As Treasures from Chatsworth: The Exhibition prepares to open on 28 June in New York, we revisit stories on the extradordinary house and its inhabitants from the Sotheby's magazine archive.The youngest of the wonderful Mitford sisters, the Dowager Duchess of Devonshire spent her last years in a charming 19th-century vicarage on her vast estate. Sotheby's sold this remarkable selection of personal property from her home at auction in 2016, and in the weeks before that sale, James Reginato recalled a woman of inimitable style and personality.
"Glorious" is a word that comes to mind whenever I visit Chatsworth. Not formidable and chilly like Versailles, but glorious. This is partly to d
Floral-print cotton-twill midi skirt
Lady Georgiana Spencer, socialite and leading political hostess of the 18th century, held court over a circle of influence and fashion at Devonshire House in London. She was seventeen years old when she married the 5th Duke of Devonshire in 1774. He was eleven years her senior and one of only a"u2026
I was alerted on Twitter that yesterday was the anniversary of the death of Elena Cornaro Piscopia - which is as fun a name to spell as it it is to pronounce, but alas, many are still unfamiliar with Elena. Elena was a Venetian who, in 1678, was the first woman to receive her PhD. Her doctorate was in Philosophy as her true love, Theology was deemed inappropriate for woman - baby steps toward progress, I suppose. She was awarded it at the age of 32 which I personally think an excellent age to gain a PhD *wink*. Elena's successes has made me wonder about female academics in the age of Enlightenment, though. Sadly, sexism and gender division was still rampant during the so-called Age of Enlightenment and that unfortunately didn't produce many female academics. However, that did mean the few to come out of the eighteenth century, were exceptional women indeed. Dr Laura Bassi, was another Italian woman who earned her PhD in 1732. Unlike Elena, Laura was interested in the Sciences, more specifically, Physics. She defended her thesis at the age of 20 (!), becoming the second woman to hold a doctorate, 54 years after Elena. She devoted much of her academic career to spreading the study of Newtonian mechanics to Italy. In 1776, at the age of 65, she applied and was appointed to the chair in experimental physics by the Bologna Institute of Sciences, making her the first woman to earn a professorship. Perhaps the best part: her supportive husband, who also had his doctorate, became her teaching assistant. The mathematician, Maria Gaetana Agnesi, like Laura Bassi, would also be elected to a chair. In 1750 she became a professor of mathematics,natural philosophy, and physics at the University of Bologna which was apparently a very forward-thinking university in the eighteenth century. Maria was an amazing mathematician, the likes of which I could never convey as someone who struggles with basic arithmetics. If you're not Italian and starting to feel ashamed for your country of origins' historic lack of female empowerment in academia, have no fear, there is one more female academic. Oh wait...she's Italian too. Dr Maria Pellegrina Amoretti was awarded her Doctor of Law at the University of Pavia at the age of 20 (!) in 1777. She initially applied to the University of Turin but was turned away because of her sex - get with the times, Turin! Sadly, she only lived for a decade more after receiving her degree but in that time she worked on dowry laws, meaning she used her privileged position to help make other women's lives better.
Deborah Cavendish, Duchess of Devonshire, née Freeman-Mitford of The Barons Redesdale (1920-2014) by Upton
Georgiana Cavendish, Duchess of Devonshire, was an English aristocrat, socialite, political organiser, author, and activist. Born into the Spencer family, marri...
Pictured smiling with some of her animals inside her beloved home. Hugh Stewart photo Vogue 2003 With her chickens. Hugh Stewart photo Vogue 2003 Remembering The Last Mitford Sister BY LAUREN MILLIGAN 25 SEPTEMBER 2014 I enjoyed going back and reading about her again. A life well lived! xo
A selection of photographs from Mary McCartney, ahead of her new show at the Lowry, Developing
In March 2016 [link url="http://www.sothebys.com/en.html"]Sotheby's[/link] sold the personal collection of Deborah, Duchess of Devonshire. We revist our tour of her home in the grounds of Chatsworth.
"Debo," the Dowager Duchess of Devonshire, has died aged 94
When it comes to personifying a particularly British breed of aristocratic guts, glamour and eccentricity, one woman tends to stand out. Deborah, the Dowager Duchess of Devonshire, aged 93, is the ...
Deborah Cavendish (AKA the The Dowager Duchess of Devonshire), is the youngest and last surviving member of the six Mitford sisters, and at 90 is publishing her memoirs
Henrietta Vernon was born in the most fortunate of circumstances. Not only was she an aristocrat (grand-daughter of the famous politician Thomas Wentworth) but she was a noted beauty. Therefore, it may come as no surprise that she was married very early in life. She met her future husband in one of the most cinematically romantic of ways, during a rainstorm. Richard Grosvenor, the 1st Baron Grovesnor captured the young girl's fancy despite the 14 year age gap between them. They married within a month of their initial meeting, in 1764. Henrietta soon realized that her hast in marrying Richard had been a huge mistake. He was a huge gambler, even by 18th century standards. We're talking £250,000 in one night (more than a million today)! When he wasn't gaming away the couple's money he was out whoring in every brothel in London. Yuck! Imagine the diseases he brought back to his young bride. It was not long before Henrietta admitted to feeling "ill used." Do you blame her eye for wandering? Henrietta's attention fell on the King's brother, Henry Duke of Cumberland who just happened to be the same age as her. Henry himself, already had a rebellious history, it was rumoured that he had married a commoner, Olivia Wilmot and there was to be more commoner marriages in his future as well. Henry was young and royalty; there was a dangerous appeal to having an affair with him. The couple would meet in secret in inns around the country. One time, while they were out at a friend's house in Cavendish Square Henrietta asked for a private meeting with the Duke to talk about her brother in the dining room. They were excused but after a half hour, the friend decided there had been enough talking and went in to interrupt. She found Henry on top of Lady Grosvenor, "with her petticoats up" on her couch. There is nothing I hate more than rude house guests! A crim con trial was soon underway. As with just about every other crim con trial, this was the talk of the town, especially since it involved royalty. Henrietta, was outraged at her husband's hypocracy. She slept with one man and was to be damned for all time while her husband constantly frequented brothels. She went to bawdy houses in search of witnesses to testify upon Richard's many infidelities. But this was not to aid her defense. Henrietta and Henry's dirty letters to each other was enough to award Richard damages of £10,000. After a mere seven years of marriage, Henrietta and Richard were seperated in 1771. Now Henrietta was an outcast with a mean £1,200 allowance. But rather than wallow in the sorrow of her situation she made the best of it, and became friends with other social outcasts. Soon she was seen at the Pantheon arm in arm with Lady Worsley. The papers would follow her, in hopes of catching her in a scandalous act with a rake. Once they reported that she showed up to the opera with a different man every night. Well, can you blame her? With such a small allowance, Henrietta needed rich men to support her elegant lifestyle. In 1802 Richard finally kicked the bucket. Relieving Henrietta of her marriage limbo. A month later Henrietta was no longer Lady Grosvenor. She married Lt.-Gen. George de Hochepied, 6th Baron de Hochepied and retired to a quiet life with him until her death in 1828. Her second husband followed, two months later.
Painted by Maria Hadfield Cosway as Cynthia from "The Faerie Queene" by Edmund Spenser
She grew up in grand manors filled with treasures and has called some of England’s great estates home. Here, a look inside her latest, charming hideaway.
