Archery and Tea on Camano Island
Washington Regency Society presents
Tea and Archery on Camano Island
Sunday, May 18, 2025
Tea will start at noon in a private home, the address will be shared privately to those who sign up.
Plan to meet at the Camano Island Park & Ride as there will be very little parking on site.
After tea we will carpool to the Archery site, also on Camano Island
This event sold out to members during the members only presale.
Archers? In the Regency? Not possible–or was it?
In 1781 Sir Ashton Lever and Thomas Waring formed the influential Toxophilite Society in London. The organization was dedicated to the sport of archery and to socializing. The society would later gain royal patronage in 1787 with the attention of the Prince Regent becoming the Royal Toxophilite society, which still exists today.
The success of this society inspired the development of other archery organizations throughout England. Initially, the societies were male-only clubs. Some permitted female guests of members to visit to shoot. One thing led to another and soon many had female members. In 1787, the Royal British Bowmen became the first archery society to allow women as full members. Interestingly, the Royal Bowmen had a reputation for being one of the most serious archery clubs of the period. They saw archery was a sport to be mastered, not an excuse to party.
Other societies were a bit less serious and more social. The clubs had their own rules, and uniforms, and often used their common interest as an excuse to throw lavish parties and socialize among their peers.
“Archers”, print from April 1799, engraved after a drawing by Adam Buck, and with a dedication to the Prince Regent.
In 1799 the unbound hair of the two ladies on the left would have been risqué. At the time, most women did not leave their hair completely free flowing in public (but generally covered, ornamented, or confined their hair in some way, usually binding it up in back), so that unbound hair was associated with the intimacy or privacy of the boudoir.
Real British Archers
Female archers in Lewisham even organized a club of their own in 1788, called The British Amazons, the name referring to the mythic female archer-warriors of antiquity, mentioned by Homer in ancient Greece.
A news-cutting from 1789 stated: The elegant and beauteous assemblage of Ladies Archers established last Summer at Blackheath under the name BRITISH AMAZONS, on Saturday last gave a splendid supper and Ball to a Society of Gentlemen who practice the science in the vicinity.
What did these Archery clubs wear?
From the Manchester Art Gallery: This worsted dress in green and salmon pink was probably worn by a female member of the Royal British Bowmen archery society around 1820. The high waistline and decorative hem are typical of 1820s fashions, while the zig-zagged or VanDyked sleeve puffs over a contrasting layer of green fabric echo the slashing techniques which enjoyed popularity during the early 17th century.
Here is the museum description of the dress above: Lincoln green plain weave mohair and worsted mixture, trimmed with salmon pink mohair / worsted mix and black velvet. … Band of pink fabric and black velvet edging neckline, centre front bodice seam, centre back opening and in double horizontal bands on shoulders; deep band of pink triangles edged with black velvet along skirt hem; upper sleeves trimmed with puffs of pink fabric, gathered to armhole and extending into eight points, edged in black velvet; lower sleeves trimmed with four pink horizontal bands around gathers at lower edge
The same museum collection also has an Archery Jacket; the jackets that went with the archery uniform gowns sported special features that made them especially functional while being fashionable at the same time.
From the Manchester Art Gallery: Archery like most sports, requires freedom of movement and demands considerable exertion. Sporting clothes even as early as the 1790s, and even for women, had to reflect this need. Although this green glazed worsted archery jacket has been fitted very tightly to the wearer’s body, the pink undersleeves are attached only at the top of the sleeve openings, leaving the rest of the sleeve to hang loose. This innovative construction detail would have allowed the wearer to move her arms far more freely than in corresponding daywear.
Here is another illustration of Archer costume from the Lady’s Monthly Museum of June 1816. Apparently the Lincoln Green color was always popular for Archery costume.
For further reading about the women archers of the Regency here are a few scholarly references:
Arnstad, Henrik. The Amazon Archers of England: Longbows, Gender and English Nationalism 1780–1845. Master’s thesis, Stockholm University, 2019.
Johnes, Martin. Archery, Romance and Elite Culture in England and Wales, c .1780–1840. St Martin’s College, Lancaster. 2004. The Historical Association and Blackwell Publishing
And this book from 1829 – just after the Regency period
The Young Ladys Book: A Manual of Elegant Recreations, Exercises, and Pursuits. London: Vizetelly, Branston, and, Fleet Street, 1829.
——————-A copy from the Oxford University library is available scanned on Google books – the section on Archery starts on page 420 – here is an image of that page:
