Thread: Regency England

Hello everyone!

I am working on a historical romance novel (my first attempt at a novel!) set in London in 1816. I have spent much more time doing period research that actually writing lol. But I do have a question I'm having a hard time answering. I was hoping maybe there was someone here with some knowledge or expertise with that period. If I have any future questions, I will probably post them here as well so as not to clog the forum

My hero in the story is a captain in the British Army, in London after the Napoleonic wars. Was it customary at that time for a military official to wear their uniform to non-military social events, such as ball? If so, would they be in full dress or mess dress? If not, would they wear traditional dress with no indication of being military, or would they wear some type of patch or medal like some do today?

Thanks!

I am also writing regency works, but I'm not going to be as picky as you on these sorts of details nor do I think your audience would be either. The only book I can suggest is, "Daily Life in Elizabethan England."

That you for the suggestion, I will check it out!

I am not going into too much detail about the clothing in general, but I was wondering how I might make it obvious to everyone who sees him that he is an officer. I just decided to use gossip as my tool

I know I have a military guy in my story, and I've struggled with how I could have him even serving and being off at the war with Napoleon at all given I just read they pretty much never even fought on English soil. Maybe someone else knows if that's accurate. And then I'm keeping mine away for an inordinate amount of time and considered trying to make him a POW. But am completely unsure if they took POWS at that time myself. So thus hurt in a military hospital it is, maybe a broken something, back?

Originally Posted by Cat Laurelle

I know I have a military guy in my story, and I've struggled with how I could have him even serving and being off at the war with Napoleon at all given I just read they pretty much never even fought on English soil. Maybe someone else knows if that's accurate. And then I'm keeping mine away for an inordinate amount of time and considered trying to make him a POW. But am completely unsure if they took POWS at that time myself. So thus hurt in a military hospital it is, maybe a broken something, back?

No, the Napoleonic wars were never fought on British soil. Depending on the timing of your story, you could have him in between wars or you could have him in the hospital with injury. My story takes place after the 7th coalition (1816) and so the character is home from war. As far as POWs, I do think that Napoleon has POW camps, but I'm not sure of the details.

Good luck!

The 7th coalition, did the war go past 1816? I thought it went into 1818. I'm not writing many dates in yet during rough draft, it only takes place over about a 2.5 year period.

The Napoleonic Wars ended in June of 1815 with probably a few months of demobilization afterward so that all of the soldiers would have been home by 1816. The British were also fighting the Americans between 1812 and January of 1815, but those soldiers would also be home by 1816. Consider that your British Army officer may have been put on half pay after the war and semi-retired, but that is not necessary. Many, perhaps most, officers remained on active duty in the peacetime army. C.M.

And that screws up my actual time line. Darn it. Must rewrite in dates now.

My knowledge of regency dress code is mostly based on Jane Austen and BBC miniseries. As far as outfits go, yes, military full dress is very likely. Unsure about medals.
As far as convalescence I would recommend some illness for a short stay, perhaps a shattered knee or pelvis for an extended stay. A broken back sounds like it would most likely kill him, possibly leave him paralyzed but most likely kill him. You could also use some post traumatic stress and have him placed in a French or English sanitarium, or catatonic in a hospital, which allows you to extend or shorten his absence in any way you please, but he wouldn't come home in the most joyous state.

Anyway, if you want a quick and easy reference, consult BBC period dramas. The BBC do their research well and take pride in realism. They also carry out their wardrobe and scenography meticulously.

I'm still a bit confused about the whole time periods, the Edwardian, to the Elizabethian, etc...

Cat Laurelle, most of the time periods are named after whomever the Sovereign was at the time. Elizabethan referring to Queen Elizabeth I, back in the late 1500's. The Regency period was the time where the Prince Regent was ruling instead of his father (early 1800's). Victorian = Queen Victoria (mid to late 1800's). Edwardian - King Edward VII (early 1900s). And so on and so forth

I kind of got that, I am glad you gave me a list, now I understand the use of the word Regency, and my dates are good for that, but I'm looking for specific books referring to the times for that period and what type of subtle differences may have occured as compared to other times/periods.

A quick search turned up these on amazon, listed in no proper order:
http://www.amazon.com/Writers-Everyd...ref=pd_sim_b_1
On society- Amazon.com: Jane Austen's Guide to Good Manners: Compliments, Charades & Horrible Blunders (978159691274: Josephine Ross, Henrietta Webb: Books
On life and conventions - Amazon.com: Georgette Heyer's Regency World (9781402241369): Jennifer Kloester: Books
On living spaces and every day life - Amazon.com: Georgian and Regency Houses Explained (England's Living History) (9781846740510): Trevor Yorke: Books

Ensure when you do write that you use English words to decribe there dress, for example a captain would wear trousers... not pants! and eat jam not jelly. Lots of American words slip into english regency romance, and as an English person it can spoil it! Good luck with your reserch the british liabary has load of books online now which you can access free, some that were written in that period and some acedemic things. Apolgies about spelling, my pop up blocker does not allow the spell checker.

Would you happen to have that website, or could you somehow send it to me off list/privately for those books? or language pages?