Anne Lister's diary for 19 - 28 July 1821

Introduction

On Thursday, 19th July 1821, George IV was crowned King. It was a day which combined ceremony with farce. The long delay between his accession to the throne in January 1820 and the actual crowning ceremony was due to the determination of Caroline of Brunswick to both remain his wife and be crowned Queen. George was equally determined she should be neither wife nor Queen. His attempts to divorce her had failed but he was successful in debarring her from the coronation ceremony. Thus, amid the pomp and splendour of the occasion at Westminster Abbey, the London crowds witnessed the spectacle of their putative Queen hammering on the door of the Abbey and being refused entry by strong-arm men specially employed for the purpose by her husband, the King. The King’s wish to be rid of his troublesome wife was granted three weeks later. Caroline died on the 7th August 1821.

Selected passage

Mariana Lawton’s brother, Dr Henry Stephen (Steph) Belcombe and his wife, Harriet had invited Mariana and Anne to act as sponsors (or godparents) to their baby daughter. Steph’s medical practice was in Newcastle-under-Lyme, Staffordshire. The visit gave Anne and Mariana a golden opportunity to be together for a few days and renew their vows of love.

Also, as these extracts show, celebrations for the coronation of George IV were held throughout the country. Anne, royalist as she was, made sure that Shibden, in its own small way, participated in them.

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