Celebrating Women in History
The Coffee Pot Book Club is delighted to welcome author of fabulous Regency and paranormal fiction, Penny Hampson, today. Penny introduces us to an intrepid woman who pioneered the modern travel guidebook, well ahead of its time.
Have a look!
Introducing Mariana Starke –
Pioneer of the modern Travel Guidebook
Pioneer of the modern Travel Guidebook
I am the proud owner of a copy of Mariana Starke’s (1762-1838) Information and Directions for Travellers on the Continent. My copy is the 6th edition of her work published in 1828.
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| Travellers on the Continent. Image (c) Penny Hampson |
Mariana was born in Epsom and was the eldest daughter of Richard Starke who had been an officer of the East India Company and the deputy-governor of Fort St David, Madras until 1756. In 1792 Mariana and her family moved to Italy, remaining there for seven years. The travel notes she made during her stay became the basis of her first publication Letters from Italy in 1800.
Recognising that there was a need for more practical information for travellers abroad, Starke contacted another publisher, John Murray, and the idea of a guidebook was born. As a woman, Starke was criticised for compiling such a book, even though her work went on to become the forerunner of the modern travel guidebook.
Mariana’s publication was comprehensive, advising would-be travellers of not only what they would find in foreign parts but also the legal requirements for getting there, the best times to visit, and how to maintain their health when abroad.
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| Planning your Grand Tour Emil Brack, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons |
Pisa was recommended for those suffering from pulmonary complaints, its climate being far superior to any other Italian city, particularly during the months of October up to April. Naples was not advised for persons suffering from any stage of decline due to ‘the quantity of sulphur with which its atmosphere is impregnated’.
Of course, just like today, passports were required for foreign travel. Unlike now, if a Regency traveller was intending to journey through several countries a separate passport was required for each one. Indeed, the whole system of getting the necessary documentation, although clearly explained in the guidebook, would certainly have made me think twice about journeying abroad.
At least nowadays, although passports are not cheap, they cover all destinations and we don’t have to tip the doorman. How about this advice for those wishing to visit France:
‘Travellers who wish to avoid expense, should apply for Passports to the French Ambassador in London; at whose house they are obtained gratis, a trifling present to the Porter excepted.’
Travelling in Italy was particularly complicated: ‘it is requisite that British Subjects should have their Passports countersigned by the British Consul General at Rome, the Police, and the Neapolitan Ambassador’ – and that was only to enable them to travel from Rome to Naples!
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| Guidance on passports. Image (c) Penny Hampson |
Being a seasoned traveller herself, Mariana knew how easily naive visitors could easily be relieved of their money. She recommended that tourists travelling in their own vehicles should include in their party ‘an active intelligent English Man-servant, who understands how to grease and chain wheel, and likewise how to load and take care of English carriages’. Any local person employed to assist travellers would cost more because of taxes imposed on such employment.
The list of items that the guidebook specifies as being useful for foreign travel is certainly extensive. From bedding and locks for bedchambers, writing desks and coach seats, to tinder box and matches, lanterns, towels, table-cloths, cutlery, and napkins. Even a kettle and teapot! And that’s before Mariana mentions the types of clothes to pack – warm pelisses, great-coats, and travelling caps.
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| Guidance on cutlery & household items. Image (c) Penny Hampson |
A medicine chest for health emergencies was a must, together with a copy of ‘The London and Edinburgh Dispensary’. The chest should be packed with scales and weights for both dry amounts and liquids, a thermometer, and a pestle and mortar. From the list of necessary items we can get an idea of what was in a well-regulated Regency household’s first aid box: bark, salvolatile, sulphuric acid, pure opium, liquid laudanum, ipecacuanha, emetic tartar, prepared calomel, diluted vitriolic acid, and essential oil of lavender.
In case you’re wondering, ten drops of oil of lavender sprinkled on a bed ‘will drive away fleas’ and five drops of sulphuric acid put into a decanter of bad water ‘will render the water wholesome’.
Mariana also has sensible advice for those wishing to preserve their health while undertaking long journeys, similar to advice we are given today; they should ‘avoid sitting many hours together in a carriage’, and get out and walk around while the horses are being changed. This woman was ahead of her time, much like a present-day Fitbit, telling travellers to get up and move.
Once everything was packed, a Regency traveller could then address the question of how to reach the Continent – that is, if all that packing hasn’t left them exhausted.
The guidebook notes that steam packets run daily (weather permitting) from moorings off the Tower of London to Calais between the first week in April until the last week in November. The bad news is that crossings can take up to twelve hours.
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| Guidance on steam packets to the Continent. Image (c) Penny Hampson |
Mariana’s guidebook goes on to give comprehensive details of all the various crossings from London, Dover, and Southampton to Calais, Boulogne, and other Continental ports, plus the cost of the fares. For the Dover to Calais route, ladies, gentlemen, and female servants were charged ten shillings and sixpence each. For some reason, the fare for men servants was only five shillings.
If you were a traveller during this period you couldn’t wish for a better source of information about Continental travel than this guidebook. It seems such a pity that this intrepid author and her innovative work that formed the template for other travel guidebooks have been pretty much forgotten.
Images: Photos of title page, pps. 439, 441, 443 (author’s own)
Penny Hampson
Penny Hampson writes mysteries, and because she has a passion for history, you’ll find her stories also reflect that. A Gentleman’s Promise, a traditional Regency mystery / romance, was Penny’s debut novel and the first of her Gentlemen Series.
Penny also enjoys writing contemporary mysteries with a hint of the paranormal, because where do ghosts come from but the past? There are two books in her Spirited Encounters Series: The Unquiet Spirit, and A Plethora of Phantoms.
Penny lives with her family in Oxfordshire, and when she is not writing, she enjoys reading, walking, swimming, and the odd gin and tonic (not all at the same time).
Penny’s books are all available on Amazon and are free with Kindleunlimited: viewauthor.at/Pennysbooks
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Thanks for featuring my article about Mariana Starke, one of history's forgotten women
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