Regency Christmas Traditions

One of the most famous themes on Traditional Regencies is the Christmas story. Whole books and plenty of short stories were written about couples falling in love during the holiday season. In fact reading Christmas anthologies around this time became almost a tradition for many readers and we got to know some of the regency traditions through these books.

Among the Regency traditions mentioned in those stories we can name the Yule log, Kissing Boughs, the Wassail Bowl, The Christmas Pudding and special drinks like the famous Wassail. Most the traditions are what remains of Pagan rites or Middle Age traditions and people gathered at home, with the family to spend the Holiday Season.

We decided to try and gather some of information on the Regency Christmas Traditions and post them here. There doesn’t seem to be that much about it probably because only during the Victorian period did people start to record all aspects of society. Besides the political instability and the fact that England was involved in a war for a number of these years also probably wasn’t conductive to many joyous celebrations and the making of new traditions. Considering all that it may be that Christmas wasn't exactly as portrayed in the numerous books and short stories released around this season, it may be that it was a quieter holiday and there were not as many houseparties as one might think. But there were still some traditions being observed and worth mentioning.

The Season

The Twelve Days of Christmas would be the period between Dec 24th and Jan 6th. The night of the 6Th was called Twelfth Night and according to some sources there are more traditions related to Twelfth Night than Christmas.


The Celebration

Christmas was a memory of the Winter solstice festivals of pagan times and transformed by Church into a celebration of the Christian values. People observed a religious holiday that was celebrated with a dinner with the family or including neighbours and friends. Throughout the Twelve Days of Christmas there might be balls and other merry events to mark the season. Gift giving wasn’t what it is today but servants could expect their gifts on Boxing Day (Dec 26th).

The Food

Besides Roast Beef, Venison and varied birds (although not turkey) accompanied with vegetables the Christmas Pie and The Christmas Pudding were a big part of the feast. Dozens of pies were baked during this season using sometimes the leftovers of Christmas Dinner and to be eaten during the Twelve Days and given to friends and neighbours for good luck. The Christmas pudding is maybe the most famous of the desserts eaten at Christmas and it was made with 13 ingredients (Christ and the Apostles) boiled in a pudding Cloth.

The Decoration

Greenery seems to have been the main part of decorating a house for Christmas. Not the Christmas tree that we know today by garlands of Ivy and Holly and mistletoe boughs (the kissing boughs) would be hung around the house and log brought inside – the Yule Log – to burn through the twelve Days. All the greenery would be taken down and burnt after Jan 6th.


The Games

The holiday season was a time when young boys came home from school to spend time with their families. Naturally some games were organised like charades, snapdragon (picking currant from a bowl of flaming brandy) and playacting to keep everyone entertained.

The Music

Christmas carols as we know them today did not exist during the regency period; the music of the season was comprised mostly of church hymns like Joy to the World and Harck the Herald Angels Sing. Going wassailing door to door seems to have been abandoned by then.



And now here’s a little treat, a Christmas story by Jo Beverley that we found online Jane Austen and The Mistletoe Kiss



To Read More:

The Winter Solstice

The Origins of Regency Era Christmas Carols

Jo Beverley's Christmas Article

The Regency Christmas Feast

The Greenery

Christmas Pudding Recipe

Celebrating The Season in Regency Style

Almack's Assembly Rooms

Apart from the reviews, we will be posting some bits and pieces of information about the Regency period, and since Almack's was quite famous and after all we named the blog after it, the first such post is about Almack’s.

Readers of Regency Romances will know that if a book takes place in London during the season, then Almack’s will likely feature quite prominently in the story. It is after all the place for gently bred young ladies to meet highly eligible gentlemen, and regardless of the specifics of the plot of a Regency Romance, we do know that the heroine will be married by the end of the book.

The information below was taken mostly from Wikipedia.

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Almack's Assembly Rooms was a famous club in King Street, London where social gatherings of the upper class took place, at a time where most other social functions of the season took place in the houses of the aristocracy.

It was established by William Almack, who it was claimed reversed the syllables of his Scottish name ‘Macall', because he found that in England a Scots name prejudiced his business. However, this theory does not seem to be true, and Almack was in fact almost certainly of Yorkshire origin.

Almack’s first opened on 12 February 1765. In the first decades of its existence it functioned mostly as a gaming club, one where ladies were allowed, in contrast with the traditional gentlemen’s clubs.

Sometime after 1800 Almack’s Assembly Rooms changed from a gaming club to an exclusive venue where balls were held once a week on Wednesday’s. Almack’s was now governed by a select committee of the most influential ladies of the ton, known as The Patronesses of Almack’s. At different periods in the club's long history, there were six or seven of them.

By 1814, Almack’s was ruled by the familiar to Regency readers leading ladies of the ton, who so often terrify and fascinate heroines of Regency Romances:

• Anne Stewart, Marchioness of Londonderry (better known as Viscountess of Castlereagh)


• Sarah Villiers, Countess of Jersey


• Emily, Lady Cowper (later Lady Palmerston)


• Lady Sefton


• Mrs. Drummond Burrel


• Countess de Lieven (wife of the Russian ambassador)


• Countess Esterhazy (wife of the Austrian ambassador)

The Patronesses allowed entrance to the rooms only to those they considered good ton. Those lucky enough to pass muster would be able to purchase non-transferable vouchers, which would allow them entrance into Almack’s. Provided they were properly attired and arrived before 11pm that is. The voucher cost 10 guineas and it was valid for a Season (April to August) unless once behaviour caused the Patronesses to recall their voucher. Money would not automatically entitle one to be granted the coveted voucher. On the contrary rich ‘cits’ would not be admitted to Almack’s, where what mattered was breeding, manners and ‘ton’. A title would be a recommendation of course, but not enough on its own. Only about three-quarters of the hereditary nobility passed muster with the Lady Patronesses.

To avoid any suggestion of impropriety, dances were initially limited to the country dances or contredanses, at that time danced with a good deal of energy. This changed around 1813, when first the quadrille and then the waltz were introduced. The introduction of the quadrille is strongly associated with Lady Jersey, and the waltz with Lady de Lieven.

No sumptuous repasts were served at Almack’s since it did not aim to compete with the luxury of private balls. The refreshments served in the supper rooms were plain and consisted of thinly-sliced bread (which has to be a day old to be sliced that thin) with fresh butter, and dry cake (dry meaning unfrosted, without icing, not stale). To avoid the drunkenness rampant in society, where many noblemen prided themselves on drinking four or five bottles of port a day, they served only tea and lemonade in the supper rooms.

People came to Almack's to see and be seen, to assert their claim to being of the highest social rank, and to network with others of the caste. It also served as one of the marriage marts of Society where gentlemen could find brides of suitable ton. And mothers would give much to obtain the coveted vouchers when they had marriageable daughters to present to society.

The Patronesses reign lasted until around 1824, when exclusivity and strictness of rules started to be relaxed and at around 1835 Almack’s started to decline as a centre of fashion. The assemblies are said to have come to an end in 1863, and for the next thirty years the rooms were used for dinners, concerts, balls and public meetings. In 1886-7 the site was purchased by a company and renamed Willis's Rooms.The building was destroyed by enemy action in the war of 1939–45. The site is now occupied by a block of offices called Almack House, erected in 1950. It bears a brass plaque commemorating the existence of Almack's on that spot.

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Sources & Further Info:

Almack's - Wikipedia

Almack's Assembly Rooms - RomanceWiki

King's Street - British History Online

Pall Mall, North Side - British History Online

Almack's Assembly Rooms - The Shady Old Lady's Guide to London