In April, I’m posting 26 blogs, one for every letter of the alphabet. I write historical romance set in Regency England, and I’m offering a brief lexicon of words to help you understand the story world of my Regency characters. Follow the links for more in depth information.

N is for Newgate Prison:

A Regency character accused of a crime could be thrown into Newgate, a cramped and unpleasant prison in the City of London. Fortunately, a man from the higher orders of society could pay for better lodgings there.

Other Regency prison facilities included the Fleet prison for debtors and the hulks, ships permanently anchored on the Thames and used as prisons. Author Madeline Hunter includes a prison hulk in her novel Provocative in Pearls.

Newgate, West View, George Shepherd

General Jail Delivery, from The Satirist, showing the release from Newgate Prison of journalists identified by their publication, 1811 or 1812

And N is for Nabob:

The term nabob has various meanings, but for our period it generally means an Englishman who’s made his fortune in India.

Flag of the British East India Company

Colonel Robert Abercrombie, British Commander in Chief in India, by George Romney

My friend author Anne Cleeland has a nabob as the villain in her book, The Bengal Bridegift. You can find this exciting read here on Anne’s website, and it’s free!

Or, if you can’t wait for a serial, a trade paper version is available from Amazon, with this amazing cover.

Questions? Comments? Visit Monday for the letter O!

Images: badge, a-to-zchallenge.com; book cover, Amazon; all others, Wikimedia