I do YouTube Videos about Writing!!

Hello everyone!

I am so sorry that I've been a bit MIA on this blog in recent months. Since September things have been really busy in terms of submitting my first manuscript (!!) and then trying to get going on book 2 manuscript as well as editing book 1. In September I also started a freelance contract managing digital marketing for an online retail company and that takes up almost 2 full days a week . . . So, it's been busy, to say the least.

Some of you might know that since Tom and I moved to France we have been filming regular vlog style video diaries and publishing them on our YouTube channel. Around March time last year I published a 'Day in the life of a writer' video on the channel and around July/August I noticed that the views were spiking on it (it currently has over 5K views!).

 

Because this video seemed so popular I decided to do another one (part two) and then I began to get suggestions on further videos, and so as of January, I have decided that writing videos are going to take up about half of all videos I upload to my channel. Currently, there are 6 videos published on the channel, which are all saved to a playlist and include 'A Week in the Life of a Writer', 'How I stay Motivated in my Writing', '6 Tips for Getting Started as a Writer' etc.

On top of that, I am going to start a historical series, publishing short, ten-minute videos about a specific historical topic. These will be mostly related to my subject (country houses, women's history etc.) and I will be publishing one of these every month.

So, I just wanted to apologise for not being around much over the last 5-6months but I am back and I will be posting regularly again, but in the meantime, if you want to check out my writing videos on YouTube, then here is the link: Charlotte & Tom YouTube Channel.

See you again soon!
Charlotte

The London Season - "Coming Out"

You often hear, when reading literature about the Georgian and Victorian period or watching films and television programmes set in this time, about “the season” in London. This colloquial term refers to a period of time every year when aristocratic and gentry families would travel to London from their country houses and would live in London socialising and visiting friends and family.

A Drawing Room at St James Palace
Photo Source: Regency History Website

The London season itself first came into being as wives and families of members of parliament accompanied their husbands to London for the parliamentary session and needed events and things to do to keep them occupied during this time. The parliamentary session ran roughly from October/November to May/June and so families would find themselves in London for half of the year and subsequently needed activities to fill their time.

Visiting friends, family and acquaintances, visiting the opera and the ballet, walking in the numerous parks, attending an exhibition or visiting a museum, and of course public and private balls and assemblies were all diversions for the aristocracy and gentry to take part in whilst they stayed in London and as the season became more popular, more and more social events were available.

As this habit became a regular occurrence each year, the popularity of the season began to grow and soon it became a fashionable thing to do as well as practical. For one to remain popular within society circles and indeed in order to broaden one’s social circle, you had to travel to London for the ‘season.’

Lady Rose being presented at Court in Downton Abbey
Photo Source: NumberOneLondon

Mothers began to recognise that by coming to London and attending a range of public and private events, that eligible bachelors were more accessible for their daughters to meet than when they were sequestered away at their country estates. Therefore, the London season became known as a marriage market as well as a parliamentary event and young women who were eligible to marry, planned their ‘coming out’ into society balls for during this period, knowing they would be able to attract more bachelors and therefore increase their chances of meeting their future husband.

‘Coming out’ in society marked a change from child to adult and would mean a daughter could take part in more social events, would be able to go out on an evening to social events, and of course would be able to find a husband and get married. A young lady ‘coming out’ into society was marked by a ceremony where the young woman would be presented to the monarch at Court. This tradition is still upheld to this day with young women from some families still being presented to the monarch at court.

Georgiana, 5th Duchess of Devonshire with her infant daughter
Georgiana who would become the 6th Countess of Carlisle
Photo Source: Wikipedia

Georgiana, 5^th Duchess of Devonshire organised a lavish coming out ball for her eldest daughter Georgiana Cavendish during the London season of 1800 where she met George Howard, Viscount Morpeth who was the heir to the 5^th Earl of Carlisle and lived at the palatial Castle Howard in North Yorkshire. George Howard fell in love with Georgiana and courted her for a year, spending time getting to know the beautiful young woman and the following year they married.

The London season was at its most popular in the 19^th century and since the twentieth century has disappeared as the nature of society and London as a city has changed. Aristocratic families began to give up their London houses, particularly after the first world war, and an increasing number of public events meant that it was harder to maintain exclusivity. From this time on, aristocratic families tended to move back to their country estates, privatising their balls and instead favouring the ‘country house, house party’, an altogether more exclusive, invite only event.

The Women Featured in my Upcoming Book

Dunham Massey in Cheshire

If you have read some of my previous blog posts you may know that I am currently writing a non-fiction book about women in the English Country House. I thought I would introduce the historical female characters who I am writing about in my book. These women were incredible characters, their strength in the face of tragedy and their desire to make an impact on the world around them, provide stories which are begging to be told.

My book is focused on the 19th century as a whole, with my oldest woman born in 1780 and my youngest dying in 1905 although there will be some historical context from the 18th and 20th centuries as we trace the world they were born into and the world they left behind.

So, with no further ado, lets meet my four incredible women, who, as I get to know them more, feel like friends . . .

Lady Mary Isham
b.1787 - d.1878

Mary was born at Elm Park in Co. Armagh in Ireland to Deborah de Robillard Champagne and Samuel Close. She met Col. Justinian Isham of Lamport Hall in Northamptonshire who was stationed in Ireland at the time as captain of the militia. They were married in 1812 and in 1818 they moved to Lamport Hall when Justinian inherited the estate and his baronetcy. Throughout their time at Lamport, Justinian was known as 'the silent baronet' due to the fact he was more interested in his library and Mary was more interested in developing the Hall. She was a strong woman, confident in her beliefs and opinions, but she was also an incredibly generous woman, giving thousands of pounds to local charities and acting as patron to charities and societies. During her time at Lamport Hall she managed the rebuild of the Hall, estate and parkland, she ensured their tenants were well looked after and she also raised a family. We will follow Mary's entire life, looking at her achievements and the incredible tragedy she suffered.

Lady Mary Isham of Lamport Hall, Northamptonshire 

(reproduced with permission of Lamport Hall Preservation Trust)

Harriet Leveson-Gower, Countess Granville
b.1785 - d.1862

Harriet is probably one of the most well-known women in my book, or rather her mother was. Born in 1785 at Devonshire House in London to Georgiana Duchess of Devonshire and William Cavendish, 5th Duke of Devonshire, she was the second daughter and was supposed to have been a boy. She was raised in the curious household of the Devonshire's, observing the odd relationship between her mother, father and Lady Elizabeth Foster, her father's mistress. She married in 1809, aged 24 to Granville Leveson Gower who had been a friend of the family for many years and who for almost a decade had been the lover of Harriet's Aunt, Lady Bessborough. This seems like an unusual set up, but considering the upbringing Harriet had, it's unlikely that she would have thought too much about it. She even welcomed her Aunt and husbands two illegitimate children into her home. I am exploring the nature of Harriet's upbringing and her unusual marriage, looking at how this influenced her later life and her position as a wife and mother.

Katherine Grey, Countess of Stamford and Warrington
b.1826 - d.1905

Katherine is my youngest woman and one of the least known, but her story is remarkable. She was born into a circus family in London and grew to become one of the most famous circus performers in London by the 1850's. She performed as a bare-back horse rider with her sister at Astley's Circus and she was spotted by the eligible George Harry Grey, 7th Earl of Stamford and Warrington who, captivated by her incredible beauty, whisked her out of her circus life, married her, and took her away to Dunham Massey, his principal estate in Cheshire. However, not everyone thought that the marriage was appropriate and the young couple found themselves having to defend their marriage, although, as a young Earl with no immediate family to control him, George Harry was used to doing whatever he wanted. They were snubbed by the gentry and even Queen Victoria before deciding they would move to Enville Hall in Staffordshire, another of the Earl's properties, where they lived happily for twenty years. In my book we look at George Harry's upbringing, his marriage to Katherine and the early years of their marriage at Dunham Massey.

Elizabeth Manners, Duchess of Rutland of Belvoir Castle

(reproduced with permission of Her Grace, Duchess of Rutland)

Elizabeth Manners, Duchess of Rutland
b.1780 - d.1825

Elizabeth is one of my favourite characters that I am writing about - although I have to admit I love them all! She was born at Castle Howard in North Yorkshire to the 5th Earl and Countess of Carlisle. She was vaguely related through marriage to Harriet whose sister Georgiana was married to Elizabeth's eldest brother George. Elizabeth married John Henry Manners, the 5th Duke of Rutlnd in 1799 when she was just 19 and moved to Belvoir Castle in Rutland. She was hugely disappointed when she arrived at the Castle, finding an outdated and dilapidated house in need of renovation and money. She took it as her mission to improve the Castle and throughout her relatively short life she worked continuously to develop the Castle that you see today. She was also unfortunately the recipient of several tragic events - losing three of her children, her eldest daughter and two baby boys, as well as a fire in 1816 which ravaged the Castle, burning away lots of her hard work. She is an incredible woman - probably the strongest of the bunch, and I can't wait for you to get to know her more.

So that's it! These are the four main women in my book. I will be making references to other women throughout the book to lend context to the period but these four women will form the bulk of the story. We will be looking at upbringing, marriage, home life, children and tragedy - following their lives and challenging our stereotypes of women of the period.

I can't wait for you to be able to read this book . . . . I just hope you like it!!

p.s.:

Please do share this webpage with your friends and family if you know they like country house history or you think they would enjoy my book!