Why is Milsom Street so popular in Jane Austen’s writing? What exactly did they sell at Molland’s? And why are we going to a concert? Learn the answers to these questions and more in this episode of My Cousin Jane.
Welcome back to My Cousin Jane. Today we’re going to be talking about Persuasion, Volume 2, Chapter 7, also known as Chapter 19.
Chapter Summary
In brief
In this chapter, we have Anne running into Captain Wentworth while out shopping, as well as some other interesting interactions with Elizabeth, Mrs. Clay, and Mr. Elliot.
To start out, let’s listen to a clip courtesy of Karen Savage from LibriVox.org.
Mr Elliot was attending his two cousins and Mrs Clay. They were in Milsom Street. It began to rain, not much, but enough to make shelter desirable for women, and quite enough to make it very desirable for Miss Elliot to have the advantage of being conveyed home in Lady Dalrymple’s carriage, which was seen waiting at a little distance; she, Anne, and Mrs Clay, therefore, turned into Molland’s, while Mr Elliot stepped to Lady Dalrymple, to request her assistance. He soon joined them again, successful, of course; Lady Dalrymple would be most happy to take them home, and would call for them in a few minutes.
Her ladyship’s carriage was a barouche, and did not hold more than four with any comfort. Persuasion, Chapter 19
Milsom Street and Molland’s
Milsom Street in Bath comes up a couple of times in Persuasion, as well as in Northanger Abbey. General Tilney is lodging there for the season, and after he leaves, the lodgings are taken by someone immediately the very next day, as a testament to the popularity and fashion of that area.
It was a newer area in Jane Austen’s time, having been built in the late 1700s by Thomas Lightoler. One of the most famous buildings on the street was the Octagon Chapel, which was a church for the upper-class visitors of Bath, and this was frequented by Jane Austen whenever she was in the city, so she would have been very familiar with the chapel as well as with Milsom Street.
When the chapel first opened, it advertised itself as “the only safe place of worship in Bath as there are no steps to climb and no bodies buried below.”
Christopher Anstey was an 18th century poet living in Bath, who wrote the satirical travel guide, The New Bath Guide. Upon learning that the basement of the chapel had been rented out to wine merchants, Anstey wrote this verse about the chapel:
Spirits above and spirits below,
Spirits of Bliss and spirits of woe,
The spirits above are spirits Divine,
The spirits below are spirits of wine. Attributed to Christopher Anstey
Another interesting fact about the Octagon Chapel is that William Herschel, the famous astronomer who discovered the planet Uranus, was the first appointed organist of the chapel.
The chapel’s changed hands a number of times since it was first built. At the time of this recording, it’s a picturesque upscale restaurant called The Botanist.
Molland’s, the shop where Anne and her party duck into to get out of the rain, was a pastry cook’s and confectionery shop located at No. 2 Milsom Street. Ladies would often stop there to meet their acquaintance, have sweet drinks, tea, cakes, and other things, and it was known particularly for its marzipan.
The site is now home to a clothing shop, but if you are interested in renting a piece of literary history, the next time it comes available, maybe you want to open a confectionery store of your own, you can rent that location for just £6,000, about $8,000 per month, not including utilities.
Regency-Era Patrons
This is a pretty short chapter, but towards the end of it we find out about an upcoming concert the Elliots are to attend. Let’s listen to Anne describe this.
A day or two passed without producing anything. The theatre or the rooms, where he was most likely to be, were not fashionable enough for the Elliots, whose evening amusements were solely in the elegant stupidity of private parties, in which they were getting more and more engaged; and Anne, wearied of such a state of stagnation, sick of knowing nothing, and fancying herself stronger because her strength was not tried, was quite impatient for the concert evening. It was a concert for the benefit of a person patronised by Lady Dalrymple. Of course they must attend. It was really expected to be a good one, and Captain Wentworth was very fond of music. If she could only have a few minutes conversation with him again, she fancied she should be satisfied; and as to the power of addressing him, she felt all over courage if the opportunity occurred. Elizabeth had turned from him, Lady Russell overlooked him; her nerves were strengthened by these circumstances; she felt that she owed him attention. Persuasion, Chapter 19
Poor Captain Wentworth.
We’ll talk more about this concert next week when we discuss the Bath assembly rooms mentioned in next week’s chapter, but I want to take a brief moment to talk about this idea of Regency patronage.
The term patron in Regency times often refers specifically to patronage in the church, which was usually the right a wealthy landholder had to appoint a living to a clergyman. It could also mean a patron of the arts, or someone who paid to support an artist in their work.
In this context, it appears that it refers to the third common meaning, which would have been the patron of a charity. It was common in Regency times to hold benefit concerts for a charitable work, and from the phrase “It was a concert for the benefit of a person patronised by Lady Dalrymple,” I think it’s safe to assume that this was a charity concert, and the charity was organized, or at least administered by, or participated in, by a friend of Lady Dalrymple.
Once again, it’s a shorter chapter, but an important one for our Anne-Wentworth-Mr. Elliot love triangle.
Conclusion
That wraps up this episode of My Cousin Jane. As always, if you enjoy the show and would like to help support us, please consider clicking the little donate button or subscribing to our newsletter. Either way, thanks so much for listening.
