• Home
  • Audio/Podcasts
  • Austensites
  • AV/E-Texts
  • History
  • JA Novels & Bio
  • Links
  • Original Sources/19th C. Texts
  • Social Customs During the Regency
  • Teacher/Student
  • Writer/Literature Resources

Jane Austen's World

This Jane Austen blog brings Jane Austen, her novels, and the Regency Period alive through food, dress, social customs, and other 19th C. historical details related to this topic.

Feeds:
Posts
Comments
« William Wordsworth Poem Set to Rap
The language of the fan »

Lighting the darkness

April 29, 2007 by Vic

Illustration from the Jane Austen Society of Australia Website

(Post Updated: May, 2008): Until the last two centuries, adequate interior lighting was difficult to achieve. Oil lamps, around since ancient times, were smelly, and fish oil had an especially unpleasant odor. Rushlights dipped in tallow were commonly used, since candles were prohibitively expensive. It was the custom for families to sit near the fireplace at night as a group, reading, doing needlework, or telling stories, but generally people rose with the light and went to bed shortly after sunset. Only the more affluent members of society could afford to burn a large number of candles at a time, and their homes were characterized by spacious windows and well placed reflectors and mirrors.

“Traditionally in England, candles were used in great halls, monasteries and churches of medieval times. In addition, candles were used to light cottages and shops. King Alfred of England stuck torches in walls to supply lighting. The simplest (and smelliest) candles known as rush light were made by dipping rushes in leftover kitchen fat. For many centuries, candles were considered expensive items in Europe. Town-made candles from the wax-chandler were available for those who could afford them. These candles were made of wax or animal fat and were placed in silver, wooden or pewter candlesticks.”


Until the 19th century tallow candles and rushlights were the principal form of light for the poor. The slaughter of one bullock provided enough tallow for three years’ worth of candles and a well organised household could produce 300 or so at a candle making session. The Newsfinder Website: A Short History of Candles discusses how lighting remained essentially unchanged for hundreds of years until the early 19th century. Then, “the growth of the whaling industry in the late 18th century brought the first major change in candlemaking since the Middle Ages, when spermaceti – a wax obtained by crystallizing sperm whale oil – became available in quantity. Like beeswax, the spermaceti wax did not elicit a repugnant odor when burned, and produced a significantly brighter light. It also was harder than either tallow or beeswax, so it wouldn’t soften or bend in the summer heat. Historians note that the first “standard candles” were made from spermaceti wax.” From Cierra Candles

In Light Fittings in Georgian and Early Victorian Interiors, Jonathan Taylor writes,

“Candles were used sparingly. Even in the homes of the wealthy, when the family was not entertaining guest, only the minimum number of candles were used in a room at any one time, and these were positioned close to where the light was most needed. A single candle was carried to light the way from one room to another. Everyday lighting was therefore moveable, and not part of the architectural design of the interior.”

George III Regency Mirror, circa 1810, with Two pairs of ormolu candle arms

In The Transformation of Lanhydrock House, Cornwall, 1758–1829: a paper presented to the CHN Conference 2002: The Country House, the authors describe the architectural parts of a house’s lighting:

“The main lighting in the eighteenth century house was by ‘2 glass lanterns’ one in the Prayer Room Passage and the other on the Staircase. The Dining Room was well illuminated by a ‘pier glass with chandelier’, ‘2 girandola in white carved frames’ and candle branches over the chimney. By c.1829 Wedgwood candlesticks and glass candelabra were replacing the more traditional candle branches and Corinthian pillared candlesticks. The emphasis towards quality lighting was displayed through the use of Spermaceti candles that were running low in stock by 1802. 26 There was no evidence by 1829 of oil lighting in the house. This reflects the often slow adherence to some aspects of contemporary technology.”

After the turn of the century, there was an explosion in candlemaking technology, as the Newsfinder website describes.

In 1709 in Britain, candles were taxed and people forbidden from making their own. This punitive tax was eventually repealled in 1831, resulting in a renaissance of decorative candles. It was not until new alternatives were looming when frenchman M. Chevereul purified tallow by treating it with alkali & sulphuric acid thus creating a clean-burning stearin candle which was long-lasting.

M. Cambaceres another Frenchman devised the plaited wick in 1825. This he steeped in mineral salts to make it curve on burning, thereby obviating the need to trim wicks.

In 1834 Joseph Morgan created a candle making machine which could produce up to 1500 candles an hour. In 1850, parrafin wax appeared, shortly followed in 1857 with the combination of stearin & the plaited wick resulting in a bright affordable candle.

The nineteenth century brought the development of patented candlemaking machines, making candles available for the poorest homes. In an attempt to protect the industry, England passed a law forbidding the making of candles at home without purchase of a special licence. At this time, a chemist named Michel Eugene Chevreul made an important discovery. He realized that tallow was not one substance but a composition of two fatty acids, stearic acid and oleic acid, combined with glycerine to form a neutral non-flammable material.”

By removing the glycerine from the tallow mixture, Chevreul invented a new substance called “stearine.” Stearine was harder than tallow and burned brighter and longer. It is this substance known today as stearin or stearic acid that led to the improvement of candle quality. Stearin also made improvements in the manufacture of wicks possible. It put an end to the constant round of snuffing and trimming wicks once they were lit. Instead of being made of simply twisted strands of cotton, wicks were now plaited tightly; the burned portion curled over and was completely consumed, rather than falling messily into the melting wax.

More improvements such as the addition of lime, palmatine, and paraffin developed in commercial candle manufacture. Paraffin wax was extracted from crude oil . It equalled beeswax and spermaceti candles for brightness and hardness and were cheaper. Paraffin wax is still widely used today in commercial candlemaking.”

Rushlight Stand


For more resources on lighting, see

  • For a more detailed history of historical lighting, click on Early Lighting, a fabulous site filled with photos, illustrations, and definitions.

  • Candlelight reflectors
    • Collecting Rush Lights and Other Lighting Devices
    • Industrial Vauxhall: Price’s Patent Candles
    • Click here to read my other post, Traveling at Night in Jane Austen’s Time

    Share with others:

    • Click to email a link to a friend (Opens in new window)
    • Click to print (Opens in new window)
    • Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window)
    • Click to share on Reddit (Opens in new window)
    • Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window)
    • Click to share on Pinterest (Opens in new window)
    • Click to share on Tumblr (Opens in new window)
    • Click to share on LinkedIn (Opens in new window)

    Like this:

    Like Loading...

    Related

    Posted in jane austen, Jane Austen's World, Regency, Regency Life, Regency World | Tagged candles in the regency era, illumination at night, lighting in the Regency Era | 7 Comments

    7 Responses

    1. on April 30, 2007 at 20:48 Kristin

      This is really interesting. Lighting is one of those sort of everyday things that you don’t think about much, but we’re certainly less tied to the sun these days than we used to be!


    2. on May 1, 2007 at 05:16 Lady Jane

      Very interesting!


    3. on April 12, 2008 at 19:34 Lighting the Roads at Night in Jane Austen’s Time « Jane Austen’s World

      […] Click here for my other post about lighting during the Regency Era, Lighting the Darkness. […]


    4. on May 11, 2008 at 07:20 Light in Cranford and Sense and Sensibility « Jane Austen’s World

      […] Lighting the Darkness in the Regency Era  […]


    5. on March 6, 2010 at 16:48 Cialis

      SoiQF2 Excellent article, I will take note. Many thanks for the story!


    6. on December 1, 2011 at 21:51 Warm December Lights | Austen Authors

      […] on period lighting, here are two wonderful articles, Traveling at Night in the 18th Century, and Lighting the Darkness, both on Jane Austen’s World, so I am not going to go into detail […]


    7. on February 4, 2013 at 05:14 Dorothy McCougney

      Your blog is a jewel. I love it. Thanks for sharing all this interesting information. Regards.



    Comments are closed.

    • Enter your email address to subscribe to this blog and receive notifications of new posts by email.

      Join 7,123 other subscribers
    • Items of Interest

    • Follow Jane Austen's World on WordPress.com
    • Blog Stats

      • 16,616,986 hits
    • RECOMMENDED BOOKS AND RESOURCES

    • Fashionable Goodness: Christianity in Jane Austen's England is now available! By JAW contributor Brenda S. Cox. See Review. Available from Amazon and Jane Austen Books.
    • Praying with Jane: 31 Days through the Prayers of Jane Austen, Rachel Dodge, and a bookmark with the quote "A whole family assembling regulary for the purpose of prayer is fine!" Jane Austen, Mansfield Park
      We also recommend JAW contributor Rachel Dodge's devotionals based on Jane Austen's prayers and classic literature. Reviews:
      Praying With Jane: 31 Days Through the Prayers of Jane Austen;
      The Secret Garden Devotional;
      The Anne of Green Gables Devotional;
      The Little Women Devotional.
    • Book cover of Bath: An Adumbration in Rhyme by John Matthews
      Bath -An Adumbration in Rhyme. Edited by Ben Wiebracht. Read the review of the book at this link. Click to order the book on Amazon US or Amazon UK
    • In Sri Lanka lies the grave of Rear Admiral Charles Austen CB, Jane Austen’s Brother

      The neglected tombstone found in an overgrown burial ground.

      Rear Admiral Charles Austen CB

      Died off Prome, the 7th October 1852, while in command of the Naval Expedition on the river Irrawady against the Burmese Forces, aged 73 years.”

      The grave after restoration

      Read the full article in The Sunday Times. June 27, 2021.

    • The Obituary of Charlotte Collins by Andrew Capes

      Click on image to read the story.

    • Comments

      “My idea of good company…is the company of clever, well-informed people, who have a great deal of conversation.” – Jane Austen, Persuasion

       

      Gentle readers: Please feel free to post your comments and continue the conversation! Due to SPAM, we will no longer accept comments on posts after 30 days of publication. In some instances, links will be removed from comments as well.

    • Administrators and Contributors

      Vic Sanborn, founder of this blog, is supported by a team of talented and knowledgeable writers about Jane Austen and the Regency era. They are:

      • Brenda Cox
      • Rachel Dodge and
      • Tony Grant, who now contributes his photos from London and England

      Click on their names to enter their own blogs.

      In addition, we thank the many experts and authors who frequently contribute their posts and opinions, and who continue to do so freely or at our request.

    • Pin It!

      Follow Me on Pinterest
    • Top Posts

      • Emerald Green or Paris Green, the Deadly Regency Pigment
        Emerald Green or Paris Green, the Deadly Regency Pigment
      • Highclere Castle Floor Plan: The Real Downton Abbey
        Highclere Castle Floor Plan: The Real Downton Abbey
      • Men's hair styles at the turn of the 19th century
        Men's hair styles at the turn of the 19th century
      • Regency Fashion: Men's Breeches, Pantaloons, and Trousers
        Regency Fashion: Men's Breeches, Pantaloons, and Trousers
      • Pride and Prejudice Economics: Or Why a Single Man with a Fortune of £4,000 Per Year is a Desirable Husband
        Pride and Prejudice Economics: Or Why a Single Man with a Fortune of £4,000 Per Year is a Desirable Husband
      • Social Customs During the Regency
        Social Customs During the Regency
      • Dancing at the Netherfield Ball: Pride and Prejudice
        Dancing at the Netherfield Ball: Pride and Prejudice
      • You can watch Persuasion 2007 online
        You can watch Persuasion 2007 online
      • Regency Hygiene: The Bourdaloue
        Regency Hygiene: The Bourdaloue
      • Captain Wentworth’s Love Letter
        Captain Wentworth’s Love Letter
    • Recent Posts

      • Book Review: Ayesha at Last by Uzma Jalaluddin
      • Tracing Jane Austen’s Royal Ancestors Via Her Parents, by Ronald Dunning
      • Happy Birthday, Cassandra Austen!
      • Segmented Sleep: A common Phenomenon Before the Industrial Revolution
      • Joy to the World: Christmas Carols, Psalms, and Hymns in Jane Austen’s England
    • Links to Jane Austen Blogs

      Click here to enter the page. Topics include Regency fashion, historic foods, Jane Austen societies, British sites, related topics. Click on image.

    • May we suggest?

    • Hello, my name is Vic and I live in Maryland, USA. I have adored Jane Austen almost all of my life. I am a proud lifetime member of the Jane Austen Society of North America. This blog is a personal blog written and edited by me and my team. We do not accept any form of cash advertising, sponsorship, or paid topic insertions. However, we do accept and keep books and CDs to review.

      If you would like to share a new site, or point out an error, please email us. (Yes, we are fallible. We'll own up to our mistakes and will make the corrections with a polite smile on our faces.) Write us at

      gmailbw

      Thank you for visiting this blog. Your comments and suggestions are most welcome.

    • Project Gutenberg: eBook of Stage-coach and Mail in Days of Yore, Volume 2 (of 2), by Charles G. Harper

      STAGE-COACH AND MAIL IN DAYS OF YORE: A PICTURESQUE HISTORY
      OF THE COACHING AGE, VOL. II, By CHARLES G. HARPER. 1903. Click on this link.

       

    • Top Posts & Pages

      • Emerald Green or Paris Green, the Deadly Regency Pigment
      • Highclere Castle Floor Plan: The Real Downton Abbey
      • Men's hair styles at the turn of the 19th century
      • Regency Fashion: Men's Breeches, Pantaloons, and Trousers
      • Pride and Prejudice Economics: Or Why a Single Man with a Fortune of £4,000 Per Year is a Desirable Husband
      • Social Customs During the Regency
      • Dancing at the Netherfield Ball: Pride and Prejudice
      • You can watch Persuasion 2007 online
      • Regency Hygiene: The Bourdaloue
      • Captain Wentworth’s Love Letter
    • Page copy protected against web site content infringement by Copyscape
    • Disclaimer: Our team makes no profit from this blog. We may receive books (physical or digitized) and DVDs for review purposes.

    • Copyright Statement: © Jane Austen's World blog, 2009-2022. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from this blog’s author and/or owners is strictly prohibited. Excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to Jane Austen's World with appropriate and specific direction to the original content.

    Blog at WordPress.com.

    WPThemes.


    • Follow Following
      • Jane Austen's World
      • Join 7,123 other followers
      • Already have a WordPress.com account? Log in now.
      • Jane Austen's World
      • Customize
      • Follow Following
      • Sign up
      • Log in
      • Copy shortlink
      • Report this content
      • View post in Reader
      • Manage subscriptions
      • Collapse this bar
    %d bloggers like this: