Georgettes of Oxford is putting together a series of talks on many different aspects of the 18^th and 19^th centuries.

A well-informed mind is the best security against the contagion of folly and vice – The Mysteries of Udolpho By Ann Radcliffe 1794

If you would like to volunteer to give a talk, or know an interesting speaker, please do get in touch.
Over 18s only.

Saturday the 14^th of February – FREE Talk Dancing in the time of Jane Austen at the Bodleian – Dr Helen Davidge

What type of dancing would Jane Austen have done? Are the dances in the film adaptations of Austen’s works something her characters could have danced? What is the only dance mentioned by name in an Austen novel?
Join Dr Helen Davidge as she explains the social dancing which Jane Austen would have been familiar with. Helen will set 18th-century contra dance and Regency dancing in historical context and discuss the in-text references to dancing in Austen’s novels.
Helen Davidge is a classically trained, experienced historical dance teacher, having taught contra dance and Baroque dance in both Europe, East and South East Asia. Collaborating with Wicked Music People, Helen was the first person to perform and teach Baroque dance in Malaysia in modern times. She has performed Baroque dance with the UK early music groups Academy of Ancient Music and Follia; and was the dance mistress for the first professional theatrical production of Death Comes to Pemberley. She now runs the Georgettes of Oxford, an 18th century and Regency society.

Time: 12:30-1:30pm
Price: FREE
Venue: Sir Victor Blank Lecture Theatre at the Weston Library, The Bodleian Libraries, Broad Street, Oxford, OX1 3BG
Link for free online and in-person tickets

Wednesday the 18^th of February – FREE Talk and Discussion on Persuasion – led by Chris Ashbolt

Join Georgettes over the winter for a special book group to mark the 250^th birthday of Jane Austen, when we shall be discussing a different Austen novel each month. Join us in the front room of the Gardens Arms, Plantation Road, whether it is your favourite Austen novel, if you have just watched a film version, or listened to the audiobook – All are welcome to join us.
At the start of the session a member of Georgettes will introduce the book, and give a short talk, before opening it up to a general discussion.

In February we will be looking at Persuasion.

Time: 8-9pm
Price: FREE
Venue: The Gardeners Arms, 39 Plantation Road, Jericho, Oxford OX2 6JE

Summer Term Book Group:
The Alastair/Worth Quintet by Georgette Heyer
The Black Moth
These Old Shades
Devils Cub
Regency Buck
An Infamous Army

Previous Talks

Wednesday the 21^st of January 2026 – Talk and Discussion on Northanger Abbey led by Rebecca Knight-Morgan – The Gardeners Arms

Wednesday the 10^th of December 2025 – Talk and Discussion on Emma led by Miranda Stevens – The Gardeners Arms

Wednesday the 19^th of November 2025 – Talk and Discussion on Mansfield Park led by Prof Anna Nekaris OBE – The Gardeners Arms

Wednesday the 22^th of October 2025 – FREE Talk and Discussion Pride & Prejudice and Neurodiversity – Dr Helen Davidge – The Gardeners Arms

Wednesday the 24^th of September 2025 – Talk and Discussion on Sense and Sensibility led by Nick Walker – The Gardeners Arms

Thursday the 4^th of September 2025 – FREE Talk The Counter-Epistolary form used by Jane Austen in Emma by Dr Octavia Cox at Lynrace Cocktail Bar

Tuesday the 29^th of April 2025 – Traditional Chinese Dance of the 17^th-19^th Centuries By Lulu Lyu at Lady Margaret Hall, University of Oxford

Thursday the 13^th of March 2025 – ‘Our new paper hangings’: Wallpaper in the eighteenth-century home by Prof Clare Taylor at The Six Bells, Kidlington

Thursday the 9^th January 2025 – ‘Styling the Eighteenth Century Woman’ by Alicia Martin at The Lynrace

Thursday the 5^th of December 2024 – ‘Baroque Moves: How Dance Revolutionised French Opera’ by Dr Lola Salem at the Harris Lecture Theatre, Oriel College

Thursday the 18^th of July 2024 – “Queen Charlotte’s Household: a Consort’s Family of Aristocratic Courtiers” by Amanda Westcott – The Gardeners Arms

Saturday the 8^th of June 2024 – ‘More than Romance: the Witty World of Georgette Heyer’ by Dr Jennifer Kloester at St Margaret’s Institute

Wednesday the 5^th of June 2024 – ‘AI and Bach: From Living Cell to Baroque Music’ by Shu Yang-Miyoshi at The Gardeners Arms

Wednesday the 17^th of April 2024 – ‘Good Things Come in Small Boxes: The Story of British Tea Chests and Caddies’ By Kate Richenburg at Kellogg College

Wednesday the 6^th of March 2024 – ‘Hacking the Regency Look’ By Jane Dougherty at The Gardeners Arms

Wednesday the 17th of January 2024 – ‘Hidden Stories – A History of Georgian Garters’ by Juliet Ashdown at Kellogg College

Wednesday the 6^th of December 2023 – A Georgian Christmas by Annette Ashton-Redlin at The Gardeners Arms

Monday the 22^nd of November 2023 – Mind your Manners, Mantuas, and Minuet steps! A How-To Guide for the Georgian Birthday Ball  – by Dr Hillary Burlock at The Gardeners Arms

Wednesday the 1^st of November 2023 – Georgette Heyer, her Readers and Data Science by Dr Helen Davidge at The Gardeners Arms

Monday the 18^th of September 2023 – The Dancing Master by Matthew Coatsworth at The Gardeners Arms

Wednesday the 9^th of August 2023 – Writing a Regency Novel by Regency Novelist Penny Hampson at The Gardeners Arms

Wednesday the 28^th of June 2023 – Historical Costuming by Lizzie Dawson at Kellogg College

Monday the 20^th March 2023 – ‘But are they all horrid, are you sure they are all horrid?’ – Gothic Romance by Dr Sam Hirst at The Gardeners Arms

Saturday the 11^th March 2023 – 18^th Century and early 19^th Century art – William Andris Wood at the Ashmolean