explains many of the key issues of the Border Wars is The Border Reivers http://www.nwlink.com/~scotlass/border.htm#THE%20LAND

The remnants of the reiver huts that were used as part of the "escape routes" became part of my upcoming novel, The Disappearance of Georgiana Darcy, which is due for release in March 2012. In researching these border wars for this novel, I have become quite enthralled with the story lines.

Scotland's Nostradamus: The Brahan Seer

The Brahan Seer, Kenneth Mackenzie (or Coinneach Odhar), is Scotland’s most famous prophet. Often referred to as the Scottish Nostradamus, Mackenzie lived in the 17^th Century. Most experts believe that he was born on the Isle of Lewis (at Baile-na-Cille in the Parish of Uig), and that he later worked as a laborer on the Earl of Seaforth’s Brahan estate near Fortrose. Mackenzie is reported to have possessed the “Sight.” He could predict futuristic events. Amazingly, many of those predictions have come true and with a high degree of accuracy.

 

What were some of the Brahan Seer’s predictions?

The seer predicted the joining of the lochs in the Great Glen. The Caledonia Canal was built in the 19^th Century.

 

He reportedly foretold of The Battle of Culloden in 1745. “Oh, Drumossie, thy bleak moor shall, ere many generations have passed away, be stained with the best blood of the Highlands. Glad am I that I will not see the day, for it will be a fearful period: heads will be lopped off by the score, and no mercy shall be shown or quarter given on either side.”

 

He spoke of “streams of fire and water” running beneath the streets of Inverness and into every home. In the 19^th Century, gas and water pipes fulfilled this prediction.

 

The Seer told of a time when Scotland would once again have its own Parliament. He foretold of this occurring when men could walk dry shod from England to France. In 1994, the Channel Tunnel opened. A few years later, the first Scottish Parliament since 1707 took its seats.

 

Mackenzie said, “There is a day coming when the jaw-bone of the big sheep will put the plough into the rafters and no man will drive cattle through Kintail. The sheep will become so numerous that the bleating of one shall be heard by another from Lochalsh to Kintail. You will not see it, but your children’s children will see it when they are forced to flee before the march of the great white army.” During what is known as the “Highland Clearances,” families were driven from the land, and it was given over to grazing sheep.

 

“A village with four churches will get another spire, and a ship will come from the sky and moor at it.” In 1932, this incident proved correct when an airship was lashed to the spire of a new church after an emergency landing.”

 

The most impressive of the Seer’s predictions was the elimination of the Seaforth clan. Reportedly, the Countess Seaforth had requested Mackenzie’s “visions” in regards to her husband, who was away in Paris. She ordered Mackenzie on threat of death to tell her what he had seen. Unfortunately, Mackenzie had envisioned the Earl with another woman. He also foretold of the eventual end of the Seaforth line, with the last of the present earl’s ancestors to be deaf and dumb. As predicted, having had a case of scarlet fever as a child, Francis Humberston Mackenzie, the last of the family was deaf and dumb. Francis had inherited the title in 1783. All four of Francis’s male children died prematurely, and the line ended with his death in 1815. For his trouble, the Seer was tried for witchcraft, found guilty, and burned in a tar barrel.

 

To compound the tale, another part of the prediction for the Seaforth line was that “His possessions shall be inherited by the white-coifed woman from the east, and she will kill her own sister.” When the male line of the Mackenzies died away, Mary, the eldest daughter and widow of Admiral Hood, returned from India, where she had been living. She wore the traditional Indian white mourning hood in honor of her husband. One day, Mary and her sister, Lady Caroline, were riding together in a carriage driven by Mary. The ponies bolted, and Mary could not control the coach. Caroline was thrown from the carriage and died from her injuries.

 

A stone by the lighthouse at Chanonry Point, near Fortrose, supposedly marks the place where the Brahan Seer died. The inscription reads, “This stone commemorates the legend of Coinneach Odhar, better known as the BRAHAN SEER. Many of his prophecies were fulfilled, and tradition holds that his untimely death by burning in tar followed his final prophecy of the doom of the House of Seaforth.”

 

No one knows the truth for certain. However, the legend of the Brahan Seer remains. A Celtic stone, known as the Eagle Stone, stands in Strathpeffer, Ross-shire. Reportedly, the Seer predicted that if the stone fell down three times, that Loch Ussie would flood the valley below so that ships could sail to Strathpeffer. The stone has tumbled twice. Today, it sets in concrete to prevent a third fall.

Regina Jeffers is the author of several Jane Austen-inspired works, including Darcy's Passions, Darcy's Temptation, Captain Wentworth's Persuasion, Vampire Darcy's Desire, The Phantom of Pemberley, Christmas at Pemberley, and the upcoming The Disappearance of Georgiana Darcy. She also writes Regency era romances: The Scandal of Lady Eleanor, A Touch of Velvet, A Touch of Cashémere, and The First Wives' Club.  Her latest release, Christmas at Pemberley, is in stores now. 

Her Parents' Pawn

by Regina Jeffers

When the King George III's physicians declared him quite mad in 1811, his son, George IV, became the Prince Regent until his father's death. To everyone's surprise, "Prinny" kept the Tory government in power. Incensed, the Whigs cultivated a rival court around George IV's estranged wife, Princess Caroline of Brunswick. Already a pawn in her parents' very public feud, their daughter Princess Charlotte feeling the pangs of desertion at the hands of both her parents began to assert her will. 

Despite scandalous rumors regarding Princess Caroline, she remained more popular than the Regent. Yet, this did not deter George IV, who searched for a way to rid himself of his wife, to curtail his efforts.

Princess Charlotte's visits to her mother brought Charlotte face-to-face with William Austin. Williken, as he was called, was reportedly Princess Caroline's adopted child, but many believe Austin to be the future Queen Consort's illegitimate child. At the time, Caroline was known to fraternize with the painter Thomas Lawrence and with George Canning, a prominent politician. Caroline even claimed that George III had taken liberties with her. Charlotte feared that if her father passed away that her mother would permit William Austin to jump her in the line of succession. Later, the Prince Regent used his daughter's fears to his benefit.

Prinny sent Charlotte to Windsor rather than to permit his 15-year-old daughter to attend his Regency celebration. The young princess spitefully entertained herself with a flirtation with a Hussar captain, Charles Hesse, who was reportedly the illegitimate son of the Duke of York. Princess Caroline allowed Charlotte's assignations to occur under her roof. Charlotte later confessed to her father that Princess Caroline had locked her daughter and Hesse in Caroline's chamber with orders to "amuse" themselves.

During that Christmas Day 1814 confession, Charlotte told her father that Princess Caroline saw to Charlotte's continued correspondence with Hesse until Charlotte's friend Mercer Elphinstone advised Charlotte to end the liaison. Charlotte feared Hesse might blackmail her with her foolish letters of love. Charlotte even insinuated that Hesse was likely her mother's lover, as well. Captain Hesse had joined Princess Caroline as an equerry.

SPOILER ALERT!! So what does all this have to do with my November 8 release of Christmas at Pemberley? Notice that the previous paragraph mentions Christmas Day 1814. Yes, believe it or not, I incorporated Princess Charlotte's liaison with Hesse into my Christmas tale. How, one might ask, does a writer mix political intrigue with an inspirational romance, a Regency-themed tale, and a continuation of Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice? Not an easy task, but one I hope you will enjoy reading.

If you would like to read an excerpt from Christmas at Pemberley (or from any of my other novels) please join me at www.rjeffers.com.

Summary of Christmas at Pemberley:
I set the story two years into the Darcys’ marriage. Elizabeth has been plagued by several miscarriages, and she is haunted with the idea that the “shades of Pemberley had been thus polluted” by her inability to give Darcy an heir. She is struggling with whether she is worthy of his devotion. Encouraged by her physician to bring some joy into his wife’s life, Darcy has invited the Bennets and the Bingleys to spend Christmastide at Pemberley. To that effect, to allow time for his guests’ arrival, Darcy has taken Elizabeth with him on a business trip Upon their return to Pemberley, the Darcys are, unfortunately, unable to outmaneuver a blizzard, and Darcy and Elizabeth are stranded at a small inn, along with a young couple, whose name ironically is Joseph and whose first child is likely to be born during the night.

Meanwhile, Georgiana tries desperately to manage the chaos surrounding her brother’s six invited guests (Mr. and Mrs. Bennet, Kitty, Mary, Jane, and Bingley) and the eleven unscheduled arrivals, including Mary Bennet’s betrothed Mr. Grange (who Mrs. Bennet invited without asking the Darcys), Lady Catherine (who has not been at Pemberley since that infamous argument with Elizabeth and whose sudden presence will only confirm Elizabeth’s feeling of inadequacy), Anne De Bourgh (who can no longer be her mother’s pawn), Mrs. Jenkinson (who staunchly guards against Anne’s heart being broken), Mr. and Mrs. Collins (who Lady Catherine invited without anyone’s knowledge), Caroline Bingley (who decided to spend the holidays with the Bingleys rather than the Hursts), Mr. Winkler (the local minister who, during the storm, escorts the Collinses to Pemberley, but who is really there to woo Kitty Bennet), Colonel Fitzwilliam (who has returned from the American front), his aide-de-camp, Lieutenant Southland (whose cousin once held the living at Rosings Park and who is “fascinated” with the De Bourgh family), and an American, Beaufort Manneville (who the colonel has been ordered to escort to London, but of whom he is suspicious).

With a mix of eclectic characters all residing under one roof, it is not surprising that bitter feuds, old jealousies, and intimate secrets quickly rise to the surface. Has Lady Catherine returned to Pemberley for forgiveness or revenge? Will the manipulative Caroline Bingley find a soul mate? Shall Kitty Bennet and Georgiana Darcy know happiness? And what does all the disorder have to do with the Prince Regent? Yes, I even work our favorite indulgent monarch into the story line. Despite the bedlam, for all involved, a reminder of the love, the family spirit, and the generosity, which remain at the heart of Christmas, prevails.

Regina Jeffers is the author of several Jane-Austen inspired novels: Darcy's Passions, Darcy's Temptation, Vampire Darcy's Desire, The Phantom of Pemberley, Captain Wentworth's Persuasion, Christmas at Pemberley, and the upcoming The Disappearance of Georgiana Darcy. She also writes Regency era romances, including The Scandal of Lady Eleanor, A Touch of Velvet, A Touch of Cashémere, and The First Wives' Club.

Northanger Horrid Novels

thoughts from Regina Jeffers…

The Northanger Horrid Novels were seven early Gothic examples of fiction. These books were among the many published by Minerva Press in the late 1700s and early 1800s. William Lane established Minerva Press at No. 33 Leadenhall Street, London, when he moved his circulating library there in 1790. The seven books, which comprise the Northanger Horrid Novels, were once thought to be creations of Jane Austen’s imagination, but research in the early 1900s by Michael Sadleir and Montague Summers proved that the stories did exist. In Northanger Abbey, Isabella Thorpe tells Catherine Morland …

“Dear creature! How much I am obliged to you; and when you have finished Udolpho, we will readThe Italian together; and I have made out a list of ten or twelve more of the same kind for you.”

“Have you, indeed! How glad I am! – What are they all?”

“I will read you their names directly; here they are, in my pocket-book. Castle of Wolfenbach, Clermont, Mysterious Warnings, Necromancer of the Black Forest, Midnight Bell, Orphan of the Rhine, and Horrid Mysteries. Those will last us some time.”

“Yes, pretty well; but are they all horrid, are you sure they are all horrid?”

“Yes, quite sure; for a particular friend of mine, a Miss Andrews, a sweet girl, one of the sweetest creatures in the world, has read every one of them.”

Some years back, Valancourt Books began a project to bring these titles and many others from around the world to the reading public. Along with those found on Valancourt, most of the titles are available from online book sources. Some are even available in their entirety at internet reading sites. So, what are the stories in each of these books? And would Jane Austen have read them?

The Castle of Wolfenbach (1793) by Eliza Parsons 

A lecherous and incestuous uncle forces Matilda Weimar to flee her home and to seek refuge in the ancient Castle of Wolfenbach. Horrifying mysteries also dwell in the castle, including that of the missing Countess of Wolfenbach. Matilda must unravel the clues before her uncle tracks her down and takes her away with him. 

The Mysterious Warning (1796) by Eliza Parsons 

When the much revered Count Renaud dies, his degenerate heir, Rhodophil, assumes his father’s title. The count has disowned his son Ferdinand, who has married without his father’s permission. Rhodophil swears he will share his riches with Ferdinand and the younger brother’s wife, Claudina, but a “mysterious warning” from the grave sends Ferdinand fleeing for his life. To make matters worse, Claudina has aligned herself with Rhodophil. Ferdinand’s quest for his own fortune and adventure brings him to the doorstep of a recluse, who has a horrible secret. Later, he becomes imprisoned by the Turkish army and then encounters one of Gothic literature’s most depraved female characters, Fatima. If he survives all his meanderings, Ferdinand must then return to Renaud Castle to uncover the ghostly truth about his wife and his brother.

Clermont (1798) by Regina Maria Roche

Madeline lives in seclusion with her father Clermont, who holds a mysterious past. That seclusion is interrupted by one of Clermont’s former friends, a Countess. Madeline is allowed to reside with the Countess, with whom she will receive an education. However, the Countess is attacked by unknown assailants, and Madeline is assaulted in a ghostly crypt. Compounding their problems, a sinister stranger appears to claim Madeline as his bride. The stranger knows Clermont’s secret and threatens to ruin Madeline’s father. Madeline must avoid her pursuers, solve the mystery of her father’s past, and win the love of De Sevignie.

The Orphan of the Rhine (1798) by Eleanor Sleath 

Sleath is very much an Ann Radcliffe wannabe, and she models many of her pieces on Radcliffe’s works, using several of Radcliffe’s signature plot devices: mysterious monks, ruined towers, assumed names for the characters, last-minute rescues, and death-bed scenes. In this novel, Julie de Rubine discovers that her marriage to the Marchese de Montferrat is a sham. Unfortunately, this news is not delivered until after Julie gives birth. Julie takes her child and an orphan by the name of Laurette to live in a half-ruined castle on the Rhine. She remains there under the Marchese’s threats until Laurette becomes old enough to “stir the passion” of other key characters. Then things get very interesting!

The Necromancer; or, The Tale of the Black Forest (1794) by Karl Friedrich Kahlert

This book is a series of interconnected stories, each of which deals with the enigmatic character Volkert the Necromancer. This is a very strange novel. It is filled with murder, dark magic, and plenty of ghosts. The plot takes too many twists and turns to describe in so short of a space, but for the true Gothic fan, it is a must.

The Midnight Bell: A German Story, Founded on Incidents in Real Life (1798) by Francis Lathom

Alphonsus Cohenburg finds his mother covered in blood. She tells him that his uncle has murdered Alphonsus’s father, and he must flee for his life. He is never to return to Cohenburg castle. Alphonsus’s adventures include being a soldier, a miner, and a church sacristan. He meets and weds Lauretta, but she is kidnapped by a group of ruffians. Alphonsus must solve the mystery of his wife’s disappearance and the question of his mother’s strange pronouncement. Add to those dilemmas the news of ghosts haunting his family’s castle and the sound of great bell each night at midnight, and one has a complete Gothic delight.'

The Horrid Mysteries: A Story from the German of the Marquis of Grosse (a translation of the German Gothic novel Der Genius) (1796) by Carl Grosse

The Marquis of Grosse is a member of “a secret revolutionary society, which advocates murder and mayhem in pursuit of an early form of communism. He creates a rival society to combat them and finds himself hopelessly trapped between the two antagonistic forces. The book has been both praised and lambasted for its lurid portrayal of sex, violence, and barbarism.”