This page is copyrighted (c) Jane Austen’s World.
Please note: The long lists of links are arranged by topic in alphabetical order. To learn about Regency customs and life from the people who actually lived in the era, please visit the Original Sources page on top of this blog. You will find many of the resources you are seeking there. Links updated: 2020-Jan/2021
These links lead to sites and resources about british customs during the 18th and 19th centuries, including daily life, love, courtship, and inheritance. The list is constantly updated. (Also visit “British Links” in my sidebar.)
1. British Culture
- Jane Austen: The World of Her Novels, Deirdre Le Faye
- Jane Austen’s England: Daily Life in the Georgian and Regency Periods, Roy and Leslie Adkins; also titled Eavesdropping on Jane Austen’s England
- A Guide to English Culture: 1660-1830 (updated 6/2017)
- English Culture: British Express
- Georgian Britain: British Library
- Searching for Pemberley: Georgian England and the Regency
- Daily Life in the 18th Century
- Old Times, a Picture of Social Life at the End of the Eighteenth Century, Old Times, 2009, partial Google Book
- Regency England (Also see Daily Life below)
- Regency Era Life
- Regency Information: This London Life
- Regency Resources: Joanna Waugh
- Regency Research: A Megasite of information, Susannah Ives & Nancy Mayer
- Social Classes in England, 1814: A Chart
- Social Classes, Money and Servants in Austen’s Society
- Social England Under the Regency, John Ashton
- The Social Calendar: Edwardian Promenade
- Regency Period Glossary
- The Regency Townhouse
- When Was the London Season? Regency History
- What Jane Austen Ate and Charles Dickens Knew, Daniel Pool
2. Documents:
- Georgian Gems, Regency Reads, and Victorian Voices, Internet Archive
- The 18th Century: Bodleian Library
- The Austen Family Music Books, Internet Archive
- National Portrait Gallery: Selected Archived Documents: Regency Portraits
- Social England Under the Regency, John Ashton, 1834, Internet Archive
3. Peerage/Precedence:
- “Addressing the Duke and Inheriting His Loot”, PDF doc
- Correct Forms of Address
- Common Title Errors
- Order of Precedence in England and Wales
- Precedence: Peerage
- Social Classes in England, 1814 (Post on this blog)
4. The Regency Era in General:
- Anne Gracie Regency Links
- Books on London: Social Life and Customs, Bryn Mawr College Bibliography
- Candice Hern’s Regency Era
- Fashion History Timeline
- Georgian Marriages
- Historical Context for Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen, Columbia College
- Illustrations from the Regency Period – Pemberley
- Inside Out: Pride and Prejudice (PDF Doc) Lesso
- Jane Austen: A Companion, Josephine Ross, Rutgers U. Press, 2003, partial book available
- Jane Austen and the Fiction of Culture, Richard Handler & Daniel Alan Segal, 1999, partial book available
- Jane Austen and Representations of Regency England, Roger Sales, 1996
- Jane Austen Social Appreciation, Pamela Whalan, JASA
- Heyer’s Heroes: An investigation into Georgette Heyer and her literary ‘mark’ on the Regency hero, 6 page PDF Doc
- Life in Regency England, White and Batsford, partial book is available
- Resources for Readers and Writers of the Regency Era-Joanna Waugh
- Regency Pinterest: Joanna Waugh
- Regency timeline, Candice Hern
- The Regency World – of Lesley Anne Mcleod
- Writer’s Resources: Includes extensive links to historical and social sites
5. Societies
6. Black People in England: See History Tab.
Agriculture
- Agricultural Revolution in England 1500-1850, BBC History
- Agricultural Revolution: Timeline, Causes, Inventions, and Effects, Study.com
- Enclosure, a short history, land rights
- History of British Villages
- Jane Austen and Enclosure, Persuasion On-Line
- The Museum of English Rural Life, included here is the link to the collections
Animals, See Sports, and Pets, Animals, and Husbandry below.
Architecture (See also Country Houses, and Furnishings)
- Jane Austen’s London, a blog by author Louise Allen
- 18th Century Georgian Architecture – Pinterest Board, Vic (Jane Austen’s World)
- 18th Century Domestic Architecture: Robert Adam (blog post)
- Architectural Styles in Jane Austen’s Life
- Brewery History
- British Country House in the 18th Century, Christopher Christie, google books preview
- English 18th Century Architecture
- English Country Houses
- The Fall and Rise of the Stately Home, Peter Mandler, 1999, Partial Google Book
- Georgian Architecture, James Stevens Curl, 2002, partial Google Book
- Georgian Period, a series of measured drawings, William Rotch Ware, 1900
- Great British Architects: John Nash
- Haymarket, Theatre Royal
- Historic Houses in Bath and Their Associations, Robert Edward Myhill Peach, 1884
- Interior Design in England: 1600-1800
- London, England, John Stoddard Lectures, 1901, with rare photographs
- London Houses from 1660-1820: A Consideration of their Architecture and Detail, 1911
- Malton, Thomas Jnr: Architectural painting/prints
- Mathematical tiles
- Modern Architecture: Nash and the Regency, pdf
- Orientalism: Essential Architecture
- Paint: Georgian, Victorian, Edwardian Houses
- Period House Style: Georgian and Regency Era
- The Pursuit of Pleasure: Gender, Space & Architecture in Regency London, By Jane Rendell, 2002, partial Google book
- Queen Anne and Georgian Country Houses
- Regency Architecture: Brighton.com
- Regency Architecture on Flickr
- Regency Homes: Country House and Town House Gaelen Foley
- Regent’s Park, London Portrait Magazine
- Regency Town House Tour (click on the rooms you are interested in, on the list at the side)
- Researching Historic Buildings in the British Isles
- Researching the History of Country Houses
- Sloan’s Architecture: The Late Georgian Period, Samuel Sloan
- Small Houses of the Late Georgian Period
- Weymouth’s Georgian Seafront Architecture and the Local Architect James Hamilton
- William Jay, Architect
Art
- Ackermann’s Repository of Arts
- Arts and Entertainments, Jane Austen Magazine
- Art Encyclopedia
- Caricature History of the Georges, or Annals of the House of Hanover, Thomas Wright, 1876, eBook free
- Cox, David: Views of Bath, Bath Library
- Cruikshank, Robert: Devastated Dandies, Booktryst
- English Caricaturists and Graphic Humourists of the Nineteenth Century, Graham Everitt, illustrated Project Gutenberg eBook
- Georgian and Regency Portraits, National Portrait Gallery
- Gillray Collection, Princeton University
- James Gillray: A large selection of prints with explanations at the New York Public Library
- The Political Caricatures of James Gillray
- Henry Robert Morland Online, Paintings
- History of Silhouettes
- John Leech, Sketch Archive from Punch
- Lane, Theodore: Genre, cartoons
- Louis Leopold Boilly, BBC Your Paintings
- Luke Clennell, 3 Paintings
- Neoclassicism: The Sister Arts, British Gardening, Painting, and Poetry
- Six Choices for the Sitter: James H. Gillespie
- Phillips, Thomas: Portraits
- The Shows of London: Partial book, Richard D. Altick, 1978; exhibitions, art shows, panoramas, wax works, etc.
- The Silhouette in Georgian and Regency England
- Thompson, Hugh – Illustrator, Pinterest
- What Jane Saw: the contents of two art exhibitions Austen visited
- Illustrations of Austen’s Novels by C.E. Brock, H.M. Brock, and others
Cant and Slang: See Vocabulary
Children
- Child-stealing in the Regency, Naomi Clifford
- Every Boy’s Book: a complete encyclopædia of sports and amusements : intended to afford recreation and instruction to boys in their leisure hours, John George Wood, William Harvey, Harrison Weir, Edward Dalziel, George Dalziel, 1855, Routledge, London
- Parenting in England: 1760 – 1830
- The 18th Century Child, Historical Essays
- Toys and Games of the 18th Century, 2014
- Two Worlds: Children During the Regency Period, JAW
Church and Clergy, see Religion below
Coins (Also see Economics)
- British Coins Before the Florin
- British Farthings
- Currency, Coinage and the Cost of Living: Proceedings of the Old Bailey
- Historic British Coinage: Descriptions
- Money: /wages Word Wenches
Cookery (Also see Dining and Original Sources)
- Cook It! Georgian/Regency Recipes
- Dining With Jane Austen: A project
- For more cookery links on this blog: please click on Home, and look on the top bar for a list of Links. Original cookery books are listed under Original Sources.
- Jane Austen and Food, Austen Only
- Mechanical Roasting on the Hearth, The Journal of Antiques and Collectibles
- Regency Recipes, The Jane Austen Centre
- Regency Servants: Kitchen Staff, Sharon Lathan, Austen Authors
- Some Liked it Hot! Cooking Curry in Jane Austen’s Time, English Historical Fiction Authors
- The Regency Meal, Shannon Donnely’s Fresh Ink
- Food, Drink, and Dining in the Georgian Era, Pinterest Board – Vic (Jane Austen’s World)
Country Houses (See also Architecture, Furnishings, and Houses)
- A Companion to 18th Century Britain: Country Houses, chapter of a partial Google book
- A Fine House Richly Furnished: Pemberley and the Visiting of Country Houses
- Country Houses, Ackermann’s Repository
- Country House, Town House, Gaelen Foley
- Period House Style: Georgian and Regency Era
- Queen Anne and Georgian Country Houses
- Researching the History of Country Houses, database
- The 19th Century Country House, bibliography
- The History of British Villages
- The Regency House Party, Regina Scott
- What Goes Around: The Use of Rotunda in UK Country Houses
Courtship (See Marriage/Marriage Mart)
Crime and Prisons (Also see Law)
- Bow Street Runners and the Marine Police
- Children, Poverty and Crime in Regency England: Post on this blog
- Chronicles of Bow Street Police Office, Percy Hetherington Fitzgerald, Vol 2, 1888, Google book
- Crime and Punishment: Homosexuality in Georgian Times
- Bow Street Horse Patrol: Fighting Crime During the Regency Era
- The Dangerous World of Regency England
- The Dangerous World of Regency London
- Elizabeth Fry, how she changed the lives of prisoners, youtube video. Search online for many other materials about Fry.
- History of British Judicial Hanging 1735-1964
- History of Policing: The Bow Street Runners, 1748-1829
- Jack Sheppard
- Jane Austen and Crime, Susannah Fullerton, Book Review
- John Howard, Prison Reformer, jstor article (you can join jstor for free to read articles)
- King’s Cutters and Smugglers, 1700-1855, Project Gutenberg Book
- Life and Crimes of Jane Leigh-Perrot, Jane Austen’s aunt’s arrest, imprisonment and trial. For a different view, see Deirdre Le Faye’s Jane Austen: A Family Record, 120-125.
- Locked In: Regency Prisons, Gaols, and Hulks
- Making Sense of British Law Enforcement in the 18th Century
- Marshalsea Prison
- Marshalsea Prison, London
- The Newgate Calendar
- Policing in London, The Old Bailey Online
- Prison Reformers
- Proceedings of the Old Bailey
- Smuggler’s Britain
- State of Prisons in 1788
- State of Prisons in England and Wales, John Howard, 1792 book
- The Georgian Underworld by Rictor Norton
- The Underworld and the Underclass
Daily Life
- A History of Private Life, Interview with Amanda Vickery, BBC Radio4 (episodes not currently available, but perhaps will be in future?)
- Advertising and Satiric Culture in the Romantic Period, John Strachan, 2007, partial Google Book
- History of Hygiene and Bathing (note: includes pictures of nudity)
- How to Bathe Like a Queen, Erin Blakemore, 2017, JSTOR Daily
- The Cost of Living in Jane Austen’s England
- Daily Life: The Regency Townhouse (Ladies, Gentlemen, Children, Servants, and Meals)
- Day in the Life of a Regency Woman
- Eavesdropping on Jane Austen’s England, Adkins, book
- (The) English Housewife in the 17th & 18th Century, Internet archive
- Family Life in the Long Nineteenth Century, 1789-1913, Kertzer & Barbagli, partial Google book
- High Tea and Afternoon Tea in the Age of Austen
- History of Taking Tea
- Jane Austen Lived Before the Invention of Afternoon Tea, Tea Party Girl
- Life in Regency England, R.J. White, book
- Life in the Regency and Early Victorian Times, Beresford Chancellor, 2007
- The London Season
- Social Classes in England, 1814: A Chart
- Trades and Professions
- What Jane Austen Ate and Charles Dickens Knew, Poole, partial Google book
Dancing (See also Music & Songs)
- A Tour of the Ballroom – (Unsourced and unclear about dates, but a good overview)
- Capering and Kickery– A blog about dance by a dance historian
- Dances from Pride and Prejudice
- Dance Card Gallery (American)
- Early 19th Century Dance
- English Country Dancing Before, During, and After Jane Austen
- English Country Dancing, Wilson, 1815, PDF document (takes a long time to download)
- Felicities in Rapid Motion: Jane Austen in the Ballroom
- Dance Instruction Manuals (American)
- From the Ballroom to Hell: Grace and Folly in Nineteenth Century Dance, Elizabeth Aldrich, 1991
- Late Eighteenth Century Social Dance
- Real Regency Dancers Don’t Turn Single
- Regency Dances
- Social Dances of the 19th Century
- The Fiddler’s Companion (details of dance tunes)
- The Regency Ballroom – Listen to Samples of English Country Dance
- The Shocking Waltz, Mass Historia
- The Waltz in Jane Austen’s Time
- How to Waltz
- Thos. Wilson’s Description of Regency Waltzing, 1816
- Etiquette of Ballroom Dancing, Victorian
Dictionaries and Regency Cant (See Vocabulary)
Dining (See also “Food and Cookery under the “Links” tab and Cookery under “Original Sources”)
- All About Coffee, (history) 1922, William H. Ukers, Project Gutenberg, with illustrations
- All About Coffee (Google eBook), William Harrison Ukers, Tea and Coffee Trade Journal Company, 1922 – 796 pages
- A New System of Domestic Cookery:Maria Eliza Rundell, 1807 (American Cookbook based on British recipes.)
- At Table: High Style in the 18th Century, Carnegie Museum of Art
- Books for Cooks: British Library
- Breakfast in the 18th Century: The unexamined meal
- Cordial Waters
- Cultural Rules of Dining
- Destination: 18th Century Food
- Dining in the Great House: Food and Drink in the Time of Jane Austen, Eileen Sutherland
- Dinner is served, Jefferson, Monticello
- Food for Thought: Researching the History of Nutrition, Bibliography
- Georgian/Regency Picture Gallery of Food
- Jane Austen Lived Before the Inventor of the Tea Party
- London Cafes: the surprising history of London’s lost coffee houses
- Merry Gourmet Miniatures: Georgian Kitchen Food
- Regency Dinner Party Etiquette
- Regency Drink: Click here for my posts on the topic
- Regency Eating: Old Foodie
- Regency Food: Click here for my posts on the topic
- Regency Dining Articles: Jane Austen Centre
- Regency Recipes: Beverages
- Regency Recipes: Desserts
- Regency Recipes: Main Dishes
- Regency Recipes: Snacks and Sides
- Science of Georgian Silver
- Social History of the Pineapple
- Storage, preservation, and ice houses
- Soup: Julienne Soup
- The Tea Caddy, A History of
- The Torments of Rice Pudding and Apple Dumplings: Jane Austen and Food, PDF Doc
- Traditional English Food
Divorce and Adultery
- A Matrimonial Fracas, divorce in Mansfield Park
- Broken Lives: Separation and Divorce in England, 1660-1857, by Lawrence Stone
- Divorce, Jo Beverley, Minepast
- Divorce Laws in the Time of Austen
- Jane Austen and Adultery
- Persuasions #36, on Mansfield Park, includes excellent articles on this topic; it is not currently available online.
- “So Ended a Marriage,” by Cheryl Craig; excerpt from this article from the above magazine
- Road to Divorce: England 1530-1987, by Lawrence Stone
Economics/Money (Also see Coins)
- Above Vulgar Economy: Jane Austen and Money
- Cost of Keeping a Horse in Jane Austen’s Day
- Cost of Living in Jane Austen’s England
- Economics: British History Online
- The Economics of Jane Austen’s World
- How Rich is Fitzwilliam Darcy? Brad De Long
- How Wealthy is Mr. Darcy – Really? Pounds and Dollars in the World of Pride and Prejudice, James Heldman
- Money: Word Wenches
- Money in Jane Austen
- Old English Money
- Persuasion: The Jane Austen Consumer’s Guide, Edward Copeland
- The Value of a Good Income: Money in Emma, Cheryl Craig
Education (Books, Literature, Schools and Libraries)
- 18th Century Reading and Writing: How to read 18th century British and American Handwriting
- The 18th Century: Religion and Education, British History Online
- Andrew Bell, Educationalist
- British Schooling before the 19th century
- The Cambridge Bibliography of Literature 1800-1900, Google book preview
- Charity Schools
- Education in England: A History
- Female Education in Jane Austen’s Novels
- Jane Austen and the Circulating Library
- Jane Austen, Regency Circulating Libraries, and Enterprise
- Joseph Lancaster, Educationalist
- Mary Edwards: A Woman Computer
- Religion and Respectability: Sunday Schools and Working Class Culture, book by Laqueur
- Robert Raikes and Sunday Schools
- Six images of schools in the Georgian era, Naomi Clifford, 17 April 2018, Recovering Stories of Women in History, Historical Writers’ Association (blog)
- Some Aspects of Education in Cheshire in the 18th Century: Manchester University Press
- The Sunday School Movement: Historical Background (Sunday schools provided basic education for the poor.)
- Women and Literature in Britain, 1700-1800, Google book preview
Embroidery and Sewing (See Ladies’ Activities)
Etiquette (See Manners and Customs, and Letters)
Fashion (See also Jewelry; Also visit “Fashion” in the Links tab)
- 1790’s Fashion, Part I: Zip Zip Vintage Sewing
- 1790’s Fashion, Part II: Zip Zip Vintage Sewing
- 1795-1795 Robe and Petticoat, Part I
- Late 18th Century Women’s High Fashion
- 18th Century Fashion, A Brief History
- 18th century, late, women’s high fashion, Heather Carroll
- 18th Century Clothing, The Making of Cloth, PDF Document
- 18th Century Clothing, Maternity Wear
- 18th Century Plates by the decade: Dames a la Mode
- 1812 Fashion: Nineteen Teen
- 1813-1814, Walking Dresses: Candice Hern
- 19th Century fans
- In the 18th Century the wig made a man
- Accessories of Dress, By Katherine Morris Lester, Bess Viola Oerke, Helen Westermann, 2004, partial Google book
- Afternoon Dress, Cathy Decker
- A Regency Era Primer
- Assembling a Regency Gentleman’s Wardrobe
- Beau Brummel
- Bonnets, PDF document
- Carriage Dress: The Mirror of Fashion for January, 1819
- Children’s Fashions
- Cloaks, Capes, Pelisses and Spencers: Outerwear for Regency Ladies, Kathy Hammel
- (Corsets) An Overview of Regency Stays
- Corsetry Links
- Corsets, History of
- Corsets, Male: Oh, Shock, Oh Horror, A Hero in Corsets!
- The Corset, Valerie Steele, Partial book available, Google Books
- Cosmetics
- Costume of Yorkshire, 1814
- Costuming the Emmas, Strangegirl Blog
- Court Dress, Ladies, Candice Hern
- Court Dress for Judges and the Judiciary
- Distinctions of Regency Dress: Undress, Half Dress, Full Dress
- Dressed in Fiction, partial Google Book
- Dressed to Rule: Royal and Court Costume from Louis XiV to Elizabeth II, Philip Mansel, 2005 partial Google book
- Dress in France in the 18th Century, Madeleine Delpierre, partial Google book
- Elizabeth Bennet’s Wardrobe: Undress, Half Dress, Full Dress, Headdress! Making Sense of it All, Linore Rose Burkhard
- Embroiderer’s Guild of America, a Comprehensive Glossary. PDF file, scroll down to “Glossary of Terms.”
- Emma Costumes, Alden O’Brien
- English Fashion During the French Revolution
- English Women’s Clothing in the 19th Century, Cecil Willett Cunnington, 1990, partial google book
- Estimating Lace and Muslin: Dress and Fashion in Jane Austen and Her World, Jeffrey Nigro, you’ll need Persuasions issue 23 to read this.
- Fans, Brise (and see other articles on this site)
- The Fan Museum, Greenwich
- Regency Fans
- Worshipful Company of Fan Makers
- Fashion in Paris: (to the end of the 19th century) Octave Uzanne, 1901, Google eBook
- Fashion posts on this site
- Female Fashion During the Regency Era of Jane Austen
- French Fashions in London
- Glossary of 18th Century Costume Terminology
- Hats: A History in Fashion in Head Wear, partial Google book
- Historical Fashion Reference Material, List on Facebook
- History of English Dress in the Late 17th and 18th Centuries
- History of Saville Row
- Introduction to 18th Century Fashion, Victoria and Albert Museum
- It’s All in the Details: Making a Regency Ball Gown
- Jane Austen’s Pelisse Coat
- Jessamyn’s Regency Costume Companion
- Late 17th Century Clothing History
- Lingerie: Austentatious
- Making a Man’s Tailcoat
- Milliners and Hats, History
- Regency Mens Clothes – Pants, Breeches, Pantalons
- (Men) 19th Century Late Regency Fashion for Men
- Men: Late Regency Era Fashions Worn by Men
- Men’s Clothing: 1811-1812
- Costume of the Ladies of England: New York Public Library Digital Gallery
- Nineteenth Century Costume and Fashion, Herbert Norris, Oswald Curtis, 1998, Partial Google Book
- Picturesque Representations of the Dress and Manners of the English: New York Public Library Digital Archive
- Prinny’s Tailor: The Life of Louis Bazalgette
- Regency Dress During Jane Austen’s Time: Links and Pictures
- Regency Era: Fashion
- Regency Glasses and Eyeware
- Regency Fashion in Winter, Linore Rose Burkard
- Regency Handbags: Please Don’t Ridicule My Reticule
- Silk Stockings With Clocks
- Stockings: 18th Century
- Stays and Corsets, Oregon Regency Society
- The Culture of Clothing: Daniel Roche and Jean Birrell, 1997, partial Google book
- The Regency and the Rest of the High-waisted Era
- The Regency Tailcoat
- Undressing Your Hero
- Undergarments, A Number of Links
- Underwear, The History of, Cunnington, 1992, partial Google book
- Regency Underwear
- Children’s Underwear in Regency England
- University of Washington Fashion Plate Collection: Regency
- Victorian Fashion Terms, part 1
- Wedding dress, Victorian 1824-1921
- William Henry Pyne: The Costume of Great Britain
Food and Drink (See Dining, above, and Food tags in sidebar)
Funerals and Mourning Customs
- About Funerals in the 19th Century
- Mourning Customs
- Mourning
- Regency Mourning Customs
- The Art of Mourning
- Regency Mourning Clothes
- Regency Mourning Customs, Donna Hatch
- Regency Mourning Fashions and Customs
- Royalty, British: Encyclopedia of Death and Dying
- The Victorian Undertaker – radically different from the Regency
Furnishings (See also Country Houses and Architecture)
- Decorative Arts and Design History: Gothic Revival and Design
- Domestic Interiors Database
- English Period Furniture: 1800-1830
- Historic Paint Colors
- Interior Design in England 1600-1800
- Regency Paint Colors, Bath
- The Regency Period (PDF Doc) 1800-1830
- Regency Era Furnishings: From Ackermann’s Repository 1809-1812
- Regency Style Decoration
- Regency Style Wallpaper
- Room With a View: Landscape and Wallpaper
- Thomas Hope: Furniture
Gardens (See Landscapes and Gardens)
Gentlemanly Pursuits (Also see Leisurely Pursuits; Pets, Animals, and Husbandry; and Sport)
- Clubs and Club Life in London, John Timbs, 1872, Google book
- The Code of Honor
- Dueling: How Dueling Works
- Dueling: The Code of Honor
- Dueling: The Rules of Dueling
- Fencing in Regency England
- Fowling for Pheasant: Jane Austen’s World
- Gambling in the Regency, Jane Austen’s World
- Hunting: The First of September, 1827
- Lord Byron
- Male Bonding in Early 19th Century British Fiction, Dissertation, PDF Doc
- Military and Naval History, articles from the Jane Austen Centre
- The Militia in Pride and Prejudice
- Pugilism (Boxing) in Georgian England
- Pugilism, Images in Georgian Caricature
- Small Sword: Self-Defense and the Georgian Gentleman
- Taking Snuff and Snuff Boxes
- The History of White’s, Algernon Henry Bourke, 1892
- The Life of Beau Brummell, Esq, Commonly Called Beau Brummell, by William Jesse, 1886, partial Google book
Grand Tour
- Giusseppe Vasi’s Grand Tour of Rome, Interactive
- Italy on the Grand Tour
- Little Dorrit and the Grand Tour: Post on this blog
- Making a Gentleman: Jane Austen’s Brother Abroad
- The Evolution of the Grand Tour, Edward Chaney, 1998, Partial Google book
- The Grand Tour in the 18th and 19th Century: Post on this blog
- The Grand Tour: Word Wenches
Holidays and Important Days
- The Every Day Book (describes days and holidays)
- Advent
- Boxing Day
- Christmas posts on this site
- Christmas, Monticello.org
- Christmas: A Regency Christmas Tree: Post on this blog
- Christmas: The Book of Christmas, Thomas Kibble Hervy, 1845
- Christmas: Dickens Christmas: A Victorian Celebration
- Christmas Feast
- Christmas: Georgian Christmas Celebrations
- Christmas: Happy Christmas, Everyone! (leads to links)
- Christmas: Hymns and Carols of Christmas, 1852
- Christmas: Jane Austen Christmas
- Christmas: Jane Austen Christmas: Regency Christmas Traditions, by Maria Grace
- Christmas: Joy to the World: Psalms, Hymns, and Christmas Carols
- Christmas: Mince Meat: Mincemeat Recipes and Mincemeat History
- Christmas: Punch Magazine, 1880, December 25
- Christmas in ritual and tradition, Project Gutenberg
- Christmas Traditions in the Regency Era: Post on this blog
- Christmas Traditions in the UK
- Christmas: Victorian Christmas in Print
- Christmas With the Presidents (US)
- Church of England: The Calendar (includes holidays Jane Austen might have celebrated in church)
- Church of England: The Liturgical Year
- Easter
- Easter, Jane Austen’s
- Easter, Jane Austen’s, Jane Austen Centre
- Halloween: Did Jane Austen Celebrate It?
- Halloween Traditions
- Lady Day in the Regency Calendar
- New Year Customs in Great Britain
- May Day
- May Day, London
- Shrove Tuesday Recipe
- Shrove Tuesday, or Pancake Day
- Thanksgiving
- Austen Thanksgiving Prayer
- Whitsuntide
Houses and Household Duties (See also Country Houses; Light and Heat; Architecture; and Furnishings)
- If Walls Could Talk: An Intimate History of the Home
- History of Housekeeping
- Home and Hearth articles from Jane Austen Centre
- Spring Cleaning: Recipes
Jewelry (Jewellery)
- Austen Regency Accessories
- Georgian Jewellery
- Jewellery in the Regency Era
- Jewelry: Regency Period
- Jewelry: Antique Jewelry Glossary
- Jewelry of the Georgian and Victorian Periods: Morning Glory
- Jewelry: Neoclassical
- Jewelry: Georgian Era Antique Jewelry
Ladies’ Activities and Opportunities (see also Fashion)
- Athletic “Womanhood”: Exploring Sources for Female Sport in Victorian and Edwardian England, Cartriona M. Parratt, PDF doc
- Becoming a Regency Woman
- Bluestocking Club
- Covering Screens
- Development of Embroidery in America, Project Gutenberg book
- Embroidery: History of Samplers, Victoria & Albert Museum
- Jane Austen Embroidery, Jennie Batchelor, book
- Jane Austen’s Sewing Box, Jennifer Forest, book
- 18th Century Embroidery Techniques, book
- Healthful Sports for Young Ladies, 1822, PDF doc
- The Property Rights of Women in 19th Century England
- Regency Crafts and Pastimes
- Some Old Time Beauties, Thomas Willing, Project Gutenberg
- Vintage Lace Making
- Wives and Daughters: Women and Children in the Georgian Country House, Joanna Martin, 2004
- Women and Marriage in 19th Century England
- Women’s Education and Accomplishments : The Republic of Pemberley
- Women’s Legal Position in Regency Times
Landscapes and Gardens
- A Changing View: Jane Austen’s Landscape, Penny Gay
- A History of English Gardening, George William Johnson, 1829, Google Books
- Amusement of Old London,being a survey of the sports and pastimes, tea gardens and parks, playhouses and other diversions of the people of London from the 17th to the beginning of the 19th century, Volume 2 William Biggs Boulton, 1901, Google eBook
- A Royal History of Windsor, Great Park
- Definitions of Gardeners and their Assistants
- Gardens and Landscapes, Ackermann’s Repository
- Garden Mazes and Labyrinths
- Ha Ha: The Invisible Border Between Art and Nature: Pope’s Aesthetic Principle Applied to Art and Poetry
- Hedge or Topiary Maze
- Humphry Repton’s Red Books
- In the Garden With Jane Austen, Kim Wilson
- Jane Austen’s World of English Gardens
- Landscape and Property, articles from Jane Austen Centre
- Pleasure Gardens in Georgian and Regency Seaside Resorts: Brighton, 1750-1840, JSTOR
- The English Pleasure Gardens, Sarah Jane Downing
- Regency Parks in London
- The Flowering of the Landscape Garden: English Pleasure Grounds, 1720-1800
- The Herb Garden: Then and Now
- The London Pleasure Garden of the 18th Century, 1896
- Pleasure Gardens in the Long Eighteenth Century, Chawton House Video (see also other videos at this site)
- Vauxhall Gardens: 1661-1859
Law (also see crime, and divorce and adultery)
- Discussion about the differences between Attorney, Lawyer, Barrister, Solicitor, and Notary.
- Bastards and Foundlings: Illegitimacy in 18th Century England, Lisa Zunshine, partial Google book
- Caroline Norton and a Woman’s Legal Rights: Post on this blog.
- Entailment in Pride and Prejudice
- Jane Austen and Crime, Susannah Fullerton, Book Review
- Law of Jane: Legal Issues in Austen’s Life and Novels
- Marriage Settlements in England and Wales
- History of Policing: The Bow Street Runners
- Policing in London, Proceedings of the Old Bailey
- Proceedings of the Old Bailey
- Property Law in Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice (short download)
- Punch Magazine, 1868, December 26, row in court
- The Dangerous World of Regency England
Leisurely Pursuits, see also Dancing
- Jane Austen and Leisure, David Selwyn, partial book available
- Astley’s Amphitheatre
- Breaking into Regency Society, Success at Almack’s, Susan Marie Knight, PDF document
- Card Games in Pride and Prejudice
- Entertainment for the People
- Regency Games, various articles
- Gambling in Historic England
- An Evening at Almack’s
- History of Almack’s
- Ice Skating in Regency London
- Jane Austen and the Theater, Penny Gay, Cambridge University Press, 2002
- Jane Austen’s Card Games, Jo Ann Staples
- Jane Austen Tabletop Games
- The London Season
- The Pursuit of Pleasure, Jane Rendell, 2002, partial Google book
- The Social Life of Coffee, Brian William Cowan, 2005, partial Google book
- Sea Bathing: Read my posts on the topic
- The Level: A Leisure Area Since Regency Times
- Jane Austen and Music
- The Silhouette in Georgian and Regency England
- Covent Garden Theatre, Regency London
- London Theatre During the Regency: Covent Garden
- Theatre Royal: Drury Lane
- Drury Lane Theatre, Regency London
- The Theaters of Regency London
- The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly of Regency Theatre
- Whist
- Vauxhall Pleasure Gardens
- British Ballooning
- Mother, I’m bored: Or How a Young Lady Found Amusement in the Regency Countryside, by Susan Marie Knight, PDF document,
Letters
- An 18th century family letter sent from Scotland to England
- British Letter of Marque With Seal
- Guidelines for Writing 19th Century Letters: a fun exercise, but no sources given. PDF doc
- Jane Austen and Letter Folding
- Jane Austen’s Letters, 4th ed. by Deirdre Le Faye
- Online History of Writing Boxes and Slopes
- Regency Letters: posts on this blog
- The Regency Post: Pity We’ve Lost Letters
- Writing boxes and slopes
Light and Heat
- Covering Screens (fire screens)
- Flickering Gas Light Illuminates Pall Mall: 1807
- Heat and Light in Austen’s Novels: Candles
- Heat and Light in Austen’s Novels: Fires
- Lighting Georgian and Regency London
- Lighting the Darkness
- Rush Lights
London (see also Maps)
- Astley’s Amphitheatre
- Bathing in London from Medieval to Georgian Times
- Chronology of London Bridge
- Jane Austen’s London blog, Louise Allen
- Jane Austen Map of London, from Aventuras Literarias
- The London of Samuel Johnson
- Old London Street Cries
- London Historians’ Blog
- London Lives
- London posts on Regency History blog
- London Sewers, Part One
- London Sewers, Part Two (Building the Pall Mall Sewer)
- London, Charles Knight, 1841, Google book
- Museum of London
- Promenades through London
- The Pursuit of Pleasure: Gender, Space, and Architecture in Regency London, Jane Rendell, partial book available
- Sir John Soane Museum
- The London Life: Forum
- Tower of London
- Walking Jane Austen’s London by Louise Allen; see also Walks Through Regency London, by Louise Allen
- What would London have been like in the 18th century? Forum
London Pubs, Inns, Taverns, Tea Houses, and Coffee Houses
- English Coffee Houses, Rakehell
- The Devil’s Ordinary: Consuming Public Culture in the Coffee-House
- London’s Historic Pubs (part 1, see also part 2)
- London’s Oldest Pubs
- The Tavern Meal
- From Pubs to Gin Palaces
Manners, Etiquette, and Customs
- 18th Century Etiquette, 18th Century Notebook – list of resources
- Posts about Manners and Etiquette on this Blog: Calling Cards, The Regency Fan, Dancing, etc.
- Etiquette and Manners of Regency Society
- Art of Mourning
- A Tour of the Ballroom
- Forms of Address and Titles in Jane Austen, Joan Austen-Leigh
- Guidelines for Writing 19th Century Letters: a fun exercise, but no sources given. PDF doc
- Hat Etiquette for Women
- Becoming Mannered: YouTube Video, James McAvoy
- The Laws of Etiquette by a Gentleman, 1837
- On Vulgarity and Affectation, William Haslitt, From Table Talk, Essays on Men and Manners, 1822
- Peerage Basics
- Peerages in Order of Preference
- Presentation at Court
- The Gentlewoman’s Companion: Or, a Guide to the Female Sex
- Regency Introductions
- Etiquette of Ballroom Dancing, Victorian
Maps
- Dickens London Map
- Greenwood’s Map of London
- Images of Early Maps on the Web
- Jane Austen Map of London, from Aventuras Literarias
- Maps: Scanned Collections Online, British Library
- Maps of Austen’s Novels, Bath, London, and British Counties, with links to relevant articles, from JASNA
- Old Maps of London
- The Map of Early Modern London
- Walking Tours of Jane Austen’s Bath, by Katharine Reeve
Marriage/Marriage Mart/Courtship, see also Divorce
- Courtship and Marriage in Jane Austen’s world, book by Maria Grace
- Courtship, Love, and Marriage in Austen’s Novels, John Mullan
- Eloping During Jane Austen’s Time
- Eloping in Regency England
- Lord Hardwick’s Marriage Act, 1753
- Marriage Act, 1753
- Marriage Customs in Georgian and Regency England
- Marriage Mart
- Marriage Register, An Example
- Marriage Settlements in England and Wales
- Regency Wedding
- The History of the Laws of England as to the Effects of Marriage on Property, Courtney Stanhope Kenney, 1879, full book
- The Pursuit of the Heiress, A. P. W. Malcomson, Ulster Historical Foundation,2006
- Women, Courtship, Marriage and Romance: Victorian London
Medicine
In Jane Austen
- Jane Austen and Illness
- Gout and the Waters of Bath
- Hypochondriacs: Mrs. Churchill
- Jane Bennet’s Apothecary
- Valetudinarians: Mr. Woodhouse
- What is Wrong with Marianne? Medicine and Disease in Jane Austen’s England, Laurie and Richard Kaplan, JASNA
Apothecaries and Physicians
- The Apothecary
- Apothecary (The), Herbs, and Herb Garret, PDF document
- Apothecary Items
- Apothecaries: Picture Library
- Jane Bennet’s Apothecary
- Stabler Leadbetter Apothecary Museum: Alexander, VA
- Caleb Hillier Parry, 1755-1822, A Notable Provincial Physician, PDF document
- Doctors: Physicians, Surgeons, Dentists and Apothecaries in England
- The Quack Doctor (blog)
- Physician in the 19th Century
- The Roll of the Royal College of Physicians in London, 1701-1800, v. 2, 1878
Birth Control, Childbirth, and Children’s Health
- Birth Control in Regency
- Chelsea Apothecary’s Physic Garden, London
- Children’s Health in England: 1600-1800
- Child birth and birth control in the 19th Century
- Men and Women in Midwifery
- Pregnancy and Childbirth for the Historical Author
- The Regulation of English Midwives in the Eighteenth and Nineteenth Century
- The Decline of Midwifery in 18th Century England, Barbara Brandon Schnorrenberg
- The Midwife’s Tale: Mary Ballard’s Diary Online
Dentistry
Medical Treatments and Instruments
- Modern Anesthesia is Developed
- Bloodletting: an early treatment used by barbers and surgeons
- Bloodletting and Collecting Leeches
- Body Snatching
- History of Quinine
- Phisick: Medical Antiques
- Sickness, Treatment, and Death: Regency Manor
- Student Paper on 19th Century Medicine: Excellent resource for the medical situation in 19th century England.
- The Madness of King George (See also the movie with this title.)
- Old Operating Theatre Museum and Herb Garret, London
- Smallpox and the Story of Vaccination
- The Invention of the Stethoscope
- Surgical Instruments 18th century
- Images of Early Medical Instruments
History of Medicine
- History of Medicine
- History of Modern Medicine
- Historical Views of Diseases and Epidemics Harvard Digital Library
- From Hogarth to Rowlandson: Medicine in Art in 18th Century Britain, Fiona Haslam, Partial Google book
Money (See Coins and Economics)
Mourning (See Funerals)
Music and Songs (Also see Dance)
- 18th Century English Music
- Corda Music – Jane Austen’s Music – The Project
- History of the Trombone
- “I Burn With Contempt for My Foes”: Jane Austen’s Music Collections and Women’s Lives in Regency England, Mollie Sandock, 2001
- Jane Austen and Mozart: Classical Equilibrium in Fiction and Music, Robert K. Wallace, 2009, Partial Google Book
- Jane Austen Entertains: Music from Her Own Library (Amazon.com – lists the songs on the CD)
- Jane Austen Program Notes: The Songs of Jane Austen
- Music and Jane Austen (scroll down)
- Music, character, and social standing in Jane Austen’s Emma
- Music from the British Royal Court, 1770-1837
- Published Manuscripts and Printed Ephemera
- Regency Musical Timeline
- Romantic Era Songs: A Site Devoted to Theatre and Popular Songs
- The Universal Songster, Jones and Co, 1834
Newspapers and Magazines (see Publications)
Occupations, see also Servants, below.
- 18th Century Parish Books
- A Governess in the Age of Jane Austen, Agnes Porter, Joanna Martin 1998
- Chimney Sweeping
- Chimneys and Chimney Sweeps by Benita Cullingford
- Climbing Boys (Sweep’s apprentices), society for helping
- Colonial Occupations, Extensive list
- Daily Life in 18th Century England: Male and Female Roles
- Handloom Weavers, Rockingham Forest
- Historical Trade Directories
- History of Work, website with images
- Milliners and Hats, History
- New Discoveries at Jamestown: This Project Gutenberg book shows how skillful ordinary rural people had to be in order to live in a small community.
- Obscure Old English Occupations
- Regency Trades and Professions, articles from Jane Austen Centre, currently including type founder, dressmaker, engraver, dentist, baker, straw hat maker, shipwright, mariner, jeweller, mail guard, seamstress, carpenter, apothecary
Peerage, Precedence, see top of this list, section 3
Pets, Animals, and Blood Sports
- Bull Baiting (blood sport)
- Cockfighting (blood sport)
- Cruelty to Animals Act, 1835
- Essay on Cruelty to Animals, by James Macauley, 1839, describes dog-fighting and other blood sports, especially on pages 124-5.
- Fox Hunting Prints
- History of the Pug
- History of the Bulldog
- Old English Bulldog
- “On Cruelty to Inferior Animals,” by Soame Jenyns, 1782, describes ways animals were abused in popular “blood sports” including bull-baiting, bear-baiting, and cock-fighting.
- Cowper passages opposing hunting animals, from William Cowper’s The Task, a book Austen loved and quoted from. (Pages 69-71 and 170-173 in this edition.)
- The Nineteenth Century Dog
- Picturing Animals in Britain: 1750-1850, Diana Donald, 2007 (Partial google book)
- Thoroughbred Heritage: Breeders and Breeding
Poverty
- Acts passed by Parliament to protect factory workers
- Booth’s London Poverty Map
- Charity Schools
- Dr. Johnson’s London, Liza Picard, partial Google book
- Georgians: Poverty
- London Labor and the London Poor, Mayhew. Google Book
- What would London have been like in the 18th century? Forum
- Workhouses
Sunday schools provided basic education for the poor:
- Religion and Respectability: Sunday Schools and Working Class Culture, book by Laqueur
- Robert Raikes and Sunday Schools
- The Sunday School Movement: Historical Background
Publications
- Ladies’ Pocket Magazine: 1824-39
- Ackermann’s Costume Plates: Stella Blum, 3 selected pages
- La Belle Assemblee and Ackermann’s Costume Plates
- Ainsworth’s Magazine, 1845
- Sundries: An 18th Century Newsletter (Blog)
- Regency Ladies Magazines
- The Growth of Journalism, Victorian
- The Literary Gazette, 1828
- The ‘Tuppenny Press’ And The Birth of English Newspaper
- Journalists: 1750-1820
- The Loiterer, published by James Austen while at Oxford, all issues available at this site. Some have speculated that the letter from Sophia Sentiment in the ninth issue may have been written by Jane Austen.
Religion, Church, and Clergy
- 18th Century Resources: Religion and Theology
- 19th Century Religion
- Anglican History
- Austen and the Evangelicals
- Book of Common Prayer, handbook of Anglican worship, 1796
- Christmas: Its Origin and Associations, Project Gutenberg
- Clerical Alphabet: Problems in Austen’s Church of England
- Church and Clergy in Austen’s England, articles at Faith, Science, Joy, and Jane Austen
- Churches, Chapels, Abbeys, and Cathedrals in Northanger Abbey, Persuasions article
- Christian Faith of Jane Austen
- A Country Parson’s Life
- Dom Nicholas’ Writing About Jane Austen: Her Clergymen
- Exploring Jane Austen’s Prayers
- Faith Words in Austen’s Novels
- Fashionable Goodness: Christianity in Jane Austen’s England, comprehensive resource by Brenda S. Cox
- Fordyce’s Sermons
- George Austen’s Spiritual Advice to His Son
- God in the Regency, 3 part series
- In Defence of George Austen, Persuasions article
- Jane Austen and the Clergy, Irene Collins
- Jane Austen and the Reformation by Roger E. Moore
- Jane Austen and Religion, William Jarvis
- Jane Austen: The Parson’s Daughter, Irene Collins
- Jane Austen’s Anglicanism, Laura Mooneyham White
- Jane Austen’s Clergymen
- Jane Austen’s Prayers and Their Place in Her Life and Art, Persuasions article
- Joseph Priestly
- Jane Austen Travel: Faith-Related Sights
- Marianne Dashwood’s Repentance, Willoughby’s “Repentance,” and the Book of Common Prayer, Persuasions article
- Prayer and Praise, Shannon Winslow, Book Review
- Prayer and Praise: A Jane Austen Devotional
- Praying with Jane, Rachel Dodge, Book Review
- Praying with Jane: 31 Days through the Prayers of Jane Austen
- Preparation for Death and Second Chances in Austen’s Novels, Persuasions article
- Religion, Morals in the 18th Century
- The Rev. Henry Tilney, Rector of Woodston, Persuasions article
- Sermon or Romance, listening to sermons
- Vicars, Curates, and Church Livings
- A Visit to Stoneleigh Abbey
- Was Jane Austen a Christian?
Rural (See agriculture)
Science and Industry, see History tab
Servants
- Posts about Servants on this blog: Scullery Maid, Maid of All Work, Housekeeper, Footmen, Link boys, etc.
- Maid of All Work
- Domestic Servants, Victorian Web
- Guide to Servants, Victorian
- The Harewood House Servant Database: Georgian: A Country House
- Indenture Contract, 1827: Text Indenture Contract, 1827 high resolution copy of original
- Money (includes servant wages): Word Wenches
- Servant’s Quarters
- The Domestic Servant Class in 18th Century England
- The Horror of Dirt: Virginia Woolf and Her Servants, 2008
- Servants in Victorian England
- The Servant’s Hall, by a Clergyman, 1849. Full Google book
- The Servants’ Register Office
- Bricks and Brass:Design of the Scullery
- Servants, Bridget Hill
Sewing and Embroidery, see Ladies’ Activities
Shopping
- Shops and inhabitants of Milsom Street, Bath, 1801-20
- Posts about Shopping on this Blog
- Regency England: Shops and Stores
- More Regency Shopping: Regency Ramble
Sport, See also Pets, Animals, and Blood Sports, above. XX
- Abraham Cann, Wrestling Champion of England
- Baseball and Jane Austen
- How Jane Austen Played Baseball
- Beagling in Great Britain
- Classical Fencing and Historic Sportsmanship Resources
- Cricket in England
- Cricket: Images on Print Online
- Encyclopedia of Traditional British Rural Sports, partial Google book
- Healthful Sport for Young Ladies, PDF book, 1822
- History of Fencing
- History of Sports and Games: 17th-19th Century
- Fox Hunting History
- BBC News: Fox Hunting, The Issues (Includes a history of fox hunting)
- Race History at Newmarket, Suffolk
- Regency Sports from this site
- The History of Tennis
- The National Sports of Great Britain, Henry Alken, partial Google book
- Sport and the Making of Britain, Derek Birley, partial Google book
- Field Sports: Grosvenor Prints (Click on the images)
- Sports, Pastimes and Recreation: Georgian England, starts on page 74, partial Google book
- Encyclopedia of Traditional British Rural Sport, Tony Collins, 2005
Transportation and Travel See also Maps (above), and the extensive travel section under the History tab.
- Archive of this blog’s posts about Regency transportation
- A Closer Look at Carriages and Characters in Pride and Prejudice
- Carriages Glossary
- Carriage Parts
- Coaches and Carriages
- Gallery of Coaches, Versailles
- Cost of Keeping a Horse in Jane Austen’s Day
- Discovering Horse Drawn Vehicles
- Down the Kennet and Avon Canal with Jane Austen
- Georgian Era Iron Horses: The Advent of the Steam Locomotive
- Gigs, Cabriolets, and Curricles
- How Jane Austen’s Characters Got Around
- Late 19th Century Modes of Transportation in France
- Road Transport Before the Car, Pages 37-50
- Images of Sedan Chairs
- Stagecoach Travel during the Regency
- Stage Travel in Britain
- The World of 19th Century Coach Travel
- Transportation in the 19th Century
- Wild Horse Books and Art, on carriage driving
Vocabulary
- 10 of the Best Words from Jane Austen’s Novels
- 1811 Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue
- Regency Slang Revealed Grose’s Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue organized and indexed by Louise Allen
- 18th Century Thieves’ Cant
- 50 Words from Pride and Prejudice
- A Dictionary of Slang, Jargon, and Cant, 1890
- Canting Dictionary
- Jane Austen Thesaurus. For any word, you can find how often Jane Austen used it and where, and other words she used with that meaning and how often she used them.
- Regency Cant and Expressions, from Georgette Heyer’s works
- Regency Glossary
- Regency Lingo
- Regency Period Glossary
- Samuel Johnson’s Dictionary, 1755, you can search limited transcribed entries but also use the alphabet at the top to go to the page where the word would appear, to see every page of the dictionary.
- Some Words of Jane Austen by Stuart M. Tave, explores various words that Austen used, how she used them, and what they meant during her time.
- The Talk in Jane Austen, Edited by Bruce Stovel and Lynn Weinloss Gregg, 1999
Wedding (See Marriage/Marriage Mart)
Women (See Ladies Endeavors)
Work, Workers (See Occupations or Servants)
Technorati Tags: Regency Era,, Regency Manners, Regency Customs,, Regency Sports, Jane Austen blog, Regency Pursuits
Sadly I am ending the comment section due to Spammers, the majority of whom are targeting this page, because it is the only one I had left open to comments. I want this blog to be a safe place for you to visit. Vic
This page has the following sub pages.
In several of her novels, Jane Austen refers to CLERICAL LIVINGS providing a source of income for young gentlemen that took orders in the clergy. I’m unfamiliar with that practice, and have been looking for an explanation of how it worked.
How did the “living” provide a source of income? I understand that the man had some religious duties, but some JA characters didn’t do much but eat and drink. Did the “living” include an invested endowment that generated interest? Did some of the income come from farming the property, or renting it to a farmer or sharecropper? What was the source of the property? Who held title to it and paid the property taxes? Was the property part of a country estate? If not, how and why was the “living” provided by an estate owner?
Can you direct me to any source of information on this topic?
Perhaps this article on Understanding Society from JASNA will help answer some of your questions. Scroll down or search for “vicar.”
Ms. Place,
Thank you very much for your prompt reply to my inquiry about the clerical livings mentioned in the Jane Austen novels. Your recommended article by Pamela Whalan was very helpful.
My pursuit of diversions from our contemporary society has lead me to readings in a variety of escapist genres ranging from medieval adventures to western romances to science fiction. Although JA wrote of the real society of her lifetime, after two hundred years of cultural changes, it now seems as exotic to me as the imagined world of H. G. Well’s Time Machine.
Incidentally, I found another good explanation of clerical livings in the “sources and resources” for your February 10, 2008 article titled “Pride and Prejudice Economics: Or Why a Single Man with a Fortune of £4,000 Per Year is a Desirable Husband”. The second reference (Jane Austen Economics, 20 p. PDF document) covers Church Livings from the top of page 9 to the middle of page 10.
After reading those articles, I’m beginning to think that my superficial understanding of JA writings does not do credit to their depth.
Dennis K. Walker
Mr. Walker,
As always I am delighted when a discerning reader begins to understand Jane’s depth. Thank you for your feedback. I have enjoyed our exchange.
[…] cost of living values, a slang dicitonary, and many others. But NOTHING compares to the links to Regency Social Life and Customs than those compiled by Ms. Place at Jane Austen’s World… if you have an extra 24 hour […]
I’m inquiring the social status during this era. Its something that is discussed in not only all of her novels, but most other authors such as Virginia Woolf and Charles Dickens. I was just womdering if you could give me any feedback on this topic during this era????
Jazmine, See Social Classes in England, 1814 in the first section entitled British Culture.
In addition, check these two links for peerage and precedence:
http://www.heraldica.org/topics/britain/order_precedence.htm#Tables
http://members.shaw.ca/jobev/title.html
The British Class system was (and still is) divided into upper, middle, and lower classes, but the chart will give you a breakdown of numbers for the regency era.
Hello,
Thanks for providing all these links!
Here’s a quick question about dueling: what happened if a man in a duel cheated? Was he dishonored? Did the second of the other man do something?
If you have any thoughts on this, please send them my way.
Thanks!
Colley
Colley, Dueling involved defending one’s honour. Most gentlemen caught cheating during such an event would never recover their reputation, though there are exceptions, see second link below.
The rules for dueling were adopted in Ireland in 1777 and used in England and largely in the U.S. as well. Here is the link to the rules of dueling: http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/amex/duel/sfeature/rulesofdueling.html
There are some interesting stories on this PBS site about dueling, including one about Andrew Jackson who did indeed “cheat”, but it seems with impunity. http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/amex/duel/sfeature/dueling.html
A rather comprehensive discussion about dueling sits at this link as well. http://people.howstuffworks.com/duel2.htm
Vic
Thanks! You solved my problem!
Colley
why is colonel brandon astonished in sense and sensibility to hear that willoughby and miss grey’s plans for after the ceremony are to directly remove to combe magna? clearly this is a breach of some custom/etiquette – what would usually be done after the ceremony?
Thanks
Sal
I am looking for information on Austen’s father’s library. Does any kind of catalog, list or compendium exist of the books he had in his library?
I know this answer is late, but I just wrote this description about Rev. George Austen’s library for Jane Austen Today. I could find no source that listed his books.
Jane Austen grew up in a bookish family. Rev. Austen was a great reader (and writer of sermons) and he read aloud to his children.When her family moved to Bath, Jane’s father sold or gave away over 500 books from his vast library, which must have crammed the parsonage in Steventon. Under her father’s direction, Jane read English, classical and foreign literature by such authors as Samuel Johnson, Samuel Richardson, Henry Fielding, Alexander Pope, George Crabbe, William Cowper, and William Shakespeare. Jane was also encouraged to buy subscriptions to the popular novels written by Frances Burney, Sarah Harriet Burney, Maria Edgeworth and Ann Radcliffe. Rev. Austen’s library at Steventon provided inspiration for the short satirical sketches Jane wrote as a girl and with which she entertained the family. To entertain each other, the close knit Austen family would also read to each other, play games, and produce plays. One imagines that Rev. Austen’s library played an important part in devising these amusements.
i am writing a regency romance novel and i am wondering how to find appropriate names, first and last, for my characters. Any help that you could give would be much appreciated!
I would look up British genealogy websites, and click on the appropriate period. These sites are chock full of first and last names. Here is a list of 10 sites. http://genealogy.about.com/od/uk_databases/tp/top_databases.htm
Also, googling the term “popular British names 18 th century” should get you the information you need, such as this one: http://www.issendai.com/rpgs/names.htm
[…] regent, of beter gezegd zijn bibliothecaris, had er al voor gezorgd dat Jane Austen haar roman “Emma” aan de hooggeboren prins had (mogen) opdragen. De corpulente prins-regent, de […]
Thanks for this fascinating list of resources, and also for linking to my blog.
Hello and thank you for a wonderful resource. Dabbling in the regency in a spot of creative writing and was hoping to find some information on funerals and mourning customs. Is anyone able to point me in the right direction.
Thanks once more,
Kristie
Scroll to the bottom of this link, which will get you started:
http://regency.getifa.com/sick.html
I have also added a short section on funerals and mourning. Check after Fashion and before Furniture.
Hey,
I had a quick question regarding Mr. Darcy in Pride and Prejudice. What was his social status? I thought that the difference in his and Elizabeths respective social statures could have been a part of what made their marriage undesirable to some, but one of the charts on this site seems to imply that Darcy would be more of a “country gentleman”, and of the same status as Elizabeth and her family.
Thanks
Not quite right. The social charts indicate that Mr. Darcy being non-royal and having no aristocratic title, would be known as a gentleman. There, the similarity of his social standing to Mr. Bennet’s ends. Both are gentlemen, to be sure, however Mr. Bennet sits far lower on Society’s ladder because of the disparity in income. Mr. Bennet is a gentleman because he has enough income not to have to work for a living, but his inheritance is entailed, placing his wife and daughters in an awkward position after his death. Mr. Darcy’s 10,000 pounds per year represents 4% of the income he makes from his considerable holdings.
Mr. Darcy comes from an old and wealthy family. He inherited a family estate of such magnificence, Pemberley, that it is viewed as much as a museum as a house. People stop by to visit it at set hours, as Elizabeth and Gardiners did. The Darcys are highly regarded and well-connected (Lady Catherine de Bourgh is Mr. Darcy’s aunt and his mother’s sister.) And then there is his wealth, which sets him apart and above impoverished aristocrats on the marriage mart. Where Darcy’s wealth is old and settled, Mr. Bingley’s money is new, his father having acquired it through trade. Darcy, the older and more established gentleman, takes the younger Bingley under his wing, becoming his friend and mentor.
In “How Rich is Fitzwilliam Darcy?” Economist Brad de Long describes Darcy’s wealth as such:
Thus in relative income terms–relative to the average of disposable incomes in his society–Fitzwilliam Darcy’s 10,000 pounds a year of disposable income gave him about the same multiple of average income in his society as an annual disposable income of $6,000,000 a year would give someone in our society.
On the other hand, my guess is that someone today with a disposable income of $300,000 a year can spend it to get the same utility as Fitzwilliam Darcy could by spending his disposable income of 10,000 pounds a year. This is a guess–a guess that our material standard of living today is some twenty times that of Mr. Darcy’s England.
Mr. Bennet is more like a well-off retired person who lives off a fixed income, and Mr. Darcy is more like the Rothschilds, able to afford anything he pleases and travel where he likes. With such an income, Mr. Darcy could have chosen almost any eligible young girl to marry. That he chose Elizabeth, despite her vulgar family, makes her a lucky woman indeed.
Hi.
I am curious to know how the peerage dealt with large debts aside from marrying for convenience or imprisonment. I understand that they would have to let go of their servants but would creditors also take away their possessions? (like a repossession now). What would this gentleman of title have to do in order to avoid imprisonment and still be able to manage without having to sell his ancestral estate?
Thank you
– Chelle
Many novels have been written on this topic! A gentleman could look for a rich bride. If he could not find one of his own class, he might court a wealthy merchant’s daughter or look abroad to the heiresses in America. Women married “up”, and thus they stood to gain a title, even if the coffers were empty. Many a rich father was willing to swap money for the title.
Some gentlemen who gambled away their fortunes and inheritances chose to commit suicide or move abroad to the Continent, to while away their lives in exile. To lose one’s inheritance, and this did occur, was severely frowned upon. Others might sell their estate to a wealthy relative, keeping the lands within the family. There were so many approaches that one could take to “saving money” and running from one’s creditors, such as becoming a permanent house guest, and visiting one country house to the next.
A gentleman who did not honor his gambling debts, lost his reputation, and thus he would have to pay up to his equals or superiors. As for paying a merchant, a gentleman deeply in debt would try to fob off such a person for as long as possible.
I just wanted to say thank you for putting all of this information here. It’s fascinating and I may never leave. I read Sense and Sensibility when I was younger, and while I loved it, I didn’t really get certain situations. I have just recently returned to Jane to read Emma, and now that I’m older, the desire to really understand what I’m reading is great. This site is proving to be very enlightening. Many, many thanks!
– Jess
You are so very welcome. Thank you for the compliments.
[…] ever want to know about Jane Austen’s times, written in a scholarly but fun manner, here is a blog you can check […]
You have a really great website. I came across it while I was doing a Google search for regency period costume. It is very informative and asthetically beautiful.
Tracey B.
A belated thank you, Tracey.
Hi there. I have recently discovered this website. The information is fantastic! Thank you so much for sharing.
If I want to add you to my list of works consulted for my essay, how do I find the author name, name of the sponsor of the site, the date of publication or last update??
Thank you so much for your help!
Kerstin
Please email me. This information is sent privately.
[…] I just wanted to post a couple of great links. First one to Social Customs During the Regency Era […]
Thank you for a wonderful website, Vic. As a lover of Jane Austen, I’ve been exploring the wealth of information here for awhile. I have a question, however, that I have not yet seen addressed.
How wealthy was Mr. Knightley, and how much wealthier would he have been after his marriage to Emma? The novel speaks of his refusal to keep a carriage horse and his lack of ready money. On the other hand, he is considered a slight cut above the Hartfield family, with even Emma, an heiress with 30,000 pounds, considered lucky by some to catch him.
Did Jane Austen intend Mr. Knightley’s economies to be a reflection of his serious and responsible nature (i.e., he’d rather pour the money into his estates & tenants rather than fuss with shows of status such as a carriage). Or was she showing him to be not so very wealthy? I would guess he’d be below Mr. Darcy’s 10,000 per year, but above Mr. Bennett’s and Colonel Brandon’s 2,000 a year, but where in that range?
And then my follow up question: just how much would his alliance with Emma enrich him? Emma would add 30,000 pounds to their wealth, but would he also expect to be enriched by any inheritance from Mr. Woodhouse to Emma?
Lily
Lily,
Thank you for your compliment. Mr. Knightley’s land outstrips the Woodhouse’s. Hartfield, second to Donwell Abbey, sits on Donwell Abbey land. But the fortunes of the Knightleys and Woodhouses are just about equal, due to income that Mr. Woodhouse receives from other sources.
“The landed property of Hartfield certainly was inconsiderable, being but a sort of notch in the Donwell Abbey estate, to which all the rest of Highbury belonged; but their fortune, from other sources, was such as to make them scarcely secondary to Donwell Abbey itself, in every other kind of consequence – Emma, Ch 16”
Mr. Knightley’s responsibility towards his land and people weigh heavily on him, and he does not do anything for show. This passage from JASA’s site describes Donwell Abbey:
“Donwell Abbey is fruitful, providing physical as well as spiritual nourishment for the community it serves. Donwell in fact is a representation of an ideal world best summed up in Emma’s thoughts…
It was a sweet view – sweet to the eye and the mind. English verdure, English culture, English comfort, seen under a sun bright, without being oppressive. (P360)”
Mr. Knightley sacrifices much in moving to Hartfield for Mr. Woodhouse’s sake. Jane Austen later told Cassandra that Mr. Woodhouse died two years after the wedding, so that Emma and her Mr. Knightley did get to live on the great estate fairly soon after all.
Here is a link to a post I wrote on the topic of Emma’s marriage prospects.
Hi,
First of all I’d like to thank you so much for this amazing site, I found it very interesting and fascinating, and although I haven’t read all of the resources here I intend to do so asap!
I have some question that I’ve been trying to do research on (using the internet) but couldn’t find any answers. I’m hoping you might know something about this: in the early 1800s, is it common or surprising that a young man from a wealthy family (let’s say his father was made a Baronet) decided to become an advocate (i.e. lawyer)? If no how much typically does a (good) lawyer earn in those days (as in would that exceed the normal ‘allowance’ given to them)? and do they work like the barristers nowadays? As in do they have to go into ‘office’ everyday or can they just work at home?
Sorry, I know it’s a lot of questions but I’ve been trying to find out the answer for quite a while now to no prevail…
Thanks so much and please keep this great site going! =)
Thanks,
Joan
Joan, I don’t know much about this topic. I have provided a few links to get you started:
The profession developed slowly and by the mid-1500s in England two distinct types of lawyers had appeared, actually creating two branches of the profession, which are still operating today: barristers and solicitors. A barrister is roughly equivalent to a trial lawyer and though a solicitor may appear in a lower court, he or she mainly advises clients and prepares cases for barristers to present in higher courts. But there was a natural conflict built into their class system. On the one hand, only people of the upper classes could afford to be educated well enough to practice law but it was thought to be beneath members of those classes to practice a profession at all. One should, in those days, have sufficient inherited income or income from property to have a secure livelihood without having a profession.” History
Find a description of a lawyer/barrister in this link, who was intimately acquainted with the Prince Regent.
Just to say thank you for allowing to subscribe to this fantastic site. I stumbled upon when I was trying to research embroidery Jane may have done. I am very much looking forward to spending some time browsing all of the subjects here! Thank you in advance, everyone, for all of the information and hard work that has been done to create this extraordinary place for Jane.
You are very welcome.
Hello Vic, I wanted to bring to your attention a very old Pride and Prejudice movie on Streampix, which is part of Xfinity. It stars Lawrence Olivier and Greer Garson as D’Arcy and Elizabeth. The reason for this email is to let you know that the costumes in this movie, made in the 1940’s are not even close to the correct Regency style. As an Austen devotee, I thought that I would being this to your attention and perhaps you would like to comment. The military uniforms seem to be accurate, however the women’s costumes are beyond description with balloon sleeves and huge bonnets. Men’s costumes seem accurate, however.
Hi!
I love this site!! Thank you so much for providing it to all of us of this shared interest. I think it’s going to be of great value to any topic I want to learn of!
Right now I’m doing some research about heritage and inheritance in Jane’s era and I was wondering if you knew or knew where I’d find out if the eldest son of the family was adopted and the second son was born of the father and mother, would the adopted son still inherit the estate?
Thanks for your time and input!~
It depends on the will, of course, and how it was written, but one imagines that fortunes and titles are reserved for heirs who are genetically closest to the family, and that such provisions would be stipulated. If they are not, and if the will is unassailable, I imagine that the adopted son’s claim would prevail.
what would happen if some went through the legal proceedings for an arranged marriage and then decided or needed to back out of it? is it something that needed to go to court or see a lawyer about?
A gentleman was not allowed to back out of an engagement. If he did, his reputation was toast.
There would be financial consequences if the legalities had been arranged and one side was not happy with the breakup of the relationship and was relying on the incoming cash.
If both sides agreed, there would be no difficulty.
I came across this site, and have it bookmarked for any future references I might require. It’s a fantastic site that should prove very helpful.
One question I have is how the Regency society viewed foreign, nonwhite individuals. As an example, say an individual of high ranking in Indian society during the Regency were to travel to England. How would he be perceived and treated by English society?
Thank you so much for any help you can provide!
~Andrea
I think that high ranking individuals were viewed as exotic and were given all the respect they were due, but that most, including the rich nabobs who returned from India flush in the pocket, were not regarded as having the same social status as those who were born in Great Britain. There was an attitude of cultural imperialism, and that the English ruled the world in more ways than one.
Take early 20th century boxer Jack Johnson. While this black man might have attained great success in his profession, woebetide him for consorting with white women. http://www.pbs.org/unforgivableblackness/rebel/
“including the rich nabobs who returned from India flush in the pocket, were not regarded as having the same social status as those who were born in Great Britain.”
A nabob was a Briton who had made his fortune in India. Usually he would have been born in Britain and left to make his fortune. In general he was not regarded of the highest class because he had been in trade.
So it’s not an answer concerning how Indians or other non-Europeans would have been treated.
hi i hate this site it did not help me !!!!!!!
i am very angry
Oh, dear.
hi…. please suggest me what to write in an essay of the social background of Jane Austen.
Simply Google the topic and all sorts of interesting topics pop up.
Prinny’s Taylor – the Life of Louis Bazalgette, Tailor to George, Prince of Wales
http://chasbaz.posterous.com/
I have been researching the life of Louis Bazalgette for about 15 years now. I have almost completed the first draft of his biography, which I hope to publish next year. The blogs on this site are partly extracts from the book and partly different angles on Louis and his relationship with the Prince, which may of course end up in the book too.
Louis is completely unknown and the fact that he was Prinny’s tailor for 32 years is unrecorded in any book that I have seen. This is a good thing for me, as the material is mostly very fresh, and hopefully will be new and intriguing to those who are interested in Prinny and in Georgian London
This website is an absolute gem! I’ve just started research for a Regency novel I plan to write and I can’t tell you how this has helped me.
I’m curious, how old was a gentleman when he began/ended university in the Regency?
I’m sure you will see a more expert answer, but since a gentleman went to a public school and they didn’t have GCSE exams etc, he would most likely enter university earlier than now. For example, one of my relatives, born 1801 entered Balliol College, Oxford in 1818 – aged 17. He got his BA in 1822 and MA in 1825. So if they joined earlier they might stay at university longer, depending on how far their studies took them. If you check obituaries in periodicals like the Gentleman’s Magazine (e.g. in Google Books) you will see more examples I’m sure.
I am loving this website!!!! Finding out so much information that need to help start writing regency era romances.
Thanks for the brilliant links and info.
Greetings!
Oh my God, I absolutely loved your website! Amazed of this much information. I live in Brazil but since a child I felt in love for the Regency times and costumes (thanks to the novels lol), but never was able to find good material to read. So thank you very much!
Hi:
I was interested in learning why the prejudice against Elizabeth’s relations? One of them is an attorney which I thought a noble profession. Can anyone answer?
This site is soooooo helpful. It has been a great help for my writing ( I’m writing a book and most of the story takes place in the Regency Era). Thanl you so much.
Can anyone tell me about law enforcement during the Austen years? Also did illegitimate children have any rights to inheritance? I am also curious to know if Georgiana in P & P would inherit anything?
Loving this site!
Dee
Thank you for creating this wonderful site! It is an excellent resource for me; I have writing an AP Literature term paper on PP and SS.
I love your site. I used to volunteer and sat on the board of an historical house museum, Tate House 1754, Maine and we did a very spare house. In Puritan New England there were no holidays like Christmas – they wouldn’t set a date to it, and excessive decorating was not the thing. But entertaining was big, as was courting and weddings as it was a time families might be together.
Fangs, Wands and Fairy Dust
email: steph@fangswandsandfairydust.com
twitter: @fangswandsfairy
Hi, just wanted to drop a line and say that I adore this website. Any info I’d previously learned about Regency times came sporadically from novels and a few books available to me. When I stumbled upon this site I fangasmed over how HUGE and beautifully put together it is. The only downside is there’s not enough hours in my day to drool over all the info! Keep up the awesome work!
[…] https://janeaustensworld.wordpress.com/social-customs-and-the-regency-world/ this marvelous(!) site could not be more comprehensive. […]
Great website and very useful! I love the Regency era. By the way, I see you have mentioned the Theatre Royal Drury Lane. Did you know that it is the oldest operating theatre in the world, and therefore one of the most important in the English-speaking world?
Thanks again for the site.
I agree with you, Theresa. Drury Lane is so important. Thank you for stopping by.
Is there any way I can get a digital copy of the picture with the regency women walking along the path and across the bridge at the top of the page?
I’d love to get it printed and made into a laminated poster, it’s a beautiful picture.
Thanks!
Hi Clare. I had the image photoshopped for me, and it is not of high enough quality to blow up to poster size. So sorry! Vic
Carli…
Can you explain to me what the big deal was with “connections” in P&P?
Hi, I love this site, but I do have a few questions.
(I’m trying to write a book based around the Regency Era)
I’ve done some research and can conclude that “siblings-siblings” marriages were acceptable; is that right? Can two sisters marry two brothers from another unrelated family? Also, is a marriage between a woman who is slightly (by less than a year or several months) older than the man an unacceptable marriage?
I would really appreciate it if you could help me with those questions (: !
Great site!
Thank you for sharing all this wonderful info about the Regency Era, as well as Jane Austin. I have utilized some of the information you have included to make some childrens clothing that remind me very much of this era. Some is available on Etsy. Thanks again!
[…] Social Customs During The Regency Era « Jane Austen’s WorldTo learn about Regency customs and life from the people who actually lived in the era, please visit the Original Sources page on top of this blog. You will find many of the resources you are seeking there. […]
What a wonderful site! Thank you for all the hard work that must have gone into creating this delightful Austin interlude! I found this site while trying to research information pertaining to English identity laws during the Regency period. No luck yet. Can you answer my questions or point me in the correct direction to find the answers to:
If a male child, son of an Earl, disappeared, presumed dead, and then showed up again in his late 20’s, how would he go about proving his identity, and how would he claim his inheritance? Father is now dead and uncle is now Earl. Any help you could give me on this would be GREATLY appreciated!
And please keep this site going!
I hate to point this out, but I spotted some errors in Tracy Mark’s article, “Social Classes, Money, and Servants in Austen’s Society”. She said this about the Bennets in “Pride and Prejudice”:
[“The Bennets are lower gentry, or “pseudo-gentry” since they don’t own their land or house, and their income depends entirely on one breadwinner. They will drop to lower class after Mr. Bennet dies unless their daughters marry into wealth. Mr. Bennet’s inheritance was entailed – not passed directly to him but passed on from generation to generation only through male heirs. Since he has no sons, it will pass to the closest male heir – Mr. Collins.”]
Mr. Bennet is a landowner, a member of the gentry (lower class or otherwise) and a member of the British upper classes. He is the owner of the Longburn estate. However, due to the entail, he cannot pass the estate to his daughters. This is also the case for many other members of the upper classes – including aristocrats like the Earl of Grantham in “DOWNTOWN ABBEY” and other untitled members of the gentry.
As the daughters of Mr. Bennet, they will remain in the same class that they were born into – namely the upper class, regardless of their income upon his death.
This is Regency England we’re talking about. It doesn’t matter how much money you have, as long as you come from an old family that has ties to an estate. Which is exactly the case for the Bennet family (aside from Mrs. Bennet, who comes from the middle classes).
[“Mr. Bingley is “nouveau riche” upper gentry, soon to become a landowner. The Bingleys inherited money made in trade in northern England – probably the Yorkshire cotton mills. Miss Bingley’s snobbery is an attempt to deny her lower respectability as as a result of her family’s background in trade. She is eager for her brother to purchase an estate and become landed gentry.”]
Mr. Bingley IS NOT a member of of the “upper gentry”. He is not even a member of the gentry or the upper class. He is “trade”. And regardless of his income, a member of the middle classes. Jane Bennet comes from a higher class, despite her father’s lower income. The only way Mr. Bingley is going to become a member of the upper class is to purchase an estate and get rid of all of his financial ties to the way he earns his income – namely his factories.
Thank you for your assessment! I will reread the article and remove it if so much of it is wrong. Vic
[…] Social Customs During the Regency Era (Jane Austen’s World) […]
Hi
I am a huge Jane fan and reread her books probably once or twice a year. What I am fascinated with, although it may cause a blush in some, is the sex education of the time. Ive looked for information about whether the girls were prepared for what happened on their wedding nights, or even if the boys were and I cant seem to find anything. There was tons of erotic literature back then, but would any of them have been able to read any of it and understand what was happening to them? Did mothers/governesses have conversations about what was required of them and how they would fall pregnant? Was a woman even ‘allowed’ to enjoy her sexuality back then or was it strictly a mating ritual and something for men to enjoy? Im so curious about this as its a topic that seems to be avoided in favour of love in most classics.
Bron
Bron, If you are a college student, your university library probably has access to the journals in Project Muse. Try this source: http://muse.jhu.edu/login?uri=/journals/studies_in_eighteenth_century_culture/v037/37.agin.html
The Voltaire Foundation also suggests a book: http://www.voltaire.ox.ac.uk/www_vf/default.ssi
Let’s face it, women shared their knowledge with each other. They probably saw the sights of animals copulating in the country or of a woman giving birth. In fact, most women acted as assistants for female neighbors, friends and family during the birthing process. One gets the sense that the Victorians and Edwardians had hang-ups about sex and discussing the topic, but I would say that the Georgian and Regency eras had a more matter-of-fact and earthier approach.
As with women today, some knew more than others and some enjoyed the act more than others – it depended on their personalities and upbringing. As for access to books, that depended on the father, who probably had control over the books in his library. Young ladies were rather restricted in their education, so that, yes, they would not have much access to erotic literature, but they did view the naked statues and nudes in paintings, which were prevalent, and they did discuss intimate matters among each other. Would they have learned about sex as a young girl from their male relatives? I doubt it.
Contemporary literature (Tom Jones and Moll Flanders come to mind) demonstrates that young boys were initiated into the joys of sex by harlots or older lusty women. Jane Austen certainly knew about Tom Jones, and Hogarth’s prints about A Harlot’s Progress were widespread. Clarissa, Samuel Richardson’s novel about a heroine’s rape, was hugely popular. Again, would a father have allowed his daughter to read these novels? That depended upon the individual.
I hope this helps. Vic
Just a short question: although the catalogue of links and articles is impressive (I peruse them quite often, and always find something new and interesting), I wondered why there was no category about the military and the Napoleonic Wars, considering the fact that these played quite a large role in everyday Regency life for the span of over 20 years.
Just wondering, no negative comment implied.
All the best,
Bas
As you were, found it under ‘History’. Belay that last comment there ;-)
Hello! I wonder that you might be able to answer a question for me. Do you know if JA makes any any reference to birthday celebrations in any of her novels (I can recall none)? Or in the Regency era in general? I am at a loss as to whether or not folks in the Regency era celebrated birthdays, and in particular those of children? Thank you kindly!
There were no celebrations like the ones we celebrate today, as far as I know. That there would be a remembrance, some special cake, or a toy, most likely occurred in the upper classes. Perhaps a lower class child might receive a candy or some small favor.
I looked under “Pets” but could not find what I was searching for. I wanted to know if dogs and cats were viewed differently in Regency England than now? That is, did people see them as companions who stay inside the home?
Yes and no. Working dogs did serious work, and cats were mousers. But Lady Bertram in Mansfield Park treasured her pug, and there were gentlemen who favored certain dogs and hounds. The lower classes had no extra resources to feed pets. I think, like today, those who had the means kept pets, those who didn’t thought about them as ulitarian companions.
About the question of Rape or Incest. What was the penalty for the that, against the one that was being accused, espically in the upper class.
If an upper class gentleman raped a woman, there would likely be no consequence. A married man could rape his wife, for she had no legal rights in the marital bed. A man who raped an upper class lady – now that was another story. He would be hanged. As for incest, this was taboo. The individuals would be ostracized. Keep in mind that marriage between first cousins was allowed, especially among the aristocracy.
Superb writing and collection of links! Thank you.
I know it’s a difficult topic to research, but I would like to know more about knitting for the leisured classes.
I am a knitter (and prefer early 20th century patterns and styles as a rule) and so far as I know there are few, if any published Regency patterns available. Would a few of these been included in the pattern publications of the time? Perhaps lace knitting, or shawls?
A popular form of entertainment in the Regency was the charade, a type of rhyming riddle. These were popular at gatherings and appeared in magazines, books, and on the folding fans carried by the ladies at the time. Readers may be familiar with the role that these riddles played in Jane Austen’s novel Emma. Please feel free to visit my blog devoted to Regency charades: praytellme.blogspot.com.
Thank you, Mark. I placed the link on Facebook as well.
I recently read a murder mystery taking place roughly during the Regency, in which the culprit was the earl’s heir… thru the female line. But wouldn’t it have to be strictly thru some male line, even if a cadet one? Wouldn’t even one female in the line of descent for that person invalidate him as heir?
Not necessarily. If the heir was adopted and took on the earl’s name and if the succession allowed this, then it would be possible.
You have been nominated for 2 awards! http://simplecherishes.wordpress.com/2012/06/05/receiving-gratefully-the-very-inspiring-blogger-and-one-lovely-blog-awards/
~ Warm regards from http://simplecherishes.wordpress.com/
I am curious about attitudes towards corsets during pregnancy and pregnancy fashion in the 18th Century in general? Did women let out dresses throughout the course of the pregnancy or did they share maternity clothing among themselves? Greatly appreciate if you could point me in the right direction.
18th century women let out their corsets. Clothes were certainly recycled, especially among the middle classes and lower gentry. Here are a few links: https://janeaustensworld.wordpress.com/2010/12/16/baby-jane-austens-first-two-yearshappy-235th-birthday-jane/
and http://larsdatter.com/18c/maternity.html
The high-waisted gowns presented fewer problems than the tight gowns of the early Georgian and Victorian eras.
Here is an image of a wanton turned out of doors, 1796: http://i92.photobucket.com/albums/l35/TondaFuller/DiligenceDissipation1796.jpg
This image shows pregnant female servants: http://lwlimages.library.yale.edu/walpoleweb/oneitem.asp?imageId=lwlpr03847
Good luck! Vic
Did men usually go straight to a university after they finished their primary education or did they typically wait a few years? Also, did they finish their primary education at age eighteen as we do now, or were they younger/older?
Oh, and wonderful site by the way. I’m working on a story and this has helped tremendously!
This question is so complex that it is hard to answer. Older sons went on a Grand Tour to polish off and round out their education. Younger sons needed to find employment. For the upper classes and gentry this meant the clergy, military, or some refined employment such as a physician or law degree. There were distinctions – a middle class lawyer and a surgeon were lower down the social scale than an upper class physician. If a younger son had no income, he would typically have to find employment right away or go to university to acquire the necessary skills.
Hi!
I’m doing some research on blindness and blind individuals during the regency period. Is there a place where I can look up information on this topic? I’m looking mainly for information as to whether there were special facitilites (asylums) blind individuals were sent to. Also trying to find out if blind individuals were considered “competent” to handle their own affairs or if they had to have family or a caregiver take care of matters for them.
Thanks in advance!
Christina, you mighty ask Joanna Waugh at http://www.joannawaugh.blogspot.ca/
Her novel ‘Blind Fortune’ implies she may have some knowledge that will help you.
[…] empire waistline for wedding gowns this season is modelled after the Jane Austen era in the early 1800’s. This season’s empire waist is complimented with either a halter top or […]
[…] for the well-to-do who have little of importance to do. Jane Austen’s works set in this time period tell us of love, family, and social custom. Manners and lovely clothes are a must in this era, but […]
[…] Web. https://janeaustensworld.wordpress.com/social-customs-and-the-regency-world/ […]
question: were there or were there not socially “acceptable” (usually VERY rich) black people in Austen society? People who would be unquestioningly asked to Assembly Balls? much discussion going on about the May “behind the scenes” BBC documentary going on here http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v1yWRbyRX7Y&feature=youtu.be&t=01 and I can’t find doc. Although I’m very sure I’ve seen a different BBC documentary several years ago about an Austen period “house party” that included at least one black, VERY wealthy Caribbean heiress, very fashionable to have at your event, was the impression I got. thx much!
I don’t know of many, but I will give you four names, two gentlemen and two ladies: Ignatius Sancho, the protege of the Duke and Duchess of Montagu, and Olaudah Equiano, educated in schools aboard warships.
The two women are Jean-Etienne Liotard and Dido Elizabeth Belle, born about 1761, was the daughter of a Royal Navy captain and a woman who was likely a slave. She became the ward of the Earl of Mansfield and was educated with her cousin, Lady Elizabeth.
You can look up their histories online. I do recall the Regency house party you alluded to, but if I remember, this lady did not get very far with the gentlemen in the party. Good luck!
Sadly I have stopped allowing comments due to spammers. I want this blog to be a safe place for you to visit. You can still share information via the sharing buttons and show your approval via likes. Vic