1853: Enclosures & Chobham Park
“Enclosures” – a word embedded with thoughts of public access vs private ownership; “the people” vs “the wealthy”; court cases and even Jane Austen novels come into play.
But to see a recent blog post about Chobham Park and a case that Denis Le Marchant was embroiled in was QUITE the thrill!
I’ve a few letters commenting on Denis and Eliza (Emma Austen’s younger sister) searching for a country estate. I’ve never put my finger on Chobham, as it exists today. Alas, it exists, but in a much transformed house from what Denis & Eliza knew. It also has a NEW name: Wentworth Place! (Who knew?)
Enjoyable Reads: Journal of a Georgian Gentleman
This won’t be a book review, per se, but a “CROW” about a book I recently enjoyed reading. (I’ll hope to ADD to this “Enjoyable Reads” category in the future.)
I bought The Journal of a Georgian Gentleman back in 2012; it was fairly new to the market at the time. I certainly _remember_ reading it, but feel that this recent read brought a new respect for Mike Rendell’s laying out of his ancestor’s life. Little asides, detailing “facts” of Georgian life, were speedily and deftly presented. They felt part of the story, so that taken as a whole, the book not only presents the life of Richard Hall, but presents English LIFE, as lived then.
Profusely illustrated. Mike is lucky to have a wealth of materials from Richard Hall; we readers are lucky that he shared.
Does not so much present the diary of the man, but the every-day experiences of Richard Hall and his family. Be it travel, finances, business, marriage – there is a lot that readers will learn about – and enjoy while reading – when picking up a copy of The Journal of a Georgian Gentleman: The Life and Times of Richard Hall, 1729-1801 by Mike Rendell.
eBay: Gertrude Savile diaries
Vicky alerted about the Kingsbridge (Devon) Oxfam‘s eBay auction of a copy of Secret Comment: The Diaries of Gertrude Savile, 1721-1757.
(NB: see eBay ad for pictures of actual copy up for sale; this is not theirs)
I am a BIG fan of this book – who doesn’t love a book over a Twitter feed; and Amanda Vickery’s short section of Gertrude Savile does the diarist such disservice! Anyone reading this book, Gertrude’s diaries, will know there is so much more to Gertrude Savile than a reputation as a mere constant complainer.
Starting “today” (19 May 2017), you’ve 8 days to bid — and remember, profits go to OXFAM, a very worthy charity.
An Extraordinary Ordinary Woman
More than a decade ago I worked on a typescript of a diary; this now has been turned into a book by the Saint Michael’s College (History Department) professor I used to work with, Dr. Susan Ouellette.
An Extraordinary Ordinary Woman: The Journal of Phebe Orvis, 1820-1830 tells – in her own words – the story of Phebe Orvis, born in Vermont and educated in Middlebury; her marriage to Samuel Eastman settled them in Upstate New York. So, geographically, the diary is much involved with the area near where I live.
Thanks SUNY for providing a review copy – it arrived in yesterday’s mail! So keep on eye out for my review.
It’s a HUGE book (10 x 7 format; 380 pages). Includes a half-dozen essays, that extract and expound on information from the diary; and then the entire journal transcription is presented.
I include the Table of Contents:
Introduction
Part I. “The sweet, single life”
1. “A delightful prospect of my Nativity”
2. “I conclude there are some strange intentions”
3. “rendered . . . more ignorant than others”
Part II. “New modes of living among strangers”
4. “perhaps the partner of his joys”
5. “Retired, much fatigued”
6. “He cumbers the ground no more”
Conclusion. “beneath the spreading Oak and Hickory”
The Journal
Maps
Acknowledgments
Notes
Bibliography
Index
The Real Persuasion
Spent a little time in the local Barnes & Noble yesterday. Found two books that were of GREAT interest due to their topics (both were biographies of British women); but both became “maybe I’ll find them in the library?” after reading reviews. One – and I must confess, the one I thought most likely to be purchased – exhibits such an annoying writing style, that I rather prefer to revert to an old biography instead. Or, the lady’s letters. Both subjects were QUITE known for the high caliber of their writing….
But it was in looking up customer reviews that I found the soon-to-be released (July in the UK; November in the US) Amberley publication that should hold its interest: The Real Persuasion: An Intimate Portrait of a Real-Life Austen Heroine, by Peter James Bowman.
I’m less intrigued by parallels with Austen’s Anne Elliot of Kellynch Hall that Bowman promises to tease out, than with learning more about his diarist and letter writer Katherine Bisshopp. Thank goodness for the unusual spelling… I think I found some of his source material, thanks to The Diary Junction. According to this, born in 1791, Katherine’s diaries run from 1808 until 1834.
Even MORE intriguing now that I see her married name. Lady Pechell, Katherine’s future mother-in-law, actually turns up in diaries _I_ have access to. As do many other Pechells, including Capt and Mrs. Pechell.
And EVEN MORE intriguing once I look at a Pechell family genealogy published in the 1840s: there is a connection to Berkhamstead (which comes into play for the Two Teens in the Time of Austen with Sir John Culme-Seymour); a connection to the Smiths of Ashlyns Hall (Tring Park neighbors of Mamma Smith, Emma & Edward Austen); and a connection to the Thoyts of Sulhamstead House (the very estate that comes into the Wilder family).
I couldn’t get much closer to home, if I tried.
So what is The Real Persuasion about?
According to the Amberley website, “Her father is a vain, foolish baronet, obsessed with his lineage but forced to quit his ancestral seat as a result of his own improvidence. Her sister is a fretful invalid with a good-natured husband and two disobedient sons. She herself falls in love with a handsome naval officer, and he with her, but his income and prospects are judged inadequate by her proud family. Heartbroken, the lovers part: he goes to sea while she leads a forlorn life at home. Years later he returns, having made a fortune in prize money, and after further misunderstandings he claims as his bride the woman he has never ceased to love“.
What intrigues me, though:
“Using the sisters’ letters and journals, as well as other family correspondence, Peter James Bowman paints an intimate picture of life in a Regency family, and looks at the remarkable parallels between the true story of the Bisshopps and the fictional narrative of Jane Austen’s final novel. Whether their subject is daily life at the Bisshopps’ family seat of Parham; the social round in London, Brighton and elsewhere; or Katherine’s eleven-year courtship with George Pechell, the writers of these hitherto unpublished documents are brought to life through their own unaffected language, charmingly evocative of its time, and the author’s engaging insight into life in Jane Austen’s“.
Weighing in at 336 pages, Bowman has pages enough to expound upon, and hopefully expends more time on, the fascinating Bisshopps and Pechells, than on finding parallels to Austen’s novel, Persuasion. After all, Austen died in 1817 and the Pechells didn’t marry until 1826. As mentioned with the Hicks-Beach diary, “few will have heard of … but attach the name ‘Jane Austen’….” We shall see, once the book is released. For now, at least, I’m eagerly awaiting its release.
In the meanwhile, readers can dip into Bowman’s earlier biography, The Fortune Hunter: A German Prince in Regency England – which tells the story of Prince Pückler-Muskau, who wrote of the Ladies of Llangollen as “The two most celebrated virgins in Europe”.
Two Teens in the Time of Austen 