Please join me in welcoming Ella Quinn to the blog today! She's written a great Regency piece for us today. Enjoy!
What Did A Regency Lady Know?
by Ella Quinn
Most readers who love the genre can come away with a
mixed idea of what a lady during the Regency era actually did. Not only books,
but movies, and TV as well can give one the impression that they went to
parties, shopped, and sat around the house doing needle work. The answer is a
bit more complicated.
Most girls were taught, reading, maths, art,
literature, at a minimum, French and some Italian. It was more unusual for them
to have learned Latin or Greek, which most men studied, but it did happen, and yes,
needlework, which amounted to everything from embroidering slippers and
handkerchiefs, to the beautiful whitework.
Also pianoforte, and singing. Can you imagine preforming
for your future husband and, <groan> mother-in-law?
Jane Austen describes it. “after dinner families and
friends were obligated to entertain each other with conversation, musical
performances, parlor games and cards, or reading aloud.”
However, they also had to have knowledge of how to
run a large house and possibly the estate, or estates, as well. Depending on
size of her husband’s holdings, that job was the equivalent of running a small
to large business.
For an idea on how many servants it took to manage a
small place one can look to Georgette Heyer’s Friday’s Child, where the young couple decided to lease a small
townhouse, and the number of servants needed to “ensure a moderate degree of
comfort” amounted to a cook, butler, two maids, a page boy, groom, tiger,
coachman, a lady’s maid, and valet. Since there was no housekeeper, that left
the job of directing the maids to the lady of the house. If any of them were
ill, it was her job to have the doctor called and pay for the expenses. Not to
mention keeping the household accounts.
This was especially true of estates, where it was
your responsibility to see to the health and welfare of your dependants, both
in the house and tenants who rented plots for farming.
Which leads us to planning social events. There was
no buying wine and beer, and throwing out some chips and dip here. Many events
had hundreds of guests. If you hosted a house party, that could go on for up to
a month, you had to plan the entertainment.
Are you tired yet? Let’s not forget, there is no
phone, text or email. In order to keep in touch with family and friends, you
have to sit down and write a letter. Unless your husband was a peer and could
frank your letters, in which case you could go on for pages, you would make use
of one sheet of paper and cross your lines, or even write across again
diagonally so that the person receiving your correspondence didn’t have to pay
as much. Try reading that.
When does your day end? Generally after dinner, when
the men rejoin the ladies and tea has been served.
Available now! The Secret Life of Miss Anna Marsh
“Let
yourself be seduced by this sexy mix of spies, smugglers, and happily ever
afters.” —Sally MacKenzie
Since
she was a young girl, Anna Marsh has dreamed of Sebastian, Baron Rutherford
asking for her hand in marriage. But that was in another life when her brother
Harry was alive, before she vowed to secretly continue the work he valiantly
died for. Now as Sebastian finally courts Anna, she must thwart his advances.
Were he to discover her secret, he would never deem her a suitable wife...
Sebastian
has always known Anna would become his wife someday. He expects few obstacles,
but when she dissuades him at every turn he soon realizes there is much more to
this intriguing woman. Somehow he must prove to her that they are meant to be
together. But first he must unravel the seductive mystery that is Miss Anna
Marsh…
Amazon
US ~ Amazon
Canada ~ Amazon
France ~ Amazon Germany ~ Amazon UK ~ Barns & Nobel ~ Kensington ~ iTunes
Ella Quinn's studies and other jobs have always been on the serious side. Reading historical
romances, especially Regencies, were her escape.
After a stint in the Army, where she was the first woman to be
assigned to a Green Beret unit, and serving in Guam and Germany, she decided to
return to university where she earned a B.A., and MS in International Relations,
and a J.D., which led to another term in the Army as a JAG officer. By day, she
works as a family law attorney, helping clients resolve problems, and by night she
crafts stories where characters always find happy endings.
When Ella and her husband to be were dating, he convinced her
he was really a Viking warrior. That was thirty-one years ago. They have a son
and granddaughter, Great Dane and a Chartreux. After living in the South
Pacific, Central America, North Africa and in Europe, she and her husband
decided to make St. Thomas, Virgin Islands their home.
Ella is a member of Romance Writers of America, The Beau Monde, Hearts Through History and is an active member of the Regency
Romance Critique Group.
She’s extensively researched the Regency era both while
living in England for two years and aftwards. She imbues her stories with the
flavor and feel of the age so that readers lose themselves in the time
period.
31 comments:
SO informative!!! And, LOL, no, I most certainly cannot imagine having to perform for my mother-in-law pre-marriage. Seems like a horrific thing to put a lady through! Congratulations on the release! Spies, smugglers, and intrigue is everything I love in a historical romance!!!
Thank you so much for stopping by, Christi!!
Ella! I didn't know your name was Marion. What a lovely name!
I too would have hated to perform for my future mother-in-law. Eek! A lady during the Regency certainly was busy. As much as writing a letter might consume so much time, I still love to do it myself.
Thanks for another great post!
Lani
Terrific post and great information, Ella. THanks and congrats.
Great post & congrats on your release.
I greatly enjoyed the discussion of what a society lady must know. I dare say I would have been an utter disaster as a regency woman. I would have been better off dressing like a man so not so much was expected of me.
Rue, thank you for stopping by!
Hi Lani, thank you. I don't think people appreciate how much they had to do.
Andrea, thank you so much for visiting.
LOL, Liza!! Training started when one was very young. You would have been fine.
Oooo I like the bit of history with this. Nice! Excited for this book!!
Congrats on your new release!
Great post. I would so not want to 'catch' a husband using the old methods.
LOL, Stacey. It would be different!
Good heavens, Ella. It as exhausting just reading about what a proper lady needed to know. So excited about your release!
Happy Release Day, Ella!
They were busy ladies, Collette. I'm really excited about the release!!
Than you, Sandy!!
Congrats on the release! Those ladies had a lot of pressure, just like all women!
They did indeed, D'Ann! Thank you for visiting.
A great summary of life during the Regency era. I'm tired already!! And I learned a bit more about the author's life. Thanks for the great blog post.
great post cant wait to read this
I'm so glad you enjoyed it, Eileen!! Thank you for visiting!
Thank ou, Jodi!!
Enjoyed the interview!
I'm so glad you did, Angie. Thanks so much for your support!
I really enjoyed your post, Ella. I'm sure most readers do think of ladies of the regency era as being pampered and bored. We forget without all the modern conveniences how busy they really were. Best of luck with your new book. Since I pre-ordered it, yesterday it popped up in my email box.
How exhausting! Regency women were amazing! Can't wait to read the story! Tweeted as well.
Very true, Callie, and these ladies were young when they had to know how to manage. Thanks for buying my book!!
I agree, Lana! We forget how much things have changed. Thank you for coming by!!
I think I'll stop complaining about the full time job, housework, parenting and my writing. It seems like I have it easy! Although I don't have to kill my food either!
LOL, Melissa. I doubt a lady would actually have to kill hers either. One of the servants would have the pleasure.
Can you imagine having to have learned how to manage a house and estate by the age of 17 or 18? I wonder if our teenagers could do it.
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