Hanoverian (1714 – 1837)
Explore objects, stories and blogs that reveal London life in the 18th and early-19th century, when five kings from the House of Hanover ruled Britain.
Blogs-And-Stories
Six things you didn’t know about executions in London
London’s courts condemned more people to die than the rest of England, and six facts you may not know
David Garrick: A theatre sensation
This innovative 18th-century actor had an influence on all aspects of British theatre
A big night out at Vauxhall Pleasure Gardens
Discover the exciting new entertainment on offer to Londoners in the 1700s and 1800s
William Sessarakoo: the Royal African
One man’s journey from African prince through slavery into London high society
Pleasure gardens: London’s early restaurants?
London’s thriving restaurant scene has roots in these hedonistic spaces of music and entertainment
Joseph Grimaldi: King of the clowns
Grimaldi’s extraordinary physical comedy changed the pantomime forever – but it came at a price
Disability, as seen in 18th-century art
We look at four artworks to see how disabled people were portrayed in the 18th century
Pleasure gardens: London’s first music venues
Handel at Vauxhall? Mozart at Ranelagh? For 18th-century music fans, these were the places to be
It's a sign: BSL on a 19th-century child's mug
What can fragments of a 19th-century child’s mug tell us about the history of British Sign Language?
Masquerades in London’s pleasure gardens
Put on your finest costume and join revellers on London’s fashionable 18th-century dancefloors
Ghosts & ghouls of London’s Docklands
Two stories of hauntings and horror in 19th-century London
Olaudah Equiano: Writer & abolitionist
A freed enslaved man whose life story drove the abolition of the British trade in enslaved Africans
Holiday broadsides: When tip requests were sheer poetry
Meet the London workers who turned holiday tips requests into an artform
Frances Burney’s mahogany desk: A symbol of slavery
Exploring histories of pain and exploitation in one English novelist’s writing desk
The life story of Mary Prince
A vital narrative of enslavement that boosted the abolitionist movement
A brief history of Punch & Judy puppet shows
Punch and his ill-treated wife Judy have entertained Londoners for centuries