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ella1673
Influential Member of the Ton Joined: 22 Dec 2010 Posts: 202 Location: In front of my computer, England probaby London. and Indeed, only probably England.	Posted: Sat Jan 01, 2011 3:00 am    Post subject: Q: Seasons   Hey, I know the season finished on August the twelfth, but when did it start???? And was there a season around Christmas, because I read somewhere (and I can't remember where ) that there was a 'Little Season'. Is that actually true????? _________________
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Wellies
Lady of the Order of Bluestocking Joined: 11 Feb 2009 Posts: 305 Location: In exile...	Posted: Sat Jan 01, 2011 3:06 am    Post subject:   Info from Candice's own Regency glossary (http://www.candicehern.com/bookshelf/glossary.htm): Season: The social "Season" is generally described as beginning in early spring and lasting until the end of June. The season had some relation to the sitting of Parliament. It convened each January, so those involved in the goverment would head back to town at that time. No doubt their ladies spent the next couple of months updating their wardrobes and planning their social calendars for the spring. As for the term "Little Season", supposedly in the fall -- I have never seen any mention of a Little Season anywhere in a primary source. Only in books by Georgette Heyer and other writers of fiction. It makes sense that there might have been such a thing, as the upper classes who had left London for the seaside or the country might have returned to town in the fall, especially those involved in Parliament, which was still in sesssion until November. But I have never come across the term Little Season anywhere outside of novels. _________________ I have the honour to be etc. Wellies "Next to a battle lost, the greatest misery is a battle gained." -- The Duke of Wellington
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ella1673
Influential Member of the Ton Joined: 22 Dec 2010 Posts: 202 Location: In front of my computer, England probaby London. and Indeed, only probably England.	Posted: Sat Jan 01, 2011 4:54 am    Post subject:   Oh History!!!!! I truly hate it sometimes ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! But.... if other writers are doing it, why can't I??????? (Oh, P.S. I know the season finished on the twelfth of Augeust {the glorious twelfth} because my sister was born then and we looked it up {on the internet and other places} and that was the start of the hunting season, the day you were officially allowed to shoot grouse!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!) _________________
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ella1673
Influential Member of the Ton Joined: 22 Dec 2010 Posts: 202 Location: In front of my computer, England probaby London. and Indeed, only probably England.	Posted: Sat Jan 01, 2011 5:36 am    Post subject:   P.P.S. "it" is the Little Season, just in case anyone cared. And to boost my posts to get up to landed gentry _________________
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Wellies
Lady of the Order of Bluestocking Joined: 11 Feb 2009 Posts: 305 Location: In exile...	Posted: Sat Jan 01, 2011 8:15 am    Post subject:   I don't see why you cannot use a bit of artistic license... And not all people in fact left London at the end of the Season or some might have returned after a bit of sport in the county. So if you need to introduce some sort of festivities around Christmas-time that take place in London, I don't see any reason why those people of the ton left in the capital should not have their little dinners, dances, card parties etc. After all, they had to keep themselves entertained somehow, right? But maybe more knowledgable people than me might have some comments on that. As for when the Season ended, the weather might have had something to do with it. London in the summer months could be stifling, so those that could afford to might have left the city for the countryside as soon as Parliament was no longer in session. I know, for example, from the journals of a certain general, that when he returned to London from abroad in mid-July 1808, he found London quite deserted as those that could had decamped already, and Court had moved to Weymouth for the summer anyway. _________________ I have the honour to be etc. Wellies "Next to a battle lost, the greatest misery is a battle gained." -- The Duke of Wellington
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ella1673
Influential Member of the Ton Joined: 22 Dec 2010 Posts: 202 Location: In front of my computer, England probaby London. and Indeed, only probably England.	Posted: Sat Jan 01, 2011 12:45 pm    Post subject:   Oh you have got to love the court sometimes!!!!!!!!!!!! _________________
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KalenHughes
Viscountess of the Manor Joined: 20 Sep 2006 Posts: 1100	Posted: Tue Jan 04, 2011 5:23 pm    Post subject:   There are no official dates for "The Season". It's not Mardi Gras, it's a social construct centered around the dates Parliament was in session. It began when there were enough people in town to throw a big party and it ended when enough of those people left that it was no longer possible to throw a big party (but roughly it took place from about the end of April to about the beginning of July). _________________ -Kalen w/a Isobel Carr Ripe for Pleasure, May 2011 Book 1: The League of Second Sons www.isobelcarr.com
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NoirFemme
Upstart Joined: 11 Jun 2007 Posts: 25	Posted: Tue Jan 25, 2011 1:39 am    Post subject:   Wellies wrote: As for the term "Little Season", supposedly in the fall -- I have never seen any mention of a Little Season anywhere in a primary source. Only in books by Georgette Heyer and other writers of fiction. It makes sense that there might have been such a thing, as the upper classes who had left London for the seaside or the country might have returned to town in the fall, especially those involved in Parliament, which was still in session until November. But I have never come across the term Little Season anywhere outside of novels. I haven't seen it in any primary resource before the 1850s. It may very well have existed during the Regency, but all the little society events seen in Heyer's books and imitated to this day were not as rigidly scheduled as they were in the Victorian & Edwardian eras. _________________ Edwardian Promenade // blog of all things Edwardian!
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KalenHughes
Viscountess of the Manor Joined: 20 Sep 2006 Posts: 1100	Posted: Wed Jan 26, 2011 6:49 pm    Post subject:   If Parliament was in session, there were very likely to have been parties and social affairs. But actually calling something "the little season" is Victorian as far as I know. _________________ -Kalen w/a Isobel Carr Ripe for Pleasure, May 2011 Book 1: The League of Second Sons www.isobelcarr.com
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ella1673
Influential Member of the Ton Joined: 22 Dec 2010 Posts: 202 Location: In front of my computer, England probaby London. and Indeed, only probably England.	Posted: Thu Jan 27, 2011 11:06 am    Post subject:   How often was Parliament in Session? Is it like now, or is it different?? _________________
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KalenHughes
Viscountess of the Manor Joined: 20 Sep 2006 Posts: 1100	Posted: Thu Jan 27, 2011 5:49 pm    Post subject:   As far as I know, it was very similar to know. They're in session for most of the year, except for the summer and harvest, but with lots of breaks (1 week to more than a month at a time). _________________ -Kalen w/a Isobel Carr Ripe for Pleasure, May 2011 Book 1: The League of Second Sons www.isobelcarr.com
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