Michelle Higgs's Blog

As of today, I have relaunched my 'A Visitor's Guide to Victorian England' blog on a more responsive platform. I hope this will make it easier to navigate and search, and to be more reader-friendly.

From today, this old blog will no longer be updated. All of the content has been copied over to the new one and I will be adding new posts about the weird and wonderful world of Victorian England every week. Please hop over to https://visitvictorianengland.com/ to check out what's new. See you ther...

Today, I'm very happy to be hosting a guest post by Angela Buckley, who specialises in writing about Victorian true crime. Read on for the shocking story of the murder of PC Nicholas Cock in Chorlton-cum-Hardy, one of Manchester's suburbs, back in 1876.

MURDER IN THE SUBURBS

Chorlton-cum-Hardy is a suburb of Manchester, four and a half miles south-west of the city centre, now characterised by small shops, street cafés and delicatessens. Originally a rural village, the tranquil farming community...

Last week, many of us in the UK were sweltering in temperatures of more than 30 degrees C - very unusual for a British summer! In our house, we coped by throwing open all the windows, staying out of the sun at the hottest time of the day, and eating copious amounts of ice cream. In the 21st century, we're lucky to have technology like air-conditioning and electric fans, and to be able to wear fewer clothes when it's hot.

But spare a thought for the Victorians, especially women and young girls,...

Today, I'm delighted to be hosting a guest post by the fabulous Angela Buckley, who specialises in writing about Victorian crime. Angela tells us the sad story of the infant victims of Amelia Dyer, the notorious baby farmer; many of their mothers were domestic servants who had no choice but to entrust their children to the care of women like Dyer.

Victorian Childcare: Baby Farming

Life was particularly harsh for single mothers in the nineteenth century. Young women who fell pregnant outside we...

We've reached the last day of 12 Days of Victorian Christmas cards! The final card I'd like to share with you has a design of some naughty kittens in bed:

Copyright Michelle HiggsThe verse says:

While laurel boughs and berries red,
Glow bright on every side.
Oh, be their freshness o'er thee shed
And cheer your Holly-tide!

All that remains for me to do is to wish you and yours a happy Christmas and a wonderful New Year!

Today is day 11 of 12 Days of Victorian Christmas cards and I thought I'd share a very traditional-looking design of the Nativity with you. This is a three-dimensional card from the 1890s and this is the front when the card is flat:

Copyright Michelle Higgs This is what the card looks like when it's fully open:

Copyright Michelle HiggsThe card was published by Raphael Tuck & Sons. As well as being a three-dimensional card, it's also a novelty card. If you shine a light through the blue...

Now we've reached day 10 of 12 Days of Victorian Christmas cards, it's about time that I share a mechanical card with you. Victorian Christmas card designers were ingenious in their designs and inventions and all manner of pop-up style cards appeared. This is one of my favourites: an embossed black cat. This is what the card looks like from the front when fully closed.

Copyright Michelle HiggsThe card opens out to reveal a brilliant concertina cat:

Copyright Michelle Higgs

Today is day 9 of 12 Days of Victorian Christmas cards and I have another image of a shaped card to share. This one's in the shape of an envelope with a rose seal.

Copyright Michelle HiggsThe clue to what you'll find underneath the seal is in the dog collar at the top:

Copyright Michelle Higgs The card is dated 1890 on the reverse and was sent to 'Master Hippo' from Annie.

For day 8 of 12 Days of Victorian Christmas Cards, here's a very unusual card. Look away if you're scared of spiders! In a circular shape, the design is of a large spider on its web with a fly approaching:

Copyright Michelle HiggsThe verse isn't clear at all on the scan but it says:

Will you walk into my parlour
Said the spider to the fly.
I've a very nice plum pudding
And a beautiful Mince pie.

In today's card for 12 Days of Victorian Christmas cards, I'd like to share another card with an animal design. This one is dated 1884 and it was published by Louis Prang & Co., Boston. A group of owls and rabbits are playing blind man's buff by moonlight.

Copyright Michelle HiggsIn case you can't read the verse, it says:

By loving friends you are surrounded,
Oh, be not blind to this, I pray.
They wish that joy and mirth unbounded
May crown your happy Christmas day.