One very hot Sunday in the summer of 1831, a young lady, Miss B——y, not a resident in the Palace, but living in the vicinity, fainted in chapel during the service. Con- siderable commotion arising among those near her, Sir Horace Seymour, then a widower, who was seated in the gentlemen’s pew, “walked across the chapel, raised the prostrate fair one in his arms, carried her to his apart- ments, deposited her on a sofa, left her to the charge of his housekeeper, and straightway returned to his seat. Strange to say, on the two following Sundays, a young lady, each time a different one, fainted ; and on each occasion, as if by prescriptive right, the same gallant knight performed the same kind office for the sufferers, and then returned to his post.”

On the last of these three fainting Sundays, Lady George Seymour, wife of Lord George, who was uncle of Sir Horace, went to the chaplain in the vestry after service and said, “1 say, Mr. Young, this fashion of fainting will degenerate into an epidemic if it is not put a stop to. With your permission I will affix, before next Sunday, this notice in the cloister, at the door of entrance : NOTICE! Whereas a tendency to faint is becoming a prevalent infirmity among young ladies frequenting this chapel, notice is hereby given, that, for the future, ladies so affected will no longer be carried out by Sir Horace Seymour, but by Branscombe the dustman.” This warning produced the desired effect, and the plague of fainting beauties was stayed. -

Look at this story about “fainting Sundays” recounted in Law’s history of Hampton Court Palace, as told in the memoirs of the sub-chaplain at the time 😂

#history #regency #FaintingSundays #ShaggyDogStory