Victoria  here.  Long-time followers of this blog (we love you!) might recall an early post on Horace Walpole and his invention of the word SERENDIPITY.  Here it is again, if you are so inclined.

I have had occasion lately to study up on the London Season, as it is portrayed in accounts of the Georgian and Victorian eras, perhaps even before and after those several centuries.  When I finally got around to reading recent issues of Britain: The Official Magazine of Visit Britain, and British Heritage, two of my favorite publications, I found articles on The London Season. Serendipity again!

Britain (click here for their website), in an article by Josephine Price, writes  “…the aristocracy and members of the ruling classes tended to reside in London at the same time as the Royal Family. The summer season from April to July was peak time to be in London as it was before the start of shooting season…so a programme of social events was established in the 18th century to keep everyone entertained”.

Today of course, the once-essential debutante balls and presentation to the monarch is no longer an official part of the Season, though debutante balls can still be found.  Perhaps even more so as new residents try to revive old traditions.

However, many old traditions are as lively as ever, many associated with sports, such as the races at Royal Ascot and Goodwood, Wimbledon Tennis, Gold Cup Polo, and yachting at Cowes.  .

Other popular cultural events take place during the Season, such as the BBC Proms at Royal Albert Hall. The article in British Heritage, by Sandra Lawrence, adds Opera at Glyndebourne, the Royal Academy Summer exhibition of paintings, the Chelsea Flower Show and the Hay-on-Wye Literature Festival, among other events.

As a fan of Georgette Heyer and other authors who plumb the depths of our knowledge of the Regency period, and as a writer who has penned a few Regencies of her own, I have followed the many discussions on various internet forums of the precise dates, activities, persons, and events that constitute the Season, with a capital S, in London in the spring and early summer, exact dates up for discussion, but mostly based on the meetings of Parliament.

According to popular lore, the Season — and for that matter, many of the other social activities of the gentry and aristocracy back in the day — had to do with introducing young ladies and gentlemen to one another in the hopes of making effective matches — or what is often called The Marriage Mart. 

The most fortunate of the young ladies would be presented to the King and/or Queen at a Royal Drawing Room.  Balls, Assemblies, Concerts, and many other events went on until the “first families” left the hot and smelly city to return to their country seats for harvest, the shooting seasons, fox hunting, and so forth until Christmas.  And by Easter, it would  begin all over once more.

How the world has changed.  We might look on the old ways, perhaps as represented in Downton Abbey, as very appealing. However, they were reserved for only a special few. Today, most of the activities named are public and limited only by your ability to pay for your participation.  But if  magazine pictures of the fashionable hats and swanky dresses of the current day’s participants is any measure of the feminine effort to charm, the Season still has some of the trappings of the Marriage Mart — just a few!

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Victoria here.  I love to travel.  Any place, anytime. 

As long as it starts or ends in London.

 I travel for fun, to study history and biographies of famous people, to sort out the eccentricities of the natives and the visitors alike, and — I admit it — to peruse the  gift shops wherever I go.  Ordinarily I am not a very good shopper.  To me, most shopping is in the ERRAND category, to be dispensed with quickly and with a minimum of fuss.  BUT!  Not so when I am in a museum…or a stately home…or a cathedral…or a palace…or in Liberty of London.

I love to take lots of pictures, abetted by the wonders of the digital camera, with which you can delete any picture you don’t like immediately and try it again.  Snap, snap, snap.  Of course, my husband tells me I have way too many pictures and that I will soon fill up my hard disk, but I can’t wait to be at it again.  He especially laughs at all the flower and garden pictures I take.  A rose is a rose is a rose, he says.  But I know that one rose comes from Cadogan Square.

Or from the heart of Bloomsbury:

Or from Windsor Castle.

Another one comes from Hatfield House!  No two are the same. 

Another favorite of mine is wisteria.  I can’t resist grabbing the camera and shooting away when I encounter those dripping purple blossoms.

And did I mention how much I love to browse in the gift shops?  We all know that every one of those items is probably available on line — and if I ordered it, I wouldn’t have to crowd my suitcase with new possessions.  But I am helpless in the face of that sign: This Way to the  Gift Shop.

I love to visit in the winter…

…spring

…summer

…and autumn 

I love to visit castles

…Palaces

…Stately Homes

…Cottages 

 …Villages

…Towns

…Cities

…Roman Sites

…Medieval sites

…Tudor sites

…Georgian sites

…Regency Sites

…Victorian Sites

…Small Museums

…Huge Museums

 …Art Galleries

And did I mention gift shops?

Of course, I also love the food.

…The Ubiquitous Full English Breakfast

…Sunday Roast

…Tea in all varieties

…and the ultimate in shopping for the gourmets and gourmands among us, Fortnum and Mason.

Best of all: Bookstores!

Sorry, I can’t add more now —

too busy browsing the shelves!  See you in England!!

Hugs, Victoria

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Letting in the Hoi Polloi: 1945-1970 

Part One 

by Guest Blogger Jennifer Jermantowicz

Visit her website here.

During my search for descriptions of British Regency fashion, I read that prolific author Georgette Heyer often referred to her collection of ‘Ackermann’s Repository’. However, an intact copy of this regency periodical is difficult to find and expensive. Single fashion prints sometimes appear on eBay, but this is not enough for a comprehensive study.

Half Dress, January 1812

With the advent of the internet, it’s much easier to track down unusual resources. Many organizations and libraries are scanning copyright free works, and placing them online. One of the best places to find these documents is the Internet Archive ( http://archive.org ), a non-profit digital library of cultural artifacts.

Thanks to the Philadelphia Museum of Art Library and support from the Lyrasis Members and Sloan Foundation, every single issue of Ackermann’s Repository from 1809 – 1829 is available for free download at the Internet Archive. Unfortunately, the archive is frustrating to navigate. To make research easier, I created an organized list with direct links to each issue of Ackermann’s Repository at the Internet Archive.

Morning Dress, 1813

I am delighted to share this resource from my blog ( http://pasaii.com/where-to-download-ackermanns-repository/ ) with the readers of Number One London. I hope that it helps many more writers and passionate researchers of this amazing period of British history.

Head Dresses, 1814

Ackermann’s Repository at Archive.org

THANK YOU, JENNIFER!