Donna Fletcher Crow, Novelist of British History, has written more than 50 books specializing in British Christianity. These books include: The Monastery Murders, clerical mysteries; Lord Danvers Investigates, Victorian true-crime; The Elizabeth and Richard series, literary suspense; and Glastonbury, The Novel of Christian England. She loves research and sharing you-are-there experiences with her readers.
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Donna Fletcher Crow, Novelist of British History
A traveling researcher engages people and places from Britain's past and present, drawing comparisons and contrasts between past and present for today's reader.
Day 8, Starting the Day right with A Very Private Public Breakfast
By Donna Fletcher Crow ~ March 27, 2025
In June of 1799 Jane Austen was visiting Bath when she wrote to her sister Cassandra: “There is a public breakfast in Sydney Gardens every morning, so that we shall not be wholly starved.”
In Regency England, breakfast was the meal most people went out to. A public breakfast was a social event, often held for special occasions or hosted by a private individual with a public guest list. A private breakfast was a more intimate, informal meal eaten within a home, typically consisting of cakes and light refreshments.
Our breakfast at the Jane Austen Festival was an intimate affair, indeed, open to members of the public lucky enough to obtain the very limited tickets. It was held in Camden Place, a typical 5-story Bath house of the 18th century.
This could even have been the very house Sir Walter Eliot had taken in Persuasion and declared to be, “undoubtedly the best in Camden Place; their drawing-rooms had many decided advantages over all the others which they had either seen or heard of.”
Our hostess welcomed us in her well-appointed drawing room to talk about breakfasting in the Regency.
The Austen ladies took breakfast at 9:00; Mrs. Middleton in Sense and Sensibility, at 10:00; and Jane’s brothers at 11:00. The men would have clung to the earlier habit of breakfasting on weak beer and cold beef. Mrs. Austen took only dry toast. A typical Regency breakfast, like the one served to us was “a feast of carbohydrates.”
A typical menu would consist of white rolls with preserves, spice nibbles, and cake. Popular spices used in morning cakes included caraway seeds, saffron, and ground ginger. Our spice nibbles were cinnamon twists.
At one public breakfast Jane Austen had her stomach “put off” with a bun—probably from the butter. A generation earlier the Countess of Huntingdon had voiced her displeasure with the overly rich menu at the public breakfasts offered in the Pump Room.
“I never cease to be amazed by the folly of men. They realize that without health life is a burden and that this blessing can only be obtained by exercise and abstinence; yet even after the heyday of youth is passed, they will go on loading their bodies with distemper, pain, and sorrow till life is not worth accepting. Then they repair to Bath where they drink three pints of the waters, and then sit down to a meal of hot spongy rolls rendered high by burnt butter. Such a meal few young men in full health can get over without feeling much inconvenience, and I have known it to produce almost instantaneous death to valetudinarians.”
Before we moved into the dining room to partake of such risky fare, however, our hostess showed us her collection of Regency tea paraphernalia. It was Jane’s job to fix breakfast for their household at Chawton (thereby leaving the rest of the day free for her writing). She was mistress of the keys to the tea and sugar cupboard, which would be kept locked in any well-run home. Jane also made toast over the open fireplace.
Jane also purchased the household supply of tea from Twinings whenever she was in London visiting her brother Henry or on business to see her publisher.
At that time all tea came from China: Oolong, Keemun, and Gunpowder. The all-important tea chest, ruled over by the lady of the house, held compartments for black and green tea with a mixing bowl in the center. The silver seashell was used for scooping the leaves. Originally polite society “took a bowl of tea” because teacups were just tiny bowls. Handles were added later, and finally came the saucer, replacing an earlier ring which had been used to avoid burning one’s fingers. Perhaps something like the paper ring offered at Starbucks today?
Like Mrs. Austen who prized her set of 6 silver teaspoons, our hostess was pleased to display hers before we gathered in the dining room for breakfast in the very best style.
Next: Day 8 continues, Out and About Studying Hannah More with Brenda Cox
Donna Fletcher Crow, Novelist of British History, has written more than 50 books specializing in British Christianity. These books include: The Monastery Murders, clerical mysteries; Lord Danvers Investigates, Victorian true-crime; The Elizabeth and Richard series, literary suspense; and Glastonbury, The Novel of Christian England. She loves research and sharing you-are-there experiences with her readers.
Read More: Attending the Jane Austen Festival
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