How does the Queen of Kingdom and ruler of the Empire choose a husband? This is not a choice to get wrong, so Victoria was under pressure. Was Albert the Romantic Prince and perfect companion of her dreams? Learn about the Prince, his childhood, his music, & his journey from Read more…
How was Victoria coping with being Queen? She was intelligent, stubborn, cultured, but sometimes misguided and blinkered. Worse, the nation itself seemed fractured, bitter, and in danger of collapse. Her first two years as monarch showed the need for her to have a partner. Someone who could share the load, Read more…
EP030 3rd Anniversary Special: Victoria & Albert -a Royal and a Romantic. The podcast is 3 years old, so time for Victoria and Albert to become a couple. One of histories famous romances and two names that almost define the age. Yet it was a strange road that brought them Read more…
These are some key works that give a flavour of the range of works in the Romantic movements around Europe. I will add to this gallery from time to time. It is important to remember the impact that paintings had on culture. They were not separate, but far more entwined Read more…
EP029 “The Court of King Cholera – the great Victorian plague” explores one of the most famous pandemics in history. There was horror, death, and a little hope. Many bad decisions, anger and mistrust, but also groundbreaking science. When disease strikes it is easy to think humanity is levelled and Read more…
There are a huge number of sources on Cholera and the Victorian response to the great pandemics. It affected everything from science to art to culture to city planning. I used the following sources for episode 029, but there is so much more to discover. This should provide some good Read more…
MINISODE 018 RAILWAY TIME is here to take a light hearted look at the social etiquette of train travel, and the small matter of how the trains revolutionised time. This show covers Reviews and thank you’s Railways; is this a polite way to travel? “I say, have we met?” The Read more…
EP028 BROTHER CAN YOU SPARE A DIME? RAILWAY MANIA AND SOCIAL CHANGES is here to count the cost of progress. As railways make men staggeringly rich, people start to fly too close to the sun and get their wings singed. Or fall prey to predators, like George Hudson, the Railway Read more…
Railways were one of the great achievements of the Victorian Era, but they are complicated and hard to build. This show covers the process and the people involved in building these incredible pieces of engineering. Pt 2 of this episode covers; The navigators; hard work for hard men. Drink hard, Read more…
Railway building was a great achievement of the Victorian Age, but railways are complicated and hard to build. This show covers the process and the people involved in building these incredible pieces of engineering. Pt 1 of this episode covers; The kinds of labourer & builders. Surveying and risks to Read more…
The railway is here. What a change Britain was about to see! A herald of a new age, and new way of life. Something new in human history. This episode covers; The English landscape and the train 1820-1840. Early trains & popular . Economic impacts. Canal and coach monopolies. Slum Read more…
Bonus episode of The Age of Victoria & The Siècle! Learn about the differences between how France and Britain experienced the years after Waterloo in a conversation between your host Chris Fernandez-Packham and David Montgomery, host of the Siecle Podcast. We chat about the state of Britain and France after Read more…
Great things are done when men and mountains meet; This is not done by jostling in the street.” -William Blake Join me for this adventurous minisode. This show has Setting the scene; literature and the quest for adventure. How Victorian masculinity was shaped by adventure literature. The mountains effect on Read more…
Details on Queen Victoria’s coronation are available, but the event is often skimmed over in popular histories on the topic. I touched on her coronation in episode 24, and used the following sources to provide a favour of the day. Tracking down the musical and Order of Service was tricky, Read more…
EP014 DARKNESS FALLS: MT TAMBORA PT2 The episode you are about to hear is part 2 on the eruption of Mt Tambora in 1815, and its immense effects around the world that lingered long into the Victorian period. If you haven’t listened to pt 1, please listen to that first. Read more…
Victorian Christmas Time! Mistletoe and Wine; listening to Podcast time. This is a special episode for Christmas 2019. Learn about the hustle & bustle of the Victorian Christmas, with a focus on the games and entertainments. Find out how much effort people went to, then enjoy the bonus story on a Read more…
Forged in fire, the new era is born. The British unlock a new energy source and create the industrial revolution. Humanity around the world is transformed; no longer limited by our own muscles or the plodding of animals or the slow harnessing of wind and wave. Instead the British unleashed Read more…
Setting the scene Imagine a tranquil pacific heaven. Sandy beaches, warm ocean and gentle breezes. This is in many ways as close to paradise as humans have come. Plenty of fish in the seas. It is a world away from the horrors of Europe in 1815. A Europe where the Read more…
The time has come. Victoria must weather the final crisis on her way to the throne. Join me for an exciting conclusion to Victoria’s childhood where she finds out if she has iron in her soul. This show has Continuation of her teenage years. Relationships with King William IV. The Read more…
PUB QUIZ. Time for you to grab a beer and a barstool like a good Victorian and have a go at testing your knowledge. Or if you have taken the pledge and joined the temperance movement, then get a cup of cocoa and join your friends for a civilised but Read more…
Are you eager for reform? What to change the establish? Shake up the old order? Surely the time has come to join the Whig party then? This show covers the Whigs in the 1820’s & 1830’s and the land mark Great Reform Act 1832. British politics was changing rapidly and Read more…
Are you confused about your Lords & Dukes? Want to know why the Baron is always popping up? Wondering just what is the Duchy of Lancaster and why its so important? Want to know your Earls from your Marchioness’s? Worried about who gets to get to lead the dinner party Read more…
This episode on the Tories & the Battle for Catholic Emancipation continue our breakdown of the complex political system in the 1820’s & 1830’s to show you how it all fits together. If you want to know about the reasons why the British struggled with Catholics, and why the Tories Read more…
Political history is always complicated; below are the main sources I’ve used for the politics episodes set in the 1820’s and 1830’s. You can always find plenty more, depending on your particular interests. Hopefully these are a useful starting point. https://www.alistairlexden.org.uk/news/hanoverian-succession-and-downfall-tory-party-tercentenary-essay http://www.victorianweb.org/history/emancipation2.html https://history.blog.gov.uk/2012/01/01/the-institution-of-prime-minister/ https://www.historyofparliamentonline.org/periods/hanoverians/ultra-tories-and-fall-wellington-government-1830 https://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/handle/2027.42/50994/220.pdf?sequence=1&isAllowed=y http://www.irishidentity.com/stories/emancipation.htm Napier, C “The War Read more…
Politics 101 is here. Every wondered if the Queen of England has any real power? Confused by your MP’s, PM’s and Lords Spiritual? Wondering how it all works in the UK if the Constitution isn’t written down? Unsure if Queen Victoria could just give out the orders? Today’s show breaks Read more…