Event Type: Branch

Takes Place: 14th January 2025

Time: 7pm

Venue: Room 2.01 Park Building, King Henry I St, Portsmouth PO1 2BZ

Description: While the Vauxhall Pleasure Gardens might epitomize the glamour and sleaze associated with eighteenth century nightlife in London, our talk takes a more local focus. Taking Southampton as our starting point, contextualized with work on Winchester and Portsmouth, we will explore what constituted ‘nightlife’ in the eighteenth century, where events such as the masquerade and dances took place, and who attended them. We will consider where the great and the good of Hampshire would have acquired the clothes they needed to appear at such events, as well as the role of clothing in less reputable evening pursuits, including visits to brothels, molly houses and gaming halls. What the people of eighteenth-century Hampshire did, where they went and what they wore once the sun went down will be investigated during this talk.

How to book: No need to book, just turn up

Price: £4

Email: portsmouthhistorybranch@gmail.com

Organiser: Kate

Lecturer: Dr Julie Gammon and Professor Maria Hayward, University of Southampton

Region: South-East England

Branch: Portsmouth