Julia Brannan's Blog, page 5

  So far in my posts on this subject I’ve talked a little about the high-class prostitutes or courtesans, and about those who operated from private premises, either their own, or from a brothel run by a bawd. Today I’m going to look at the life of the women who lived and worked either on the streets or in filthy hovels – the lowest end of the profession. Every prostitute with any sense must have realised that there was a reasonable chance of her ending up here, unless she became a bawd, or was lucky enough to snare a wealthy […]

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  In my last post I wrote about courtesans, but of course the vast majority of girls who entered prostitution as a way to make a living would not even dream of ever being a wealthy kept mistress. Although prostitution was not illegal at this time, it was still a dangerous job, for many reasons. Some of the dangers applied to all prostitutes – that of pregnancy followed by the risks of abortion or childbirth, or of contracting venereal disease, called the pox or French pox, which was ultimately fatal, and for which the ‘cures’ were both expensive and horrific.  […]

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  Although many eighteenth century women were far from being docile and submissive, the laws were made by and in the main, for men, and consequently there were not as many career options for women then as there are today.  In general, it was expected that a woman’s role in life was to marry, look after the house and produce children. That’s not to say that women didn’t work outside the house, of course, especially if they were poor. Poorer women could work as servants, needlewomen, shop assistants and washerwomen, amongst others.  There were women who ran their own businesses, although […]

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  Although I lived in England as a child, my Scottish mother always insisted that we celebrate New Year’s Eve in the Scottish way, as her parents and grandparents had. All bills were paid, the house was cleaned,  then before midnight the old year was taken out of the back door, then all doors and windows in the house were closed, trapping any revellers in until the first person (the first foot) came to the front door after midnight, bringing in the New Year with them. Normally, because I was the only child at this otherwise adult celebration, I was […]

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  In The Whore’s Tale, the main character Sarah spends some time in Chester, so I thought readers might like to know a little more about this beautiful city. There has been human settlement at Chester for at least 2000 years, and the multitude of wonderful buildings and excavated ruins are not only fascinating to visit, but also provide a visual aspect to the lively history of this place. Chester was first settled by the Romans in 74-77A.D. when the 2nd Adiutrix legion built a fort at Castra Deva, as it was then known, and was home for about 5000 […]

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The Whore’s Tale: Sarah – Blurb.  The year is 1731 and in a small village in Cheshire, England, the Reverend Browne has determined the future of his young daughter Sarah. Her life will be dedicated to caring for him and his household affairs while he, acting as one of God’s chosen few, saves souls from the Devil. Sarah dreams of a different future, one in which she will be happy and independent. As she grows older she starts to see glimpses of a tantalising world beyond her reach and longs one day to escape the drudgery of her life, to […]

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  A few days ago, in a rare moment of idleness, I decided to look through the reviews of my books. I leafed through them, delighted by the numbers of 5-star reviews from readers and the kind words of praise. But of a sudden I came upon a 3-star review that struck horror into my soul. What? I hear you say, a 3-star review? That’s not bad! No, normally it wouldn’t be, but the reader went on to state that she would have given my book Mask of Duplicity five stars, were it not for my historical error. “One of […]

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  During the ’45 Prince Frederick took no active part in the military process, unlike his younger brother the Duke of Cumberland. He did directly ask for the command of the army heading to face Prince Charles Edward Stuart and was refused, understandably so, as he had never been allowed to see any military action and so was completely inexperienced. But he took it as a personal rebuff, and was deeply hurt. As a result he showed a lack of any interest in the rising, going to the theatre as usual, and engaging in a sugar-plum bombardment of a marzipan […]

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  In 1731 the king returned from Hanover to find his son grown independent and dangerous, and instead of giving him some responsibility to keep him useful and busy, decided to suppress him, cutting his allowance and doling it out in small sums reluctantly, refusing to give him an official residence as Prince of Wales, and appointing and dismissing the princes’ servants and attendants, as he was entitled to do.  All of these things were hardly likely to mend the rift between them. Indeed Robert Walpole (leader of the government, which would now be Prime Minister) advised the king against […]

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  Firstly I have to say that Prince Frederick has not been dealt well with by history. Most people have never heard of him, and don’t realise that George III was the grandson, not the son of George II.  If you have heard of him then most likely you think of him as a rake and a weakling. I do not believe this to be fair, and having read a good deal about him whilst researching for the Jacobite Chronicles, I came to like him – as readers may guess from the way I’ve portrayed him in my books. None […]

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