William, the ‘Wicked Lord’ Byron – actress abducter & cowardly killer?

Dearest readers, A new video is UP! See below for a quick intro to the angry, dissipated career of William, 5th Lord Byron – known to history as 'the Wicked Lord' or 'Devil Byron'/ Features actress abduction, a wolf, & a bit of heavy stabbing  (..... also Jasper, obviously) #HouseofByron  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OwGGcYl5Kzo   *The Fall of...

Meet the Byrons! A scandalous 18th-century dynasty

An introduction to historian Emily Brand's new book 'The Fall of the House of Byron'

Eight reasons why a dog is the broken-hearted woman’s best friend

Any readers who also follow me on twitter will have guessed by now that I am also quite fond of the history of animals, and most especially that of dogs. They have been our loyal and loving companions for thousands of years, and in eighteenth-century art are frequently to be found playing a small (and so often neglected) role in human love...

Plan your own broom-stick marriage

Weddings today seem such a stressful, complicated affair. If you have cast off the misery of a single life and plunged into all the misery of someone in pursuit of the perfect day, why not follow this eighteenth-century model of the Broomstick Marriage? a) Get married with a number of other couples, ensuring reduced expense...

Why You Shouldn’t Let Your Wife Drink Gin, 1752

The c18th print below serves as a reminder that indulging in too much gin can cause mischief. A grim-faced husband trudges and sighs his way along the street, regretting that he has (once again) allowed his merry wife to be to free with the Strip-and-go-naked. ‘A Poor Man Loaded with Mischief, or Matrimony… drawn by Experience,...