Ladies of Llangollen letters

Two letters, one dated 19 November 1819, from Eleanor Butler and Sarah Ponsonby, the Ladies of Llangollen, [?in the hand of Sarah Ponsonby], to Mrs [?Anne] Hurt Sitwell, staying at Gwersyllt Park, Wrexham, arranging to meet.

Lady Eleanor Butler and Sarah Ponsonby, better-known as the 'Ladies of Llangollen', were both members of Irish aristocratic families. Having quickly established a relationship following their meeting in 1768, the women escaped the scandalised animosity of their home circle by setting up home at Plasnewydd, a Gothic-style house situated near Llangollen, Denbighshire. For the next fifty years, they lived a secluded and often penurious existence, while nevertheless receiving such notable visitors as the landowner, traveller and writer Anne Lister and the poets Robert Southey, William Wordsworth and Percy Shelley. Lady Eleanor Butler and Sarah Ponsonby are both buried in the grounds of St Collen's Church, Llangollen, while Plasnewydd is now a museum dedicated to their lives.

C. C. Bebbington; A Piece of History, Chichester; Purchase; September 2010; 006038841.

Lady Eleanor Butler and Sarah Ponsonby, better-known as the 'Ladies of Llangollen', were both members of Irish aristocratic families. Having quickly established a relationship following their meeting in 1768, the women escaped the scandalised animosity of their home circle by setting up home at Plasnewydd, a Gothic-style house situated near Llangollen, Denbighshire. For the next fifty years, they lived a secluded and often penurious existence, while nevertheless receiving such notable visitors as the landowner, traveller and writer Anne Lister and the poets Robert Southey, William Wordsworth and Percy Shelley. Lady Eleanor Butler and Sarah Ponsonby are both buried in the grounds of St Collen's Church, Llangollen, while Plasnewydd is now a museum dedicated to their lives.

Title based on contents.

Preferred citation: NLW MS 23980F, ff. 24-25.

Text

Seal tears.

Previously sold at auction by Anderson & Garland, Newcastle upon Tyne, in 2010 (Summer Fine Art & Antiques Sale, lot 384).

Published