Identity area
Reference code
Title
Date(s)
- 1817, 1827 / (Creation)
Level of description
Item
Extent and medium
3 ff.
Context area
Name of creator
Biographical history
Lady Eleanor Butler and Sarah Ponsonby, better-known as the 'Ladies of Llangollen', were both members of Irish aristocratic families. Having quickly established a relationship following their meeting in 1768, the women escaped the scandalised animosity of their home circle by setting up home at Plasnewydd, a Gothic-style house situated near Llangollen, Denbighshire. For the next fifty years, they lived a secluded and often penurious existence, while nevertheless receiving such notable visitors as the landowner, traveller and writer Anne Lister and the poets Robert Southey, William Wordsworth and Percy Shelley. Lady Eleanor Butler and Sarah Ponsonby are both buried in the grounds of St Collen's Church, Llangollen, while Plasnewydd is now a museum dedicated to their lives.
Name of creator
Biographical history
Name of creator
Biographical history
Name of creator
Biographical history
Archival history
Immediate source of acquisition or transfer
A.R. Heath Rare Books and Manuscripts; Bristol; Purchase; December 2000; B2000/16.
Content and structure area
Scope and content
A letter, 2 February 1817 (watermark 1801), to [the Rev. George] Robson, prebendary of St Asaph and rector of Erbistock (ff. 135-136), and another to his wife, 1 October 1827 (watermark 1823) (f. 137), from Lady Eleanor Butler and Miss Sarah Ponsonby, 'The Ladies of Llangollen'. Both letters are in the hand of [?Eleanor Butler]. They are mainly concerned with local affairs, relating in particular to the parish clerk of Llangollen, [Robert Wynne-Eyton], and his wife (ff. 135-136).
Appraisal, destruction and scheduling
Accruals
System of arrangement
Arranged chronologically at NLW.
Conditions of access and use area
Conditions governing access
Conditions governing reproduction
Language of material
Script of material
Language and script notes
English.
Physical characteristics and technical requirements
Finding aids
Allied materials area
Existence and location of originals
Existence and location of copies
Related units of description
Notes area
Note
Title based on contents.
Note
Preferred citation: NLW MS 23699E, ff. 135-137.
Alternative identifier(s)
Virtua system control number
Access points
Subject access points
Place access points
Name access points
- Wynne-Eyton, Robert, 1798-1865. (Subject)
- Butler, Eleanor, Lady, 1739-1829 -- Correspondence (Subject)
- Ponsonby, Sarah, 1755-1831 -- Correspondence (Subject)