1660 - 1830", by Sarah Slater, a white-badge guide lecturer at Hampton Court Palace, and also a South Central blue badge tourist guide. Sarah spoke very clearly and amusingly , keeping us all so well entertained that there was no risk of anyone nodding off!

Sarah's lecture was supported by excellent slides, and we began with some beautiful pictures of Hampton Court, lived in by every monarch right through from when Henry VIII, who effectively grabbed it off Cardinal Wolsey, to George III.  This included pictures of the alterations made by William III and Queen Mary II, so we were entertained by an interesting digression into questions over the sexuality of both of those dual monarchs, about both of whom there was gossip, but no proof.  For the benefit of those with a rather hazy knowledge of the line of succession, after the exclusion of the Catholic descendants of James II, we were also shown a clear family tree making clear how the monarchs after Queen Anne (the four Georges and their descendants) inherited the throne.

Our lecturer then took us forward to the Victorian period (slightly beyond our official timeline), pointing out that the Victorians were not really prudes so much as people simply trying to deal with the inevitable social and economic consequences of casual sex and also of simply having too many children born within marriage. We learned about the many different types of whores, from the lowest to the highest kept mistresses.  There was even a book called Harrison's List, which listed all the prostitutes in London, along with their prices and specialities! 

Working backward through the time period, we learned of the famously disastrous marriage of the Prince Regent and Caroline of Brunswick, of the sad life of George I's wife Sophia Dorothea and many others. Charles II's busy love life also inevitably received attention, with his many acknowledged mistresses and illegitimate children - though I always feel one should add in his favour that he always treated his wife, Catherine of Braganza, with respect and refused the advice of those telling him he should divorce her and remarry in order to produce a legitimate heir.  He was clearly a much kinder individual than Henry VIII!  One of history's great "What ifs?"  Had Charles II taken that cruel advice, poor Catherine would have suffered - but we would not have had the disastrous reign of James II, the Glorious Revolution with William III and Mary, the Georgians, the Jacobite rebellions ....and so on.

The lecture was in some ways not for the faint-hearted, as we learned much about the various ways in which people tried to limit their families through some fairly primitive types of contraception - some more effective than others.  It was amusing and interesting, and a serious reminder that sex wasn't invented yesterday!   I particularly liked the tale of Theresa Constantia Phillips, who had a shop called "The Green Canister" in Half Moon St., Covent Garden, now Bedford St.). She sold the very best condoms, which could be washed and re-used - and which even commanded a good second-hand price!   The mind boggles!".

Member Wendy Crozier