After the Wedding Comes a Marriage: Regency Marriages

by Maria Grace

Caught between the romanticism of the Victorian era and the rather sterile business arrangements of the early Georgian era, what did a typical regency era couple expect upon marriage?

Age at marriage

Very wealthy men who did not need to establish themselves in the world might marry much younger women , but in general, (middle class) people married later than we might expect. Men usually delayed marriage until they were in a position to fully support a family. Sources put the average age of marriage between 23 and 27 for women and between 25 and 29 for men.

Postponing marriage had two unintended consequences. First, it reduced the overall birthrate and typical family size. Perhaps coincidentally, perhaps as a result of this, “the early 19th century also saw a rising proportion of marriages between London businessmen and the daughters of the gentry... as many ancient families died out in the male lineage, an increasingly large number of heiresses appeared on the marriage market.”(Rendell, 2002)

Further, high mortality rates led to “a marital breakdown rate of a similar magnitude to that created by the large number of divorces today.”(Shoemaker, 1998)  From the very poor to the very well off, death of a spouse was a common experience.

The Institution of marriage

For both men and women, marriage marked a transition into a new life. For men, it was a transition into full adulthood and an expectation of domestic comfort. (Vickery, 2009) Furthermore, marriage gave men the status of householder and a political voice in the community.

In general, beyond the ideal of a good dowry, men were looking for wives to bear them heirs, manage their households and be good companions. Marriage, though, was also viewed as a potential trap for the man. He would allow the woman share in his money and social position and had no guarantee of receiving comparable benefits in return. (Shapard, 2003)

Conduct writers clearly expressed this sentiment. “Her Marriage is an Adoption into his Family, and therefore she is, to every Branch of it, to pay what their Stations there do respectively require.” (The Whole Duty of a Woman,1737) Given a woman’s legal coverture meant that she gave up her legal personhood in marriage, the attitude seems a bit ironic since she became the veritable possession of her husband.

In spite of limiting her legal rights, marriage immediately raised a woman’s social status, no matter what her class. A married woman always took precedence over unmarried women.

Who’s in Charge Here?

Companionate marriages were desirable, but practical considerations were probably the backbone of most matches. Loving relationships were more likely to form after marriage than before, if they formed at all. Whatever amiable feelings might develop did so in the context of a clear hierarchy. In regency society, no one doubted that the husband was the head of the relationship, in charge of essentially everything.

There cannot, indeed, be a sight more uncouth, than that of a man and his wife struggling for power: for where it ought to be vested, nature, reason, and Scripture, concur to declare;… How preposterous is it to hear a woman say, ' It shall be done!' —' I will have it so!' and often extending her authority not only beyond her jurisdiction, but in matters where he alone is competent to act, or even to judge. (Taylor, 1822)

Under legal coverture, women had no legal existence; the husband existed for them both in public life. He owned all property, had custody of the children, conducted all business transactions on the family’s behalf, even owned the wife’s earnings should she have income of her own. He even had the right to physically chastise his wife, divide her from friends and family and severely curtail her movements, if he so wished. (Jones,2009)

Though this might sound like a recipe for creating petty tyrants, Rev. Thomas Gisborne (1797), a major moralist of the era, argued that true marital harmony came from the husband taking pre-eminence over his wife. She need not fear though, if he were a religious man, he would follow God’s will and be a kind protector for whom she would, in gratitude, be endlessly good tempered and pleasing.

While some may have strictly adhered to this view of marriage, most probably took a slightly softer stance in keeping with the views of the Enlightenment. A growing respect for individuals meant that husbands were encouraged to see their wives as worthy human beings and respect their opinions. Marriages were probably not ones of equal give and take, but some degree of mutuality likely typified most relationships.

Catherine Macaulay, a staunch promoter of female education held that husbands had the right to expect obedience from their wives, but that they should in their turn treat wives as their best friends. (Jones, 2009) Ann Taylor (1822) advocated, “A man of common understanding, though he may derive benefit from his wife's advice, certainly ought not to be governed by her.”

Not only did conduct writers agreed it was right and appropriate for women to have the subservient role, they also needed to be prepared to be tolerant of a difficult husband. It was the price of being a married woman.

On your part, you promised to love as well as to honour and obey; and probably from the all-perfect being to whom you then surrendered yourself, you expected to derive such uninterrupted felicity as would render the fulfilment of this promise constantly easy and delightful. But, however discreet your choice … by degrees the discovery … that you have married a mortal, and that the object of your affection is not entirely free from the infirmities of human nature. Then … your disappointment may be moderated; and your love, so far from declining, may acquire additional tenderness, from the consciousness that there is room for mutual forbearance. (Taylor, 1822)

A proper wife had limited power for direct control or anything in her life, especially her husband. According to Gisborne (1797) her indirect influence should be channeled affection, example and charms rather than through boldness or strength, all while being submitted to her husband’s wishes in all things.

If all this seems a bit unfair, take heart, even conduct writers realized it:The World in this is somewhat unequal, and the masculine Sex seems to play the Tyrant… (The Whole Duty of a Woman,1737)

But fear not, there is compensation for the woman in that: But if in this it lies under any Disadvantage, it is more than recompens'd, by having the Honour of Families in their Keeping. (The Whole Duty of a Woman,1737)

That certainly rectified all the disadvantages, right?

Mutual affection

Despite all the emphasis on male dominance and female subservience in marriage, marriages of affection were probably common among the lower class where spouses were most likely to be the same age and women's joint participation in breadwinning placed them in partnership with their husbands. (Shoemaker, 1998)

Examining diaries and other personal documents of the period suggests that middle and upper class marriages were also often warm and affectionate also, even on occasion blossoming into love. Shared values and goals between the partners could and did facilitate the development of warm friendships between spouses. Ann Taylor’s(1822) advice might also help:” A wife is tenderly alive to the kind attentions of her husband, whether at home or abroad: and neither can more gracefully fulfil the marriage vow, than by thus giving honour, open and cheerful honour, to whom honour is due.”

If diaries and letters are to be believed though, passion played little role in these relationships. Though that may feel sad and hollow to the contemporary reader, it is important to realize that individuals did not have the expectation of romance and passion in their marriages either. So, not having that was not necessarily the disappointing blow that it would seem to the modern marriage seeker.

 

Find previous installments of this series here:

Get Me to the Church on Time: Changing Attitudes toward Marriage
To Have a Courtship, One Needs a Suitor
Nothing is ever that simple: Rules of Courtship
Show me the Money: the Business of Courtship
The Price of a Broken Heart
Making an Offer of Marriage
Games of Courtship
The Hows and Why of Eloping
Licenses, Laws and Legalities of Marriage
Short, Simple and to the Point: Regency Weddings

References

Collins, Irene. Jane Austen, the Parson's Daughter. London: Hambledon Press, 1998.

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

Flinders, M. Gratefull to providence: The diary and accounts of Matthew Flinders, surgeon, apothecary and man-midwife, 1775–1802: Vol. 1: 1775–1784. Ed. Martyn Beardsley and Nicholas Bennett. Lincoln Record Society, United Kingdom, 2008.

Gisborne, Thomas. An Enquiry into the Duties of the Female Sex. London: Cadell and Davies, 1797.

Harvey, A. D. - Sex in Georgian England, Phoenix Press (1994)

Jones, Hazel. Jane Austen and Marriage. London: Continuum, 2009

Lewis, Judith Schneid - In the Family Way, Childbearing in the British Aristocracy, 1760-1860 .Rutgers University Press (1986)

Rendell, Jane - The Pursuit of Pleasure: Gender, Space and Architecture in Regency London.  Rutgers University Press (2002)

Savage, William, Marriage amongst the Middling Sort June 22, 2016
https://penandpension.com/2016/06/22/marriage-amongst-the-middling-sort/

Shoemaker, Robert B. Gender in English Society 1650-1850. Pearson Education Limited (1998)

Taylor, Ann. Practical Hints to Young Females: On the Duties of a Wife, a Mother, and a Mistress of a Family. 10th ed. London: Taylor and Hessey, 1822.

Vickery, Amanda. Behind Closed Doors: At Home in Georgian England. New Haven, Conn.: Yale University Press, 2009.

The Whole Duty of a Woman, Or, an Infallible Guide to the Fair Sex. Containing, Rules, Directions, and Observations, for Their Conduct and Behaviour through All Ages and Circumstances of Life, as Virgins, Wives, or Widows. With Directions, How to Obtain All Use. The 2nd ed. London: Printed for T. Read, in Dogwell-Court, White-Fryers, Fleet-Street, 1737.

The Young Husband's Book a Manual of the Duties, Moral, Religious, and Domestic, Imposed by the Relations of Married Life. Philadelphia: Lea & Blanchard, 1839.

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Though Maria Grace has been writing fiction since she was ten years old, those early efforts happily reside in a file drawer and are unlikely to see the light of day again, for which many are grateful. After penning five file-drawer novels in high school, she took a break from writing to pursue college and earn her doctorate. After 16 years of university teaching, she returned to her first love, fiction writing.

Click here to find her books on Amazon. For more on her writing and other Random Bits of Fascination, visit her website. You can also like her on Facebook, follow on Twitter or email 

All Servants Were Not Created Equal: The Gender Divide

by Maria Grace

During the Regency era , anywhere from ten to twenty percent of the British population were employed in domestic service. Of that number, approximately ninety percent were women. A significant gender gap existed both in wages and prestige afforded male and female servants.

Male versus female labor

Two primary factors contributed to these gender differences. Firstly, men were more expensive to hire. Not only did they command higher wages, but the 1776 tax on male servants made them dramatically more expensive to employ. Effectively a household required an income of at least 1000 pounds per year to employ a man servant (though 700 pounds a year might afford a footboy),whereas households having only 150 pounds a year could afford a maid-of-all-work.

Male servants became a status symbol and a mark of prestige, whereas female servants were only a commonplace feature found in even very modest households.

On the whole, women filled unskilled positions in the house, primarily cleaning and cooking. Men managed and oversaw those positions and supervised household valuables and luxury items like tobacco and alcohol. Perhaps more significantly, male servants engaged in what was considered skilled labor, including most of the labor outside of the house. Young men apprenticed in those tasks, learning to take on those skilled positions in the future.

Most male servants reported to the master of the house, through a hierarchy of male servants. The system worked well for those servants concerned with outdoor activities. Problems arose, though, when indoor male servants reported to the mistress of the house. Conflicts often arose when a woman attempted to supervise male staff, requiring the intervention of the master of the house.



The professional staff positions available in large households demonstrated this divide clearly.

This gender divide extended from the lowest to the highest staff positions in households, with all of the highest paid, most powerful and prestigious positions held by men.

The largest households employed stewards to manage the lands. In some cases when the house itself was very large, the house also had a steward assigned. Paid a salary from 50 to 300 pounds a year, depending on the size and profitability of the estate, these men usually had a background in law and many had served as clerks to solicitors. Land stewards would have a separate dwelling on the estate, but a house steward would have private quarters in the house. Neither were considered servants, but rather professionals and according respect equal to or above the family lawyer.

No directly corresponding female positions existed. The closest analogy might be the lady’s companion or the governess. Both these positions employed women who were gently born but forced into service by some unfortunate circumstance. Thus, they were not fully considered as servants. However, despite their skills and education, they were not afforded professional status either. They were relegated to a neither/nor position where they did not fit with the family and were not accepted among the household staff. Similarly, their salaries were typically only in the range of 25 pounds a year, half of what the least steward might earn.

In short, male servants cared for the household luxuries, alcohol, silver, crystal and were paid far more than the women who cared for the household’s young ladies and children.

Hardships of the female servant

The lowest order of servants was relegated to the most difficult, unpleasant tasks: cleaning, scrubbing, hauling water and waste, maintaining fires and cleaning up after them. These were the scullery maids and maids-of-all-work. They also made up the largest single category of those in domestic service.

Girls as young as eleven filled these roles. They were also the servants most subject to physical discipline by their employers, particularly the mistress of the house. No laws prevented a master or mistress from beating a servant they felt deserving of it. A servant could petition the courts if they felt themselves mistreated, but such an action could impact their ability to seek future employment, so such complaints might cause more problems than they resolved.

Female servants were subject to one further hardship that male servants did not generally face. Women in service were deemed sexually available to the men of the household, including male servants. Even if the female servant was married, or the master enforced celibacy (forbade boyfriends) among the servants, this additional ‘service’ could be demanded from female employees, including governesses and companions. To add further insult to injury, nothing prevented a jealous mistress from venting her spleen upon these vulnerable servants. Few legal protections existed in this situation, and girls could be dismissed for pregnancy, even if it were caused by one of the members of the household.

Although men and women both worked in service, both law and tradition conspired to make their relative situations vastly different. Despite occupying only ten percent of the domestic service positions, high paying, high power and prestige roles were held almost exclusively by men while the lowest ranks were occupied by women.

References

Adams, Samuel, and Sarah Adams. The Complete Servant; Being a Practical Guide to the Peculiar Duties and Business of All Descriptions of Servants ... with Useful Receipts and Tables,. London: Knight and Lacey, 1825.
Ardelie, Susan. "Domestic Servants - Part 1 - Women." Making History Tart Titillating. February 16, 2010. Accessed August 10, 2015. https://lifetakeslemons.wordpress.com/2010/02/16/domestic-servants-part-1-women/.
Ardelie, Susan. "Domestic Servants - Part 2 - Men." Making History Tart Titillating. March 2, 2010. Accessed August 10, 2015. https://lifetakeslemons.wordpress.com/2010/03/02/domestic-servants-part-2-men/.
Barker, Anne. The Complete Servant Maid or Young Woman's Best Companion. Containing Full, Plain, and Easy Directions for Qualifying Them for Service in General, but More Especially for the Places of Lady's Woman, Housekeeper, Chambermaid, Nursery Maid, Housemaid, Laund. London: Printed for J. Cooke, No. 17, Pater-Noster Row, 1770.
Beeton, Isabella Mary. The Book of Household Management. Edited by Mrs. I. Beeton, Etc. [With Illustrations.]. London: S. O. Beeton, 1861.
Cosnett, Thomas. The Footman's Directory, and Butler's Remembrancer Or, the Advice of Onesimus to His Young Friends: Comprising, Hints on the Arrangement and Performance of Their Work ; Rules for Setting out Tables and Sideboards ; the Art of Waiting at Table, and Conduct. London: Printed for the Author ;, 1823.
Giles, Kelly. "Servants." Randolph College Faculty Webserver. Accessed August 10, 2015. http://faculty.randolphcollege.edu/janeausten/reports/servants.htm.
Glover, Anne. "Regency Culture and Society: A Primer on Household Staff." Regency Reader. March 19, 2012. Accessed August 10, 2015. http://www.regrom.com/2012/03/19/regency-culture-and-society-a-primer-on-household-staff/.
Hoppe, Michelle Jean. "Servants--Their Hierarchy and Duties." Literary Liaisons. 2003. Accessed August 10, 2015. http://www.literary-liaisons.com/article046.htm.
Household Work, Or, The Duties of Female Servants Practically and Economically Illustrated, through the Respective Grades of Maid-of-all-work, House and Parlour-maid, and Laundry-maid : With Many Valuable Recipes for Facilitating Labour in Every Departmen. London: J. Masters, 1850.
Koster, Kristen. "A Primer on Regency Era Servants - Kristen Koster." Kristen Koster. November 29, 2011. Accessed August 10, 2015. http://www.kristenkoster.com/a-primer-on-regency-era-servants/.
Schmidt, Wayne. "Victorian Domestic Servant Hierarchy and Wage Scale." Wayne's This and That. Accessed August 10, 2015. http://www.waynesthisandthat.com/servantwages.htm.
The Servant's Guide and Family Manual: With New and Improved Receipts, Arranged and Adapted to the Duties of All Classes of Servants ... Forming a Complete System of Domestic Management. 2d ed. London: J. Limbird, 1831.
Webster, Thomas, and William Parkes. An Encyclopædia of Domestic Economy .. London: Longman, Brown, Green, and Longmans, 1852.

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 Maria Grace is the author of Darcy's Decision,  The Future Mrs. Darcy, All the Appearance of Goodness, and Twelfth Night at Longbourn, Remember the Past, and Mistaking Her Character.  Click here to find her books on Amazon. For more on her writing and other Random Bits of Fascination, visit her website. You can also like her on Facebook, follow on Twitter or email her.

Women’s Rights in Anglo-Saxon England ~ Why They Were Much Greater than You Think

by Octavia Randolph

Here in the 21st century it is easy, and even natural, to believe in an ever-improving continuum of human rights. We look back to the banning of slavery in Britain in 1834, the signing of the 13th Amendment to the Constitution of the United States in 1865, the granting of the vote to women in the US in 1920 and in Britain in 1928, the passing of Civil Rights laws in the 1960’s, recent legal recognition of same sex marriage in many nations, and feel: “This is the natural progression of things. People gain more rights as time goes on.”

But you might be surprised to learn that if you are of English descent, your maternal ancestors of 1000 years ago enjoyed more legal rights than did your great grandmother. Shocking, but true.

Women’s legal rights under, say King Ælfred the Great (King of Wessex 844-899 CE) were far greater than under Queen Victoria (reigned 1837-1901). (Indeed, the Victorian era was the nadir of women’s rights in Britain, as women were reduced to the state of near-complete legal dependence on fathers and husbands, and divorce required an act of Parliament until 1857. The most powerful woman in the world repeatedly claimed her own sex unfit to win suffrage. But that is another essay…)

The fact is that women enjoyed legal rights under Anglo-Saxon law that they were to lose after the Battle of Hastings (1066) and for many hundreds of years afterwards. So let us return to the more congenial 9th century, and learn more.

Ælfred’s 9th century law code has survived, and provides us with valuable insight into women’s legal status. His laws were predicated upon those of earlier kings, particularly Ine, King of the West Saxons (688-726). In his preface, Ælfred explains that he examined many existing law codes from the Old Testament to those of previous Anglo-Saxon kings in neighbouring kingdoms:

Then I, King Ælfred, gathered them together and ordered to be written many of the ones that our forefathers observed - those that pleased me; and many of the ones that did not please me I rejected with the advice of my councillors, and commanded them to be observed in a different way. For I dared not presume to set down in writing at all many of my own, since it was unknown to me what would please those who should come after us. But those which I found either in the days of Ine, my kinsman, or of Offa, king of the Mercians, or of Ælthelberht (who first among the English people received baptism), and which seemed to me most just, I collected herein, and omitted the others.

Crimes are categorised along class lines. Here are penalties owed by men for adultery:

If anyone lies with the wife of a twelve-hundred man, he is to pay 120 shillings compensation to the husband; to a six-hundred man, he is to pay 100 shillings compensation; to a ceorl, he is to pay forty shillings compensation.

A "twelve-hundred man" refers to the individual's wergild (man-gold), or valuation. Twelve hundred shillings would signify a nobleman, or at least a thegn (the forerunner of the later knight). The ceorl ("churl") was a common free man, usually an agricultural worker, but possibly a skilled craftsman as well. The ceorl's wergild was set at 200 shillings. We do not know the exact figure of Ælfred's own wergild, but it is thought to have been 6,000 shillings.

Wergild was an important legal concept, for without it all feuds were settled "eye for an eye": If you killed my kinsman, I killed your kinsman. If you raped my daughter, I raped yours. Wergild, the notion of a cash valuation for each person's life, allowed the ruling noble to command that grievances be redressed not by violence but by silver or gold payments, thus limiting the escalation of vendetta.

All persons (except slaves) had a wergild, and Ælfred's laws spell out reparations for the loss of bodily parts as well, even unto the loss of the little fingernail (one shilling fine).

Don't kidnap this nun...

Ælfred's laws cover penalties owed for kidnapping (or luring) a woman from a nunnery; for assault, sexual and otherwise, of a woman; rape of a slave woman; rape of underage girls; and for the death of a pregnant woman. While it is true that the financial penalties exacted from the wrongdoer typically went to the women’s father or husband, it is also true that crimes against women were treated with as much seriousness as crimes against men. And no woman of any age could be forced into marriage:

No woman or maiden shall ever be forced to marry one whom she dislikes, nor be sold for money.

Other rights that Anglo-Saxon women enjoyed were the right to own land in her own name, and to sell such land or give it away without her father's or husband's consent; the right to defend herself in court; and the right to act as compurgator in law suits; that is, to testify to another's truthfulness. She could also freely manumit her slaves. Her morgen-gifu, or morning-gift, that gift of land, jewellry, livestock or such that a bride received from her new husband the morning after their wedding, was hers to keep for life. (Compare these rights to those of your great grandmother in London, the chattel of her father until marriage and then the legal “property” of her husband afterward.)

I'm taking this loom with me when I go

One of the greatest indicators of women’s rights is the women’s ability to end an abusive or otherwise unsatisfactory marriage. Divorce was extremely common amongst upper-class Anglo-Saxons; indeed (and to the chagrin of the Church), both men and women practised serial “marrying up” as a form of social climbing. (More humble folk simply separated without ado, to take up with another or remain single as they wished.)

Early divorce laws granted the wife half the household goods, including any goods she had brought into the union, and full custody of the children. As only women’s wills from the era mention the disposition of things such as linens, furniture, plate, and so on, there is reason to assume that the majority of household furnishings by default followed the woman in case of divorce. Instead of impoverishing women, divorce laws ensured an equitable sharing of goods and property.

All of this was to come to a crushing end after the catastrophe of October 1066. The Normans (“northmen”) carried across the Channel with them the vestiges of their earlier Viking mores towards property and women. A legal “golden age” for English women had come to an end.

In the 9th century daughters inherited goods or land from either parent, or both, and these bequests were theirs without challenge or question. One exception was that of heathens: in the opening of The Circle of Ceridwen the eponymous character is denied her inheritance from her uncle because as a heathen she had no standing in the eyes of the law. Her rightful lands were given to a nearby priory for its maintenance, and she became their ward.

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Octavia Randolph is the author of The Circle of Ceridwen Trilogy.  Young women with courage. Swords with names. Vikings with tattoos. Warfare. Passion. Survival. Sheep. And Other Good Things...

For more about Anglo-Saxon law and society, I highly recommend The Beginnings of English Society by Dorothy Whitelock, Penguin Books 1974; and Alfred the Great: Asser's Life of King Alfred and Other Contemporary Sources, translated by Simon Keynes and Michael Lapidge, Penguin Books 1983, from which I excerpted portions of Ælfred's law code.

Mistress of the Manor-what did she do all day?

By Maria Grace

Period dramas have left many of us with the notion that ladies of the landed gentry in the Regency era had little to do but dress in lovely gowns, embroider and gossip.  Reality could not be farther from this image. In general, both masters and mistresses of the house did a great deal of work around the estate, often working alongside the servants in the efforts to get everything done.

Labors tended to be divided along gender lines. So much so that single men sought female relatives to manage their households. Bachelors looked to sister or nieces while widowers often called upon daughters or the dead wife’s kin.  So, even if a woman did not marry, there was a very strong possibility she might take on the responsibilities of a household sometime in her lifetime.  Gentlemen tended to respect the household mistress’ authority; her contributions to the home had worth equal to his.

Responsibilities of the Mistress

The role of an estate’s mistress was the equivalent of, depending on the size of the estate, managing a small hotel to being the CEO of a major corporation. 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.’ 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.

Children

The mistress’ responsibilities to her children are perhaps the most obvious.  First, she was expected to provide them in the first place.  Once they were born, it was on her shoulders to hire the nursery maids and governess, if the estate could afford them. If not, she would care for them herself. She was responsible for their education, whether she conducted it herself or hired others to teach them.

As her daughters grew older, it was her role to insure they acquired the necessary accomplishments that would be expected of them, including, interestingly enough, sufficient understanding of mathematics to manage household ledgers. She would also tutor them in the skills necessary to manage a household of their own.

Finances

Managing the household budget and accounts made up a large part of the mistress’ efforts.  Numerous domestic manuals, including Mrs. Rundell’s, "A New System of Domestic Cookery", were available to assist women in the process.  Mrs. Rundell warned 'the welfare and good management of the house' depended on their careful surveillance. Accounts should be regularly kept and 'not the smallest article' omitted. That included weighing meat, sugar and similar commodities when they came from the retailer and comparing them with the charge. So, the mistress also served as the CFO of her domestic organization.

She might earn some additional money from managing the dairy and poultry, which was almost exclusively a female domain. Selling eggs, milk and surplus fowl could bring a tidy sum into the household, if carefully managed. Of course, doing so also meant more that required her attention.

Supplying the Manor

All manner of supplies for the home were handled by the mistress.  What could not be made in house was purchased.  What could be made was. Planning for and managing the creation of necessary products could be a huge year-round endeavor.

All manner of foodstuffs and herbs were raised and preserved using recipes and instructions passed down from their mothers and grandmothers. To neglect this process was to risk the family going without during the winter when it was often difficult to purchase supplies.

Beyond this, the mistress of an estate oversaw the making, mending and cleaning of the family's clothes. Clothing for the servants might also be included in her purview. Soap for laundry and household use required animal fat and wood ashes to be saved and stored until needed. Water from boiling rice and potatoes was saved for starching clothes. Animal and even human urine (yikes!) was also saved for wash day.

Servants

Although men were legally responsible for hiring and firing servants, the mistress oversaw the engaging, instructing and supervising of domestic servants.  Close control and supervision could be necessary. Many records of the era note inefficient and dishonest servants were common place.  Not only did the mistress manage the servants, she was also in a position to care for their needs. She typically kept herself informed about their families, illnesses and needs and provided for their care.

Community

The responsibilities of a landowner’s wife extend beyond the home into the community at large, both to those who were her social equals and to those below her in social rank.

To those on her level, she would be expected to host dinners and social gatherings. Regular calls would be normal among her social circle.

To her social inferiors, she owed another kind of duty. In rural areas where no doctor was available, she might be called upon for her advice in treating the sick and injured. The village children needed to be educated—she was the one to organize the dame school to teach them to read and write. At Christmas time, she would provide gifts of baby clothes, blankets, shawls, coats, stockings and flannel petticoats to the villagers.

The mistress of the estate also was expected to care for the poor. She might meet with the local clergy man to find out their needs and determine how to meet them.  It was her role to visit them, deliver food, give advice, and listen to their complaints. Since the indigent had no other support system the gracious provision of the estates mistress provided a needed safety net.

So much for covering screens and eating biscuits. The Regency estate’s mistress was no lady of leisure, she was a full time working mother, business partner to her husband, and ideally, a leader in her community.

References

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

Horn, Pamela. Flunkeys and Scullions, Life Below Stairs in Georgian England . Sutton Publishing (2004)

Le Faye, Deirdre.  Jane Austen: The World of Her Novels. Harry N. Abrams (2002)

Sullivan, Margaret C.  The Jane Austen Handbook .Quirk Books (2007)

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

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Though Maria Grace has been writing fiction since she was ten years old, those early efforts happily reside in a file drawer and are unlikely to see the light of day again, for which many are grateful. 

After penning five file-drawer novels in high school, she took a break from writing to pursue college and earn her doctorate. After 16 years of university teaching, she returned to her first love, fiction writing.

Click here to find her books on Amazon. For more on her writing and other Random Bits of Fascination, visit her website. You can also like her on Facebook, or follow on Twitter.