Category Archives: Regency Life

Public Schools in Jane Austen’s Day

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Most gentlemen were sent to public boarding schools to prepare them for university. These schools bore little resemblance to public schools today. Public schools were public in the sense that boys were taught in groups outside of their private homes, not in the sense that these institutions were funded by public funds. A number of public schools existed, but the landed elite in particular chose to send their sons to a select number of these … Continue reading →

A Gentleman’s Education: the early years

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A gentleman’s education set him apart from lesser men, even in his early life. What did that education look like? In all well-regulated states, the two principal points in view in the education of youth, ought to be, first, to make them good men, good members of the universal society of mankind; and in the next place to frame their minds in such a manner, as to make them most useful to that society to … Continue reading →

Dinner at Longbourn

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So, we know that Mrs. Bennet set an excellent table, but what would it have been like having dinner at Longbourn? You are all a’twitter as you have been invited to take dinner with the Bennets at Longborn today. But being a gal of the 21st century, it’s a little difficult to know what to expect, but never fear. I’m here to help! One of the important things to realize about the Regency era is … Continue reading →

Education and Schools References

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Adkins, Roy, and Lesley Adkins. Jane Austen’s England. Viking, 2013. Austen, Jane, and David M. Shapard. The Annotated Persuasion. New York: Anchor Books, 2010. Bennetts, M.M. A gentleman’s education. M.M. Bennets. July 20, 2010. Accessed October 5, 2016. https://mmbennetts.wordpress.com/2010/07/27/a-gentlemans-education/ Brander, Michael. The Georgian Gentleman. Glasgow: University Press, 1973. Brown, Richard. Educating the middle-classes 1800-1870. Looking at History.  Accessed October 29, 2016. http://richardjohnbr.blogspot.com/2011/02/educating-middle-classes-1800-1870.html> Davidoff, Leonore, and Catherine Hall. Family Fortunes: Men and Women of the English Middle … Continue reading →

Period Cookbook References

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  Period Cookbooks A Lady. Domestic Economy and Cookery for the rich and poor. London: Longman, Rees, Orme, Brown and Green. 1827. Beeton, Isabella. Beeton’s Book of Household Management. London: S. O. Beeton Publishing, 1861. Borella. The Court and Country Confectioner: Or, the House-keepers Guide ; to a More Speedy, Plain, and Familiar Method of Understanding the Whole Art of Confectionary … A New Edition. To Which Is Added, a Dissertation on the Different Species of … Continue reading →