Lady Hester Stanhope on...Political Hostesses' Hospitality

Lady Hester Stanhope was not a woman to hold her tongue, which was only more apparent when her doctor (and close friend) released her memoirs in 1845 - which was more like his memoirs of her.  In it, William Pitt's niece remembered the various environments created by the great political hostesses of the time:

"'I remember too what a heavy, dull business the Duchess of R[utland]'s parties were - the rooms so stuffed with people that one could not move, and all so heavy - a deal of high breeding and bon ton; but there was, somehow nothing to enliven you.  Now and then some incident would turn up to break the spell.

Now, at the Duchess of Gordon's there were people of the same fashion, and the crowd was just as great; but then she was so lovely, and everybody was animated, and seemed to know so well what they were about - quite another thing.

As for the Duchess of D[evonshire]'s, there they were - all that set - all yawning, and wanting the evening to be spent, that they might be getting to the business they were after.'

It may be mentioned that Lady Hester was always very  severe on the Duchess of D. and her friends, whenever her name or theirs was mentioned."'

Country Homes: Nocton Hall

Location: Lincolnshire
Famous Inhabitants: Albinia Hobart, Countess of Buckinghamshire
Website: http://www.imagesofengland.org.uk/Details/Default.aspx?id=192338
It difficult to believe that a house with such history is listed as endangered.  After countless fires and subsequent vandalism Nocton Hall is now a shell of a once-elegant country home.  Not only did Nocton house the Tory hostess, Albinia Hobart's, lavish parties and private theatricals but also was transformed into a hospital for recovering soldiers in both WWI (for American soldiers) and WWII (for the RAF).  

The Duke of Puppies

As we all know the Duke of Devonshire was the definition of socially awkward.  We also know he  preferred the company of dogs to men ( no blame there!) which is why he was known as Canis to his close friends.  This was an affection that did not wane with age, according to his daughter, Harryo (probably the most opinionated of the Devonshire brood).  After Georgiana's death, the duke was more aware of his mortality and put in a last-ditch effort to get to know his adult children.  The olive branch he extended to Harryo came in the form of a puppy, which must have had the middle-child rolling her eyes at her senile old dad.  She wrote,

he really thinks of little else [besides puppies] and the whole time of dinner and supper he feeds and watches them, laughs excessively every time they squeak or run and listens to no conversation with half the pleasure as he does when these puppies are the subject.

Despite his many, many flaws, there are just some aspects of the duke that I can't help but relate to.  Puppies > Dinner conversation.

Wimpole Hall

This weekend I had the pleasure of visiting Wimpole Estate which was all decked out for Christmas.  Construction begun on the house in 1640 and saw a multitude of architects in the eighteenth century include John Soane.  The end result is a really big Georgian mansion just outside of Cambridge.

The last picture I took from the garden and as I found out later the tower is called Wimpole's Folly.  Thanks to craze for the gothic, Lord Hardwicke (the owner at the time) had ruins of what looked to be an old medieval castle built on the estate, because as we all know, there aren't enough old (actual) ruins just hanging about England!