Queen Victoria and Dr. John Snow

Dr. Snow was one of the first physicians to study and calculate dosages for the use of ether and also chloroform as surgical anaesthesia. He personally administered chloroform to Queen Victoria when she gave birth to the last two of her nine children.

Thanks to Her Majesty having an anaesthetic during the births, she set the stage for other women to request pain relief during child birth. We have come a long way since the nineteenth century and have much to be thankful for.

And that brings me to another subject linked to A Very Difficult Man. BRIDE SHIPS. But that's for another day when I link a scene in my book to the voyages of the Bride Ships to Victoria, Canada, in the mid nineteenth century.

I'll post a short excerpt about my heroine, Catherine Thurston and why she was studying shipping notices at the London docks. Her beautiful gypsy friend, Riena Stanley, had already embarked on a bride ship but Riena had no intention of becoming a bride when she disembarked in Victoria. But that's another story.

Anita
www.anitabirt.com