Featured image found at http://www.regencyhistory.net/2012/09/when-is-regency-era.html

As I get back to my writing, I thought it might be fun to do a bit of trivia searching about the Regency era. To that end, here are five surprising facts about life in late eighteenth and early nineteenth century England. The majority of this information, plus a whole lot more, can be found at https://www.thevintagenews.com/2022/06/30/regency-era-facts/.

• When I write about Darcy, or Mr. Bennet, or any of my story participants traveling overnight, I have them checking into a roadside inn to rent a room. If Georgiana is with Darcy, I provide her with a room of her own. Isn’t that normal for travelers, even in the Regency era? Apparently not. When it came to overnight journeys, most people spent the night in what were known as coaching inns, which provided people with a bed, but did so at the cost of privacy. 

Sharing beds in the 1971 film ‘Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory’ (Photo Credit: Paramount Pictures via MovieStillsDB)

Inns were commonly crowded and the number of beds was limited, which meant sleeping in them was a community affair. While I wouldn’t want to spend a night with a total stranger or three, bed-sharing etiquette was widely known.

•  A rotting pineapple on display in a home was a status symbol. So much for diamonds or massive houses. With the discovery of this fruit by South American colonists, growers began planting pineapple trees all over the British colonies. It appears that only the wealthy and powerful could afford to import what at that time would have been a delicacy. The journey took so long that the fruits were rotten when they arrived, but that didn’t stop the proud owners from displaying them with pride on their dinner tables. Thanks, but no thanks. 

Left: Notice the pineapple on the table of the Duke of Wellington, 1828. (Photo by Heritage Art/Heritage Images via Getty Images). Right: A pineapple painted in 1790. (Photo Credit: Hulton Archive/Imagno via. Getty Images)

• Favorite pastimes during the summer was going to the seaside and going bathing. Men could swim in their breeches and dive from small boats without a care in the world, but women in bathing costumes were expected to keep themselves hidden from the members of the opposite sex. The beaches were not unisex, but divided into men’s and women’s areas, but that didn’t  stop adventurous or morally challenged men from sneaking peaks and ruining a woman’s modesty. To counter this problem, women used bathing machines, which consisted of a large wooden box with a small window at the top. Ladies would change into their bathing attire within the box. This protected them from view, as well as keeping their clothing and valuables dry. Once they donned the costume, horses pulled the machine to the water’s edge, which allowed the ladies and young women to swim without the annoyance of prying eyes. Is it just me, or does that sound like a whole lot of too much trouble to bother with?

• Entertainment choices were limited in the Regency. One pastime that interested a lot of people was death, which gained a macabre popularity, not so much during the Regency, but in the later years of the Victorian era. Ouija boards, seances, and  death rituals, held a strange fascination for the population, especially in the larger cities like London. When a murder happened, crowds gather to witness the gory details. Of course this resulted in the destruction of much evidence, which made solving the case a lot more difficult. It was not uncommon for the onlookers to grab the evidence and auction it off. A gruesome practice, as far as I’m concerned.

https://www.thevintagenews.com/2022/06/30/regency-era-facts/#:~:text=Regency%20Era%20entertainment%3A%20the%20Duel%20in%20the%20Snow%20Frontispiece%2C%20circa%201888.%20(Photo%20Credit%3A%20Wikimedia%20Commons/Public%20Domain)

• I’ve saved the best for last, depending on your point of view. As fashions changed, dress styles slimmed from what they had been. Of course, this meant that a woman’s underthings had to adapt as well so they could remain hidden. Where common undergarments had consisted of petticoats and chemises under the gowns, the new slimmer styles did not lend themselves to those. So what did women do, you might ask? Some of them wore pink stockings to simulate the look of bare skin, while others dampened their chemises, giving them a transparent appearance. Ooh la la! The most daring Regency women didn’t even bother to wear undergarments. Instead, they took to wearing pantaloons, which were quite popular because they weren’t so noticeable under the tighter fit of Regency dresses. These covered the legs but left the groin exposed, making a trip to do one’s business much easier. In fact, Princess Charlotte, George III’s daughter, was a great fan of them.

Left: Elizabeth Bennet (Kiera Knightley) and her sister Jane (Rosamund Pike) get dressed in Regency style in the 2005 adaptation of Pride & Prejudice. (Photo Credit: Universal Pictures/Focus Features via. MovieStillsDB). Right: Women’s drawers. ((Photo Credit: Heritage Art/Heritage Images via Getty Images)

As an author, my knowledge of the Regency has, out of necessity, increased substantially. Even though I was aware of much of this trivia, a significant amount came as a surprise. Lack of space kept me from delving into some of the more salacious bits I found. Maybe next time.