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Health

Penny Hampson

Cutting Edge Advice for the Regency Traveller: Mariana Starke and Her Guidebook

June 13th, 2022

A few months ago I was fortunate enough to purchase a copy of Mariana Starke’s (1762-1838) Information and Directions for Travellers on the Continent. The edition I now proudly own is the 6th edition of her work published in 1828. Mariana was born in Epsom and was the eldest daughter of Richard Starke who had […]

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Don’t Try This at Home: Common Cures for Ailments in the Regency

January 12th, 2022

I’m returning to one of my favourite books today, Buchan’s Domestic Medicine. At the back of my 1809 copy is a British Family Herbal, containing details of all the items thought necessary for both domestic use and for private medical practice. I’ve made a selection of some that will be familiar to you and some […]

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Who Wants a Glass of Water?

October 9th, 2021

Today, I thought I’d take another look at Buchan’s Domestic Medicine. In my edition, there is a section that discusses mineral waters. Now, for anyone who is a fan of Regency novels there is often mention of ‘taking the waters’, and this was usually undertaken in Bath, a city still known today for its hot […]

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A Cure for Every Ill?

August 13th, 2021

Having recently purchased one of the most popular domestic medical advice books of the Regency period – Buchan’s Domestic Medicine Modernized– I thought I’d look at a few common ailments and see how they were treated in the past. If you’re a bit squeamish, look away now! FeversAccording to Buchan, fevers are usually caused by […]

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Who was Caleb Hillier Parry?

March 2nd, 2020

Bath in its heyday was renowned as the place to go if you were in poor health. Since Roman times its hot spring had been famed for its curative powers, and the same waters were used by the Georgians in an attempt to cure their ills. Bath, a magnet for the sick, also became a […]

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The Harsh Reality of Life As A Climbing Boy

January 7th, 2020

Join me on The Coffee Pot Book Club Blog today, where I’m taking a look at the harsh reality of life as a climbing boy (Warning! It’s not for the faint-hearted)

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Discover the disease that terrified parents in the early1800s, and the man who argued for inoculation.

December 2nd, 2019

With all the doom and gloom around at the moment, I thought I’d look at what was being reported in The Gentleman’s Magazine for November 1802. Well, it wasn’t better then, much worse in fact, particularly with regard to a disease that we no longer have to contend with… smallpox. I discovered a letter from […]

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Have you got Toothache? Then See a Blacksmith

November 13th, 2019

This week I had to make an emergency visit to the dentist. Fortunately, I didn’t require any major treatment, but I wondered what might have happened, if I’d been living in the early 1800s. At the time, dentistry was not a regulated profession; in rural areas patients would go to the local blacksmith to have […]

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