Author Archives: dgm

Increasingly, when researching the past, we make use of digitised records, and increasingly, for the nineteenth century at least, there are a slew of  newly digitised diaries and journals. But there’s a problem: Most of the people who wrote and … Continue reading →

Some time ago I wrote about Mary Shelley and Frankenstein. At the time I hadn’t actually read the book (tsk, tsk), but it was an interesting little exercise teasing out some of the linkages. I am by no means a … Continue reading →

This year’s festive tweet was a little different, I’d come across the poem while researching something entirely different. I’ve been working my way through Juliet Barker’s magisterial history of the Brontës, more as a way of understanding life in late … Continue reading →

T Today, we often talk about the precariat. However, there’s also a subtle shift underway in meaning – rather than simply gig workers such as Uber drivers and Deliveroo riders – increasingly the term precariat is applied to people in … Continue reading →

In my previous post about the Sobieski Stuarts (and my non connection with them) I reproduced the above photograph, which is attributed to the noted early Scottish photographer, David Octavius Hill, who had set up a photographic studio with Robert … Continue reading →

Every so often I mess about with family history. Not seriously. Really I do it to keep my skills in tracing documents back through the archives up to speed and to practice reading nineteenth century handwriting. The only real mystery … Continue reading →

When you visit old early nineteenth century houses one thing you notice is the absence of a dedicated bathroom. The Brontes didn’t have one in Haworth, nor did Hamilton Hume in Cooma Cottage. Privies, yes, sometimes, as can be seen … Continue reading →

Back in August I wrote about how the payout from the emancipation of slaves in West Indies may have financed the development of the squatocracy and their landholdings in Australia. I’ve just come across an interesting discussion paper that argues … Continue reading →

Back in 2018, I wrote how there was still an early Victorian short door mailbox still in use in Port Fairy. At the time the mailbox was looking a bit faded and unloved, and in need of a coat of … Continue reading →

Humphry Davy, the noted chemist, and technology evangelist (satirized by Rowlandson above) was a friend of William Godwin, and was also known for his experiments with electricity, including building a truly ginormous voltaic pile around 1806. Remarkably, Davy was also … Continue reading →