A talk: Bess Canning and Bessy Sheridan's experiences of the Marriage Mart

From Catherine Moreland to Anne Elliot: Bess Canning and Bessy Sheridan's experiences of the Bath Marriage Mart.

What was the late eighteenth-century Bath Marriage Market really like? How did people feel stepping into the Assembly Rooms for the first time? From a lack of suitors, to changes in fashions and the need to impress in the Minuet, the Assembly Rooms and Bath in general were the setting of a myriad of emotions for eighteenth-century ladies trying to find their match.

Join Dr Rachel Bynoth as she uncovers the trials, tribulations, anxieties and even the boredom of the Bath Marriage Mart through the lives of two eighteenth-century Bess's in their quest for love.

Dr Rachel Bynoth is a lecturer in Historical and Critical Studies at Bath Spa University. Her research examines expressions of anxiety across the eighteenth-century, with a focus on the life cycle, relationships and distant communications. She is currently working on a knowledge exchange project with the Bath Assembly Rooms on eighteenth-century life and emotions.

This event is free to attend, thanks to funding from Bath Spa University and the Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC).