True Tales from the Grave: Death & Burial in the 'Age of Austen' Halloween Talk

Mrs. Leach is pleased to announce her next educational event - for Halloween: True Tales from the Grave: Death & Burial in the 'Age of Austen'. This was initially intended as a tour of graveyards in Derby's Cathedral Quarter, although bureaucratic delays (as explained in a previous post) have necessitated alternative arrangements. 

The event will now be held at Mrs. Leach's establishment on 2nd November (All Soul's Night) 2017, 7-8.30 pm. It will take the form of a light-hearted (though at times dark) talk, which integrates evidence from and discussion of the graveyards hitherto intended as sites of interest that the tour party would visit, alongside other material. As now to be held indoors, there is opportunity to incorporate a wider range of sources - including more lovely Georgian prints, and a guest appearance from Mrs. Leach's bony inanimate friend, Morty Skelton.

As part of a series of events that commemorate the bicentenary of Jane Austen's death, True Tales will explore how people dealt with death in the time of Britain's favourite female author. Mrs. Leach will draw upon her antiquarian studies of funerary and mortuary customs and beliefs in Derby and beyond, to follow the fates of  those whose earthly endeavours came to an end in the late 1700s and early 1800s. 

Using local and wider archaeological and other historical evidence, she will meander through miasmas and medicine, to touch upon causes of death and experiences of dying, and – in this age of elegance – investigate how industrialisation and urbanisation gave rise to grisly graveyards. 

Contemplating corpses and crypts unearthed and evacuated in constructing new edifices for the living, and analysing an array of documents and illustrations exhumed from the archives - as well as a multitude of monuments that survive in the graveyards still present day, she will consider what bereavement, bodies and burials may tell us of beliefs in the Regency era, making occasional forays into superstitions and supernatural realms.

Through remnants of remembrance, and commemorative collections, Mrs. Leach will muse on mourning, mementos, and memorials. She will follow such sad sentiments by mulling over means of medical discovery, investigating how the search for scientific knowledge lead to gruesome treatment of human remains.  

As might be anticipated, a strong constitution might be required! The talk is therefore unsuitable for children, although on parental / guardian guidance, young persons over the age of 15 may attend if accompanied by a responsible adult (usual ticket prices apply).

Entry is by ticket purchased in advance. Only a small number of places are available for this select soiree - so if interested, it is advisable to purchase a ticket ASAP. The event may be cancelled if insufficient numbers of tickets are sold; in such a case, ticket sales will be refunded. 

Tickets are available online through the Eventbrite - on the Eventbrite event page, the form below, or by clicking the orange button to the right of the blog page. Entry costs £4 pp. plus the Eventbrite administrative fee (84 p: total cost = £4.84 - I have lowered the original ticket price to allow for this fee). 

Alternatively, or for more information, please contact me (providing name and contact details) - preferably by email or phone: antiquarianacademy [at] gmail [dot com]; 07903 237953; or by post via at the Academy (1 West Park Road, Derby, DE22 1GG); this blog or the Academy Website; or send a message via Facebook or Twitter. 

*PLEASE NOTE: TICKETS ARE NO LONGER AVAILABLE*

...But why not come along to the follow-on talk, planned for the close of the Christmas season in early January: Ghosts of Christmas Past: Late Georgian Death, Ritual and Belief?! 

More on this event soon...