Our guest speaker this month is Dr Elisabeth Kehoe, a Senior Research Fellow at the University of London, broadcaster and prolific author of acclaimed biographies of prominent Edwardian and Victorian women. Her subjects include Jennie Churchill, Winston Churchill’s mother, and one of the famous three American Jerome sisters, Kitty O’Shea, who was wrongly blamed for destroying Ireland’s prospects of independence in 1890 and Helen D’Oyly Carte, the 18th century entrepreneur who ran the Gilbert and Sullivan companies and the Savoy Opera and Hotel franchises.
The subject of Elisabeth’s latest work is the Devonshire House Ball of 1897 which was held at Devonshire House in Piccadilly to celebrate the Diamond Jubilee of Queen Victoria. Attended by many prominent royals, aristocrats and society figures, it was regarded as the event of the 1897 London season.
Elisabeth will talk about all of these works and others which depict women who became leading socialites in Edwardian and Victorian Britain.
Elisabeth is a Fellow of the Royal Historical Society, a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts, Manufacturers and Commerce, and a Patron of the Royal Academy, the Victoria and Albert Museum and the National Portrait Gallery.
Tentative schedule of the day:
9:30am – 10:45am: Registration, tea/coffee, Activity Leader tables;
10:50am: Members invited to take a seat in the auditorium;
11:00am: Introductions;
11:10am: Guest Speaker;
12:05pm: Q&A
12:20pm: President’s announcements;
12:30pm: Meeting conclusion;
12:45pm: Hospitality lunch (details tbc).
