Comments | little_details: Seating Arrangements at the Captain's Table, 1890s

aorin in little_details

Seating Arrangements at the Captain's Table, 1890s

Dec 14, 2009 17:45

Setting: 1890s, on an ocean liner travelling from England to China. AU
Googled: Dining arrangements, seating arrangements, Victorian dining etiquette, Captain's table, dining saloon, Emily Post's Etiquette, Mrs Beeton ( Read more... )

~victorian era, ~boats and other things that float, ~travel: sea travel, 1890-1899

Comments 12

clanwilliam December 14 2009, 17:28:00 UTC

If you go for Mrs Captain, she will be the hostess and have the most important gentleman on her right: this will be the Baron and the Captain will have the Baroness beside him on his right. Money won't count, but social standing and the desire to honour guests/pair off good partners will.

The Baron's daughter will be the highest ranking single woman at the table. Throw in institutional racism and your Eurasian pair are the lowest, unless he is either a diplomat, of the aristocracy or a major shareholder in the shipping line. I'm assuming that it's a British ship.

And they wouldn't call it a cruise ship since it's a direct journey. It's a ship (a packet if it carries mail as well).

aorin December 14 2009, 19:29:56 UTC

Thank you for your input. I'll keep that in mind. I would like to have Mrs Captain to fill in the final position and to round up the number but as jayb111 mentioned, Mrs Captain has no official standing on board and I'm not sure if it is right for her to act as the hostess (even if it is on behalf of her husband ( ... )

philomytha December 14 2009, 17:33:35 UTC

I am by no means an expert on this, but if I were seating them it would go like this:

Captain at head, Mrs Captain at foot
Baroness at Captain's right, Baron at Mrs Captain's right. Ms Oldworld at Captain's left. Probably Mr Romeo at Mrs Captain's left. The others distributed any way you like in the middle, so long as they're alternating men and women.

aorin December 14 2009, 19:36:41 UTC

No problem, I'm still very grateful for any input.

Well, at least I've gotten those with social standing in the right seats (almost), so that clears off half the problem. I guess I'll have to make sure that partners do not end up sitting next to each other as well.

clanwilliam December 14 2009, 17:33:48 UTC

Also, is your Baron English? If so, he's addressed as Lord and introduced the same way. His daughter is a Hon and only referred to that way in writing.

aorin December 14 2009, 19:31:54 UTC

Yes he is. And thank you very much for the reminder.

jayb111 December 14 2009, 17:37:14 UTC

At a normal, formal dinner party, people would be paired off by rank. So the Captain, as host, would be paired with the baroness as she is the senior lady, and she would sit on his right. And Mrs Captain, as hostess, would sit at the other end of the table and be paired with the Baron, on her right. And so on. But Mrs Captain has no official standing on board ship - it's not as if it's her home and her guests - so I'm not sure whether she would act as hostess ( ... )

aorin December 14 2009, 18:59:39 UTC

Yes, Mrs Captain/the final character is proving to be a little problem. As the final seat is still undecided at the moment and probably doesn't really contribute much to the plot, I'm willing to place anyone who is more suitable in this place. Assuming if it's Junior Ship Officer or Chaplain, where would be they seated as there will be 6 men to 4 ladies. Will the baroness be seated on the other end or the ship's officer ( ... )

gogoangelgunboy December 14 2009, 18:23:20 UTC

all i can add is that married couples are never seated next to each other, and it's alway boy/girl/boy/girl.

aorin December 14 2009, 19:38:57 UTC

Okay, thanks for info. I'll be sure to take note of that as well. Though in this case, most of them are unmarried, which makes the seating a little more problematic.