Sometimes we need to look in our own backyard to see examples of the world in which Jane Austen lived and included in her novels. So we be look at a version of England’s influence on some American history.
Families can enjoy a tour of the Historic Area in one of Colonial Williamsburg’s carriages, such as the Lord Dunmore Town Coach. In 2003, the Foundation began to build a town coach that could be used as Lord Dunmore’s coach. A fine example of an 18th-century coach was found in Piacenza, Italy, belonging to the Museum of the Palazzo Farnese. The coach builder Florian Staudner of Vienna, Austria, built an exact replica of this vehicle for the Colonial Williamsburg Foundation. The body is a chocolate brown color with upper parts black. The undercarriage is red, “picked out” in gold.
Williamsburg is located in Virginia’s Tidewater region, 20 minutes from Newport News, within an hour’s drive of Richmond and Norfolk, and 150 miles south of Washington, D.C., off Interstate 64. For more information about Colonial Williamsburg, call 1-800-HISTORY or visit Colonial Williamsburg’s Website.
