Nineteenth Century – History… the interesting bits!

Wordly Women: Joanne Major

20/06/202619/06/2026Sharon Bennett ConnollyLeave a comment

Today, it is an absolute pleasure to continue my Wordly Women interview series with my dear friend Joanne Major. Like me, Joanne likes to put the women back into the limelight, though she focuses on women of the Georgian era, rather than the medieval. Her book, All Things Georgian: Tales from the long Eighteenth Century, which she co-wrote with Sarah Murden, is one of the most beautiful books I have ever read. The sumptuous, colourful photos scattered throughout the book makes it esthetically pleasing to the eye. It also regales the reader with some of the best stories from the eighteenth century; scandals, love stories and mysteries fill the pages…

So, on with the interview…

Sharon: Welcome Joanne. First question is what got you into writing?

Joanne: I’ve always loved writing. I wrote stories as a child and taped the sheets of paper into homemade books. In my early 20s, I attempted to write a novel. Several, in fact, all of which still languish half-finished somewhere. Then, life got in the way and writing fell by the wayside, although I continued to make up stories in my head.

Then, via a genealogy forum, I met Sarah Murden. We stumbled upon a story, that of a Romany connection to the royal family. We began to research, intending it for an article in the Romany and Traveller Family History Society’s journal, but things snowballed, and it became a book. We discovered that we wrote in very different styles, so while the research was done together, I took on the writing duties.

We ended up co-authoring five books, and then, at the age of 50, I made a whirlwind decision to enrol at university to study for a Creative Writing degree and continued onto an MA. I researched and wrote my first ‘solo’ nonfiction book whilst at university (Kitty Fisher: The First Female Celebrity). During that time, I also rediscovered my love of writing fiction (in short story form), and I now also enjoy writing short, angry poems.

So, it’s been a roundabout journey, one that started with wanting to write fiction, diverted into historical nonfiction, and along the way I found both my confidence and my ‘voice.’ I’m hoping it might end with me finally achieving my long-held ambition to write a novel, but I need a few more hours in the day for that right now.

Sharon: Tell us about your books.

Joanne: I’ve had six historical nonfiction books published by Pen & Sword History, focusing on women’s history in the Georgian period, but with a little diversion into the 17th century and the Victorian era on occasion. I also have a book of historical short fiction.

The Extraordinary Life of a Georgian Courtesan: Grace Dalrymple Elliott, her Family, and Friends (originally issued in hardback as An Infamous Mistress): This is the biography of the Scottish-born Grace Dalrymple Elliott. Tall and beautiful, Grace was married to a doctor twice her age and about half her height, who divorced her while she was still in her teens. This launched her into a career as a courtesan, and her lovers included the Duke of Orléans (Philippe Egalité) and the Prince of Wales, later George IV (she bore him a child). Trapped in France during the revolutionary years, Grace left behind one of the few first-hand accounts of the time written by a woman.

A Right Royal Scandal: Two Marriages That Changed History: Although published second, this was the book that started it all. It looks at two generations of the royal family’s ancestors, the Cavendish-Bentincks of Welbeck Abbey. Just after the Battle of Waterloo, the Duke of Wellington’s married niece, Lady Anne Abdy, eloped with Lord Charles Bentinck. (He was a widower; his first wife was the daughter of Grace Dalrymple Elliott and King George IV.) The drama continued into the next generation when Anne and Charles’s eldest son made a secret marriage to a Romany girl he met while studying at Oxford, to the horror of his ducal relatives.

A Georgian Heroine: The Intriguing Life OF Rachel Charlotte Williams Biggs: If I floated this as the basis for a historical fiction novel, you’d say the story was too far-fetched. Mrs Biggs suffered horrendously. She was kidnapped and sexually abused twice and escaped to France, where she became trapped during the Revolution. Afterwards, she reinvented herself as a playwright and author, a ‘female politician’, and a spy. An ardent royalist who instigated George III’s jubilee celebrations almost single-handedly, if Mrs Biggs had been born a man, you’d already know all about her, but she was a woman and, during her lifetime, was anonymous.

All Things Georgian: Tales from the Long Eighteenth Century: A collection of 25 true tales from the era; for this one, the writing credits were shared between Sarah and me. It covers actresses, royalty, eccentrics, criminals, and inventions, and is lavishly illustrated in colour.

A History of the Dukes of Bolton, 1600-1815: Love Loyalty: The Bolton dukedom ran out of male heirs in the 1790s, and maybe this is why the family has been overlooked. In fact, over several generations they were crucial to events that shaped British history. The womenfolk were vital to the dynasty, too, with the estates passing through the female line more than once.

Kitty Fisher: The First Female Celebrity: I’ve described her thus because Kitty was a celebrity in the way we’d understand the concept today and was almost modern in how she approached her fame. Kitty would have loved TikTok and Instagram! Remembered as a courtesan, and the subject of several Joshua Reynolds’s portraits and a well-known nursery rhyme, I discovered a very different woman from the one I expected.

Castles, Conspiracies, and a Coronation: This is a (self-published) collection of short historical fiction, comprising two short stories, a novelette, and a novella in length, and ranging from medieval to the Victorian eras.

Sharon: What attracts you to the Georgian period?

Joanne: For me, it bridges ‘old’ and ‘new’ history. We see echoes of the Stuart and Tudor eras, but also the foundations of the modern world. I also love the fashion and the personalities. With the rise of the print industry (newspapers/satirical prints/magazines, etc.), people are brought to life in a way not always possible for earlier periods. (Having said all that, my stock, and only partly joking, answer is that Adam Ant’s ‘dandy highwayman’ may also have a lot to answer for!)

Sharon: Who is your favourite Georgian and why?

Joanne: It’s got to be Kitty Fisher. She surprised me more than once during my research. Although labelled as a famous courtesan, she wasn’t that successful and ended up being ‘kept’ by a syndicate of titled and well-to-do men who knew one another through a gambling club. As I researched, the woman behind the myth and legend emerged: Catherine Maria Fischer, an impetuous teenager who matured into an intelligent, kind, and fun-loving woman seeking love and security.

Sharon: Who is your least favourite Georgian and why?

Joanne: There are quite a few I could mention, but because I live just outside Lincoln, I’m going to go for someone little-known, but who had a detrimental impact on the city. In the mid-eighteenth century, Sir Cecil Wray, 13th Baronet Wray of Glentworth, built a house on Eastgate in Lincoln. He named it Eastgate House, and all was perfect except for some old stone ruins in his garden. He had them demolished because they interrupted his view of the nearby Lincoln Cathedral. The old stonework was an archway and substantial remains of a wall which once formed the Roman Upper East Gate to the city. As an act of selfish stupidity, it ranks high. (For anyone who knows Lincoln, it was similar to the city’s Newport Arch. All that is left are some foundations in the grounds of The Lincoln Hotel.)

Sharon: How do you approach researching your topic?

Joanne: Everything I find out goes onto a timeline, to which I also add events of note. I find this helps in connecting dots that otherwise might be missed. The timeline becomes my ‘bible’ when writing and helps to ensure nothing is missed.

In terms of my research, I approach it as both a historian and a genealogist. Using genealogical techniques, such as interrogating the wills of extended family members or searching through parish registers, has yielded amazing results, often where it has long been believed no evidence survives.

My main difficulty is knowing when to stop researching and start writing.

Sharon: Tell us your ‘favourite’ true historical story you have come across in your research.

Joanne: My favourite true historical story starts with a false one. If you read anything about Kitty Fisher (other than my book!), you’ll hear that she met Casanova in a London brothel. He mentioned it in his memoirs and told a story about Kitty eating a banknote. I was looking forward to writing about this. Unfortunately, it became evident that it was a load of baloney. Kitty might have been in Casanova’s vicinity, perhaps at one of the capital’s pleasure gardens, but she never met him in a brothel. In fact, she was never in a brothel, full stop and Kitty never ate a bank note; that was a different courtesan, Fanny Murray.

Instead, other, more truthful stories about Kitty had been forgotten. It was reported that she started a trend for drinking tea in her box at the theatre, and I love the thought of her having a cuppa whilst in all her finery and jewels. Once, in the middle of winter, Kitty decided she wanted strawberries and set her admirers off on an expensive search to procure them. A fashion icon, she designed a hat, the ‘Kitty Fisher bonnet,’ which was advertised for sale as far away as Boston in the US.

Despite my initial disappointment that Kitty hadn’t in fact met Casanova, I enjoyed setting the record straight.

Sharon: Tell us your least ‘favourite’ true historical story you have come across in your research.

Joanne: One of the downfalls of writing historical nonfiction is that you can’t rewrite history to give happy endings, however much you’d love to.

Women used a make-up item called ceruse, which whitened their skin. It contained lead. Heavy use was dangerous, and it hastened the fashion-conscious Kitty Fisher’s death. Believed to be suffering from TB, Kitty’s disease progressed at a speed that surprised everyone. Quite probably, the use of ceruse had damaged her immune system, leaving her body with little defence.

Sinetta Lambourne, the Romany girl who married Charles Cavendish Bentinck (A Right Royal Scandal), also used ceruse. She was described as ‘enamelled to her waist.’ In wanting to disguise her heritage, Sinetta fatally exposed both herself and her unborn children to lead poisoning. It’s particularly poignant as her husband obviously loved her exactly as she was, but Sinetta wanted to fit in with his world. (The Rev Charles Cavendish Bentinck made a second marriage. His granddaughter by his second wife was Elizabeth Bowes-Lyon, the ‘Queen Mother’.)

Sharon: Are there any other eras you would like to write about?

Joanne: In my 20s, I was involved in re-enactment, mainly with an English Civil War society, but dabbled in early medieval re-enacting, too. Whilst I am interested in earlier periods than those I write about, the scale of new research I’d have to do for nonfiction has so far ruled them out. I have set some of my short stories in other eras, however.

Sharon: What are you working on now?

Joanne: I have just written the biography of a Lincolnshire woman, Harriet Arbuthnot née Fane (1793-1834). Harriet married an MP (Charles Arbuthnot) and entered the inner circle of Tory politics. She was close friends with both Lord Castlereagh and the Duke of Wellington. Between 1820 and 1832, Harriet kept a journal which, as well as documenting politics, recounts her conversations with Wellington and others, and includes a bit of gossip, too.

I’ve used Harriet’s journal as a reference source in my books, and quoted her (for instance, her acid-tongued account of George IV’s coronation), but never realised she was from my home county. She’s always been known as either a diarist or as Wellington’s ‘best friend.’ (There were rumours, even in her lifetime, that their relationship was more, but it was a close friendship only.) My biography looks at Harriet as a woman in her own right, and I’ve got a lot of information about her life before she began to keep her journal. It’s due out in spring 2027.

Sharon: And finally, what is the best thing about being a writer?

Joanne: I’m not sure I can pick just one thing! I love words, and I enjoy losing myself in my writing. With historical nonfiction, it’s trying to bring the lives (and times) of my subjects to life in a way that will be accessible and interesting to readers. If I’m writing fiction, it’s the sheer pleasure of crafting a story and of creating the characters and settings.

With my nonfiction, I also enjoy the research immensely. I have a suspicion that all historians are frustrated detectives at heart, constantly looking for that last piece of the jigsaw. I’ve also been lucky enough, through my writing career, to visit some fascinating places that I’d never have gone to otherwise and met some amazing people along the way.

Author Bio

Joanne Major, author and historian, is captivated by the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries and in exploring the hitherto undiscovered women’s history of the period. She holds a BA (First Class) and MA (Distinction) in Creative Writing from the University of Lincoln. Joanne lives in Lincolnshire with her family and dogs, spending most days with one foot in the present and one in the past.

Joanne’s books are available via your bookshop of choice, direct from her publisher, or at Amazon UK and Amazon US.

Social Media

Website: Joanne Major, author, historian, and genealogist; Facebook; X/Twitter; Instagram

My Books

New releases in 2026:

New Hardbacks

Out now: Princesses of the Early Middle Ages: Royal Daughters of the Conquest

‘My daughter wanted me to treat her more like a princess. So, I married her to a stranger to strengthen the alliance with Poland!’

Princesses of the Early Middle Ages: Royal Daughters of the Conquest and Princesses of the Later Middle Ages: Royal Daughters of the Plantagenets tell the stories of England’s royal daughters from 1066 to the rise of the Tudors, from the last Anglo-Saxon princesses to the fall of the House of York.

Were they really pampered pawns sent off to marriages on the Continent, out of sight and out of mind?

Perhaps, there was different story, where a foreign marriage does not mean eternal exile, but a purpose in life, where a princess is a diplomat, an ambassador for England in her new country.

Where she is the bond between allies – most of the time.

Out now: Princesses of the Early Middle Ages: Royal Daughters of the Conquest

Pre-order: Princesses of the Later Middle Ages: Royal Daughters of the Plantagenets

New in Paperback:

OUT NOW! The momentous events of 1066, the story of invasion, battle and conquest, are well known. But what of the women? Silk and the Sword: The Women of the Norman Conquest traces the fortunes of the women who had a significant role to play during the Norman Conquest – wives, lovers, sisters, mothers, leaders. These are lives full of drama, pathos and sometimes mystery: Edith and Gytha searching the battlefield of Hastings for the body of Harold, his lover and mother united in their grief for the fallen king. Who was Ælfgyva, the lady of the Bayeux Tapestry, portrayed with a naked man at her feet?

Janina Ramirez said it’s ‘Excellent’!

COMING 15 July 2026: Heroines of the Tudor World focuses on the women who lived through the Renaissance and Reformation, examining the threats and challenges they faced and how they overcame them. These are the women who ruled, the women who founded dynasties, the women who fought for religious freedom, their families and love. These are the women who made a difference, who influenced countries, kings and the Reformation.

Derek Birks: ‘An excellent account of the changing roles of women in Tudor society.’

Annie Whitehead: ‘What a treat this book was to read. Bennett Connolly has an easy, conversation style of writing which welcomes you from the opening pages and draws you into her story.‘

Also by Sharon Bennett Connolly:

Heroines of the Medieval World; Silk and the Sword: The Women of the Norman Conquest; Ladies of Magna Carta: Women of Influence in Thirteenth Century England; Defenders of the Norman Crown: Rise and Fall of the Warenne Earls of Surrey; King John’s Right Hand Lady: The Story of Nicholaa de la Haye; Women of the Anarchy; Heroines of the Tudor World; Scotland’s Medieval Queens: From St Margaret to Margaret of Denmark; Princesses of the Early Middle Ages: Royal Daughters of the Conquest (March 2026); Princesses of the Later Middle Ages; Royal Daughters of the Plantagenets (August 2026)

Alternate Endings: An anthology of historical fiction short stories including Long Live the King… which is my take what might have happened had King John not died in October 1216. Available in paperback and kindle from Amazon.

All my books on Amazon and Bookshop.org . You can also order direct from my publishers, Pen and Sword Books and Amberley Publishing.

Podcast:

Have a listen to the A Slice of Medieval podcast, which I co-host with Historical fiction novelist Derek Birks. Derek and I welcome guests, such as Ian Mortimer, Bernard Cornwell, Elizabeth Chadwick and Scott Mariani, and discuss a wide range of topics in medieval history, from significant events to the personalities involved.

Every episode is also now available on YouTube.

Don’t forget!

Signed and dedicated copies of all my books are available through my online store.

For forthcoming online and in-person talks, please check out my Events Page.

You can be the first to read new articles by clicking the ‘Follow’ button, liking our Facebook page or joining me on Twitter and Instagram.

Book Corner: Mortimer’s A to Zs of English History by Ian Mortimer

11/12/2025Sharon Bennett ConnollyLeave a comment

From the bestselling author of the Time Traveller’s Guides

In these sparkling A to Zs, time-travelling historian Ian Mortimer visits four classic periods of English history: the fourteenth century, the Elizabethan age, the Restoration and the Regency.

As he ranges from the Great Plague to the Great Freeze, from Armada to Austen, and from tobacco to toenails, he shines a light into corners of history we never knew were so fascinating — or so revealing of the whole.

How did the button change life in the Middle Ages? If you found yourself at a smart Elizabethan party, should you kiss your hostess on the lips? Why were pistols safer than swords in a duel? And how come Regency Londoners quaffed so much port?

This is Mortimer at his accessible and witty best. As ever, his aim is not only to bring the past to life but also to illuminate our own times.

A couple of weeks ago, Derek Birks and I had the pleasure of chatting with Ian Mortimer on our podcast, A Slice of Medieval, and we talked about THIS book. You can listen to the episode when it goes live on New Years’ Eve. And if this review doesn’t persuade you to have a read, Ian’s interview certainly will. Ian Mortimer has a refreshing outlook on History – he not only wants to make it accessible to everyone, he wants to make it enjoyable. And he wants you to look at History from different angles, even sideways. Because then, you see things differently.

Mortimer’s A to Zs of English History is split into 5 sections and focuses on 4 main periods; 14th century, Elizabeth, Restoration and Regency, with a 5th section, the envoi, an A to Z of reflections on those themes history that cross periods. This is a stunning book and a thoroughly enjoyable read.

Many History fans look down on general History books, saying they already know the basics. But this isn’t basic. It is not as much about the facts as it is about changing the way you look at the facts. It is about making you think and making you look differently at the facts, at what we know and how we know it. It makes you wonder how inventions came about, how innovations developed. It makes you consider how diet, environment, opportunities – and the weather – affected society and drove change.

And the envoi of Mortimer’s A to Zs of English History highlights what doesn’t change, considering the values, good and bad, that transect eras and generations. Xenophobia, for instance, rears its ugly head in every generation. Speed, also, is a consideration throughout the eras; the speed of travel, of communication and of progress.

Q is for Queenship

What are medieval queens for? Obviously, they are the partners of kings and their primary duty is to produce the next generation of the royal family. In medieval times it is essential to have a line of succession: political stability depends on it. But it is worth asking what queens are for other than childbirth. After all, they are not like other aristocratic women. When Lord So-and-so goes off to court, he leaves Lady So-and-so behind to look after the household in his absence, with staff to carry out her instructions, just as in countless other private households in the country. But when the king travels, the court goes with him. His queen might remain in one of the palaces or castles or she might accompany him, but even if she remains, her role is limited. Officials are left in charge of the royal residences. Childcare is normally passed over to other women – wetnurses and guardians. When a fourteenth-century king goes abroad, he entrusts the guardianship of the realm to his heir or a near male relative, not his queen. (In this respect, the fourteenth-century is more sexist than earlier ones.) So it is fair to ask, what other purpose do queens serve?

There are several interesting ways to answer this question. For a start, no fourteenth-century English king marries an Englishwoman. Edward I marries Eleanor of Castile and then Margaret of France. Edward II marries Isabella of France. Edward III marries Philippa of Hainault. Richard II first marries Anne of Bohemia and later Isabella of France. Henry IV is married to an Englishwoman, Mary de Bohun, before becoming king but she dies five years before his accession. The same pattern applies to the previous century: King John annuls his marriage to Isabella of Gloucester almost immediately on becoming king and marries a French heiress, Isabella of Angoulême, very shortly afterwards. Queens are a diplomatic link with other kings and kingdoms. They bring with them foreign attendants and a large number of foreign relations – this is an age when third and fourth cousins are an important source of trust, information and support. Edward II’s queen, Isabella of France, is given the task of negotiating a peace treaty with her brother, Charles IV of France, on her husband’s behalf. Queens thus tie England into an international diplomatic network.

Mortimer’s A to Zs of English History will make you think, question – and want to know more. It is a fabulous resource of facts that you didn’t even know you didn’t know – and didn’t know you needed to know.

Who would have thought of buttons as causing a revolution in fashion? Did you know cows and sheep were smaller in medieval times? Ian Mortimer takes a look at the History we do not always consider: the everyday, the quirky, the mundane. He’s insightful; how much more would we have known about medieval women if they had been taught to write, allowed to tell their own stories?

If you have a History fan in your family, you should get them Mortimer’s A to Zs of English History for Christmas.

It is educational.

It is entertaining.

It is amusing.

It is revelatory.

It is a ‘must read’.

You will not look at History in the same way ever again. Get it. Read it. Devour it. And gift a copy to a friend. It is a fabulous resource for anyone with a love of History – and an amazing introduction for anyone you want to get hooked on History.

Buy Mortimer’s A to Zs of English History

About the author:

Ian Mortimer is the bestselling author of the Time Traveller’s Guides series, as well as Medieval Horizons: Why the Middle Ages Matter and four critically acclaimed biographies. He was elected a Fellow of the Royal Historical Society in 1998 and a Fellow of the Society of Antiquaries in 2015. His work on the social history of medicine won the Alexander Prize in 2004 and was published by the Royal Historical Society in 2009. He lives with his wife on the edge of Dartmoor.

My Books

Signed, dedicated copies of all my books are available through my online bookshop.

Out now: Scotland’s Medieval Queens

Scotland’s history is dramatic, violent and bloody. Being England’s northern neighbour has never been easy. Scotland’s queens have had to deal with war, murder, imprisonment, political rivalries and open betrayal. They have loved and lost, raised kings and queens, ruled and died for Scotland. From St Margaret, who became one of the patron saints of Scotland, to Elizabeth de Burgh and the dramatic story of the Scottish Wars of Independence, to the love story and tragedy of Joan Beaufort, to Margaret of Denmark and the dawn of the Renaissance, Scotland’s Medieval Queens have seen it all. This is the story of Scotland through their eyes.

‘Scotland’s Medieval Queens gives a thorough grounding in the history of the women who ruled Scotland at the side of its kings, often in the shadows, but just as interesting in their lives beyond the spotlight. It’s not a subject that has been widely covered, and Sharon is a pioneer in bringing that information into accessible history.’ Elizabeth Chadwick (New York Times bestselling author)

Available now from Amazon and Pen and Sword Books

Coming 30 March 2026: Princesses of the Early Middle Ages

Daughters of kings were often used to seal treaty alliances and forge peace with England’s enemies. Princesses of the Early Middle Ages: Royal Daughters of the Conquest explores the lives of these young women, how they followed the stereotype, and how they sometimes managed to escape it. It will look at the world they lived in, and how their lives and marriages were affected by political necessity and the events of the time. Princesses of the Early Middle Ages will also examine how these girls, who were often political pawns, were able to control their own lives and fates. Whilst they were expected to obey their parents in their marriage choices, several princesses were able to exert their own influence on these choices, with some outright refusing the husbands offered to them.

Their stories are touching, inspiring and, at times, heartbreaking.

Princesses of the Early Middle Ages: Royal Daughters of the Conquest is now available for pre-order.