In January 1870, Johnny Arkwright was the largest landowner in Herefordshire. From the processions and balls which celebrated his coming of age, to facing financial ruin at his own sons birthday and the eventual sale of the estate, this book shows, through the example of a prominent family, the downfall of the landed classes.

This title presents gripping story chronicling the history of the Wenlock Olympian Games, the pre-cursor to the modern Olympics. It includes a detailed Athletes Biographies section, listing every competitor that took part between 1850-95. At the 2008 Beijing Olympics, London Mayor Boris Johnson memorably said of London 2012 that 'Ping-Pong is coming home'. In fact, he might justifiably have said that 'the modern Olympic movement is coming home'. In 1850, Shropshire doctor William Penny Bro...

In this engaging and lively account, Catherine Beale tells the story of the Wenlock Olympian Games, considers their influence on the modern Olympics, and shows why Coubertin, though he failed fully to credit Brookess contribution to the movement, concluded that 'The Wenlock people alone have preserved and followed the true Olympian traditions.'

Princess Diana is seen as the first member of the British royal family to tear up the rulebook, and the Duchess of Cambridge is modernising the monarchy in strides. But before them was another who paved the way.Princess Mary was born in 1897. Despite her Victorian beginnings, she strove to make a princess's life meaningful, using her position to help those less fortunate and defying gender conventions in the process. As the only daughter of King George V a...

For fans of Downton Abbey comes an immersive historical epic about a lavish English manor and a dynasty of rich and powerful women who ruled the estate over three centuries of misbehavior, scandal, intrigue, and passion.Five miles from Windsor Castle, home of the royal family, sits the Cliveden estate. Overlooking the Thames, the mansion is flanked by two wings and surrounded by lavish gardens. Throughout its storied history, Cliveden has been a setting fo...

Country houses were reliant on an intricate hierarchy of servants, each of whom provided an essential skill. Up and Down Stairs brings to life this hierarchy and shows how large numbers of people lived together under strict segregation and how sometimes this segregation was broken, as with the famous marriage of a squire to his dairymaid at Uppark. Jeremy Musson captures the voices of the servants who ran these vast houses, and made them work. From unpublished memoirs to letters, wages, ne...

An authoritative account of everyday life in Regency England, the backdrop of Austen’s beloved novels, from the authors of the forthcoming Gibraltar: The Greatest Siege in British History (March 2018)Jane Austen, arguably the greatest novelist of the English language, wrote brilliantly about the gentry and aristocracy of two centuries ago in her accounts of young women looking for love. Jane Austen’s England explores the customs and culture of the...

Outrageously handsome, witty and clever, Harry Cust was reputed to be one of the great womanisers of the late Victorian era. In 1893, while a Member of Parliament, he caused public scandal by his affair with artist and poet Nina Welby-Gregory. When she revealed she was pregnant, horror swept through their circle known as 'the Souls', a cultured, mostly aristocratic group of writers, artists and politicians.With the unconventional Margot Tennant and philosopher-stat...

A "sparkling social history" that brings the twilight of the Edwardian era to life ( Entertainment Weekly).The Perfect Summer chronicles a glorious English summer just over a century ago, when the world was on the cusp of irrevocable change. That summer of 1911, a new king was crowned and the aristocracy was at play, bounding from one house party to the next. But perfection was not for all. Cracks in the social fabric were showing. The country was...

Beyond the Gatehouse is a lighthearted, witty but factual biographical account of the eccentric lifestyles of the builders and residents of some of England's best-known country houses.Extraordinary buildings require extraordinary people, and over the centuries our historic houses have produced more than their fair share of oddballs. Insulated from the outside world by vast wealth, rolling acres and the social status that a title implies, aristocrats have a...

Ragged London describes life in the rookeries of London, where forty people would live together in one room. Although life was a constant struggle against famine, disease and violence, the people enjoyed a closeness that was more than the result of overcrowding. Their lives were lived entirely within the 'mean streets' of their little corner of London. They were born and raised within the rookeries, earned their meagre living there, enjoyed life as best they could...

"Helps you put those in your female line into context, whether they were factory workers, Land Girls, aristocrats, or even criminals!" — Family History MonthlyWomen's lives have traditionally gone unrecorded in history. But housewives, factory girls and servants all had their own distinctive voices, and, if you know where to look, there are plenty of sources to explore.Jennifer Newby's guide to women's social history between 1800 and 1939 i...