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07.00.00 ИСТОРИЧЕСКИЕ НАУКИ

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АЛЕКСАНДРОВА А.П. ALEXANDROVA A.P. кандидат филологических наук, доцент, кафедра ан- Candidate of Philology, Department of English Philology, глийской филологии, Орловский государственный уни- Orel State University верситет имени И.С. Тургенева E-mail: [email protected] E-mail: [email protected]

АНГЛИЙСКОЕ ОБЩЕСТВО В ГЕОРГИАНСКИЙ ПЕРИОД

ENGLISH SOCIETY DURING THE GEORGIAN PERIOD

Статья посвящена английскому обществу в Георгианскую эпоху. Дается краткое описание структуры общества и его особенностей; демонстрируется тенденцию роста населения, вызванная промышленной революцией; в статье показана весьма неоднородная природа английского общества и доминирующая роль высшего класса (аристократии и дворянства) в политике страны.

Ключевые слова: Георгианская эпоха, эпоха Регентства, Англия, население, английское общество, социаль- ная структура, классовая система, правительство, правительственная система, парламент, члены парламента, Палата общин.

The paper is devoted to during the Georgian era. It gives a brief description of its social structure and peculiarities and demonstrates a tendency of the population growth, which was caused by the ; it shows a highly variegated nature of English society and mentions the dominating role of the upper-class (aristocracy and gentry) in politics of the country.

Keywords: Georgian era, , , population, English society, social structure, class-system, government, governmental system, Parliament, Members of Parliament, the House of Commons.

The Georgian era began with the German ‘House of of the Georges Britain became internationally powerful. If the Hanover’. The period lasted from approximately 1714 to 1830. 17th century was the age of the aristocracy and the 19th century The dynasty was accepted with the Act of Settlement (1701). the time of the industrial working classes, then the 18th century Even though these kings were accepted as monarchs following was the period when the middle classes held sway in terms of the Act of Settlement, it is claimed by some that they were not taste and consumption. [17] particularly popular monarchs, especially George I. The fi rst This was a period of great change, as cities grew, trade two Georges were considered foreigners, especially by many expanded and consumerism and popular culture blossomed. The Scots. George III, born in England, achieved wider British Georgians witnessed the birth of industrialisation; radicalism recognition. [1] and repression; and extreme luxury alongside extreme poverty. When Queen Anne died without any heirs, the English Life in the 18th-century city would have provoked a throne was offered to her nearest Protestant relative, George of dazzling mixture of sensations: terror and exhilaration, menace Hanover, who thus became George I of England. Throughout and bliss, awe and pity. Cities expanded rapidly in 18th century the long reign of George, his son, and grandson, all named Britain, with people fl ocking to them for work. George, the very nature of English society and the political The most important development in eighteenth-century face of the realm changed. In part this was because the fi rst two England was the growth of population. The population of Georges took little interest in the politics of rule, and were quite Britain grew rapidly during this period, from around fi ve content to let ministers rule on their behalf. These ministers, million people in 1700 to nearly nine million by 1801. As a representatives of the king, or Prime Ministers, rather enjoyed result, the people were spreading over the face of the country. ruling, and throughout this “Georgian period” the foundations It turned out to be that there was more population living on of English system was solidifi ed into something fertile soil than in towns. Thus, the typical Englishman was resembling what we have today. But more than politics changed; the in his fi eld and not the man in the street. However, English society underwent a revolution in art and architecture. people began to move from the country into new industrial This was the age of the grand country house, when many of the towns. Many people left the countryside in order to seek out great stately homes that we can visit today were built. Abroad, new job opportunities in nearby towns and cities. Others the English acquired more and more territory overseas through arrived from further afi eld: from rural areas in Ireland, conquest and settlement, lands that would eventually make up and , for example, and from across large areas of Europe. an Empire stretching to every corner of the globe. [13] It was one of the main features of Georgian England at the start The Georges presided over, and were active patrons of, a of industrial revolution. century of unparalleled elegance and taste. Through the reigns By today’s standards, most 18th-century towns possessed

© Александрова А.П. © Alexandrova A.P. 7 Ученые записки Орловского государственного университета. №3 (80), 2018 г. Scientific notes of Orel State University. Vol. 3 – no. 80. 2018 remarkably young populations. Young people were drawn to of the schools were inadequate. Others, however, were sending urban areas by the lure of regular and full-time employment, their sons to one of the handful of schools that were emerging and by the entertainments that were on offer there: the theatres, into prominence at that time, and this was normal practice at inns and pleasure gardens, for example, and the shops display- the end of the period. The most thriving public schools were ing the latest fashions. Eton, , Winchester, Harrow and Rugby. Those who in particular was fl ooded with thousands of young wanted to fi nish these schools had to take part in the Grand people every year, many of whom worked as apprentices to Tour paving the way to the highest society. the capital’s numerous tradesmen. Other new arrivals gained The freedom of movement between the classes extended employment as domestic servants to the dozens of aristocratic practically right through the social scale. The exceptional families that began spending much of their time in elegantly diversifi cation of English social classes helped to make this built town houses. possible. The middle class is a case in point, for nothing is Though death rates remained relatively high, by the end more diffi cult than to decide which types are covered by the of the 18th century London’s population had reached nearly term. Scientists say that the middle-class included merchants, one million people, fed by a ceaseless fl ow of newcomers. By professional men, doctors, lawyers and churchmen who were 1800 almost one in ten of the entire British population lived in increasing in numbers and rising in status in this period. But the capital city. Elsewhere, thousands of people moved to the they were a miscellaneous group, too, as they were recruited rapidly growing industrial cities of , such as from all directions, from the gentry, the business classes and and , in order to work in the new factories from the lower classes, for this was a good route up the social and textile mills that sprang up there from the 1750s onwards. scale for a poor person with talents and industry. The lower During the Georgian Period, wealth and social class sepa- gentry also presents diffi culties as their birth and manner of life rated the English citizenry. Beginning with the Royals, citizens link them with the main body of the gentry, but their incomes found their place based on birthright and wealth. The nobility place them on an economic level with the smaller business- stood above the gentry, who stood above the clergy, who stood men. The rural class next lower down, the smaller farmers, the above the working class, etc. [10] yeomen of England: they are not to be classed with manual The social structure of Britain has been highly infl uenced labourers, but then neither are they gentlemen. The working by the concept of classes. The class system is prevalent in the class is rich in differentiated grades: craftsmen, copper-miners, society of the in the 21st century too. The weavers, cowmen, ploughmen, casual labourers trudging the different classes were formed depending on various factors streets in cities and squatters in villages. such as education levels, income and the type of occupation. The merchants as representatives of middle-class were the As per the norms of the Parliament of the United Kingdom, driving force of the English economy. Some of them fought there were basically two social classes. One was called as the so successfully that they thrust themselves outside the classes , comprising of the hereditary upper class and considered here, by becoming gentlemen. Edward Anthony another one was the House of Commons, representing every- the lawyer, Mr Marsh the solicitor and Dudley Ryder himself one else in the British social hierarchy. are representatives of another segment of the Georgian In his book “Life in Georgian England”, Ernest Neville middle classes: the professional men. The burgeoning wealth Williams, describing life of during the Georgian of all classes and the increasing complexity of social and Era, looks at the class system. economic relations swelled the ranks of the lawyers, farmers, England was thus a confederation of local communities. manufacturers, doctors, civil servants, clergy, soldiers, sailors, But horizontal divisions existed as well as vertical ones – in the architects, teachers, writers and actors. The high and mighty form of a very complex class structure. There are upper-class, Fellows and Licentiates were too few and too dear for most middle-class and lower-class. At the top were the few really of the middle classes, who were doctored by a third group – great aristocratic families. Magnates like the Devonshires, the the apothecaries. The profession of apothecary was becoming Newcastles, the Bedfords or the Rockinghams were as wealthy a respectable calling for the sons of prosperous farmers as some Continental sovereigns, and they looked down on the and tradesmen, and even gentlemen’s sons are found on king of England who had been one of these. But they were not apprenticeship books. They were keeping the chemists and cut off socially from the rest of the peerage, and neither were druggists out of the goldmine. Armed forces were expanding. they essentially distinct from the body of the landed gentry. The Civil servants occupied the middle ground between the English aristocracy did not possess exclusive privileges like the traders and the gentry. Manufacturers such as Arkwright and French noblesse, for example, which set them as a race apart. Wedgwood were so rich that they could pay the national debt. English society was class-conscious but not caste-ridden.The People of middle-class attended public schools so they peerage and the gentry can be regarded as one class. Within had a good education. In Georgian era was ‘pudding-time’ for it there was more freedom of movement than anywhere else the middle classes, but essentially they did not come into their in Europe, and it is true also of the movement between it and own in this century. Until the last decades they were content to other classes. [2] remain political and economic appendages of the nobility and Ease of manner was distinctive of the English upper class. gentry, and their social habits and attitudes were colored by this Men and women were natural, spontaneous and straightforward. basic fact. Thus, a ball at the Assemblymight produce a contract. Men acted on impulse as they were uninhibited either by inner In the Georgian England reformer, they were representatives doubt or outer social pressures. of the Dissenting Academies, played a major role in the social All this isn’t surprising in view of the haphazard and life as they brought a thrust to development of education, disorganised nature of upper-class education. Many continued science, industry and economics. Puritans didn’t approve their to be brought up at home under the direction of tutors, for most position and tried to impose their manners. Fortunately, the

8 07.00.00 ИСТОРИЧЕСКИЕ НАУКИ И АРХЕОЛОГИЯ 07.00.00 HISTORICAL SCIENCES AND ARCHAEOLOGY problem didn’t last long. structure undamaged and its institutions intact. By contrast, The theory of the period says children should learn a revolution was overturning the remaining governments of trade and become useful citizens. Thus, the majority of the Ancien Régime and has continued to do so ever since. [2] working people were rural (whether they were in agriculture or If the minute gradations in society made for the stability industry). Moreover, year by year a mass of landless laborers of the whole, the steepness of the climb provided the stimulus and unemployment were increasing so the laborers had to for the parts; for it was a great distance from the bottom to the submit. top and the rewards were enormous. In the early part of the The typical villager was the yeoman. This term applies century, the great magnates were receiving £20.000 a year and strictly to small freeholders, leaseholders and copyholders as more from their estates, while a labourer was lucky if he was well. The cottagers and squatters worked as tailors, shoemakers, making £20. This gap widened the economy boomed during weavers and spinners. Industrial workers were skilled the course of the century. But still it was a free society, and craftsmen and they worked in their own homes, according to the sky was the limit; and the enticing prospects open to the their own time-table, fi nding their own looms, size and candles, enterprising acted like a magnet, electrifying the energies, the and employing their own wives and children as assistants. In inventive talents and the business acumen of men at all levels, newer industries like brewing and sugar-refi ning, the men were without which English nation would never have made its mark laborers under a foreman. in the world. Many great leaders of the Industrial revolution Domestic staff had its enduring hierarchy. In descending rose from humble stations. order, the clerk of the stables and the clerk of the kitchen, the This top-heavy distribution of wealth produced a further cook, the confectioner, the baker, the bailiff, the valet, the dividend: the capital for the manifold activities of the period. butler, the gardener and the groom of the chambers. Below these During this period of history there was a signifi cant desire came the lower servants, who wore livery: the coachman, the among all classes to improve their situation in life – if not for footman, the running footman and the groom, the under-butler their benefi t then for future generations of their family. and the under-coachman, the park-keeper and the gamekeeper The Georgians shaped the nature of the social class system, and the porter, the postilion, the yard-boy, the provision-boy, and this remains in modern Britain. The upper class was a the foot-boy, and, fi nally, the page. The female hierarchy had a small segment of society and included the wealthiest. It was similar pecking-order. The lady’s maid (or waiting-woman or an elite aristocracy that was closed off to all others. The upper tire-woman), the housekeeper and the cook were in the higher class was not infrequently subject to criminal acts in Georgian echelons. Below them (though not in livery) were lined up the England though, as there was not a police forcein the modern chambermaid, the housemaid, the maid of all work, the laundry form. Secondly, there was the middle class. This class was a maid and the dairy maid. These last four were about level, and little broader than the upper class, but it still retained a small right at the end came the scullery maid. Of course, this is the percentage of society. It was made up of various businessmen establishment of a wealthy household. A more modest one and professionals. And, last but not least, there was the working would begin lower down; but the order of precedence would class. The working class made up the majority of the Georgian be strictly maintained, even if the staff (as in a modest parson’s era’s population. It was a class that was exploited by the rich and house) consisted only of a personal man, a maid of all work and it was often forced to work in the newly formed factories. [7] a scullery maid. The paramount position was enjoyed by the aristocracy and Insolent and aggressive though they could be, the gentry in the social and economic life and it was refl ected in the lower classes accepted the existing structure of society and dominating role in politics, which they had fought for and won. government till the last decades of the century. The Charity The grip was far more all-embracing: it controlled the armed Schools were founded so literacy was growing. The religious forces, the Church, the civil service and local government, reformers and the Sunday schools added their layers. And the from top to bottom. Thearistocratic families were investing in Industrial Revolution sharpened the wits and transformed the political power and social prestige buying land and estates. habits of skilled elite. By that time the lower classes were on A proper appreciation of the political activity of the landed the move. They were no longer content to leave their political classes depends on an understanding of the governmental and social welfare in the hands of their betters. system of the era. The king was the head of the state, and It is impossible to give a brief account of the complexity he ruled as well as reigned. He chose his ministers, decided of English society which is at all adequate. It is necessary to on his policies but he had to take into account the wishes of mention its highly variegated nature because it was of profound Parliament as it had power and money. The most enduring importance. The road from the bottom of the stairs was long, ministers were Walpole, , Lord North and the but there were many steps to scramble up, and each one was younger Pitt. Above half the Members of Parliament were shallow. No one was far above or far below the next man; and this independent country gentlemen. They owed their seats to no was rather different from earlier times, and from neigh bouring one but themselves. They had no political ambitions, and could states where there were few people between the landlords at vote on measures as their conscience guided them. About half the top and the anonymous and featureless peasantry below. To of them supported the king’s ministers. But no minister could change the image, English society was effervescent: countless complacently rely on them: if they all voted with the opposition, bubbles were rising and falling as the ferment of activity on all a government was doomed. Their presence in the Commons sides of life was transforming the country into the fi rst industrial kept ministers on their toes: debates were genuine battles over state and the greatest power in the world. Society was seething, real issues and not foregone conclusions. but the structure remained steady: it passed the stage of rapid The House of Commons consisted of the active politicians, industrialization, the most profound convulsion that economic the career men, the men who formed governments and led man has yet learned to impose, on himself, with its political oppositions. They were organized into little groups, which were

9 Ученые записки Орловского государственного университета. №3 (80), 2018 г. Scientific notes of Orel State University. Vol. 3 – no. 80. 2018 the ‘parties’ of the time. Each group had a leader whose orders ‘object crazes’ of the period, the advent of mass-production they took for different reasons: they owed their seats to him, or and rising levels of affl uence as evidence of this trend. he had given them a job, or they were related to him, and so on. Archaeologists working in this period have tended to echo There was one larger group – “placemen”. It included 100-200 this view, observing that the infl ux of goods and materials into people who voted for the king’s government at all times and society heralded an altered ‘world-view’, and an acceptance formed the permanent core of any ministerial majority. They of the new commodity-driven society. This perspective takes were attached to rather than to any politician. a rather staid and sober response to the large-scale infl ux of A Prime Minister formed his majority out of the ‘placemen’ objects into eighteenth-century England; it neglects a proper and the followers of whichever aristocratic leaders had helped assessment of the ‘mystical character of commodities’ as him to set up a government. It is obvious that ‘infl uence’ defi ned by Marx, it obscures the socio-cultural use and value played the major role there. But the system is absolved from of objects in Georgian England, and it overlooks the complex the charges of utter baseness which have been hurled at it, by relationships between the ‘human and the non-human’. Using the necessity of placating those guardians of public honour, the accounts from courtesy books, novels and the proliferation of independent gentry. Patronage was essential, but by itself was ‘object-centred’ fi ction, an alternative account to the ‘consumer not enough. society’ argument can emerge. Moving beyond large-scale With all its faults, the political structure produced sound processes this study focuses on the individual level, upon the government; and turned out to be made-to-measure for rapid manipulation of objects by people, and of people by objects. economic expansion. Big money, whether landed or mercantile, The consumer society of the eighteenth-century is not a mirror had enough say in policy-making to ensure that England of our own; it exhibits a different form of consumerism and a became a business concern with its eye on profi t, instead of different relationship with material culture. Georgian England a dictator’s plaything reaching out for glory. At home, the was not a society solely enamoured with consumerism, the state held the ring while the business-men got on with the job: regard and association with material culture was complex and abroad, it captured markets for them by armed aggression. It multiform. Applying the term ‘consumer society’ masks the even ensuredthe necessary austerity in the mass of the people, responses of individuals towards material culture, a response for paternal government was not to be expected of a gelded which incorporated objects as participants, as active agents in monarchy and an unwilling parliament. [2] society. [3] Eighteenth-century England is often claimed to be the The Georgian era was a period of staggering political, origins of consumerism; where the conditions of capitalism economic, social, intellectual, and artistic transformations, engineered the consumer society which appears so pervasive during which Britain became a modern nation and an industrial in our contemporary world. Over the last twenty years and imperial superpower. It is rather interesting to trace the historians, economists and sociologists have considered that infl uence of the Georgian era on the country’s development, consumerism has its roots in the commodity fetishism that was taking into account different aspects; probably, it will be the seen to emerge in Georgian England. They have pointed to the issue for the next publication.

References 1. Alexandrova A.P., KotovaYu.P. Spotlight on the History of : a manual for students’ classroom and independent work. Orel: Orel State University named after I.S. Turgenev. 2017. 306 p. 2. Williams E.N. Life in Georgian England. London: B.T.BATSFORD LTD, 1962. 3. Wilson R. J.‘The mystical character of commodities’: The consumer society in eighteenth-century England. Post-Medieval Archaeology. University of York. 4. http:// www.bbc.co.uk 5. http://www.britannia.com 6. http://www.english-heritage.org.uk/learn/story-of-england/georgians/daily-life/ 7. http://www.historyisnowmagazine.com/blog/2014/5/12/7tl0mvxrzexynquyu9bhadlx515na4#.W3iBvLoQ9u0= 8. http://www.historyisnowmagazine.com/blog/2014/5/12/7tl0mvxrzexynquyu9bhadlx515na4#.W4jopc4zaUk 9. https://penandpension.com/2015/04/15/georgian-consumerism/ 10. https://reginajeffers.blog/2015/08/19/7889/ 11. https://www.bl .uk/georgian-britain 12. https://www.bl.uk/georgian-britain/articles/the-rise-of-cities-in-the-18th-century 13. https://www.britainexpress.com/History/Georgian_index.htm 14. https://www.futurelearn.com/courses/royal-food/0/steps/17082 15. https://www.hierarchystructure.com/british-social-hierarchy/ 16. https://www.history.ac.uk/reviews/review/249 17. https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/art/features/the-making-of-modern-britain-the-georgian-era-saw-the-middle-class- fl aunt-a-new-found-w 18. https://www.wattpad.com/167800125-reading-the-regency-the-social-structure-of

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