When researching
history in old digitised newspapers, one comes across a plethora of
weird and wonderful classifieds that vary from the slightly amusing to
the outright hilarious, or even incredulous. If it wasn’t so
time-consuming, I’d seriously think about a new blog featuring a
collection of these old ads but I’m sure there are many other folk
out there already doing similar. Instead, I’ll
occasionally just select one at random and see if there is something
historically obscure worth investigating in it.
The words in bold type,
BY HER MAJESTY’S COMMAND and BRITISH BLONDES caught my eye
in one from The Morning Post, of 17 February 1832. My mind
racing with inappropriate explanations, I soon realised it was
perfectly innocent and a careful reading revealed the Blondes to be a
type of lace sold by London lace-maker, Henry Dison.
To learn more, I was
off on quite an adventure.
I dipped into the pros
and cons of bobbins, and machine-made lace vs. the hand-made variety.
I visited (virtually) Honiton, Devon, and the Lace Market in
Nottingham.
I found that British
industry was in a precarious state in the 1830s and that the royal
ladies of the day – Queen Adelaide, the Duchess of Kent and her
daughter Princess Victoria (later Queen) - were all great supporters
of British manufacture and showed the government up by insisting on the
women at court wear British-made clothes.
I even ended up
perusing law notices dissolving business partnerships to a trial at Old Bailey
resulting in the transportation of an unfortunate Thomas Norrington
to Van Diemen’s Land (Tasmania) for robbery.
And this is what started it all:
The advertisement is one of many similar placed in British newspapers in the early to
mid 19th Century by lace merchant Henry Dison,
either on his own or in partnership with others.
The relevant London
Gazette notice referred to was as follows:
Office of the
Vice-Chamberlain to the Queen, Queen’s House, St. James. February 9, 1832. NOTICE is hereby given,
that the Queen's Drawing-Room, on Friday the 24th instant, being for
the celebration of Her Majesty's Birthday, no presentations will take
place.It is particularly
requested, that all Ladies attending the Drawing-Room will appear in
dresses of British manufacture.
I wonder how they
decided the Ladies were wearing British manufacture when they
arrived at the Drawing Room. Did they have to provide labels as
evidence? Was a particular lady-in-waiting seconded
to check with a magnifier for evidence of Continental as opposed to British lace? What
happened to any unfortunate woman who failed to heed the royal
decree?
There are a number of
engravings and prints available showing Dison’s shop in Regent
Street, the originals done by Thomas Hosmer Shepherd. In these from a collection at www.motco.com, if the images are enlarged, the name Dison can clearly be seen over the shop to the right on the corner of Princes Street, bearing the royal warrant and with a couple of loiterers and what looks suspiciously like a woman begging out on the steps. I couldn’t imagine her being tolerated for long by such an up-market establishment!
Another view,
with the shop shown in the middle in front of the dome.
What happened to
Dison’s - or Henry Dison - eventually? I have yet to find out although the shops of
Regent Street have changed countless times since his day. At least
it’s all still about fashion, with a Karen Millen store now on the
same corner where that woman once sat.
A bit of British Blonde and fashions of the Court ladies who probably frequented Dison's.
Links related to this blog:
From the Old Bailey
online - the trial of Thomas Norrington featuring Henry Dison.
Norrington's death sentence was commuted and he was transported
to Van Diemen’s Land:
Various on lace-making and
the history of:
For the really serious
student of lace, check out this booklet produced by Dress &
Textiles Specialists in association with the Victoria & Albert
Museum
