The Ladies of Llangollen

Lady Eleanor Butler, a handsome, unconventional woman, was twenty–nine when she met Sarah Ponsonby, a sensitive, retiring girl of thirteen. They developed an intensely close friendship, and ten years later in 1778, to the horror of their families, they eloped. After their dramatic escape across the Irish sea, they settled together in an idyllic cottage in Llangollen, Wales. There, amid scandal and innuendo, their unorthodox relationship blossomed, and their generous, civilized, and romantic way of living eventually became a legend. Their fame traveled widely: Lady Caroline Lamb and Josiah Wedgwood visited them, Wordsworth and Southey wrote poetry under their roof, and other celebrities of the day became cherished friends. Depicting a relationship that lasted over fifty years, Elizabeth Mavor’s beautifully detailed biography, first published in 1971, gives us a fascinating glimpse into the life and times of two remarkable women.