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Why is it called the Regency period in Britain?

The British Regency period, usually dated from 1811 to 1820, is often imagined as a world of elegant drawing rooms, Jane Austen and, more recently, Bridgerton . Yet the term itself comes not from culture but an unusual constitutional arrangement. During these years King George III was alive but unable to rule, and his son, the Prince of Wales, governed as Prince Regent. George III had experienced serious illness earlier in his reign. In 1789 Parliament prepared legislation to appoint the Prince of Wales as regent, but the King recovered before it became law. When his health collapsed again in 1810, Parliament passed the Regency Act of 1811, formally transferring royal duties to the Prince.  Regencies were normally required when monarchs were minors, though substitutes had occasionally governed during long absences abroad in earlier centuries. A regency based on incapacity was highly unusual in British history. George III never recovered and died in 1820, after which the Prince Rege...
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News: Migration Was a Constant Feature of Early Medieval England

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Latest in History Shorts' occasional series of history and archaeology news from the wires... 6 Jan 2026 "These new-comers were from the three most formidable races of Germany, the Saxons, Angles, and Jutes...It was not long before such hordes of these alien peoples vied together to crowd into the island that the natives who had invited them began to live in terror." Bede,  A History of the English Church and People (translated by Leo Sherley-Price) Bede's account, written in the 8th century, of earlier mass migratory events by different 'races' into what is now England is not supported by modern scholarship. Most recently, in January 2026, a new study affirms that migration into England was a continuous process from the end of Roman rule through to the Norman Conquest, rather than a series of short, one-off events. Researchers from the Universities of Edinburgh and Cambridge analysed chemical signatures in the tooth enamel of more than 700 individuals burie...
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News: Multiple parasite infections in Roman soldiers at Vindolanda fort, Hadrian’s Wall

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History news from the wires... (Dec 2025) A new study of Roman sewer drains at Vindolanda, near Hadrian’s Wall, has found that soldiers stationed there were infected with multiple intestinal parasites. Sediment from a third-century CE latrine drain revealed roundworm, whipworm and Giardia duodenalis , all spread through poor sanitation and contaminated food or water. While roundworm and whipworm are known from other Roman sites, this is the first evidence of Giardia duodenalis in Roman Britain. Image by  Julia Phillips  from  Pixabay Researchers from the universities of Cambridge and Oxford analysed fifty samples from a nine-metre-long drain serving a communal latrine. Around 28 per cent contained parasite remains, and a further sample from an earlier first-century fort also showed infection. The parasites could have caused chronic illness, including diarrhoea, fatigue and malnutrition, weakening soldiers despite the presence of latrines and sewers. Published in Parasi...
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A tale of two pillboxes near the river Bann

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Around 6000 pillboxes likely remain in the UK, from maybe 18000-28000 constructed as anti-invasion fixed defence measures during the early years of the Second World War 1 . Two of these, at Portna Lock and Kilrea in County Derry, are physical reminders of how the River Bann valley in Northern Ireland was fortified during the conflict. Invasion was a real fear at this point of the war, especially in the aftermath of the  rapid German advance through France and the British retreat from Dunkirk. Initially concrete and steel were at the heart of the anti-invasion defence in both Northern Ireland and the wider UK. The result in Northern Ireland was a network of fixed positions built to slow any invasion pushing inland from the north coast. The pillbox at Portna Lock outside Kilrea stands near the lock gates on the Lower Bann, positioned to cover a vital point on the river network between Coleraine and Lough Neagh. The structure is a solid concrete design, with a forward-facing firing sl...
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Randalstown Viaduct: From Railway to Green Haven

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In the heart of Randalstown, County Antrim, a remarkable transformation has taken place. The imposing eight-arched railway viaduct, designed by the famed architect Sir Charles Lanyon and built by engineer William Dargan in the 1850s, has been revitalised into a beautiful urban green space. This is an example of an historical structure being reclaimed from its industrial past and potential decay or ruin, to become something positive for current and future communities. The viaduct, spanning the River Maine, carried its last trains in the 1950s, after which the tracks were lifted and a linking bridge over the main road removed. However, community efforts starting in the 1990s breathed new life into the structure, replacing the road bridge and clearing the overgrown viaduct to become a crucial part of a footpath and cycleway linking two ends of the town.  During the 2020s, it has been further transformed into a community garden, offering a serene escape from the hustle and bustle of da...
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Location: Randalstown, Antrim BT41, UK
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The Great Irish Crown Jewels Heist: An Unsolved Mystery

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In 1907, Ireland’s ‘Crown Jewels’ vanished from a safe in Dublin Castle, four days before they were to be used during a state visit by King Edward VII.  Public domain image of the jewels from the police reward notice More than a century later, the mystery behind their disappearance remains unsolved, at least officially.  Suspicion continues to linger around Francis Shackleton, younger brother of the famous explorer Ernest Shackleton, despite being officially cleared by a commission of enquiry.  Did he pull off a heist under the nose of his colleague, friend and sometime housemate Sir Arthur Vicars? Sir Arthur was the Ulster King of Arms, or senior herald, responsible for the safe-keeping of the jewels and who was disgraced by their disappearance.  But why, more than 110 years later, are we still fascinated by this crime? Simply put, if these treasures still exist today, they would be worth millions.  So, what are the Irish Crown Jewels?  Officially called t...
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A two-faced stone - the Boa Island figure

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"Then I found a two faced stone On burial ground, God-eyed, sex-mouthed, its brain A watery wound." — 'January God', by Seamus Heaney. In an apparently ancient cemetery on an island in Lower Lough Erne, county Fermanagh is a historical curiosity. The two-sided Boa Island figure is an enigma, even whether it is pagan Iron Age or early Christian (Caldragh cemetery has been dated to 400-800 AD). It's not really a Janus figure either but two separate figures standing back to back. Is one side male and one side female, as many think? Writing in the Proceedings of the Royal Irish Academy in 1933, the Lady Dorothy Lowry-Corry described and published photographs of the carved stone, which she believed represented male effigies on both sides. In that she disagreed with George Du Noyer who had first officially recorded the figure in a sketch in 1841 (not very accurately, she said). In her photos, the stone is very noticeably askew and partially sunk in the ground. She also...
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