London hated the French long before Brexit
Being French in London could make you unpopular long before Brexit when in the 18th century there was widespread xenophobia and abuse
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The gang that terrorised Georgian London!
We think of gangs as a modern day evil but Georgian London had its urban gangs like the Black Boy Alley crew as Tony McMahon discovers
A horrific day trip to Georgian London!
A day trip to Georgian London could have involved going to see a prisoner put to death or watching a live amputation by a well known surgeon
Houses of Parliament burnt down in massive blaze
On the 16th October, 1834, the old Houses of Parliament were completely burnt down by a huge fire. It took several days to extinguish an inferno that engulfed ancient medieval halls, Georgian houses and most of the palace of Westminster. Westminster Hall – a vast space dating back to the Norman period – was only…
Terrible accident at St Mary-le-Strand
St Mary-le-Strand has been an unloved London church, viewed as a bit of a problem. This wasn’t helped by a terrible accident in the early nineteenth century, which I’ll detail below, caused by its shoddy construction. In 1887, The Daily Telegraph asked: “What is to be done with the internally handsome, externally cumbrous, and obstructive…
Dryden funeral disrupted by thugs
The funeral of John Dryden was turned into a farce when aristocratic thugs stole his coffin as Tony McMahon investigates a London scandal