Overview

A solid history looking at a popular era and uncovering the cut-throat side of living in Georgian England. On 8 October 1833 Coroner Thomas Higgs opened an inquest into the death of John Bickerton, an elderly eccentric who, despite rumours of his wealth and high connections, had died in abject squalor, 'from the want of the common necessaries of life'. Over the coming hours, Higgs and his jury would unpick the details of Bickerton's strange, sad story: a story that began with comparative wealth, including education at Oxford and the Inns of Court, and brought him to the attention of two sitting prime ministers, but which descended into madness, imprisonment, mockery and starvation. Using Bickerton as a narrative thread to weave the story around, historian Stephen Haddelsey explores the lives of the down-and-outs and out-of-favours of Georgian and early Victorian England, tracking the deprivations society's lost children faced. For any fan of the era of balls and intrigue, here is revealed the story of Society's rejects and those whose star was only ever doomed to fall. AUTHOR: Stephen Haddelsey is the author of many books on Antarctic exploration history, including 'Ice Captain', 'Born Adventurer' and 'Icy Graves', as well as other topics. He lives in Nottinghamshire. 20 b/w illustrations

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9781803994253

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Reviews

'Immersive, eccentric, fascinating – I’ve never read anything quite like Poor Bickerton. Roving from the royal court to courtrooms, from Oxford colleges to London slums, madhouses and debtors’ prison, Haddelsey charts a course through Georgian society that is as unique as it is compelling. This riches-to-rags tale never stops surprising.' -- Dr Hannah Rose Woods, author of Rule Nostalgia: A Backwards History of Britain ‘Exceedingly interesting, well researched and compassionate.’ -- Professor Michael Ignatieff, author of A Just Measure of Pain: Penitentiaries in the Industrial Revolution, 1780–1850 ‘An adroit, intelligent and painstaking social history … Poor Bickerton offers us a luxurious tapestry from which everyone interested in English social history in the late-Georgian period can learn something new and surprising.' -- Professor Jerry White, author of London in the Eighteenth Century: A Great and Monstrous Thing

Author Information

STEPHEN HADDELSEY is the author of many books on Antarctic exploration history, including Ice Captain, Born Adventurer and Icy Graves, as well as other topics. He lives in Nottinghamshire.

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