Fifty-One Years of Victorian Life, by Margaret Elizabeth Leigh Child-Villiers, Countess of Jersey This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org Title: Fifty-One Years of Victorian Life Author: Margaret Elizabeth Leigh Child-Villiers, Countess of Jersey Release Date: January 14, 2012 [eBook #38569] Language: English Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 ***START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK FIFTY-ONE YEARS OF VICTORIAN LIFE*** E-text prepared by the Online Distributed Proofreading Team (http://www.pgdp.net) from page images generously made available by Internet Archive (http://www.archive.org) Note: Project Gutenberg also has an HTML version of this file which includes the original illustrations. See 38569-h.htm or 38569-h.zip: (http://www.gutenberg.org/files/38569/38569-h/38569-h.htm) or (http://www.gutenberg.org/files/38569/38569-h.zip) Fifty-One Years of Victorian Life, by 1 Images of the original pages are available through Internet Archive. See http://www.archive.org/details/fiftyoneyearsofv00jersrich FIFTY-ONE YEARS OF VICTORIAN LIFE All Rights Reserved [Illustration: Margaret Countess of Jersey] FIFTY-ONE YEARS OF VICTORIAN LIFE by THE DOWAGER COUNTESS OF JERSEY London John Murray, Albemarle Street, W. 1922 DEDICATED TO MY CHILDREN AND GRANDCHILDREN Printed in Great Britain by Hazell, Watson & Viney, Ld., London and Aylesbury. "What is this child of man that can conquer Time and that is braver than Love? Even Memory." LORD DUNSANY. Though "a Sorrow's Crown of Sorrow" Be "remembering happier things," Present joy will shine the brighter If our morn a radiance flings. We perchance may thwart the future If we will not look before, And upon a past which pains us We may fasten Memory's door. But we will not, cannot, banish Bygone pleasure from our side, Nor will doubt, beyond the storm-cloud, Shall be Light at Eventide. M. E. J. CONTENTS Fifty-One Years of Victorian Life, by 2 CHAPTER I AN EARLY VICTORIAN CHILD The Duke of Wellington Travelling in the Fifties Governesses "Mrs. Gailey" Queen Victoria at Stoneleigh A narrow escape Life at Stoneleigh Rectors and vicars Theatricals pp. 1-22 CHAPTER I 3 CHAPTER II A VICTORIAN GIRL Mentone Genoa Trafalgar veterans Lord Muncaster and Greek brigands The Grosvenor family Uncles and aunts Confirmation "Coming out" Ireland Killarney The O'Donoghue Myths and legends The giant Benadadda pp. 23-50 CHAPTER II 4 CHAPTER III MARRIAGE Fanny Kemble An old-fashioned Christmas A pre-matrimonial party Fonthill Abbey Engagement Married to Lord Jersey pp. 51-64 CHAPTER III 5 CHAPTER IV EARLY MARRIED LIFE Lord Jersey's mother In London Isola Bella, Cannes Oxfordshire neighbours Caversfield Church Life at Middleton Mr. Disraeli Froude and Kingsley James Russell Lowell T. Hughes and J. R. Lowell Mr. Gladstone on Immortality Thought-reading Tom Hughes and Rugby, Tennessee Cardinal Newman pp. 65-93 CHAPTER IV 6 CHAPTER V BERLIN AND THE JUBILEE OF 1887 Sarah Bernhardt Death of Gilbert Leigh In Italy, 1884 Court Ball in Berlin The Crown Prince Frederick Prince Bismarck Conversation with Bismarck Bismarck and Lord Salisbury Thanksgiving Service Trials of Court Officials The Naval Review Knowsley Apotheosis of the Queen pp. 94-121 CHAPTER V 7 CHAPTER VI GHOST STORIES AND TRAVELS IN GREECE Lord Halsbury's ghost story The ghostly reporter A Jubilee sermon Marathon Miss Tricoupi Nauplia The Laurium Mines Hadji Petros Olympia Zante pp. 122-140 CHAPTER VI 8 CHAPTER VII VOYAGE TO INDIA HYDERABAD Mr. Joseph Chamberlain Departure for India Colonel Olcott and Professor Max Müller Sir Samuel Baker Mahableshwar H.H. the Aga Khan Races at Hyderabad H.H. the Nizam of Hyderabad Purdah ladies Breakfast in a zenana pp. 141-161 CHAPTER VII 9 CHAPTER VIII MADRAS, CALCUTTA, AND BENARES Brahmin philosophers Faith of educated Hindus Theosophists at Adyar The Ranees of Travancore The Princesses of Tanjore "The Heart of Montrose" The Palace of Madura Rous Peter's Sacred Door Loyalty of native Indians Passengers on the Pundua The Brahmo Somaj Maharajah of Benares Marriages of infants and widows pp. 162-187 CHAPTER VIII 10 [...]... MIDDLETON PARK, CHRISTMAS, 1904 370 FIFTY-ONE YEARS OF VICTORIAN LIFE 18 CHAPTER I 19 CHAPTER I AN EARLY VICTORIAN CHILD I was born at Stoneleigh Abbey on October 29th, 1849 My father has told me that immediately afterwards I suppose next day I was held up at the window for the members of the North Warwickshire Hunt to drink my health I fear that their kind wishes were so far of no avail that I never became... redecoration of the Abbey and its precincts Many years afterwards an ex-coachpainter met one of my sons and recalled to him the glorious days of preparation for Her Majesty's visit "Even the pigsties were painted, sir," said he Stoneleigh is a large mass of buildings parts of the basement remain from the original Abbey of the Cistercian monks On these was built a picturesque house about the beginning of the... she told me how she and one of her sisters, girls of some twelve and thirteen years old, used to wander out alone into the Campagna in the early morning, which seems very strange in view of the stories of restraint placed upon children in bygone days As to my grandfather Leigh, I believe he travelled with his family for about two years, to Switzerland, France and the North of Italy They had three carriages,... I 20 those days, and I was told it so often that I felt as if I could recall it My father said he kissed me, but my mother's more modest claim was that he shook hands My parents were each endowed with nine brothers and sisters i.e my father was one of ten who all lived till past middle life, my mother was one of thirteen of whom ten attained a full complement of years Indeed, when my parents celebrated... better than we do You will, however, quite understand that none of the prizes will be given to these outsiders." It was my earliest lesson in doubting the lasting effects of attempts to unite rival countries in any League of Nations [Sidenote: THE DUKE OF WELLINGTON] Somewhere about this time I had the honour of being presented to the great Duke of Wellington in the long Gallery (now, alas! no more) at Grosvenor... countrymen, as none of the men appear able to resist the wiles of the sirens engaged to look after the girls of their families; but it is odd that he should realise the danger of undue influence and attribute it only to the Englishwoman Why should this be a characteristic of English governesses supposing his experience (borne out by my own) to be typical? Is it an Englishwoman's love of power and faculty... great joy to all of us children To go back to early recollections my next clear impression is of the Crimean War and knitting a pair of red muffetees for the soldiers Plenty of "comforts" were sent out even in those days Sir George Higginson once told me that when boxes of miscellaneous gifts arrived it was the custom to hold an auction On one occasion among the contents were several copies of Boyle's Court... place such as Brighton, Hastings, Rhyl, or the Isle of Wight We estimated the merits of each resort largely according to the amount of sand which it afforded us to dig in, and I think Shanklin in the Isle of Wight took the foremost place in our affections [Sidenote: A NARROW ESCAPE] Two years, however, had specially delightful autumns, for in each of these our father took a moor in Scotland once Kingairloch... away the impression of a lovely infant patting a soft woolly lamb So completely was I fascinated that, being again at Lyons after my marriage, I begged my husband to drive out specially to see the picture of my dream Alas! ten years had changed my eyesight, and instead of the ideal figures, I saw a hard stiff Madonna and Child, with a perfectly wooden lamb I mention this because I have often thought that... have worn the uniform of a Prussian officer "I am very sorry," said his mother; "he had it on, but Beatrice and Leopold" (the Duke of Albany) "thought that he looked so ridiculous with tails that they cut them off, and we had to find an old Scottish suit of his uncle's for him to wear!" An early English protest against militarism! [Sidenote: GENOA] Two days after the excitement of these royal festivities . or (http://www.gutenberg.org/files/38569/38569-h.zip) Fifty-One Years of Victorian Life, by 1 Images of the original pages are available through Internet Archive. See http://www.archive.org/details/fiftyoneyearsofv00jersrich FIFTY-ONE YEARS OF VICTORIAN. See http://www.archive.org/details/fiftyoneyearsofv00jersrich FIFTY-ONE YEARS OF VICTORIAN LIFE All Rights Reserved [Illustration: Margaret Countess of Jersey] FIFTY-ONE YEARS OF VICTORIAN LIFE by THE DOWAGER COUNTESS OF JERSEY London John Murray, Albemarle. English Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 ***START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK FIFTY-ONE YEARS OF VICTORIAN LIFE* ** E-text prepared by the Online Distributed Proofreading Team (http://www.pgdp.net) from