Read Online England's Mistress: The Infamous Life of Emma Hamilton by Kate Williams - Free Book Online Page B
Authors: Kate Williams
Tags: Historical, History, England, Military, Political, Biographies & Memoirs, Europe, Great Britain, Ireland, Leaders & Notable People, Professionals & Academics, Military & Spies, Military & Wars
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(against the Tory incumbents), a group who advocated wider representation in Parliament. He supported Charles James Fox, the de facto leader of the group. Most of the guests at Upparkwere Fox's supporters. Despite his jowly, slovenly appearance and aversion to baths, the gadabout Fox was wildly charismatic, with the appeal of a young Bill Clinton, and commanded fervent loyalty from his followers. So spoiled as a child that he was allowed to paddle in bowls of cream, as an adult he was addicted to gambling and fun. Fox and his friends focused their hopes on the accession to the throne of the Prince of Wales, for he supported them and promised to further their goals when king. 5 To his exhilarated supporters, Fox was the young, vibrant leader of a radical Whig faction, the harbinger of a new social order based on ambition and riches rather than birth and blood.
In London, Emma could hardly see the sky for smog, but the Uppark windows surveyed the radiant South Downs. Deer, foxes, and rabbits thrived on the nine hundred acres of land, and thousands of sheep grazed the sloping grounds. The house recently suffered a severe fire, but it hasbeen restored and it is still possible to appreciate how it would have appeared to Emma. Uppark was initially built by Ford Grey, Earl of Tankerville, notorious for seducing his young sister-in-law in 1682, a scandal exploited by Aphra Behn in Love-Letters Between a Nobleman and His Sister. The libertine earl dedicated his later life to home improvements, demolishing the original Tudor structure of the house and rebuilding it in a Queen Anne style.
Sir Harry's grandfather became rich through trade and marriage to a merchant's daughter, and he instructed his son, Matthew, to buy a grand house and a baronetcy. When Matthew bought Uppark from the Tankervilles in 1747, he used the money earned from factories and warehouses to create aristocratic splendor, then traveled to Italy to buy matching furniture. Sir Harry inherited Uppark on the death of his father in 1775, but he had just recently returned from Europe to enjoy his prize. Only three years before Emma arrived, Sir Harry's mother found he had spent more than £3,000 in three months. Their stately home in Northumberland was sold the following year, possibly to fund Harry's debts. Unrepentant, he continued to live beyond his means. In Europe, he bought beautiful antiques, artifacts, and paintings, including many of himself by the (expensive) artist Pompeo Batoni. Uppark gave young Miss Lyon her first experience of real Italian art.
An establishment on such a scale was new to her. Behind the graceful fagade, armies of workers, controlled and disciplined by Sir Harry's powerful steward and housekeeper, slaved to keep up appearances. More than fifteen footmen and upper servants waited on Sir Harry, and thirty or so below them did the dirtier work. Housemaids scrubbed floors, laid fires, cleaned rooms, and made the beds. Scullery maids scoured the hearth and washed the dishes, and cooks feathered and skinned the catches for dinner, while laundresses dealt with the piles of hunting outfits, sheets, and linens. In the lower rooms, valets scrubbed boots and specialist servants cleaned and prepared guns. At times, more than one hundred servants were employed in the house. Outside, grooms and stable hands tended to Sir Harry's horses, and dog handlers cared for his hounds.
Uppark had its own large and efficient dairy as well as a smithy, which Sir Harry and his friends called on frequently to shoe their horses, and it probably had a brewery, granary, carpenter's, and candlemaker's. An additional fifty men came in from the village to work in the grounds as herdsmen, shepherds, laborers, carters, and wheelwrights. Only ships and army platoons had so many employees. Their uniforms and livery alone costthousands. 6 Sir Harry's return from Europe combined with the visits of his friends and their packs of servants trebled the expenses.
Emma's clothes added
In London, Emma could hardly see the sky for smog, but the Uppark windows surveyed the radiant South Downs. Deer, foxes, and rabbits thrived on the nine hundred acres of land, and thousands of sheep grazed the sloping grounds. The house recently suffered a severe fire, but it hasbeen restored and it is still possible to appreciate how it would have appeared to Emma. Uppark was initially built by Ford Grey, Earl of Tankerville, notorious for seducing his young sister-in-law in 1682, a scandal exploited by Aphra Behn in Love-Letters Between a Nobleman and His Sister. The libertine earl dedicated his later life to home improvements, demolishing the original Tudor structure of the house and rebuilding it in a Queen Anne style.
Sir Harry's grandfather became rich through trade and marriage to a merchant's daughter, and he instructed his son, Matthew, to buy a grand house and a baronetcy. When Matthew bought Uppark from the Tankervilles in 1747, he used the money earned from factories and warehouses to create aristocratic splendor, then traveled to Italy to buy matching furniture. Sir Harry inherited Uppark on the death of his father in 1775, but he had just recently returned from Europe to enjoy his prize. Only three years before Emma arrived, Sir Harry's mother found he had spent more than £3,000 in three months. Their stately home in Northumberland was sold the following year, possibly to fund Harry's debts. Unrepentant, he continued to live beyond his means. In Europe, he bought beautiful antiques, artifacts, and paintings, including many of himself by the (expensive) artist Pompeo Batoni. Uppark gave young Miss Lyon her first experience of real Italian art.
An establishment on such a scale was new to her. Behind the graceful fagade, armies of workers, controlled and disciplined by Sir Harry's powerful steward and housekeeper, slaved to keep up appearances. More than fifteen footmen and upper servants waited on Sir Harry, and thirty or so below them did the dirtier work. Housemaids scrubbed floors, laid fires, cleaned rooms, and made the beds. Scullery maids scoured the hearth and washed the dishes, and cooks feathered and skinned the catches for dinner, while laundresses dealt with the piles of hunting outfits, sheets, and linens. In the lower rooms, valets scrubbed boots and specialist servants cleaned and prepared guns. At times, more than one hundred servants were employed in the house. Outside, grooms and stable hands tended to Sir Harry's horses, and dog handlers cared for his hounds.
Uppark had its own large and efficient dairy as well as a smithy, which Sir Harry and his friends called on frequently to shoe their horses, and it probably had a brewery, granary, carpenter's, and candlemaker's. An additional fifty men came in from the village to work in the grounds as herdsmen, shepherds, laborers, carters, and wheelwrights. Only ships and army platoons had so many employees. Their uniforms and livery alone costthousands. 6 Sir Harry's return from Europe combined with the visits of his friends and their packs of servants trebled the expenses.
Emma's clothes added
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