Mark Raven

I had a few questions about England around 1805-1815 for a novel project I recently began working on. I've tried searching on Google for this, but haven't found sufficient answers in these areas yet, so I'd be grateful for any help that someone more knowledgeable about the time could provide.

• I'm curious what sort schooling a lady would have completed in her life, and at what age? What types of things would she have learned? This is assuming that her family's home is somewhere in the country, I'm thinking near York. Her family would be considered middle-class, I suppose (perhaps upper-middle class) - not particularly wealthy, but definitely not short on money.
  
• Expanding on the first question, how would a middle-class family in the country normally live? What would their house look like? Would they have any servants?
  
• What was the primary newspaper in London? How was it delivered? How many people read it? How often was it printed? What sort of articles did it contain?
  
• Did England have any allies in their war with the French at any time during that period (1805-1815)- not just other countries that happened to be fighting Napoleon, but something that could be considered a true alliance?
  
• How much has the layout of London's streets changed since that time?

mammamaia

i'm sure more, and more creative googling will give you all you need to know, mark...

alternatively/in addition, books written during that time frame will provide accurate info in all those areas...

it's really too much to be asking others to provide for you, when google really will turn it all up, if you just take the time to look... unfortunately, this is the scut work that all writers must slog through, in order to practice their art...

hugs, maia

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Nickie

In a way I agree with Maia. These are things you really can find out, but perhaps not quite by only reading books set in this period. Most would be Regency romances, and they only focus on rich girls belonging to the "ton" (the upper class).

From out of my memory, I could answer a couple of your questions. A girl from a middle class family would - probably - have had some basic schooling. She would know how to read & write, do sums. But she would also have had schooling in how to manage a household, embroidery, etc. My guess is that she would have gone to school (or had private lessons) up to age 12.
Middle-class people would live in a better neighbourhood, but in a terraced house. You can probably find something about building styles on the net.
As for the newspaper, definitely "The Times"! Still is the major newspaper in the UK.


Nickie

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Mark Raven

Maia,

I understand what you're saying, and I've certainly got heaps of library books on my desk right now (though I hadn't really thought of using fictional books as a guide; thanks for that suggestion) as well as a number of websites bookmarked (and several hours spent searching through Google), but sometimes it's really difficult to find a specific piece of information you're looking for. Most websites, at least from what I've seen, are pretty vague in the areas I'm looking for.

I'm not sure I agree that it's too much to be asking - I've gotten several lengthy responses after posting this on another writing forum I frequently visit, and I've given plenty of answers on topics that I'm familiar with in the past. This saves both of us a lot of time. It's fine if no one feels compelled to reply, but there's no harm in asking just in case.

Just explaining my reasoning behind posting this.

Nickie,

I appreciate the response. I'm going to copy down the information in your post and get a few Regency romances to see if I can't learn something from them

waylander

To have an insight of what an upper middle-class family of the time you research about could be, in literature, you should check a quite unknown
book by Dickens called Dombey and son. That could help you.

Nimbus1944

Some sites that might have info, or link you to it:

http://dmoz.org/Reference/Encycloped..._19th_Century/

http://www.eastlondonhistory.com/

http://www.fashion-era.com/regency_taste.htm

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/london/3661613.stm

http://www.londontown.com/maps/

http://www.bloodshed.org/lagowiki/in...y_in_the_1800s

One site states that England had allies in earlier years of the conflicts with France, but in your target period 1805-1815 they were on their own. Another site mentions England fighting Napoleon in Iberia, "supporting its allies in Spain and Portugal." You'll need clarification on that.
http://www.absoluteastronomy.com/enc...d_Kingdom2.htm
http://www.galafilm.com/1812/e/intro/

Be careful of the mangled term "1800s"; while it should refer only to the period of 1800-1809, it's commonly used on some of these sites to mean "19th century"... grrrr.

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