Tag Archives: victorian

Victorian Names

Posted on by
12

It is a simple fact that names change in use and popularity, over time, and the names we give our kids today are probably not what our great-grandmothers used. The Ambers and Wendys and Brandons of today were the Netties and Elizas and Philips of yore. It is my humble opinion that using period-correct names can add a certain “ring” to a story. During the Victorian era, Biblical names probably saw the most prevalent and common use, both for boys and girls, to include the familiar names from the New Testaments, and also the tongue-tanglers from the Old. However, their child-naming practices also borrowed heavily from prominent sources including national and political leaders, notable religious leaders, and celebrated military heroes. It was common find children named for famous figures in contemporary and ancient history, great literature, (authors and characters,) or sometimes even ancient mythology, such as Achilles or Hector. Likewise with names of royalty, such as William, George, Victoria, etc.

Nor was it unusual for parents to look closer to home, borrowing from close friends or people they admired. (I have a Captain Henley and a Doctor Harvey in my family tree – those were their names, not their occupations!) Not uncommonly they recycled family surnames, for instance inserting the mother’s maiden name as a child’s middle name. This applied to both boys and girls, which meant you might be named along the lines of John Butterfield Smith or Louisa Jefferson Jones. Sometimes those family surnames were used as given names, as well, so a boy might be named something like Fitzhugh Smith. Girls were also given virtuous names, such as Hope or Charity. Names were often handed down, too, so you might see an extended family tree with a Christopher Columbus Jones found in each of three or four consecutive generations. Likewise you might see a middle name reoccurring time and again, which was often an ancestor’s name or surname.

In a few places on this list, I have enumerated certain first and middle names together, (such as Sarah Ann,) because I find them joined thus so many times on old public records, that it is apparent those name-pairings enjoyed great popularity. Where common nicknames were often used, those are indicated, as well. Plus, I have included a few appellations which are so odd and obscure that I can only guess as to their origins, but they were popular in their day. All of these have been found countless times on census, marriage, and other public records during my own genealogical travels, dating back to the early 1800’s. These were certainly not the only names used, but they are among the most commonly-seen. Thus it is with some confidence that I can present this list as a fair example of child-naming practices of the Victorian era. Names have changed in popularity, over time, and while many old standbys are still used and loved today, others of this epoch are certainly antiquated in their sound, and all but forgotten in application. I present this compilation in the hopes that fiction writers will be able to make use of it, and so perhaps add a little extra color and atmosphere to their work.

Female Names:
* Abigale / Abby
* Ada
* Adella
* Agnes
* Allie
* Almira / Almyra
* Alva
* America
* Amelia
* Ann ~ (also nickname for Nancy) / Annie
* Arrah
* Beatrice
* Becky ~ (see Rebecca)
* Bernice
* Bess, Bessie, Beth, Betsy ~ (for Elizabeth)
* Charity
* Charlotte
* Chastity
* Claire
* Constance
* Cynthia
* Dorothy ~ (also Dot)
* Edith
* Edna
* Edwina
* Ella
* Eleanor
* Ellie
* Elizabeth ~(also Eliza, Liza, Lizzy; see Bess.)
* Elvira
* Emma
* Esther
* Ethel
* Ettie ~ (see Henrietta)
* Eudora
* Eva
* Fidelia
* Frances
* Fanny ~ (usually nickname for Frances)
* Flora
* Florence
* Geneve
* Genevieve
* Georgia
* Gertrude / Gertie
* Gladys
* Grace
* Hannah
* Hattie
* Helen
* Helene
* Henrietta / Hettie ~ (also Ettie)
* Hester
* Hope
* Hortence
* Isabell / Isabella
* Jane
* Jennie
* Jessamine
* Josephine
* Judith
* Julia
* Juliet
* Katherine / Kate
* Laura
* Leah
* Lenora
* Letitia
* Lila
* Lilly
* Lorena
* Lorraine
* Lottie
* Louise / Louisa
* Lucy
* Lulu
* Lydia
* Mahulda
* Margaret ~ (see Peggy)
* Mary
* Mary Elizabeth
* Mary Frances
* Martha
* Matilda / Mattie
* Maude
* Maxine /Maxie
* Mercy
* Mildred
* Minerva
* Missouri
* Molly ~ (nickname for Mary)
* Myrtle
* Nancy ~ (see Ann)
* Natalie
* Nellie / Nelly
* Nettie
* Nora
* Orpha
* Patsy
* Parthena
* Peggy ~ (nickname for Margaret)
* Permelia
* Phoebe
* Philomena
* Polly ~ (nickname for Mary)
* Preshea
* Rachel
* Rebecca ~ (see Becky)
* Rhoda / Rhody
* Rowena
* Rufina
* Ruth
* Samantha
* Sally
* Sarah
* Sarah Ann
* Sarah Elizabeth
* Savannah
* Selina
* Sophronia
* Stella
* Theodosia
* Vertiline ~ (also Verd)
* Victoria
* Virginia / Ginny
* Vivian
* Winnifred / Winnie
* Zona
* Zylphia

Male Names:
* Aaron
* Abraham / Abe
* Alan / Allen
* Albert
* Alexander
* Alonzo
* Ambrose
* Amon
* Amos
* Andrew / Drew / Andy
* Aquilla
* Archibald / Archie
* Arnold
* Asa
* August / Augustus
* Barnabas / Barney
* Bartholomew / Bart
* Benjamin
* Bennet
* Benedict
* Bernard
* Bertram / Bert
* Buford
* Byron
* Calvin
* Charles / Charley / Charlie
* Christopher
* Christopher Columbus
* Clarence
* Clement / Clem
* Clinton / Clint
* Cole
* Columbus (also Lom or Lum)
* Commodore Perry
* Daniel / Dan
* David
* Dick ~ (see Richard)
* Edmund
* Edward
* Edwin
* Eldon
* Eli
* Elijah
* ElishaEmmett
* Enoch
* Ezekiel ~ (also Zeke)
* Ezra
* Francis
* Frank ~ (also nickname for Francis)
* Franklin
* Frederick / Fred
* Gabriel / Gabe
* Garrett
* George
* George Washington
* Gideon
* Gilbert / Gil
* Granville
* Gus ~ (see August)
* Hank ~ (nickname for Henry)
* Harland
* Harrison
* Harold / Harry
* Harvey
* Henry ~ (see Hank)
* Hiram
* Horace
* Horatio
* Hugh
* Isaiah
* Israel
* Isaac ~ (also Ike)
* Isaac Newton
* Jacob / Jake
* James ~ (also Jim)
* Jasper
* Jack ~ (for John)
* Jefferson / Jeff
* Jedediah / Jed
* Jeptha
* Jesse
* Joel
* John ~ (see Jack)
* John Paul
* John Wesley
* Jonathan
* Joseph
* Josephus ~ (also “Cephas”)
* Josiah
* Joshua
* Julian
* Julius
* Lafayette ~ (also Lafe)
* Lawrence / Larry
* Leander
* Les / Lester / Leslie
* Lewis / Lew / Louis
* Levi
* Lucas
* Lucian
* Lucius
* Luke
* Luther
* Louis
* Levi
* Lucas
* Lucian
* Lucius
* Luke
* Luther
* Matthew
* Marcellus
* Mark
* Martin
* Martin Luther
* Masheck
* Maurice
* Maxwell
* Merrill
* Meriwether
* Meriwether Lewis
* Michael/ Mike
* Micajah ~ (have seen nickname “Cage”)
* Mordecai
* Morgan
* Morris
* Nathaniel / Nathan / Nate / Nat
* Ned ~ (short for Edward)
* Newton / Newt
* Nicholas / Nick
* Nimrod
* Ninian
* Obediah
* Octavius
* Ora / Oral
* Orville
* Oscar
* Owen
* Paul
* Patrick / Pat
* Patrick Henry
* Paul
* Perry
* Peter
* Pleasant
* Ralph
* Raymond
* Reuben
* Robert ~ (also Bob)
* Robert Lee
* Richard / Rich ~ (see Dick)
* Roderick
* Rudolph
* Rufus
* Samuel
* Sam Houston
* Seth
* Silas
* Simon
* Simeon
* Stanley / Stan
* Stephen
* Thaddeus
* Thomas / Tom
* Thomas Jefferson
* Theodore / Ted
* Timothy / Tim
* Ulysses
* Uriah
* Victor
* Walter
* Warren
* Washington
* Wilfred
* William / Will ~ (also Bill, Billy)
* Willie ~ (Not always for William)
* Zachariah
* Zebulon
* Zedock

Victorian Fashion

Posted on by
6

Elaborate dresses, lavish balls, a beautiful countryside and images straight from the canvas of the great artists come to my mind when I think about the Victorian era. The Victorian period or the Victorian era can be termed as the period under the reign of Queen Victoria. This period was between the year-1837 to 1901. I am sure many women would love to slip back into time and fulfill their dream of wearing bustle skirts with some fancy feathered hats at some point in their lives! Rich fabrics and genteel women attending fancy dos with cultured men are some of the glimpses of the life back then! Here’s a look at the kind of fashion followed in the Victorian Era. Victorian fashion has many interesting things to note and you can delve into the depths of Victorian fashion, right here!

Victorian Fashion:
The term Victorian fashion is generally used only with regard to the United Kingdom. There were certain clothing styles and mannerisms that were observed during this period. In the early period of the Victorian Era, the silhouette for the woman was more of the demure kind. Women wore pointed bodice, which were long and had fitting waists. The bodice was designed to enhance the waist. In the early period, Victorian clothing for women was about restriction of arm movements. Another interesting feature were the detachable collars! The colors used in the early period of the Victorian fashion were soft, pastel shades. Patterns were delicate and fashionable, all designed to maintain the femininity of the woman.

Beehive shaped skirts was another characteristic feature of Victorian fashion. Here, garments were stiffened to give a particular appearance. Crin also known as horsehair, was used for a particular portion of a garment so that it stiffens in that particular area. Crin was used for hem linings and sleeve heads of the dresses.

Although cloth was manufactured in the mills, Victorian clothing in 1837 was generally designed and assembled by tailors and other such specialized people who were into designing clothes and hats. These people catered to only a specific few of the society who could afford this service; others stitched their clothes at home.

Bell shaped skirts also became a rage and these became wider in the 1830s. The bell shape soon became dome shaped. As these skirts became bigger and flared out, they also needed support from the inside. Victorian dresses therefore needed to be worn with a lot of petticoats. The lower portion was also supported by horsehair, which were woven into the pattern for the stiffened look.

The cashmere shawl was also a prominent feature of Victorian fashion. It was particularly noticed in 1840. By then, the shawl was used as wrap over the dresses. Women also wore heavy fabrics such as satins and silks and there was also a time when fabric dictated the status of the person in the society as well.

Slowly these huge ballooned Victorian skirts gave way to the hobble skirts. Hobble skirts brought into fashion narrow skirts, where in knee length corsets were combined with the entire ensemble. Hobble skirts often restricted movement, which is probably why they have been given this name. These slim skirts created a problem for women in the comfort factor yet they gained popularity with time. Today, the slim pencil skirt can still be witnessed in the fashion scenario in many modified ways.

Apart from horsehair, bustles were also used to increase the fullness of the skirts. Bustles were used to make the waist look smaller. Many times, the fullness of the fashion was spread out towards the back and this often fanned out in the shape of a train. Bustles were also seen in different shapes. Sometimes, these also created a hump below the waist area on the backside, which was considered to be a fashion statement in the Victorian era. The bustle therefore, can be considered to be yet another typical feature of Victorian fashion.

Victorian fashion for men was about Norfolk jackets and the sack suits. Men preferred to don themselves in casual attire.

Victorian fashion was thus quite elaborate as far as women’s clothing was concerned. Victorian clothing is still very much popular and the basics have been woven into new modern designs to create contemporary attire!

Gardening Tips

Posted on by
6

•Most perennials stay in bloom for about three to six weeks. So, the secret to enjoying them to their fullest is to select plants with staggered bloom times for a bed full of color throughout the season.
•Carefully choose your color scheme. Red makes a flowerbed seem larger and closer, while blues will make it appear smaller and more distant. Pinks combine well with purple, and red with violet. White is a good complement for any color.
•Prepare planting beds by digging the soil to a depth of 12-18″. Work in plenty of peat moss, leaf mulch or compost to ensure good drainage. Space plants properly, as crowded plants grow less vigorously.
•Get your perennials off to a good start by fertilizing lightly when planting.
• Some easy-to-grow perennials for any area of the South include: phlox, candytuft, dianthus, daylily, rudbeckia, salvia, hosta, purple coneflower and verbena.
•Now is also a good time for harvesting a variety of vegetables. For that “homegrown” quality and taste, be sure to harvest at the best stage of maturity and carefully handle vegetables that will be eaten at any time later than the same day harvested.
•  Weeds—Pull as many invaders out of your flower and shrub beds as you can before they produce seeds (and therefore more weeds). You’ll find that they are easier to pull after a rain. If your forecast is dry, use a sprinkler the day before you plan to work in the garden. If you have a lot of weeds to pull, try using a long-handled scuffle or stirrup hoe to save your back and knees.
•  Slugs—These pests can be especially dam­aging to hosta foliage, leaving it marred for the entire growing season. To be sure the prob­lem is slugs, look for the dried slime trail on the leaves. Slugs feed at night, so you rarely see them during the day. Although effective, slug bait pellets can be poisonous to children, pets, and birds. You might find a saucer of beer or a sprinkling of fireplace ashes in the mulch around the plants just as effective, cheaper, and safer than commercial baits.
•  Water—As the weather gets hot, remember that new additions to your garden will need watering more often than established plants.
•  Lawns—This is a good time to patch warm-season lawns such as Zoysia, St. Augustine, improved Bermuda, and centipede with sod of the same type grass. You can also sow seeds of turf-type fescues or cool-season blends to thicken bare or thin areas of your lawn.
•  Shade—Protect new transplants from direct sun for about a week until the roots get
settled in their new location. A light lay­er of pine needles or hay will help, or you can construct a small shelter from a mesh plant tray sup­ported by sticks or dowels.
•  Petunias—Pinch back plants several inches to prevent long, stringy stems and to encourage repeated bloom through the summer. You may need to pinch a couple more times during the season. Fertilize with timed-release granules, such as 17-17-17, or water with liquid 20-20-20 every other week.

September 2010 Cover Artwork

Posted on by
Reply

By: Frances Marie Harburn Trippensee

History Of The Boot

Posted on by
1

THESE BOOTS ARE MADE NOT ONLY FOR WALKING but for working in all kinds of weather—and looking smart, too. They were introduced in 1817 by Hoby of St. James’s Street, London, the personal shoemaker of Arthur Wellesley, the first Duke of Wellington, famous for defeating Napoleon at Waterloo. Wellingtons were initially designed to look good with the newfangled men’s fashion of wearing long trousers instead of knee breeches.

The boot’s predecessor, the Hessian, had a curvy folded-down top and heavy braid.The duke wanted something simpler, made from soft calfskin and cut closer to the leg. Sturdy enough to be battle-hardy yet stylish enough to be worn in the evening, the Wellington allowed the British gentry to look like their favorite war hero while standing tall in polished boots.

However, it was an American named Henry Lee Norris who came up with the idea of producing the Wellington in rubber. (Charles Goodyear had recently patented the process of vulcanizing.) The British Isles had a wet, muddy climate, so Norris headed to Scotland and, in 1856, founded the North British Rubber Company to produce the weather-resistant boots that were to become famous.

The Wellington has gone through many changes since its schizoid days as a foppish combat boot. In the 1860s, it was worn by soldiers in the American Civil War. And the cowboy boot was modeled after the full V- Wellington, so called because the whole front and whole Q£ back are each made from a single piece.

Production took off during both World Wars, when the military requested sturdy rubber footwear that would keep soldiers’ feet dry in the flooded trenches and provide civilians with long-lasting boots during wartime rationing. Introduced to Wellingtons in a time of great hardship, British men, women, and children have never given them up, and their appeal has spread far beyond the home turf.

In New Zealand,Wellies—or gumboots, as they’re known Down Under—come in white for doctors and nurses in rural hospitals. Green is a favorite with the Brits (Lady Diana Spencer was a green girl long before she married her prince), while black ones with brick-red soles can often be seen on fishermen up and down the U.S. East Coast and into Canada’s Maritime Provinces.

Today, children the world over splash through puddles in Wellies styled to look like ladybugs, ducks, and frogs. And, thanks to designers such as Paul Smith and Karl Lagerfeld, the streets of many a rainy fashion capital are a riot of Wellies decorated in candy colors, wild stripes, and funky prints.