Cartoons give us a glimpse into politics, society, and manners. Sometimes they are an eye on fashion as well. Here’s the first of what I hope will be a monthly feature.
Category: Georgian Era
Articles about the Georgian era, or the “long” Regency
April—Fools and Funds
April is early spring, and usually the month for Easter, with its Hot Cross Buns and the end of Lent. The London Season usually began right around Easter.
In Scotland, April 1, Fool’s Day, was a popular holiday. “Hunting the gowk” was the name for the game in which people were sent on phony errands (gowk is a word for cuckoo bird, a symbol for fool). In England, various April dates are called ‘Cuckoo Day ‘ and some places hold ‘Cuckoo Fairs’.
From Observations on Popular Antiquities, Chiefly Illustrating the Origin of our Vulgar Customs, Ceremonies and Superstitions by John Brand, published in 1813, comes the note that “The wit chiefly consists in sending persons on what are called sleeveless errands for the History of Eve’s Mother, for Pigeon’s Milk, with similar ridiculous absurdities.” Brand notes sleeveless seems to mean something that cannot be unraveled from the phrase “to sleeve a two” meaning to unfold or unravel.
Maundy Thursday was the Thursday before Easter, which usually falls in April, but sometimes in March. The King was meant to distribute “alms” and maundy baskets to the poor—the Prince Regent had to take over these duties in his stead. The “maundy” comes from the Latin mandatum, or the Vulgate’s translation of Jesus’ words in the washing of the feet. Maundy baskets might be given to the poor with mutton, beef, and bread. An 1803 record notes four pounds of beef and four threepenny loaves in each basket. At right are Maundy coins minted in 1818 for George III, minted in silver, with values from 1d to 4d. The Maundy ceremony was typically held in Whitehall, in the Chapel Royal (what was once the Banqueting Hall, the vast hall used for ceremonies). Below is a print from the British Library of the Chapel Royal in 1811, with a staircase to a pulpit, what looks like eagles on flag, most likely captured French eagles, and what appears to be a clergyman giving a tour to a gentleman and a lady, with the gentleman in military uniform.
Of course, Easter, if it fell in April would be celebrated with Hot Cross Buns on Good Friday, and eggs—with an ancient association with spring and fertility—might be colored or decorated. Pace Eggs are hard boiled eggs with patterned shells, and are traditional made in the north of England. The orthodox Catholic churches have Paschal eggs, or eggs blessed by the priest at the end of the Paschal Vigil (the Holy Saturday before Easter Sunday).
The Easter of 1814 held special celebrations due to Napoleon’s abdication on April 6. As noted in John Ashton’s Social England Under the Regency, “Easter Monday fell on the 11th of April, and on that day London was brilliantly illuminated, very much better than usual; but then lights and transparencies had only been, hitherto, used for Victories—this was for Peace, which was welcomed by all with heartfelt thankfulness. The Duchess of Oldenburgh, at the Pulteney Hotel, had ‘Thanks be to God’ in variegated lamps. The Duke of Northumberland wreathed the head of his immortal lion with laurels; the statue of King Charles I. close by, was covered with laurels. Carlton House had its pillars entwined with lamps, the entablature marked out with them. On the parapet were six large stars; in the centre were the Arms of France supported by the figure of Fame with laurels, under which was Louis XVIII. A pedestal of fire supported two large stars: on the left, were Russia and Austria; on the right, Prussia and England; whilst in the centre, was a bit of deliciously bad French—’Vive les Bourbons,’ all done in silver lamps.”
For More Information:
Regina Jeffers lists the dates when Easter fell during the Regency at:
https://reginajeffers.blog/2021/04/02/easter-during-the-regency/
John Ashton’s book Social England Under the Regency is available online at: https://www.gutenberg.org/files/48390/48390-h/48390-h.htm
Article by Shannon Donnelly for The Quizzing Glass blog and The Regency Reader.
The Regency Begins
On Wednesday, February 6, 1811, Prince George took the oath at Carton House that allowed him to become the Prince Regent.
At 48, the prince was no longer the dashing young man once dubbed “Prince Florizel” (due to his affair with the actress Mary Robinson, who had had the lead as Perdita, opposite Florizel, in Shakespear’s ‘The Winter’s Tale’). He had begun putting on weight in the late 1700s, and by 1811, years of heavy drinking and eating meant a need for corsets and face paint. (By 1797, his weight had reached 245 pounds, or 17 stone 7 pounds, and in the 1820s his corset would be sized to a 50 inch waist. Just for breakfast, it was reported he liked: ‘Two pigeons and three beefsteaks, three parts of a bottle of Mozelle, a glass of dry Champagne, two glasses of Port and a glass of Brandy’.)
The Care of King During his Illness, etc. Act had been passed by Parliament the day before the Prince took the oath, creating a limited regency (the full text of the act can be found online at: https://www.heraldica.org/topics/royalty/ukregency.htm#1811),
The London Chronicle of Wednesday, February 6 carried information on what would be called ‘the Regency Bill’ with a postscript that the Prince Regent had been sworn in at two o’clock, and the Prime Minister, Spencer Perceval, had been able to have an interview with the 72-year-old King the previous Friday. At that time, the King was well enough to understand a regency was required. The King requested no change to the ministers or government, and Queen Charlotte also noted she also required those terms to be met. The Prince Regent would not be allowed to grant peerages, or confer lifetime offices, places or pensions for a year, just in case the King recovered. The King’s care was given to Queen Charlotte. She also retained the management of his household and property and she did so until her death at Kew Palace, where the King also lived, on November 17, 1818 at 74 years of age.
In early February 1811, the King had seemed to be recovering from his latest round of bad health. His problems had begun in 1765 with depression, but became serious in 1788 with hallucinations and mental derangement, which kicked off the first regency crisis. The King’s mania and delusions continued from the summer of 1788 into 1789, and in February of that year, the Regency Bill was first introduced. However, King George III recovered and the idea of a regency was shelved, but other attacks of illness would reoccur in 1795, 1801, 1804, and 1810. The King was also going blind.
In 1811, many in Parliament hoped a regency might not be needed. As of February 2, 1811, the Queen had sent a letter to the Prince stating that the King appeared to be recovering. The Tory party worried that if Prince George took power he would reward his Whig friends with a new government—hence all the restrictions. But the Prince agreed to the restrictions, and so the act was carried forward.
Following the pattern set in 1789, without the King’s consent, the Lord Chancellor affixed the Great Seal to letters patent naming Lords Commissioners. This was irregular because only Letters Patent signed by the ruling monarch were meant to appoint Lords Commissioners or grant Royal Assent. However, because the King was incapacitated, resolutions by both Houses of Parliament approved the action and directed the Lord Chancellor to prepare the Letters Patent and affix the Great Seal. (In 1789, the King, after he recovered, had declared this had been a valid and legal action.) There was no Council of Regency set up since the Prince was both of age and heir to the throne. The Prince was required to swear his allegiance to the King, and relinquish the care of the King to the Queen, and she was given a Queen’s council.
On February 18, the Duke of Northumberland sent congratulates to the Prince, writing, ‘the goodness of your heart, & the superiority of your understanding cannot fail, sir, to ensure happiness to the people, who live under your government’. Others saw this whole thing in a less promising light, given that the Prince Regent had promised to keep the Tory party in power. Lord Moria wrote ‘it grieves me to the soul’ [about the] ‘unexplained departure from all those principals which you have so long professed’. The Prince had abandoned the Whig party.
In June of 1811, the Prince Regent held a fabulous celebration at Carlton House, said to be for the King’s Birthday. Everyone, however, knew this was the Prince celebrating being out from under his father’s power. In July, 1811, the King’s condition worsened, and by February 1812 everyone had given up on the King ever recovering his mind and health. The regency restrictions were lifted from the Prince. The Regency was now fully launched and would continue until January 29, 1820 when King George III died and the Prince Regent became George IV.
(On a side note, the London Chronicle reported that on February 5, 1811 “…the Whig Club held their first meeting of the season at the Crown and Anchor, the Duke of Norfolk in the chair”. They must have hoped the Regency would bring the Whigs to power.)
To read more:
https://regencyredingote.wordpress.com/2011/02/04/and-so-it-begins/
A Regency Winter
“Monday. Here’s a day! – The Ground covered with snow! What is to become of us? – We were to have walked out early to near Shops, & had the Carriage for the more distant. – Mr. Richard Snow is dreadfuly fond of us. I dare say he has stretched himself out at Chawton too.”
– Jane Austen, writing to Cassandra from London, March 7, 1814
The print is from the British Museum of a hand-colored woodcut dated to February 14, 1814, showing the Frost Fair held when the Thames froze between London Bridge and Blackfriars, off Three Cranes Wharf. From February 1st to the 5th or 6th when the ice began to break up, the Thames froze hard enough to support games, rides, stalls, vendors, and even temporary print shops. When the freeze ended, it did so fast, and some drowned as they fell into the waters. Ice damaged ships along the docks.
The Thames was frozen solid from January 31st to February 7th, and a frost fair was held on the river. (The Mersey and the Severn also froze, with staking and horses being ridden over the river reported at Bristol.) Heavy fog also was reported from December 26th to January 3rd with the Maidenhead coach reported as being lost on December 28th and most other traffic at a standstill, and then heavy snow set in. However, the winter of 1813/14 was not the only one to offer chilling cold, which could last well into spring.
During the 1700s, and throughout the Regency years, winters meant snow, fog, ice and sometimes freezing rains and floods. These harsh winters are now attributed to ‘The Little Ice Age’, a phrase first used by geologist François Matthes in 1939 to account for the exceptional cold that began in the 1300s and continued through the 1800s. NASA’s Earth Observatory marked three particularly cold intervals, with periods of warming between: 1650, 1770, and 1850. No exact cause is known, but possibilities include a decrease in human population due to plagues, wars and famine, ocean circulation changes, variations in the Earth’s tilt, and heightened volcanic activity.
Winter temperatures, with the cold hitting early or staying late, led to crop failures, the death of livestock, and frozen rivers not just in England but across Europe. Bad harvests and rising food prices are now linked to the social unrest of that era. Such cold in London led to more fires in hearths, and with the switch from burning wood to coal, which had begun in the 1500s, London’s fogs became known for their thickness and cold.
In An American in Regency England, Louis Simonds wrote on March 5, 1810, “It is difficult to form an idea of the kind of winter days in London, the smoke of fossil coals forms an atmosphere, perceivable for many miles, like a great round cloud attached to the earth. In the town itself, where the weather is cloudy and foggy, which is frequently the case in winter, this smoke increases the general dingy hue, and terminates the length of every street with a thick grey mist, receding as you advance.”
Perhaps the most famous volcanic impact was the eruption on April 10, 1815 of Mount Tambora (also spelled Tomboro), an island in what was then the Dutch East Indies. The ash spread globally over the next three years, and led to 1816 being called the ‘Year Without a Summer’ with reports of heavy snow on April 14th and May 12th. But that was not the only very cold winter.
The eruption of Laki, a volcano in Iceland from June 1783 to February 1784 had also led to reports in England and across Europe of a haze in the air, damage to crops, and deaths most likely due to high levels of sulphates. Bad winters hit England in 1794/95, with frosts that lasted until late March, and the most intense cold hitting in January. Heavy rain that began on February 7 that led to flooding in many parts of England. In Scotland, it was the seventh coldest winter at Edinburgh, with heavy snowfall across Scotland. Inn England, major rivers froze and snow made roads impassable. The winter of 1779/80 offered another sever winter in London and the south of England.
After several warm summers and less cold winters, England’s weather turned bad from 1807 through 1819. It was reported as often being wet in London, with eight very wet years, including in 1816 to 1821. The severe winters include the Regency years of 1813/14, 1815/16 and 1819/20. In the latter two winters, ice was reported on the Thames, but was not thick enough to walk on.
In 1807 London, daily fog was reported from December 17th to the 21st. In January 1808, bad weather led to flooding in the East Anglian marshes, with farming losses due to breaches in sea walls. February 1808 had snowstorms and frosts in the England fens. January of 1810 had ten straight days of fog.
The winter of 1815/16 was reported as even colder than in 1814, with snow reported to have fallen on Easter Sunday, the 14th of April, and then again on May 12th. Weather reports held 1819 as both a cold and wet year, and January 1820 was ranked as just outside of the list of the twenty coldest winters. On January 29, 1820, King George III died in his padded rooms at Windsor Castle, bringing the Regency years in England to a close.
For more reading:
https://www.pascalbonenfant.com/18c/geography/weather.html
https://premium.weatherweb.net/weather-in-history-1800-to-1849-ad/
https://www.historyextra.com/period/victorian/frozen-little-ice-age-britain-thames-freeze-when/
https://regencyredingote.wordpress.com/2011/11/25/snow-in-the-regency/
https://www.quillsandquartos.com/post/snowed-in-regency-style
https://shannondonnelly.com/2020/12/19/regency-england-winter-fare/
Article by Shannon Donnelly for The Quizzing Glass blog and The Regency Reader.
Here We Go…Wasailling!
The origins of caroling date far back in time, with the word ‘carol’ dating back to the Old French and the 1300s, meaning a ‘joyful song’ or to ‘dance in a ring accompanied by singers’. In ancient times, celebrations often included song and dancer, with May carols and harvest carols existing, and perhaps others we have lost. The idea of attaching songs to Christmas in terms of celebration is credited to Saint Francis of Assisi, who in the 1200s created nativity scenes with hymns and everyone invited to sing along. This idea spread throughout the 1300s, and the Anglo-Saxon toast of ‘waes hael’ (be well) gives us ‘wassailing.
Wassailers—usually those without much in a village—would serenade the better-off locals in the great and good houses who were likely to offer up food and drink, and perhaps a few coins at Christmastime. A candle in a window noted a house willing to entertain wassailers. It was considered bad luck not to reward the efforts of these traveling entertainers with food and drink, including a ‘figgy pudding’ (figgy simply means any dried fruit, and this would also be known as a plum pudding, and then as a Christmas pudding).
The Oxford Dictionary notes that one of the oldest printed carols is the ‘Boar’s Head Carol’, dating to 1521 and traditionally sung at Queen’s College, Oxford while Christmas lunch is served. In 1522, King Henry VIII published music and words for a carol called ‘Green Groweth the Holly’ (perhaps inspired by the song, ‘The Holy and the Ivy’). As with many early carols, these songs had roots in earlier pagan celebrations of Winter Solstice. The Tudors in particular enjoyed both wassailing and mummers. Twelfth Night was also a time for wassailing and mummers might arrive to offer up entertainment, usually in the form of a play with St. George, the dragon he slays, the Turkish knight, and others. Mummers might also ‘pass the hat’ for a few coins.
Wassailing celebrations could also extend to the ‘Old Twelvey’ (January 17, the date of the old Julian calendar, which was revised in 1752). The older wassailing might involve blessing the apple tress, an ancient tradition in cider-producing areas such as Devon, Kent, Herefordshire, Somerset, and Sussex.
In 1644, Oliver Cromwell outlawed public caroling, along with figgy puddings and all other ‘Popish’ Christmas celebrations, but they came back with the Restoration, which did away with all legislation passed in England between 1642 and 1660.
By the Georgian era—and the English Regency—Christmas celebrations began on St. Nicholas Day, December 6, with an exchange of gifts, and went on until Twelfth Night. While attending church service was common for many on Christmas, the idea of songs, games, feasting and fun carried throughout the Christmas celebrations.
William Holland, a parson who kept a diary from 1799 to 1818, wrote of December 25, 1799, “Cold, clear and frosty. Christmas Day, Sacrament Day at my church. Went to Aisholt in the afternoon, returned to a late dinner by myself on spratts and a fine woodcock. The kitchen was tolerably well lined with my poor neighbours, workmen &cc. Many of them staid till past ten o’clock and sang very melodiously. Sent half a crown to our Church Musicians who had serenaded the Family this cold morning at five o’clock.” (Quoted from Paupers and Pig Killers, his published diary.) Holland uses the more contemporary term—for him—of ‘musicians’,
What might these musicians or wassailers sing?
The English carol ‘We Wish You a Merry Christmas’ dates to the 1500s, and was included in the book, Christmas with the Poets, which gives these words for a wassailing song: “Here’s to thee, old apple tree, Whence thou may’st bud, and though may’st blow! And whence though may’st bear apples enow! Hats full! Craps full! Bushel – bushel – sacks full! And my pockets full too!”
Another older carol is ‘I Saw Three Ships’, with multiple versions existing, depending on the location of the singers. ‘Deck the Halls’ comes from a Welsh song, ‘Nos Galan’. Translated from the Welsh, it has less to do with halls and more to do with love, “Oh! how soft my fair one’s bosom, fal lal lal lal lal lal la. Oh! how sweet the grove in blossom, fal lal lal lal lal lal lal lal la. Oh! how blessed are the blisses, Words of love, and mutual kisses, fal lal lal lal lal lal lal lal la.”
‘God rest you merry, Gentlemen’ dates to the 1500s, again with different words and music, all localized in England. The version most familiar to modern ears dates to the 1650s when it is printed in a book of dancing tunes. It became more popular as a Christmas carol in the Victorian era, which is true for many of the songs we know today. ‘Silent Night’ was first performed in Oberndorf, Austria as ‘Stille Nacht’ with words written in 1816 by Father Joseph Mohr and music added in 1818 by Franz Xaver Gruber. It would not appear in English until 1863. The music and lyrics of ‘O Come All Ye Faithful’ (‘Adeste Fideles’) dates to France and the early 1700s. The first published version shows up in 1760 and is translated into English in 1841. ‘While Shepherds Watched Their Flocks By Night’, a poem by Nahum Tate, was published in Tate and Brady’s Psalter in 1702. The music is by George Frederick Handel, written in 1728, and arranged for the carol in 1812.
Charles Wesley, who wrote over 6,500 hymns, published the words for ‘Hark! The Herald Angels Sing’ (noting it should have solemn music) in 1739 in Hymns and Sacred Poems. (His opening couplet was, “Hark! how all the welkin rings / Glory to the King of Kings” with welkin meaning the sky or heaven.) In 1752, George Whitfield modified the lyrics, but the tune we know comes from Felix Mendohlsson’s 1840 ‘Vaterland, in deinen Gauen’, which was adapted to fit the Christmas carol by William Cummings.
In 1822, Davies Gilbert published Some Ancient Christmas Carols and wrote: The Editor is desirous of preserving them in their actual forms…He is anxious also to preserve them on account of the delight they afforded him in his childhood, when the festivities of Christmas Eve were anticipated by many days of preparation, and prolonged through several weeks by repetitions and remembrances.” Gilbert often lists the tunes as simply Carol I, Carol II, and so on, but he includes music as well as lyrics, such as “Hark! Hark! What news the Angels bring, Glad tidings of a new-born king.”
William Sandys, an English solicitor and a Society of Antiquaries of London fellow, published Christmas Carols Ancient and Modern in 1833. His book included ‘The First Noel’.
Handel’s Messiah oratorio, which includes the ‘Hallelujah’ chorus, was originally written for Easter performances. The first London performance was at the Theater Royal, Covent Garden on March 23, 1742. It became a regular performance there and in Bath, with the first performance in Bath on November 24, 1756. Performances in Bath often occurred either in December or around Easter, often in the New Assembly Rooms, but also in churches and other locations. It is noted as being performed for many years on Christmas Eve at the Assembly Room. The book, The Bath Messiah goes into detail about how the Herschels—William and his sister Caroline—arranged performances in Bath (she sang, and their brother played cello) in the late 1700s, before William became more interested in astronomy. Christmas Eve Messiah performances date to Venanzio Rauzzi who organized performances from 1781 to 1800, and the Bath Choral Society, which started up in 1819.
Finally, instead of song, if one was in town (London), there was always the Christmas pantomime, which opened on Boxing Day, where the famous clown Joseph Grimaldi performed at Drury Lane, or Astley’s Amphitheater offered a special Christmas spectacular.
For more information:
https://jobev.com/xmasarticle.html
Christmas Carols Ancient and Modern can be found online at: https://www.google.com/books/edition/Christmas_Carols_Ancient_and_Modern/x2VKAAAAIAAJ?hl=en
Some Ancient Christmas Carols can be found online at: https://www.google.com/books/edition/Some_Ancient_Christmas_Carols/u0dGAAAAYAAJ?hl=en
Article by Shannon Donnelly for The Quizzing Glass blog and The Regency Reader.
Guy Fawkes Celebrations
On 5 November 1605, Guy (or Guido) Fawkes was arrested while guarding kegs of gunpowder placed below Parliament. Was this really a Catholic plot, or was it a frame job to lay blame on the Catholics? Either way, it would become a day in England to celebrate with bonfires and rowdy behavior the discovery of the plot and Parliament’s surviving.
The background is this: Continue reading “Guy Fawkes Celebrations”
RFW 2021 Annual Silent Auction
Bidding opened on July 2nd for the 2021 RFW online auction! More than 100 donations are offered, and your final bid is your final price, as the generous donors have agreed to pay for shipping. The selection of research books is the best ever. In addition to books donated by our members, about 30 books in the auction were donated by Gail Burch, who wrote Regencies under the pen name Maggie MacKeever. Nine authors who’ve been Rita and/or Vivian finalists will be donating critiques. Other author services include a strategy session on marketing with a marketing expert, book coaching, and a cover design.
Proceeds from this year’s auction will be split between the Feather to Fly With—The Emily Hendrickson Scholarship Fund and defraying costs of the 2022 Conference to make it affordable for all.
Start your bidding at 32Auctions.com. Bidding ends at midnight (EDT), July 24. Donors will ship items to the winners shortly thereafter.
The direct link to our public auction is https://www.32auctions.com/RFW2021SilentAuction.
Share the public auction link: 
2021 Conference Registration Closes July 15th!
Regency Fiction Writers
2021 Virtual Conference
A Brand New Day –
The Many Facets of Regency Fiction
July 22 – 24, 2021
The Board of Directors of Regency Fiction Writers invites you to join us for our Annual Conference and Soirée on July 22-24, 2021.
This year’s conference spans three days with twelve workshops focused on historical, marketing, craft, and, diversity topics. Registration will close at 11:59 pm EDT on July 15th!
We’d also appreciate it if you shared this information (click on any of the sharing icons below or on the main conference page!) with other writers of Regency fiction. We welcome any and all genres and sub-genres set in the extended Regency period of England (1780 to 1840).
Regency Fiction Writers’ Virtual Conference will be live via Zoom and will be recorded for future use so you can take a break if you need to or come back and revisit a session or event at a later date. Please note that one session will not be recorded per presenter’s choice.
We’re disappointed that we won’t be meeting in person, but the most important issue is everyone’s safety and wellness and that of our families and friends. It will make the next in-person event all the sweeter!
We hope you’ll join us this July!
Full Registration ends on July 15th!
The main 2021 Virtual Conference page has many more details and the link to registration form is at the very bottom!
If you have any problems or questions, please contact me at conferencechair [at] thebeaumonde [dot] com.
Best wishes,
Ann Chaney
Conference Chair
2021 Regency Fiction Writers Virtual Conference
Early-Bird Pricing on 2021 Conference Registration Ends June 21st!
Regency Fiction Writers
2021 Virtual Conference
A Brand New Day –
The Many Facets of Regency Fiction
July 22 – 24, 2021
The Board of Directors of Regency Fiction Writers hopes you will consider joining us for our Annual Conference and Soirée on July 22-24, 2021.
This year, we have expanded the conference to three days with twelve workshops focused on historical, marketing, craft, and, diversity topics. We are currently in the Early Bird Registration window until June 21, 2021 — RFW Members can register for $125 and Non-Members for $200.
We’d also appreciate it if you shared this information (click on any of the sharing icons below or on the main conference page!) with other writers of Regency fiction. We welcome any and all genres and sub-genres set in the extended Regency period of England (1780 to 1840).
Regency Fiction Writers’ three-day Virtual Conference will be live via Zoom and will be recorded for future use so you can take a break if you need to or come back and revisit a session or event at a later date. Please note that one session will not be recorded per presenter’s choice.
We’re disappointed that we won’t be meeting in person, but the most important issue is everyone’s safety and wellness and that of our families and friends. It will make the next in-person event all the sweeter!
We hope you’ll join us this July!
Early-Bird Pricing ends June 21st!
Full Registration will continue until July 15th!
The main 2021 Virtual Conference page has many more details and the link to registration form is at the very bottom!
If you have any problems or questions, please contact me at conferencechair [at] thebeaumonde [dot] com.
Best wishes,
Ann Chaney
Conference Chair
2021 Regency Fiction Writers Virtual Conference
2021 Conference Registration Now Open!
Regency Fiction Writers
2021 Virtual Conference
A Brand New Day –
The Many Facets of Regency Fiction
July 22 – 24, 2021
Regency Fiction Writers invites you to our 2021 Conference, July 22-24, 2021! Our three-day conference will be held live via Zoom.
Looking forward to seeing everyone on-line in July! We have an amazing lineup of keynote speakers, workshops, panels and a special one-on-one interview. You won’t want to miss a minute! The conference will be recorded so attendees only can revisit the sessions for at least 90 days.
This virtual experience includes three days of workshops, speeches and panels on topics including Regency-focused publishing industry, writing craft and historical details; a virtual meet & greet; The Beau Monde Annual Soirée with fashion show, door prizes and much more!
For more details and to register, visit our main Conference Page.
Please share this and any of our social media posts with your Regency fiction writing friends. As they say, the more the merrier!
If you have any problems or questions, please contact me at conferencechair [at ] thebeaumonde [dot] com.
Best wishes,
Ann Chaney
Conference Chair
2021 Regency Fiction Writers Virtual Conference
Regency Research for Diversity by Louisa Cornell
The Beau Monde’s 2020 Virtual Writers Retreat in June introduced attendees to a brave new world – the world of coming together by way of technological wizardry. As Regency romance authors, there is another way we bring the world together—writing one happily-ever-after at the time. And that means happily-ever-after’s for everyone, because no matter the race, religion, creed, color, sexual orientation or disability they all lived and loved in England during the Regency Era.
Let me say that again. They all lived and loved during the Regency Era!
Which means for those of us who have never included diverse and/or marginalized characters in our Regency romances we have a whole new source of people to cast as heroes, heroines, family, friends, and yes, even villains. An exciting notion to say the least. Just think of the possibilities!
Continue reading “Regency Research for Diversity by Louisa Cornell”
Shopping on Oxford Street in the Late 18th Century by Regan Walker
If you like history, romance or shopping, you will certainly enjoy today’s article by romance author, Regan Walker. Oxford Street in London is one of the settings in Regan’s new release, To Tame the Wind, which is set at the end of the eighteenth century. Though shopping malls had yet to be developed in the late eighteenth century, Regan shares with us her research on a shopping area which was popular with the upper classes in London at that time.
Just sit back and let Regan take you on a tour of eighteenth-century Oxford Street . . .
Continue reading “Shopping on Oxford Street in the Late 18th Century by Regan Walker”
Regency-era women with votes!
English women with votes in our favorite era? Why, yes, ma’am, it’s true! The following article by Rose Lerner was originally published in April 2013 and relates to her research for the first in the Lively St. Lemeston novels, Sweet Disorder.
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Assembly Rooms, May 2015
So many articles this month! I hope you find some of them to be of interest.
The 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/
Assembly Rooms – April 2015
Here’s the monthly assemblage of links of interest to lovers of the Regency era — everything from prisoners’ mementos to dishonest valets. Continue reading “Assembly Rooms – April 2015”
Lighting the House in the Regency by Regina Jeffers
Regina Jeffers is the author of a number of Regency romances and Austen-inspired novels. She was moved to write this article due to a power outage. There’s nothing like doing without electricity to give one a feel for what light–or the lack of it–was like in the Regency era.
~ * ~
Today, I have dealt with another power outage in my area, and I have privately cursed how dark my home is without the power of electricity. I have had to go without lights, TV, the internet, phone service, etc., and this modern-day “deprivation” has set me to thinking about the days of the Regency era when the almighty CANDLE ruled the home.
Continue reading “Lighting the House in the Regency by Regina Jeffers”
Assembly Rooms, March 2015
Assembly Rooms is a collection of links to blogs and articles of interest to lovers of the Regency Era.
An Eighteenth Century Conwoman by Rose Lerner
Rose Lerner first published this article on the History Hoydens blog when she was writing the first book in her current series, Sweet Disorder. The second book, True Pretenses, was released this month. Continue reading “An Eighteenth Century Conwoman by Rose Lerner”
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
An impressive display of carriages: http://www.regencyhistory.net/2014/10/the-national-trust-carriage-museum-at.html Continue reading “Assembly Rooms, January 2015”
Assembly Rooms, December 2014
Assembly Rooms is a collection of links to blogs and articles of interest to lovers of the Regency Era.
A Regency half dress: http://regencyramble.blogspot.com/2014/11/regency-fashion-november-1814_24.html