Comments on: Cruikshank’s London Almanack, 1838

By: Martyn Cornell

Martyn Cornell — Wed, 14 Aug 2013 17:01:56 +0000

Good to see that St Patrick’s Day was a riot 175 years ago – Seven Dials, of course, and the St Giles/Covent Garden/Soho area, would have been a big centre for Irish immigrants still, as it had been for several decades: my own Irtish ancestor, Maurice Donno, pops up in Soho in the 1810s.

By: mary moulder

mary moulder — Tue, 13 Aug 2013 15:54:58 +0000

Thank you! I enjoy these pctures so much. I save them to my Rondeau family research. I am from the line of Rev. William Rondeau who immigrated to Rondeau Island, Livingston Co, Kentucky, and whose sister Phoebe Rondeau Baker immigrated to the States, and from there went to Oakville, Ontario. The Baker farm is now an Ontario Heritage Farm.
To make a long story short, my Canadian Rondeau cousins placed a Rondeau plaque in Christ Church,Spitalfields,and took family photos—AND to our delight we see our Gentle Author walking through the background. Thanks again from the Rondeau family all over North America.

By: Peter Holford

Peter Holford — Tue, 13 Aug 2013 08:15:04 +0000

You are quite correct in believing that frost fairs were a thing of the past by 1838. They were an infrequent event only occurring 26 times between 1400 and the the last fair in 1814. The last one was known as the ‘Great Frost Fair’ and lasted several days. The ice was so thick that an elephant was led across it. The demolition of the old London Bridge in 1831 had the effect that the water became tidal and moved faster.

Not even a cold winter like 1962-63 could freeze the Thames sufficiently for a latter day frost fair. But they live long in the folk memory and these images were a mere 17 years after the event.

Great images!

By: Caroline Bottomley

Caroline Bottomley — Tue, 13 Aug 2013 07:20:02 +0000

The gunpowder plot is excellent