Customer Reviews

Beaufort: The Duke and His Duchess, 1657-1715 (Yale Historical Publications Series)

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The Duke and Duchess of Beaufort lived at the upper end of Restoration society, amassing great wealth through astute manoeuvrings at the Commenwealth ended and the Stuarts were restored. The Duke himself, the Duchesses second husband, was something of a fortune seeker as a young man - his grandfather having opposed Cromwell, his father having been a spendthrift. The Duchess was the wealthier of the two when they married, and McClain acknowledges that one of the bonds between them was the access to money and land, which the marriage brought about. In later years, this lead to strife with the children of the Duchesses first marriage - indeed access to money and political influence seems to have been both the primary motivation of the upper classes and the mainstay of legal argument during the period

McClain traces their relationship through the uncertainties of the Restoration land settlement, and the rise of local opposition to the Dukes attempts to raise more money through enclosing commonage, and his attempts to influence political representation from his domain. Most of the material describing their relationship is gleaned from letters sent while the Duke was in London and the Duchess remained at their estate. Of necessity therefore the period when the Duke retired from active politics is less well described. Nonetheless a good picture of the effect of the changing political climate on a particular part of the country is examined. Less convincing, for me, is the attempts to explain the texture of the relationship between the Duke and Duchess - we are given to believe that she suffered bouts of depression, and that he, while participating in the debauched court of Charles II, nevertheless, made his excuses and left when things became too raucous. Hmm.... In fact I think the book errs in being too sympathetic to both characters. There are enough hints of avarice and self-aggrandisement in the documentation quoted, to give a different view of their behaviour.

There are some interesting insights in the pursuit of gardening, which became quite fashionable for the gentry at this time. Indeed the first and last chapter show the rationale behind the quite complex layout of various grand gardens, and the thinking behind them.

Overall I liked this book.