Chris Fernandez Packham Victorian History Lover Queen Victoria Fan Podcasts

The world can be a dangerous place. For explorers like Darwin to see the treasures of nature, they had to go boldly to the ends of the world. Join me as Darwin sails into savage and stormy seas, and find breathtaking beauty. Intro. The lonely lands of Tierra Del Fuego. Isolation. A fragile speak on a vast stormy sea. The Beagle Channel Into the Pac…

January is here, and we are all feeling poor after Christmas. Time to talk about money. This is the first in a series of minisodes on Victorian money. To get things started we are looking at Victorian Coins. The age of gold, silver, sound money, and not having two farthings to rub together Intro, thank you’s and reviews. Choosing a topic Its pre-de…

Christmas is here, so we really need to watch Charles Dickens “A Christmas Carol” but how to choose the best version? Sentimental? Accurate? Musical? This episode has got you covered; Intro, thank you’s and reviews. A little reminder of the essentials Honourable mentions Pick a film, any film A traditional ghost story. If you want to get in touch, …

Darwin’s great voyage of discovery continues. The ancient past was a vast mystery, with many claiming that God alone was the explanation for all things. As Darwin travelled and jotted his observations in his little notebooks, he began to lift the veil on the ancient past. New species, now long vanished, were discovered. Darwin began to build the fo…

Darwin, and his Theory of Evolution by Natural Selection; in this podcast we’ve covered the creation of the new settler Empire and the transition to the new energy form of coal & steam, then the railways, but Darwin had a bigger impact on civilisation than even those. This episode is the start of a series of episodes on Darwin and Evolution. It cov…

Just for fun, here’s a fiendishly difficult pub quiz which has been requested by many listeners. Good luck! The post PUB QUIZ 0CT 2022 appeared first on AGE OF VICTORIA PODCAST.By Chris Fernandez-Packham (Victorian History Lover/Queen Victoria Fan)

The death of Queen Elizabeth II is a momentous event in modern British history. This special episode contains some facts about her life, reflections on events, thoughts about King Charles III, the Royal Finances, the constitution, national decline, the Commonwealth, and possibilities for the future. This episode covers; Intro Birth, coronation & te…

The essential guide to the Victorian class system. There was more to being middle class than drinking tea, and the working class weren’t all up the Chimney. From the well dressed footman, to the Haymarket prostitute, to the pie seller, and duke. All of Victorian life is here. This episode covers. Intro. A discussion of what is Class. A tiny bit of …

This much requested episode deals with the important but fun topic of women’s clothes and fashions in the 1840s. If you want to understand how a Victorian woman dressed and why, this is the episode for you. This episode covers. Intro & reviews. The importance of dressing well. We don’t do business casual. Victoria, a Goth. Starting the day, the che…

This episode deals with the real and harrow position for women during with contraception, pregnancy, and abortion in the Victorian era. Campaigners like Annie Besant attacked the patriarchy, and fought for the right to be heard. Women risked their lives getting dangerous abortions, in constant fear of the law, whilst the great scandal of the Victor…

This anniversary is a memorable event and naturally deserves to be photographed by the paparazzi. But what was the story of the invention of the photograph, and how did it become a Victorian icon? A story filled with invention, persistence, a lot of daring do, and possibly holding back some manly tears. Not to mention artistic nudes, pioneering thi…

Our dive under the covers continues. How did sex and religion come together in the Victorian era? How was the bible such an influence on men & women’s sexuality? Should a religious Victorian be having sex? Some evolutionary pitfalls, social problems and a couple of wedding nights to talk about. This episode covers. Intro & reviews. The duties of Ev…

Why yes, we will be asking what Victoria did with Albert. We will be asking about the how’s and why’s of Victorian sex & sexualities. There’s a lot to say, so we are getting started with just how reserved were they really, and did the have a lot of sex? This episode covers. Intro & reviews. General biology Darwin & sex Public health – a deceiving l…

What could be more of a traditional Victorian Christmas than carols by candlelight with an orchestra, piano and harp? Quite a bit actually. Victorian piano’s were a late addition and the carols were a really new thing. Find out how carols and piano’s go together like new age German synth and wannabe edgy 20 somethings. This episode covers. Intro & …

Marriage isn’t easy, even in the early days, especially a royal marriage. It’s even harder if you are an intellectual who dabbles in cutting edge music, but your wife only thinks of you as a sex object. It wasn’t easy being Albert. Victoria had a lot of on her plate too, what with being a new Queen, starting her journey to Empress, and that pesky p…

An ancient tradition, but surely one that the Victorians didn’t celebrate? Wrong, they did celebrate. Oh boy was it a big dangerous, flaming drunken party of a holiday. Join me to explore a Victorian Halloween. This episode covers Intro & reviews. The birth of Halloween. The ancient rites. Religion & superstition. The loss of the old ways. Queen Vi…

With the hardships of the voyage across the ocean over, the settlers had to build a life in South Africa. An unsettled land, with slavery, war, opportunity, growth and social conflict, early colonial South Africa was no paradise for the rich and idle of Britain. For the lucky and hard working, their were opportunities and fortunes, but for most the…

An empire lives on the backs of people; its own or those it conquers. For the British, South Africa needed colonists to clear the forests, build the farms, and man the armies. But getting them from Britain to South Africa was no easy task. Learn about the hard start to a colonists voyage from the frozen Thames to the heat of the tropics to the far …

The story of the British Empire in South Africa continues. The first battles were being won, but the cost was blood on the soil, spilt by the British and shed by the native peoples as well as the soldiers in red. This episode covers Intro & reviews. Col Graham and the imperial mindset. Warfare is a continuation of culture by other means. The clash …

The British Empire was vast, but it didn’t spring up over night. South Africa was a vital imperial staging post, then a fledgling colony. The story of how it got to be is intimately linked to the land and the people. Start the next series on empire, this episode covers Intro and reviews Why South Africa? Mythbusting: Africa, a continent of cities a…

Prison is never nice, but the Victorian prison of Port Arthur in Van Diemen’s Land combined starvation, deprivation, desperation, and isolation. It was considered a hell on Earth. This episode covers: Intro & reviews. Guest podcast promo’s A vision of a better future. Reality check – isolation and mental health Narrowly avoiding prison The problems…

To celebrate the 4th anniversary, the episode will be all about Lovelace and Babbage; the true inventors of the computer age. The episode covers Intro & reviews. “There must be an easier way to do this” – why being lazy can change the world What were these engines? Ada Lovelace, a life in Technicolour Ada’s Victorian childhood – of course it was aw…

At its heart, a prison is the people. But what kind of people ended up in the hellish Port Arthur Prison in Van Diemen’s Land? Was it really just for the worst of the worst? Or was it a machine that simple chewed people up indiscriminately. How can we begin to understand it. Join me to walk a mile or two in a convicts shoe. The episode covers Intro…

How does it feel to be cast out? To lose everything you’ve ever known and be sent to the ends of the world? Want to understand what being a convict transported to Tasmania feels like? This show is for you. It covers; – Intro & reviews. – Introducing Hannah to the Court. – How did it feel to be a convict? – Her voyage. – Another convict – Linus Wils…

Clothes maketh the man; but how did a gent dress in the 1840s? This episode features; Intro & podcast update. Clothing, class, and mindset. Beauty standards. Aspirational dressing. Wasn’t it cold! Men getting dressed in 1840. Underwear. Shaving – a risky business. Shirts & sewing. Trousers. Waistcoats. A riot of colour & overcoats. Men get pockets;…

Merry Christmas everyone. What a year, so lets round it off in comfort. This special episode features. Thank you’s. Quick chat about Victorian Christmas Cards Introducing Mrs Beeton, and the standardisation of recipes. Why running a household really was difficult. A valet or a butler? Hints of gender conflicts and the danger of left over Turkey. Or…

The journey into Empire continues as we look at Tasmania, known as Van Diemen’s Land. Here the European settlers, the indigenous people, the convict system, the bush rangers, the lure of food, the battle for land, resulted in war, conquest and genocide. The birth pang of a new world was one of agony, yet the future of a unique culture and the amazi…

The journey into Empire continues as we look more closely at the Australia’s, and the difficult issues of landownership, native rights, and how land can tie to identity. I also cover the culture clash between the Europeans and the Indigenous Peoples. This is part 2, which covers more of the background of Empire in the Australia’s, the First & Secon…

The journey into Empire continues as we look more closely at the Australia’s, and the difficult issues of landownership, native rights, and how land can tie to identity. I also cover the culture clash between the Europeans and the indigenous aborigines. This episode then breaks and in part 2, it will cover more of the background of Empire in the Au…

To understand the past, sometimes we need to examine our values and subject them to philosophical analysis. The British Empire was a complex, varied entity that stretched across the world and changed over the centuries. How do we understand the mindset of those people in the C19th who created it, or lived in it? This episode is designed to get you …

How does the Queen of Kingdom and ruler of the Empire choose a husband? This is not a choice to get wrong, so Victoria was under pressure. Was Albert the Romantic Prince and perfect companion of her dreams? Learn about the Prince, his childhood, his music, & his journey from shy intellectual to confident suitor to the Queen. This show covers Prince…

How was Victoria coping with being Queen? She was intelligent, stubborn, cultured, but sometimes misguided and blinkered. Worse, the nation itself seemed fractured, bitter, and in danger of collapse. Her first two years as monarch showed the need for her to have a partner. Someone who could share the load, act as a lightning rod and shield on shoul…

EP030 3rd Anniversary Special: Victoria & Albert -a Royal and a Romantic. The podcast is 3 years old, so time for Victoria and Albert to become a couple. One of histories famous romances and two names that almost define the age. Yet it was a strange road that brought them together. In this show we look at Queen Victoria’s tricky love life, the prob…

EP029 “The Court of King Cholera – the great Victorian plague” explores one of the most famous pandemics in history. There was horror, death, and a little hope. Many bad decisions, anger and mistrust, but also groundbreaking science. When disease strikes it is easy to think humanity is levelled and we all stand together – does history prove this is…

MINISODE 018 RAILWAY TIME is here to take a light hearted look at the social etiquette of train travel, and the small matter of how the trains revolutionised time. This show covers Reviews and thank you’s Railways; is this a polite way to travel? “I say, have we met?” The problems with the timetables. The Victorians control time itself. Follow the …

EP028 BROTHER CAN YOU SPARE A DIME? RAILWAY MANIA AND SOCIAL CHANGES is here to count the cost of progress. As railways make men staggeringly rich, people start to fly too close to the sun and get their wings singed. Or fall prey to predators, like George Hudson, the Railway King. This episode covers Reviews, thank you’s and some podcast recommenda…

Railways were one of the great achievements of the Victorian Era, but they are complicated and hard to build. This show covers the process and the people involved in building these incredible pieces of engineering. Pt 2 of this episode covers; The navigators; hard work for hard men. Drink hard, play hard, fight hard. The riots. Individual lives. Th…

Railway building was a great achievement of the Victorian Age, but railways are complicated and hard to build. This show covers the process and the people involved in building these incredible pieces of engineering. Pt 1 of this episode covers; The kinds of labourer & builders. Surveying and risks to historic sites. Wordsworth and the Lake District…

The railway is here. What a change Britain was about to see! A herald of a new age, and new way of life. Something new in human history. This episode covers; The English landscape and the train 1820-1840. Early trains & popular . Economic impacts. Canal and coach monopolies. Slum clearance & Agar Town. A riot in Basingstoke. Triumph of the railways…

Bonus episode of The Age of Victoria & The Siècle! Learn about the differences between how France and Britain experienced the years after Waterloo in a conversation between your host Chris Fernandez-Packham and David Montgomery, host of the Siecle Podcast. We chat about the state of Britain and France after the battle of Waterloo, to around 1830. I…

“Great things are done when men and mountains meet; This is not done by jostling in the street.” -William Blake Join me for this adventurous minisode. This show has Setting the scene; literature and the quest for adventure. How Victorian masculinity was shaped by adventure literature. How the mountains effect our minds An ordinary boy from Surrey g…