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This Jane Austen blog brings Jane Austen, her novels, and the Regency Period alive through food, dress, social customs, and other 19th C. historical details related to this topic.

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« A Regency Gentleman’s Wardrobe: Thomas Coutts, Banker
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The Rockets Red Glare: Fireworks in Georgian London

July 4, 2012 by Vic

Today U.S. citizens are celebrating July 4th and the independence of our nation from Great Britain. Grand firework displays will play a pivotal role in our national revelry tonight, culminating a day long celebration. Fireworks were not unknown during the Georgian Era, and were used for grand effect in public celebrations. I will point out only a few instances in London.

The picture above is of the firework display held by the Duke of Richmond at Richmond House near the Thames in Whitehall, London [May 1749] and shows both the whole effect of all the fireworks and also, very interestingly, gives individual details [on the side] of the individual fireworks which made up the whole display. – Austenonly

Temple of Peace in Green Park.

Early view of Green Park and the Temple of Peace.

Green Park was readied for a grand fireworks display in 1763 to celebrate the Treaty of Paris, which ended the French and Indian War in North America. The park had attracted firework displays before:

The Green Park was used for a national party in 1746 to celebrate the end of the War of Hanoverian Succession. The royal family arranged a great firework display and commissioned the composer, Handel, to write his Music for the Royal Fireworks. A vast Temple of Peace was built in the park to store the fireworks. But early on a stray rocket hit the temple. Three people died and 10,000 fireworks were destroyed in the fire that followed. – The Green Park

Temple of Peace in Green Park lit up by fire works.

The Treaty of Paris  granted Great Britain control of all land to the east of the Mississippi River, a cause for a grand celebration and a good reason for building a ceremonial temple. (View a print of the scene here.)

Another cause for creating massive firework displays was the long reign of George III. The details of  the Golden Jubilee celebrations are beautifully described at Austenonly.

Fireworks in London in celebration of King George III Golden Jubilee in 1809

Fireworks were quite dangerous, and so were  gas lit fires. In 1814, another grand celebration was planned in St. James Park (which lies close to Green Park) to commemorate 100 years of the Hanoverian royal family. A seven-story pagoda was erected on a Chinese-style bridge spanning the canal in St. James’s Park.

A view of the Chinese pagoda burning. Image @British Library

The splendid gala was organized for the joint August first celebration of the Hanoverian Centenary and the anniversary of the Battle of the Nile. The brilliant and daring tactics of Lord Nelson at the Battle of the Nile were represented by rowboats upon the canal. A disaster occurred when the gas lit pagoda caught fire and burned. Two men were killed and a number injured trying to put out the fire. A number of the Royal swans succumbed to smoke and fire. The crowd unaware that this was an accident took the occurrence to be part of the spectacle and applauded wildly. – The Georgian Index

When the Napoleonic Wars came to an end, famed rope walker, Madame Squi, could finally cross the English Channel in  1816 to perform at Vauxhall Gardens for the first time.

Madame Saqui illuminated by the bursts of fireworks, Vauxhall, 1816. Copyright Museum of London*

‘In the midst of a great burst of fireworks, Bengal lights glimmering faintly in the clouds of smoke, she (Saqui) stands on a rope, sixty feet up, and follows a narrow and difficult path to the end of her journey. Sometimes she is completely hidden from our eyes by the billowing waves, but from the way she walks, so self-assured, one would think an Immortal was walking peacefully towards her celestial home.’ [Lerouge on Madam Saqui at Vauxhall] – Rope Walkers and Equillibrists

Firework displays were no novelty at Vauxhall Gardens, or any of the major gardens where people congregated to walk along grand promenades, dance publicly to music, eat, drink, and enjoy an evening out in the open.

Fireworks display at Vauxhall, 1800s.

There were terrible accidents then as now with fireworks. Here is an account from  an 1858 newspaper** about an accident in central London:

All over the U.S. we will be enjoying various kinds of firework displays. Those in Washington D.C. and the major cities will be the grandest, I am sure. I recall an intimate firework display along a small lake in Vermont one year, in which only a few fireworks were set off. Interestingly, of all the firework displays I have seen, that is the one I tend to recall. Happy Birthday, America! Stay safe.

*Museum of London Prints

**Newspaper Account of Vauxhall accident.

More about Green Park at this link.

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Posted in 18th Century England, 19th Century England, Georgian Life, Georgian London, Jane Austen's World, Regency London, Regency World, St. James's | Tagged Firework displays, Golden Jubilee, Green Park, King George III, St. James's Park | 7 Comments

7 Responses

  1. on July 4, 2012 at 16:13 Nancy

    where DO you find these prints? Wonderful. Handel’s music for the Royal Fireworks would be the perfect background music for this blog.


    • on July 5, 2012 at 23:57 Vic

      When I was in my 20s I was addicted to Handel’s water music and always imagined myself floating down the Thames in a boat while fireworks exploded overhead and music played from the river bank. Ah, well.

      I was lucky to find the images, Nancy, by choosing just the correct search terms after a number of tries. Pinterest images helped as well. And Julie’s blog, Austenonly, helped tremendously in my searching for the right terms.


  2. on July 4, 2012 at 20:29 Bren

    I was wondering if they did fireworks for November 5th during this era… or did that come along later?


  3. on July 4, 2012 at 21:25 Nancy

    Bren, references do mention fireworks for Guy Fawkes. However, fireworks for private citizens were illegal so all displays had to be licensed ones. On the other hand the fine was 20s which a rich man would think nothing. I can see some peer shooting off fireworks at Guy Fawkes day or the birth of a son and heir and either getting away with it or shrugging and paying the 20s.


  4. on July 5, 2012 at 22:17 Serendipity Vintage & Handmade

    Happy 4th of July Vic!


    • on July 5, 2012 at 23:57 Vic

      Thank you! It was splendid, as always!


  5. on July 9, 2012 at 23:17 Jazmin

    These pictures are so fabulous!!! Thanks, Vic.



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