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The Stage Coaches

September 15, 2007 by Vic

“Besides this excellent convenience of conveying letters, and men on horseback, there is of late such admirable commodiousness, both for men and women of better rank, to travel from London to almost any great town in England, and to almost all the villages near this great city, that the like hath not been known in the world, and that is by stage coaches, wherein one may be transported to any place, sheltered from foul weather, and foul ways, free from endamaging one’s health or body, by hard jogging or over violent motion, and this not only at a low price, as about a shilling for every five miles, but with such velocity and speed, as that the posts in some foreign countries, make not more than a mile a day; for the Stage Coaches called Flying Coaches, make forty or fifty miles in a day, as from London to Oxford, or Cambridge, and that in the space of 12 hours, not counting the time for dining; setting forth not too early, nor coming in too late.”


Text from The World in Miniature, a series of volumes created for the publisher Rudolf Ackermann, and written by W.H. Pyne. Illustrations by Thomas Rowlandson, Augustus Pugin, and W.H. Pyne.

Text, p 98-97, The World in Miniature: England, Scotland, and Ireland, edited by W.H. Pyne, containing a description of the character, manners, customs, dress, diversions, and other peculiarities of the inhabitants of Great Britain. In Four Volumes; illustrated with eighty-four coloured engravings, Volume 1, London, 1827, Printed for R. Ackermann, Repository of Arts, Strand.

Click below for more about this publication:

  • The World in Miniature: Click on the topics, such as stagecoach, the bishop, or the milk woman, to read about those topics.

Posted in Regency Travel, Travel | Tagged , , |

Toothpick Case

September 14, 2007 by Vic


Toothpick Case, National Maritime Museum, 1806

A Scene from Sense and Sensibility: The encounter between the Misses Dashwood and Robert Ferrars in Gray’s Jewelers, in which they first meet Edward’s foppish brother.

All that could be done was, to sit down at that end of the counter which seemed to promise the quickest succession; one gentleman only was standing there, and it is probable that Elinor was not without hope of exciting his politeness to a quicker dispatch. But the correctness of his eye, and the delicacy of his taste, proved to be beyond his politeness. He was giving orders for a toothpick-case for himself, and till its size, shape, and ornaments were determined, all of which, after examining and debating for a quarter of an hour over every toothpick-case in the shop, were finally arranged by his own inventive fancy, he had no leisure to bestow any other attention on the two ladies, than what was comprised in three or four very broad stares; a kind of notice which served to imprint on Elinor the remembrance of a person and face, of strong, natural, sterling insignificance, though adorned in the first style of fashion.

Posted in jane austen, Jane Austen Novels, Jane Austen's World, Regency Life, Regency style, Sense and Sensibility | Tagged , | 5 Comments »

Eloping During Jane Austen’s Time

September 13, 2007 by Vic

The Marriage Act of 1753 made it increasingly difficult for upper class men to “marry down,” and for women to marry men outside their rank. To get around this law, a desperate couple could obtain a special license from the Archbishop of Canterbury, or elope to Gretna Green in Scotland, where English law held no sway and marriage at 16 was legal.

Over the years many couples would run away to Gretna Green for their marriages to take place. The ceremonies were usually performed by one of the village blacksmiths who in those days were at the heart of the community and held in suitable regard. Even today, many of the Ministers refer, in their services, to the similarity of a blacksmith joining 2 metals over the anvil to the marriage ceremony joining 2 people as one.

The following is an excerpt from Pride & Prejudice when Lizzie learns of Lydia’s foolish elopement with Wickham. Later, the reader learns that the couple has not married, but were living without benefit of marriage, an even worse situation:

She burst into tears as she alluded to it, and for a few minutes could not speak another word. Darcy, in wretched suspense, could only say something indistinctly of his concern, and observe her in compassionate silence. At length, she spoke again. “I have just had a letter from Jane, with such dreadful news. It cannot be concealed from any one. My youngest sister has left all her friends — has eloped; — has thrown herself into the power of — of Mr. Wickham. They are gone off together from Brighton. You know him too well to doubt the rest. She has no money, no connections, nothing that can tempt him to — she is lost for ever.”

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Posted in jane austen, Marriage | Tagged , , , , | 1 Comment »

Northanger Abbey

September 11, 2007 by Vic

Click on this link for a full listing of radio plays, stage plays, and screen plays of Northanger Abbey performances today.

Click here for Part One of ITV’s Northanger Abbey, a YouTube video with Felicity Jones as Catherine Morland. You will find the rest of the videos on the sidebar after watching Part One.

Posted in Jane Austen audio books, Northanger Abbey | 7 Comments »

The Housekeeper As Guide to a Great Country Estate

September 10, 2007 by Vic


At the top of the servant hierarchy stood the butler and the housekeeper, who ruled their domains belowstairs.

Jane Austen gave Mr. Darcy’s housekeeper a prominent role as she escorted Lizzie and the Gardiners through the great rooms of Pemberley, talking fondly and familiarly about her master. Her kind recollections were so opposite Lizzie’s, whose confused mind and bewildered emotions were unable to take in all that conflicted with her prejudiced opinions of Mr. Darcy, that it set up the scene in which she unexpectedly encounters him in the gardens.

In reality, the role of tour guide was not uncommon for the housekeeper of a great country estate. In this portrait painted by Thomas Barber of Mrs. Garnett, the housekeeper of Keddleston Hall, and which hangs in front of the house to this day, she holds a guidebook. Ever since Keddleston Hall was built in the 18th century, it has been open to visitors. In fact, Samuel Johnson described his encounter with Mrs. Garnett (click linked post above) as he visited that great house.

In Regency Manor, the role of the upper servant as guide is described as thus:

…upper servants, in particular the housekeeper, served as tour guide on days when the houses were open to the public that “The fees derived from this source (the charge for seeing the house), by upper servants in some principal show-houses in the kingdom must amount to a handsome income; and I am told on good authority, that a late housekeeper in this castle, left by will, to a younger son of the family, at the close of a long service, a fortune of many thousand pounds, chiefly accumulated this way.” The castle in this instance was Warwick castle.

View Kedleston Hall here

Posted in jane austen, Servants | 5 Comments »

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