John Maddison and his wife Jenny appear as minor characters here. John and Jenny (the latter, although already dead, exercises a major influence) were main characters in HW’s earlier series of four books called The Flax of Dream, where it is Richard Maddison who has only a cameo part. Very unusually for Henry Williamson, John has no counterpart in real life, for William Leopold was the eldest son, and so the fictional Richard and John Maddison were in real life actually one and the same person – both based on HW’s father. Jenny, a most extraordinarily sweet person, is entirely imaginary. I suspect she is based on William Leopold’s younger sister, Effie, who died in her early twenties andwho is described in family notes as a sweet and happy girl. In the early Flax of Dreamseries Jenny dies in childbirth as the first book opens, but her dead presence is felt throughout. However, the Chronicle opens at an earlier date, when she is still alive. The story is complicated by the fact that it is she with whom Richard is really in love, and in his mind he frequently compares Hetty unfavourably to her.

E per quanto le ambientazioni sono ben descritte e vivide non ho sentito l'era vittoriana in quanto libro, potrebbe benissimo essere ambientato nella maggioranza di epoche passate. offered as a magazine premium in 1894. Very large, 9 inches tall, brass Dark Lantern. It is unmarked, but the latch and the position of the door resemble the Adams & Westlake lantern. https://darklanterntales.wordpress.com/It is easy for a book of this reminiscing sort to be merely an accurate catalogue. Only magic can turn it out of the museum into life; Mr. Williamson has the magic and has done it. Public spaces became increasingly lit with lanterns in the 1500s, [22] especially following the invention of lanterns with glass windows, which greatly improved the quantity of light. In 1588 the Parisian Parlement decreed that a torch be installed and lit at each intersection, and in 1594 the police changed this to lanterns. [23] Beginning in 1667 during the reign of King Louis XIV, thousands of street lights were installed in Parisian streets and intersections. [24] Under this system, streets were lit with lanterns suspended 20 yards (18m) apart on a cord over the middle of the street at a height of 20 feet (6.1m); as an English visitor enthused in 1698, 'The streets are lit all winter and even during the full moon!' [25] In London, public street lighting was implemented around the end of the 17th century; a diarist wrote in 1712 that ‘All the way, quite through Hyde Park to the Queen's Palace at Kensington, lanterns were placed for illuminating the roads on dark nights.’ [26] Modern lanterns [ edit ] Fueled lanterns [ edit ]

Between 2000 and 2002 Peter Lewis, a longstanding and dedicated member of The Henry Williamson Society, researched and prepared indices of the individual books in the Chronicle of Ancient Sunlight series, with the first three volumes being indexed together as 'The London Trilogy'. Originally typed by hand, copies were given only to a select few. His index is reproduced here in a non-searchable PDF format, with his kind permission. It forms a valuable and, indeed, unique resource. The PDF is in two sections: While some might consider this book atmospheric, for me it was plodding. It did depict the hard life of those in service “below stairs.” Battery technology evolved and in the mid 1890s the first portable electric lanterns were offered for sale. However, the simple and reliable oil lanterns continued to be used for many years. Dietz in particular continued to make oil-burning dark lanterns until at least the late 1920s. In London, the Metropolitan Police converted to electric lanterns, reportedly with some reluctance, in the 1920s. But rural America was still not fully electrified and in small communities, a simple lantern fueled by easily found oil might have engendered more confidence in a policeman than a lantern powered by a battery. Beadles New York Dime Library, 1890. A dark lantern in use. It is described in the story as a bullseye lantern, but is the same as a police lantern, or dark lantern. https://darklanterntales.wordpress.com/For years Henry Williamson has been an accomplished nature writer. This expedition into a late Victorian suburb and merchant materialism is unexpected. And it is as genuine and affectionate as it is accomplished. . . .

William Leopold Williamson was a bank clerk by profession, who in May 1893 married Gertrude Eliza Leaver, encouraged by her mother, in Greenwich Registry Office in a ceremony kept secret from her father, exactly as happens in the novel. The reason for this extraordinary procedure is unclear: the two were of age, William beingtwenty-seven years old and Gertrude twenty-five. One has to presume (as in the novel) that Thomas Leaver disapproved of the Williamson family because William Leopold's father was considered to be a bit of a bounder! It is known now that the two families, Williamson and Leaver, lived next door to each other in the borough of Sutton, and so there must have been considerable interaction between them in real life. HW clearly knew the area very well, and it is entirely possible that William Leopold took his young son over to the area to visit – the 1901 census shows that William's sisters Isabelle and Effie (Ethel) and his brother Henry Joseph were still living in Alfred Road, Sutton, in the house in which they had been born. Some rechargeable fluorescent lanterns may be plugged in at all times and may be set up to illuminate upon a power failure, a useful feature in some applications. During extensive power failures (or for remote use), supplemental recharging may be provided from an automobile's 12-volt electrical system or from a modest solar-powered charger.

Pasted in the front of HW's own copy of The Dark Lantern is this charming sketch made by his son Richard The story was interesting enough that I did read it straight through, but was very happy when it ended. The one thing I did very much appreciate was that the author tied up the details as to what happened to most of the characters at the end. Mrs. Bentley lies dying in her room attended for the past 12 years by the very protective Miss Price. Her son Robert Bentley is trying to make his mark by advocating anthropometry (identifying criminals by recording multiple physical measurements) as opposed to dactylography (fingerprints). His wife, Mina, is a woman with a secret past, desperate to keep it that way.