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Tomorrow is Election Day here in the USA and when you live in a swing state (Virginia) in the suburbs of the nation’s capital (Washington, D.C.), You. Cannot. Escape. This. Fact. Ever.

If I lived in Regency England, though, things would be a lot different. An election would only be for members of the House of Commons. In the early 1800s, the House of Lords consisted of hereditary peers and, of course, the king was not elected. Members of Parliament served until Parliament was dissolved, every five years unless emergency extensions were necessary.

Fairness was a rare commodity in election to the House of Commons. Some “pocket boroughs” were in the pocket of the local magnate or his designee and, therefore, had no real opposition. Other “rotten boroughs” might have small enough numbers of voters that all could be successfully bribed, while areas as densely populated as Manchester had no representative. For example, Old Sarum in Wiltshire had three houses and seven voters. The Reform Act of 1832 dissolved the rotten boroughs and more evenly distributed representation.

Like in the US, there were two main political parties. Generally speaking, the Tories were conservative, wanting to maintain the status quo, while the Whigs advocated electoral, parliamentary, and social reform. After the French Revolution, the Tory party experienced years of largely uncontested power. Before he became Prince Regent, George IV supported Whig sentiments, but when in power, he turned Tory.

The only people who could vote in Regency England were male landowners. Only one man in seven could vote in England; one in 44 in Scotland. Women did not earn full voting rights in the UK until 1928.

So when I cast my vote tomorrow, I’ll be grateful that I have a voice in my government and I’ll appreciate how different it would have been if I had lived in my beloved Regency England.

Go vote!!!

(P.S. I’ll be picking the winner of one download of Susanna’s An Infamous Marriage tonight, so you can still comment today. Susanna will be adding to her contest all Risky commenters who gave her an email address)


Happy birthday to the Regency! Just a day late as the Regency Act that gave its name to “our” period was passed on February 5, 1811.

I suppose no one at the time knew that the term “Regency” would come to represent not only a period in British history but would also give rise to a whole subgenre of romance. Or that it would become so synonymous with elegance and luxury. I wonder how many people realize how the term first came about as they patronize hotels, dry cleaners, florists, etc…, with the name? Probably not many. Doesn’t anyone understand how difficult this makes it for me to google for useful information on the Regency???

Anyhow, I wasn’t in much of a celebratory mood yesterday. The cold I’ve been fighting degenerated into some sort of wretched flu-like thing. I’m better now but I spent most of yesterday in bed. I didn’t even watch the latest film I got from Netflix (SHARPE’S WATERLOO) as I wasn’t feeling up to the carnage. Instead I immersed myself in comfort TV: What Not To Wear, How Do I Look? and an old Star Trek episode.

The only Regency thing I did was the Jane Austen Movie Club–but it is such fun (thanks again to Cara for hostessing) that it may be celebration enough.

Anyway, happy belated birthday to the Regency and thank you all for sharing your obsession with us!

Elena
www.elenagreene.com

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