Stained glass window in the Windmill public house, Westhoughton representing the Luddite attack on Westhoughton Mill. Plucas58 [CC BY-SA 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0)], from Wikimedia CommonsBlue Plaque on White Lion public house, Westhoughton, commemorating the burning of Westhoughton Mill in 1812. Plucas58 [CC0], from Wikimedia CommonsThe above images were used in a Wikipedia article that I read while doing some research. Delighting Mrs. Bennet ends around the beginning of February 1812, which is the month in which the Frame Breaking Act of 1812 made the destruction of merchandising looms a capital offense. You can read the article where I found these images at this link.
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“I’ve not seen you in your uniform in days,” Darcy commented. Between the uniform and the grave expression Richard wore, Darcy knew that the news his cousin bore was not good.
“I am to be in Manchester by next week,” he said simply. “I am to leave immediately.” He held up a missive. “There is no time to waste.”
“Leaving?” Lydia cried. “Now?”
Richard nodded. “There have been reports of fires and attacks on mills in the north, and the government expects it to only increase. There is a bill…” He sighed and then forced a smile. “This is my profession.”
Leenie Brown fell in love with Jane Austen's works when she first read Sense and Sensibility followed immediately by Pride and Prejudice in her early teens. As the second of five daughters and an avid reader, she has always loved to see where her imagination takes her and to play with and write about the characters she meets along the way. In 2013, these two loves collided when she stumbled upon the world of Jane Austen Fan Fiction. A year later, in 2014, she began writing her own Austen-inspired stories and began publishing them in 2015. Leenie lives in Nova Scotia, Canada with her two teenage boys and her very own Mr. Brown (a wonderful mix of all the best of Darcy, Bingley and Edmund with healthy dose of the teasing Mr. Tillney and just a dash of the scolding Mr. Knightley).
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4 thoughts on “Westhoughton Mill Stained Glass and Plaque”
Poor Lydia, virtually a child in a woman’t body, now seeing first hand what life would be like with a military man constantly on call to duty. And Richard, not facing Napoleon or an enemy on foreign soil, but his own countrymen at home. This has to be a hard reality for both of them. My goodness. Those are amazing photos, thank you for adding them.
Yes, it is a first dose of what a handsome uniform brings with it for Lydia. Glad you enjoyed the photos. I was very pleased when I found them. 🙂 I especially love the stained glass scene.
This was a very interesting article! It led to many other sites of interest. I recognized that some of the P&P stories I have read refer to the destroying of mills that left people without jobs. Thank you for this bit of history.
That is exactly how I get lost in research for hours! 🙂 One article of interest leads to another and then to another and then… What was I trying to find out? LOL I have used some of this information in at least one other story that springs to mind (Not an Heiress). There, as is often the case, the research was just background knowledge to a conversation. That was part of the conversation between Richard and Mary in the library. There really was so much going on in that era of history — so much unrest both at home and abroad.
Poor Lydia, virtually a child in a woman’t body, now seeing first hand what life would be like with a military man constantly on call to duty. And Richard, not facing Napoleon or an enemy on foreign soil, but his own countrymen at home. This has to be a hard reality for both of them. My goodness. Those are amazing photos, thank you for adding them.
Yes, it is a first dose of what a handsome uniform brings with it for Lydia. Glad you enjoyed the photos. I was very pleased when I found them. 🙂 I especially love the stained glass scene.
This was a very interesting article! It led to many other sites of interest. I recognized that some of the P&P stories I have read refer to the destroying of mills that left people without jobs. Thank you for this bit of history.
That is exactly how I get lost in research for hours! 🙂 One article of interest leads to another and then to another and then… What was I trying to find out? LOL I have used some of this information in at least one other story that springs to mind (Not an Heiress). There, as is often the case, the research was just background knowledge to a conversation. That was part of the conversation between Richard and Mary in the library. There really was so much going on in that era of history — so much unrest both at home and abroad.