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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
What makes a master criminal? That type of person who goes beyond the normal petty crime or brute violence. Charles Peace was one of the most notorious criminals in the Victorian age, but why? He didn’t kill many people, or steal the crown jewels, or overthrow a government. He had Read more…
Happy 2nd Anniversary This is my look back on the last two years, a lot of thank you’s, some listener questions and our first murder? Two years of podcasts. Time to celebrate with a Victorian murder; you’ve all been asking for one for ages, so here you are. Don’t forget Read more…
I’ve launched a Patreon and I review our first film about Queen Victoria – Victoria the Great. I also read out the latest iTunes reviews. The show starts with the announcement about Patreon and the various tiers. Then I remind listeners to send in questions for the upcoming 2nd anniversary Read more…
In Ep20 pt 2 we continue our journey through Queen Victoria’s childhood education. Pt2 explores the specifics of education, what she learnt, and crucially, how her education would fit her into the increasingly strict and complex Victorian class system. It wasn’t easy being “the girl who will be Queen.” It Read more…
In Ep20 pt 1 we continue our journey through Queen Victoria’s childhood. In this 2 part show you will see how Victoria was educated; as a child, but also as a future Queen. She joined an elite group of people who could read and write, but she had a huge Read more…
Join your host Chris Fernandez-Packham for the first part of our series on Queen Victoria’s childhood. She was growing up at a time when life was fragile at best for children; between disease, poverty and murder, reaching adulthood was not guaranteed. Victoria had to face, an uncle who wanted to Read more…