Comments | little_details: Travel to Athens and Alexandria, Regency (1812) - Papers and contacts

reynardo in little_details

Travel to Athens and Alexandria, Regency (1812) - Papers and contacts - FOUND

Aug 09, 2016 10:07

Greetings all,

It's 1812. My MC is in Athens (Father went to try and snaffle some antiquities but instead drank himself to death). The family had a firman (authorised travel document for the Ottoman Empire), but now my MC is all that's left, and has to make their way back to the UK via Alexandria.

( TL:DR Who is the British Representative in Athens and in Alexandria )

uk: history: regency period, 1810-1819, ~passports, ~travel (misc), egypt: history, ~postal service, greece: history, #resources

Comments 13

starry_diadem August 9 2016, 04:57:24 UTC

I don't know the answers to your questions - although I'll be watching this because it's fascinating - but would it not be Alexandria, rather than Cairo?

sollersuk August 9 2016, 05:21:04 UTC

It would have to be , wouldn't it, unless they were going for a side trip up the Nile.

I very much doubt if any shipping agents were doing business with civilian passengers, particularly via Gibraltar during the height of the Peninsular Campaign!

reynardo August 9 2016, 05:39:30 UTC

Starry_diadem, sollersuk, you're absolutely right. I shall amend the destination accordingly.

Cairo tudorpot August 9 2016, 05:18:03 UTC

Love to read this, will beta for period background, I'm a Regency and Peninsula War fan. From, Mr Impossible, Loretta Chase, I recalled she mentioned the British Consul, Mr Salt. Hers a Wikipedia page https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henry_Salt_(Egyptologist)
I'd suggest looking in naval sources that might mention info re Athens.

Google found this, looks good. https://www.routledge.com/products/isbn/9780754660231

Re: Cairo reynardo August 9 2016, 05:53:58 UTC

Nice! Mr Salt was just after my time period, but the title is perfect. Although now that I know it should be Alexandria instead of Cairo, perhaps I'll just have the Consul.

The book looks lovely. *is tempted* Although again, just after the time period for my characters.

tudorpot August 9 2016, 05:39:29 UTC

Marked as spam, not sure why
https://www.routledge.com/products/isbn/9780754660231 Aegean consular service

reynardo August 9 2016, 05:54:44 UTC

It marked you as spam as you are a well-known aficionado of Harry Potter Fanfic. Livejournal is keeping an eye on you :)

tudorpot August 9 2016, 13:36:20 UTC

Laughs, I don't think,there would be separate consuls for Cairo and Alexandria. I've been to Cairo. Wrote a very bad fic for the exchange years ago, Trains and planes and automobiles. First part set in Egypt. Y
The Chase book might be helpful for atmosphere even though it's a bit after your period, antiquity hunters, mad Pasha etc.

orange_fell August 10 2016, 03:41:13 UTC

After a bot attack in 2014, I turned on the spam protection feature. It will frequently screen comments that have links in them. I usually lurk around new posts and unscreen them, if OPs don't get them first.

growingve August 9 2016, 10:45:53 UTC

Terrific...!!

belleweather August 9 2016, 15:02:54 UTC

There would not almost certainly not be separate consuls... there is generally one per country, but they do have subsidiary officers working for them, titled either vice consuls, or second diplomatic secretaries. It would not be out of the ordinary for the kind of letters you're mentioning to come care of the UK Embassy and for someone in the consular service to be tasked with going out and finding the family and getting it to them. (At least, it wouldn't have been out of the ordinary for the US Consular Service at about that time, and since we were modeled on the UKs version, I would think that would hold true for them as well.)