Ramsgate 200 years ago in pictures

These ones all come from the book I publish a cheap reprint of, you can buy it at http://michaelsbookshop.com/catalogue/1817_picturesque_views_of_ramsgate.htm

The author Henry Moses was an illustrator to The British Museum, so why did he come to Ramsgate and why would it have been worth doing all the work to produce a book of views of the town?

The answer goes something like this, the Napoleonic wars had just finished and in Ramsgate there were all those nice houses that had been available for young gentlemen to rent with space for their servants and stabling for their horses while at the same time the first of the paddle steamers started a regular service to Margate.

The first cheap reliable transport to the coast, so the gentry hired a cabin, came to Thanet and rented an ‘ouse. This was a relatively short heyday as by about 1850 the railways became the most reliable form of transport to the coast and Brighton became London by the sea. Madam is an osculation to you liking.

Only rich people would have been able to afford a book of engravings at that time, so when the rich came so did the pictorial record.

Click on the pictures to make 'em bigger.

The people in these old pictures of Ramsgate are indistinct so I have added the famous painting of the Bridge family by John constable, which was painted around the same time to help with forming a more personal impression.

And finally link to the books that went out in my bookshop today http://michaelsbookshop.blogspot.co.uk/2016/05/lapthorne-in-bookshop.html