Michele Sinclair Romance

Regency Era Key Information ...

Writing novels or stories set in the Regency Era requires attention to detail. This page is devoted to key information sites. NOTE: With very few exceptions (just a list of topics on sites), descriptions are not my opinions but excerpts pulled from the sites.

• Regency History
• Regency Lexicon
• Regency Dances
• Regency Titles and Peerages

Regency History

London, England

Introduction; London and Its Metropolitan Area; Population; Education and Culture; Economy; Government; Contemporary Issues; History.

Monarchs of Britain

Click on the monarch's name to access his/her biographical sketch. Dates indicate the monarch's length of reign, not length of lifespan.

Chronology of Napoleon

Major Events 1769-1820.

 

Georgian England

Because Queen Anne was without any heirs, the English throne was offered to her nearest Protestant relative, George of Hanover, who thus became George I of England.

Peninsular Campaign

A quick primer from July 1808 and June 1814.

 

England & the World in Late Georgian & Regency Era

The reigns of George III and George IV encompass the elegant, glittering world of the end of the eighteenth century and the beginning of the nineteenth. The transition embraces the Napoleonic Wars, the madness of George III, the War of 1812 (1812-1814) and the Regency (1811-1820).

18th Century Chronology

List of links to years that have information about Literature, art, theatre, politics, science, etc.

Romantic Chronology

Chronology of groups of years from 17th century, 18th century and 19th century.

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Regency Lexicon

A Regency Lexicon

List of words and phrases frequently encountered in Regency romance novels, along with their definitions and, where possible, their origins.

Heyer's Slang & Cant

Regency Cant and Expressions.

 

London Slang

Lists of slang, listed alphabetically.

Origin of English Sayings

Collection of about 500 English sayings, and found the origin of most. Site author produced an unpublished book about them called 'The Bedtime Browser'. This is the on-line version, with updates.

18th Century English Proverbs

Dates given are generally for the first written appearance of the form of the proverb in English; the proverb may have been in spoken use, in England or orther countries, much earlier and in some cases referred to as "an old saying" prior to that time.

Ye Olde English Sayings

English sayings and customs that we have grown up with and taken for granted were explained during a tour of the Anne Hathaway house in Victoria, British Columbia.

Regency Language

This is what I love about Regencyspeak. How did all these terrific expressions leave our language? They are incredibly apt. Not to mention funny.

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Regency Dances

Allemande

An allemande (also spelled allemanda, almain, or alman) (from French "German") is one of the most popular instrumental dance forms in Baroque music, and a standard element of a suite, generally the first or second movement.

Cotillion

A cotillion is a term for a debutante ball, a formal presentation of young ladies, debutantes, to polite society.

Courante

The courante, corrente, coranto and corant are just some of the names given to a family of triple metre dances from the late Renaissance and the Baroque era.

Gavotte

The gavotte (also gavot or gavote) originated as a French folk dance, taking its name from the Gavot people of the Pays de Gap region of Dauphiné, where the dance originated. It is notated in 4/4 or 2/2 time and is of moderate tempo.

Passepied

The passepied (fr. passing feet) is a 17th and 18th century dance that originated in Brittany. The term can also used to describe the music to which a passepied is set.

Quadrille

Quadrille is an historic dance performed by four couples in a square formation, a precursor to traditional square dancing.

Regency Dance

The 'Regency Dance' is the term for historical dances of the period ranging roughly from 1790 to 1825.

Regency Era Dances

Dances ranged from lavish balls at Almacks or at great country houses to impromptu dances attended by family and friends after dinner. Dances provided an opportunity for young men and women to meet suitable husbands and wives.

Bourrée

The bourrée is a dance of French origin common in Auvergne and Biscay in Spain in the 17th century. It is danced in quick double time, somewhat resembling the gavotte.

Waltz Dance

The waltz is a ballroom and folk dance in 3/4 time, done primarily in closed position.

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Regency Titles and Peerages

Correct Forms of Address

An incredible site with loads of information, but read her caveats!

Precedence

Site has a Table of Precedence for Women, according to the Stockdale 1818 Peerage.

British Titles of Nobility

An Introduction and Primer to the Peerage.

 

Inheritance of Titles of Nobility

"Addressing the Duke and Inheriting his Loot," a guide to English titles, forms of addressand inheritance laws during the Regency period.

Courtesy Titles

A peer's wife and children are granted the use of certain titles, depending upon the rank of the peer. Here is an extremely oversimplified chart, so please read the explanations which follow carefully.

The British System Of Aristocratic Honorifics

The following table covers the basic rules for the system of honorifics prefixed to the names or titles of British persons of noble or chivalrous rank, as a background to Jane Austen's writings.

English Titles In The 18th & 19th Centuries

This brief run-down of English titles is for use by fiction writers. It is by no means comprehensive, but covers the more common situations arising in novels set in the above periods.

Life Peerages

The Life Peerage Act of 1958 allowed the government to create life peerages. This was the result of much disgust with the way hereditary peerages had been passed out in the previous forty years.

Rights & Privileges of Peers

Peers enjoy many privileges, although not as many as they once did.

 

English Titles

When Is a lady a Lady? A Brief Explanation of English Titles.

Order of Precedency in England

After the KING and PRINCES of the BLOOD, these great Officers of State precede all other of the Nobility, viz.

 

Hereditary Peerages

Most peerages are hereditary, meaning that they pass on from father to son, or to another heir. Some peerages are created only for life, and cannot be inherited. They cannot be willed or bequeathed; how a peerage is disposed is determined by the terms of the original creation of the peerage.

A Peeress in Her Own Right

Only a peer may be said to hold a title "in his/her own right." All other titles are courtesy titles.

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