"...the British people is a free people, and we see no reason why every individual of it should not, without any general order, freely and voluntarily, pay this devotion to the worth of the departed Hero ... Every man who chuses to wear black may wear it, and we hope there are but few who will not, by doing so, shew their love for their country."
[A Collection of Cuttings from Newspapers, containing Memoir of Lord Nelson, account of his funeral, official papers relating to the battle of the Nile, etc, pub. 1869]
Court and Society mourning was very different from the personal mourning that followed the loss of family or close friends. In certain cases, mourning could affect the whole country and had very little to do with whether you personally knew the person that had died.
Court Mourning
Court Mourning was the British Royal Court showing respect after the death of a member of the British Royal family or another Royal Family of Europe. Even when a dead king had no formal relationship with the British monarch, either through blood or marriage, they considered each other "brother kings" and mourned accordingly.
Court Mourning was limited to those members of the aristocracy and gentry who spent time at Court. Those aristocratic or gentry families who never attended court would not need to wear Court mourning and it would barely register with the general population.
The rules for Court mourning were not fixed, although they tended to follow a general pattern. Each period of court mourning was announced by the Lord Chamberlain and the official notice was printed in the London Gazette. The length of mourning was based on the degree of relationship of the deceased to the British Royal family.
Lengths and Degrees of Court Mourning
Like personal mourning, Court Mourning had different lengths and degrees, depending on how closely related the king or queen was to the deceased.
The simplest court mourning could last only a few days. In 1800, the court went into mourning for the Prince of Saxe Cobourg. The single period of mourning ran from the 19th October to 23rd October. (five days) Similarly, in 1806, the Prince of Denmark and the Margrave of Anspach were mourned at the same time, between 13th March and 23rd March. (eleven days)
The clothes specified to be worn during those few days of mourning sounded similar to the Half Mourning stage of personal mourning:
"The Ladies to wear Black Silk or Velvet, coloured Ribbons, Fans and Tippets, or plain White, or White and Gold, or White and Silver stuffs, with Black Ribbons. The Gentlemen to wear Black Coats, and Black or plain White and Gold, or White and Silver Stuff Waistcoats, full trimmed, coloured Swords and Buckles."
[Court Mourning for the death of the Duke of Bevern, London Gazette, 13th May 1809]
A closer relationship would require the addition of a second, deeper style of mourning. In 1807, following the death of the Empress of Austria, the court went into mourning on 7th June, changed the mourning on 14th June and then went out of mourning on 18th June. Another example of this type of mourning is Prince George of Brunswick, the king's nephew. In that case they went into mourning on 10th November 1811, changed mourning on 24th November, and went out of mourning on 1st December.
The two separate stages of mourning would have been similar to this example from 1802:
"Orders for the Court's going into mourning on Sunday the 29th ult. for his late Royal Highness Prince Henry of Prussia, viz. --The Ladies to wear black silk, fringed or plain linen, white gloves, necklaces and ear-rings, black or white shoes, fans and tippets. -- Undress, white or grey lutestrings, tabbies, or damasks.-- The Gentlemen to wear black full-trimmed, fringed, or plain linen, black swords and buckles. -- Undress, grey frocks.
The Court to change the mourning, on Sunday the 5th of September inst. Viz. -- The ladies to wear black silk or velvet, coloured ribbons, fans, and tippets; or plain white, or white and gold, or white and silver stuffs, with black ribbons. -- The Gentlemen to wear black coats, and black or plain white, or white and gold, or white and silver stuff waistcoats, full trimmed coloured swords and buckles.
And on Thursday the 9th of September, the Court to go out of mourning."
[Domestic Occurrences, Cobbett's Weekly Political Register, pub. 4th September 1802]
The longest type of court mourning included three different degrees of mourning, and usually lasted around six weeks. This most often applied to another reigning monarch or his queen, or a close member of the king's own family.
An example of this type of mourning includes that for Frederick II, Duke of Wurttemberg, which began on 21st January 1798. A first change happened on 18th February, and a second change occurred on 25th February before mourning ended on 4th March. In 1805, following the death of the king's brother, the Duke of Gloucester, mourning commenced on 1st September 1805, it changed on the 29th September, changed again on 6th October and the court went out of mourning on 13th October.
The clothes worn for this three-stage mourning were often announced over at least two editions of the London Gazette, as happened when they reported the Court Mourning for Princess Charlotte, when the initial announcement only mentioned the first period of mourning:
"Orders for the Court's going into mourning, on Sunday next the 9th instant, for Her late Royal Highness the Princess Charlotte-Augusta, Daughter of His Royal Highness the Prince Regent, and Consort of His Serene Highness the Prince Leopold of Saxe-Cobourg, viz.
The Ladies to wear black bombazines, plain muslin or long lawn, crape hoods, shamoy shoes and gloves, and crape fans. Undress—Dark Norwich crape. The Gentlemen to wear black cloth, without buttons on the sleeves or pockets, plain muslin or long lawn cravats and weepers, shamoy shoes and gloves, crape hat bands, and black swords and buckles. Undress—Dark grey frock."
[The London Gazette, 8th November 1817
While a subsequent edition of the Gazette detailed the second and third periods of Court Mourning:
"Orders for the Court's change of mourning, on Sunday the 4th January next, for Her late Royal Highness the Princess Charlotte-Augusta ...viz.
The Ladies to wear black silk, fringed or plain linen, white gloves, black and white shoes, fans and tippets, white necklaces and ear-rings. Undress—White or grey lustrings, tabbies or damasks. The Gentlemen to continue in black, full trimmed, fringed or plain linen, black swords and buckles. Undress—Grey frocks.
The Court to change the mourning further on Sunday the 18th of January, viz. The Ladies to wear black silk or velvet, coloured ribbons, fans and tippets, or plain white, or white and gold, or white and silver stuff's, with black ribbons. The Gentlemen to wear black coats, and black or plain white, or white and gold, or white and silver stuff waistcoats, full trimmed, coloured swords and buckles..And on Sunday the 1st of February next, the Court to go out of mourning."
[The London Gazette, 3rd January 1818]
Between the beginning of 1790 and the end of 1820, there were eighty-seven deaths recognised with official court mourning of some degree. The most in one year was six periods of mourning required in 1790 and 1819, while no court mornings were ordered in 1804 or 1812.
Court mourning would never be worn on the king's birthday, or during one of the Queen's drawing rooms. On those days, members of the court would wear their normal court clothing and then resume their mourning the day after.
General Mourning
"It will be a dismal sight next week, for the death of Princess Amelia has put everybody into the deepest mourning. When I say everybody I mean it literally. All tradespeople, workpeople, servants out of livery, every creature who can scrape up money to buy a black rag, will mourn. All the shops are full of black. In short, it is quite an odd look it gives London."
[Letter from Sarah Spencer, daughter of the 2nd Earl Spencer, 8th November 1810]
As well as the usual Court Mourning, when a member of the British Royal family died, the King, or the Prince Regent, could also order a General Mourning for the whole population. It would be announced in the London Gazette, and reprinted in all the other newspapers. This instructed the general populace to put themselves into whatever "decent mourning" they could afford.
Between 1790 and 1820 there were only eight General Mournings ordered. The Duke of Cumberland (1790) the Duke of Gloucester (1805) and the Duchess of Brunswick (1813) were siblings of the king. Princess Amelia, (1810) Princess Charlotte (1817) and the Duchess of York & Albany (1820) were the king's daughters and daughter-in-law. The other General Mournings were for the Queen's death in 1818 and the King himself in 1820.
Only when the King and Queen died did the order specifically call for deep mourning, as this entry from the London Gazette, issue 17421, shows:
General mourning did not continue for months, as it was unpopular with tradesmen. Even in the previous century, people had complained that a lengthy period of general mourning would be bad for business, even as they profited from it:
"I remember, in London, upon a general mourning, the rascally mercers and woollen-drapers would in twenty-four hours raise their cloths and silks to above a double price, and if the mourning continued long, then come whining with petitions to the court, that they were ready to starve, and their fineries lay upon their hands."
[A Proposal for the Universal Use of Irish Manufacturers, written by Jonathan Swift, 1720]
In 1817 and 1818, General Mourning officially ended after six weeks.
One of the most lamented Royal deaths in the Regency era was that of Princess Charlotte, daughter of the Prince Regent and second in line to the throne. She died on 6th November 1817, five and a half hours after delivering a stillborn son. She was twenty-one and had only been married for a year and a half.
The country had been preparing to celebrate the birth, and instead suffered the shock of her loss. As a result of what they called a "National Sorrow", theatres postponed plays, some businesses closed for up to a fortnight, and many families mourned as though they had lost one of their own.
"All that custom ordains as the sign of external sorrow was to be seen everywhere in the public streets, in the parks, and in the most retired and obscure parts of the metropolis. Unconfined to those with whom a charge of dress is no consideration, the same sentiment operated with great effect upon thousands whose condition approaches closely to difficulty and poverty. Among these humbler classes there were few who could find the means of procuring any black that did not put on the visible demonstration of their unaffected sorrow."
[Celebrities I Have Known: With Episodes, Political, Social, Sporting and Theatrical, by Lord William Pitt Lennox, pub 1877]
This was probably the closest Regency example of a public outpouring of grief similar to that seen after the death of Princess Diana in 1997.
Society Mourning
"The general grief expressed on this melancholy occasion was the natural result arising from the benevolence of her character.-- Her ways were ways of pleasantness, and all her paths were peace."
[Funeral of her Grace, the Duchess Dowager of Chandos, Morning Post, 12th April 1813]
Society mourning was that respectful mourning for someone you did not know personally but still respected. Depending on the status of the person who had died, it could mean the occupants of an estate, a town or even a whole country putting on mourning for a short time after their death. A modern equivalent might be the grief shown by the public following the death of an admired musician, like Freddy Mercury in 1991.
People whose death could spark this kind of mourning during the Regency era included those much-loved and respected landowners who would have been genuinely mourned by their loyal tenants and neighbours. Business owners might also be mourned, particularly those who cared for the well-being of their employees by providing sanitary accommodation and free schooling for their children. When Matthew Boulton died in 1809, hundreds of his workers wore whatever mourning they could, in addition to the hatbands and gloves that were gifted to them for the funeral procession.
Politicians at this time may not have been well-liked but would have been respected, and the crowd of onlookers may have chosen to wear black at their public funeral, but it was unlikely that they would have continued wearing mourning afterwards. Others whose death sparked a more widespread mourning included military heroes, like Lord Nelson.
[Image: London Fashionable Morning and Full Dress, Lady's Magazine, pub. November 1810. Court mourning fashion to mark the death of Princess Amelia. (Public Domain)]