In 1837, at the age of twenty-three, Angela Burdett-Coutts inherited a vast fortune from her banker grandfather, making her one of the richest and thus potentially powerful women in Victorian England. She moved in the highest social circles: entertaining the rising stars of the political scene, Disraeli and Gladstone; attending scientific lectures with Faraday; pursuing her philanthropic work with Dickens; and falling in love with the aged Duke of Wellington. Her acts of charity were enormous and wide-ranging-establishing a home for 'fallen women', pioneering model housing, battling for sanitary reform, supporting the NSPCC and the RSPCA, and promoting technical education and domestic science. A devout Anglican, she built churches, founded colonial bishoprics and encouraged the missionary work of Livingstone and others. Despite all this activity, Angela remained throughout her life a shy and supremely private person. The full range of her charity will probably never be known, for she often acted through intermediaries such as Dickens, describing herself only as 'lady unknown'. And a 'lady unknown' she has largely remained, her role in Victorian England strangely overlooked or forgotten. Edna Healey has uncovered much new material, including unpublished correspondence from Dickens, Livingstone, Gladstone, Wellington, Faraday and Henry Irving, to provide a fascinating insight into this most remarkable lady.
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About the Author
Edna May Edmunds was born in the Forest of Dean and educated at Bell's Grammar School, Coleford, Gloucestershire, where she was the first pupil to gain a place at Oxford University. While studying English at St Hugh's College she met Denis Healey, who was studying at Balliol College. She then trained as a teacher and married Healey in 1945 after his military service in World War II. She became Baroness Healey in 1992 when her husband received a life peerage. Though she began her writing career relatively late in life, her books were critically acclaimed and sometimes best-sellers. She wrote non-fiction books, often biographies of successful women in powerful positions. Lady Healey also made two award-winning television documentaries. She was elected in 1993 a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature.
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3 of 3 people found the following review helpful
By Eric Dunstan
Format:Hardcover
That title could apply either to the remarkable Victorian woman whose life story is told by Edna Healey, but to the author herself: active in politics, prominent in labour and charity circles, wife of one time Prime Minister Denis Healey, mother, and, of course, a writer.
Baroness Angela Burdett-Coutts, as she became, did not go from rags to riches, but from comfortable life among the gentry to the richest woman in Britain, and arguably, in the world, thanks to inheritance from another woman, not just unknown to us, but the unlikeliest of duchesses. The story of Harriot Mellon is the sub-text of the first few chapters in this novel, which is crammed with sketches of people with whom Angela either fell in love or held as a close friend, a "who's who" of Victoria England, starting with Victoria herself--and Edna Healey draws comparisons between these two women. Victoria for many years liked to sit in Angela's parlour and watch her subjects going by.
Then there was the scientist Faraday, Prince Louis Napoleon, Disraeli, Livingston, Wellington, and Dickens, to name just a few of her "conquests"--not in the sexual sense, but in the deep admiration and devotion she inspired.
Her philanthropy, aided by the idealistic younger Dickens, her grasp of the social problems of her time, led to generosity on a magnificent scale, Angela Burdett-Coutts being labelled "Queen of the Poor." It was "hands on" charity on her part, in which she was deeply involved, but supported causes far beyond the shores of England or her personal purview.
She was also a prodigious art collector, traveller, and lover of all the arts, familiar with the world of business and government, so there was nothing dull about Angela, and her long life was eventful enough for three people!
It would be a shame to spoil for a reader who has never encountered the lady before to spoil the most implausible but true romance that had all her friends, from the Queen on down, trying to dissuade her from marriage.
This biography is an introduction to a rare and charming individual, as known for her beauty and character as for her amazing good works. The book is well-researched, and though it is crammed with facts and characters, it is very readable, and highly recommended to lovers of biography--that is, of the study of human nature.
Baroness Angela Burdett-Coutts, as she became, did not go from rags to riches, but from comfortable life among the gentry to the richest woman in Britain, and arguably, in the world, thanks to inheritance from another woman, not just unknown to us, but the unlikeliest of duchesses. The story of Harriot Mellon is the sub-text of the first few chapters in this novel, which is crammed with sketches of people with whom Angela either fell in love or held as a close friend, a "who's who" of Victoria England, starting with Victoria herself--and Edna Healey draws comparisons between these two women. Victoria for many years liked to sit in Angela's parlour and watch her subjects going by.
Then there was the scientist Faraday, Prince Louis Napoleon, Disraeli, Livingston, Wellington, and Dickens, to name just a few of her "conquests"--not in the sexual sense, but in the deep admiration and devotion she inspired.
Her philanthropy, aided by the idealistic younger Dickens, her grasp of the social problems of her time, led to generosity on a magnificent scale, Angela Burdett-Coutts being labelled "Queen of the Poor." It was "hands on" charity on her part, in which she was deeply involved, but supported causes far beyond the shores of England or her personal purview.
She was also a prodigious art collector, traveller, and lover of all the arts, familiar with the world of business and government, so there was nothing dull about Angela, and her long life was eventful enough for three people!
It would be a shame to spoil for a reader who has never encountered the lady before to spoil the most implausible but true romance that had all her friends, from the Queen on down, trying to dissuade her from marriage.
This biography is an introduction to a rare and charming individual, as known for her beauty and character as for her amazing good works. The book is well-researched, and though it is crammed with facts and characters, it is very readable, and highly recommended to lovers of biography--that is, of the study of human nature.
Format:Hardcover|Amazon Verified Purchase
This lady was known as the "Queen of the Poor." A speaker gave a presentation of
the life of this lady and I was so amazed at what she packed into her life that I bought the Healey book. lAs yet I haven't read it but I am looking forward to doing so.I am sure I am going to "love it!"
the life of this lady and I was so amazed at what she packed into her life that I bought the Healey book. lAs yet I haven't read it but I am looking forward to doing so.I am sure I am going to "love it!"
1 of 2 people found the following review helpful
By L. Rose
Format:Hardcover
I was very impressed with the quality of the product and the speed at which it arrived. I am very interested in the subject matter and the history of the time it took place as I live in Holly Lodge, where Angela Burdett Coutts lived so all the places referred to are relevent. Very good read
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