Rolinda Sharpes, The Cloakroom (Clifton Assembly Rooms), 1817
Sources used in the last post on Regency chaperones prompted another question about cloakrooms.
Because my sources for that post were largely Victorian, I went on the hunt for Regency specific sources on cloakrooms.
Typically, in Reg. Roms an author will refer to the bathroom as the “retiring room”. In some Regency era sources (mostly very dry engineering papers) the cloakroom was synonymous with the retiring room (read bathroom without plumbing). In others, the cloakroom was exactly that.
From The Bridal Eve (novel, 1829):
“The servant that received her card bowed low, and showed her up the broad staircase to the door of a cloakroom, where several splendidly-dressed ladies were laying off their wrappings before passing into the drawing-room.”
From Pamphlets on English public works and engineering (1800):
From Domestic duties; or, Instructions to young married ladies (1825):
My guess would be the name would indicate the size and prestige of the room in question. Based on Rolinda Sharpes famous painting, too, I would guess that a cloakroom could be just for cloaks and gender mixed.
You will notice in grand old theatres the bathrooms have an adjoining space with plush couches and mirrors. I have always pictured the retiring room as such, with a space for throwing down a wrap. I also imagine balls and other similar events would have at least one maidservant in attendance in the cloakroom to empty the pots, help fix flounces, and in general keep things tidy.
Hopefully, this answers the “necessary” question…
