living, a:
Many wealthy landowners had it within their rights to grant a living to the local vicar or parish priest. This person would …
Lower Assembly Rooms:
The older of the assembly rooms (see assemblies) in Bath. It no longer exists, having burned down in the 1820s. There’s an …
master of ceremonies, Beau Nash:
The master of ceremonies at an assembly sees that introductions are made, protocol is observed, gambling is kept under control (roll your …
money:
A pound is 20 shillings, and as there are 12 pence to a shilling (aka sovereign), is also 240 pence. Five shillings …
pelisse:
A jacket or coat, sometimes short, sometimes full length, initially modeled after a military jacket, usually characterized by a multitude of frog …
phaeton:
A carriage with four large wheels, usually seating two, drawn by a single horse or tandem, often with a folding top. It …
portrait, Jane Austen’s:
On the last day of our 2011 trip to England, my husband suggested instead of rushing from this place to that, we …
Postal Museum, Bath:
We know as much of Jane Austen as we do because of her letters to her sister. By the 1800s, the postal …
primogeniture:
Generally, the law or custom that the first-born or oldest surviving son should be the presumed inheritor. That’s why there are a …
Pump Room, The:
The Pump Room overlooks the Roman Baths and it remains an elegant place to have tea, but in Jane Austen’s Northanger Abbey: …
quarter days:
Days on which rents were due or servants could be hired. They are Lady Day (25 March), Midsummer Day (24 June), Michaelmas …
Regency:
Specifically the years 1811, after King George III is deemed unfit to rule and his son is named Regent, to 1820, when …
sedan chair:
The sedan chair was both a fashionable and a discreet way for a single person to get around London or Bath. A …
Shall I put these on your account?
Credit is hardly a modern invention and in fact most people, except the very poor, bought on credit during Georgian times. There …
solicitor, attorney:
A solicitor acts directly for a client but cannot represent a client in court (see barrister). Solicitors draw up wills and contracts …
spencer (short jacket):
A spencer is a short jacket, usually cut off at about the height of an empire waist, tailored somewhat like a man’s …
the funds:
Beginning in 1751 the British government consolidated all previous stocks into a single issued called “consols” (consolidated annuities) that paid a fixed …
titled, nobility:
In order of rank from highest to lowest: duke and duchess, marquess and marchioness (MAR-SHUN-ESS or MAR-SHU-NESS), earl and countess, viscount and …
ton, haut ton:
In the 1892 The Stanford dictionary of Anglicised words and phrases (don’t you just love Google) ton, borrowed from the French and …
Upper Assembly Rooms:
The newer of the assembly rooms (see assemblies) in Bath. It is now part of the National Trust and are still at …
vicars, parish priest, rectors:
Below bishops, they are the parish priests, aka vicars and rectors, who conducted services and officiated at weddings, christening and funerals. They …