AUTHOR GUESTPOST & GIVEAWAY - CHARLOTTE FROST ON SIR WILLIAM KNIGHTON, A PHYSICIAN AND COURTIER IN THE REGENCY ERA

Ready for a journey back to the years of Jane Austen's  and Lord Byron's England? Today's guest is Charlotte Frost.  

Charlotte is a post-grad who,  after years of anonymous, behind-the-scenes work for history projects, decided to put her name on a book cover. The result is Sir William Knighton. The Strange Career of a Regency Physician, a biography of George IV's influential, enigmatic courtier. She accepted to present this fascinating character and her research here on FLY HIGH! Enjoy her piece and try to win her book. The details of the giveaway contest are at the end of the post. Read them carefully, there are three copies of the book for you!

Lord Byron

Sir William Knighton was a farmer’s son who transformed himself into one of Regency London’s most expensive, fashionable physicians.  Then, amidst the speculations of his contemporaries and to the dismay of his wife, he gave up his practice to become a courtier to George IV. 

Though Knighton did not belong to Society, he was at its heart.  In 1812 he was described as having the keynote of almost every family of distinction in the country.  His patients included Byron , the first Marquis Wellesley, and Wellesley’s mistress.   When Charlotte, Princess of Wales, died in 1817 soon after giving birth, Knighton took it on himself to safeguard the reputation of Charlotte’s physician, Sir Richard Croft, by reassuring Croft’s aristocratic patients.

Book cover

Knighton was a man of mystery.  One of his contemporaries said that he gained control of his patients’ minds, always for their benefit.  Another said that to have a conversation with Knighton was to conclude that he was in complete agreement with whatever one said.  Opinions of him ranged from ‘dearest friend’ (George IV) to ‘rogue and a blackguard’ (Mrs Arbuthnot), while Princess Lieven wrote that he had poisoned his wife.  He admitted to a friend that he knew little about his early years, and documents from that time show that his perception of his childhood was flawed.

           

Knighton was also a complex man.  He stood high in his own estimation yet fretted over what others thought of him.  Tiredness and ill health brought out the worst in him and sometimes he harboured resentment, yet friends in need received considered advice and practical help.  He died in 1836 aged only 59, prematurely aged by royal duties that proved more arduous than he had envisaged.  A decent, conscientious family man, he had come to regret his change of career yet remained loyal to his demanding but increasingly dependent royal employer, working tirelessly to serve him. 

Prince Regent

Sir William Knighton was an important personality in Regency and late-Georgian England.   To research his life was an adventure and I discovered intriguing new sources, including material from the Royal Archives. 
Thank you, Maria, for inviting me to write about this elusive man. I'm ready to answer your readers' questions now.

 Charlotte Frost

GIVEAWAY DETAILS

Leave your comments to get a chance to win the paperback printed edition or one of the 2 e-books of Sir William Knighton's biography that Charlotte Frost generously provided me for this contest. Don't forget to add your e-mail address and to specify which area of the world you are writing from because the paperback is only for UK readers while the 2 e-books can be won by readers from all over the world. So, please, let us know where you live if you want to be entered this giveaway. The deadline is  January 14th.

Ebook and print 

You can get the print from most internet book stores, apart from Amazon.com in US. 


 Here's the Amazon UK link