What’s New: August 2024
August 8, 2024
Welcome to the 113th update of the Oxford DNB, which adds sixteen new articles and seven portrait likenesses. Entries in this release have a special focus on the lives of early modern noblewomen in Britain. From August 2024, the Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (Oxford DNB) offers biographies of 65,285 women and men who have shaped the British past, contained in 63,013 articles. 12,232 biographies include a portrait image of the subject—researched in partnership with the National Portrait Gallery, London.
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Introduction by Annalisa Nicholson: early modern noblewomen in Britain
This month’s update shines a light on the lives of early modern noblewomen in Britain. Their biographies attest to their wide-ranging pursuits and contributions that span literature, philosophy, education, politics, music, architecture, and garden design. What is especially notable across these new entries is the role of networks. From family circles to literary salons and patronage relationships, early modern women could tap into a number of communities, whether to participate in cultural and intellectual exchange, or to carve out some form of authority. The prominence of networks in the newly added entries speaks to the broader recognition of women as key actors in the formation and instrumentalization of networks within recent early modern history, replacing the outdated concept of the exceptional lone woman with a model that acknowledges clusters of influence.
The interconnections between the new entries for August are a case in point. Anne Lennard, courtier and recognized as an illegitimate daughter of Charles II, was part of the Mazarin circle formed by Hortense Mancini (whose portrait is added to her pre-existing entry this month) and Charles de Saint-Évremond. That circle, known today as the Mazarin salon, formed a French-style salon in London from 1676 onwards to create a space for mixed-gender intellectual exchange. Lennard’s and Mancini’s transgressive escapades – including a play-fencing fight in St James’s Park in their nightgowns – recall that the model of the salon often encouraged women to move beyond the parameters usually ascribed to them, even if the gossip about a romantic relationship between the pair would still have shocked swathes of courtiers. Also in attendance at the Mazarin salon was Elizabeth Harvey. As sister to the erstwhile English ambassador to France, Harvey was already embedded in cross-Channel circles and her regular visits to Mancini’s apartments – where she could mix with French diplomats as well as French exiles and European expatriates – consolidated these links, all the while enabling her to pursue her Francophilic interests. In the 1690s, Elizabeth Montagu, Countess of Sandwich, became a regular presence at the Mazarin salon, featuring in its literary output. Later, thanks to introductions undertaken by the salon’s co-hosts, Mancini and Saint-Évremond, Lady Sandwich was introduced into Parisian circles during her visit to France in 1698 where she became especially associated with the salon of Ninon de Lenclos.
Mancini’s salon came to an end in 1699, but the following century saw a flourishing of salons and cultural assemblies in England, especially (but not exclusively) in London. These spaces – hosted and moulded by women – shaped the cultural landscape and afforded women opportunities to establish an intellectual life. We see in the entry for Juliana Boyle, countess of Burlington and Cork, how she patronized Italian artists at Burlington House and transformed her home into a hub of artistic, literary, and music activity, frequented by Alexander Pope, John Gay, and George Frideric Handel. Elsewhere, we learn how salons facilitated the integration of newcomers to the English capital. Lady Margaret Macdonald, a Scottish noblewoman who supported the Jacobites, moved to London after the death of her husband and mingled in the bluestocking circle. Sometimes access to these cultural circles was indirect. Lady Mary Gregory, for example, sustained connections with Wrest Park and her salonnière niece, Jemima Yorke, Marchioness Grey, via her correspondence. A similar pattern emerges in the entry for Lady Margaret Heathcote who at one time frequented Wrest Park regularly, hosted as it was by her brother Philip Yorke, but was forced to refuse future invitations following her marriage, spurring her to preserve her intellectual activity through letters with Wrest Park’s habitués.
Other entries showcase the importance of family and court connections. Positions in the royal household often heralded prestigious marriages and future means of influence. Frances Burgh was maid of honour to Elizabeth I before marrying Thomas Burgh whose financial instability prompted Frances to frequently act as his intermediary with the Queen. After her husband’s death, Lady Burgh – like many widows – was tasked with securing her children’s prospects by maintaining the family’s social status and financial security through petitions to the crown for pensions and grants. Some years later, Marie Stewart, countess of Mar, was appointed lady-in-waiting to Anne of Denmark in 1590 and two years later married John Erskine, earl of Mar, one of James VI of Scotland’s trusted advisors. An avid reader in Scots and English, Stewart used her position to patronize artists and was portrayed by the Huguenot calligrapher, Esther Inglis, as a determined Protestant reformer. Continuing this trend at the turn of the century, Jane Bentinck, countess of Portland, was maid of honour to Mary II and later married Bentinck, earl of Portland, drawing her deeper into court circles that facilitated her appointment as royal governess to George I’s three eldest grand-daughters. Finally, Louisa Jenkinson, countess of Liverpool, became a political wife with her marriage in 1795 to future prime minister, Robert Banks Jenkinson, wielding her influence to support women at court and to sponsor charitable causes.
In a different vein, influence could be acquired without marriage at all. When Ann Fairfax inherited a substantial estate, she became a spinster landowner, managing Gilling Castle and a house in York. In her will, she bequeathed the sum of £2000 to her agent to establish a Catholic ministry and school, which became Ampleforth College, one of England’s leading Roman Catholic institutions. Yet, as well as advancing a woman’s political and cultural authority, kinship could also prove disastrously instrumental. Mary Talbot, countess of Shrewsbury, was the aunt of Arbella Stuart (a potential claimant to the English throne) and helped her niece in a botched flight to the continent in 1610. Both were sent to the Tower of London and Talbot was not released for several years. Even this release was contingent on her niece’s actions as Talbot was sent back to the Tower in 1618 when rumours swirled that Arbella had birthed a child. This micro-history exposes the ominous underside to early modern networks. If a point of connection became embroiled in conspiracy or scandal, the entire web was at risk of disgrace by association and could unravel as individuals distanced themselves.
Together, these entries testify to the varied ways that networks intersected with influence in early modern women’s lives. My own work on Hortense Mancini and her salon has fuelled my interest in this phenomenon. An Italo-French exile herself, Mancini attracted French and European exiles to her rooms where they could immerse themselves in Francophone cultural activity. Often considered a salon of exiles, this community tended to be sidelined by historians who assumed that the exilic status of its salonnière and attendees meant that the salon exercised only a marginal influence. Reconstructing the salon’s network tells a different story and shows how ambassadors, politicians, royal mistresses, and Restoration cultural figures flocked to Mancini’s rooms alongside French Catholic and Huguenot exiles, consolidating influence in one space and enabling exchange between major and marginal figures at court. Not only that, the case-study of the Mazarin salon underscores the impressive network revolving around Mancini, indicating the sorts of networks that early modern women could forge. The Oxford DNB is a rich portal into these networks, allowing users to seamlessly move between entries as they spot under-studied connections and build up a richer picture of British society.
Dr Annalisa Nicholson is Laming Research Fellow at The Queen's College, Oxford. She is a cultural historian of early modern France and England, and has recently completed a bilingual edition of Hortense Mancini's correspondence, which will be out next year
August 2024: summary of new articles
Mary Talbot, countess of Shrewsbury (c.1556–1632), was a strong and highly intelligent woman, the daughter of the equally assertive dynastic matriarch Elizabeth Talbot, countess of Shrewsbury, ‘Bess of Hardwick’. Mary’s forceful personality led Elizabeth I to think that she overshadowed her husband (and stepbrother) Gilbert Talbot, seventh earl of Shrewsbury, and she alone is remembered as the benefactor of the second court at St John’s College, Cambridge. Her adult conversion to Catholicism compounded problems. She helped her niece, Arbella Stuart to escape house arrest, but was accused of working with Catholic leaders abroad to use Arbella, a potential heir to the throne, to overthrow James I. Both women were imprisoned in the Tower of London.
In January 1579, Frances Burgh, Lady Burgh (d. 1647) became a maid of honour to Elizabeth I, when she was presented with a gold plate by the queen as part of the court’s new year’s gift rituals. She retained a significant presence at court despite the increasing financial difficulties of her husband, and was left in a vulnerable position upon his death in 1597. Her long widowhood demonstrates how an astute noblewoman could use royal and court connections to secure status and prosperity for herself and her family. Her husband, Thomas Burgh, fifth Baron Burgh (1558/9–1597) served as a soldier in the Low Countries, where he was governor on Brielle, before becoming lord deputy of Ireland, where he died.
Sixty-seven of the letters of Marie Stewart, countess of Mar (1576–1644), dating from about 1604 to 1644, are known to be preserved in the National Library of Scotland and National Records of Scotland. Marie is revealed in the documents as an early modern woman astutely negotiating her business affairs, following contemporary politics, and participating in the reformation of Scottish religious life, embracing the presbyterian national covenant. Her letters demonstrate that, although Scots law denied women an independent legal identity, they could become actively involved in the court system.
Baptized in Barnwell, Northamptonshire, Elizabeth Harvey, Lady Harvey (1634–1702) shaped important aspects of Anglo-French relations and exchange during the late seventeenth century. In collaboration with her brother, Ralph Montagu, Harvey wielded influence over court power dynamics to promote her family's interests. Her ability to manipulate courtiers and events in Restoration London afforded her an unusual agency for a woman who was neither a member of the Stuart royal family nor a royal mistress.
The father of Anne Lennard, countess of Sussex (1661–1722), was likely Charles II, who acknowledged her as his daughter under the name Lady Anne FitzRoy in 1673. This unreliable inheritance failed to bring Anne lasting financial or political security. After the fall of her uncle James II in 1688 she joined him in exile, but returned to England to die under the protection of a son-in-law who had renounced the Catholic faith and adhered to the Church of England to take his seat in the House of Lords under George I.
George I appointed Jane Martha Bentinck, countess of Portland (1672–1751) as governess to his three eldest granddaughters. She carefully supervised their education and diplomatically managed relations with the princesses’ parents who were estranged from George I. Having proved her competence and trustworthiness, she was given sole charge of the princesses when, in May 1719, the king travelled overseas. She maintained a close relationship with her former charges for the rest of her life as revealed by the affectionate tone of their surviving correspondence.
Likely born at North Ruffenham, Rutland, Juliana Boyle, countess of Burlington and Cork (1672–1750) was widowed aged thirty-one, leaving her responsible for the upbringing of her son Richard Boyle, third earl of Burlington and fourth earl of Cork. She established the reputation of their London home, Burlington House as a hub of architectural patronage and artistic creativity, setting an example for her son, who became one of the greatest cultural patrons of the eighteenth century. She regularly hosted the writers Alexander Pope and John Gay, and the physician and satirist John Arbuthnot, and George Frideric Handel is believed to have lived at Burlington House at her invitation between 1713 and July 1716.
Elizabeth Montagu, countess of Sandwich (bap. 1674, d. 1757), was born into a literary family: her father, John Wilmot, second earl of Rochester, was the most celebrated satirist of his day while her mother Elizabeth Malet composed poetry that survives in manuscript. Although her political intrigues and cultural activities tended to be localized in influence, her firm grip on her personal autonomy protected her husband’s inheritance in Huntingdonshire and her own independence, and contributed to the broader recognition of women's political, intellectual, and cultural authority in the era.
The Macdonalds’ hereditary piper, Charles MacArthur, composed a tune to Lady Margaret Macdonald (c.1716–1799) inspired by her involvement in the escape of Prince Charles Edward Stuart in 1746, which secured her a place in Jacobite mythology. After the death of her husband, Sir Alexander Macdonald of Sleat, she lived most of the rest of her life in London, where she mixed in intellectual and political circles and helped secure her family’s prosperity.
Born either in Bedfordshire or London, Lady Mary Gregory (1719–1769) developed keen interests in literature, gardening, and garden design that lasted her entire life. Her marriage to the historian David Gregory (1696–1767) brought her into the collegiate world of Oxford, which allowed her to sustain her bookish pursuits, while her own court connections, notably with Marchioness Grey and Catherine Talbot, helped her husband’s career as he came to exercise considerable influence at the university.
Ann Fairfax (1725/6–1793) has been represented as an unstable, incapable spinster who lived a life of solitude after the death of her father. Yet, the evidence shows that she persevered through family tragedy, poor health, and self-seeking relations to manage her money and estate efficiently. Her town house can be visited in York, while her Roman Catholic faith is upheld in the school she initiated in Yorkshire, which became Ampleforth College.
Though she received little public recognition for her abilities, Lady Margaret Heathcote (1733–1769), born in London, maintained an active intellectual life through her correspondence to Marchioness Grey, Lady Anson, and Catherine Talbot. Her letters reveal her keen interest in literature, history, natural philosophy, and current affairs, and a selection of the poetry that she wrote as a teenager at Wrest Park was published to modest acclaim during her lifetime.
Louisa Theodosia Jenkinson (1767–1821) became countess of Liverpool when her husband, Robert Banks Jenkinson (1770–1828), inherited the earldom from his father in 1808. Contemporaries recognized her significance as her husband’s confidante, especially after he became prime minister in 1812. Her skills as a political hostess were displayed during the visits of overseas dignitaries following the end of the Napoleonic Wars. She projected a moral seriousness that manifested in her (reportedly often anonymous) financial support for the poor as well as a censoriousness towards those of her own class.
The update also adds the lives of two needleworkers. The daughter of an Edinburgh tailor and clothier, Jane Gaugain (1804–1860) married an Edinburgh merchant and transformed his warehouse into a successful haberdashery business. Responding to the growing popularity of knitting as an occupation for middle and upper-class women in the 1830s, she produced a best-selling series of books of knitting patterns, for which she was the first author to introduce abbreviations by letters and numbers. Born in Lancaster, the daughter of a partner in a cotton mill, Letitia Higgin (1837–1913), became assistant secretary of the Royal School of Art Needlework, for whom she drafted the society’s first manual, the Handbook of Embroidery (1880). She subsequently established her own school of dressmaking and millinery in London.
Finally, portrait likenesses are added to four articles: Mary Bankes, Lady Bankes (d. 1661); Hortense Mancini, duchess of Mazarin (1646–1699); Abigail Masham, Lady Masham (1670?–1734); and Anne Fitzpatrick, countess of Upper Ossory (1737/8–1804). A feature article, Born to rule? The origins of the medieval English episcopate, is also republished in this update.
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Discover a full list of entries added this year.
