Researching the Regency period?
Henry Wyatt (1794-1840) – A Regency Gentleman, 1828; Source: Wikimedia Commons (public domain)
BY B.J. SEDLOCK
Regency novels are popular enough that if you search for “regency” in the HNS website, you’ll retrieve 800-plus hits. There are likely fans of the period who want to try writing a Regency themselves and could use help with their research, so I’ve made a list of places to start.
Print books on the Regency era in the UK are listed first. Consulting the bibliographies in these works will give you leads to even more sources. ISBN numbers are included when available for easier ordering. A selected list of websites follows.
PRINT / GENERAL
AN ELEGANT MADNESS: HIGH SOCIETY IN REGENCY ENGLAND, by Venetia Murray. Viking, 1998. 067088328x
Murray consulted letters, diaries, and memoirs to present a portrait of the upper classes in the era.
LIFE IN REGENCY ENGLAND, by R.J. White. Batsford/Putnam’s Sons, 1963.
“About the thoughts, feelings, and behaviour of the men and women who lived in Regency England rather than yet another book about ‘Regency’ style in building and the fine arts…”—preface. Chapters include one on a religious revival that was a reaction to loose Regency morals, which would be an interesting story idea, perhaps the clash of a libertine vs. a pious woman.
LOVE AND MARRIAGE IN THE AGE OF JANE AUSTEN, by Rory Muir. Yale University Press, 2024. 9780300269604
Muir presents “a richly textured account of what courtship and marriage felt like for people of this class and time in all its variety, with an emphasis on the ordinary rather than the extraordinary…”—preface.
MRS. HURST DANCING AND OTHER SCENES FROM REGENCY LIFE 1812-1823, watercolours by Diana Sperling, text by Gordon Mingay. Victor Gollancz, 1981. 0575030356
This is a delight to the eye, a watercolor sketchbook of scenes from Regency life done in the period by Diana Sperling, who lived at Dynes Hall in Essex. Depicted are meals, sport, household chores like killing flies, and working the farm.
OUR TEMPESTUOUS DAY: A HISTORY OF REGENCY ENGLAND, by Carolly Erickson. William Morrow, 1986. 0688060862
“A portrait of that tempestuous, quicksilver age, written without any view to comprehensiveness but with an eye to recounting its events as they unfolded for those who lived through them”—preface.
THE TIME TRAVELER’S GUIDE TO REGENCY BRITAIN: A HANDBOOK FOR VISITORS TO 1789-1830, by Ian Mortimer. Pegasus Books, 2022. 9781643138817
Chapters such as “What to Wear,” “Where to Stay,” and “What to Eat, Drink, and Smoke” will be of immense help to Regency authors. Mortimer includes information on all class levels.
PRINT / REGENCY BUILDINGS/INTERIORS
You will need to know what Regency era house interiors were like when creating scenes where your characters interact in them.
GEORGIAN & REGENCY HOUSES EXPLAINED, by Trevor Yorke. Countryside Books, 2007. 9781846740510
Black and white photos and drawings show details of exteriors and interiors of buildings from the era. It has a timeline and a list of sites to visit in person.
Vittorio Reggianini (1858-1938) The Recital; Source: Wikimedia Commons (public domain)
THE ROYAL INTERIORS OF REGENCY ENGLAND, FROM WATERCOLOURS FIRST PUBLISHED BY W.H. PYNE IN 1817-1820, by David Watkin. J.M. Dent, 1984.
If you have a scene set in the Prince Regent’s Carlton House, you will want to consult the chapter in this book about that edifice. Many of the illustrations are in color.
THE REGENCY COUNTRY HOUSE, FROM THE ARCHIVES OF COUNTRY LIFE, by John Martin Robinson. Aurum Press, 2005. 1845130537
Has a mix of contemporary photographs and period illustrations of Regency house interiors and exteriors, some in color.
PRINT / REGENCY OBSERVED
Here are some differing points of view of the era, some from outside the ton.
POPULAR DISTUBANCES AND PUBLIC ORDER IN REGENCY ENGLAND, by Frank Ongley Darvall. Augustus M. Kelley, 1969. (reprint of 1934 UK edition)
The Regency wasn’t all ton parties and the Marriage Mart. This book recounts episodes of labor unrest during the Regency, especially the Luddites, factory workers who protested low pay and poor working conditions. Perhaps your main character owns a factory and must deal with work stoppages and protests.
THIEVES’ KITCHEN: THE REGENCY UNDERWORLD, by Donald A. Low. J.M. Dent, 1982. 0460044389
“Alongside the world of Pride and Prejudice and the Nature poets there existed a pulsating, undisciplined urban underworld of young thieves, body-snatchers, and gamblers”—foreword. Contains a whole chapter on child thieves, which could generate offbeat story ideas.
THE FORTUNE HUNTER: A GERMAN PRINCE IN REGENCY ENGLAND, by Peter James Bowman. Signal Books, 2010. 9781904955719
The impoverished Prince Hermann Ludwig Heinrich von Pückler-Muskau came to England in the late Regency era to find a rich bride to save the family estate in Germany. This recounts his life and has excerpts of his correspondence with his impressions of Regency life. A good source if you plan to write about a foreigner trying to break into the ton.
A receipt for courtship, 1805; Source: Library of Congress control number 96512570
REGENCY RECOLLECTIONS: CAPTAIN GRONOW’S GUIDE TO LIFE IN LONDON AND PARIS, edited by Christopher Summerville. Ravenhall Books, 2006. 1905043074
Summerville excerpted the Regency passages from Gronow’s longer memoir, including his observations on snuff-taking, noted celebrities of the day, and George IV’s character and coronation.
PRINT / THE PRINCE REGENT/GEORGE IV
Here are some sources you may want to consult if you plan to include “Prinny” as a character in your novel.
GEORGE IV, by Christopher Hibbert. Allen Lane in the UK, Harper in the US, both 1973.
Hibbert mined the Royal Archives for material for this biography. One volume covers his life when Prince of Wales, and the second as Regent and King.
GEORGE IV: INSPIRATION OF THE REGENCY, by Steven Parissien. St. Martin’s, 2001. 0312284020
“It is among the conundrums of history that one of the most gifted of British monarchs was by the time of his death also one of the most despised”—introduction.
GEORGE IV, by E.A. Smith. Yale University Press, 1999.0300088027
The author attempts a balanced view of George, whose “faults were many, but his good points rarely appreciated”—preface.
THE TRIAL OF QUEEN CAROLINE, by Roger Fulford. Stein & Day, 1968. (published in the UK in 1967 by William Clowes and Sons)
George and his wife disliked each other at first sight. When he ascended to the throne in 1820 and she tried to assert her rights as queen, he accused her of adultery, resulting in a trial in the House of Lords. Fulford’s account leaves it up to the reader to decide whether Caroline was guilty or innocent of the charge.
PRINT / MISCELLANEOUS
BEAU BRUMMELL, THE ULTIMATE DANDY, by Ian Kelly. Hodder and Stoughton, 2005. 0340836997
A biography of the man who rose from a middle-class background to become the friend of the Prince Regent and supreme arbiter of fashion during the Regency period.
BUCKS AND BRUISERS: PIERCE EGAN AND REGENCY ENGLAND, by J.C. Reid. Routledge & Kegan Paul, 1971. 0710069677
Biography of the author of Life in London, a valuable primary source, despite being fictional, on the Regency period (see a link to the online version of LIL in the website section below).
WHEN WILLIAM IV WAS KING, by John Ashton. Singing Tree Press, 1968 (reprint of Chapman & Hall edition of 1896).
Some sources consider William IV’s reign (1830-37) the tail end of the Regency period, so Regency authors may find material here. Ashton concentrates on the social aspects of William’s reign. Has b&w drawings of period fashions and hairstyles.
GEORGETTE HEYER’S REGENCY WORLD, by Jennifer Kloester. Sourcebooks, 2010. 9781402241369
Her writings inspired by Austen, Heyer is considered the inventor of the modern Regency romance and was noted for the quality of her historical research. Kloester designed this book as “a ready reference for the Heyer fan, the general reader, or for anyone interested in the history of the period”—introduction.
GEORGETTE HEYER’S REGENCY ENGLAND, BY Teresa Chris. Sidgwick & Jackson, 1989. 0283998326
The information in this book would be especially useful for a visitor to the UK who wishes to tour Regency sites in person where Heyer’s novels are set. It includes some walking tour directions but also has background information. Includes b&w drawings of period items such as a sedan chair, a watchman’s box, and Regency architecture.
The First Quadrille at Almack’s; Source:
Wikimedia Commons (public domain)
USEFUL WEBSITES
There are many websites about the Regency era, but I tried for the most part to select noncommercial offerings.
NOBLE SQUARES & CHARMING CHEESECAKE: A REGENCY TOURIST’S LONDON DIARY
The London Museum’s site offers this diary of Elizabeth Chivers, whose family traveled from Bath to London in 1814. She visited many London landmarks on the trip, which will give authors ideas of where they might send their characters to visit when new to London, as Chivers was.
WHAT WAS THE REGENCY ERA IN ENGLAND?
For authors totally new to the period, this gives a good basic introduction to the Regency, despite it being a .com site.
51–56 Regency Square, Brighton, built 1818; Source: Wikimedia Commons (public domain)
This is a website for a Regency-era house that can be visited in Brighton. If you look at the sidebar on the left and click on “The Regency period,” there are subcategories to explore such as “Regency family life.”
UNIVERSITY OF WASHINGTON FASHION PLATE COLLECTION
Blanche Payne, a home economics professor, collected fashion plates, which have been digitized and made available here. Look at the “sample searches” bar on the upper left, there are two other categories besides the one labeled “Regency” that would be relevant.
NATIONAL PORTRAIT GALLERY, FASHION PLATE SET 1770-1869
Offers color images from British and French magazines. While the date range goes beyond the Regency era, you can select “sort by date ascending” and then scroll for the images for the years you are interested in.
The Internet Archive offers a scan of the 1821 edition of Egan’s Life in London (also known as Tom & Jerry), with color illustrations. While it’s fiction, not a history, it was created during the Regency, and the illustrations and incidents could provide lots of inspiration for new authors.
This nonprofit site offers information on dances performed at balls in the Regency era, including some videos.
THE REAL RULES OF COURTSHIP: DATING IN THE REGENCY ERA
This page from PBS TV network is meant to explain courtship as depicted in the period drama shows it airs.
About the contributor: B.J. Sedlock recently stepped down from full-time librarianship to part-time archivist at Defiance College in Defiance, Ohio. She writes book reviews and articles for The Historical Novels Review, judges the First Chapters contest, and has contributed to The Sondheim Review.
