Regency England Research - post 4 - Pasttimes, entertainments, hobbies and polite conversation

By now, one knows how to address one’s companions and dress to kill during the Season. But what did one do, and what were the topics of conversation? The hours between dressing and dining had to be filled with something.

 Needlework was number one for young ladies – it was practical and a key skill in their plethora of allurements. One had to have work about themselves at all times; it helped alleviate the tedium of long carriage journeys and was of great comfort whilst sitting in drawing rooms.

There were of course lessons in dancing, singing, numerous instruments (see dancing and music later), and painting. Essential talents, I’m sure! Household management was also topic of instruction at home. I’ve mentioned it before, but it’s worth repeating, that ladies had many responsibilities. See the duties of a duchess for examples.

The men had their sport (hunting), of course. Full A full list of what game was in season when, this is a pretty good indicator.

Books! Ah, yes, now we’re talking my language! One of my favourite sites, Historical Hussies has written about Hookhams Circulating Library – yes, Lady Anne visits there. One of my heroines, Jane Austen, was of course published. She gets a few little homages in my book. Well, my first and last scenes were written at her house; rude not to mention her, really. Some of the great lady’s works were published:

v  1811 – Sense & Sensibility 

v  1813 – Pride & Prejudice

v  1814 – Mansfield Park

v  1815 – Emma

v  1817 – Northanger Abbey and Persuasion

Fanny Burney “the mother of modern fiction”, who was “Keeper of the Robes” to Queen Charlotte in 1785, was well known for her satirical novels. I adore her books, as did Jane Austen’s family – it appears they effectively crowd-funded Miss Burney at one point. Her first book was published in 1778. She seems to have had an influence on Miss Austen. I was amused by a Miss Bennet appearing in Cecilia, and then in Pride & Prejudice, of course (the former my Fanny, the latter by Jane), so Ms Clark has included such a named personage in Regency Love.

She was also considered one of the finest weepers – apparently an admirable trait; weep on command to show one’s sensibilities (only at the appropriate times and for the correct amount of time though) – exquisite sensibility. Really? (*eye roll*)

If you are desirest of a fuller list of popular books at the time, do head over here.

I’ve mentioned magazines a few times on these blog posts, but more details can be found here and what they were about including the gossip columns. There’s an archive of newspapers too (but you only get a couple of free downloads).

Letter writing was of course important too. A world with no internet or even phones (*shudders*)!

There were parlour games and outdoor games as well. And even ladies partook in archery.

Jane Austen World is another great resource, and there’s a list of all games there.

Some ladies, such as Lady Anne enjoyed horse riding, but this was very subjective. Some did, some didn’t. Very rarely did ladies partake in a hunt. As there was a war on, most riding horses (different from carriage horses) were all shipped off for the army, so there was a shortage in London. Besides, stabling was expensive and difficult.

Whilst in London, there were many entertainments such as theatres , the parks (St James,

Hyde, Kensington on a Saturday, and Green being popular) and even Astley’s Circus (I HAD to send Lady Anne there – such fun!).

Vauxhall Gardens was rather lively. It features in works such as Vanity Fair, and of course, Regency Love. 😉

In the country, there were such things as house parties. And town people had the rather exuberant rout.

Of course, there were rules to being a good hostess of all these things. I’ll discuss dinner parties during a foody post.

Morning Calls

When one says morning, it’s not the morning we mean. They didn’t have lunch like us (more on that later). No, morning calls were made about two or three o’ clock in what we call the afternoon. The etiquette of these and other varying calls may be found here. One had to leave calling cards, of course.
But what did one discuss in company? Refined young ladies were encouraged to “hide their brains” – a ridiculous notion, but there it was. Thus, such heady topics such as politics, war (which was raging), riots (happened in the streets), s…e…x and money were all firmly off the list.
So, yes, gently bred ladies were left with gossip and fashion – riveting!?

Conversation etiquette is listed here.

There’s a rather amusing article here. And yes, there’s a few French phrases in my book, but I didn’t like to put in too many. I simply couldn’t bring myself to give Lady Anne a lisp though.

Whilst we’re on the topic of phrases, there’s many wondrous ones which have been lost in the annals of time (behave; there’s two n’s there!) 😉

The famous Georgette Heyer compiled a list of Regency slang but there’s plenty of others.  

Ladies were not permitted to swear. And the men had their comparatively mild oaths – damn and devil were considered the f bombs of their day!

Always in love and light,

TL

(*cough* look at my book: Regency Love – Reflections of a Young Lady )