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Louisa Mary, Lady Knightley of Fawnsley, was a woman of unusually wide interests, especially in the field of public affairs. In an age when few opportunities arose for women to make a contribution to political and feminist matters, Lady Knightley was an early pioneer of both causes. Denied the vote as a woman, she was a leading advocate of the campaign for constitutional, non-militant action to achieve the franchise, a cause which she continued to espouse until her death in 1913.Her later journals, written with warmth and humour, provide a fascinating picture of politics and society in England at a time of crucial change. Her journals provide many insights into rural politics following the Reform Acts of 1884 and 1885.
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POLITICS AND SOCIETY POLITICS AND SOCIETY The Journals of Lady Knightley of Fawsley 1885–1913 EDITED BY PETER GORDON LONDON AND NEW YORK First published 1999 by the Northamptonshire Record Society This edition published in 2005 by Routledge 2 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxfordshire, OX 14 4RN Simultaneously published in the USA and Canada by Routledge 270 Madison Avenue, New York, NY 10016 Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group This edition published in the Taylor & Francis e-Library, 2005. “To purchase your own copy of this or any of Taylor & Francis or Routledge’s collection of thousands of eBooks please go to http://www.ebookstore.tandf.co.uk/.” © 1999 and 2004 Peter Gordon All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced or utilised in any form or by any electronic, mechanical, or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including photocopying and recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publishers. British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data A catalog record for this book has been requested ISBN 0-203-32677-6 Master e-book ISBN ISBN 0-415-35020-4 (Print Edition) Publisher’s note The publisher has gone to great lengths to ensure the quality of this reprint but points out that some imperfections in the original book may be apparent. CONTENTS Illustrations Acknowledgements vi viii Abbreviations x Collections Consulted xi Introduction 1 Chronology 51 Journal: 1885 53 1886 105 1887 131 1888 150 1889 166 1890 183 1891 205 1892 228 1893 267 1894 280 1895 298 1896 321 1897 338 1898 367 1899 381 1900 404 1901 417 1902 428 1903 443 1904 463 1905 479 1906 503 1907 529 1908 542 1909 560 1910 574 1911 592 1912 611 1913 626 Barne Pedigree Knightley Pedigree Index 643 ILLUSTRATIONS Lady Knightley, 1869 1. Lady Emilia Bowater, Louisa’s mother, c. 1846 2. Major-General Sir Edward Bowater, 1854 3. Louisa Bowater, age 18, 1860 4. Prince Leopold, with Lady Bowater (left) and Louisa Bowater (right) at the Villa Leader, Cannes, 7 February 1862 5. Louisa and 6. Sir Rainald Knightley shortly after their wedding, 1869 7. Fawsley Hall in the snow, c. 1990 8. Interior of the Great Hall