I'm beginning to get my material together for The Shackletons of Whitehaven sequel which means gathering all the Whitehaven and district notes, emphemera, and objects I hope will inspire me. I have to say it's a labour of love. The Shackletons of Whitehavenamazon.co.uk/dp/B0BCWBF31D I've been rooting around in my shoe boxes and cupboards and I… Continue reading Whitehaven Farthing Token
The devil is in the detail - historical research.
A review of Anne Bronte's "Agens Grey" published in 1848 under the name of Acton Bell.
My current work in progress, The Shackletons of Whitehaven, has a scene where a mother and daughter - Dolly and Becky - discuss the cost of burial in Whitehaven. The customary fee for a four foot grave was a shilling (1/-) because the gravediggers only had to go down four feet. After that it was… Continue reading Digging up the Detail – 19th Century burial fees
A few personal thoughts on writing in dialect. The thing I most admire about D. H. Lawrence is his use of langauge, not just the written word but also his spoken dialect. He must have had a very musical ear for his characters always sound "right". Writing historical fiction I struggle over whether to use… Continue reading D. H. Lawrence, poetry and dialect – The Collier’s Wife.
In Whitehaven in 1853, the year before the setting of my novel "New Beginnings on Vancouver Island", the Clerk to the Guardians, Christopher Hodgkin issued a proclamation to parents and their guardians that all children must be vaccinated BY ORDER against Cow Pox. Medical practitioners were authorised to vaccinate all persons resident within the appointed… Continue reading Compulsory Cow Pox Vaccination in 1853
From Lorna's Command Centre 