Category Archives: Uncategorized

The Future

Posted on July 10, 2022 by William Savage

Posting here has been sporadic for some time, often non-existent. I have now decided to slowly close this blog down. All new posts will appear on http://www.ashmolefoxe.co.uk.

Posted in Uncategorized | 2 Comments

Belated Update

Posted on December 6, 2021 by William Savage

I have been absent from this blog for over a year. Partly this has been due to increasing age. I can no longer manage as much as I could once, especially when you include all the necessary research. Partly it … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | 10 Comments

Was Melancholy THE English Malady of the 18th Century?

Posted on May 8, 2019 by William Savage

“Mine, you are to know, is a white Melancholy, or rather Leucocholy… which though it seldom laughs or dances, nor ever amounts to what one calls Joy or Pleasure, yet is a good easy sort of a state … But … Continue reading →

Posted in Georgian Society, Medicine & Science, Uncategorized | 2 Comments

Some Georgian Medicine (from the archives)

Posted on April 17, 2019 by William Savage

Elizabeth Postlethwaite in 1777 (© Copyright National Portrait Gallery, London) A little while ago, rummaging in a secondhand bookshop as I often do, I found a small, locally-published book containing extracts from the correspondence of two Norfolk sisters, Elizabeth and … Continue reading →

Posted in Medicine & Science, Uncategorized | 4 Comments

‘Party’ in 18th-century English politics

Posted on April 10, 2019 by William Savage

In our own times, most of us are familiar with partisan, party-based politics. That makes it all too easy for us to transfer our own experience with political parties into the political environment of the 18th-century. From all I have … Continue reading →

Posted in Georgian Society, Politics, Uncategorized | 1 Comment

Turkeys in Boots

Posted on December 12, 2018 by William Savage

No, this is not a bizarre idea for a new Christmas panto! Just a plain, factual statement of what took place in Norfolk in Georgian times. From the late 16th century, thousands of geese and turkeys were walked the hundred … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | 4 Comments

Poachers in the 18th Century

Posted on October 10, 2018 by William Savage

Much of what we think we know about poachers and poaching in the past derives from the 19th-century. That was when the conflict between the poacher and the game-loving landowner reached its peak, with considerable violence shown on both sides. … Continue reading →

Posted in Crime, Georgian Society, Uncategorized | Comments Off on Poachers in the 18th Century

One Hundred Years Ago

Posted on September 26, 2018 by William Savage

For just this week, the subject matter of this blog will be only indirectly relevant to the Georgian period. Instead, I want to honour two remarkable young women and the part they and those like them played in Britain’s war … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized, Writing | 6 Comments

William Savage, Georgian Musician

Posted on May 30, 2018 by William Savage

Recently, entirely by chance, I discovered the existence of my Georgian namesake, William Savage, who turned out to be a distinguished musician, noted singer, capable composer and long-term friend of the great George Frederick Handel himself. Indeed, William Savage took … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | 5 Comments

A Georgian (Non)Christmas?

Posted on December 20, 2017 by William Savage

I think it’s fairly well known that many of our present-day Christmas customs were invented in the 19th century, mostly in England by Charles Dickens and Queen Victoria and her family. These have been ‘supplemented’ by some European ones (like … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | 12 Comments