Victorian Dream (37 page)
“Would you like a daughter this time, or another son?” she asked, gliding her fingers across his belly.
“Right now, all I want is you.”
Author’s Notes
The Crystal Palace
The Crystal Palace, known as The Great Exhibition if 1851, was designed by Joseph Paxton who received a knighthood in recognition of his work. But the idea was the brainchild of Prince Albert. During Queen Victoria’s visit, she complained about the infestation of sparrows. The Duke of Wellington suggested sparrow hawks—problem solved.
Nearly six million people wandered through the 990,000 square foot creation which housed examples from 14,000 exhibitors. The displays included almost every marvel of the Victorian age, including pottery, porcelain, ironwork, furniture, perfumes, pianos, firearms, fabrics, steam hammers, hydraulic presses and even the odd house or two. The invention of cast plate glass allowed for the clear walls and ceiling which earned the structure its name—the Crystal Palace. It housed a living elm tree, a twenty-seven-foot crystal fountain, and had the first major installation of public toilets in the Retiring Rooms.
The mid-nineteenth century saw the birth of the industrial revolution and the beginning of the modern era and was the forerunner of future Worlds. The Great Exhibition was just the beginning. To quote Charlotte Brontë, “Its grandeur does not consist in
one
thing, but in the unique assemblage of
all
things. Whatever human industry has created you find here.”
After the exhibition ended in 1854 it was moved from Hyde Park to a park in Penge Common near Sydenham Hill. It stood there until it burned down in 1936, the glow of which was seen across eight counties.
The Amazon lily
Victoria Amazonica grows in the region of central Brazil. The immense leaves (sometimes exceeding seven feet in diameter) are the largest of all known aquatic plants and float on the surface of hidden ponds and lagoons deep in the forest tributaries of the Amazon River. The stems can reach as much as eighteen feet.
Discovered by British explorers in 1801, it was named after the British Queen Victoria, but it was nearly fifty years later when it was first brought to bloom in “captivity” in England. The lilies are night blooming, scenting evening air with a pineapple-like fragrance. The first night flower, a magnificent white female flower, appears one day then turns into a pink male flower the next day. Rather than by bees, they are generally pollinated by several species of beetles.
Spring Heel Jack
Spring Heel Jack was a real nineteenth-century phenomenon, and like Jack the Ripper, never captured or identified. As an interesting aside, Bigfoot was also reported to have been first spotted in Canada in the mid 1830s. Immortalized in books, plays, and newspaper clippings, Spring Heel Jack is regarded as one of Britain’s patron saints of the supernatural. Modern day theorists have suggested he was an alien.
Opium use in 1851
Prior to the 1868 Pharmacy Act, which restricted the sale of opium to professional pharmacists, anyone could legally trade in, or use, opium products. Blatant usage is reflected in the literature of the day, and opium in one form or another was seen in all levels of society. Pills, penny sticks, Godfrey’s Cordial for babies, and a mixture of opium and alcohol (laudanum) were the most common forms in use.
Historical Disclaimer!
Although preloaded gun cylinders were a possibility (as used by my heroine onboard the
Romney Maiden
) they were often very unreliable when put to use, and it is highly doubtful Colt would have included preloaded gun cylinders in his shipment of gun parts from America to England for the exhibit.
General Overview
The Victorian Era appears to have been an age of wonderment and enlightenment, thwarted by superstition and the inability of the male gender and religious factors to surrender tired-out tradition to common sense and the common cause.
A word about the author...
Gini Rifkin lives in Colorado with a Noah's Ark of abandoned farm animals. When not writing or tending "the herd," she enjoys volunteering at the local historical society, especially on days when full costumes are encouraged.
Family and friends are her greatest treasure, and they're delighted with her new hobby—learning the art of baking pies and pastries.
Look for Gini’s other titles from
The Wild Rose Press
The Dragon And The Rose
Lady Gallant
Iron Heart
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