Author: Kristine Hughes

The Source of Madness in Alice in Wonderland

We all know and love Lewis Carroll’s Alice in Wonderland and the audacious characters therein, like the Queen of Hearts and the Mad Hatter. But with the release of the latest film version of the tale comes a discussion on just how the Mad Hatter got his name – even Johnny Depp chimes in on the speculation. Was the name really meant to be the “Mad Adder?” Or did the Hatter’s madness have to do with mercury poisoning, a pitfall of the trade in the 19th century? You can read the full article here.

A Warm Welcome

If you’ve arrived at this page, you must share our interest in all things Georgian, Regency and Victorian, as well as our passion for the England of today.

Having written The Writer’s Guide to Everyday Life in Regency and Victorian England, Kristine Hughes has spent the last several years researching her next book, a true opus that will focus on fashionable daily life as experienced by the ladies of London 1700 – 1900.  Victoria Hinshaw has published eight Regency-set novels and three novellas with Kensington Zebra. She is working on several more projects associated with the Georgian era but she admits to a real delight in the Victorian period, since it is hers. Whatever motivated her parents to choose the name Victoria, she has always believed that there exsists a mystical tie between the Great Queen and her.

Victoria and Kristine originally named this blog Research England, for that is their vocation and avocation. But they are not deeply academic, and their mischevious senses of humor crept into their posts. So they decided to start over as Number One London (found at onelondonone.blogspot.com). They promise lots of research oriented material, considerable travel  reporting, and amusing incidents, all accompanied by occasional asides, nonsense and bon mots.

Kristine has been planning to attend the re-enactment of the Battle of Waterloo near Brussels for some years now. The 2010 event has always been her goal and the year has finally arrived – Huzza! The trip will be even more wonderful now that Victoria Hinshaw will be joining her and they’ll be spending several days in London before taking the Dover ferry to Calais. Oh, how they wish they weren’t many decades too late to call upon poor Mr. Brummell while they’re in France! Look for blogs and details about their upcoming adventures both before, during and after the magical days of June 2010.

Victoria and Kristine look forward to making your aquaintance. Please visit often!

Writer In Residence Wanted – Hurry – Free Rent in England!

Are you a female writer over 40? If so, you could be living in a period cottage near Stratford-upon-Avon – though not the one pictured – that’s Anne Hathaway’s – with all expenses paid for anywhere from two months to a year and an annual stipend of nine thousand pounds. The Hosking Houses Trust has been calling for applicants for the 2010-11 award, but so far only two ladies have applied! What’s the catch? Well, you’ll need to have “a contract for publication or performance of original work on any subject” and “the legal right to be in the U.K.” The cottage is in Clifford Chambers, three miles from Stratford-upon-Avon and Hidcote Gardens, Chipping Campden and Warwick Castle are all within easy reach. Applications will be accepted until April 12. Visit the Hosking Houses Trust for full details and do let us know if you’re the writer they accept!

Author Victoria Hinshaw's Passion for Stately Homes

I am delighted to share some of my research at Number One London. Here’s a little info about me and how my research interests developed.
I grew up near Chicago and spent my summers at Lake Geneva, Wisconsin, a sparkling glacial lake just north of the Illinois border. Many of the properties along the 27-mile shoreline were great mansions built by Chicago millionaires (back when a million meant something!) as their summer homes in the mid-19th century. How I fantasized about life in those huge houses. I imagined myself as the heiress daughter, beautiful beyond belief, who was destined to marry a prince. May I point out that I blame my father for giving me royal illusions by choosing the name Victoria?
My mother told me her first visit to Lake Geneva was as a child in the 1920’s when she and her family visited an aunt, the Swedish cook at one of the great houses. Even the downstairs servants were allowed to invite their families from time to time. But I identified more with upstairs residents, of course. Wishful thinking. This photo of Stone Manor on Geneva Lake, WI, is used by the courtesy of Mark Czerniec. Thanks, Mark.
Geneva Lake is ringed with the great mansions of
Chicago titans like the Wrigleys and the Schwinns.
This one, known both as Younglands and as Stone Manor, was built by Otto Young, developer of the long gone State Street landmark, The Fair Store, as well a real estate mogul and financier. Young was born in Germany in 1844 and died at Lake Geneva in 1906. He had been treasurer of the board of the  World’s Columbian Exposition in 1893 in Chicago.
If you visit Geneva Lake, you may want to schedule a tour of Black Point, shown at left.
The home has been open to the public for a few years, with acess only by the cruise boats of Gage Marine.  I used to come here as a teenager when Uncle Ernie Schmidt entertained the young sailors on the lake. The house was built in 1888 by Chicago beer baron Conrad Seipp, one of Uncle Ernie’s relatives.
Ever since childhood, I have had a great interest in the homes of the wealthy, be it in Newport, NYC, Florida, or anywhere. Mostly, I am interested in the families who lived in these houses. And my interests widened to English country houses when I visited England as a college student.
 After college and grad school and time working in Washington D.C., my husband and I moved to Milwaukee where we have lived ever since, except for winters, which we spend in Naples, FL, from which I am currently writing.
I have published a dozen books, mostly regency-era romances. Lately I have been working on some new projects about which I will write someday. But my fascination with great houses and the families that lived in them remains.
A few years ago, several friends and I took a course at Oxford University (through the Smithsonian Associates) to study the history of stately homes in Britain. We were in residence at Worcester College and traveled around Oxfordshire, Hampshire and Wiltshire to various estates under the leadership of Geoffrey Tyack, as delightful a professor as I have ever known.
I will be writing about some of these houses soon on this blog. But first, remember some of the earliest remains of English Country Houses are actually Roman. The Romans were in Britain for over 400 years, beginning in 55 B.C. and left behind remains from the Channel ports to Hadrian’s Wall. Bath has its famous Roman springs. Excavations have uncovered the ruins of many country estates, such as the Chedworth Roman Villa, below, now run by the National Trust in Gloucestershire.
Soon, we’ll move forward in time to a wonderful medieval house, Haddon Hall. If you have a favorite stately home in England (or elsewhere), let me know. I love to hear your experiences. I have occasionaly run into the house owners, all of whom did not pay the slightest attention to their paying guests. One was the Duke of Northumberland at  Syon Park; another was the 10th Duke of Roxburghe at Floors Castle. Can’t say I blamed them a bit! But Her Grace, the lovely Duchess of Bedford actually waved to  our group at Woburn Abbey.
Until later, cheers, Victoria Hinshaw