Welcome to a friend of My Jane Austen Book Club and a very special guest, Regina Jeffers, on her blog tour for the launch of THE MYSTERIOUS DEATH OF MR DARCY. As usual, Regina has granted us a very interesting piece, this time a thoroughly researched article about the historical context of her new book. Thanking her very much, I invite you to read it and then to take your chances to win an autographed copy of the Regina Jeffers's new book in the rafflecopter form below. The giveaway contest is open worldwide and ends on March 21st.
With the onset of the French Revolution and
the Napoleonic Wars, the idea of a European Grand Tour for English aristocratic
class lost its appeal. Instead, English men and women turned their sights on
popular British destinations, such as Brighton, Margate, Lyme, and Weymouth. In
England, inland spas, such as Bath, were the models of health spas like
Lourdes. Among the early fashionable Georgian-Regency resorts (from
approximately 1789 – 1815) was one favored by King George III, but Mudeford
never achieved the popularity of the other tourist destinations.
Some jokingly account the lack of
development to the Christchurch district’s name. Mudeford was then part of
southwest Hampshire. The idea of “mud” was likely not very appealing to the
public. Also to the area’s detriment, Highcliffe was not adopted as a village
name until 1892. Before that time, the local hamlets were known as Chuton,
Newtown, and Slop Pond. The district’s other name was Sandhills.
In the summer of 1789, George III arrived
in Weymouth to partake of the healing waters, a good sign for a concerned
English population, which saw its King as a man going slowly mad. Each day,
during his visit, as the King partook of his royal plunge into the salt waters,
a band played “God Save the King.” Dips in the “curative waters” at Weymouth
helped popularize the idea of “spa” towns.
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