Reading the Regency

Education - University

"Mowbray, who was two or three years my senior, left school soon afterwards. We did not meet at the university; he went to Oxford, and I to Cambridge."
[Chapter 3, Harrington, by Maria Edgeworth]

Between 1790 and 1820 there were two universities in England, and four in Scotland. The third university in England was not founded until the mid 1820s. University level education was limited to men only at this time, usually aged 18 or over. Women were not accepted into British universities until the 1870s.

In 1801 and 1811 there were 800 members at Cambridge. Oxford was larger, with 1,170 members in 1801 and 1,015 members in 1811. These figures gradually began to increase as the war with France ended, and fewer young men were able to join the army or the navy. By 1820 Cambridge had a similar number of members to Oxford .

There were no formal entrance examinations at Oxford or Cambridge in the 19th century, and attendance was based more on who you were related to, whether you could afford to attend, or if you were lucky enough to receive a scholarship. Only those applying for scholarships had to provide evidence of their existing knowledge in the classical languages.

Scholarships were left to a college in someone's will, and provided an annual sum of money to pay for students to attend university who might not otherwise be able to afford it. Most scholarships were given without conditions, but a few were reserved for specific candidates. Dr. Seth Ward, the Bishop of Salisbury, provided four scholarships of 12l each to Jesus College, Cambridge, but the scholars had to be natives of Hertfordshire, and continue their studies to M.A. level. At Pembroke College in Oxford, the Bishop of Winchester founded five scholarships, which were available only to suitable applicants from Guernsey and Jersey.

During the Regency period, attending university and obtaining a degree was a particularly important achievement for someone of modest birth. If the son of a craftsman or tradesman had an aptitude for classical studies, and managed to earn a scholarship to one of the universities, his position in society would be greatly improved. Anyone, whatever their background, who received a Bachelor's degree in Divinity, Law, Physic and Music, or a Master of Arts degree, would have an equal or greater status to any gentleman who held no university degree.

Life at University

"At the moment Jacob was speaking, certainly my fancy was bent on a phaeton and horses, rather than on Hebrew or fluxions, and the contrast was striking, between what he conceived my first objects at Cambridge would be, and what they really were."
[Chapter 4, Harrington, by Maria Edgeworth]

At this time, young men attended university for different reasons. While some went to learn, expand their knowledge and qualify for a profession, many others attended merely because it was expected, or to fill the years between the end of school and the beginning of their adult lives. During this period most took the opportunity to form friendships with other young men who might be of use to them in the future; something Mr. Collins failed to avail himself of during his studies:

"the deficiency of nature had been but little assisted by education or society; the greatest part of his life having been spent under the guidance of an illiterate and miserly father; and though he belonged to one of the universities, he had merely kept the necessary terms, without forming at it any useful acquaintance."
[Chapter 15, Pride and Prejudice, by Jane Austen]

In the 19th century it was virtually impossible to receive ordination into the Church of England without a degree, and in 1800 more than half those leaving university went into the church. Only ten percent of those attending university studied medicine or law.