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This series comprises contemporary or near-contemporary accounts of the political, economic and social history of the British Isles during the nineteenth century. It includes material on international diplomacy and trade, labour relations and the women's movement, developments in education and social welfare, religious emancipation, the justice system and special events including the Great Exhibition of 1851.

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240 results in Cambridge Library Collection - British and Irish History, 19th Century

Page 5 of 12

The Life of His Royal Highness the Prince Consort
  • Volume 1
  • Theodore Martin
  • Published online:
    05 July 2014
    Print publication:
    18 April 2013
    First published in:
    1875
  • A lawyer by profession, Theodore Martin (1816–1909) gained literary distinction as both a humorous essayist and versatile translator. He found his greatest success, however, in the role of biographer to Prince Albert (1819–61). Commissioned by Queen Victoria to memorialise her late husband, this five-volume work was first published between 1875 and 1880. Intended as a continuation of the biography begun by Charles Grey (also reissued in this series), it has been described as 'less adulatory in tone than might be expected'. A treasury of letters and memoranda, it presents a detailed portrait of the character, words and deeds of a man whose life was necessarily immersed in the great events of his time. Volume 1 covers Albert's youth, his marriage to Victoria and the early years as her husband, up until the birth of their sixth child, Princess Louise, in 1848.

The Life of His Royal Highness the Prince Consort
  • Volume 4
  • Theodore Martin
  • Published online:
    05 July 2014
    Print publication:
    18 April 2013
    First published in:
    1879
  • A lawyer by profession, Theodore Martin (1816–1909) gained literary distinction as both a humorous essayist and versatile translator. He found his greatest success, however, in the role of biographer to Prince Albert (1819–61). Commissioned by Queen Victoria to memorialise her late husband, this five-volume work was first published between 1875 and 1880. Intended as a continuation of the biography begun by Charles Grey (also reissued in this series), it has been described as 'less adulatory in tone than might be expected'. A treasury of letters and memoranda, it presents a detailed portrait of the character, words and deeds of a man whose life was necessarily immersed in the great events of his time. Volume 4 deals with the difficult period of 1856–9, which saw mutiny in India, worldwide commercial uncertainty, and the beginning of a decline in Albert's health.

The Life of His Royal Highness the Prince Consort
  • Volume 2
  • Theodore Martin
  • Published online:
    05 July 2014
    Print publication:
    18 April 2013
    First published in:
    1876
  • A lawyer by profession, Theodore Martin (1816–1909) gained literary distinction as both a humorous essayist and versatile translator. He found his greatest success, however, in the role of biographer to Prince Albert (1819–61). Commissioned by Queen Victoria to memorialise her late husband, this five-volume work was first published between 1875 and 1880. Intended as a continuation of the biography begun by Charles Grey (also reissued in this series), it has been described as 'less adulatory in tone than might be expected'. A treasury of letters and memoranda, it presents a detailed portrait of the character, words and deeds of a man whose life was necessarily immersed in the great events of his time. Volume 2 covers the period from 1848 to 1854, the births of Princes Arthur and Leopold, the collapse of the Chartist movement and the 'spectacular success' of the Great Exhibition of 1851.

The Life of His Royal Highness the Prince Consort
  • Volume 5
  • Theodore Martin
  • Published online:
    05 July 2014
    Print publication:
    18 April 2013
    First published in:
    1880
  • A lawyer by profession, Theodore Martin (1816–1909) gained literary distinction as both a humorous essayist and versatile translator. He found his greatest success, however, in the role of biographer to Prince Albert (1819–61). Commissioned by Queen Victoria to memorialise her late husband, this five-volume work was first published between 1875 and 1880. Intended as a continuation of the biography begun by Charles Grey (also reissued in this series), it has been described as 'less adulatory in tone than might be expected'. A treasury of letters and memoranda, it presents a detailed portrait of the character, words and deeds of a man whose life was necessarily immersed in the great events of his time. Volume 5 covers Albert's final years, from 1859 to his protracted illness and death in 1861 at the age of forty-two.

The Cook and Housewife's Manual
  • Containing the Most Approved Modern Receipts for Making Soups, Gravies, Sauces, Ragouts, and All Made-Dishes
  • Christian Isobel Johnstone
  • Published online:
    05 May 2014
    Print publication:
    27 June 2013
    First published in:
    1827
  • Scottish writer Christian Isobel Johnstone (1781–1857) enjoyed a prolific career as a journalist and novelist. She established several periodicals with her second husband, and was the only female journalist to edit a major periodical until the 1860s. Written under the pseudonym Margaret Dods (the name of the landlady of the Cleikum Inn, in Scott's St Ronan's Well), the first edition of this housekeeping guide, published in 1826, contains not only recipes and cooking advice but also instructions for food preservation, as well as other useful domestic hints, and two pieces, probably by Scott himself, about the inauguration and the final meeting of the Cleikum Club. This second edition was published in 1827 and contains additions including a compendium of French cookery, an enhanced section on confectionery and a further 200 recipes. Several further editions were printed subsequently, providing Johnstone with a steady income for the rest of her life.

The Book of the Farm
  • Detailing the Labours of the Farmer, Farm-steward, Ploughman, Shepherd, Hedger, Cattle-man, Field-worker, and Dairy-maid
  • Volume 2
  • Henry Stephens
  • Published online:
    05 April 2014
    Print publication:
    06 January 2011
    First published in:
    1844
  • Henry Stephens (1795–1874) was a farmer and later a writer on agriculture. After attending lectures on chemistry and agriculture at the University of Edinburgh he boarded with a Berwickshire farmer, George Brown, and gained experience of agricultural work. In 1820 Stephens acquired his own farm, on which he used modern and experimental farming methods. In 1837 he sold the farm, and devoted the rest of his life to writing guides to farming for the use of inexperienced farmers. These influential volumes, first published in 1842, contain Stephens' detailed descriptions of contemporary farming practices. He describes in meticulous detail all aspects of farming, including livestock care and slaughter, dairying, irrigation practices and crop culture. Arranged by season and including copious high-quality illustrations of farming equipment, these extremely popular and fascinating volumes were considered the standard work on practical Victorian agriculture. Volume 2 describes farming tasks performed in spring.

Woman's Mission
  • A Series of Congress Papers on the Philanthropic Work of Women by Eminent Writers
  • Edited by Angela Georgina Burdett-Coutts
  • Published online:
    05 April 2014
    Print publication:
    22 August 2013
    First published in:
    1893
  • Granddaughter of the banker Thomas Coutts, the philanthropist Angela Georgina Burdett-Coutts (1814–1906) was one of the most remarkable women of her age, giving away an estimated £4 million of her inheritance to a wide range of causes at home and abroad. She set an example to others, offering support in a practical way without fuss, working with Charles Dickens on schemes to improve the lot of the poverty-stricken, striving to ameliorate the conditions in which they lived. The Church of England was another beneficiary of her largesse, receiving endowments for bishoprics, churches, and elementary and technical school buildings. In 1893, she edited this collection of papers from a congress held during the international exposition in Chicago. It offers a fascinating snapshot - drawing on information from over 300 organisations worldwide - of the astonishing variety of charitable work undertaken by women in the late nineteenth century.

Woman and Labour
  • Olive Schreiner
  • Published online:
    05 March 2014
    Print publication:
    29 August 2013
    First published in:
    1914
  • Olive Schreiner (1855–1920), South African author and feminist, and friend of Havelock Ellis and Eleanor Marx, was one of the most important and challenging social commentators of her time. The ninth of twelve children, she lacked formal education and was taught by her mother. It was her 1883 novel Story of an African Farm that secured her reputation as an author and feminist, which her activities in England (1881–9) further consolidated. First published in 1911, this acclaimed feminist work, one of the most influential of the early twentieth century, established Schreiner's place in the Women's Movement. A reworking of an earlier manuscript destroyed during looting of her Johannesburg home by British soldiers, it considers how the role and position of women has been determined by the artificial constrictions of society. Schreiner ends the work with her vision of true equality between man and woman. This is the 1914 printing.

Memoirs of Alexis Soyer
  • With Unpublished Receipts and Odds and Ends of Gastronomy
  • Alexis Soyer
  • Edited by F. Volant, J. R. Warren
  • Published online:
    05 March 2014
    Print publication:
    22 August 2013
  • Perhaps the first celebrity chef, Alexis Soyer (1810–58) was a flamboyant, larger-than-life character who nonetheless took his profession very seriously. As the chef of the Reform Club, he modernised its kitchens, installing refrigerators and gas cookers. In 1851, during the Great Exhibition, he prepared spectacular (but financially ruinous) culinary extravaganzas at his restaurant, the Gastronomic Symposium of All Nations. In stark contrast, he organised soup kitchens during the Great Famine in Ireland and volunteered his services in the Crimea in 1855 to improve military catering. He was also a prolific inventor of kitchen gadgets, notably promoting the Magic Stove, used for cooking food at the table. Several of his highly popular cookery books have been reissued in this series. Following his death, his secretaries François Volant and James Warren published this anecdotal and admiring biography in 1859, together with recipes and other cookery writings.

A History of Political Economy
  • John K. Ingram
  • Published online:
    05 March 2014
    Print publication:
    27 June 2013
    First published in:
    1888
  • Living most of his life in Dublin, John Kells Ingram (1823–1907) published papers on Shakespeare, geometry, differential calculus, and Mexican antiques, held professorial chairs in English Literature and Greek, and in 1843 wrote 'The Memory of the Dead', a celebrated Irish nationalist hymn. He helped to found the Dublin Statistical Society in 1847, and from the 1860s began to write papers such as 'Work and the Workman', reflecting his adherence to the positivist sociology of Auguste Comte. He saw economics as an integral part of sociology which, through practical application, could contribute towards the betterment of humanity. Published in 1888, A History of Political Economy was hugely successful, being translated into ten languages. In it, Ingram expands on the historicist rejection of laissez-faire and free trade as being universally correct, and promotes the notion that the state can play a constructive role in improving the lives of its people.

Baroness Burdett-Coutts
  • A Sketch of her Public Life and Work
  • Published online:
    05 January 2014
    Print publication:
    14 February 2013
    First published in:
    1893
  • Granddaughter of the banker Thomas Coutts, the philanthropist Angela Georgina Burdett-Coutts (1814–1906) was one of the most remarkable women of her age, giving away an estimated £4 million of her inheritance to a wide range of causes. She set an example to others, offering practical support without fuss, and worked with Charles Dickens on schemes to improve the lot of the poverty-stricken. The Church of England was another beneficiary of her largesse, receiving endowments for bishoprics, churches and school buildings. The welfare of animals also deeply concerned her, and she was actively involved with the RSPCA. This anonymously compiled book, endorsed by her great friend Mary of Teck and published in 1893 for the international exposition in Chicago, presents a fascinating summary of her diverse charitable work. Burdett-Coutts herself edited for the exposition Woman's Mission, a series of papers on female philanthropy, also reissued in this series.

Colonial Memories
  • Mary Anne Barker
  • Published online:
    05 August 2013
    Print publication:
    21 February 2013
    First published in:
    1904
  • First published in 1904, this book is the last of Lady Mary Anne Barker's memoirs of her life in several of Britain's colonies in the nineteenth century. Barker (1831–1911) was born in Jamaica and educated in England and France. In 1865, she moved to New Zealand with her second husband, Sir Frederick Broome, and spent three years living on a sheep station. She then lived in South Africa, Mauritius, Trinidad, and Western Australia following the various political appointments of her husband. During her travels she began her successful writing career and published several memoirs and housekeeping guides. In Colonial Memories, she recounts her life as a colonial wife, detailing her experiences in far-flung locales. The book also includes chapters on birds, interviews, General Charles Gordon (whom she met in Mauritius), and her servants. Several of the chapters were initially published as articles in London magazines.

Collection of Reports of Celebrated Trials, Civil and Criminal
  • William Otter Woodall
  • Published online:
    05 August 2013
    Print publication:
    11 October 2012
    First published in:
    1873
  • A solicitor with offices in Scarborough, William Otter Woodall (1837–1914) was a prominent member of the local community. This work, edited by Woodall and first published in 1873, brings together reports of seven notable and intriguing nineteenth-century civil and criminal trials as case studies for the benefit of the legal profession. (It was intended as the first of a series, but no further volumes were published.) The book includes the case of the so-called 'Quaker' poisoner John Tawell, executed in 1845, who was the first person to be arrested with the aid of the electric telegraph and about whose fate several popular ballads were written; that of Abraham Thornton in 1818 - for the murder of Mary Ashford - who claimed the right to the ancient Norman tradition of trial by battle; and that of Reverend William Bailey, transported for life in 1843 to Van Diemen's Land for forgery. This colourful, engaging work will appeal to anyone with an interest in the law or true crime stories.

The Exposition of 1851
  • Or, Views of the Industry, the Science, and the Government, of England
  • Charles Babbage
  • Published online:
    05 August 2013
    Print publication:
    13 December 2012
    First published in:
    1851
  • Charles Babbage (1791–1871), one of the most original thinkers of the nineteenth century, is best remembered as the pioneer of computing technology, but he also made significant contributions to mathematics, mechanical engineering, philosophy and political economy. This book, first published in 1851, is an example of his active and effective campaigning for the role of scientists and the place of science, technology and technical education in society. Ahead of his time, Babbage was critical of government and the scientific community for not valuing science and technology in education. The work develops these themes, using the Great Exhibition as a backdrop to highlight the political and cultural factors that can impede scientific and technological progress. Britain's industrial supremacy, he argued, disguised the need to develop technical education. As relevant and persuasive today as in 1851, Babbage's arguments emphasise the fundamental importance of technology to the advancement of society.

Realities of Irish Life
  • W. Steuart Trench
  • Published online:
    05 July 2013
    Print publication:
    22 December 2011
    First published in:
    1869
  • First published in 1868, this book provides an intriguing memoir of Irish culture and society during and after the Potato Famine. W. Steuart Trench (1808–72) studied agriculture with a view to becoming a land agent: having taken on this role for the Shirley estate in Monaghan in 1843, he eventually managed Irish estates for the Marquess of Lansdowne in County Kerry, for the Marquess of Bath and for Lord Digby. His book, a series of stories of everyday (and some extraordinary) events in nineteenth-century Ireland, purports to give the English public a clear and truthful account of the daily occurrences and difficulties experienced by an Irish landlord and his agent. The book also contains detailed appendix material, including letters describing the devastating effects of the famine (1845–52). The work was immediately successful, with five reprintings (of which this reissue is the third) within twelve months of publication.

Observations on the Natural Claim of the Mother to the Custody of her Infant Children
  • As Affected by the Common Law Right of the Father
  • Caroline Sheridan Norton
  • Published online:
    05 June 2013
    Print publication:
    13 December 2012
    First published in:
    1837
  • Caroline Norton (1808–77), author and law reform campaigner, was the granddaughter of the playwright Sheridan and soprano Elizabeth Linley. Her disastrous, violent marriage in 1827 to the financially irresponsible Tory MP and barrister George Norton led her to seek escape in writing poetry. Anonymous autobiographical novels followed, exploring women's powerlessness in marriage, together with regular contributions to periodicals such as Macmillan's Magazine. Flamboyant, intelligent and temperamental, she secured her place in literary society, numbering Disraeli and Dickens among her friends. Ever jealous, her husband accused her of adultery with Lord Melbourne, but the case was unproven. In revenge, he refused his wife access to their sons, and it was this act which led to her determined campaign to improve the rights of women in marriage and divorce. This work, first published anonymously in 1837, was instrumental in the subsequent passing of the Custody of Infants Act (1839).

Twenty-Five Years of Detective Life
  • Jerome Caminada
  • Published online:
    05 June 2013
    Print publication:
    16 August 2012
    First published in:
    1895
  • An inspiration behind Sherlock Holmes, Jerome Caminada (1844–1914) was probably the most well-known detective in late Victorian England. Living in Manchester his whole life, he grew up in Deansgate, notorious for its brothels and beerhouses. He joined the police in 1868 and later became Manchester's first detective superintendent. Known for his unorthodox, eccentric methods, he regularly donned disguises and once hid inside a grand piano in order to catch a thief. Despite being responsible for imprisoning over 1,000 criminals, Caminada was perhaps progressive in his belief that punishment 'strengthens evil propensities, prevents repentance and renders reform impossible'. Peopled with characters such as 'Cabbage Ann', 'Bodger' and 'One Armed Kitty', this autobiography, first published in 1895, paints an extremely vivid picture of a seedy, dilapidated and dangerous Victorian city and its criminal underworld.

Homes of Taste
  • Economical Hints
  • Jane Ellen Panton
  • Published online:
    05 May 2013
    Print publication:
    12 July 2012
    First published in:
    1890
  • Jane Ellen Panton (1847–1923) was the second daughter of the artist William Powell Frith, and a journalist and author on domestic issues. First published in 1890, this was one of a series of advice guides written by Panton on life and work in the middle-class home. With each chapter focusing on a different area of the house, the book offers advice to young married couples on how to make their homes 'tasteful without undue expense' by devoting time and effort to renovation and furnishing, and by choosing decorative styles that would not date. The author encourages her readers to become 'house proud', and to this end suggests that men should learn basic carpentry and refurbishment skills, while women should become proficient in needlework, as opposed to 'dawdling' over 'mere society flutter'. Providing a revealing snapshot of life in late nineteenth-century England, this book will appeal to historians and sociologists.

The Toilers of the Field
  • Richard Jefferies
  • Published online:
    05 May 2013
    Print publication:
    18 November 2010
    First published in:
    1892
  • Richard Jefferies (1848–87) remains one of the most thoughtful and most lyrical writers on the English countryside. He had aspirations to make a living as a novelist, but it was his short, factually based articles for The Live Stock Journal and other magazines, drawn from a wealth of knowledge of the rural community into which he had been born, which, when brought together in book form, brought him recognition (though not wealth) and which continued to be read and admired after his early death. This volume, first published posthumously in 1892, contains a collection of essays concerning rural farmers and labourers previously published before Jefferies had achieved public recognition. Jefferies vividly describes the daily life and circumstances of Victorian English farmers, labourers and their wives without sentimentality, illustrating hardships in addition to idyllic pastimes, providing a realistic and valuable description of a now vanished way of life.

The Life of Mrs Jordan
  • Including Original Private Correspondence, and Numerous Anecdotes of her Contemporaries
  • Volume 2
  • James Boaden
  • Published online:
    05 May 2013
    Print publication:
    02 August 2012
    First published in:
    1831
  • The actress Dorothy Jordan (1761–1816), contemporary of Sarah Siddons, was born in London, one of nine children. Her reputation as the greatest comic actress of her time was secured upon joining Sheridan's company at Drury Lane in 1785. Remembered particularly for cross-dressing roles such as Rosalind in As You Like It and Viola in Twelfth Night, she brought great charm and spontaneity to her interpretations. Her life off-stage was equally colourful, and she was for over twenty years the lover of William, Duke of Clarence, with whom she had ten children. This two-volume biography, first published in 1831, was written by her friend James Boaden (1762–1839), a playwright who later turned to theatrical biography. In it, he relates the extraordinary and poignant story of her life from acclaim to obscurity. Volume 2 covers her many provincial tours, her enforced separation from Clarence, retirement and self-imposed exile in France.

Page 5 of 12