Petticoat Alley: London’s Forgotten Women’s Clubs
Despite their reputation, London’s private members’ clubs have never been entirely for men.
Victorian
The Death of Little Jack the Boy Missionary
On 5 April 1889 John Hore died aged only seven years old. His adventures in East Africa saw him immortalised by Victorian evangelicals as ‘the boy missionary’.
The Vienna Secession is Founded
On 3 April 1897 a young Gustav Klimt led a group of artists in open revolt, seceding from Vienna’s cultural establishment.
‘Impossible Monsters’ by Michael Taylor review
Impossible Monsters: Dinosaurs, Darwin and the War between Science and Religion by Michael Taylor revels in the tangles of Victorian thought.
Reforming England’s Divorce Law
Reforms to divorce law inevitably prompt moral panic as they did in Victorian England. It has not yet proven to be justified.
‘Rites of Passage’ by Judith Flanders review
In Rites of Passage: Death & Mourning in Victorian Britain, Judith Flanders explores the commercialisation of grief and those who resisted the era’s conspicuous consumption.
Pet Monkeys in Victorian Britain
Pet monkeys became a popular fashion accessory for the Victorians, found in homes across the country. But they were rarely living a life of luxury.
‘With Her Own Hair’: A Victorian Prisoner’s Art
Arrested over 400 times, Annie Parker found redemption in intricate cross-stitch and crochet using her own hair.
India’s Kuka Revolt Ends in Death
On 17 January 1872, 49 Namdhari Sikhs – dubbed ‘Kukas’ by the British – were executed by cannon, supposedly for spreading insurrection.
Queen Victoria’s Stalker
Was the army captain in love with Queen Victoria a dangerous obsessive or an innocent man? His NSFW letters shocked but so did his treatment.