The Duke and Duchess of Devonshire, the Duke of Wellington, Viscountess Macmillan, Lady Bowman, Diana Tennant, Sir Martyn Beckett, Betty Morton, Peggy Cripps and the Duchess of Northumberland reminisce about the debutante season, Nazis, the Coldstream Guards, the Big Apple, the Kennedy Family, the Ritz Bar and all manner of things that recall a vanished way of life. Fascinating stuff. 48 minutes.
This is one of my favorite Pinterest posts because Juana Galán (1787–1812), above, was fierce, feisty and would no doubt have been a favorite of the Duke of Wellington. During the Peninsular War, twenty year old Juana worked in a tavern in her home town of Valdepeñas, Spain, when she gathered the intelligence that the French were preparing to invade the town. As most of the men were away from the town already fighting in the war against Napoleon, Juana took matters into her own hands and rallied the townswomen in order to form a battle plan of their own.
On June 6, 1808, Napoleon’s troops entered the town, whereupon the women, strategically placed in windows about the square, poured boiling water and oil over the heads of the soldiers who rode past. Juana, armed with either a baton or a cast iron stew pot (depending on which version you believe) then went into the street and beat the soldiers about their heads like there was no tomorrow. No doubt Juana had help in the pummeling, as a single person, man or woman, could not have taken on an entire regiment of French cavalry by themselves, however history credits Juana alone for the deed. The French fled and subsequently abandoned their aim of conquering the region of La Mancha altogether. Soon afterwards, the Spanish army were victorious at the Battle of Bailen against the French.
On May 2, 1810, Juana married Bartolomé Ruiz de Lerma, with whom she had two daughters. She died during the birth of her second daughter on September 24, 1812.
No matter how many times I visit London, I always find new nuggets of historic trivia that are hugely interesting. I thought I’d do a bit of investigation recently in preparation for the St. James’s Walk Victoria and I will be leading during The Wellington Tour in September, when I discovered some interesting facts.
Firstly, I did some research into Devonshire House, London home to the Dukes of Devonshire since 1697, when the 1st Duke purchased the home, then known as Berkeley House, from Lord Berkeley. You can get an idea of it’s prime location on Piccadilly from Roque’s map below.
The house burned down in 1733 whilst undergoing renovations, allowing the Duke to rebuild in a contemporary style better suited to entertaining on a grand scale. The prime example of such an entertainment came over a hundred years on at The Duchess of Devonshire’s Ball, a fancy dress entertainment held in order to celebrate Queen Victoria’s Diamond Jubilee on 2 July in 1897. The Duchess encouraged guests to take their inspiration for fancy dress from history, literature and mythology. Thankfully, the Duchess hired photographer James Lauder of the Lafayette Company to be on hand to photograph the 200 costumed guests in front of different backdrops over the course of the evening.
The Duchess of Devonshire as Zenobia, Queen of Palmyra
The Ladies Churchill as Watteau shepherdesses.
Princess Henry of Pless as the Queen of Sheba
Unfortunately, Devonshire House (below in 1905) was demolished in 1920, when it was sold by the 9th Duke of Devonshire in order to pay death duties. Today, an office building stands on the site.
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The new bit of trivia I learned is that the gates from Devonshire House were saved and moved to the entrance of Green Park off Piccadilly. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve walked past, and through, these gates, never realizing their history.
An Exuberant Catalogue of Dreams: The Americans Who Revived the Country House in Britain is the title of a glossy new book by author Clive Aslet.
Victoria here, reporting on a recent dinner sponsored by the Royal Oak Foundation and the Woman’s Athletic Club of Chicago. As part of the US-wide lecture series made possible by the Drue Heinz Trust, Mr. Aslet told us many stories about the wealthy characters who “rescued” so many British houses, even some castles. There were many familiar names among the Americans, such as Consuelo Vanderbilt (1877-1964), perhaps the most famous of the heiresses who gained a title (Duchess of Marlborough) while her father’s fortune helped to renovate a great estate (Blenheim Palace).
I was surprised — both at the talk and reading the book — at the number of men who also restored, revived, or outright built stately houses. For example, Andrew Carnegie (1835-1919) was born in Scotland and came to the U.S. as a young teen. He made the equivalent of billions in steel, oil, and railroads. He rebuilt the 12th century ruins of the Castle in the Highlands, while contributing much of his fortune to libraries, universities, and other philanthropies in both the U.S. and Scotland.
Exuberant Catalogue of Dreams is a compendium of amazing stories and pictures, many from Country Life magazine. I love everything about English country houses and stately homes, so I relished every word. It begins with a quote from P. G. Wodehouse: “Damme, they all seem millionaires in America,” from the Earl of Emsworth in Something Fresh, 1915.
A number of the individuals covered have Chicago connections. A member of Chicago’s Woman’s Athletic Club pointed out to Mr. Aslet that Mrs. Gordon Selfridge was once a member of the very club in which we all sat. Selfridge (1858-1947), gaining renewed fame from the Television Series Mr. Selfridge, was associated with the famous Chicago firm Marshall Field and Company before he moved to London and founded the department store that bears his name. A co-founder of Field’s was Levi Leiter (1834-1904), whose daughter Mary Victoria Leiter (1870-1906) married Lord Curzon, and became Vicereine of India and chatelaine of Kedleston in Derbyshire. .
This is just a tiny fraction of the engrossing stories you will find in Clive Aslet’s An Exuberant Catalogue of Dreams. I hope you still have time to put this on your list for Santa!!
In case you’re feeling the need for a little luxury this holiday season, we’ve rounded up some gift ideas that might come in handy whether you’re on the giving or receiving end of things.
This year, Harrods, that venerable institution dedicated to conspicuous consumption, has chosen
the classic British steam train as the theme for their holiday windows.
Should you prefer your jewels to come complete with historic provenance, you may want to turn to one of London’s venerable auction houses. Here’s a little something we found from the Sotheby’s Fine Jewelry auction that took place on December 13th in London –
The festively attired elves have been sprinkled about the Oxford Street store to guide shoppers through departments, find the perfect gifts, gift wrap and carry packages and hail taxis.
Of course, you’ll need to put all of those pretty packages under a tree and for inspiration on that score we direct you to The Goring Hotel and it’s 2013 Luxury Christmas Tree Collection. This year, the trees have been created by iconic British brands including The Real Flower Company, Olivia Von Halle and Honeyjam. You can read more and see all of the trees here.
Once your shopping has been completed, reward yourself by booking in for Claridge’s Timeless Christmas offer that includes: