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'

A call to arms, for Mary Wollstonecraft!

Mary Wollstonecraft (1759–97) was a pioneering figure in the fight for women's equality. So why no statue? She was a remarkable woman: a devoted friend and sister, a traveller, a single mother, a philosopher and a writer. She had groundbreaking ideas about the future of women's rights, why changes would be better for both sexes, and...

A New Sort of Holyday for Husbands, or a warning to troublesome wives, 1733

Here is a particularly heartwarming (*cough*) report of one man's enthusiastic embrace of widowhood in London in 1733. Yes folks, the 'new holyday for husbands' is to be enjoyed when your troublesome wife drops dead. Charming. (Although I do appreciate the tactful description of said wife. Next time anyone asks me about a break-up I am going to...

The Frenzy of Unrequited Love, 1810

"A melancholy instance of the fatal effects of inordinate passion took place on Wednesday night at a house in Leicester-fields. A young lady, seventeen years of age, a native of Paris, but who had received her education in England, and is described to us as a most beautiful, elegant, and accomplished creature, put an end...

Be Advis’d to Resolve Against Wiving, 1690

I have fallen in love with a broadside song of 1690, entitled 'Advice to Young Gentlemen... to the tune of The Ladies of London.' It reads: "All Jolly Blades that Inhabit the Town, And with the fair Sex are contriving, From the Gay Fop, to the honest bred Clown, be advis'd to resolve against Wiving;...