The Georgians
The Drummond Family, by Johan Joseph Zoffany
Four successive King Georges ruled the newly formed United Kingdom from 1714 to 1830. This was a period of wars, riots and rebellions, but also one of much greater stability than the proceeding centuries. Revolutions in agriculture and industry created a prosperous nation whose population more than doubled. Colonies across the world but the country at the heart of a great trading empire. Art and architecture was no longer parochial but felt international influences.
Georgian Architecture in East Yorkshire
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The Georgian era is most apparent to us in its architecture. The surviving buildings are there to proclaim the style of the period whether people look for it or not. There are plenty of survivals in the region: from country houses, and the impressive civic buildings of Beverley and Hull, to the many surviving Georgian houses large and small. ... (read more...)
Georgian Art, Literature & Music in East Yorkshire
East Yorkshire partook in the artistic pleasures of the eighteenth and early nineteenth century like other parts of the country. And it had its own personalities to contribute, too. John Ward, born in Hull, has been described as "the leading marine artist and ship portrait painter in Hull during the first half of the 19th century". Apprenticed as a ... (read more...)
Georgian Science, Industry & Commerce in East Yorkshire
The Industrial Revolution brought new technologies and increases in commerce. East Yorkshire was well placed to take advantage of these improvements to productivity and wealth. Whaling became the major industry in Hull after the various wars of the period made importation of oil difficult and costly. Agriculture continued to be the main business of the rest of the county. ... (read more...)
Georgian Politics, Diplomacy & War
William Wilberforce is the towering political character of the period. MP for Hull from 1780 to 1784 and of York thereafter, he dedicated his life to the campaigns to abolish the slave trade and slavery itself. Later on, another Hull-born MP Thomas Perronet Thompson would campaign against the Corn Laws, a tariff that kept the prices of imported grain ... (read more...)
