Author's Note
Earthquakes are not something we generally associate with England. It is a surprise to most people to learn that London and the country are susceptible to earthquakes. A look at the UK seismicity map reveals an amazing collection of little dots, each representing an earthquake that occurred at a point in recorded history. The worst recorded earthquake in Britain was in 4 April 1884 when twelve hundred buildings were damaged or destroyed over an area of four hundred kilometers in the vicinity of Colchester, between Wivenhoe and Peldon.
The earliest recorded earthquake was a massive one occurring in Kent in 1382 of such intensity that it shook several churches, causing one of them to collapse.
During the reign of Elizabeth
I, the earthquake in 1588 was deemed a signal from heaven regarding the legality of her claim to the throne as opposed to the claim of her sister Mary. Both sides insisted it supported their particular view.
In 1759 the earthquake that struck London created great fears among the populace, with the Bishop of London declaring the quake was an expression of the wrath of God at the depravity of the citizens of London.
The weekly
Nottingham Review
reported in 1816 that an earthquake had occurred in the Nottingham area that past week, at the town of Mansfield on Sunday, 17 March:
At Mansfield the congregation were in the church, when a loud noise was heard, the place shook, and it was supposed, from the dust and lime falling from the ceiling, that a beam had given way; the people instantly sought to make their escape, and from the pressure, several persons were thrown down, and some of them much hurt and trampled upon. There was scarcely a street which had not several chimneys thrown down, the houses cracked, or otherwise injured. The church at Mansfield was much damaged.
Days later the paper reported:
... a "universally respected and regretted" Mrs. Unwin, widow (for 42 years) of the late W. Unwin, esq., died. She had been in Mansfield church during the earthquake, and apparently never recovered from the shock.
All this isn't to say that if one goes to England one is in danger of experiencing an earthquake. That simply isn't the case, and the vast majority of English will go from cradle to grave without so much as feeling a tremor. But as I have related above, earthquakes have indeed happened, and Mansfield truly was rocked by such an event on the vary date that my fictional characters were there.
Copyright © 2002 by Doris Emily Hendrickson
Originally published by Signet (0451206967)
Electronically published in 2007 by Belgrave House/Regency Reads
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This is a work of fiction. All names in this publication are fictitious and any resemblance to any person living or dead is coincidental.