Aristocrats: Caroline, Emily, Louisa, and Sarah Lennox, 1740-1832 by Stella Tillyard

 

Summary (from the publisher): The Lennox sisters - great-granddaughters of a king, daughters of a cabinet minister, and wives of politicians and peers - lived lives of real public significance, but the private texture of their family-centered world mattered to them and they shared their experiences with each other in countless letters. From this hitherto unknown archive, Stella Tillyard has constructed a group biography of privileged eighteenth-century women who, she shows conclusively, have much to tell us about our own time. 

A fascinating insight into 18th century aristocratic life through the lives of the four Lennox sisters, the great grandchildren of Charles II, whose extraordinary lives spanned the period 1740-1832. Passionate, witty and moving, the voices of the Lennox sisters reach us with immediacy and power, drawing the reader into their remarkable lives, and making this one of the most enthralling historical narratives to appear for many years.

Review: "Why should we search for material about women who did not lead countries or armies, who wrote no novels or tracts, who, their letters apart, produced nothing (though not nobody) exceptional? The answer lies in our fascination with ordinary life, with the routines and habits, loves, hatreds, and opinions that run through every life, great or small" (xxvi). 

The four Lennox sisters - Caroline, Emily, Louisa, and Sarah - meticulously documented their lives through letters to each other over the years. Each was a wealthy, aristocratic woman in her own right. None are known for great accomplishments, but their letters reveal much about the private, domestic lives of wealthy, titled women of the late 1700s. 

Their grandfather, the first Duke of Richmond, was born in 1672 and was the youngest of King Charles II's many illegitimate sons. Even though the son of a mistress, as a king' son, he was given titles and significant wealth from his royal father. The sisters themselves were the product of a happy marriage, albeit initially arranged and unwelcome. The Duke and Duchess produced twelve children, of whom the four sisters that make up this book represent four of the 7 who lived to maturity. An amusing anecdote was that their father, upon meeting the teenager who he was told he must marry, declared "Surely they are not going to marry me to that dowdy!" (11) He promptly left for Italy with his tutor after the wedding and didn't return for three years, upon which he shirked attending on his bride and went to the theater. While there, noticed "one particularly sumptuous young woman" in one of the boxes. It was his wife. They had a remarkably happy marriage, and he was a loving husband and father.  

The sisters all loved to read, were overall shockingly fertile - Emily gave birth a record 22 times! - and were very devoted to each other throughout the years. They lived in opulent homes and their letters detail the household details, preoccupations with their children, and other domestic matters that made up their days. Emily married an Irish lord, which meant the sisters did not see each other as much as they would have liked, but they remained close over the years. The family was not free from scandal. Several of the sisters had lovers and shocking elopements. They experienced the grief of losing children and other family members. But all four lived to relatively great ages. 

A fascinating biography precisely because it focuses on the quotidian. I loved getting an inside look at the everyday life of upper crust ladies of the eighteenth century through the Lennox family. 

Stars: 4.5