Scroll
through History
Alison Lloyd’s blog
How Worm Threads Tie you, me and History Together
October 2025
Cultural borrowing is rich pickings for artists and activists. See how East-meets-West cultural influence played out in the fashions of colonial Shanghai, and the Chinese silk industry.
A Thank you Gift for You – handcrafted Christmas Fiction
November 2025
In ‘The Inconvenient Package’, a Victorian-era Christmas story, a young wife needs to shine at an important business dinner. New jewellery is on the way. But there’s more than one problem…
Dreadful Paintings
September 2026
The glories of a Victorian exhibition that sold out, and lives on.
The People’s Palace
August 2026
What you might not know about Victorian era activists and their cultural legacy.
Big Shoes to Fill
July 2026
A child discovers her mother’s yellow satin shoes after a ball, in a story that tugs your heartstrings, both sad and hopeful. Sign up here to read this short story exclusively for my subscribers.
The OG World Cup trophy
June 2026
Discover the hazardous history of the original soccer World Cup, and why no team can win it now.
Get a kick out of this
May 2026
What historic Iranian technology does Donald Trump (and most of the world) use almost everyday? Find out here. Come on a well-shod stroll into the history of men’s shoes.
10 top types of historical fiction
March 2026
Historical fiction comes in more varieties than you might expect. Which ones are for you?
QUIZ: Who’s your literary crush?
February 2026
A Valentine’s Day quiz introduces six literary romantics. Read their dating profiles and swoony quotations, then choose the writer who lights your fire.
An Everyday History Riddle
January 2026
What everyday item has been around since the Stone Age but reached millions of homes in Victorian times?
(Lewis) Carolling – fun Christmas fiction
December 2025
In this Christmas take on the famous tea-party scene in Alice in Wonderland, Alice finds the Mad Hatter, March Hare and Dormouse stuck at a tea-table where time has gone awry. A little pudding, a little poetry and a great deal of nonsense may finally bring Christmas to Wonderland.
When Home Decor was Deadly
September 2025
For most of history, interior decoration was only for the rich. But with the new technologies of the Industrial Revolution, came wallpaper, at prices almost everyone could afford.
The trouble was, it was steeped in poison…
Because you asked…
August 2025
A new story about Jack’s mother, and the difficult choices she makes bringing him up.
A Luverly Bit of Fiction
July 2025
Meet Jack, an ambitious apprentice jeweller, in 1850s London, hoping to make his first commission.
Great for fans of Dickens or Downton Abbey.
How Safe is your Safe?
June 2025
‘My name is Chubb, that makes the Patent Locks; Look on my works, ye burglars, and despair.’
Discover Victorian-era heist hi-jinks worthy of Sherlock Holmes…
Museum Magic Inside
May 2025
A short history of the time warp we can all experience – museums.
And a glimpse behind the scenes at how they’re put together.
Easter Goodies
April 2025
Help yourself to historical fiction fresh out of the oven, to go with hot cross buns.
Simon Peter, likeable and impetuous follower of Jesus, has a moment of truth at the first Easter…
The Twisty History of a Royal Art you probably Own
March 2025
What art form was:
…banned, taxed and smuggled
…was once a mark of wealth and royalty
…appears in famous paintings
…but its female creators remain anonymous?
Love and Pie Crusts
February 2025
One of the most heartless break-up lines in history comes from colonial Australia.
But so does the story of a second-chance romance for the same young woman.
Caesium the Day!
January 2025
Take a historical look at time-keeping, including the personal time-pieces of some powerful women.
Who owned the most expensive pocket watch in history? That’s a complicated story – although still not as complicated as the watch.
Walking Backwards to Christmas
December 2024
Pause the Christmas rush and let’s walk backwards through history. How?
A story of course.
12 Books to Please your Friends & Family
November 2024
If you’re looking for gifts, here’s my roundup of 2024’s award-winning historical fiction, with my recommendations of this year’s best historical novels…
An Eye-watering History of Hay Fever
October 2024
Has the season got you sneezing? Hayfever has an intriguing and entertaining history. Let me fix you up good with a dose of historical medicine.
Feelin’ Groovy
September 2024
Get happy in a halter top – seventies’ style, songs, quiz and fiction…
A Fling with Bling
August 2024
Or, What Happened to my Gold? Gorgeous golden facts and fiction
Surprising Stories from early Olympics
July 2024
Who was the first female Olympic champion? And how to be a champion without knowing it…
Snakes in a Library!
June 2024
The State Library of Victoria’s beautiful old books and its slithery secret…
How Mothers Day Matters
May 2024
Motherhood can be heavenly. But also a setup for failure.
STORY: At a Crossroads
May 2024
*Winner – Short Fiction Break 2024 Spring Contest*
A distracted mother, an exhausted driver, and a day-dreaming lad approach a train crossing…
QUIZ: Which Famous Woman are You?
March 2024
If you lived in another era, which famous and fascinating woman might you have been like? Take a personality quiz with a historic twist…
Easter Extra
March 2024
I turned up to a breakfast event a few minutes late recently. Gentle early sun gleamed on an empty carpark. Something wasn’t right…
How an Old Treasure was Rediscovered
April 2024
This woman was lost for almost a century, until early 2024. She wasn’t the only painting by this famous artist to go missing…
Quiz! Which woman are you?
March 2024
Discover six fascinating and famous women of history…
‘The February 14th Story’: A short Romance for Valentine’s Day
February 2024
Beatrice, a telephone operator in 1888, sets out to right wrongs just before Valentine’s Day. A fun short story featuring one of the characters in the late Victorian world of my current novel.
Exclusive, unpublished romantic historical fiction!
10 Romantic Reads to Sweep you back in Time
February 2024
Here are 10 of my favourite romantic historical novels to sweep you off your feet. Love is story-worthy stuff!
New year, new look? A perspective from a Victorian Grand Dame
January 2024
Take a look inside a grand old dame of Victorian architecture, the Royal Exhibition Building, and how it might help you think about change.
‘The Christmas When Tomten Didn’t Come’: A Scandinavian Story
December 2023
A gentle, poignant Christmas story, about two young brothers eagerly looking forward to a Christmas that doesn’t come as expected. Exclusive, unpublished fiction for subscribers only.
Top Hats Rule:
The Heady Power of Millinery Style
November 2023
Hats had their heyday in the Victorian era. Find out how hats bestowed power and identity, and still do…
10 Great Historical Gothic Reads
October 2023
10 of the best stories for seriously delicious historical shivers…
Castles in the Air and on the Ground
September 2023
Meet a master of marketing in Gilded Age Melbourne, who even advertised for a wife…
Brains, Beauty & Breeches:
10 Female Firsts
March 2023
For Women’s History Month, find out about ten women who were first to: rule a nation, write a book, compose surviving music and more…
Cupid’s Column: matchmaking in the Victorian era
How were matches made in the old days before online dating. Romance was quite a business in colonial Australia…
Sharp Arts: diplomacy at needlepoint
August 2023
Who is this? Not Elizabeth I, but another woman at the pointy end of art and politics, who wielded both pen and needle…
Hidden Riches:
The Gilded Age Downunder
July 2023
In which Alison peeks behind the solid doors of an old bank to show you some gorgeous golden history. A nineteenth century tale of boom and bust…
Castles in the Air and on the Ground
September 2023
Meet a master of marketing in Gilded Age Melbourne, who even advertised for a wife…
Mothers & Others
May 2023
A 000-sized meditation on motherhood and a new short story to celebrate Mother’s Day.
Plus a howler of a 1907 postcard from New Zealand.
Bonzerina – Slinging Good Old Slang
April 2023
A post of positivity: talking things up in late Victorian lingo
Like more stories?
Like funny, fabulous or long-forgotten history? New short stories? Recommended reads? Sign up here to get monthly free deliveries from Alison Lloyd in your inbox.
