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Have you ever wondered what Mr Bennett did in his room all day?

104 replies

CurlewKate · 06/10/2023 08:03

Obviously he was hiding from his wife and daughters-but what did he actually do all day? He read-but I wonder how many books he would have owned. He had a farm to run-but presumably he had a manager to do most of that. Household accounts? Letters to his brothers in law? Chaucer fanfic?

OP posts:
NumberFortyNorhamGardens · 07/10/2023 00:08

in RL, JA and her mother and sister did cooking, preserving, cheesemaking etc with their servants, though JA got a pass later in life when she was an established writer.

I remember reading something about their day to day life that quoted Cassandra having to make ‘orange wine’ for some social gathering. And I wondered what on earth that stuff even tasted like. 😂

HernesEgg · 07/10/2023 10:43

NumberFortyNorhamGardens · 07/10/2023 00:08

in RL, JA and her mother and sister did cooking, preserving, cheesemaking etc with their servants, though JA got a pass later in life when she was an established writer.

I remember reading something about their day to day life that quoted Cassandra having to make ‘orange wine’ for some social gathering. And I wondered what on earth that stuff even tasted like. 😂

Edited

Yes, I get it was quite normal to make orange wine, but in my imagination it tastes like thinned-down boozy marmalade!

Theres an excellent book by Maggie Lane called something like Jane Austen and Food. She’s very interesting on how food, food gifts, meal etiquette etc all function symbolically in the novels, but also on food and alcohol in the Austen household till 1801 when Mr Austen retired to Bath. They were pretty much self-sufficient. They rented a 200- acre farm from the local landowner, raised and slaughtered their own pigs and sheep, grew wheat, oats, barley, hops, peas and cattle and horse winter fodder, selling the surplus, kept a dairy herd for milk, butter and cheese, kept chicken, ducks and turkeys for eggs and meat, had a garden where they grew vegetables, herbs and fruit, kept bees and used the honey in home-brewed mead, made beer and ale. The sons also brought home fish and shot game for the table. They sold their surplus, or preserved what they could.

Literally all they bought in was sugar, tea, coffee, chocolate, citrus fruit, spices and dried fruit.

They had servants, but no housekeeper, and this was very much Mrs Austen and her daughters’ domain. Being a ‘housewife’ then was a serious skill set!

MezzoSexual · 07/10/2023 21:06

Read newspapers and novels
Kept up with correspondance, paid bills et c
Played with himself and enjoyed indulging in his early 19th pornstash
Drank port

swimlyn · 08/10/2023 17:07

MezzoSexual · 07/10/2023 21:06

Read newspapers and novels
Kept up with correspondance, paid bills et c
Played with himself and enjoyed indulging in his early 19th pornstash
Drank port

Plus, he googled STENDEC and fell down a huge wormhole…

(Orwell's time machine...) 😁

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