Regency Primer Series

One of George Cruikshank's chariacture's of the servant class.

A Primer on Regency Era Servants

During the Regency, anyone who wanted to portray themselves as having an air of middle-class respectability employed domestic help. To our modern thinking, live-in servants seem an extravagant luxury. However, prior to the advent of electricity and indoor plumbing, the amount of manpower to maintain a modest home — keeping it lit, heated and clean…

Portrait of King George III of England, Queen Charlotte and their family

A Primer on the Regency Era Royal Family

Before we meet the members of the Regency Era Royal Family, I should really explain what is meant by “The Regency”. In last week’s post about Regency Peerage and Precedence, and indeed the rest of the Regency Primer Series, I apologize for assuming that everyone just knows what’s meant when I say, “The Regency”. Formally,…

A copy of Debrett's Peerage and Baronetage

A Primer on Regency Peerage and Precedence

I had trouble narrowing down today’s post. On one hand, Allison Lane covered everything related to the peerage so wonderfully and succinctly in her page on Common Regency Errors, that trying to summarize it or embellish it seemed a waste of effort. So, if you’ve ever wanted British nobility explained or wondered who outranked whom…

Regency

A Primer on Regency Era Men’s Fashion

Last week’s post covered Regency Era Women’s Fashions. So this week we’ll focus on Regency Era Men’s Fashion. These lists aren’t exhaustive and represent fashions men of the upper classes rather than working class wore. However, they should help you recognize what an author means and why they’re so focused on their characters being fashion…

A Primer on Regency Era Women’s Fashion

A Primer on Regency Era Women’s Fashion

This week and next, we’re going to take a look at how people dressed in the Regency Era. This week we’re going to focus on Regency Era Women’s Fashion and all the different pieces of apparel they were changing in and out of multiple times per day. This list isn’t exhaustive by any means and…

A Regency Era Carriage Primer

A Regency Era Carriage Primer

This week’s post examines how people traveled between all those places in London and also all those other destinations outside of London. That’s right, we’re looking at the wide variety of conveyances from the Regency Era carriage, to different types of coaches and other horse drawn carriage types. After all, just like in contemporaries, what…

A cariacture of a wife being "sold" in a public, lower-class "divorce" that was not recognized by church or state.

A Primer on Regency Divorce and Annulments

Last week’s post on Regency Marriages & Elopements, outlined the different ways one could get married during the Regency Era. So this week, we’re going to take a closer look at what happens when there wasn’t a Happily Ever After (HEA). The topic of Regency Divorce and Annulments is a much romanticized one in Regency…

"St George’s Church in Hanover Square, London." Engraved by J. Le Keux. Published July 1st 1810

A Regency Marriage Primer

Last week’s post about Regency Landmarks Beyond London, glossed over the question of “Why are they always running off to Gretna Green?” So this week, I decided we’d take a closer look at some of the customs and circumstances that might surround a Regency marriage or elopement. The Marriage Act of 1753 Once Hardwicke‘s Marriage Act…

Bath seen in the distance, circa 1802

A Primer on Regency Landmarks Beyond London

After last week’s post about Regency London Landmarks, I realized there are a ton of places beyond Town that also get mentioned or visited all the time in historical romances. So, let’s look at a few of the top spots to see and be seen around the British Isles during the Regency Era.   Richmond…

A Regency London Landmark Primer

A Regency London Landmark Primer

Alexia Reed has been on a major reading jag lately. She’s also been reading a lot of historicals. Since she knows this is what I write and mostly read, she asked, “Something I’ve noticed lately, a lot of historicals have the same ‘places’. Like White’s club. Hyde Park. Why is that?” I’d also noticed this…