I've removed WordPress from my site. I wasn't using it much anyway - just the front page and one or two others. WordPress can be a bit vulnerable to hackers and I was getting tired of removing spurious files. Also, I'm a programmer. I prefer writing raw HTML anyway for the control it gives me.

What does this mean for you? Hopefully the only change you will see is that this page will load a bit faster. You may see one or two odd results initially on a couple of pages - usually because of browser caching. A page reload will generally sort that out.

Let me know if you spot anything odd. I have a script that generates the site so it should be ok but you can never tell.

In 1735 Arthur L. Hayward published Lives of the Most Remarkable Criminals. It is in essence his own "Newgate Calendar" covering the decade from 1720 to 1730.

I have therefore added it to my Newgate Calendar collection. As usual, I have divided it up into individual stories (about 160), created an Index to the Stories and added them to the Newgate Calendar Database Search.

Well worth a look and includes such notable criminals as Jonathan Wild, the godfather of the early 18th century, and Jack Shepherd, one of the worlds great escapologists.

While researching Coaching Inns, I realised I didn’t know much about travel times and costs.

I’ve added a page with the information I have got thus far which may be of interest:

Travelling around Britain in the 18th century

As you may or may not know, William Stowe published in 1722 a list of all Coaching Inns in London, together with the available destinations and which days they were available and also the type of transport (Coach, Carrier or Wagon).

I have taken this list and turned it into an easy-to-read table and added the ability to list by Destination or by Coaching Inn. Try looking up your favourite destination to plan your trip, then see what other services leave from the same place.

Here is the link: Coaching Inns in 18th Century London.

I’ve updated my Pharmacopeia database to include three sets of data: Fuller’s Pharmacopeia Extemporanea from 1710; Buchan’s Domestic Medicine from 1769; and a few recipes from the Reverend William Twigg dating to about 1715.

You can see more details on the Pharmacopeia Index page.

I’ve finished adding subject categories to Vaux’s glossary. I thought it worth making a separate page for this one, given that it is not part of the “B.E.” group (see the discussion of sources for more details) and has an Australian connection.

You can find it here.

While I was researching the Barber-Surgeons guild as part of 18th century medicine, I came across the London Livery Companies. I had been vaguely aware of The Worshipful Companies of Mercers/Fishmongers/etc but knew very little about them.

I discovered they were responsible for regulating various trades, having grown out of the medieval guild system. They also acted as lobby groups, periodically petitioning the monarch of the day for special privileges and monopolies.

The 18th century saw most of the Worshipful Companies diminish into social and charitable organisations as the crafts they represented were taken over by machines. At the beginning of the century, however, many of them still had considerable power to regulate their crafts even if by the end of the century they were moribund.

For anyone who is interested, I have made a few notes about the Companies, together with links for anyone interested in following up further.

I’ve been doing a bit of research into 18th century medicine. Like most things in the 18th century it evolves from the end of superstition through to beginnings of science.

I’m still very much working on it but, during the course of things I found the Pharmacopeia Extemporanea, produced in English by a Thomas Fuller from an earlier Latin edition in 1710. A Pharmacopeia, in case you didn’t know, is a recipe book for medicines. As is my wont, I have divided it up and put it in a searchable database.

Have a look at the indexed version and the database search. The latter is very useful if you are interested in what particular ingredients were used for.

I haven’t linked Medicine into the rest of the site yet but help yourself to a sneak preview.

Oh yes, and I’ve done more of the interminable task of putting Thieves Cant into subject categories and have nearly finished Vaux’s glossary.

Thank you to my visitors from now 50 countries. I hadn’t realised interest in the 18th century in general and Thieves Cant in particular was so widespread. Let me know if there’s anything else you’d particularly like me to add to the site.

I’ve added a new source of cant terms from the Memoirs of James Hardy Vaux published in 1819. Vaux was an English criminal transported to New South Wales in the early 19th century. At the end of his memoirs he includes a glossary of some 700 cant terms.

Vaux’s list overlaps with the material I currently have in the database but contains quite a lot that is new. I have added Vaux to the database but not yet added them to any category. However, the terms will appear in database searches with a date of 1819.

I have also added a new page discussing the sources used which might be of interest.

Thank you to everyone who has written in with feedback and suggestions. The Vaux material is a direct outcome of a suggestion of well-known lexicographer who indicated he did not wish to be quoted but whose help has been much appreciated.

A happy new year to all.

The Newgate Calendar Database Search is now available!

I have followed a similar format to the one for Thieves’ Cant. You can search by Names, Tagline (the punchy little one-liner provided with each entry) or by the Body Text.

I’ve had a lot of fun poking around, finding stuff I never even noticed when just reading the text. Try searching for your favourite English town in the Body Text. A surprising number of the larger ones are in there.

As always, please let me know if you find any bugs or if you have any suggestions. I’m keen to make this as useful as possible.