Inspired by a post on Debra's blog I checked back over old photos to find this:
Mary lived there until her death in 1849 - Jane died in 1811 - and left an extraordinary will. It had two principal aims: to ensure that A La Ronde, the house and its contents were kept intact; and to allow only unmarried kinswomen to inherit.
When Daughter lived in Devon we took the opportunity to visit some of the many National Trust properties nearby and this was one of them.
When I was reminded of this house I had forgotten that the two women were cousins. I should explain that Debra's blog mentions the unwillingness of historians to accept that unrelated women choosing to live together could be anything but platonic friends.
Which brings us nicely to the Ladies of Llangollen, Sarah Ponsonby and Lady Eleanor Butler.
In 1778, when Sarah was 23 and Eleanor 39, the two women secretly fled together, crossing the Irish Sea to set up home in North Wales, leaving their privileged lives behind them. That said, Plas Newydd, the house in which they lived was pretty grand and notable guests included the Duke of Wellington and William Wordsworth.
Anne tried to discreetly establish whether Sarah Ponsonby and Eleanor Butler were more than friends. She asked 'if they were classical' to which Sarah Ponsonby replied, 'No… Thank God from Latin & Greek I am free.'
We have not visited Plas Newydd yet but it is on my wish list.
6 comments:
Fascinating! I had not heard of the Parminter cousins before, but I do know the story of the famous Ladies of Llangollen. And Anne Lister too! I loved the first season of "Gentleman Jack" and now must get around to watching the second season!
Interesting. I’d like to see those properties too.
There's another aspect of this: I knew of such couples in my childhood neighborhood. I'm sure the adults aroubd me were aware, also that they were very much into respecting privacy.
To routinely translate this as ignorance or deliberate refusal to acknowledge, doesn't quite fit the facts as I knew them. It's a 21st century assumption that we're entitled to all the facts of other people's relationships.
I speak as a cis woman, who has only been interested in het sex but has had very intense same sex friendships where sex wasn't an issue. I much prefer the social company of women.
This does happen in the spectrum of human behavior, and I think it's wise to remember not to be too dogmatic and insistent on one size fits all
relationships. It's good that we talk more about issues of sex and gender, but I hope we don't fall into a new set of assumptions.
Maybe I'll write more about this in my own space, rather than monopolize yours Liz!
I love love Gentleman Jack, Debra.
Boud, you're right. It's too easy to assume. And I had to check what cis meant! But I'm not sure it was about respecting privacy altogether. I'm sure assumptions were made but then nobody talked about them. Yes, maybe you're right, it was about privacy.
My lesbian cousin and her gf moved from Scotland to Oz 70 years ago because Scotland was too uptight.
How very interesting.
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