Wendorf, R (2025) 'Lord Chesterfield and Elizabeth du Bouchet: new light on an eighteenth‐century liaison.' Journal for Eighteenth-Century Studies, 48 (2). pp. 105-118.
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Abstract
Almost no trace has survived of the life of Elizabeth du Bouchet after she moved from The Hague to London and gave birth to Philip Stanhope, the illegitimate son of Philip Dormer Stanhope, the 4th Earl of Chesterfield, in 1732. Thirty‐three unpublished letters in the archive of the Chevening Estate, now at the Kent History and Library Centre in Maidstone, therefore offer scholars an unprecedented perspective on du Bouchet's life, on her continuing relationship with Chesterfield, and on their mutual concerns about the health and education of their son. These letters, all written in French by Chesterfield to du Bouchet over a thirty‐year period, also provide an intimate view of the Earl's debilitating deafness, of his hopes for his son, and of his affection for — and occasional frustration with — his former mistress.
| Item Type: | Article |
|---|---|
| Keywords: | Chesterfield, Chevening Estate, Countess of Walsingham, deafness, du Bouchet, Georgian society, illegitimacy, spa treatments, Stanhope, The Hague |
| Divisions: | Chancelry and Research Management |
| Date Deposited: | 21 May 2025 19:50 |
| Last Modified: | 21 May 2025 19:50 |
| ISSN: | 1754-0194 |
| URI / Page ID: | https://researchspace.bathspa.ac.uk/id/eprint/17071 |
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