Welcome, Cara Elliott!

Please join me in giving a warm Hoyden welcome to historical romance novelist extraordinaire Cara Elliott! Her books have been called "deeply, deliciously, divinely romantic" and "magnificently compelling". Some of you may have encountered Cara during her previous incarnation as Andrea Pickens, her nom de plume for her award winning "Spy" series, featuring a trio of swashbuckling heroines more interested in ripostes than ratafia. I have the privilege of knowing Cara/Andrea in yet another role: as co-creator of Reading the Historical Romance, a seminar on the Regency romance that we're currently teaching together at Yale. Despite juggling multiple personae, book deadlines, and, yes, a pile of papers to be graded, Cara has taken time out from her hectic schedule to speak to us today about the pioneering female scientists of the Regency-- the focus of her new series, the Circle of Sin.

I tend to write offbeat, unconventional heroines. I’m not quite sure why I’m attracted to quirky characters—maybe because I tended to be a tomboy as a child and was often chided to “act more like a normal young lady!” (To her credit, my mother was not one of those voices. She always encouraged my enthusiasms—whether they involved cutting out cardboard swords and crowns, or making bow and arrows— for which I am profoundly grateful.) In any case, none of my heroines are demure, dainty demoiselles swathed in layers of satin and silk. They are more the sort of women who don’t mind rolling up their sleeves and getting their hands dirty, both physically and metaphorically.

I’ve been scolded in the past for not creating “real” Regency ladies, but I beg to disagree—albeit politely. For the more I research the Regency era, the more I discover what fascinating and adventurous women lived during the era. Poets, scientists, artists, writers, musicians—there were many individuals who had the courage to defy the strictures of Society and risk censure or ridicule in order to explore their passions.

As my new “Circle of Sin” trilogy revolves around a small group of lady scientists, it’s no wonder that I find the women who dared to step out of the ballroom and into the natural world—as well as the intellectual world—such intriguing figures. Here are a few of the individuals who caught my fancy.

Augusta Ada Byron King, Countess of Lovelace, was Lord Byron’s daughter, though never knew her father as her parents separated soon after her birth. As a child she suffered through a difficult childhood, as her mother was a manipulative woman who used physical pain and guilt to try to control those around her. Ada exhibited a special talent for mathematics and was fortunate enough to meet Mary Somerville, the leading female scientist of the times, who encouraged her to study seriously. (Somerville College at Oxford is named after her.)

After her marriage, Ada helped support Charles Babbage, the inventor of the Difference Engine and Analytical Engine, precursors of the modern computer. They worked together on mathematical problems, and Babbage called her “the Enchantress of Numbers.” Indeed, Ada’s notes on calculating sequences of Bernoulli numbers on the machine is credited with being the first computer program. Today, the U. S. Department of Defense has named one of its programs ADA in her honor. Unfortunately, she became addicted to opium and alcohol, then, on kicking those habits, she turned to gambling on horses. Like her father she died young, succumbing to uterine cancer at age 36.

Anna Atkins, whose career—like that of the Countess of Lovelace—overlapped into the Victorian era, is another “Original.” The daughter of a noted scientist, she received “an unusually scientific education for a woman of her times” and developed a special interest in the natural world. An accomplished artist as well as a scholar, she did a series of detailed engraving of shells for some of her father’s works.

Anna then went on to study the nascent art of photography with William Henry Fox Talbot, a family friend and innovator of the new artform. Her cyanotype photogram studies of seaweed are recognized as some of the most artistic scientific images ever created. The specimens were dried in a press than exposed in the sun onto treated paper which was then stabilized in a chemical fixer. The results are amazingly graphic, abstract images of striking beauty.

Mary Anning began digging up fossils from the sea cliffs around her home in Lyme Regis at age twelve to help support her family. Collecting had become popular among wealthy tourists, and Anna showed an uncanny knack for finding spectacular specimens. Her interest soon became intellectual as well as financial. Fascinated by the extraordinary wealth of life forms preserved in the stones, she carefully preserved and catalogued her finds.

Mary’s shop became known throughout the scientific world, drawing such notable visitors as the geologist George William Featherstonhaugh and King Frederick Augustus II of Saxony. As she gained confidence in her knowledge, she began writing articles for scientific journals, and despite her lack of formal training, she is considered one of the pioneers in paleontology. (Among other things, Mary is credited with discovering an ichthyosaurus and a pterodactyl.) The Royal Geological Society eventually recognized her accomplishments by making her an honorary Fellow.

Caroline Herschel was a tiny women who stood only four foot, three inches tall, but she looms large in the history of astronomy. Born in Germany, she was brought to Bath by her brother, William Herschel, who had been appointed organist of the Octagon Chapel in Bath and needed someone to help him keep house.

He soon gave up music in favor of building high-power telescopes, and Caroline (who had already won recognition as an accomplished singer) started to help. In 1782, William was appointed King’s Astronomer to George III. They moved to the Observatory House near Slough, and Caroline soon learned to “sweep” the skies with the powerful lenses, studying the stars and helping to record the complex calculations of their observations.

William is credited with discovering the planet Uranus (which he named the Georgium Sidus—the star of George—in honor of the English King) but Caroline earned her own place in the scientific firmament by discovering no less than eight major comets and meticulously cataloguing countless stars. In 1828, Caroline was awarded a gold medal from the Royal Astronomical Society for her work. And in 1835 she and Mary Somerville were the first women ever elected to an honorary membership in the Society.

I could go on and on, for there are countless other compelling women. But now it’s your turn. Do you have a favorite “Original” female from Regency England?