Ladies of Llangollen, 1817
Scope and Contents
A letter from Eleanor Butler and Sarah Ponsonby, known collectively as the “Ladies of Llangollen”, dated February 24th 1817. Addressed to a “Mrs Parker” – Sarah Browne Parker (1779-1854), the wife of amateur engineer and agriculturist Thomas Netherton Parker (1772-1848) of Sweeney Hall in Owestry. The contents are an invitation to a social gathering, and the Ladies comment that they “rely on Mr. Parker’s infallible Barometer to promise us fine weather” – this being one of Parker’s many inventions. A note in modern pencil at the top margin indicates that the recipient is Parker’s son, the Welsh cleric John Netherton Parker, but this is incorrect. Both Butler and Ponsonby sign the letter.
Dates
- 1817
Conditions Governing Access
Most manuscripts collections at the Georgetown University Booth Family Center for Special Collections are open to researchers; however, restrictions may apply to some collections. Collections stored off site require a minimum of three days for retrieval. For use of all manuscripts collections, researchers are advised to contact the Booth Family Center for Special Collections in advance of any visit.
Biographical / Historical
The “Ladies of Llangollen” were two upper-class Irish women, Eleanor Butler (1739-1829) and Sarah Ponsonby (1755-1831) who lived together as a couple for 50 years. They Ireland in a bid to escape conventional marriage, and settled in North Wales, first in a rented home in the village of Llangollen, then a small cottage called “Plas Newyyd” outside the village, eventually redoing the home in the Gothic style. Visitors of note to Plas Newyyd included writers Robert Southey, William Wordsworth, Percy Shelley, Lord Byron, and Sir Walter Scott, as well as the Duke of Wellington, and lesbian diarist Anne Lister.
Extent
From the Collection: 30 Cubic Feet (68 boxes)
Language of Materials
From the Collection: English
From the Collection: Latin
From the Collection: French
From the Collection: Italian
From the Collection: Welsh
From the Collection: Danish
From the Collection: Swedish
From the Collection: Spanish
From the Collection: German
From the Collection: Norwegian
From the Collection: Persian
From the Collection: Japanese
From the Collection: Russian
From the Collection: Greek, Ancient (to 1453)
Creator
- From the Collection: Scheetz, Nicholas B., 1952-2016 (Person)
Repository Details
Part of the Georgetown University Manuscripts Repository
Lauinger Library, 5th Floor
37th and O Streets, N.W.
Washington DC 20057
speccoll@georgetown.edu