A Spider Web of Historical Connections
How many of the subjects I have written about are connected to one another.
One of the parts of history that fascinates me most is exploring the connections between different people through time. It can be such a tendency for us, particularly with the modern way history is taught, to see the past as a linear collection of events that happened on particular dates and so our view becomes rather narrow. What we forget is that just as today, the world has always been a bustling place with people living their lives simultaneously. Because of this, history is much more of an interconnected web rather than a line. So in this post, I am excited to take you on a little trip exploring how some of the subjects I have written about thus far are connected in both the past and in the present. When looking at the past this way, things suddenly always seem more human to me, and I realize that the big wide world might not be quite as big as we think.
Two Duchesses of Devonshire
First on the list are two of my very favorite historical figures who also happen to have held the same title at different times. Deborah Mitford, who became the Duchess of Devonshire and Lady Georgiana Spencer, who was also the Duchess of Devonshire. Deborah married the second son of the 10th Duke of Devonshire and after the tragic deaths of both her brother-in-law and father-in-law, her husband, Lord Andrew Cavendish became the 11th Duke. Turn the clock back roughly two hundred years and the presiding lady at Chatsworth was Georgiana, Duchess of Devonshire who was married to the 5th Duke of Devonshire. She was also the favored daughter of the first Earl Spencer. Eight Earl Spencers later and you have the father of Lady Diana Spencer, who as we know would become the Princess of Wales and mother of the future King of England. Back to the 20th Century, and the Duke and Duchess of Devonshire, Andrew and Deborah Cavendish would spend a lot of time with Princess Diana and her then husband Prince Charles. Prince Charles continued to have a strong friendship with Deborah and Andrew through their lives and was a chief mourner at Deborah’s funeral in 2014.
*One more interesting fact, Georgiana Spencer had an affair and daughter with Earl Grey. The Grey family is who we can credit with the world famous Earl Grey Tea! (My personal favorite!)
Fallen from grace, Diana Mitford and the Duke of Windsor
All of the Mitford’s, being such famous society women ran in the “it” crowds of the 20th century and that included rubbing shoulders with the Prince of Wales. But this connection was not quite at either of their social heights! To keep it brief (for more on this read here) Diana Mitford and her husband Sir Oswald Mosley were not very welcome in England after World War II because of Oswald’s Fascist Party leadership. In France, they lived next to another couple who were also not extraordinarily welcome in England because… well he was named Edward and he was King and he abdicated the throne. So these two couples often ate together and moved in the same circles with their set in France. And even beyond their friendship, Diana actually also wrote a biography of Wallis Simpson, The Duchess of Windsor.
Another of Diana Mitford’s connections is that between herself and her second cousin, Esmond Romily. He ended up married to Diana’s sister Jessica, and he was also the nephew (by marriage) of Winston Churchill. It was thought that Churchill had rather a soft spot for Esmond, and we know that Esmond spent a lot of time at his house. Interestingly, it was also Winston Churchill that had Diana and her husband released from their WWII prison stay. It is thought however that Diana’s brother Tom, who had recently dined with the Churchills might have helped their release as Esmond and Jessica did not like Diana and Sir Oswald because of their vastly different political beliefs.
A Queen of Society and a Queen of England, Jennie Jerome and Queen Alexandra
A few decades before Esmond Romily was running a muck at Winston Churchill’s home, Winston’s mother was one of the most famous socialites in the world. (She has possibly as interesting of a life as her son, so be sure to check out my post about her!) Jennie Jerome was a gilded age American Heiress who ended up falling in love with Lord Randolph Churchill, a Younger Son of the Duke of Marlborough. Their marriage did take some persuading as most of the Gilded Age American parents wanted more prestigious titles for their daughters than that of the younger son of a duke. However I think that in the end, Jennie certainly made her mark on not just British society, but world history through her remarkable self and of course her son. While I could go on about Jennie’s accomplishments for hours, one of the things she is noted for is for her many love affairs and one of her lovers was thought to be the Prince of Wales (Edward VII). Regardless of how deep their affair went, it is noted through letters and many other sources that Jennie was most certainly part of the famous Marlborough House Set and that she had a very close friendship with the Prince of Wales, but also got on well with Queen Alexandra, (who also happens to be another of my favorite historical women). They both were very philanthropic figures of the time and they would invite one another to dinners that each of the women hosted.
Jennie also happens to be related (through marriage) to another (much more brief) subject of mine, and fellow Gilded Age Heiress, Consualo Vanderbilt. Consualo Vanderbilt Married the 9th Duke of Marlborough who was the first cousin of Winston Churchill. Winston and Consualo had a very dear and close friendship and loved spending time together!
More Vanderbilts
Along with Jenny and Consualo, there is actually another Vanderbilt connection in British High Society, but this one is a bit more colorful, and not as well known. While most British history buffs are familiar with Consualo Vanderbilt who was the wife of the Duke of Marlborough during that Gilded age period, on the other side of her family, Consualo was a cousin of Reginald Claypool Vanderbilt and he was the father of Gloria Vanderbilt…as in the lady who began her life for being famous as “The Poor Little Rich Girl,” and who became the blue jeans designer, and is also known for being the mother of Anderson Cooper. It was this Gloria Vanderbilt who was named after her mother, Gloria Vanderbilt (‘nee Morgan) and Gloria Morgan happened to have an identical twin, who was named Thelma. Thelma Morgan married into the British Aristocracy and became Lady Furness as well as the mistress to the then Prince of Wales for about four years. That Prince of Wales would end up abdicating the throne to marry another American, Wallis Simpson, and he would become the Duke of Windsor. Interestingly, it was during the 1930s “Vanderbilt vs. Whitney trial that Thelma went back to America to support her twin sister Gloria Vanderbilt. When she left, she told her friend Wallis Simpson to look after the Prince, and the rest is history!
I hope you enjoyed this little sojourn into the past! I have linked in text some of the posts that feature these people, and I will also put a list of links below. I also want to highlight another writer that does an incredibly wonderful job of making the reader connect with history and that is
. She paints a picture like no other. Be sure to check out her work!Deborah Mitford:
Georgiana Spencer:
Edward VIII/Edward Prince of Wales:
Diana and Jessica Mitford, Esmond Romily:
Queen Alexandra:
Jennie Jerome:
The Vanderbilts and The American Gilded Age:
Thelma Furness and Jennie Jerome:
Until Next Time,
McKenzie
McKenzie you are too kind! Thank you for the mention - and for this wonderful article.
Happy to see that you didn’t get lost who with hwom through the centuries, I certainly did.
Anyway, is there anywhere to read what the money of the offspring of the robber barons (the the Amercians call the Vanderbuilds at all) did in British society?