Category Archives: Lord Byron

Follies rolling into February – the obelisk at Kingston Lacy

 There is of course another form of folly, the memorial of the Grand Tour, an article obtained in pursuit of antiquity.

William Bankes, a friend of Lord Byron, who travelled through the period of Peninsular War was a collector.

In the later years he travelled with the well known excavator of Egyptian artefacts, Geovanni Belzoni, who he engaged to bring back an obelisk, which was a feat which took years.

On its first move, it plunged into the river out of sight.

However the obelisk did eventually make it to William Bankes home in Kingston Lacy, Dorset.

It arrived in England in 1821 and the Duke of Wellington offered to ship it to Dorset on a gun carriage.

The Duke of Wellington was then asked to lay the foundation stone in April 1827, when the granite steps it is mounted on and other fragments of the obelisk arrived in England.

This is commemorated in the plaques about the obelisk. As is the fact that King George IV donated granite from the ruins of Leptis Magna to repair damage to the obelisk which occurred during travel.  

Kingston Lacy 4  

 The obelisk still stands proudly erect in full view of the house at Kingston Lacy. It comes from the temple of Isis on the island of Philae, and is inscribed with the names of Ptolemy VII Euergetes II who died in 116BC, and his second consort Cleopatra III recording the exemption granted to the priests of Isis from the expense of local administration and has both Egyptian and Greek inscription.

Kingston Lacy 1

There are many more tales to come from Kingston Lacy, but I’ll save those for another day.

To find out more go to:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_John_Bankes

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Giovanni_Battista_Belzoni

Kingston Lacy 3 (2)

Illicit_LoveJane Lark’s debut novel is due to be published 2nd May 2013, by Sapphire Star Publishing See  Jane’s website www.janelark.co.uk to learn more or click  like on Jane’s Facebook  page. You can also follow Jane on twitter at @janelark

Sarsenet pelisse (1815) worn by Annabella Milbanke – Lady Byron

One of my favourite places to study historic dress is at the Fashion Museum in Bathwhich is in the Assembly Rooms there. Scenes from the film, The Duchess, were filmed in the Assembly Rooms and currently on display are some of the costumes from this film. I go a few times a year to look at the different displays as they keep a lot of stock in storage and place various different elements on show at different times.  When I went last week there was a gem on display – a sarsenet pelisse  from 1815.  A pelisse is a style of coat women wore over dresses in the 1800s.

I was interested in the garment, but what interested me even more is that the museum knew exactly who wore the pelisse. It was worn by Annabella Milbanke, who married the Romantic poet Lord Byron. I have mentioned Lord Byron in one of my earlier blogs; he was a strong figure in the history, life and scandal of the Regency era. What is still more inspirational is that this particular garment was spoken of in a letter from a friend of Byron’s. I have also said previously how fascinating I find letters and written records of this period, as they give you a real sense of what people did – what could occur – of how people spoke to one another – thought – and lived their lives.

John Cam Hobhouse, Byron’s friend, who travelled to the North East with the poet for the wedding said that the bride’s muslin wedding gown was “very plain indeed”; but, for the honeymoon, she changed into a travelling dress of slate-coloured satin trimmed with white fur: this is the silk sarsenet pelisse on display in the museum and shown in the picture above. Although it is not fur-lined, it is believed it may have been worn with a separate fur tippet or collar.

Below are some pictures of the Assembly Rooms and another example of a pelisse

Jane Lark is a writer of authentic, passionate and emotional love stories.

See the side bar for details of Jane’s books and Jane’s website www.janelark.co.uk to learn more about Jane. Or click  ‘like’ on Jane’s Facebook  page to see photo’s and learn historical facts from the Georgian, Regency and Victorian eras, which Jane publishes there. You can also follow Jane on twitter at @janelark

This slideshow requires JavaScript.