Bridgerton & Regency Era

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To Spetchley Park Estate, seat of the Berkeley family for over 400 years.

A large building with columns and a blue sky in the background

Bridgerton & Regency England

The Regency era (1811-1820), in which the TV series 'Bridgerton' is set, actually forms part of the Georgian era (1714-1837).


When George III (the third monarch of the Georgian era) was ‘taken ill’ and retreated from society and his Kingly duties in 1811, his son George (Prince Regent) became the figurehead of England.


This is known as the Regency period and lasted until George III’s death in 1820 and subsequently the Prince Regent’s coronation to become king George IV in the same year.


Regency Society

Although George (Prince Regent) is not featured in the costume drama series Bridgerton, his mother and King’s consort, Queen Charlotte and her courtly proceedings take centre stage along with the Ton.


The Ton, were members of a tight knit group of England’s wealthiest families, from the top echelons of fashionable society, the titled peerage, such as Dukes, Earls, Viscounts, Barons, Lords and their families, together with other society favourites of the period.


They engaged in what has been described as ‘a business of pleasure’, following strict codes of conduct, fashion and customs that dictated who, what and where was sociably acceptable.


Exact rules also guided members and their families how and when they were introduced at court, what they wore, when they debuted, how they courted, who they married, where they lived and what work the men did or did not do.

A black and white drawing of people dancing in a ballroom.

The Season

Duty, Desire and Scandal

The Season, was the time of year that brought the titled peerage into the city of London to conduct government, while their wives held lavish balls, parties and dinners in order to conduct the business of networking and finding suitable marriage partners for their debuting daughters.


If a woman did not marry, she faced the unenviable prospect of being dubbed as a spinster, with no or very little standing in society. It was imperative that they wed! Of course they also married for money, in order to keep the family's position in society and to provide much needed funds for the running of their family estates.


Bridgerton, the costume drama series, exposes in an audacious and joyous way, many bridges in society and the lengths that some would go to in order to secure a marriage proposal for their beloved and not so beloved offspring. It is a modern dramatisation set in the Regency period, where duty, desire and scandal ensue.


The Country Retreat

When they were not in London, the Ton would often journey to and entertain at their country retreats, many of which would be lavish mansions in the English countryside.


These country seats were famous for their classical style and were generally built or influenced by architects such as Robert Adam or Inigo Jones, as well as their coveted gardens and rolling parklands created or inspired by landscape designers of the time William Kent and Lancelot Capability Brown. 


The Georgian era as a whole, is renowned for its timeless elegance, romance, famous literature figures and is symbolised by grandeur, formal gardens and vista landscapes, together with interiors, art and designs inspired by nature, flora and fauna.


The grandest of times indeed… elements of which many still enjoy and some attempt to emulate today.

A large house is behind a lush green forest

Cultural Bloom

The Romance of the Arts

The Prince Regent was a major supporter of the arts and architecture, contributing to the Regency era becoming a time of cultural bloom.


Fashion was less fussy than previous periods, art and literature expressed the romantic movement with artists, novelists and poets such as Jane Austen, Lord Byron, John Keats, Mary and Percy Shelley, William Wordsworth, John Constable and JMW Turner entering the scene.


In 1814 steam printing began to provide a faster printing method and contributed towards the expansion of popular novels depicting the lives of the wealthy and titled. Scandal and gossip could also be spread more easily, with the written word distributed on pamphlets and leaflets of the day.

While wealth and refinement, was the preserve of the wealthy few, especially those in Prince Regent’s social circle, the Napoleonic Wars and Industrial Revolution brought about mass unemployment and a population boom of working-class poor migrating to already crowded towns and cities.


However, the continuing popularity of the Regency era is much due to our familiarity and leaning towards the romantic notion, the elegance and poise of dances and balls, curtsies, politeness and refinement depicted in costume dramas and novels by such beloved writers of the time as Jane Austen. It is also the beauty and elegance of the architectural legacy that it has left on our town and country landscapes.


And so 'dear reader', our love of this enlightening period of history lives on in our hearts to this day…


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