Main entry:

Baird, Rosemary.

Title & Author:

Mistress of the house : great ladies and grand houses, 1670-1830 / Rosemary Baird.

Publication:

London : Weidenfeld & Nicolson, 2003.

Description:

xvi, 320 pages, 32 unnumbered pages of plates : illustrations (some color) ; 25 cm

Notes:
Includes bibliographical references (pages 298-303) and index.
The feminine touch -- Love and strategy -- Ritual, routine and obligation -- House beautiful -- Collector and protector, Louise de Keroualle, Duchess of Portsmouth, 1649-1734 -- Restoration drama, Elizabeth Murray, Countess of Dysart and Duchess of Lauderdale, 1626-98 -- The political hostess, Caroline Lennox, Baroness Holland, 1723-74 -- The height of fashion, Mary Blount, Duchess of Norfolk, 1701-73 -- Dynastic determination, Elizabeth Griffin, Countess of Portsmouth, 1691-1762 -- Equal eminences, Elizabeth Seymour, Duchess of Northumberland, 1716-1776 -- Bluestocking bravado, Elizabeth Robinson, Mrs. Montagu, 1720-1800 -- Landed with the past, Theresa Robinson, Mrs. John Parker, 1745-75 -- Seclusion in Scotland, Jane Maxwell, Duchess of Gordon, 1749-1812 -- Regency disdain, Elizabeth Howard, Duchess of Rutland, 1780-1825.

Summary:

"For aristocratic women of the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, the hope must have been that they would fall in love not only with their future husbands but also with their new family's ancestral home. The great houses of the period were visible expressions of wealth, power and prestige. A large, fashionable and beautifully appointed house could aid the owner's climb through the social and political ranks. A main part of the role of a wife was to aid and abet her husband by overseeing the presentational requirements needed to impress: fashion in clothes, carriages, food and entertainment. In practice, some women who on their marriage became mistresses of magnificent houses disliked their marital homes to such an extent that they set out to mould them to their own taste, or even to replace them." "To become a Mistress of the House was the normal aspiration of women born into wealthy aristocratic families. The early chapters of the book provide an introduction to the world of these women: their education and training, the marriage market, shamelessly manipulated to gain them social and economic advantages, and their obligations and duties once they were married. With well-to-do circles focused intently on the demands of the social season and the daily routines in town and country, these chapters also give a fascinating insight into the women's everyday lives: how they communicated, travelled and entertained. The subsequent chapters are devoted to ten remarkable women of the period, describing their individual accomplishments in the creation and running of great houses."--Jacket.

Resources:
Contributor biographical information
Publisher description

ISBN:

0297830783
9780297830788
0753817713
9780753817711

Subject:

Upper class women Great Britain History.
Upper class women Great Britain Social conditions.
Upper class women Great Britain Social life and customs.
Aristocracy (Social class) Great Britain History.
Sex role Great Britain History.
Country homes Great Britain.
Femmes de la classe supérieure Grande-Bretagne Histoire.
Femmes de la classe supérieure Grande-Bretagne Conditions sociales.
Femmes de la classe supérieure Grande-Bretagne Mœurs et coutumes.
Rôle selon le sexe Grande-Bretagne Histoire.
Aristocracy (Social class)
Country homes.
Sex role.
Upper class women.
Upper class women Social life and customs.
Herrenhaus
Weiblicher Adel
Great Britain.
Großbritannien

Form/genre:

History.

Holdings:

Location: Library main 235963
Call No.: BIB 165810
Status: Available