Heyer Walk With Pictures, Part 2

Anne here, continuing the delightful walk through Georgette Heyer's London, conducted by my friend, author Sophie Weston. The first part of the tour is here.
But first, a photo of the scales on which Byron used to weigh himself. It was mentioned in the previous post, but the photo came to me later from a friend. Notice the lead weights neatly stacked beside the scales.

St James’s Palace  (below)
Even today Ambassadors present their credentials to the Court of St James's. During the Regency, the King lived mostly secluded at Windsor or Kew and the Queen restricted her Drawing Rooms, so there were few opportunities for debutantes to be Presented. Even so, Jenny from A Civil Contract managed it and so did Arabella, who was much impressed by Princess Mary.

The Prince Regent’s marital difficulties prevented him from formally running an alternative Court at Carlton House and when the Hanoverian Jubilee was in full swing in 1814, he received the Crowned Heads in St James Palace – getting seriously annoyed when the Czar, for whom rooms had been refurbished especially, refused to stay there. He preferred to join his sister, Grand Duchess Catherine, already ensconced in the Pulteney Hotel. Oh the lure of the flushing loo!

The Queen's Chapel, Chapel Royal (left)
 Members of the Royal Family did all appear together at the Chapel Royal, however. Inigo Jones built this elegant, simple church in1623-25 for Queen Henrietta Maria as an adjunct to the palace complex.

In Heyer's Arabella our eponymous heroine writes home that she attended Morning Service there on Sunday, after which the Duke of Clarence spoke kindly to her. She does not say, out of consideration for her father, the vicar, that the Duke also talked quite audibly in Church.

Almack's
(right: Modern Almack House in King Street with the Golden Lion pub next door)
Compare this with a contemporary print and you will notice two things: in both, the bow-fronted pub next door at the end of Crown Passage (since 1731); and just how BIG Almack's was.

 Although we think of it as a quintessentially Regency entity, with those powerful patronesses like Countess Lieven, Mrs Drummond Burrell and Lady Jersey, Almack's Rooms were set up in 1764 with a clever marketing strategy. 'Seven ladies opened a Subscription Book, each of which was to contain the Names of 60 Subscribers' – at 10 guineas a pop for admission to the Season's 12 balls. At the inaugural ball on Feb 12th 1765 the Duke of Cumberland, the so-called 'hero of Culloden’, was present and ran out of puff, according to lovely, gossipy Horace Walpole: 'There is a vast flight of steps, and he was forced to rest two or three times.'

Almack's was the heart of the Season if you had a marriageable daughter. The ballroom was 100 ft. by 44 ft. and the receptions were ‘great squeezes’. The largest assembly on record was for 1,700 people. During the Regency, ‘the sons of commerce’ were never admitted and nor was anyone who arrived after midnight or improperly dressed.

Jermyn Street (right)
Jermyn Street runs parallel to Piccadilly, without the palaces. In the photograph on the right there is the back garden of St James's Church. On the left are shops, including Paxton and Whitfield, cheesemongers since 1797, who sold not only cheese but also the famous York ham, beloved of the Heyer sporting bachelor for a solid breakfast.

Further down on the same side is Floris at No 89, opened by the barber Juan Faminias Floris in 1720. In the Georgian period this involved shaving beards and powdering wigs, as well as making pomades and colognes. These days Floris make wonderful scented preparations more for women than for men, although you can still buy their shaving soap in a traditional wooden bowl.

In Georgette Heyer’s world Jermyn Street seems to be Cad’s Corner: the awful Courtney Drelincourt from The Convenient Marriage, wicked Sir Montague Revesby from Friday’s Child and unsuccessful abductor Lucius Kennet from Faro’s Daughter all lived here. Ironically, so did Georgette Heyer when she left The Albany.

St James's Square (left: the London Library in St James's Square, where Heyer did so much of her research in journals like La Belle Assemblée.)

One of the great squares, home of William Pitt the elder, first Earl of Chatham; Ada Lovelace; who was Byron's daughter and arguably the first computer programmer; Mrs Fitzherbert, Prinny's morganatic wife.

In Heyer's World inhabitants included The Corinthian Sir Richard Wyndham and Mr Fancot (April Lady) who could both afford it and Lady Bellingham (Faro's Daughter) who couldn't.

 

Now part of the East India Club, the house at 16 St James's Square was owned until 1819 (when he went bankrupt) by wealthy merchant Edmund Boehm.

The Prince of Wales and his brother, the Duke of York, were at a party here on hot Midsummer night 1815, when Major Henry Percy arrived, exhausted after three days on the road from Brussels, with the news and casualty lists from Waterloo, along with Napoleon's captured flags and eagles. Sobering. (Above right: The East India Club today. This photograph and more thanks to the generosity of wonderful blogger Candy Blackham )

We had a Regency Tea in the room where the Prince received the News - with Company (Left: re-enactors in Regency military uniform)

Anne again. And so we end our wonderful Georgette Heyer walk with a lovely cup of tea —add your own milk or sugar.

Sincere thanks to Sophie for her generous sharing of knowledge and experience. Sophie and Harlequin Historical romance author Joanna Maitland have recently launched Liberta Books, a site for readers, and they invite you to drop by and pen a love-letter to a favorite book. Here's Joanna's love letter to Heyer's The Grand Sophy.

Leave a question or comment about the Heyer walk, or Liberta, or tell us what you'd like to nibble daintily on with your cup of tea (or coffee) and you could win a copy of Sophie's delightful book, To Marry A Prince, written as Sophie Page.

Comments

[GinaFann]

Very nice

[Anne Gracie]

Thanks, Gina

[Teresa]

Thanks for that :-) I went to some of those places when in London ...great research and pics.
Teresa.

[Anne Gracie]

Glad you enjoyed it, Teresa.

[Joanna Maitland]

I am always astonished by Sophie's ability to remember books and characters' names and incidents. And it's not just here, on this blog -- she does it all the time. Amazing.

Must now find time to reread some of the Heyers she mentions, like Friday's Child and The Convenient Marriage. Not my favourites, but still worth rereading. Faro's Daughter, on the other hand, is another Heyer triumph in my eyes.

On a marginally more serious note, I had always imagined that the Tsar went to The Pulteney so that he didn't have Prinny's spies watching him in St James's Palace. I was so convinced of it that I put it in a book! And I forgot to include the flushing loos. Shame, eh?

[Sophie Weston]

Thank you Gina, Teresa, Anne, Joanna. Glad you enjoyed it.

Have to admit that I didn't think about Prinny's spies, Joanna, even though I've read your fantastic Aikenhead Honours series. I just thought - the Grand Duchess had been at the Pulteney since March. She would tell the Tsar about the flushing loos when he arrived in June. Done deal! Well, it would have swung it for me.

[Patricia Franzino]

Thanks so much for sharing this wonderful Heyer walk. I love Heyer's Regency novels as well as the historical fiction. I'm going to start reading her mysteries, too.

[Michele]

Thank you so much for this! I've only just begun reading Heyer; I can't believe that I've never read her before. What extraordinary talent. Her characters seem to explode from the page and I think it's incredible how they each speak in their own voice.

[Sophie Weston]

So glad you enjoyed it, Patricia and Michele. It has been a pleasure!

[Anne Gracie]

Thanks, Patricia -- I enjoy Heyers mysteries too, but not as much as her romances. In any case, its her characterization and dialogue I enjoy most.

[Anne Gracie]

Michele, Im smiling here -- I love thinking about you with a whole stack of Heyers yet to read. The journey before you is such a fun one. Enjoy!

[Anne Gracie]

Joanna, Im with you on Sophies memory. We were talking about April Lady the other day, and though its forever since we both read it, she was pulling up characters and comments from the book as if shed just put it down. And get her quoting poetry. . . fabulous!

As for the whole St James Palace or the Pulteney question -- its a fascinating one. Im sure there were a whole lot of reasons to avoid staying at the palace. Wouldnt you love to know -- to have been a fly on the wall when the various conversations were held?

[Vicki W.]

Thanks for putting up Part 2. It was very fascinating and I agree, I think I'll have to go back and re-read a few of the books you've mentioned.

[Anne Gracie]

Thanks Vicki -- it had the same effect on me. Ive pulled out April Lady after talking with Sophie about it on the phone the other night. Its years since I read it last.

[Kate Sparks]

Amazing to read and love the walk in history. Heyer really got me into the whole Regency Period and historical romance reading. Thank you for sharing!!

[Sophie Weston]

Thank you Vicki, Kate and, of course, Anne. Glad if it sends you back to Georgette Heyer.

And you're right about walking in history. A couple of years ago, some mates and I from the UK Romantic Novelists's Association put together a Regency Day, the highlight of which was the Waterloo Tea in the room where the Prince of Wales received the News. We counted down the days of the battle and the point at which news reached London, ending with Major Percy's horrendous journey back with the official despatch. By the time he got to Horseguards, everyone had gone home for the day!

The timing is all in "A Civil Contract' with pinpoint accuracy, including the fall in price of Government paper on the Stock Exchange when news of Génappe had made people think the battle was lost. Poor old Major Percy doesn't get a name check, though.

[Jenny]

This is fascinating, I need to follow in your footsteps the next time I'm in that part of town.

On a slight tangent, while we were househunting in Brighton, we viewed an apartment in the house where Prince Metternich stayed. Himself didn't understand why I found this exciting :-/

[Sophie Weston]

Good grief, Jenny. Metternich was in Brighton?

Was that when he was in exile as an old man? I remember learning about the Congress of Vienna, when he was pulling everyone's strings and my history mistress shaking her head and saying, effectively, 'He's on top now but it will end badly.' But it's the Congress and Italy as a mere geographical expression that sticks in my mind.

I must find out more and hit Brighton.

[Minna]

Interesting post!

[Teresa (Broderick)]

Thoroughly enjoyed part two of the Heyer Walk. I'm going to send this on to my daughter who now lives in London. I know she has already visited St. James Palace. She would love to see all these places even though she's more an Austen fan than Heyer. But she knows I love Heyer. Thanks again for a very interesting post.

[Kelly Hunter]

I've so enjoyed these posts about the walk. The info snippets, the then and now, the gossip. Thanks all. Off to check out Liberta

[Anne Gracie]

Thanks, Kate. If you havent yet read Heyer, youre in for a treat. And of course, youre in the draw for Sophies TO MARRY A PRINCE, under her Sophie Page name. Its not regency or historical, but its a lot of fun.

[Anne Gracie]

Jenny, its a wonderful exploration to make. And add me to the list of people who would be thrilled by your close encounter with Prince Metternich. :)

[Anne Gracie]

Thanks, Teresa -- I have enticed quite a few Austen fans over to Heyer in my time. I think its time for your daughter, too ;)

[Anne Gracie]

Thanks, Kelly. A little virtual travel with an entertaining guide is just the ticket, isnt it?

[Jenny]

I'd be delighted to join you on a reconnaissance of Brighton and Hove :-)

I went to check: Metternich stayed on Brunswick Terrace (just around the corner from where we now live) for six months between 1848 and 1849, according to the blue plaque. Baroness Lieven was amongst his guests.

[Sue McCormick]

Regarding one of the comments above — It was my love for Austen which first interested me in Heyer's stories. Then the love of Heyer took over.

I wish I could enjoy the Heyer walk. We're hoping to return to England, but I'm afraid it may be wishful thinking (one of the drawbacks of getting older).

[Kate Marshall]

I have only just read the two parts of the blog. Absolutely fascinating. I will try to visit some the next time we come up to London from Scotland. I read most of GH's historical sites when I was a teenager some 40 years ago and still have a number of Pan paperback versions on my bookshelves. My copy of These Old Shades is very tattered so it must have been a great favourite at the time. I have recently been revisiting her novels on my e reader and of them all Venetia is my favourite. I do not recall reading it when I was younger and if I had I am sure I would have remembered as Damerel is such an engaging hero. The part where Venetia is in London for the first time and visiting all the sights but cannot enjoy them because she cannot share her thoughts with Damerel brought a tear to my eye. And when she goes back to Yorkshire and confronts him when he is foxed there is so much wit in their encounter I was laughing and crying at the same time.
I am also very fond of the novels set prior to the Regency - These Old Shades, Devils Cub, The Convenient Marriage, The Talisman Ring etc and love Faro's Daughter and The Nonesuch.

[Anne Gracie]

Kate, how lovely to find some Heyers you havent read. Venetia is one of my favourites as well, and one I often recommend as a starter for those whove never read a Heyer.
There are so many laughs and smiles, some real emotion and some wisdom. That bit where shes exploring London but Missing him is lovely. Remember when she thinks how important it is to have someone to laugh with, and their conversation about that? Just gorgeous.

[Kate Marshall]

Anne
Thanks for responding. In Venetia I also love the bit where he promises her own private orgy. Although GH does not go in to graphic detail I am sure they would have had a very passionate relationship. I do hope he found the rose petals to scatter for her as well as pink champagne. I have recently discovered your books and have now finished the Merridew series which I really enjoyed. I intend to read several more during the course of 2016.
Happy New Year to all.

[Anne Gracie]

I agree, Kate. One of the things I love about that book is that Im sure it would be a passionate relationship -- and that Damerel would scatter rosepetals for her and it would be both romantic and funny for both of them, and theyd laugh about it — and then make love. (And thanks -- Im so pleased youre enjoying my books.)