While most schools and formal education opportunities were aimed at boys, Regency era girls also received an education aimed at preparing them for their future lives.

With all the emphasis on young gentlemen’s education, it is easy to overlook the education of girls during the Regency Era. Women, even upper-class woman were not simply decorative bits of fluff. Even if ‘only’ destined for marriage, there were responsibilities and competencies they would be expected to fulfill in their daily lives.

If a young woman married a landed gentleman, she would be expected to function as mistress of the estate.

Functionally, an estate’s mistress was the equivalent of managing a small hotel, if the estate was smaller, all the way up to acting as the CEO of a major corporation, if the estate was large. She oversaw the finances, food service, hiring and training of the staff, procurement, charitable contributions of the “company” as well as the interior design of the “corporate headquarters” and entertaining guests. Depending on her intelligence, she might also assist her husband with overall estate business. While accomplishing all this, she was also expected to raise her children and cared for sick family members. Talk about a working mother.

Many of these skills were not easily displayed, and thus useful in the ever-important task of attracting the attention of the right sort of gentleman. So, a girl’s education also emphasized accomplishments which enabled her to display cultural distinction and set herself apart from women who were merely ‘notable’—those who could only manage a household but not cultivate elegant socializing.

The number of accomplishments a young lady acquired reflected the financial state of her family and the level of sacrifice they were willing to make to improve her chances of marrying well. Men of the middle and upper classes sought a wife who would be a social asset to them (in addition to a good dowry of course.)  A “social asset” was never be an intellectual threat to her husband, but able to follow conversation, and perhaps more importantly keep a conversation away from unpleasantries and steered toward good humor for all. She could understand what was being said around her, but did not have ready opinions or advice to offer (at least not in public).

What little girls needed to know

Necessary female accomplishments including a range of both academic and practical skills that could be acquired in a variety of ways, both in formal and informal settings. These included both academic topics and practical ones

Academics for young ladies

Reading

No young woman could be considered accomplished without the ability to read. Not only was it necessary for basic household management and correspondence , but it formed a foundation for intelligent conversation and for reading aloud for the entertainment of others.

Though young ladies were not encouraged to read heavy subjects like philosophy and theology, serious books (as opposed to only novels) were considered appropriate as they facilitated interesting conversation. Similarly, reading scripture was appropriate as it enabled her to recognize passages and sermons, such as Fordyce’s, aimed at teaching young women proper conduct. Novels, which were becoming very popular during the Regency Era and available in local circulating libraries, could be problematic as their content was often inappropriate with badly behaved characters and questionable morals demonstrated in their pages.

Writing

In this context, writing did not refer to a creative endeavor, but rather being able to create a letter with beautiful penmanship, correctly spelled and with excellent grammar.  Young women would be schooled in the art of letter writing, with books dedicated to the topic and offering examples of good letters for her to emulate. She might even copy particularly pretty phrases out of these books for use in her own letters.

Letters were key to sending important news (and gossip) from one place to another. So, letters were often widely shared. Though specific passages might be underlined or otherwise marked to indicate they should be kept private, letters might be read aloud or even parts of them read by others (by invitation of course) so a woman’s reputation as  good letter writer was important.

Arithmetic

No mistress could run a household or estate without a solid understanding of basic math.  She had to be able to keep accounts, balance a budget, calculate how much food and others supplies needed to be bought, track expenses and even forecast trends in the use of supplies. Basic geometry would have proven useful in managing the household sewing: patterning and sewing, and calculating how much fabric might be needed.

Few women would have exposure to advanced algebra or other pure mathematics.  She had no practical use for them and would to might lead her dangerously close to challenging her husband’s expertise if she knew them. That is not to say women were forbidden to study such thing. Some did learn them, but those cases involved induvial pursuit of that information Standard curriculums did not include advanced maths.

Sciences and Social Sciences

The art of conversation was a crucial skill for Regency Era ladies. Many topics were not considered appropriate in mixed company, including business, politics and sports. So it fell on the ladies to create and sustain an interesting and appropriate conversation, entertaining to all present. So. much of her academic training would be aimed at fostering conversation.

The natural sciences and social sciences were significant to young ladies for proving material to talk about in polite company.  General awareness and rote memorization in areas of history, politics, geography, literature and philosophy were sufficient for ladies of quality.

A cursory knowledge of botany was common for both conversational and practical reason.  Ladies who were more interested might also become learned in the use of plants as home remedies since the mistress of an estate was often the first one consulted in cases of injury and illness.

Languages

Despite the Napoleonic wars, a working knowledge of French was indispensable for a young lady.  Italian and German, for singing and understanding sung performances were also useful, but conversational fluency was not expected.  Greek and Latin, beyond a handful of commonly used phrases, were the purview of men and not included in a young lady’s curriculum.

In addition to these academic studies, a number of skills would be taught to prepare young ladies for their role in society. We’ll look at these next time.

Is this what you expected out of a Regency girl’s education? Tell me in the comments.

Click here to read more about Regency Era education

Click here to read more about accomplishments in the Regency Era.

Click here to read more about Ladies in the Regency Era.

Click here to go to the Regency Index.

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References

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Davidoff, Leonore & Hall, Catherine. Family Fortunes: Men and Women of the English Middle Class 1780-1850 Routledge (2002)

The Female Preceptor. Essays On The Duties Of The Female Sex, Conducted By A Lady. 1813 and 1814

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Ives, Susanna Educating Your Daughters – A Guide to English Boarding Schools in 1814, March, 10 2013.  

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Martin, Joanna. Wives and Daughters Hambledon Continuum (2004)

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Vickery, Amanda.  The Gentleman’s Daughter. Yale University Press (1998)