Today Regency Fiction Writers (RFW) is One Year Old!

To my fellow members of RFW,

It is October 1st. One year ago, RFW was formed. I just want to take a moment to thank you all for making this day happen, the first anniversary of our international organization Regency Fiction Writers.

It takes boldness and faith and perseverance to do something new, to break from the old, and to stand on our own. We did this together. We should celebrate.

Yet, there is still plenty of hard work ahead. We want to continue to be a beacon and a resource writers of Regency set fiction. We want to have a positive impact on the career of every member who decides to join RFW. We need volunteers and strong participation to keep us growing and leading in the writing world.

All of you, continue to be wonderful. Each of you are, and you all offer so much to RFW. I thank you for your voice.

From the board, our advisors, and every founding member, we are grateful for the faith you have placed in RFW, and we look forward to the future.

Vanessa Riley
Head Cheerleader
President, Regency Fiction Writers

All writers of Regency-set fiction (1780-1840), who have attained the age of 18, are invited to join Regency Fiction Writers, Inc. Please see our membership page for more information. Contact our Membership Director if you have any questions or concerns.

RFW 2021 Annual Silent Auction

Bidding opened on July 2nd for the 2021 RFW online auction! More than 100 donations are offered, and your final bid is your final price, as the generous donors have agreed to pay for shipping. The selection of research books is the best ever. In addition to books donated by our members, about 30 books in the auction were donated by Gail Burch, who wrote Regencies under the pen name Maggie MacKeever. Nine authors who’ve been Rita and/or Vivian finalists will be donating critiques. Other author services include a strategy session on marketing with a marketing expert, book coaching, and a cover design.

Proceeds from this year’s auction will be split between the Feather to Fly With—The Emily Hendrickson Scholarship Fund and defraying costs of the 2022 Conference to make it affordable for all.

Start your bidding at 32Auctions.com. Bidding ends at midnight (EDT), July 24. Donors will ship items to the winners shortly thereafter.

The direct link to our public auction is https://www.32auctions.com/RFW2021SilentAuction.

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Anna Harrington – Featured Beau Monde Author

Today’s featured Beau Monde author is Anna Harrington!

Anna Harrington is an author of spicy Regency romance with dashing heroes and independent heroines, layers of emotion, and lots of sizzle. She fell in love with historical romances and all things Regency while living in England, where she spent most of her time reading Jane Austen and getting lost in London (especially the getting lost part). Anna has traveled around the world, both as a tourist and as a volunteer with children’s organizations in Peru, Ecuador, Thailand, and Mexico. She loves to hike and fly airplanes, adores all things chocolate and coffee, and is a Doctor Who fanatic (everyone says her house *is* bigger on the inside!). Anna claims to be a terrible cook who hopes to one day use her oven for something other than shoe storage. In her spare time, Anna enjoys gardening and growing roses. Her fav authors are Elizabeth Hoyt, Sabrina Jeffries, Lisa Kleypas, Julia Quinn, and Sylvia Day.
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Patrick Colquhoun, London magistrate by Sheri Cobb South

This post originally appeared on Sheri Cobb South‘s blog on January 6, 2014. Reposted with permission from the author.

Patrick Colquhoun, London magistrate

Some of my favorite comments from readers regarding the John Pickett mystery series concern the father-son relationship of Pickett and his magistrate, and how much the reader enjoys it. In fact, of the questions I’m asked most frequently about the series (aside from the obvious ones about if, when, and/or how Pickett and Lady Fieldhurst will ever get together), several concern the character of Pickett’s magistrate, Patrick Colquhoun. Readers want to know how his name is pronounced, and why I chose to give a character such a difficult name. To answer the first question, according to Debrett’s Correct Form, the name is pronounced “Ca-HOON,” at least in the United Kingdom.

As for the second question, Continue reading “Patrick Colquhoun, London magistrate by Sheri Cobb South” →

Regency Turns 80 — Lady of Quality

As this year draws to a close, the Beau Monde comes to the end of our celebration of the eightieth anniversary of Georgette Heyer’s founding of the Regency romance sub-genre. Today, romance author, Kalinya Parker-Pryce, shares her views of, and her history with, this last of Heyer’s Regency romances, Lady of Quality. Among other things, Kalinya compares and contrasts the hero of Heyer’s final romance novel with the hero of Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice, Mr. Darcy. Though Austen lived and wrote during the Regency, and Heyer, who lived in the twentieth century, did a great deal of research to re-create that world, how do you think these two heroes compare?

Everyone is welcome to post their views on this novel, and/or Regency romances in general, in comments to this article.

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Regency Turns 80 — Charity Girl

Regency romance author, Mary Moore, freely admits that Charity Girl is not one of her favorites among Georgette Heyer’s Regency novels. Nevertheless, today she gives this book its due, comparing and contrasting it to some of Heyer’s other Regency romances. And even admits to a sigh when she came to the end of the story. In addition, for all of you Regency aficionados who particularly enjoy the colorful language of that era, Mary shares some of the delectable phrases which Heyer sprinkled through Charity Girl.

Do you have a favorite Regency cant term? Please feel free to share it in a comment to this article.

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Picturesque Rides and Walks, with Excursions by Water …

A cross-post from The Regency Redingote:

Yet again I have made a most delightfully serendipitous find in the course of my research. A lovely Regency-era guide-book which I think many Regency authors will find most helpful when they are seeking a setting for a new story, or perhaps planning a country excursion for their hero and heroine. In fact, the author of this book himself might very well serve as a model for a character in a Regency story.

When a Regency author needs a locale near the metropolis . . .

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Fireplaces During Regency Summers

A cross-post from The Regency Redingote:

In the damp cold of a Regency winter, a fire burning cheerily in the grate was a most welcome sight. But in the warm months of the summer, when no fire was wanted, the empty, dark cavern of a fireplace was considered quite an eyesore. Even more so because, for centuries, the focal point of most rooms was the hearth, filled with fire, essential to life in cold climates. Our Regency ancestors had several techniques which they employed to maintain an attractive appearance around the focal point of their rooms during the months when a fire was not needed.

How fire was replaced on the hearth in Regency summers . . .

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Napoleon Slept with Mona Lisa

A cross-post from The Regency Redingote:

Well, not in the same bed, but she did spend some years in his bedroom. She probably didn’t mind, since she had also spent a number of years in the royal bath of a French king three hundred years previously. But neither of her highly-placed gentlemen friends were able to save her from many years of obscurity, including right through the decade of the Regency. And yet, it was her association with Bonaparte which triggered an event a hundred years after she left his bedroom which catapulted her to the great fame she enjoys today.

A few pieces of the puzzle which is the enigma of the Mona Lisa …

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The Rolling of the Cheese in Regency England

A cross-post from The Regency Redingote:

This past week, the fellow who reports on sport for the local public radio station did a tongue-in-cheek piece on the recent cheese rolling event which took place in Gloucestershire, England. His intent was to remind his listeners there were sporting activities abroad in the world beyond the upcoming basketball playoffs. However, his report also reminded me that this was an ancient country sport which had been enjoyed in England for several centuries, including during the years of the Regency.

A slice of cheese rolling lore …

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Prinny’s Taylor by Charles Bazalgette

A cross-post from The Regency Redingote:

Or to give this new history its full title, Prinny’s Taylor: The Life and Times of Louis Bazalgette (1750 – 1830). As is probably obvious from the fact that the subject of this book and the author share a rather unique last name, Charles Bazalgette has researched and written a history of his ancestor, Jean Louis Bazalgette. Born in southern France, into a family of tailors, Louis emigrated to Great Britain about 1770. He began his career in London as a tailor, but by the end of his life, he had become a man of affluence who was able to enjoy a comfortable retirement and give all his children a good start in life.

The remarkable career of Louis Bazalgette . . .

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Temple Newsam

A cross-post from The Regency Redingote:

In the West Riding of Yorkshire, about four and a half miles east of the city of Leeds, stands a Jacobean-era country house which has an important link to the Regency. The house, called Temple Newsam, stands on a large estate which has a history stretching back to Roman times. A Roman road connecting Castelford with Adel ran across the property, and the mound which remains of this ancient "street" can still be seen on the north side of the estate. In the early middle ages it was on this property that the Knights Templar built a preceptory, or complex of buildings, which housed a provincial community of their order. It was this preceptory which gave Temple Newsam its name. Here the members of the community worked the land to sustain themselves and to contribute to the support of the Templars. The preceptory is now gone, as is the original manor house, built by Thomas, Baron Darcy, a nobleman beheaded by Henry VIII in 1538, when he rebelled against the dissolution of the monasteries. The property was seized by the Crown after Darcy’s death, and Henry gave it to his niece, Margaret, Countess of Lennox. Thus it became the property of the Earls of Lennox. In that same manor house was born Lord Darnley, who became the ill-fated husband of Mary Queen of Scots, and father of James I of England.

After the death of Lord Darnley, who was the eldest son of the Earl of Lennox, the property passed to his only son, King James I. In the first year of his reign in England, James granted the property to Ludovic Stewart, the second Duke of Lennox. In 1622, the Duke sold the property to Sir Arthur Ingram. In about 1630, with the exception of the part of the house which contained the room in which Lord Darnley had been born, the old manor house was mostly pulled down and rebuilt in red brick. That is the core of the Temple Newsam House which stands today. In 1661, Sir Arthur’s grandson, Henry Ingram, was created Viscount Irwin, (sometimes listed as Irvine), in the Scottish peerage, for his loyalty to King Charles I. There were nine Viscounts Irwin, the last, Charles, died in 1778, leaving five daughters, but no sons.

So, what is the Regency connection to this historic property?

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The Rise of the Paper Hats

A cross-post from The Regency Redingote:

Today, paper hats are most often worn for a bit of fun at parties, or are made for a child by parent or grandparent for some make-believe playtime. But during the Regency, paper hats were regularly worn by working men in a number of trades. In fact, the wearing of such hats had only begun a few years before the Prince of Wales became Regent. It was during that second decade of the nineteenth century that the use of these hats became much more widespread among an expanding number of craftsmen and tradesmen. But these hats were not worn for fun, they had a much more serious purpose. It should be noted that the wearing of these hats seem to have been confined to English working men.

When paper hats were for work, not play …

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Caricatures — Tabloids of the Regency

Caricatures were extremely popular during the Regency era. Thousands were produced, ranging from mild criticism to biting satire, and included political, social, and personal commentary. They were printed from etchings or engravings and sold to whoever would pay for them.

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Assembly Rooms – April 2015

Here’s the monthly assemblage of links of interest to lovers of the Regency era — everything from prisoners’ mementos to dishonest valets. Continue reading “Assembly Rooms – April 2015” →

Kitchen Fireplace Furniture: Contraptions for Cooking

A cross-post from The Regency Redingote:

Last month I catalogued the different types of fireplace equipment which might have been found alongside Regency fireplaces in all the rooms of a house, except the kitchen. This week, I shall focus on kitchen fireplaces and the many unique devices and gadgets which had been invented to customize those fireplaces for the preparation of food in times past. Though you may not think so, most of these devices were considered the latest thing in labor-saving cooking when they were first introduced, regardless of the fact that a number of them look like instruments of torture, better suited to a dungeon than a kitchen.

And now, the sometimes confounding cooking contraptions with which Regency cooks could contend …

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Fireplace Furniture: Furnishing the Focus of the Regency Room

A cross-post from The Regency Redingote:

Today, when most of us have some kind of furnace or other form of central heating in our homes, a fireplace is a luxury. Often, a luxury we typically enjoy only on special occasions. For our Regency ancestors, during the winter months their fireplace might literally be the difference between life and death. Though the Romans had had a type of central heating which was used to heat their public baths and the homes of the wealthy, the principles were lost for centuries with the fall of the Empire. From the Middle Ages right through the Regency, the only way by which people were able to heat their homes was by a fire in the fireplace, until the second half of the nineteenth century.

As the source of the comfort of both heat and light, the fireplace was the focal point of a room. Over the centuries, a number of objects had been invented to maximize the heat it produced, while consuming the least amount of fuel. Other objects were developed to manage the fire itself, or to take advantage of its power. Some of these items are nearly unknown today and would most likely be overlooked by someone from the twenty-first century. Many of these fireplace furnishings would have been in use with the various fireplaces in a Regency building. In modern times, a grouping of some of these objects has often provided a valuable marker for cultural historians who study household furnishings. And so, some fascinating facts of fireplace furnishings …

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Lighting the House in the Regency by Regina Jeffers

Regina Jeffers is the author of a number of Regency romances and Austen-inspired novels. She was moved to write this article due to a power outage. There’s nothing like doing without electricity to give one a feel for what light–or the lack of it–was like in the Regency era.

~ * ~

Today, I have dealt with another power outage in my area, and I have privately cursed how dark my home is without the power of electricity. I have had to go without lights, TV, the internet, phone service, etc., and this modern-day “deprivation” has set me to thinking about the days of the Regency era when the almighty CANDLE ruled the home.

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Assembly Rooms, March 2015

Assembly Rooms is a collection of links to blogs and articles of interest to lovers of the Regency Era.

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Being Scotch by Ann Lethbridge

Award-winning author Ann Lethbridge first published this blog when she started writing the Gilvrys of Dunross series. She graciously gave the Beau Monde permission to recycle it here.

Being Scotch

Did you think I had made a dreadful mistake? Or did you know I was talking about a drink, not a
person. I do of course mean Scotch whisky (and that too is the correct spelling).

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