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In the excellent book, The Rise of the Egalitarian Family, Trumbach gives the following data for mourning periods:
12 months for a husband or wife
6 months for parents or parents-in-law
3 months for a sister or brother, uncle or aunt
6 weeks for a sister-in-law or uncle or aunt (no explanation for the duplication here so perhaps it had to do with the closeness or lack thereof
3 weeks – uncle or aunt, aunt who remarried, first cousin
2 weeks – first cousin (and whether they were close or not?)
1 week – first and second cousin, and husband or stepmother’s sister.
Trumbach says there was usually a designated female who kept up the family tree and ordained the degree of mourning required for the dearly (or not so dearly) departed.
https://donnahatch.com/mourning-customs-in-regency-england/
In this scenario, I think if Collins perished, there would be no mourning at all, though Elizabeth might mourn Mrs. Gardiner as if she was a parent.
