The everyday life of an aristocrat

Judi Lynn

February 1

My critique partner and friend, Julia Donner/M.L. Rigdon, writes witty Regency romances. I've liked Regency for a long time, starting with Georgette Heyer. The male aristocrats are often seen going over numbers with a steward in an office, drinking port in their study, playing billiards, or at their club rubbing elbows with their friends. The women might be doing embroidery in the parlor, attending parties, or planning dinners. But I was curious what their daily lives would be like, so I asked. And Mary Lou was kind enough to send an answer:

My thanks to Judy Post/Judi Lynn for inviting me to her blog and for the blog questions, asking how aristocrats spent their days. I assumed most readers of the regency knew but apparently there are those who do not. There are many variations to the schedules and activities, but to follow is an approximate explanation.

The wives woke to a brief libation, often hot chocolate, and began their first set of clothes for the day. They could change many times, depending on what the day entailed—house duties, going out of doors, seeing callers if it was their "at home" day, dinners or the theatre—every activity involved a different costume. The tasks varied slightly but included seeing the housekeeper, who often managed one or more establishments, seeing to the menus with the cook or chef, answering invitations and correspondence, returning calls from visitors, and preparations for social events of all kinds. Their days were often packed with things that needed getting done. (Barbara Cartland's picture of a languishing lady of the house on a sofa with her fluffy dog are far from the mark.)

Girls had to learn all of this, plus dancing classes, perfecting "improving" works, such as artwork, music, a smattering of foreign languages, and basic social skills and manners. Boys had tutors for school when not getting an education away from home, which could start quite young. The higher on the social scale, the younger the boys were pushed into systems like Eton or Winchester. If lucky enough to be home, there were dancing, fencing and weaponry lessons, and intensive studies with tutors or church educators.

Gentlemen had their own tasks, such as seeing to their stewards for legal and property matters, a secretary for correspondence and invitations, visits to their tailor or bootmaker, and returning calls from visitors, which amounted to a moral obligation. All of the buck-about-town activities certainly ruled, but there were some financial obligations that could not be ignored. If they were, that ended up with entire fortunes being lost. If it was a case of ignoring the management of sometimes huge estates with many properties to go racing, card playing or bear baiting, ruin awaited.

The lives of aristocrats and gentry were profoundly affected by the presence of competent staff. The housekeeper and butler ruled. Housekeepers managed housemaids and parlor maids, the household budget and all things to do with the running of often more than one estate. The butler had the management of the footmen and boot boys, and wine cellars. (Valets, personal maids and dressers were not included.) Cooks often were excluded and ran their own staff of cook's helpers, tweenies, and scullery girls.

When all of this worked, it was amazing, and quite often, it worked well when the lord and lady of the house were consistent, well-educated, and attentive. If not, disasters could happen. There are, of course, variations on this theme and things that I've left out, but you get the gist of it.

Mary Lou writes her Regencies under the name Julia Donner. Her latest novel is OPHELIA'S MARRIAGE PLAN:

Miss Ophelia Hardesty nourishes no intentions of ever getting married. In order to achieve this goal as a member of the gentry, she had to go to considerable lengths. These included making herself as plain as possible. This was to no avail. She was quite good looking and had a considerable dowry. She was indeed bookish but this was of no consequence, since most of the gentlemen she met were not overly bright. She'd tried letting herself be known as a dedicated flirt, but that meant gentlemen found her excessively attractive. She had no choice but rudeness. Which worked, when the gentleman was canny enough to take the hint. What she hadn't taken into account was someone she'd known since childhood returned home from adventures abroad eager to foil her plans.