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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.

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Keeping Warm in the Regency Era, Part One

January 21, 2009 by Vic

Brrr. The coldest days of winter are upon us, prompting me to wonder: “How did people in days of yore keep warm?”

Surrey in winter

Today we can turn up the heat with the merest flick of a switch, but during the 18th and 19th centuries people had to make do in draughty and leaky houses with their high ceilings, ill-fitting windows, and lack of central plumbing and heating. Planning and a great deal of effort went into gathering fuel and maintaining fires in open fire places. Much of the heat escaped up chimneys and draughts were always a problem. Without the aid of room screens and fireplace screens, a  person could feel both hot and cold  at once standing in front of a fire. The upper crust might have had more resources to purchase good quality fuels and hire more people laboring on their behalf, but many a fashionable regency woman wearing a thin muslin gown covered by only a Norwich shawl would  catch a deadly cold or pneumonia from wearing such inadequate covering. This phenomenon was so common in the early part of the 19th century that it was termed “the muslin disease.” – Rakehell.

horses-in-snowTravel:

Travel in winter was not easy. Carriages and conveyances were unheated, and many people sat outside exposed to the elements. A footwarmer and fur blanket over layered winter clothing helped to stave off the cold for those who could afford such luxuries, but most people had to bundle up and deal with the weather as it came. Writing to her husband John  in 1798, Abigail Adams describes winter travel conditions in the colonies, which were not unlike those on most roads in England at the time:

We came five and thirty miles to this Place. From New York our poor Horses have waded and dragged the Carriage through Snow banks and Mud, till I have dreaded their failure. They have Supported the fatigue however a mervaille and even Sloan as lean as a lath has brought along Frank in the Saddle very well. We have yet five and thirty miles to Phyladelphia.

I took a ride in the Sleigh yesterday afternoon towards Milton. The whole Earth looks like mid winter, and the Snow is 4 and 5 foot deep, in Banks driven together and consoladated so that it will lie at the Sides of the Road till next March or April. At Plimouth and Hingham there was very little, not much at Weymouth but the nearer you advance towards Boston the deeper it is. If it had fallen level it would have made excellent travelling.- 25 November

Clothing:

Bundling up in layers of wool, fur, cotton, and linen was the first line of defense. The following passage of people entering an inn describes how they removed their outer wear when traveling:

sleigh3

Meanwhile passengers are busy taking off coats one two and three in succession those were the days of bona fide great coats, nowadays become lessened and merely overcoats.Chins appear out of their many wrappages of silk, and fur caps are bundled into pockets. Stage-coach and Mail in Days of Yore A Picturesque History of the Coaching Age … By Charles George Harper

People wore layered clothing made of wool, flannel, or fur. Typical winter outerwear included hooded capes, great coats, scarves, cloaks, shawls, scarves, muffs, gloves, mittens, thick socks, stockings, long wraps, caps, hats, and ear mufs. Sitting in open sleighs, carts, and carriages, people would tuck comforters, quilts, or blankets around them, and bring umbrellas to protect them from freezing rain. Fur sets and fur trimming made of beaver, fox, bear, and marten were common. Seal skin coats prevented wind and rain from penetrating to the skin, and swans down muffs kept delicate hands warm and protected. A foot warmer heated with coal would complete the traveling ensemble.

Morning dresses, April 1797

Morning dresses, April 1797

It must be added that people were more accustomed to the ambient temperatures than we are today. When I lived for six weeks in New Zealand in winter in a house without central heat, I quickly became accustomed to the cooler temperatures. (In fact, I now keep my house much cooler than I did before that protracted visit, a fact I quite often forget when guests come over.)

Regency couple skating, c. 1800

Regency couple skating, c. 1800

To return to yesteryear, layered clothing was the key to keeping warm. All but the most fashionable regency women would have worn several petticoats (even 4 or 5), stockings and/or socks, leather boots or shoes, a dress over a chemise, a thick shawl, fingerless mittens, and the ubiquitous cap as they went about their housewively duties. Outdoors, they would have added jackets, scarves, kid gloves, and a hat over their caps to keep warm.

Gentlemen wore drawers and sometimes a girdle known as a stomacher, woolen waistcoasts over muslin or linen shirts, and a coat to complete the indoor ensembles. Their cravats and high shirt points protected necks, tall leather boots protected feet,  leather gloves, beaver hats, and multi-caped greatcoats completed the outdoor ensemble.

Gathering Firewood

Fuel came in the form of firewood, coal, or dried dung, depending on what a family could afford or was most easily available. Chopping wood took effort and was time consuming, and firewood needed to be seasoned to burn most effectively. The scarcity of firewood in deforested regions would force individuals to go far afield to search for logs and kindling.

Wood cutters

Wood cutters

F. L. Hartwell, a civil war soldier, wrote vividly about a soldier’s attempt to keep warm when camped out in mid-winter:

We have been very cold for the past 2 1/2 days as we had a snow & sleet storm from the northeast. we could not keep warm or even comfortable in beed [sic]or out as we could not all get around our fire at once, we have to go a mile from Camp to get wood to burn & green pine at that. How would you like that to burn at home well we have to go 2 times apiece in cold days making each 4 miles travel each day to keep us warm and cook by. – To My Beloved Wife and Boy at Home, p60. (Spelling and underline – the author’s)

Charles Crowe’s recollections in his Peninsular Journal (1812,1813, 1814) were as follows:

16th December

We reached Friera [Ferreirra do Zezere ?], after a tedious march, for we strongly suspected that our guide wilfully led us a circuitous route. Here we found a strong contrast to our last quarters, empty houses divested of everything, even of door and window frames, and our men had very comfortless lodgings. Some Officers had joined us from the rear, and we here mustered seven, all of whom repaired to a large mansion near the town. The owner fled to Coimbra when the French took possession of the country, leaving an old gardner in charge. This man very kindly brought a large quantity of wood for me to burn, for, excepting the kitchen, mine was the only room possessing a fire place. I soon made a good fire and resolved to spend a comfortable evening in writing home, and drying my little wardrobe. But I was soon found out, and five of our comrades came to spend the evening with me, and were so well pleased with so agreeable a companion, to wit, the fire, that they stayed late, and left me with a small store of fuel for the night, which was very cold, the room large, and my blanket damp. My great coat was my only covering, a deal form was my pallet, and my writing case served for bolster and pillow.

The Hearth:

For most households, the kitchen with its large open hearth and constantly burning stoves became the focal point for both family and servants in the evening. It was not unusual for master and mistress of the house to sit in the kitchen with the servants – the women sewing and the men reading – as they sat by the only source of heat and light at night.

18th century Dutch kitchen interior

18th century Dutch kitchen interior

The above illustration of a Dutch interior in a small house is reminiscent of family scenes all over Northern Europe, with the family gathered in one room, along with the family’s pets. The two gentleman in the Cruikshank illustrations below seem to live in rented rooms. One has placed his table/desk near the fireplace, in which a boiling kettle is steaming (no doubt to add to Cruickhank’s satire on jealousy). The sick man sits  in front of an open grate in a high-backed chair, which kept the heat from escaping. Coal fires were common in the city, where soot and smoke helped to create the pollution and fogs for which London was so famously known during the industrial revolution.

American Louis Simond, visiting London in 1810, remarked that ‘the smoke of fossil coals forms an atmosphere, perceivable for many miles’. Marianne, writing to Willoughby on a winter’s day in London would have needed to light a candle even at midday in order to see her pen and paper clearly. – How Clean Was Jane Austen’s London?

head_ache-bigjealousy-cruikshank

mr-woodhouse-2-2The wealthy could afford to have rooms heated when and where they liked, and whether it was cold outside or not. In this photograph, Mr. Woodhouse in the A&E version of  Emma is seen sitting by a fire expressly laid out for him in the drawing room at Donwell Abbey as the rest of the party picked strawberries. Such extravagance for one individual would have been impossible for a majority of the people at that time.  As the 18th century progressed, fireplaces became more efficient. Rumford fireplaces, common from 1796 – 1850, were designed to carry away more smoke and reflect more heat. In Northanger Abbey, Catherine Morland was disappointed to note the brand-new Rumford stove that General Tilney had installed along with other modern improvements.

Comforts of a Rumford Stove, Gillray

Comforts of a Rumford Stove, Gillray

Next week, Keeping Warm in the Regency Era, Part Two.

Additional links:

  • Outerwear for Regency Ladies, Kathy Hammel
  • Sir Benjamin Thomson, Count von Rumford

Top photograph: Surrey landscape

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Posted in jane austen, Jane Austen's World, Regency Life, Regency World | Tagged gathering firewood, keeping warm in the 18th century, pole screens, regency winter | 8 Comments

8 Responses

  1. on January 23, 2009 at 13:06 S., Michael

    Albeit a little morbid of me, I am fascinated by seal-skin coats. It seems obvious, but that is very intuitive. Were I pre-modern, I would certainly layer-on, but I would never think of animal-skins biologically designed to withstand cold water.

    There is fascinating literature surfacing about 18th/19th century arctic voyages (whaling, discovery & glory, or what-have-you). That would be an interesting and apropos post!


  2. on January 25, 2009 at 19:49 Anna-Karin S

    I can guess that the thin muslin gowns we see on painting and in TV adaptation probably were less in use on ordinary occasions and perhaps saved for parties.

    As for travelling in winter time. in sweden (before 1900) it was considered EASIER to travell in wintertime (than in autumn or spring) because it was easier to drive with a sleigh on frozen and snow covered roads and on the frozen lakes. than on muddy bad roads. so many important trasportation took place in wintertime


  3. on January 26, 2009 at 01:06 Vic (Jane Austen's World)

    Anna-Karin,

    Your observation about travel by sleigh is so true when snow and ice remained frozen and hard. The quote I used described a situation when snow turned to slush and the hard ground underneath turned to rutted mud. In Holland people skated over the canals from town to town. When the Thames froze over, however, the shipping industry and those who depended on plying the waters for their living experienced true hardship until the ice melted.

    As for the muslin gowns, there was a short period in early 19th century England when wiser heads did not prevail for fashionable women on special occasions. Thin muslin gowns a la Greque were de riguer and fashionistas suffered in their dinner gowns, and at balls and parties. One presumes the upper classes followed this fashion more closely than the middle and lower classes, who did not have as many clothing options. One source stated that when ladies were presented at court, etiquette dictated that they had to leave their outer wear and wrappers in their carriages.

    Michael,

    Beaver skin was another relatively waterproof fur, as was otter. An 1851 catalog lists various furs “outside of waterproof cloth.” The entire page is morbidly fascinating in the way that fur is listed and how the various animal parts are used/prepared. Our species could not have survived colder climes without these animals:

    157. Carriage wrappers North American grey fox various outside of waterproof cloth 158. Carriage wrappers Black African monkey outside of waterproof cloth 159. Carriage wrappers African antelope outside of waterproof cloth 160. Carriage wrappers North American black bear outside of waterproof cloth 161. Carriage wrappers Foreign and English cat various outside of water proof cloth 162. Carriage wrappers Silver grey English rabbit skin The skins presented by the Duchess of St Albans 163. Cloth travelling bag lined and trimmed bear Official Descriptive and Illustrated Catalogue By Great Exhibition, F.L.S. Robert Ellis, Robert Ellis, Commissioners for the Exhibition of 1851, Great Britain Commissioners for the Exhibition of 1851, Great Britain


  4. on February 3, 2009 at 08:09 Ways to Keep Warm in the Regency Era, Part 2 « Jane Austen’s World

    […] Ways to Keep Warm in the Regency era, Part 1, the post ended with the invention of the Rumford fireplace, a vast improvement over previous […]


  5. on February 17, 2009 at 16:38 Regency Kitchen Stove Hyatt Regency Newport Ri Regency Kitchen Range | Poggendorfillusion

    […] $99 Dollar Move in Special at Regency Village Apartments … […]


  6. on December 16, 2010 at 00:12 Baby Jane Austen’s First Two Years: Happy 235th Birthday, Jane! « Jane Austen's World

    […] Keeping Warm in the Regency Era: My post on how people kept themselves and their houses warm two hundred years ago. […]


  7. on December 27, 2010 at 14:21 Ice and Snow Sports in the Regency Era « Jane Austen's World

    […] Keeping Warm in the Regency Era, Part One […]


  8. on December 27, 2010 at 14:28 Snow Sports and Transportation in the Regency Era « Jane Austen's World

    […] Keeping Warm in the Regency Era, Part One […]



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