This is a series of blog posts where we highlight interesting, timely, or just plain nifty documents from the Georgian Papers Programme. Follow #GeorgianGoodies on Twitter for new blogs and extras.

  • By Sarah Donovan, Omohundro Institute Apprentice, William & Mary Welcome back to our Georgian Goodies blog series, where we highlight interesting, timely, or just plain nifty documents from the Georgian Papers Programme! A toy house, a doll, a tambourine, and a toy drummer. These are just a few of the toys George IV ordered as …

  • By Sarah Donovan, Omohundro Institute Apprentice, William & Mary Welcome back to our Georgian Goodies blog series, where we highlight interesting, timely, or just plain nifty documents from the Georgian Papers Programme! How did flags help William IV communicate on the open seas? By 1806, William, then the Duke of Clarence, had invested in his …

  • By Marie Pellissier, Omohundro Institute Apprentice, William & Mary Welcome back to our Georgian Goodies blog series, where we highlight interesting, timely, or just plain nifty documents from the Georgian Papers Programme! The middle of August is an astronomically interesting time. The Perseid meteor showers are at their peak in the Northern Hemisphere, and the Delta …

  • Portrait of a woman in a white dress with panniers and white wig.

    By Marie Pellissier, Omohundro Institute Apprentice, William & Mary Welcome back to our Georgian Goodies blog series, where we highlight interesting, timely, or just plain nifty documents from the Georgian Papers Programme! Princess Louisa (or Louise) of Great Britain was the youngest daughter of George II and Caroline of Ansbach.[1] Born in 1724, she married Prince …

  • George III's coronation portrait by Allan Ramsay

    By Marie Pellissier, Omohundro Institute Apprentice, William & Mary Welcome back to our Georgian Goodies blog series, where we highlight interesting, timely, or just plain nifty documents from the Georgian Papers Programme! Was George III really a tyrant? The answer to that question certainly depends on who you ask. The writers of the Declaration of Independence, …

  • By Marie Pellissier, Omohundro Institute Apprentice, William & Mary Welcome back to our Georgian Goodies blog series, where we highlight interesting, timely, or just plain nifty documents from the Georgian Papers Programme! English royals have always loved their dogs. Queen Elizabeth II’s corgis seem to be everywhere, from the 2012 Olympics to the silver screen. But …

  • Benjamin Franklin, c. 1746, in a painting by Robert Freke.

    Emily Sneff is a graduate student in early American history at William & Mary and a Digital Apprentice at the Omohundro Institute of Early American History and Culture. There is an object in the British Museum that was bought from Benjamin Franklin. A small asbestos “purse.” With only these details, the modern mind imagines the …

  • By Marie Pellissier, Omohundro Institute Apprentice, William & Mary Welcome back to our Georgian Goodies blog series, where we highlight interesting, timely, or just plain nifty documents from the Georgian Papers Programme! Handel’s oratorio “Messiah” is staple of the Christmas season, and December inevitably brings about performances of this piece. However, George Frideric Handel (1685-1759), …

  • This is a watercolor image of the interior of the Chapel Royal at Whitehall c. 1811. The Chapel Royal at Whitehall was in the former Banqueting House, which was renovated by Sir Christopher Wren after the a 1698 fire. Image courtesy of the British Library.

    By Marie Pellissier, Omohundro Institute Apprentice, William & Mary Welcome back to our Georgian Goodies blog series, where we highlight interesting, timely, or just plain nifty documents from the Georgian Papers Programme! What’s so special about the Chapel Royal? That phrase refers not to the building itself, but to the group of people responsible for …

  • Portrait of Prince Octavius, a 1782 painting by Thomas Gainsborough, depicting a young boy with long blonde hair.

    By Marie Pellissier, Omohundro Institute Apprentice, William & Mary Welcome back to our Georgian Goodies blog series, where we highlight interesting, timely, or just plain nifty documents from the Georgian Papers Programme! It’s almost Halloween! We may or may not have found some ghosts in the archives… but we shall leave the final determination about …