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For nine hundred years the British aristocracy has considered itself ideally qualified to rule others, make laws and guide the fortunes of the nation. Tracing the history of this remarkable supremacy, ARISTOCRATS is a story of wars, intrigue, chicanery and extremes of both selflessness and greed. James also illuminates how the aristocracy's infatuation with classical art has forged our heritage, how its love of sport has shaped our pastimes and values - and how its scandals have entertained the public. Impeccably researched, balanced and brilliantly entertaining, ARISTOCRATS is an enthralling history of power, influence and an extraordinary knack for survival.
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The story of Thomas and Elizabeth Savage and their family, presented here, is a turbulent one, moving from the grandeur of the royal court (Thomas was Chancellor to Queen Henrietta Maria, wife of Charles I, and his wife Elizabeth was one of her ladies of the bedchamber) to debt and imprisonment. It is teased out through a close examination of the documentary evidence, from letters on intimate family matters and health problems to business correspondence and official documents from the royal court, including Elizabeth's many petitions to Charles I, and later to the House of Lords. There is a particular focus on their houses at Long Melford (Suffolk), Rocksavage (Cheshire), and at Tower Hill in London. This book is lavishly illustrated, with plates and diagrams.
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In what will prove to be one of the most explosive, hotly debated books of the year, Sir Peregrine presents a reactionary and playful look at the origins, evolution and demise of the aristocracy and what we can expect to replace them. Every country has the aristocracy it deserves; so what does it say about Britain that it is in the process of removing the last vestiges of political power from one of the most ancient hereditary aristocracies in the world, and one, moreover, whose record of public service has been impeccable? The word aristocracy has many connotations, some good, some bad, and Britain's aristocracy has in the past earned most of them in some degree or another. But Sir Peregrine Worsthorne, one of our most influential and respected political commentators, argues that not only does the good far outweigh the bad, but that our aristocracy has contributed mightily to our stability and prosperity, and that without it we would have neither. And yet it is ever more being politically written out of the national story, with the result that soon there will be no hereditary peers in the House of Lords. The disestablishment of the peerage will bring cheers to the lips of many, bu.
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• Introduction Cawdor and Campbell Estate administration The agricultural estate: the Cawdors as farmers and landlords The Cawdors as industrial landowners The Cawdors in the community: church and education The melee of local governance The Cawdors in politics: interest building, consolidation and decline Private and exclusive lives The end of the Welsh estates Conclusion Bibliography.
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For over two hundred years, the Campbells of Cawdor were major landowners, industrialists and politicians. Originating in Nairnshire, Scotland, they moved in the late seventeenth century to south Wales, where they became the second largest landowner in Wales and owners of significant coal and lead mines. They participated politically in the British state as MPs, peers, lords of the admiralty including one first lord, treasury lords, admirals and army officers. They supported local good causes, were involved in London 'society' and were major art collectors. As such their story is fairly typical of many other aristocratic families in the period. This book traces the development of the family, its estates and activities from the late seventeenth to the late twentieth century. It shows how they established their wealth and power during the eighteenth century, the period when the landed aristocracy was at its height, how they responded in the nineteenth century to the moves towards more democratic forms of local and national government and how, despite the difficulties aristocratic families and estates faced in the twentieth century, they survived, selling off their Welsh lands and returning to their Scottish base, which remains a flourishing agricultural estate and tourist destination. JOHN E. DAVIES was the County Archivist for Carmarthenshire and is now an independent historical researcher. He completed his doctorate at Swansea University.
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• Introduction - The Nineteenth Century: Challenge and Response - Wealth - Sources of Wealth: Agriculture - Sources of Wealth: Forestry - Sources of Wealth: Urban Property - Sources of Wealth: Industry - Life, Manners, Morals - Education and Culture - The Noble as Warrior - Aristocracy in Politics - Conclusion - Index.
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The book studies the challenges to hereditary elites in the 19th century and how effectively the German, English and Russian aristocracies responded to these challenges. It surveys the wealth, economic activities, manners and morals, everyday life, culture, values, occupations and political roles of aristocracy in Europe's three most powerful monarchies.
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• Introduction, Acknowledgments, Permissions, Illustrations, 1 An outrageous little scheme2 Families and friendships, 3 Love and affection, 4 Parties and party politics, 5 A view of life and mortality, 6 The Daimler and the Renault , 7 Young hearts broken, 8 Enter Edwin Montagu, 9 Menage a Cinq, 10 No fool like an old fool, 11 Strictly between you and me, 12 This breaks my heart, 13 Asquith's last virgin, 14 A shock all round, 15 Over to Sylvia, 16 The Merchant of Venetia, 17 Kathleen and Hilda, 18 Fall from grace, 19 The ripe fruits of sexuality, 20 Keeping unusual company, 21 That strange gnome, 22 Peace and infidelity in Paris, 23 A career's end and a life's beginning, 24 Life after Westminster, 25 To Brazil and back, 26 The year everything changed, 27 Venetia alone, 28 Still alone, 29 Flying for fun, 30 The world their oyster, 31 Picking up the threads, 32 Home thoughts - mostly from abroad, 33 A little trouble in Spain, 34 Another year, another war, 35 Breccles Hall at war, 36 Conjugal carnage, 37 Peace at last, Select Bibliography, Principle Sources, References, Index.
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This is the true story of one woman's life set against the backcloth of the great events of the first half of the twentieth century. Its subject, the Hon Venetia Stanley was remarkable for what she was, what she did and the people she knew. So it is a tale that embraces politics, sex, scandal, love and betrayal, the English aristocracy, the Asquiths and the Churchills, but also touches on strange (and some very strange) goings on in the social world of society in the 1920s and 1930s, homosexuality in high places, cross-dressing, gardening, the power of money, derring-do, pioneering aviation, antisemitism and racial prejudice, the Boer war, the Spanish civil war, two world wars, evacuee children, famine in the Soviet Union, the most remarkable match in the history of cricket, the Curragh incident, the Easter uprising, Lady Diana Cooper, Lloyd George, Lawrence of Arabia, Scott of the Antarctic, Ernest Hemingway, the Rothschilds, Beaverbrook, Gandhi, the Amritsar massacre and the Raj, the financial problems of Brazil, a cast of hundreds (many of them slightly odd) and much else besides.Isaiah Berlin said after meeting her '...handsome, smart, awful woman, celebrated society wit I am told, but quite genuinely clever and entertaining, only very awful'. Churchill's daughter, the late Mary Soames who knew her well as a close friend and relative said to me, 'She was rum, you know!'.
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• List of Illustrations Acknowledgements Introduction
• 1. Landowners and the Territorials
• 2. Mobilizing the Estate Worker
• 3. Mobilizing the Farm Worker
• 4. Landlords and Food Security
• 5. Game Preservation and the War
• 6. Foxhunting and the War
• 7. Landowners and the War Conclusion Bibliography Index.
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The extent to which the Great War impacted upon English landed society is most vividly recalled in the loss of young heirs to ancient estates. English Landed Society in the Great War considers the impact of the war on these estates. Using the archives of Country Life, Edward Bujak examines the landed estate that flourished in England. In doing so, he explores the extent to which the wartime state penetrated into the heartlands of the landed aristocracy and gentry, and the corrosive effects that the progressive and systematic militarization of the countryside had on the authority of the squire. The book demonstrates how the commitment of landowners to the defence of an England of home and beauty - an image also adopted in wartime propaganda - ironically led to its transformation. By using the landed estate to examine the transition from Edwardian England to modern Britain, English Landed Society in the Great War provides a unique lens through which to consider the First World War and its impact on English society.
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A polemical history of the British ruling class and how they ended up owning our nation. The full, shocking story of the British aristocracy, from Anglo-Saxon times until the present day. Exploring the extraordinary and sometimes pernicious social and political dominance enjoyed by the British aristocracy over centuries, Entitled seeks to explain how a tiny number of noble families rose to such a position in the first place and reveals the often nefarious means they have employed to maintain their wealth, power and prestige. It examines the greed, ambition, jealousy and rivalry which drove local barons to compete with one another and aristocratic families to guard their inheritance with phenomenal determination. In telling their history, it introduces a cast of extraordinary characters: fierce warriors, rakish dandies, political dilettantes, charming eccentrics, arrogant snobs and criminals who got away with murder. Meticulously researched and engagingly written, Entitled tells a riveting story of arrogance, corruption and greed, the defining characteristic of the British ruling class.
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• pt.
• 1. The correspondence of Jemima, Marchioness Grey (1722-97) and her circle (10 reels)
• pt.
• 2. The correspondence and diaries of Charlotte Georgiana, Lady Bedingfeld (Formerly Jerningham) c1779-1833, together with the letters of Anna Seward, c1791-1804 and Lady Stafford, c1774-1837 (15 reels).

• Acknowledgements Prologue: Aspects of Aristocracy
• Part 1: Processes and Problems: 1 The Making of the British Upper Classes 2 Aristocratic Indebtedness in the Nineteenth Century 3 Nobility and Mobility in Modern Britain.
• Part 2: Individuals in Context: 4 Lord Curzon as Ceremonial Impressario 5 Lord Strickland: Imperial Aristocrat and Aristocratic Imperialist 6 Winston Churchill as an Aristocratic Adventurer.
• Part 3: The Dynastic Perspective: 7 The Landowner as Millionaire: The Finances of the Dukes of Devonshire 8 Landowners, Lawyers and Litterateurs: The Cozen-Hardys of Letheringsett 9 Portrait of More Than a Marriage: Harold Nicolson and Vita Sackville-West Revisited Epilogue: Beyond the Country House. Appendices A: Aristocratic Indebtness in the 19th Century B: The Churchills C: The Devonshires D: The Cozen-Hardys E: The Nicolsons and the Sackville-Wests A Note on Sources List of Abbreviations Notes Index.
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In this stylish and provocative book, the eminent historian David Cannadine brings his characterisitc wit and acumen to bear on the British aristocracy, probing behind the legendary escapades and indulgences of aristocrats Such as Lord Curzon, the Hon C.S. Rolls (of Rolls Royce), Winston Churchill, Harold Nicolson, and Vita Sackville -West, and changing our perceptions of them - transforming wastrels into heroes and the self-satisfied into tthe second-rate. Cannasine begins by investigating the land-owning classes as a whole during the last two hundred years, describing their origins, their habits, their increasing debts, and their involvement with the steam train, the horseless carriage, and the aeroplamne. He next focuses on patricians he finds particularly fascinating: Lord Curzon, an unrivaled ceremonial impresario and inventor of traditions; Lord Strickland, part English landowner and part Mediterranean nobleman, who has both an imperial proconsul and prime minister of Malta; and Winston Churchill, whom Cannadine sees as an aristocratic adventureer, a man who has burdened by more than he benefited fromhis family connections and patrician attitudes. Cannadiine then moves from individuals to aristocratic dynasties. He reconstructs the extraordinary financial history of the dukes of Devonshire, narrates the story of the Cozwns-Hardys, a Norfolk family who playeda remarkably varies part in the life of their country, and offers a controversial reapraisal of the forebears, lives, work, and personalities of Harols Nicolson and Vita Sackville-West- a portrait, notes Cannadine, of more than a marriage.
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• The knight in England
• Military culture
• The shifting borders of nobility
• The rise of conciliarism
• The king and the peers
• Local violence
• Personal violence
• Dominating localities
• The seigneurial court
• Capital justice and the rise of liberties
• Conduct
• Expectation and demands
• Piety.

William the Conqueror's victory in 1066 was the beginning of a period of major transformation for medieval English aristocrats. In this groundbreaking book, David Crouch examines for the first time the fate of the English aristocracy between the reigns of the Conqueror and Edward I. Offering an original explanation of medieval society-one that no longer employs traditional "feudal" or "bastard feudal" models-Crouch argues that society remade itself around the emerging principle of nobility in the generations on either side of 1200, marking the beginning of the ancien regime. The book describes the transformation in aristocrats' expectations, conduct, piety, and status; in expressions of social domination; and in the relationship with the monarchy. Synchronizing English social history with non-English scholarship, Crouch places England's experience of change within a broader European transformation and highlights England's important role in the process. With his accustomed skill, Crouch redefines a fascinating era and the noble class that emerged from it.
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Using largely unpublished sources, this book tells the story of Lady Georgiana Lennox and the unique friendship she cherished with the Duke of Wellington. She first met the Duke on his return from India when he was serving under Georgy's father as Chief Secretary. The Lennox family moved to Brussels in 1813 and Georgy's mother the Duchess of Richmond threw the now legendary ball the night before the Battle of Waterloo. Georgy was a young, beautiful and immensely popular young lady at the time with many suitors. She and the Duke enjoyed a flirtatious early friendship, which blossomed into a true bond between families as the years went by. Georgy had a front row seat to the Battle of Waterloo, and remained in Brussels after the battle to help tend to the wounded. At 29 she married the future 23rd Baron de Ros who became a diplomatic spy, and later Governor of the Tower of London. Georgy had three children, and died at the impressive age of 96.
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In May 2005 Penguin will publish 70 unique titles to celebrate the company's 70th birthday. The titles in the Pocket Penguins series are emblematic of the renowned breadth of quality of the Penguin list and will hark back to Penguin founder Allen Lane's vision of good books for all'. David Cannadine is one of Britain's premier historians, essayists and broadcasters, whose books such as Hope and Glory and Ornamentalism have brought erudite and entertaining social history to a wide audience. As General Editor of the Penguin History of Britain series he embodies Penguin's long-term commitment to quality, accessible history publishing. This piece from his acclaimed Aspects of Aristocracy takes a wry look at Winston Churchill's upper-class origins.
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This is the story of four 18th-century sisters, Caroline, Emily, Louisa and Sarah Lennox, great-grandchildren of Charles II, whose extraordinary lives spanned the period 1740-1832. Caroline eloped with an ambitious politician, Henry Fox; her son, Charles James Fox, was the most famous opposition politician of his century. Emily first married the senior peer of Ireland, but after having 19 children she scandalized society by marrying their humble Scottish tutor. Louisa and Sarah led equally tumultuous lives. Underlying the drama of the Lennox sisters is a story of everyday life. Thousands of letters, scores of pictures, many reproduced in the book, diaries and household accounts show how the Lennox sisters lived their lives both practically and emotionally. They write about love, about marriage, politics, books, scandals, food, clothes, pregnancy and childbirth. The author also wrote "The Impact of Modernism".
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This work examines how the landed elite openly absorbed a regular flow of new members to the ruling class. It examines the transition of Britain from aristocratic rule to democracy through a study of the Whig Party.

In 1712, two prominent members of the aristocracy, Lord Mohun and the Duke of Hamilton, clashed in a duel that ended both their lives. Stuart society was in uproar, for the duel - the focus of this study of a cynical 18th-century British aristocracy - occurred at a moment of grave political crisis.
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Between 1890 and 1939, the groups of men involved in running Britain's four main public art galleries - the National Gallery, the Tate Gallery, the Wallace Collection, and the National Portrait Gallery - were embroiled in continuous power struggles. Stewards of the Nation's Art examines the internal tensions between the galleries' administrative directors, the aristocrats dominating the boards of trustees, and those in the Treasury who controlled the funds as well as board appointments. Andrea Geddes Poole uses meticulous primary research from all four of these institutions to discuss changing ideas about class, education, and work during this period. The conflicts between aristocratic trustees and administrative directors were not only about the running of the galleries, but also reflected the era's strain between aristocratic amateurs and nouveau riche professionals. Stewards of the Nation's Art is an absorbing study that explores the extent to which the aristocracy was able to hold on to cultural power in an increasingly professional and meritocratic age.
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Women of the British aristocracy are only beginning to receive serious attention from historians. This book stands to fill a major gap in providing a broad overview of women in politics in late Georgian Britain, and in doing so, provides a significant amount of information about electoral politics generally in the 18th century. Relying heavily on the manuscript collections of the literate and self-conscious women of the Georgian British aristocracy, Lewis makes a convincing case for the extensive power of females in the political system of late 18th and 19th century Britain. She examines history of dress in period, this history of ideas and political philosophy, and in the process of these excursions, we learn a good deal about a significant period in British history, and perhaps for the first time, its women. Lewis is a passionate historian with a unique voice, and the manuscript was strongly recommended by reviewers.
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Missing from much of the scholarship on 18th century British politics is recognition of the extensive participation of aristocratic women. Fortunately, as a literate and self-conscious group, these women created and preserved vast manuscript collections now available to historians. In Sacred to Female Patriotism, Judith S. Lewis taps into these sources to demonstrate how the social and political worlds of Georgian Britain interacted to give women an influential voice in politics that was previously unimagined. The result is a lively, powerful, and important story that challenges many of our comfortable stereotypes of the past while providing us with a better understanding of 18th century electoral politics in general.
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