A Travel Guide of the Regency Era

At the end of the eighteenth century, John Cary was commissioned by the Postmaster-General to survey all the principal roads in England. He did this by walking these roads, pushing a wheel connected to a counter, which kept a tally of the number of rotations and then produced an accurate mileage.

Between 1787 and 1831, Cary put his knowledge to use and published, among other books, The New English Atlas, The Travellers’ Companion, The Universal Atlas of 1808, and Cary’s New Itinerary which had multiple editions. The maps and surveys have some of the most accurate and valuable data about the structure of the Regency world. They also provide an insight into how people traveled in the Regency.

A detailed pen and ink map of the Environs of Cheltenham from Cary's New Itinerary.

Published in 1815, the fifth edition of Cary’s goes on to explain that it is, “an Accurate Delineation of the Great Roads, both direct and cross throughout, England and Whales, with many of the Principal Roads in Scotland, from an actual admeasurement by John Cary, made by command of his Majesty’s Postmaster General.”

There’s more detail provided at the front of the book in an “advertisement” that’s more of a preface.

The information alone on roads and distances, with fold-out maps provided, shows the practical problems that face any Regency traveler. How far is it really between London and Bath, and what roads might one take? What coaches depart from which inns, and when do they depart? How long might a trip take? Cary’s offers much more than practical information.
Cary’s divides into neat, organized sections. The man was obviously methodical. The first section lists the direct roads to London—as in all roads lead to this metropolis. The next section gives a list of principal places, or larger towns, that occur along the cross-roads. A cross-road is a road that crosses one of the direct roads into London (and many of these were built over the ancient Roman roads).

At this point, you begin to see how London-centric the Regency world really was. As someone living outside of London, it would be your goal to get to a major town, and then you could get to London. Cary, living in London, wrote his book for outward-bound Londoners, and that is how the book is organized.

The next section is a list of coach and mail departures. This includes the name of the London inn from which the coaches departed, the towns each coach passed through, the mileage, the departure time, and the arrival time. It’s an utter godsend if you have to get to Bath at a certain hour on the coach. Travelers must have poured over this information when planning trips to the seaside for bathing, or to spa towns to take the waters after an illness.

The next section lists all direct roads, as measured from key departure points in London, but this is not just a dry list of mileage. Descriptive notes are tucked into various columns to describe houses of note and distinctive sights. For example, if you’re going to Wells from London, then, “Between Bugley and Whitbourn, at about 2 m(iles) on l(eft) Longleat, Marquis of Bath; the house is a Picture of Grandure, and the Park and Pleasure Grounds are very beautiful.” This was an era in which slower travel meant taking the time to look at surroundings, and Cary’s was published in a size small enough to fit into a pocket or take with you, so you could pass the time looking up the names of sights you passed.

The next section provides a similar treatment for cross-roads, and not to be overlooked, the Packet Boat sailing days are listed for England’s various sea ports, just in case an intrepid traveler wishes to travel abroad.

Finally, Cary’s provides an index to Country Seats, or as Cary’s notes, “In this Index the Name of every resident Possessor of a Seat is given, as well as the Name of the Seat itself, wherever it has a distinctive Appellation.” This is actually a list from the 1811 returns to Parliament, as noted in the book. In the Regency, this actually would have been a much used feature, for it would allow a traveler to look up and visit various great houses and country seats. It was a time, after all, when visitors expected the great houses to always be open for show, and to be gracious in their hospitality, and so this might be part of a planned trip to stop and see the art collections or the historically important houses.

Overall, Cary’s is not a book that will give you insight into the politics of the Regency, nor into the social structure of that world. However, between its worn covers lays the description of the Regency world that can put you back into that era, just as if you were traveling the roads of England. (An 1802 edition of Cary’s New Itinerary can be found online at: https://www.google.com/books/edition/Cary_s_New_Itinerary/cg4QAAAAYAAJ?hl=en).


Article by Shannon Donnelly for The Quizzing Glass blog and The Regency Reader.

Picturesque Rides and Walks, with Excursions by Water …

A cross-post from The Regency Redingote:

Yet again I have made a most delightfully serendipitous find in the course of my research. A lovely Regency-era guide-book which I think many Regency authors will find most helpful when they are seeking a setting for a new story, or perhaps planning a country excursion for their hero and heroine. In fact, the author of this book himself might very well serve as a model for a character in a Regency story.

When a Regency author needs a locale near the metropolis . . .

Continue reading Picturesque Rides and Walks, with Excursions by Water …

Assembly Rooms, May 2015

So many articles this month! I hope you find some of them to be of interest.

Gillray-very slippy weatherThe prodigiously talented Gillray: http://18thcand19thc.blogspot.co.uk/2015/03/james-gillray-prince-of-caricaturists.html

The care and upbringing of foundlings: http://www.thehistoryoflondon.co.uk/thomas-coram-and-the-foundling-hospital/

A London walk: https://londonhistorians.wordpress.com/2015/03/30/footsteps-of-soane-ii/

Continue reading “Assembly Rooms, May 2015”

Assembly Rooms, January 2015

Assembly Rooms is a collection of links to blogs and articles of interest to lovers of the Regency Era.

Glorious Gothic: http://www.regencyhistory.net/2015/01/strawberry-hill-horace-walpoles-gothic.html

Strawberry Hill by Paul Sandby, courtesy Wikipedia
Strawberry Hill by Paul Sandby, courtesy Wikipedia

An impressive display of carriages: http://www.regencyhistory.net/2014/10/the-national-trust-carriage-museum-at.html Continue reading “Assembly Rooms, January 2015”

The Regency Sport Utility Vehicle

A cross-post from The Regency Redingote:

In her debut novel, Deflowering Daisy, romance author, Kathryn Kane, lets her heroine, Daisy, put her importunate suitor in his place by use of a dog-cart. In today’s article, you can learn more about this very handy Regency vehicle.


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How many times have you been reading a novel set in the Regency and come upon characters who ride in or discuss riding in a dog-cart? I have run across a great many over the years, and the descriptions of these vehicles varied widely. So much so I could never get a clear mental picture of a dog-cart. I decided to do some research to learn more about the appearance, use and construction of dog-carts during the Regency. The more I read about them, the more I realized they were often used rather like the SUV of today.

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The Picture of London

A cross-post from The Regency Redingote:

"You can’t think I’m going to totter all over London looking at a lot of buildings I don’t want to see! Very happy to take you driving in the Park, but that’s coming it too strong, my dear girl!   … Besides, I don’t know anything about these curst places you want to see! Couldn’t tell you anything about ’em!"

     — Mr. Freddy Standen to Miss Kitty Charing

"Oh, but that need not signify! Look, I purchased this book in Hatchard’s shop this morning, and it tells one everything! It is called The Picture of London, and it says here that it is a correct guide to all the Curiosities, Amusements, Exhibitions, Public Establishments, and Remarkable Objects in and near London, made for the use of Strangers, Foreigners, and all Persons who are not intimately acquainted with the Metropolis!"

     — Miss Kitty Charing to Mr. Freddy Standen


Dialog from Chapter 9 of Cotillion by Georgette Heyer.

I re-read Cotillion recently, many years since I last read it in high school. This passage caught my eye this time around, because I now know how thoroughly Heyer researched her novels. Did she invent the guidebook which Kitty purchased for her London adventure? Hatchard’s was a real bookshop in Regency London. Was The Picture of London a real guidebook of the city?

Continue reading “The Picture of London”

Hay-on-Wye   By Ann Lethbridge

In today’s article, Regency romance author, Ann Lethbridge, whose latest romance is Falling for the Highland Rogue, gives us a brief virtual tour of a charming, ancient Welsh town. A town through which any book lover, history buff or Anglophile could ramble with pleasure for many hours.

Continue reading “Hay-on-Wye   By Ann Lethbridge”

Coaching Tokens or Half-Pennies

A cross-post from The Regency Redingote:

We have all received mailings, either via snail-mail or email, which include a "check" or coupon worth a certain amount for use at a restaurant or hotel as an inducement for our patronage. Our Regency ancestors received similar specialized currency, and though their incentive cash came in the form of hard coin, its production and use correlated to the postal system of their time.

The minting and circulation of the coaching half-penny through time …

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Packet Boats to and from America   By Cheryl Bolen

Do you have a need to get one or more of the characters in your Regency novel from one side of the Atlantic to the other in a hurry? If so, the packet boat is the best option available, though they were one of the most expensive forms of travel and accommodations were far from luxurious. In today’s article, award-winning Regency novelist, Cheryl Bolen tells us about the details of packet boat travel which will help other authors to craft an accurate scene on a Regency-era packet boat.

Continue reading “Packet Boats to and from America   By Cheryl Bolen”

Regency Glossary by Donna Hatch – Carriages ( Part 2)

Regency Glossary by Donna Hatch (Part 2)

Carriages

 

Donna Hatch says…..

People in Regency England depended upon either horseback or carriage to get around. Many of them traveled extensively from their country homes to London for the Season, which was both a social and political time of year while the House of Lords was in session.

Roads were terrible, and weather and highwaymen often made travel uncomfortable as well as dangerous. To accommodate the Regency gentry or nobility, the styles, paint design and features of carriages were as varied as today’s automobiles.

Image, status, and money, as well as personal taste, were all factors in choosing a carriage. Nobility had their family coat of arms painted on the side of their family coach.

Continue reading “Regency Glossary by Donna Hatch – Carriages ( Part 2)”

Of Jehus and Jarvies

A cross-post from The Regency Redingote:

Readers of Regency romance novels are familiar with the ubiquitous figures of the jarvey and the Jehu on the box of one kind of vehicle or another. These two words are commonly used in modern writing interchangeably, as though they were synonymous. Yet, my reading of various Regency documents such as books, letters, diaries, newspapers and other periodicals over the years has led me to the conclusion that in actual fact these two words are quite antonymous. A jarvey is not a Jehu, nor is a Jehu a jarvey. Not to mention that a jarvey is not a coachman, but a Jehu might be.

So what is the difference between a Jehu and a jarvey?

Continue reading “Of Jehus and Jarvies”

Traveling to the UK – What to Know Before You Go by Jo Ann Ferguson

       Traveling to the UK – What to Know Before You Go

                    by Jo Ann Ferguson

          It’s that time of year to think about a vacation/research trip to the UK.

Okay, any time of year is good, but many trips to the UK are in the late spring, summer, or early fall.

2012 is a very exciting year for the UK. With the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee and the Summer Olympics, make sure you’re up to date on what is happening where. My husband and I are heading to the northeast this spring, and we are keeping an eye on where the Olympic torch will be traveling. We hope to see it, but we also want to be aware of possible traffic restrictions. For information on events occurring in conjunction with the Jubilee, check sites such as  or

Information on the Olympic events as well as route of the Olympic torch can be found at:

http://www.london2012.com/ or http://www.london2012.com/olympic-torch-relay-map

Please click the “Details” button for all the helpful details …

Continue reading “Traveling to the UK – What to Know Before You Go by Jo Ann Ferguson”

Top Ten Places to See the Sea in the UK

Top Ten Places to See the Sea in the UK by Jo Ann Ferguson

The sea has had such an impact on British history. It has protected the country so well that the saying goes that the last successful invasion of England was in 1066 (though there have been a lot of unsuccessful ones, which explains the many castles and fortified sites along the shore). The sea currents affect the weather, so you have palm trees in Cornwall and even in northern Scotland. It inspired the formation of a navy that created a worldwide empire and a maritime fleet that made London a center of industry and shipping and finance.

And it helped create a tourist industry that still thrives today. What would 19th century bank holidays have been without a trip to Blackpool for the lower classes and to Brighton for the upper?

Continue reading “Top Ten Places to See the Sea in the UK”