Historical Notes

In November 1918, the British Prime Minister Lloyd George gave a speech, nicknamed ‘homes for heroes’ and this led to The Housing and Town Planning Act of 1919 (aka The Addison Act). The costs of his new housing was shared between tenants, local rate payers, and the Government’s Treasury. Most work didn’t start until 1920, with any housing built prior to that relying on private charities, such as the fictional one run by Priya.

Approximately one third of the 9.7million men killed in WWI left behind a widow, and in Great Britain, this amounted to some 240,000 war widows. Data from Wall, Richard / Winter, Jay (eds.): The upheaval of war. Family, work, and welfare in Europe, 1914-1918, Cambridge; New York 1988: Cambridge University Press.

War Widows were entitled to a weekly pension, depending on the rank of their deceased husband, ranging from 10 shillings a week up to 20 shillings a week. They also gained an extra amount per child, ranging from 6 to 10 shillings per week. This pension had to be applied for within 7 years of the husband’s death, and could be removed if the widow engaged in inappropriate behaviour, or got remarried. By comparison, the average working women’s income was 11 shillings per week, and men’s average was 26 shillings per week. By comparison, it cost the British government £100,000 to build a destroyer, and over £2million to build an armoured battleship.

The Bloomsbury Group, or Circle, was an informal gathering of friends that began in Bloomsbury around 1908 or 1910, and steadily expanded to include more friends. Many influential artists, art critics, and writers, were part of the group, and many became conscientious objectors during WWI, moving to a farm purchased by Phillip and Ottoline Morrell.

Among the more famous Gaiety Girls are Mabel Russel who, as Mrs Philipson, became the third women elected to the House of Commons in England in 1923 (women were allowed from 1918); many became actresses, and so many of the Gaiety Girls married into the aristocracy that it became a running joke in PG Wodehouse books. With regards to Ashwin’s fiancé, Eliza Hayley, there were many black women performing on stage in America and across Europe, with Josephine Baker being the most famous. African Americans were part of the American musical theatre scene from the very beginning with Bob Cole opening his New York based theatre company for African Americans in 1897. Many famous singers and performers came from here, and one of the early successes, In Dahomey, travelled to England where it ran for seven months in 1903 to great acclaim in London. Read more in: Musical Theatre, An Appreciation by Alyson McLamore.

Priya's car, the 1914 Rover Clegg Twelve can be viewed here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0hfExaUuXl0 

The Women’s Hospital Corps (WHC) was founded by Dr Flora Murray and Dr Louisa Garrett Anderson. Both were members of the suffragette organisation, Women’s Social and Political Union (WSPU) founded by Emmeline and Christabel Pankhurst. When war seemed inevitable, their experience as suffrage campaigners taught them that women doctors would likely be rejected by the Army. So when this did happen, they were prepared to respond. Only eight days after war was declared, Murray and Garrett Anderson headed to Paris and the French Embassy. The combination of their rusty French and France’s desire to ‘urgently acquire’ medical supplies and equipment paved the way for them to establish a military hospital in France. Murray believed that the French simply didn’t understand that they intended women to staff the hospital. Back in England, the pair raised funds, designed uniforms for doctors and orderlies, recruited staff, and bought supplies. Within four weeks, they were in Paris, and opened their first military hospital in the Hotel Claridge on 22 September 1914. By the 6th of November, they opened a second hospital at Chateau Mauricien at Wimereux near Boulogne, and had 165 beds in both hospitals. Five months later, they had demonstrated effective management and medical abilities, and the British Army Medical Services donated them a building, the St Giles Workhouse in Covent Garden, to establish a military hospital in London. The army slowed down their progress, and it didn’t open for another three months, however, the Endell Street Military Hospital was the only military hospital run by women within the British Army during WWI. This allowed women doctors to work in all of the British Army hospitals across the war zones. For more: Women to the Front, by Heather Sheard and Ruth Lee.

The Goring Hotel opened in 1910 and was the first hotel in London to have ensuite bathrooms in every room. It is still open and owned by the same family. I couldn’t find a menu from 1919 for The Goring, but I did find one for the Grosvenor Hotel and have based the meal on that one. Claridge’s Hotel claims to have the oldest lift in London, a manned OTIS lift dating back to 1896. By 1906, when The Ritz was constructed, lift technology had improved to the point where a person could ride and operate the lift without an assistant.

The Philadelphia Tribune is the oldest Black owned and operated newspaper in America. Started by Christopher Perry Sr in 1884 as a one page weekly, it continues to operate as a news source “to provide timely and compelling news that is informative and relevant to the African-American experience.”

The Boar’s Head theatre in London built in 1598 was the first to have an indoor toilet for guests. With the Victorian obsession with cleanliness and the Bazalgette sewage system, it is safe to assume theatres in 1919 had indoor toilet facilities for the audience. The s-bend was invented in 1775, and the first public toilets opened in 1851 at The Crystal Palace. Over 800,000 people paid a penny each to use them in the first six months of opening. By the time Sir Thomas Crapper entered the toilet industry, the flush toilet had gone through many designs and was already in use in many wealthy households. Crapper did hold nine patents for toilet designs, most famously an improved s-bend from 1880. He was one of the Victorian era’s largest toilet manufacturers.

To eat humble pie - 1830
Status quo – 1833
Gold digger – 1816 for man who seeks gold, 1915 for woman who pursues man for money