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Lady Eleanor Butler (1739
- 1829)
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 Hidden
from History : Reclaiming the Gay and Lesbian Past by
Martha Vicinus, George Chauncey, Martin Bauml Duberman
Without
peer, Hidden from History gathers together the works of the most
exciting scholars in the dynamic field of homosexual studies,
making this a ground-breaking and provocative work that reveals
the history of gays and lesbians in different cultures and eras.
Photos.
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From gaygate.com
Excerpt:
Lady Eleanor Butler came from a
noble Irish Catholic family and was educated at a convent in
France. Returning to Ireland, she showed no interest in marriage,
and instead immersed herself in study. In 1768 she met thirteen
year old Sarah Ponsonby, the daughter of a well-to-do Dublin
family, and over the next ten years, through letters and visits,
the two grew closer. Then in 1778 they did the unheard-of:
disguised in men's clothes, they eloped together. When their
families pursued them and brought them back, they eloped again,
this time successfully. They settled in Wales and bought a small
cottage--which they dubbed Plas Newydd--near the town of
Llangollen. There they embarked on a rigorous system of
"self-improvement," reading to one another every day,
and studying foreign languages, literature and geography. In
particular they were passionate about the work of the French
romantic Jean-Jacques Rousseau, and in their daily communings with
nature and their work in their garden, they sought to emulate his
vision of human beings good and equal in the state of nature,
uncorrupted by evils of the city. Indeed, the world came to see
them as Rousseau-esque figures of innocent rural devotion, and
they became enormously well-known. They carried on a vast
correspondence with the larger world, and were visited by many
notables of the day, including the Duke of Wellington, Sir Walter
Scott, Edmund Burke, Lady Caroline Lamb, Josiah Wedgewood and
Robert Southey. The King of England even granted Sarah Ponsonby a
pension in 1787 to augment the small stipends the two ladies
received once their respective families had resigned themselves to
their living arrangements...
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Introduction:
Anne Lister was an upper class Englishwoman from
Halifax, West Yorkshire. She lived from 1791-1840, and would not
be particularly notable except that she left behind her diaries,
and along with describing her daily activities, these journals
also describe her romantic relationships with women. Not
"vaguely romantic", but clearly passionate and
sexually-involved affairs that she pursued exclusively with women,
throughout her life...
These diaries include references to Lady Eleanor
Butler.
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Home of Lady Eleanor Butler and Miss Sarah
Ponsonby, "The two most celebrated virgins in Europe"
Plas Newydd has attracted visitors since 1780.
Excerpt:
Lady Eleanor Butler and Miss Sarah Ponsonby soon
became objects of both curiosity and affection. They were regarded
by the townspeople as eccentric characters, probably because of
their Anglo-Irish background, their independence, and for their
unusual preference for dressing in dark riding habits.
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From the National Library of Wales
A Listing and Guide to the Microfilm Collection
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Names Index:
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