Napoleon once dismissed England as a "Nation of Shopkeepers", because he thought the population were more interested in business than preparing their country for war with France. He believed that by banning all trade between France and England, his enemy would suffer and he would triumph. Sadly, it didn't work out for him.
Shopping was a big part of everyday life, for all levels of society. Walking down one of the main commercial streets in Regency London wouldn't have been that much different than walking through any modern British town. There were clothes shops, jewellers, fast-food outlets and other forms of retail therapy, even if some of the names of those businesses might now be unfamiliar to us.
Types of Shop
"And we mean to treat you all,'' added Lydia; "but you must lend us the money, for we have just spent ours at the shop out there.''
[Chapter 39, Pride & Prejudice by Jane Austen]
The general word that described most retail premises was Shop. In England, the word "store" meant a place to store things, so you might find a coal store, or a meat store, where they stored goods in bulk, but you didn't generally buy things from a store. Stores were similar to our modern day warehouses.
In the Regency period, a Warehouse was literally a house that offered "wares" for sale. Although a few, like the Italian Corset Warehouse on Oxford Street, aimed their advertising towards the Nobility, many others boasted about their cheap prices to attract customers, such as this example:
"FASHIONABLE CLOTHES WAREHOUSE, 421 Strand, near Bedford Street. John Knight respectfully informs the public, he supplies them with clothes of all kinds on the most speedy, just and advantageous terms.
Large variety of Coats, waistcoats and breeches, &c., ready made, Leather Breeches fit for present use or well made to measure and cheap. Suit of clothes at seven hours notice."
[The Times, 20th June 1805]
So when Mrs Bennet in "Pride and Prejudice" says: "tell my dear Lydia, not to give any directions about her clothes till she has seen me, for she does not know which are the best warehouses..." she isn't thinking of buying items wholesale from a merchant, but from a large shop offering the variety of different items Lydia would need for her new married life.
Warehouses might have attracted the middle classes, and the gentry who were watching their budget, but they would have been less interesting to the most wealthy shoppers in London, who liked to boast about the money they spent and would have only patronised the most fashionable and exclusive establishments and would have never bought clothes that were ready made.
Another word for a shop was Magazine, which came from the French for "a shop where goods are kept for sale"; while larger items, like furniture, were exhibited in a Ware-room, or Showroom. In 1795 Josiah Wedgewood, the potter, opened a showroom to sell his china pieces. The room, on St James' Square, became a fashionable place for ladies to meet up and inspect the merchandise.
Supermarkets as we know them today were unheard of in Regency England, so shoppers would have had to go to many individual shops or market stalls to buy everything they needed; one for meat, another for vegetables, etc. Early 19th century shops looked very much like small shops today - with a front door and a large window for displaying goods. Or sometimes a door in the middle and two smaller windows either side. The shopkeepers lived in rooms at the back, and above.
Outside London, the smaller towns or large villages might only have one of each type of business, and they would be limited to the butchers, bakers, grocers and other things that people bought regularly. Anyone looking for specialist items, like wigs or riding habits, might have to travel to their nearest large city, or order something to be sent through the post.
Everyone knows what a butcher, jeweller or bookshop sells, because they are still familiar to us. However, there were lots of other shops specialising in different items that no longer exist, or are almost extinct. This is a list of some types of shop, and other retail businesses, who would have owned or rented their own premises:
CHANDLER - made and/or sold candles
CHEESEMONGER - dealer and seller of cheese
CONFECTIONER - sold ices, cakes, biscuits and fancy cakes
DRAPER - dealer in fabrics and sewing needs
DRUGGIST - Chemist or pharmacy
FEATHERMAN - dealer in feathers and plumes
FISHMONGER - dealer in Fish and seafood
FRUITERER - fruit seller
GLOVER - made and sold gloves
GREENGROCER - fruit and vegetable seller
HABERDASHER - Dealer in small wares e.g. caps, purses, beads, thread, ribbons, lace, etc.
HABIT MAKER - Made women's outerwear, like riding habits, pelisses and redingotes; winter coats made of thicker woollen materials. Tailors were often also Habit Makers
HATTER - Maker of men's hats
IRON MONGER - dealer in hardware made of iron or other metals, like pins or buckets
MERCER - any sort of cloth seller or dealer in textiles, e.g. silk mercer, or cotton mercer
MANTUA MAKER - A dressmaker - always a woman - who made most types of dress and some undergarments
MILLINER - Maker of women's hats - could be male or female
PERFUMER - someone who made and sold perfume
PERUKER - wigmaker
PLUMER - made and/or sold plumes, ornamental feathers
POULTER - seller of poultry and game
PRINT SELLER - someone who sold pictures and coloured prints
QUILL MERCHANT - made and sold quills for writing
SHOEMAKER - made, sold and repaired shoes and boots
STATIONER - bookseller, seller of paper, writing implements and ink
STAY MAKER - corset maker
STOCKINGER - knitter, weaver, or dealer in stockings
TAILOR - made gentlemen's clothes - always a man
TEA DEALER - dealer in different types of tea
TOBACCONIST - sold loose tobacco for pipes, cigars and snuff. There were no cigarettes in Regency Britain
WINE MERCHANT - someone who sold bottles of wine and spirits, often by the dozen.
Of course, a young lady from a noble family would never have stepped foot in a fishmonger's shop. During shopping expeditions she, along with her chaperone, would have most likely visited the perfumer, the milliner, the haberdasher, the mantua maker, and the bookshop. In a high status family, food shopping would have been dealt with by the housekeeper, while in the homes of lesser gentry and the middle classes the lady of the house or her eldest daughter would usually shop for food or small items for the home.
The man of the house, or sometimes the butler in a large house, would buy the wine and spirits. Men would also buy books, prints or paintings, horses and carriages, as well as their own clothes. The man and the woman of the house would choose wall coverings, paint and furniture.
Apart from dressmakers and ladies milliners, most shops employed male sales staff. Being a shop assistant during this period was a man's job, and very few women were employed in shops generally.
An early Department Store
Harding, Howell & Co., a haberdasher, split their retail space into four departments, each specialising in particular goods. In this way it became one of the first "department stores" in London, even though that description didn't come into use until much later in the 19th century. They employed forty staff and called their shop a "Grand Fashionable Magazine".
Located at no. 89 Pall Mall, the building was formerly the home of the Duke of Schomberg. In March 1809, an article printed in Ackermann's Repository of Arts described it thus:
"The house is one hundred and fifty feet in length from front to back, and of proportionate width. It is fitted up with great taste, and is divided by glazed partitions into four departments, for the various branches of the extensive business, which is there carried on.
Immediately at the entrance is the first department, which is exclusively appropriated to the sale of furs and fans. The second contains articles of haberdashery of every description, silks, muslins, lace, gloves, &etc. In the third shop, on the right, you meet with a rich assortment of jewelry, ornamental articles in ormolu, french clocks, &etc.; and on the left, with all the different kinds of perfumery necessary for the toilette. The fourth is set apart for millinery and dresses; so that there is no article of female attire or decoration, but what may be here procured in the first style of elegance and fashion."
Royal Warrants of Appointment
If a shopkeeper regularly sold goods to the Royal family for a period of years, they might be issued with a Royal Warrant of Appointment. This allowed them to advertise that they supplied goods to the King or another senior member of the Royal Family. By the end of the 18th century, those fortunate enough to receive a Royal Warrant would display the Royal coat of arms somewhere on their premises, and also on their stationary, with the words "By Appointment to King George III", or "By Appointment to the Prince of Wales".
Rundell and Bridge, (later Rundell, Bridge and Rundell) on Ludgate Hill, were patronised by King George III and appointed Royal Jewellers in 1789, but it was their association with the Prince Regent that cemented their reputation as Jewellers and Goldsmiths to the Royal family. The Prince commissioned a dinner service of silver plate, suitable for use on state occasions, which was impressive enough that they displayed it in their shop during the spring of 1807. Princess Charlotte also bought a number of pieces from them on the occasion of her marriage in 1816.
The wine and spirit merchant, Giacomo Justerini, whose premises were on St. James' Street, London, was granted a Royal Warrant in 1761 by the King, and the business has received warrants from each monarch since that time. The business is now known as Justerini and Brooks and they are still located on St. James' Street today.
No shopping on Sundays
"For the stillness of the place Lord Colambre in some measure accounted by considering that it was Sunday; therefore, of course, all the shops were shut up, and all the people at prayers."
[Chapter 11, The Absentee, by Maria Edgeworth]
Unlike our modern shopping experience, all shops would be closed on Sundays, as it was the traditional Christian day of rest. However, during the week and on Saturdays there was no restrictions to the opening hours, or the number of hours people worked. Some shops opened at 8am and didn't close until nine or ten at night.
Buying on Account
Mrs. Dolly, who had never kept any account of what she spent, had no idea how far she was getting into a tradesman's debt till his bill was brought home: and was in great astonishment to find, when all her bills were sent in, that she had spent four hundred and fifty pounds in her private expenses, drinking included, in the course of three years and eight months.
[The Lottery, Tales and Novels, vol2, by Maria Edgeworth]
It was very common during this time for all levels of society to purchase goods on Credit. The higher up the social ladder you were the easier it was to obtain credit, despite the fact that the upper classes often put off paying their tradesmens' bills for years.
While Gentlemen felt morally obliged to pay gambling debts, there was no similar expectation for them to pay a shopkeeper, and because of that many chose not to pay - causing suffering to those poor tradesmen who had supplied them with goods. Even the Prince of Wales ran up massive debts with his tailors and jeweller.
Because the shopkeepers needed to keep their customers happy, they were reluctant to push too hard for payment, lest they lose a nobleman's business. Some even allowed a year's grace before attempting to recoup the money. To begin with they might send in their Account with no comment; merely drawing attention to the amount owing. However, if they needed the money they might go so far as to send a letter, or knock on the door, requesting full or part payment.
"Colonel Pembroke's tailor, who had begun by being the most accommodating fellow in the world, and who had in three years run him up a bill of thirteen hundred pounds, at length began to fail in complaisance, and had the impertinence to talk of his large family, and his urgent calls for money &c.
[The Dun, Tales of Fashionable Life, by Maria Edgeworth]
Asking for payment in this way was known as Dunning, and the shopkeeper would be the Dun - a creditor requesting payment of a debt.
Peers could not be prosecuted for debt, and although the Gentry were not immune from the same prosecutions, the cost of legal action put debt collection out of the reach of most small businesses. Many shopkeepers were only able to recover debts from gentlemen if they joined forces in one legal action.
A few shopkeepers did offer their goods for sale "for ready money", or in other words cash only, but risked losing customers as the use of credit was so widespread throughout the different levels of society. Joseph Lock, a hatter whose customers included Mr. Brummel, offered a discount of one shilling on items paid for in cash, but charged full price for those who wanted their goods on account.
Shopping Arcades
The Royal Opera Arcade, built in 1818, was the first enclosed shopping street in England. A covered walk with an arched roof, twelve feet wide, was lit by circular skylights. It ran along the back of the Royal Opera House, between Pall Mall and Charles II Street, and contained nineteen small shop units, each with a basement and an upstairs room connected to the shop by a spiral staircase at the back.
The first arcade you might recognise as looking like a modern-day shopping centre [US: shopping mall] was built in 1819. Unlike the Royal Opera Arcade, which only had shops on one side, the Burlington Arcade had a twelve-foot wide covered avenue, 210 yards long, with shops along both sides. The arcade ran between Piccadilly and Burlington Gardens, and the entrance at each end was marked by three equal-sized arches. A report by Samuel Ware in 1815 described the proposed arcade as "a Piazza for all Hardware, Wearing Apparel and Articles not Offensive in appearance nor smell". In 1825 it was described as having "72 shops with apartments for the occupiers."
The Burlington Arcade was even memorialised in song, when it was mentioned in the musical version of "Tom & Jerry":
"Bazaars have long since had their day;
They're common grown and low:
And now at pow'rful fashion's sway,
Arcades are all the go.
Then let's to Piccadilly haste,
And wander thro' the shade:
And half an hour of pleasure taste,
In Burlington Arcade."
[Scene 4, Tom & Jerry; or Life in London - a Musical extravaganza, pub 1822]
Bazaars
This name came from the old Persian word for market: bazar. It referred to a permanent market site, but in London bazaars were not markets in the traditional sense as they were all held indoors.
The Soho Bazaar opened on 1st February 1815, and was the first of this kind of indoor market in London. The building occupied two large floors, and was situated between Soho Square, Dean Street and Oxford Street.
It provided a four feet (122cm) length of counter space at a rate of 3 pence per day, and when it opened could accommodate up to 160 sellers. The project was originally conceived as an act of charity, as it provided an outlet for women crafting items at home who could not afford the rent on a shop. The bazaar gave many of them, including war widows or wives with husbands who had been permanently disabled by war, the chance to support their families through "female and domestic industry".
Those who applied to rent a counter at the bazaar were asked to provide references as to their respectability, moral character and good temper. They also had to dress in clean, plain and neat clothing, without decoration. An hour was allowed each morning for the sellers to set up their counters, which had to be ready by 10 o'clock in the morning; doors closed at 6pm. Items for sale were all marked with their lowest cash price, which discouraged haggling.
Due to its philanthropic and respectable nature, the Soho Bazaar attracted the patronage of wealthy families, and it was fashionable to visit the bazaar, promenade around the stalls, inspect the wares, and be seen by your neighbours.
Auction Houses
"FOR SALE BY AUCTION, by Mr. Christie, at his Great Room in Pall Mall, on Friday the 28th instant, at one, by order of the Representatives.
ALL the FINISHED PAINTINGS, the works of that very ingenious artist, HENRY DE CORT, deceased, member of the late Royal French Academy; consisting of English Topographical Scenery, Views of Picturesque Gothic Remains, and Noblemen's seats in Great Britain. Also a few choice specimens of the most celebrated Flemish and Dutch masters, in fine preservation. May be viewed two days preceding."
[Morning Chronicle, 21st June 1811]
Buying and selling at auction was more popular in Regency England than it is today. Christie's, Sotheby's, and Bonham's Auction Houses all began trading in London during the 18th century.
Auction houses offered antiques, furniture, household items, paintings, books, wine, carriages, property, and all the equipment and fittings of businesses that had ceased trading. In 1814, there were forty-five people in the London Directory who listed themselves as auctioneers. Some companies specialised in houses, jewellery or art, and newspapers of the time devoted almost the whole back page to advertise upcoming auctions.
Richard Tattersall, whose premises stood near Hyde Park Corner, specialised in selling horses, prime livestock (such as prize bulls) and carriages, and often advertised his coming auctions in the Morning Post:
"By Messrs Tattersall, on Monday next, late the property of General Sir John Stuart, deceased.
1. A very handsome, GREY ARABIAN HORSE; has been rode as a charger.
2. A very handsome grey ditto; has been rode as a charger.
3. A pair of Bay Phaeton Geldings."
[Morning Post, 6th May 1815]
Most property sales were conducted by auction. They sold parcels of land, for building or farming, business premises, small dwellings, manor houses and large estates.
"By Mr. H. Phillips, at his Great Room, 73, New Bond Street, on Monday Dec 14, at 12,
A Substantial Brick-Built LEASEHOLD HOUSE and Offices, situate no. 6., Bryanstone Street, Portman-square; comprising six airy bed-chambers, 2 drawing-rooms, anti-ditto; library, dining and breakfast parlours, excellent kitchen, housekeeper's-room, and every requisite domestic office for a small genteel family. The premises are held for an unexpired term of 46 years, subject to a ground-rent of 8l 10s a year; let to a respectable tenant at 80l per annum, but of the annual value of 100l.
May be viewed by leave of the tenant, and printed particulars had at the York Hotel, Bridge Street, Blackfriars; and of Mr. H. Phillips, New Bond Street."
[The Times, 5th December 1807]
However, not all houses put up for sale by auction managed to sell. Lord Byron originally put his country home up for sale in 1812, but the final bid of 113,500 guineas did not reach his reserve price of £120,000; the minimum he was willing to sell for. Later that day a buyer offered £140,000, which Byron accepted. When the purchaser failed to pay the money, and the deal fell through, Newstead Abbey was auctioned for a second time in 1815, and the bids again failed to reach his reserve of 95,000 guineas. The property was not sold until 1818, when an old school friend of Byron's agreed to buy it for £94,500.
Markets
Throughout England, only towns that had been granted a charter by the monarch were allowed to hold markets. People living in outlying villages or hamlets would travel to the nearest market town if they wanted to buy something from the market.
In London, there were a number of smaller markets, plus four large ones.
Leadenhall Market was primarily a meat market. They sold joints or whole carcasses of beef, lamb and pork, while another part of the market sold poultry and lawful game. (i.e. not game that had been illegally poached) Most of the butchers and poulterers who had shops in London, or further afield, would have stocked their shops from this market. You could also buy associated animal products, like eggs, tripe, butter, and animal skins for curing into leather. Offal and other animal offcuts not generally attractive to humans would be sold as dog or cat food.
Covent Garden Market sold fruit, vegetables, herbs and flowers. It was located just north of Henrietta Street, where Henry Austen, Jane's brother, lived above his banking establishment. The market's three acres of ground was surrounded by a wooden rail. Inside the rail was a motley collection of wooden sheds and stalls, but at the time it was otherwise an open-air market. A covered market wasn't introduced until 1830.
Smithfield Market was one of London's oldest markets, and was a live animal market, supplying cows, sheep and pigs, as well as horses. Around the edge of the four-acre site were many slaughterhouses, butchers and inns.
Billingsgate was the principal fish market, and before 1850 fish and seafood was sold from sheds and stalls erected in the lanes and alleyways to the south of Lower Thames Street.
Street Sellers
Of course, not all goods were sold in a shop or from a market stall. Many items were bought daily on the streets of London from Street sellers. Some carried their goods in baskets, others pushed a cart, while in the countryside Hawkers transported their goods by horse and cart.
The street sellers would have a regular route they followed, offering their goods for sale. As they walked they would cry out, or sing, to let householders know they were passing. Some examples of these cries were included in "London Melodies, or cries of the seasons, pub 1812":
"Buy my Fresh Herrings, Fresh Herrings, O! Three a Groat, Herrings, O!"
"All Round & Sound, Full Weight, Threepence a Pound, my Ripe Kentish Cherries."
"Six Bunches a-Penny, Sweet Lavender – Six Bunches a-Penny, Sweet Blooming Lavender."
Modern readers might be surprised by the wide variety of goods available from street sellers in Regency London.
BALLAD SELLER - offered sheet music for sale, and would often sing examples of her wares
BATTLEDORE MAKER - sold rug beaters
COSTERMONGER - This word originally meant an apple seller, but by the Regency period had extended to mean anyone who sells fruits or vegetables from a street cart or basket
DUTCH BISCUIT SELLER - sold gingerbread from a basket
FISHWIFE/FISHMAN - sold fish or oysters from a basket. They usually carried one type of fish, so they might offer flounder, mackerel, salmon or eels
LAVENDER SELLERS - lavender was particularly popular with housewives as it would fragrance the clothes and sheets in your closet, and disguise the smell of the washing soap
MATCH GIRL - sold matches at six bunches for a penny. (before they were sold in boxes)
MILKMAIDS - would carry pails of fresh milk hanging from a yoke around their shoulders and would fill one or more of your own jugs or bowls
ORANGE SELLER - anyone selling fruit from a basket was often called an orange seller, even if they were selling plums, lemons, apples, figs, rhubarb or cherries. Small soft fruits, like strawberries, were often sold in small cone-shaped baskets called pottles.
PETTY CHAPMAN - itinerant dealer in small goods, a pedlar
PIEMAN - sold warm pies, with or without gravy, which could be added through a hole in the top of the pie
PLAYBILL SELLER - selling programmes for theatre plays; often stood outside theatres
TRUGGER - sold trugs, or shallow baskets
WATER CARRIER - carted and sold fresh water
Other items sold on the streets in handcarts, baskets, or from paniers carried on the back of a horse included hot bread, sand, (for scrubbing tables) song-birds, newspapers, brushes, doormats, rabbits, water-cress, writing ink, peas, meat for dogs, and chick-weed for feeding pet birds. On many streets, you might also find people offering to sharpen knives, sweep chimneys, catch rats and mend chairs, bellows or umbrellas.
[Image: Messrs Harding Howell & Co.'s Grand Fashionable Magazine, from Ackermann's Repository of Arts, pub. March 1809. [Public Domain]]