Visiting cards in the Regency

Facsimile Regency visiting cards
(Rachel Knowles's experimental history 2022)

Visiting cards

Visiting cards or calling cards were small rectangular pieces of card similar to a business card today. They were inscribed with a person’s name and often but not always with their address. An important part of Regency etiquette, visiting cards could be used for initiating contact with a stranger, as well as letting someone know you had called.

What did a Regency visiting card look like?

They varied in size and design, but the consistent theme seems to have been small and rectangular.

Some were plain rectangles of parchment or card, whereas others came with a pre-printed design around the edge.

Several of the printed cards I looked at were by William Sharp (1749–1824) – one of the most distinguished British line engravers. He engraved plates for trade cards as well as visiting cards.

Trade card for William Sharp, Engraver
London (1749-1824) The Met Museum DP885194

Calling cards were always inscribed with the person’s name. I came across a few examples of cards with two names on—typically, a lady and her daughter. The cards did not always include their address. Some mentioned the person’s position.

Some cards had the details handwritten, others had the name engraved onto the card. Some, like Colonel Roche’s card designed by Cipriani, had the name incorporated in an elaborate design.

You can look at a large collection of calling cards in the British Museum collections here.

How big were Regency visiting cards?

The visiting cards I looked at in the British Museum’s collection varied in size, ranging from 32mm X 66mm to 78mm X 121mm. The majority of cards were at the smaller end of the scale.

To put this into context, a standard US business card today is 50.8mm X 88.9mm (3.5 X 2 inches) and a standard British card today is a little wider and shorter at 55mm X 85mm.

I decided to do a little bit of experimental history. Using the cards on the British Museum’s website as a guide, I created a number of facsimile Regency visiting cards for characters in my novels using the dimensions of actual cards and similar designs.  

The photo below shows my card (based on US measurements despite being in the UK!) and a selection of the cards I made. As you can see, most of the calling cards are smaller.

Although many of the plainest and smallest cards I looked at were for men, some gentlemen’s cards were as big and as elaborate as those used by ladies.

Facsimile Regency visiting cards with a modern business
card to show relative sizes
(Rachel Knowles's experimental history 2022)

Leaving cards when someone was ‘not at home’

The etiquette of leaving cards is linked to the etiquette surrounding morning calls.

You can read about morning calls here.

When making a morning call, it was customary to present your card on arrival. By this means, the visitor discovered whether the host was ‘at home’ to visitors and specifically, whether they were willing to receive you.

If the visitor was an acquaintance, then the response of ‘not at home’ either meant that the person was out, or that it was simply not a convenient time for visitors.

In Domestic Duties or Instructions to young married ladies on the management of their households (1825), Mrs Parkes wrote:

As the words ‘not at home’ have become synonymous with ‘being engaged’, they neither deceive , nor are intended to deceive; therefore they may be employed innocently, as far as regards our friends and ourselves.₁

If the visitor was a stranger, then ‘not at home’ might mean the same, but it might indicate that the person did not desire the acquaintance.

Either way, if the person was not at home, the visitor would leave their card. They might turn down the corner of the card to indicate they had visited personally. Alternatively, as in one example I found at the British Museum, they might write the words ‘called’ or similar on it to indicate that they had left the card in person.

In Sense and Sensibility, Elinor Dashwood knew that Edward Ferrars was in town because he left his card:

Edward assured them himself of his being in town, within a very short time, by twice calling in Berkeley Street. Twice was his card found on the table, when they returned from their morning’s engagements. Elinor was pleased that he had called; and still more pleased that she had missed him.₂

Etiquette dictated that the person should return the visit as soon as possible. However, if the visitor was a stranger and the person did not desire the acquaintance, it was sufficient to send a card instead.

In February 1807 Jane Austen wrote of a visitor they had missed whose visit they were unable to return because the visitor had left no address:

Mary has for some time had notice from Mrs Dickson of the intended arrival of a certain Miss Fowler in this place. Miss Fowler is an intimate friend of Mrs Dickson, and a good deal known as such to Mary. On Thursday last she called here while we were out. Mary found, on our return, her card with only her name on it, and she had left word that she would call again. The particularity of this made us talk, and, among other conjectures, Frank said in joke, “I dare say she is staying with the Pearsons.” The connection of the names struck Mary, and she immediately recollected Miss Fowler's having been very intimate with persons so called, and, upon putting everything together, we have scarcely a doubt of her being actually staying with the only family in the place whom we cannot visit.₃

19th century silver calling card tray, Redlich Co.
Minneapolis Institute of Art

How many cards should be left?

It was polite to leave a card to each person in the household whom you had intended to visit.

In Domestic Duties (1825) Mrs Parkes wrote:

Where cards are to be left, the number must be determined according to the various members of which the family called upon is composed. For instance, where there are the mother, aunt, and daughters (the latter having been introduced to society), three cards should be left.₄

Leaving cards on arrival in town

When a person arrived in a town where they had some acquaintance, it was customary to call or leave cards to let them know of your arrival.

In Jane Austen’s Sense and Sensibility, Mrs Jennings left cards on her return to London:

The morning was chiefly spent in leaving cards at the houses of Mrs Jennings’s acquaintance to inform them of her being in town.₅

Some hotels had printed cards for those staying there to use. A hotel guest could write their details on these cards and leave them with their acquaintances so they would know where they were staying.

Facsimile hotel cards with handwritten names
(Rachel Knowles's experimental history 2022)

Leaving cards to begin an acquaintance

If you deemed someone worthy of being included in your circle of acquaintance, you could leave your card in the hope of initiating a relationship.

In Persuasion, Sir Walter Elliot and Miss Elliot made such an impact on Bath society that they were inundated with cards:

Their acquaintance was exceedingly sought after. Everybody was wanting to visit them. They had drawn back from many introductions, and still were perpetually having cards left by people of whom they knew nothing.₆

In a letter to her sister in January 1807 Jane Austen complained that their acquaintance was growing too quickly:

Our acquaintance increase too fast. He was recognized lately by Admiral Bertie, and a few days since arrived the Admiral and his daughter Catherine to wait upon us. There was nothing to like or dislike in either. To the Berties are to be added the Lances, with whose cards we have been endowed, and whose visit Frank and I returned yesterday.₇

Leaving cards to convey thanks

Cards could also be sent to convey thanks. In Arthur Freeling’s The Pocket Book of Etiquette (1837) he wrote:

After dining at the house of a lady , it is customary to leave a card the next day, or as soon after as circumstances will permit.₈

Leaving cards to take leave

When a person was leaving the area, such as going from London to the country, it was customary to take leave in person, or by leaving cards.

Leaving a calling card after receiving a verbal invitation

In The Pocket Book of Etiquette (1837) Freeling wrote that it was advisable to leave a card after a verbal invitation from an acquaintance:

Occasionally verbal invitations are given to evening parties, by persons with whom you have not been in habits of intimacy. To prevent the awkwardness of being an unexpected visitor, you will, previous to the party, leave your card with the lady of the house.₉

Sending and receiving cards when someone got married

When a gentleman married, he might have acquaintances that he would not wish to be part of the circle he would introduce to his wife. After his marriage, he and his wife would send cards to those acquaintances they wished to keep. If you did not receive a card, you assumed that the relationship had been dropped.

In The Pocket Book of Etiquette (1837) Freeling wrote:

When a man is about to be married, it is customary for him to give a dinner to his bachelor friends. He then informs them of the intended alteration in his circumstances; the health of the bride elect is drank, and it is understood that the visiting acquaintanceship ceases, unless a special invitation is received, or unless a desire to renew it be intimated by his sending his own and his wife's cards, with the customary favors.₁₀

Etiquette required the couple to send cards in return for any left at their house after their marriage. Mrs Parkes wrote in Domestic Duties (1825):

A newly married woman, on arriving at her future home, will have to send her cards in return for those which are left at her house, after her marriage. She may afterwards expect the calls of her acquaintance; for which it is not absolutely necessary to remain at home, although politeness require that they should be returned as soon as possible. But having performed this, any further intercourse may be avoided (where it is deemed necessary) by a polite refusal of invitations.₁₁

In Sense and Sensibility, the self-interested Lady Middleton

…determined (though rather against the opinion of Sir John) that as Mrs Willoughby would at once be a woman of elegance and fortune, to leave her card with her as soon as she married.₁₂

Leaving cards when someone died

It was customary to leave a card in condolence rather than visiting someone who had been bereaved unless you knew the person very well.

Sending a card with a letter of recommendation

Sometimes, a stranger was given a letter of introduction by a mutual acquaintance or someone of importance. In these cases, it was customary to deliver the letter in person, and to include a visiting card with the letter.

Etiquette demanded that the person receiving the letter of introduction should respond by sending a card as soon as possible. They were not, however, obliged to receive the person.

Putting your connections on display 

Facsimile Regency visiting cards for the Earl and
Countess of Castleford (the couple from A Reason for Romance)
I'm sure Sir Walter would have wanted these cards on display too!
(Rachel Knowles's experimental history 2022)

Having the right connections could make a lot of difference to your standing in society. In Persuasion, Sir Walter Elliot is desperate for his relative, the Dowager Viscountess Dalrymple, to recognise him:

Sir Walter, however, would choose his own means, and at last wrote a very fine letter of ample explanation, regret, and entreaty, to his right honourable cousin. Neither Lady Russell nor Mr Elliot could admire the letter; but it did all that was wanted, in bringing three lines of scrawl from the Dowager Viscountess. "She was very much honoured, and should be happy in their acquaintance." The toils of the business were over, the sweets began. They visited in Laura Place, they had the cards of Dowager Viscountess Dalrymple, and the Honourable Miss Carteret, to be arranged wherever they might be most visible: and "Our cousins in Laura Place,"—"Our cousin, Lady Dalrymple and Miss Carteret," were talked of to everybody.13

Rachel Knowles writes clean/Christian Regency era romance and historical non-fiction. She has been sharing her research on this blog since 2011. Rachel lives in the beautiful Georgian seaside town of Weymouth, Dorset, on the south coast of England, with her husband, Andrew.

Find out more about Rachel's books and sign up for her newsletter here.

If you have enjoyed this blog and want to encourage me and help me to keep making my research freely available, please buy me a virtual cup of coffee by clicking the button below.

 

Notes

1. Parkes, Mrs William, Domestic Duties or Instructions to young married ladies on the management of their households (London, 1825).
2. Austen, Jane, Sense and Sensibility (1811).
3. Austen, Jane, Jane Austen's Letters, Collected and Edited by Le Faye, Deirdre (1995).
4. Parkes op cit.
5. Austen, Jane, Sense and Sensibility (1811).
6. Austen, Jane, Persuasion (1817).
7. Austen, Jane, Jane Austen's Letters, Collected and Edited by Le Faye, Deirdre (1995).
8. Freeling, Arthur, The Pocket Book of Etiquette (Liverpool, 1837).
9. Ibid.
10. Freeling op cit.
11. Parkes op cit.
12. Austen, Jane, Sense and Sensibility (1811).
13. Austen, Jane, Persuasion (1817, London)

Sources used include:
Austen, Jane, Emma (1815, London)
Austen, Jane, Jane Austen's Letters, Collected and Edited by Le Faye, Deirdre (Oxford University Press, 1995)
Austen, Jane, Mansfield Park (1814, London)
Austen, Jane, Northanger Abbey (1817, London)
Austen, Jane, Persuasion (1817, London)
Austen, Jane, Pride and Prejudice (1813, London)
Austen, Jane, Sense and Sensibility (1811, London)
Freeling, Arthur, The Ladies' Pocket Book of Etiquette (7th edition) (London, 1840)
Freeling, Arthur, The Pocket Book of Etiquette (Liverpool, 1837)
Parkes, Mrs William, Domestic Duties or Instructions to young married ladies on the management of their households (London, 1825)
Trusler, Rev Dr John, A System of Etiquette (1804) 

All photos © RegencyHistory.net

Morning calls in the Regency - a Regency History guide

Morning dress on a visit
 La Belle Assemblée (Sept 1810)

What was a morning call?

Morning calls were short visits of ceremony paid to your acquaintances. There were rules of etiquette surrounding these visits—when they should be made, how long and how often, and suitable topics of conversation.

What was the purpose of a morning call?

In her book, Domestic Duties or Instructions to young married ladies on the management of their households (1825), Mrs Parkes explained that these calls were necessary to maintain a wide circle of acquaintance:

When it is desirable to keep together a large circle of acquaintance, morning visits cannot very well be dispensed with. You must be aware that as time and circumstances seldom permit the frequent interchange of other visits, our acquaintance would become estranged from us, if our intercourse with them were not occasionally renewed by receiving and paying morning visits. A good economist of time will, of course, keep morning visits strictly for this purpose; and, not considering them as intended merely for amusement, will not make them more frequently than is necessary. By the occasional appropriation of a few hours many debts of this kind may be paid off at once.₁

When did you make morning calls?

Contrary to what you might think, given their name, morning calls were usually made in the afternoon. This is somewhat confusing but arises from the fact that during the Regency, the morning referred to the whole period of time before dinner.

In The Pocket Book of Etiquette (1837), Freeling stated:

The most proper time to pay a morning visit, in the fashionable world, is between one and four o'clock.₂

He went on to say:

A certain discretion as to the time of visiting is necessary; you would not therefore call on a person at three o'clock if you were aware that he dined or was specially occupied at that hour.₃

Jane Austen wrote in a letter to her sister Cassandra in June 1808 of receiving morning calls from noon:

Early as it was—only 12 o’clock—we had scarcely taken off our bonnets before company came, Lady Knatchbull and her mother; and after them succeeded Mrs White, Mrs Hughes and her two children, Mr Moore, Harriot and Louisa, and John Bridges, with such short intervals between any, as to make it a matter of wonder to me, that Mrs Knight and I should ever had been ten minutes alone, or have had any leisure for comfortable talk.₄

John Dashwood calls on Mrs Jennings
by Hugh Thomson in Sense and Sensibility
by Jane Austen 1896 edition

‘At home’ or ‘not at home’

It was not always convenient or desirable to receive visitors.

In A System of Etiquette (1804), Trusler wrote:

It is the fashion in exalted life now among equals, never to be at home to a morning visitor; nor indeed to any visitor we are not in the habits of intimacy with; therefore to refuse admittance to a visitor, you are not disposed to receive, will not be considered as rude. At such times, your servant should be directed to say that you are not at home. This is in fact no lie, for the expression not at home, merely implies that you are not disposed to see company, and is understood in this sense. Of course if you meet with the same reply when you go to pay a visit, you are not to be offended; unless you had been particularly invited, and you go at the appointed time.₅

In Jane Austen’s Northanger Abbey, Catherine Morland misses the Tilneys calling for her to go on a walk because of Mr Thorpe’s duplicity. She calls on Miss Tilney to apologise:

She [Catherine] reached the house without any impediment, looked at the number, knocked at the door, and inquired for Miss Tilney. The man believed Miss Tilney to be at home, but was not quite certain. Would she be pleased to send up her name? She gave her card. In a few minutes the servant returned, and with a look which did not quite confirm his words, said he had been mistaken, for that Miss Tilney was walked out. Catherine, with a blush of mortification, left the house. She felt almost persuaded that Miss Tilney was at home, and too much offended to admit her; and as she retired down the street, could not withhold one glance at the drawing-room windows, in expectation of seeing her there, but no one appeared at them. At the bottom of the street, however, she looked back again, and then, not at a window, but issuing from the door, she saw Miss Tilney herself. She was followed by a gentleman, whom Catherine believed to be her father, and they turned up towards Edgar’s Buildings. Catherine, in deep mortification, proceeded on her way. She could almost be angry herself at such angry incivility; but she checked the resentful sensation; she remembered her own ignorance. She knew not how such an offence as hers might be classed by the laws of worldly politeness, to what a degree of unforgivingness it might with propriety lead, nor to what rigours of rudeness in return it might justly make her amenable.₆

Miss Tilney was denied, but a deliberate lie was told rather than the more socially acceptable ‘not at home’.

In Jane Austen’s Emma, Emma Woodhouse calls on Miss Bates. Emma’s previous visit had been awkward, and so she gives the ladies the chance to be ‘not at home’ to visitors:

The fear of being still unwelcome, determined her, though assured of their being at home, to wait in the passage, and send up her name.—She heard Patty announcing it; but no such bustle succeeded as poor Miss Bates had before made so happily intelligible.—No; she heard nothing but the instant reply of, “Beg her to walk up.”₇

Mrs Parkes wrote in Domestic Duties (1825):

The economy of time, so essential to the head of a family, will also prompt certain limitations as to the times of receiving morning visits. To have every morning liable to such interruptions, must be a great impediment in the way of more important avocations, and must occasion the useless dissipation of many an hour. Experience has found this out, or the custom of denial would not have become so prevalent.₈

Sometimes ladies would establish which morning or mornings they were at home to visitors.

Emma Woodhouse calls on Miss Bates
by Hugh Thomson in Emma
by Jane Austen 1896 edition

How long should a morning call be?

The books of etiquette I have looked at suggest that the ‘proper’ length of a morning call was between 15 and 20 minutes.

Freeling’s advice to gentlemen in The Pocket Book of Etiquette (1837) was:

In paying visits of ceremony, do not leave your hat in the hall, take it with you into the room; and, except under particular circumstances, do not remain more than a quarter of an hour, or twenty minutes.₉

Trusler agreed with limiting calls to 15 or 20 minutes. In A System of Etiquette (1804) he wrote:

On paying visits of ceremony, care should be taken not to make them too long, nor too frequent; a quarter of an hour, or twenty minutes, is sufficient time to exchange compliments, or run over the topics of the day; but if the visitors become congenial to each other, and intimacy succeeds, times and lengths of visits, need not be pointed out, they will direct themselves.₁₀

In Persuasion, Anne Elliot wished to avoid her cousin, Mr Elliot. She was glad that she had promised to visit her friend Mrs Smith and would likely miss his morning call.

She [Anne] found, on reaching home, that she had, as she intended, escaped seeing Mr Elliot; that he had called and paid them a long morning visit.₁₁

The length of Mr Elliot’s morning call indicates the level of intimacy he had with Sir Walter’s family, allowing him to exceed the recommended 20-minute limit.

Mr Darcy and Colonel Fitzwilliam come to call
on the ladies at the parsonage
by Hugh Thomson in Pride and Prejudice
by Jane Austen 1896 edition

Where should you receive visitors making morning calls?

According to Mrs Parkes:

Morning visitors are generally received in the drawing-room.₁₂

She went on to say:

In the arrangement of the drawing-room for receiving morning visitors, the chairs should be placed so as to facilitate the colloquial intercourse of the strangers, without the necessity of a servant entering the room to place them; and this arrangement, whilst it is devoid of formality, should be done with some attention to good order. Ease, not carelessness, should predominate.₁₃

What did people talk about during a morning call?

The simple answer seems to be nothing of any importance!

Trusler advised that conversation should be limited and kept short. As quoted above:

…a quarter of an hour, or twenty minutes, is sufficient time to exchange compliments, or run over the topics of the day.₁₄

In Domestic Duties (1825), Mrs Parkes’s advice was presented as conversations between a young married lady and an older lady. The young married woman in her conversations voices what must have been a common opinion of morning calls:

I have often thought that morning visits are very annoying, both to receive and to pay. They fritter away so much time, without affording any adequate return; unless, indeed, anything be gained by hearing the little nothings of the day enlarged upon, and perhaps of acquiring one's self the art of discussing them as if they were matters of deep importance.₁₅

Mrs Parkes continued:

Morning visits should not be long. In this species of intercourse, the manners should be easy and cheerful, and the subjects of conversation such as may be easily terminated. The time proper for such visits is too short to admit of serious discussions and arguments.₁₆

In The Ladies' Pocket Book of Etiquette (1840) Freeling advised against supplying your visitors with gossip:

Do not amuse your friends by the relation of your private affairs; recollect these can only be interesting to yourself; and although you may occasionally find a good listener who has discretion, you may depend that such affairs, if listened to with interest, will be repeated. All, however, will think your mind to be but ill stored, if you are obliged to resort to egotism for their entertainment.₁₇

Fanny Price talks over the ball
by Hugh Thomson in Mansfield Park
by Jane Austen 1897 edition

What could a lady do during a morning call?

Mrs Parkes wrote that doing light needlework during a morning visit was acceptable:

It is almost unnecessary to add, that the occupations of drawing, music and reading, should be suspended on the entrance of morning visitors. But if a lady be engaged with light needlework, and none other is appropriate in the drawing-room, it promotes ease, and is not inconsistent with good breeding to continue it during conversation; particularly if the visit be protracted or the visitors be gentlemen.₁₈

In his Ladies Pocket Book of Etiquette, Freeling wrote that all occupations should be put aside, unless you knew the visitor well:

In receiving morning visitors, it is necessary to lay aside any employment in which you may be engaged, unless indeed the visitors happen to be persons with whom you are on the most familiar terms of intimacy. You cannot do two things at once; if you attempt it, you will negligently pursue your employment, or leave undone some of those graceful lightnesses, those elegant attentions, which prevent such visits from degenerating into sombre ceremonies.₁₉

Should you see your guests out?

Mrs Parkes was of the opinion that it was not necessary to see your guests out:

It was formerly the custom to see visitors to the door on taking leave; but this is now discontinued. The lady of the house merely rises from her seat, shakes hands or courtesies, according as her intimacy is with the parties, and then ringing the bell to summon a servant to attend them, leaves them to find their way out of the house.₂₀

In The Pocket Book of Etiquette for gentlemen, Freeling suggested that seeing a guest out gave them a special distinction:

When any visitor leaves the room, ring the bell for a servant to be in attendance and open the street door; but if you wish to shew any person particular attention, and are not occupied with other company, it would be a great mark of deference for you to attend him half way down the stairs, after having secured the attendance of your servant at the door; this would of course only be done in extreme cases, and when you had a special desire to shew your high esteem for your visitor.₂₁

Morning dress
 Ackermann's Repository (May 1816)

Returning visits

Etiquette demanded that morning calls were returned. It was polite to return the call as soon as possible.

In Pride and Prejudice, Jane Bennet calls on Caroline Bingley in London. Miss Bingley slighted Jane by leaving it a fortnight before returning her visit:

Caroline did not return my visit till yesterday; and not a note, not a line, did I receive in the meantime. When she did come, it was very evident that she had no pleasure in it; she made a slight, formal apology, for not calling before, said not a word of wishing to see me again, and was in every respect so altered a creature, that when she went away I was perfectly resolved to continue the acquaintance no longer.₂₂

Visiting new neighbours in the country

When a gentleman took a house in the country, it was customary for the neighbouring gentry to visit them. It was polite for the new gentleman to return the visit as soon as possible if he wished to pursue the acquaintance. If he did not wish for the acquaintance, he should still send his card.

In Pride and Prejudice, Mrs Bennet urges her husband to visit Mr Bingley when he first takes Netherfield. Mr Bennet teases his wife, saying he does not intend to go:

“But consider your daughters. Only think what an establishment it would be for one of them. Sir William and Lady Lucas are determined to go, merely on that account, for in general, you know, they visit no newcomers. Indeed you must go, for it will be impossible for us to visit him, if you do not.”

“I am sick of Mr Bingley,” cried his wife.
“I am sorry to hear that; but why did not you tell me so before? If I had known as much this morning, I certainly would not have called on him. It is very unlucky; but as I have actually paid the visit, we cannot escape the acquaintance now.”₂₃

Taking leave

It was customary to visit or send a calling card to take leave of your friends before going out of an area.

In Jane Austen’s Emma, Frank Churchill is called away from Highbury:

Mrs Weston added, “that he [Frank Churchill] could only allow himself time to hurry to Highbury, after breakfast, and take leave of the few friends there whom he could suppose to feel any interest in him; and that he might be expected at Hartfield very soon.”₂₄

You can read more about visiting cards here.

Rachel Knowles writes clean/Christian Regency era romance and historical non-fiction. She has been sharing her research on this blog since 2011. Rachel lives in the beautiful Georgian seaside town of Weymouth, Dorset, on the south coast of England, with her husband, Andrew.

Find out more about Rachel's books and sign up for her newsletter here.

If you have enjoyed this blog and want to encourage me and help me to keep making my research freely available, please buy me a virtual cup of coffee by clicking the button below.

 

Notes

1. Parkes, Mrs William, Domestic Duties or Instructions to young married ladies on the management of their households (London, 1825).
2. Freeling, Arthur, The Pocket Book of Etiquette (Liverpool, 1837).
3. Ibid.
4. Austen, Jane, Jane Austen's Letters, Collected and Edited by Le Faye, Deirdre (1995).
5. Trusler, Rev Dr John, A System of Etiquette (1804).
6. Austen, Jane, Northanger Abbey (1817).
7. Austen, Jane, Emma (1815).
8. Parkes op cit.
9. Freeling, Arthur, The Pocket Book of Etiquette (Liverpool, 1837).
10. Trusler op cit.
11. Austen, Jane, Persuasion (1817).
12. Parkes op cit.
13. Ibid.
14. Trusler op cit.
15. Parkes op cit.
16. Ibid.
17. Freeling, Arthur, The Ladies' Pocket Book of Etiquette (7th edition) (London, 1840).
18. Parkes op cit.
19. Freeling, Arthur, The Pocket Book of Etiquette (Liverpool, 1837).
20. Austen, Jane, Pride and Prejudice (1813).
21. Ibid.
22. Austen, Jane, Emma (1815).

Sources used include:
Austen, Jane, Emma (1815, London)
Austen, Jane, Jane Austen's Letters, Collected and Edited by Le Faye, Deirdre (Oxford University Press, 1995)
Austen, Jane, Mansfield Park (1814, London)
Austen, Jane, Northanger Abbey (1817, London)
Austen, Jane, Persuasion (1817, London)
Austen, Jane, Pride and Prejudice (1813, London)
Austen, Jane, Sense and Sensibility (1811, London)
Freeling, Arthur, The Ladies' Pocket Book of Etiquette (7th edition) (London, 1840)
Freeling, Arthur, The Pocket Book of Etiquette (Liverpool, 1837)
Parkes, Mrs William, Domestic Duties or Instructions to young married ladies on the management of their households (London, 1825)
Trusler, Rev Dr John, A System of Etiquette (1804)

Drawing room presentations - a Regency History guide

A drawing room at St James's Palace from
The Microcosm of London by R Ackermann and W Combe (1808-10)

In A Reason for Romance, Georgiana Merry and her sister Eliza are presented to the Queen by their grandmother, the Duchess of Wessex, on entering London society:

Just after two o’clock, the centre door was thrown open and Her Majesty Queen Charlotte entered, followed by the princesses and a whole bevy of servants. Although the Queen looked magnificent in dark green velvet and gold embroidery, Castleford could not help thinking, with an inner chuckle, that the Duchess of Wessex looked more regal.₁

Was it just young ladies who were presented?

A common misconception is that only young ladies coming out into society for the first time were presented to the Queen. Both men and women were presented at court, at different times, for different reasons.

Lamb wrote in A book explaining the ranks and dignities of British Society (1809):

People are presented on different occasions: on first coming into the world, (which young ladies usually do about seventeen or eighteen); on their marriage, or any change of name; on going abroad, or to Ireland; or to an appointment to any situation about their majesties or the royal family.

Gentlemen are also presented on obtaining a commission in the army; promotion in the army or navy; a place under government; or any high situation in the church or law.₂

A newspaper report of the Queen’s Drawing room held on 8 March 1810 stated:

Yesterday her Majesty held a Drawing-room, at which the following were presented:

Lady George Beresford, by the Countess of Arran.

Miss Harriet Thornton, by her mother, Mrs S Thornton.

Lady Charlotte Graham, by her mother, the Duchess of Montrose.

Mr Roust Broughton, on his coming of age, by his father.

Lady Mary Sackville, by her mother, the Duchess of Dorset.

The two Misses Wellesley Pole, by their mother, Mrs W Pole.

Mr Villiers, upon his return from Portugal.

Mr Yorke, upon his being appointed a Teller of the Exchequer.

Major-General Sir Stapleton Cotton, on his return from Portugal, and on coming to his title.₃

Presentation of gentlemen

George III from The Public & Domestic Life
of his late, most gracious majesty
by E Holt (1820)

Lamb wrote:

Gentlemen are all presented first to his majesty at the levee, and to her majesty at the following drawing room: they are generally presented by their nearest relation, who gives a card with their name, and the occasion of their being presented written upon it, to the lord of the bed-chamber in waiting. He names them to the king when they get up to him in the circle, on which they kneel down on one knee and kiss his hand.

To her majesty, the ceremony for gentlemen is the same, only that the card is given to her lord chamberlain.₄

Presentation of ladies

Lamb wrote:

Ladies were presented to the king at the same drawing-room, but before they were presented to her majesty; but since the king has gone so much seldomer to court, they have been presented first to the queen at a common drawing-room, and to the king at the birth-day following; and those invited by her majesty to the entertainments at Windsor, have been presented to his majesty there: in that case, they are not in court dresses, but the ceremony is the same. On their being named to the king, by the lord of the bed-chamber, they make a low courtesy, and he salutes them; but their right-hand glove should be off, as if they intended to take his hand to kiss.

To her majesty, the ceremony of presentation for ladies is different according to their rank: all under the rank of right honourable kiss the queen’s hand, making so low a courtesy as to have almost the appearance of kneeling; she salutes those who have that rank, though they equally have their glove off.₅

What did gentlemen wear to court?

Gentleman in court dress from
A book explaining the ranks and dignities
of British Society by C Lamb (1809)

According to Lamb:

The court dress for gentlemen is what is commonly called a full dressed coat, without collar or lappels, made of silk, velvet, or cloth, and often richly embroidered in gold, silver, or coloured silks. Any naval or military uniform is reckoned a full dress, though many regimentals have, properly speaking, no full dressed uniform; those that have, cannot appear at court in the undressed uniform.

People are allowed to go to court in private mourning, except on the birth-days. Their uniforms, with a piece of black crape tied round the arm, are reckoned sufficient for officers in the deepest mourning.

Gentlemen not in uniform, wear what are called weepers in deep mourning, which are merely cambric cuffs, with broad hems turned back upon the sleeves.₆

What did ladies wear to court?

Lady in court dress from
A book explaining the ranks and dignities
of British Society by C Lamb (1809)

The court-dress for ladies is now distinguished only by the hoop, lappets, and full ruffles; for the mantua is now made exactly like any other open gown, and differently in shape before, according to the fashion of the year: the petticoat also is plain or trimmed, according to the fancy of the wearer. The most general form is the one followed in the plate; of late, it has been more the fashion to have the petticoat, both the drapery and the under part, of the same colour as the gown; but a coloured drapery over a white petticoat prevailed for many years, and the drapery was even often of a different colour from the gown. Velvet, sattin, silk, crape, and gause, are the only materials allowed for ladies’ court dresses; the lappets are sometimes of black lace, but oftener the same as the ruffles of fine lace or blonde. Court dresses are trimmed, and often embroidered with gold and silver; and artificial flowers are much used in ornamenting the petticoat. Feathers are not reckoned a necessary part of a court dress; but young ladies very seldom go without them, and they are supposed to be under dressed if they do.

In deep mourning, ladies wear a black hood, put on as it is represented in the plate.

Court mournings are worn by every body, according to the degree of relationship in which the person mourned for stood to his majesty.₇

La Belle Assemblée recorded the dresses worn by two young ladies being presented at the Queen’s birthday drawing room in January 1810:

Two Miss Ruffos – Presented by their mother, the Princess Castelcicala, wore white crape dresses, elegantly trimmed with white satin ribbon and bunches of pink roses; robes, white satin, trimmed to correspond with the dresses.₈

Lots of others are described in the same report. I thought the Duchess Dowager of Leeds’s outfit sounded particularly impressive:

A superb petticoat of white crape richly embroidered in real silver, with a border embroidered on crimson velvet, in a style perfectly unique, and beautiful, draperies richly embroidered and tastefully festooned with bunches of silver laurel and brilliant tassels; body and train of crimson velvet trimmed with silver point; head-dress, Caledonian cap of crimson velvet, diamonds, and ostrich feathers.₉

What happens at a drawing room?

Queen Charlotte
from The Historical and Posthumous Memoirs
of Sir Nathaniel Wraxall (1884)

The drawing-room generally begins about two o’clock, when their majesties come in; the king first, preceded and followed by his attendants; and the queen, led by her lord chamberlain, (or vice-chamberlain in his absence); her train led by a page of honour, and followed by the princesses, each led by one of her majesties gentleman ushers, or equerries: the ladies of the bed-chamber in waiting to the queen and princesses follow; then the maids of honour; and last, the bed-chamber woman in waiting on the queen. On birth-days, the mistress of the robes, all the ladies of the bed-chamber, and the bed-chamber women, follow in the train, those in waiting going first; the mistress of the robes usually takes her waiting on the birth-days, as the groom of the stole does his upon his majesty.

At the entrance of the drawing-room, the page resigns the queen’s train to the lady of the bed-chamber, who hangs it over her arm, and keeps it there during the whole of the drawing-room; of course, she must then follow before the princesses.

The queen courteseys to the king on entering the drawing room, which she then goes round to the left, while he is doing so to the right; and their majesties speak to every person as they get up to them. The page, gentleman usher, and bed-chamber women, do not follow the queen into the inner drawing-room, nor the ladies of the bed-chamber not in waiting; and the maids of honour do not go round it with her, but stand altogether at one end till the drawing-room is over, when they follow her out, and fall into the train in their places in the outward drawing-room. Their majesties come and go through the levee-rooms.

Since there have been drawing-rooms so much seldomer, (only on every other Thursday) and that, of course, they have been more crouded, their majesties, instead of going round the room, have stood each with their back to a table between the windows, and the company have gone up to them. Any of the royal family coming to court, go in at the middle door, the company at one of the two side doors; and since their majesties have stood still, they should go in at the door next the windows, and out at the other.₁₀

This seems to agree with the account of the Queen’s birthday drawing room on Thursday 18 January 1810 as reported in the Gentleman’s Magazine:

This day being appointed for keeping the birthday of her Majesty, soon after nine, their Majesties, the Princesses, the Dukes of York, Clarence, Kent, Cumberland, Cambridge, Sussex, and Gloucester, and Princess Charlotte of Wales, breakfasted together at the Queen's Palace. At half past twelve, her Majesty, attended by the Princesses, proceeded to the Duke of Cumberland’s apartments in St James's Palace, to dress. The Royal Party then proceeded to the Grand Council Chamber, conducted by the Earl of Morton and Col Desbrow. Her Majesty’s approach being announced, the centre door was thrown open; her Majesty entered about ten minutes past two o’clock, and took her station between the second and third window, leaning against a marble slab table. Her Majesty, as usual, it being the celebration of her own birthday, was dressed very plain. The Princesses arranged themselves on her Majesty's left hand, according to their ages. Their attendants stood nearly under the throne. The Royal Dukes stood near their Royal Sisters—Her Majesty having taken her station to receive the congratulations of the company and the presentations, the Lord Chamberlain waved his wand to Sir W Parsons, who was attending in an anti-room behind the throne, with his Majesty's band, to perform the Ode for the New Year. The presentations were very numerous; and the illuminations in the evening very general.₁₁

How to conduct yourself in the presence of royalty

Fanny Burney recorded in her diary:

Not even the Princesses, ever speak in the presence of the King and Queen, but to answer what is immediately said by themselves. There are, indeed, occasions in which this is set aside, from particular encouragement given at the moment; but it is not less a rule, and it is one very rarely infringed.₁₂

However, Fanny’s friend, Mrs Delany told her:

When the queen or the king speak to you, not to answer with mere monosyllables. The queen often complains to me of the difficulty with which she can get any conversation as she not only always has to start the subjects, but, commonly, entirely to support them: and she says there is nothing she so much loves as conversation, and nothing she finds so hard to get.₁₃

No coughing, sneezing or fidgeting whilst in the presence of their Majesties was allowed. Fanny wrote:

In the first place, you must not cough. If you find a cough tickling in your throat you must arrest it from making any sound; if you find yourself choking with the forbearance, you must choke – but not cough.

In the second place, you must not sneeze. If you have a vehement cold, you must take no notice of it; if your nose membranes feel a great irritation, you must hold your breath; if a sneeze still insists upon making its way, you must oppose it, by keeping your teeth grinding together; if the violence of the repulse breaks some blood-vessel, you must break the blood-vessel – but not sneeze.

In the third place, you must not, upon any account, stir either hand or foot. If, by chance, a black pin runs into your head, you must not take it out. If the pain is very great, you must be sure to bear it without wincing; if it brings the tears into your eyes, you must not wipe them off; if they give you a tingling by running down your cheeks, you must look as if nothing was the matter.₁₄

Public viewing

Apparently, it was possible to watch the drawing room from a viewing gallery:

There are three rooms in which those desirous of seeing the company go to court may stand, by obtaining tickets from the lord chamberlain: the guard-chamber, the royal presence-chamber, and the privy-chamber; in the last only, they also see the king, queen, and royal family pass, as it is between the levee-rooms and the outer drawing-room.₁₅

Rachel Knowles writes clean/Christian Regency era romance and historical non-fiction. She has been sharing her research on this blog since 2011. Rachel lives in the beautiful Georgian seaside town of Weymouth, Dorset, on the south coast of England, with her husband, Andrew.

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Notes

1. Rachel Knowles,  A Reason for Romance (2021).
2. Lamb, Charles, A book explaining the ranks and dignities of British Society (1809).
3. The Times online archive, 9 March 1810.
4. Lamb op cit.
5. Ibid.
6. Ibid.
7. Ibid.
8. La Belle Assemblée (January 1810).
9. Ibid.
10. Lamb op cit.
11. Gentleman’s Magazine (January 1810).
12. Burney, Fanny, Diary and letters of Madame D'Arblay, edited by her niece, Charlotte Barrett Volume III (1842).
13. Ibid.
14. Ibid.
15. Lamb op cit.

Sources used include: 

Burney, Fanny, Diary and letters of Madame D'Arblay, edited by her niece, Charlotte Barrett Volume III (1842) 

Gentleman’s Magazine (1810) Lamb, Charles, A book explaining the ranks and dignities of British Society (1809) 

La Belle Assemblée (January 1810)

The Times online archive