27
votes
What (else) happened July 1st 1858 in London?
The first place that I would search is the British Newspaper Archive. Note that this site requires a subscription to actually view the newspapers, although it is free to search.
If you have a ...
- 77.3k
22
votes
Accepted
What is a "Johnsonian world of clubs and coffee houses" in the context of 18th century England?
Yes it's Samuel Johnson. There is an idealized view that 18th century London coffee-houses were full of great men exchanging dazzling repartee on the popular matters of the day. These meetings led to ...
- 881
12
votes
Accepted
How common was gun ownership by Londoners in the early 20th century?
Actually, gun ownership in the UK was relatively common until 1920.
In fact, the right (of Protestants) to bear arms was guaranteed in the 1689 Bill of Rights:
"That the subjects which are ...
- 77.3k
11
votes
Accepted
Who sold this book in London in the 1930s?
The position of "Limited" in relation to "Smallman &" does resemble the "Smallman and Ingram" logo, for example on their catalog. While John Smallman and Lemuel Ingram started their retail store ...
- 4,082
8
votes
Accepted
Would newspapers in 1890 London have printing presses in their offices?
Yes the presses were in the offices in Fleet Street.
For a picture see wikipedia picture entitled "New_Daily_Telegraph_Offices_Fleet_Street_ILN_1882" from the Illustrated London News in 1882
Another ...
- 1,004
7
votes
Accepted
What did the Russian ambassador to Japan do during his trip to London?
According to Rezanov's journal, they spent those days sightseeing and visiting Russian diplomats in London. They visited Westminster abbey, London Tower, Greenwich observatory and Newgate prison, ...
- 8,815
7
votes
Who lived on Golden Square in London in the 18th century?
The British History Online website has several pages taken from the Survey of London about Golden Square which may have the information you're looking for.
There is an overview of the history and ...
- 77.3k
6
votes
Accepted
Who governed London during the Great Plague?
The day-to-day running of London remained in the hands of the Lord Mayor. This from the National Archives:
The Lord Mayor and aldermen (town councillors) remained to enforce the
King’s orders to ...
- 108k
5
votes
How long did it take for mail to get to London from New York in 1919?
A quick check of the Blue Riband crossing times shows that the fastest vessels were crossing the Atlantic in just under 5 days (in either direction) by 1919. The average crossing time would probably ...
- 19.2k
4
votes
What is the year of Ethelred the Unready's Laws of London?
tldr: This is usually dated to the 990s.
Unfortunately, it is impossible to answer this with enough precision or certainty to speak of a "correct year". The legal code known as IV Æthelred II (or De ...
- 97.4k
4
votes
What is a "Johnsonian world of clubs and coffee houses" in the context of 18th century England?
Yes, this is about Samuel Johnson, the author, critic and lexicographer, and the personage of the
"Life of Johnson" by Boswell.
He spent much of his life in pubs (even used to have his mail address ...
- 38.5k
4
votes
What (else) happened July 1st 1858 in London?
A good resource is this page on the National Archive's site. It's a very useful page, listing several different ways you can read historic newspapers, such as websites and physical locales.
You may ...
- 477
3
votes
How to find the population and mortality in London during the period 1760-1834?
In the paper "Patterns of smallpox mortality in London, England, over three centuries" authors deal with exactly this problem:
We accessed original documents in London, England, in the ...
- 131
2
votes
When did London newspapers start to use typewriters in their offices?
Judging by Jenson (1988), Using the typewriter: Secretaries, reporters and authors, 1880–1930 (author's Twitter), and assuming similar developments on both sides of the Atlantic, the answer would be ...
- 23.2k
2
votes
Does footage of WWI bombing of London by zeppelins exist?
There have been a bunch of fictional movies involving zeppelins and other airships.
I once stumbled upon a scene of a zeppelin attack on London on television. It turned out to be from the famous ...
- 19.1k
1
vote
Did they really use these for street lights and warmth in the Victorian London?
These sconces or lamps were not used in Victorian London. The Georgian era brought legislation that required certain households to have lighting outside their houses between March and September from ...
- 2,333
1
vote
Did anyone at the time blame the Great Plague on rats or fleas?
Slightly out of my era of interest, but I would think that the population knew nothing about viruses and bacteria, so any "culling" of animals would be clutching at straws. I would say that ...
- 19
1
vote
Where did poor London women give birth in the latter half of the 19th century?
Echoing the sentiment in my earlier comment, hospitals were chiefly a venue where the poor would go until the mid-century, and births occurred at home with ad hoc midwives otherwise.
The story behind ...
- 23.2k
1
vote
What (else) happened July 1st 1858 in London?
I'm looking for sources of information freely available online about happenings in London the day July 1st 1858
Consider going to your local library or university, and enquiring about where you can ...
- 23.2k
1
vote
What is a "Johnsonian world of clubs and coffee houses" in the context of 18th century England?
"Coffee houses" were social meeting places where people of the same trade or profession would often meet. Some of these coffee houses (and similar places such as pubs and clubs) were places where ...
- 104k
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