Regency Reader Questions: Chaperone vs. Companion

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Generally, a lady’s companion is understood to be a woman who served a married or widowed lady who did not need a chaperone, and was paid through both room and board and also, sometimes, a small salary.  A chaperone someone who supervises and facilitates events and social functions for an unmarried young lady.  A governess is someone who oversees the education of younger ladies not “out” in Society, and is part of the household staff although often of higher station than servants.  Sometimes, a governess would have been converted into a companion or chaperone.

A companion could be a chaperone, and a chaperone a companion, but chaperones implied service to an unmarried lady at social functions. A chaperone was also more likely to be someone related to the young lady, whereas it was not uncommon to interview candidates for the position of companion or governess.  It was also more common for a chaperone to be married or widowed, whereas an unmarried young lady could be hired to be a governess or companion.

It might help to show some of the advertisements from the era:

Saunders’s News-Letter – Tuesday 13 March 1804

Saunders’s News-Letter – Tuesday 19 September 1809

Saunders’s News-Letter – Thursday 11 January 1810

Saunders’s News-Letter – Tuesday 13 September 1814

We have had a lot of reader questions about chaperones over the years.  You can read those posts by following the links below:

Regency Reader Questions: Widows, Chaperones, and Cohabitation 

Regency Reader Questions: Young Widows and Chaperones 

Regency Reader Questions: On Chaperones

The bottom post has the most detailed information about the duties of a chaperone, if that is helpful, including that the chaperone must be married or have been married.

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