Regency House Party
Regency House Party, written by Lucy Jago, accompanies the Channel 4 series that takes five men and five women back to discover life and love in the Regency period. It skilfully interweaves the story of this extraordinary experiment with a highly enjoyable historical account of the time. In this edited extract, we learn how young bucks were prepared for all the calls made on their time and attention …
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While the women [in the Regency House] learned to curb their modern expectations and content themselves with long and languorous days with little to do, the men were propelled into Regency life at a furious pace. They spent their first days acquiring some of the skills and attainments that were considered vital to increase one's attractiveness to the opposite sex.
Prerequisites
A sensitivity towards nature, a good knowledge of poetry, art, music and literature, plus well-reasoned discourse and lively conversational skills, were all prerequisites of being a Regency gentleman. He should display his wealth conspicuously yet elegantly, provide lavish entertainments for his guests and pay zealous attention to the latest fashions in dress. That was the 'gentle' part. The 'man' part involved dexterity with a weapon, equestrian skills, mastery of 'the ribbons' (driving a carriage), elegant and masterful deportment and skill on the dance floor.
Would any of the gentlemen master the qualities of a true gentleman, as enumerated by Jane Austen in Persuasion ?
Everything united in him; good understanding, correct opinions, knowledge of the world, and a warm heart. He had strong feelings of family-attachment and family-honour, with pride or weakness; he lived with the liberality of a man of fortune, without display; he judged for himself in every thing essential, without defying public opinion in any point of worldly decorum. He was steady, observant, moderate, candid; never run away by spirits or by selfishness, which fancied itself strong feeling; and yet, with a sensibility to what was amiable and lovely, and value for all the felicities of domestic life …
Of course, a true Regency gentleman would have started absorbing and learning these skills from childhood.
Practical subjects
If he came from a wealthy family, he would have received a grounding in Greek and Latin from a private tutor before going on to Eton, Harrow, Winchester or some other eminent institution, otherwise continuing his education at home. It was only in the early 19th century that practical subjects such as English, writing and arithmetic joined classics, French and geography on the curriculum …
During the holidays, boys would hunt, shoot and fish – sports developed as part of a country squire's traditional attachment to his land and to nature. Cricket was also popular, played by men and watched by ladies.
To be genteel
By the time a young man went to university, he would already be an excellent horseman, well versed in 'military exercises', fond of his hounds and the countryside in all seasons. He would speak French, dance well and write a good letter, possibly in Greek.
While at Oxford or Cambridge (the only two universities in England at the time), a gentleman would continue his study of the classics. To be educated was to be genteel. Some students cared less for Virgil than for their horses, carriages, clothes and drink, but for all gentlemen, the cultivation of an aristocratic manner was as important as the cultivation of taste and intellect.
The reality for the aristocracy at this time was that many newly prosperous merchants in Britain were buying vast tracts of land and building houses as grand as those of established aristocratic families. It became increasingly difficult to distinguish a 'genuine' aristocrat from a nouveau impostor and therefore an elegant (or fashionably inelegant) manner was a sign of true gentility …
Horse and carriage
The first and most crucial attribute to acquire was the ability to handle a horse. It was inconceivable that any Regency gentleman (or woman) would be unable to ride unless infirm. If you could not ride, you would have been a virtual prisoner in your home. Walking to a neighbour's house for dinner meant carrying shoes in a special bag, taking a lantern for the return journey and risking losing footwear in the mud.
Relying on a carriage for transport, however, required significant wealth. They were expensive to buy and maintain, needing as they did stabling for the horses and liveries for the coachman and grooms. Even renting a carriage and pair (two horses) with a coachman cost £200–£300 a year (£10,000–£20,000 today). The two-wheeled carriages with one horse (the Ferraris of their day) were called 'bankrupt carts' by the Chief Justice 'because they were, and are, frequently driven by those who could neither afford the Money to support them, nor the Time spent in using them, the want of which, in their Business, brought them to Bankruptcy'. Stabling your own horse, particularly in a city, was harder than finding a parking space today. Just feeding a horse cost £30 a year – more than feeding the groom, in fact – while the coachman's liveries cost more than his annual salary.
On a practical level, coaches also took some time to prepare and had to be ordered several hours before they were needed. They were therefore more useful for displaying one's wealth than for surveying one's estate. They were necessary on long journeys, of course, or when carrying large loads, but otherwise riding a horse or a mule was much the quickest and cheapest option ...
Threat of invasion
The 'military' exercises that upper-class Regency boys learned as a matter of course at school, particularly the art of wielding a sabre, also had to be taught to the men in the house. 'Sabre' is the term for any flat-bladed sword, as opposed to an épée , a fencing weapon, which has a triangular blade. During the Regency, all military personnel carried a sabre as a matter of course – there were 40,000 of Napoleon's troops massed across the Channel for much of the period and the threat of invasion was a daily worry.
Britain had been at war on and off since 1775 and so great emphasis was placed on military skills. Sabre fighting became a popular form of exercise, and in the army, it would have been taught like a PE lesson, with an instructor. Instruction for our guests began with learning the basic moves – 'cuts' (attacking) and 'parries' (defensive) – and their accompanying footwork: the 'lunge', the 'retreat' and the 'attack'. These moves could then be combined into endless, choreographed sequences. Eventually the men would need to combine riding with sabre-wielding, since, to serve in the British army, a man had to be able to attack with his sword while charging into battle on horseback …
At serious risk
Violence was widespread during the Regency, at home as on the battlefield, and all gentlemen (non-military as well as military) were armed, since highwaymen and street robbers were rife. At the beginning of the 19th century, thieves and robbers, bandits, highwaymen, 'wreckers' (coastal dwellers who lured ships on to rocks, then plundered the wreckage), pickpockets, con-men and cut-throats roamed the lanes, roads, heathlands, woodlands, coastal paths and city streets virtually unchecked.
A man took a serious risk if he walked alone at night. The prince of Wales (before he became regent) and his brother, the duke of York, were attacked and robbed while walking near Berkeley Square one night. Soon afterwards, two young ladies returning from the opera in their own carriage were held up and robbed by a single footpad in St James's Square.
There was no police force during the Regency: the Metropolitan Police Act was passed in 1829 and it was even later before the rest of the country was required to maintain a regular constabulary. A Regency gentleman was expected to defend himself, his family and his property against any threat from without.
Duelling
He was also expected to defend his 'honour' in response to any insult or innuendo directed against him personally or any threat to his pursuit of romance. Although illegal, duelling was common. The playwright Sheridan fought two duels with the same man over the same girl. He was nearly killed but survived to marry her. The dandy Alvanley tipped his jarvey (hackney-cab driver) a whole sovereign after he drove him to a duel. When the driver exclaimed at being tipped so much just for going to Wimbledon, the wit replied, 'No, my good man. I give it to you for bringing me back.'
The rule of honour was so rigid that the smallest infringements could lead to a duel. 'If you looked at a man, it was enough; for without having given the slightest offence, cards were exchanged and the odds were that you stood a good chance of being shot, or run through the body, or maimed for life,' wailed Gronow, a perceptive Regency observer.
Sporting 'professors'
Self-styled sporting 'professors' (whose titles did not relate to any academic institution) were celebrities during the Regency. The most famous of them was Gentleman Jackson, a prize-fighter who went on to start a 'boxing academy' in Bond Street to which the haut ton went for physical training. Jackson was said to have been the 'finest-formed man in Europe' at just under six foot (1.8 metres) and 14 stone (88.9 kilograms). He could write his name on a wall with an 84-pound (38kg) weight suspended from his little finger.
One eye-witness wrote his impressions of Jackson as the latter walked down Holborn Hill: 'It was impossible to look on his fine ample chest, his noble shoulders, his waist, his large but not too large hips … his limbs, his balustrade calf and beautifully turned but not over delicate ankle, his firm foot, and peculiarly small hand, without thinking that nature had sent him on earth as a model. On he went at a good five-and-a-half miles an hour, the envy of all men, and the admiration of all women.'
Physical ordeals
Jackson's manners were impeccable and he possessed the dignity and gentility that made his nickname stick. Although the son of a builder, he was granted the status of a 'gentleman' by his pupils, who were his social superiors but allowed him to tell them what to do. The rooms where he trained men were so popular that it was said that more than a third of the nobility frequented them, including the prince of Wales.
They were the focus of all debate on fighting, cricket, horse-racing and wagering, and remained so until Jackson's retirement in 1824. Men could mingle and bond there with fewer class constraints than in other public places, or even at home. He would put his pupils through severe physical ordeals – not only exercises but also starvation diets, purges and bleeding. To be attractive and alluring to women, it was an advantage to have a physique similar to Gentleman Jackson's …
Wagers
Sports, gambling and trials of strength and stamina were woven into daily life at every level of society. One of the great sports of the day was 'pedestrianism', or walking wagers. These were competitions between two or more individuals or challenges accepted by one man – for example, Captain Barclay's famous (and successful) feat of walking 1,000 miles in 1,000 hours for 1,000 guineas …
The earl of March set up a wager that he could get a letter to go 50 miles in one hour. As the fastest horse could travel at around only 30 miles an hour over a short distance, this feat seemed impossible and an easy wager to win. Articles of agreement were written up; the earl then put the letter in a cricket ball and persuaded his local cricket team to throw it in a circle between themselves. It was an incredible feat of skill, for the ball could not be dropped if it was to travel exactly 50 miles in one hour. They achieved their goal, and the earl was richer by 10,000 guineas.
Captain Barclay achieved his pedestrian wager by creating a well-lit, protected walking track – complete with a good surface, security guards and a team of supporters – next to a small house in which he slept for brief periods. Every hour he would complete a circuit of the ring. He overcame extreme mental and physical fatigue to win – and then, just one week later, went off to sea to fight a naval battle.
Lucy Jago has made history, arts and social documentaries for Channel 4 and the BBC. She is also the author of Northern Lights: How one man unlocked the secrets of space, and is a regular contributor to various publications.
