He was Lord Brougham and Vaux. Before he gave his name to a special sort of carriage and legions of General Motors vehicles, he came down to London from Scotland to be a member of the House of Commons as a Whig. This gained him entry to Lansdowne House. His renown came from his heroic defense of Queen Caroline of Brunswick, the erstwhile wife of the Regent.
“He was a man of marked abilities, distinguished as a statesman, as an orator, a historian, a lecturer, an essayist, a political economist. As a lawyer, he rose to the top of his profession; as a statesman, he rose to the office of Lord High Chancellor, as an orator, his reputation was among the first of his time, as an essayist, he was one of the brilliant band of writers who made the Edinburgh Review the leading literary authority in the world.”
They left out the part of his dalliance with the Regency’s most celebrated courtesan, Harriette Wilson. Her clients included the Prince of Wales, four Prime Ministers, as well as the Lord High Chancellor.
Interesting. What strikes me is how nice looking they both are. So many times you see pictures of individuals from times past, and you think, ‘how can I write about so many hot men and beautiful women, when this is what they looked like?’ I find that especially true when I see pictures of the men and women of the old West. Good blog.
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I hope this post inspires great writers like yourself, Callie. Thank you for reading!
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Apparently intelligence and accomplishment don’t go hand in hand with high morals. Ms. Wilson had an impressive client list. Was she ever given entrance to Lansdowne House?
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Yes–she did have an impressive client list. I couldn’t have said it better! Her entrance to Lansdowne House has not been confirmed–yet. But more to come on this subject. Thank you for following!
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I am wondering how his name became associated with carriages. I believe it was the Oldsmobile that had a vehicle called the Brougham. Someone at GM must have been familliar with the Regency period. I am thinking there was a vehicle called regency….but I may be wrong about that.
Good post. Hope you have time to respond with more info on the subject.
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You are quite right! The Oldsmobile Cutlass Brougham http://bit.ly/JwAFpE and the 98 Oldsmobile Regency http://bit.ly/IlrrLq.
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Very interesting post. I don’t think one can apply today’s morality to another period.
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Depends on whose morality is at issue. Good point, Ella–
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Reblogged this on Ella Quinn ~ Author.
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thank you, Ella!
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Very interesting blog. What strikes me is how innocent Harriette Wilson looks in this picture. When we write/read about courtesan characters, in our minds we believe them to be these, outrageously beautiful, sexy, wanton, and not so innocent looking women. I guess innocense was played as some type of aphrodisiac back then.
And I agree she did have an impressive list of clients.
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I think that waif-like innocence was popular at the time. Caroline Lamb cultivated it. Byron and other romantics extolled it. Thanks for stopping by, Guida.
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I recently purchased ” Mary Anne” by Daphne DuMaurier at a used book store. It is the story of DuMaurier’s great, great grandmother, who was mistress to Frederick, Duke of York. Mary Anne is taken to court over some of her published memoirs. Henry Brougham (who six years later was to defend Queen Caroline) lost Mary Anne Clarke ‘s case and she was sent to prison for nine months.
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Now, that IS interesting. His lordship was quite handy in defending scorned and otherwise abandoned wives and mistresses. Thank you for bringing that to our attention!
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