The issue of how long to mourn a loved one plays out in Lost in the Lyon’s Garden. What we often find in dealing with deaths in a Regency novel is that Victorian era practices show up.

In a large sense, one’s mourning had as much to do with what those in one’s circle thought proper and what one felt like attempting. It also seems to me that customs in the country were different from those in Town. Unless one’s main home was in the urban area, one would usually be at home in the country during mourning. Yet, such does not apply to Lord Benjamin Thompson and those who are a part of Lord Macdonald Duncan’s family. Moreover, the death happens while Parliament is in session and the aristocracy was required in Town to deal with the aftermath of the assassination of Prime Minister Spencer Perceval. If one came to Town, it was assumed that one was ready to partake of all the entertainments offered by Town, but if one is already in Town, the rules were not so exact. A widowed duchess, for example, would be least likely to be attending balls unless she had a granddaughter to launch during the season. Of course, it depended on her age and physical health but while the parents and grandparents did dance at balls, it seems that grandmothers were usually gossiping in the chaperone’s corner and the grandfathers were playing cards. A wife of childbearing age was supposed to mourn for a year in case she was pregnant.

In The Rise of the Egalitarian Family: Aristocratic Friendships and Domestic Relations in Eighteenth Century England, Randolph Trumbach gives the following data for mourning (which would apply to the Georgian era, including the Regency):

Trumbach guessed at this. The Royal Household had a regular schedule of mourning and those who attended court had to abide by it – usually by wearing the prescribed mourning clothes. Most charts for mourning periods in this time period were based on the Royal one. The only one that was really important to society was the one for a widow of child bearing age,

* 12 months for a husband or wife

* 6 months for parents or parents-in-law However, weddings planned for this period could go forward with NO wearing of mourning.

* 3 months for a sister or brother, uncle or aunt, father’s and mother’s siblings

* 6 weeks for a sister-in-law or uncle or aunt in law

* 2 weeks for first cousin

* 1 week for second cousin or husband’s or stepmother’s sister.

For some the mourning was from the date of hearing of the death until a week or two after the funeral. One set one’s personal mourning as one felt necessary.

Donna Hatch cites Trumbach’s book in a blog post about mourning and includes other facts about clothing, etc.: https://donnahatch.com/mourning-customs-in-regency-england/

People often used mourning as an opportunity to show their distain for someone –i n other words, they intentionally did not go into mourning for someone they disliked. As far as society was concerned, it was all about showing the world what you thought of someone.