E Chalus

Gender in Eighteenth-Century England: Roles, Representations and Responsibilities

Social reputations work and poverty politics and the political elite periodicals and the printed image.

ELITE WOMEN, SOCIAL POLITICS, AND THE POLITICAL WORLD OF LATE EIGHTEENTH-CENTURY ENGLAND

Political historians have recognized that politics and high society interacted in eighteenth-century England; and most would also recognize the presence of elite women in the social world of politicians. These assumptions have not, however, been subjected to much scrutiny. This article takes the social aspects of politics seriously and aims to provide an introduction to social politics – the management of people and social situations for political ends – and, specifically, to the involvement of women therein. Politics in eighteenth-century England was not just about parliament and politicians; it also had a social dimension. By expanding our understanding of politics to include social politics, we not only reintegrate women into the political world but we also reveal them to have been legitimate political actors, albeit on a non-parliamentary stage, where they played a vital part in creating and sustaining both a uniquely politicized society and the political elite itself. While specific historical circumstances combined in the eighteenth century to facilitate womens socio-political involvement, social politics is limited neither to women nor to the eighteenth century. It has wider implications for historians of all periods and calls into question the way that we conceptualize politics itself. The relationship between the obstinately nebulous arena of social politics and the traditional arena of high politics is ever-changing, but by trivializing the former we limit our ability to understand the latter.

Women, electoral privilege, and practice in the eighteenth century

The electoral status of women prior to the Reform Act in 1832 and the extent to which they were involved in electoral politics have thus far received little attention from historians of politics and women. Indeed, women’s formal political involvement still tends to be equated with an ability to vote, a qualification which would certainly no longer be applied to eighteenth-century men as a group.1 It has often been acknowledged that there were some elite women who controlled or managed political interests for themselves or for family members; moreover, recent research has shown that there were also many others who took part in the overall electoral process with varying degrees of commitment and interest.2 This chapter examines women’s place in electoral politics, through a study of the franchise prior to Reform and women’s involvement in controverted election cases, and reveals that women in some boroughs had electoral privileges that accorded them a degree of formal political recognition right up to municipal and corporation reform in 1835. It also reveals that, as witnesses in the House of Commons in cases of controverted elections, women’s political word could carry legal weight. As onlookers or participants in electoral events, or as long-standing members of local communities who were repositories of electoral memory, women’s testimonies helped to determine the outcomes of elections and the nature of franchises — formal contributions in even the most narrowly defined notions of political history.

Cette fusion annuelle : cosmopolitanism and identity in Nice, c . 1815–1860

Between 1815 and 1860, Nice became one of Europes leading health and leisure resorts, annually hosting an international wintering population of thousands. During a period marked by the rise of the nation-state and national sentiment, Nice was celebrated as ‘une ville cosmopolite’. This article suggests that while geographic, historic and economic factors provided preconditions for cosmopolitanism, Nices emergence as a peculiarly cosmopolitan town in the first half of the nineteenth century owes much to a combination of forward-looking urban developments and long-established traditions of face-to-face elite sociability, directed and shaped largely by women.

“My Lord Sue”: Lady Susan Keck and the Great Oxfordshire Election of 1754

As one of the most memorable campaigners for the New Interest whigs in the Oxfordshire election of 1754, Lady Susan Keck inevitably became the subject of press ridicule and criticism. Undaunted and irrepressible, she not only continued to campaign, but also turned the criticism back on the Old Interest, effectively neutralising it. This detailed examination of Lady Susans electioneering illustrates the possibilities for electoral involvement at mid-century that were available to a woman of rank and spirit who was determined to make a difference. Propelled into action by sheer frustration with the poor planning and lacklustre campaigning that had marked the New Interest campaign in the 1751 election, Lady Susan put her, not inconsiderable, energy into securing a victory for the New Interest. Driven by ideology rather than by family interests, she used her age, rank, sex and connections, to political advantage. Confident and characterful, she was ideally suited to the rumbustious, personal politics of the age. Most importantly, her canvassing achieved results and the eventual New Interest victory owed, at least in part, to her efforts.