Thanks!
Posted by Laura Wallace on November 19, 1997 at 18:01:29:
In response to For Laura Wallace:My sources on Waltzing and Almack's, written by Mary Collette on November 19, 1997 at 12:59:50
Here are my sources for my information on the waltz and Almack's. Emily Hendrickson's "Regency Reference Book" which is in the bibliography here
Yes, I saw it there and immediately did a search for it at Interloc, ABE, and Bibliofind. It is not available. Was it privately printed?
and an article in the July/August issue of "The Regency Plume" on the lady Patronesses by Shirley Kennedy.
Did she provide sources or a bibliography? Sorry for being so difficult-- I have been trying to track down primary sources on this subject for over a year. I hope to purchase a copy of the Countess Granville's letters from during the Regency, and perhaps that will shed some light.
I'm reading her debutante-age letters now and they are wonderful! The Devonshires and the Leveson-Gowers evidently disliked the prospect of a match between Lady Sarah Fane (daughter of the Earl of Westmoreland) and Granville Leveson-Gower (later 1st Earl Granville) because in spite of her reputed fortune of £60,000 a year, her money came to her through her grandfather, a banker name Child. Leveson-Gower and Lord Villiers, the Earl of Jersey's heir, were in a dead heat in rivalry for her hand, and Harriet describes in her letters how she kept them dangling and paid precisely the same amount of attention to each!
But the Leveson-Gowers disliked the match, and of course Lord Villiers was a better catch. Besides, the money wasn't too dirty for the Jerseys-- and Lady Sarah eventually accepted the suit of Lord Villiers, and she married him in 1805. Then the earl died in 1806, and she became Lady Jersey, and later patroness of Almack's. (Was any of this in that article?)
Anyway, I think that Lady Jersey's money source may contribute to why she paid such great attention to propriety--she had to prove that she wasn't tainted by that money!
If you would like more info on "The Regency Plume"I have posted the contact person's name on this board
I've made a note of this a dozen times and one of these days I will actually sign up!
Thank you very much for posting the info. I look forward to finding a copy of Hendrickson's book.
The article on the Lady Patronesses of Almack's has inspired me to write a mystery using those noble ladies as sleuths.
That sounds like a lot of fun! Will you be posting any of it here, or are you publishing it the more conventional way? I'd love to read it.
Did you know that she was first cousin to Jane Austen's brother James first wife Anne Mathew so that made Jane's niece Anna second cousin by marriage to Mrs.Drummond-Burrell?
No! That is wonderful! Now I know where to add in the Austens to my peerage database. Thank you!
I discovered that from reading the biographical index in Deirdre LeFaye's edition of Jane Austen's Letters.
I have LeFaye's A Family Record but have not yet purchased the Letters.
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