![Hester Stanhope](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/97/Hester_Stanhope.jpg)
Lady Hester Lucy Stanhope (12 March 1776 – 23 June 1839) was a British aristocrat, adventurer, antiquarian, and one of the most famous travellers of her age. Her archaeological excavation of
Ashkelon
Ashkelon or Ashqelon (; Hebrew: , , ; Philistine: ), also known as Ascalon (; Ancient Greek: , ; Arabic: , ), is a coastal city in the Southern District of Israel on the Mediterranean coast, south of Tel Aviv, and north of the border with ...
in 1815 is considered the first to use modern archaeological principles, and her use of a medieval Italian document is described as "one of the earliest uses of textual sources by field archaeologists".
Her letters and memoirs made her famous as an explorer.
Early life
Stanhope was the eldest child of
Charles Stanhope, 3rd Earl Stanhope
Charles Stanhope, 3rd Earl Stanhope, aka Charles Mahon, 3rd Earl Stanhope, FRS (3 August 175315 December 1816), was a British statesman, inventor, and scientist. He was the father of Lady Hester Stanhope and brother-in-law of William Pitt th ...
, by his first wife,
Lady Hester Pitt
Hester Stanhope, Viscountess Mahon (19 October 1755 – 20 July 1780), formerly Lady Hester Pitt, was the wife of Charles Stanhope, Viscount Mahon, later the 3rd Earl Stanhope.
She was the eldest daughter of William Pitt, 1st Earl of Chatham ...
. She was born at her father's seat of
Chevening
Chevening House () is a large country house in the parish of Chevening in Kent, in Southeast England. Built between 1617 and 1630 to a design reputedly by Inigo Jones and greatly extended after 1717, it is a Grade I listed building. The surround ...
and lived there until early in 1800, when she was sent to live with her grandmother,
Hester Pitt, Countess of Chatham
Hester Pitt, Countess of Chatham (; 8 November 1720 – 9 April 1803) was the wife of William Pitt the Elder, 1st Earl of Chatham, who was prime minister of Great Britain from 1766 to 1768.
The sister of George Grenville, who was prime minist ...
, at
Burton Pynsent
Curry Rivel is a village and civil parish in Somerset, England, situated west of Somerton and east of Taunton in the South Somerset district. The parish has a population of 2,148. The parish includes the hamlet of Burton Pynsent.
History
The ...
.
In August 1803, she moved into the home of her uncle,
William Pitt the Younger
William Pitt the Younger (28 May 175923 January 1806) was a British statesman, the youngest and last prime minister of Great Britain (before the Acts of Union 1800) and then first prime minister of the United Kingdom (of Great Britain and Ire ...
, to manage his household and act as his hostess. In his position as
British prime minister
The prime minister of the United Kingdom is the head of government of the United Kingdom. The prime minister advises the sovereign on the exercise of much of the royal prerogative, chairs the Cabinet and selects its ministers. As modern p ...
, Pitt, who was unmarried, needed help with political social life. Lady Hester sat at the head of his table and assisted in welcoming his guests; she became known for her beauty and conversational skills. When Pitt was out of the office she served as his private secretary. She was also the prime initiator of the gardens at
Walmer Castle
Walmer Castle is an artillery fort originally constructed by Henry VIII of England, Henry VIII in Walmer, Kent, between 1539 and 1540. It formed part of the King's Device Forts, Device programme to protect against invasion from France and the H ...
during his tenure as
Lord Warden of the Cinque Ports
The Lord Warden of the Cinque Ports is a ceremonial official in the United Kingdom. The post dates from at least the 12th century, when the title was Keeper of the Coast, but may be older. The Lord Warden was originally in charge of the Cinqu ...
. Britain awarded her an annual pension of £1200 after Pitt's death in January 1806.
After living for some time at
Montagu Square
Montagu Square is a garden square in Marylebone, London. It is centred 550 metres north of Marble Arch and 440 m east of Edgware Road. Internally it spans by and is oriented on an axis of about NNW, an axis lasting for four blocks w ...
in
London
London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...
, she moved to
Wales
Wales ( cy, Cymru ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by England to the Wales–England border, east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the ...
and then left
Great Britain
Great Britain is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean off the northwest coast of continental Europe. With an area of , it is the largest of the British Isles, the largest European island and the ninth-largest island in the world. It is ...
for good in February 1810 after the death of her brother. A series of romantic disappointments may have prompted her decision to go on a long sea voyage. Her former lover
Granville Leveson-Gower, 1st Earl Granville
Granville Leveson-Gower, 1st Earl Granville, (12 October 1773 – 8 January 1846), styled Lord Granville Leveson-Gower from 1786 to 1815 and The Viscount Granville from 1815 to 1833, was a British Whig statesman and diplomat from the Leveson-G ...
married another woman in 1809, and Stanhope's niece (
Wilhelmina Powlett, Duchess of Cleveland
Catherine Lucy Wilhelmina Powlett, Duchess of Cleveland (née Stanhope; 1 June 1819 – 18 May 1901), also known as Lady Dalmeny and Lady Harry Vane, was an English historian and genealogist, best known for her 1889 work ''The Battle Abbey R ...
) suspected she and
Lieutenant-General Sir John Moore - with whom Stanhope enjoyed a warm correspondence while he was fighting in the
Peninsular War
The Peninsular War (1807–1814) was the military conflict fought in the Iberian Peninsula by Spain, Portugal, and the United Kingdom against the invading and occupying forces of the First French Empire during the Napoleonic Wars. In Spain ...
- might have been considering marriage before his death in battle the same year.
Life abroad
In February 1810, Stanhope left Portsmouth with her brother
James Hamilton Stanhope
Colonel James Hamilton Stanhope (1788–1825), was a British Army officer who fought in the Peninsular War and at the Battle of Waterloo. He was a Member of Parliament for Buckingham, 1817–1818, Fowey, 1818–1819, and Dartmouth, 1822–1825. ...
, who accompanied her as far as Rhodes. Among her entourage were her physician and later biographer
Charles Lewis Meryon
Charles Lewis Meryon (1783–1877) was an English physician and biographer.
Life
The son of Lewis Meryon of Rye, Sussex, from a Huguenot background, he was born on 27 June 1783. He was educated at Merchant Taylors' School, from 1796 to 1802. Obt ...
and her maids Elizabeth Williams and Ann Fry. In Rhodes she met
Michael Bruce, an adventurer and later MP, who became her lover and travelling companion. It is claimed that when the party arrived in
Athens
Athens ( ; el, Αθήνα, Athína ; grc, Ἀθῆναι, Athênai (pl.) ) is both the capital and largest city of Greece. With a population close to four million, it is also the seventh largest city in the European Union. Athens dominates ...
, the poet,
Lord Byron
George Gordon Byron, 6th Baron Byron (22 January 1788 – 19 April 1824), known simply as Lord Byron, was an English romantic poet and Peerage of the United Kingdom, peer. He was one of the leading figures of the Romantic movement, and h ...
, a university friend of Bruce's, dived into the sea to greet them. Byron later described Stanhope as "that dangerous thing, a female wit", and remarked that she had "a great disregard of received notion in her conversation as well as conduct". He later claimed that he chose not to engage in a debate on women's rights with Stanhope (a formidable conversationalist), because "I despise the sex too much to squabble with them." From Athens, Stanhope's party travelled on to
Constantinople
la, Constantinopolis ota, قسطنطينيه
, alternate_name = Byzantion (earlier Greek name), Nova Roma ("New Rome"), Miklagard/Miklagarth (Old Norse), Tsargrad ( Slavic), Qustantiniya (Arabic), Basileuousa ("Queen of Cities"), Megalopolis (" ...
(present-day Istanbul), capital of the
Ottoman Empire
The Ottoman Empire, * ; is an archaic version. The definite article forms and were synonymous * and el, Оθωμανική Αυτοκρατορία, Othōmanikē Avtokratoria, label=none * info page on book at Martin Luther University) ...
. They intended to proceed to
Cairo
Cairo ( ; ar, القاهرة, al-Qāhirah, ) is the capital of Egypt and its largest city, home to 10 million people. It is also part of the largest urban agglomeration in Africa, the Arab world and the Middle East: The Greater Cairo metro ...
, only recently emerged from the chaos following
Napoleon
Napoleon Bonaparte ; it, Napoleone Bonaparte, ; co, Napulione Buonaparte. (born Napoleone Buonaparte; 15 August 1769 – 5 May 1821), later known by his regnal name Napoleon I, was a French military commander and political leader who ...
's
invasion of Egypt and the international conflicts that followed.
Journey to the Near and Middle East
En route to Cairo, the ship encountered a storm and was shipwrecked on
Rhodes
Rhodes (; el, Ρόδος , translit=Ródos ) is the largest and the historical capital of the Dodecanese islands of Greece. Administratively, the island forms a separate municipality within the Rhodes regional unit, which is part of the So ...
. With all their possessions gone, the party borrowed
Turkish clothing
Turkish may refer to:
*a Turkic language spoken by the Turks
* of or about Turkey
** Turkish language
*** Turkish alphabet
** Turkish people, a Turkic ethnic group and nation
*** Turkish citizen, a citizen of Turkey
*** Turkish communities and mi ...
. Stanhope refused to
wear a veil, choosing the garb of a
Turkish male: robe, turban and slippers. When a British
frigate
A frigate () is a type of warship. In different eras, the roles and capabilities of ships classified as frigates have varied somewhat.
The name frigate in the 17th to early 18th centuries was given to any full-rigged ship built for speed and ...
took them to Cairo, she continued to wear clothing which was extremely unorthodox for an English woman: she bought a purple velvet robe, embroidered trousers, waistcoat, jacket, saddle and sabre. In this costume she went to greet the
Pasha
Pasha, Pacha or Paşa ( ota, پاشا; tr, paşa; sq, Pashë; ar, باشا), in older works sometimes anglicized as bashaw, was a higher rank in the Ottoman Empire, Ottoman political and military system, typically granted to governors, gener ...
. From Cairo she continued her travels in the
Middle East
The Middle East ( ar, الشرق الأوسط, ISO 233: ) is a geopolitical region commonly encompassing Arabian Peninsula, Arabia (including the Arabian Peninsula and Bahrain), Anatolia, Asia Minor (Asian part of Turkey except Hatay Pro ...
. Over a period of two years she visited Gibraltar, Malta, the
Ionian Islands, the Peloponnese, Athens, Constantinople, Rhodes, Egypt, Palestine, Lebanon and Syria.
[ She refused to wear a veil even in ]Damascus
)), is an adjective which means "spacious".
, motto =
, image_flag = Flag of Damascus.svg
, image_seal = Emblem of Damascus.svg
, seal_type = Seal
, map_caption =
, ...
. In Jerusalem
Jerusalem (; he, יְרוּשָׁלַיִם ; ar, القُدس ) (combining the Biblical and common usage Arabic names); grc, Ἱερουσαλήμ/Ἰεροσόλυμα, Hierousalḗm/Hierosóluma; hy, Երուսաղեմ, Erusałēm. i ...
, the Church of the Holy Sepulchre
The Church of the Holy Sepulchre, hy, Սուրբ Հարության տաճար, la, Ecclesia Sancti Sepulchri, am, የቅዱስ መቃብር ቤተክርስቲያን, he, כנסיית הקבר, ar, كنيسة القيامة is a church i ...
was cleared of visitors and reopened in her honour.
Learning from fortune-tellers that her destiny was to become the bride of a new messiah
In Abrahamic religions, a messiah or messias (; ,
; ,
; ) is a saviour or liberator of a group of people. The concepts of ''mashiach'', messianism, and of a Messianic Age originated in Judaism, and in the Hebrew Bible, in which a ''mashiach'' ...
, she made matrimonial overtures to Ibn Saud
Abdulaziz bin Abdul Rahman Al Saud ( ar, عبد العزيز بن عبد الرحمن آل سعود, ʿAbd al ʿAzīz bin ʿAbd ar Raḥman Āl Suʿūd; 15 January 1875Ibn Saud's birth year has been a source of debate. It is generally accepted ...
, chief of the Wahhabi
Wahhabism ( ar, ٱلْوَهَّابِيَةُ, translit=al-Wahhābiyyah) is a Sunni Islamic revivalist and fundamentalist movement associated with the reformist doctrines of the 18th-century Arabian Islamic scholar, theologian, preacher, an ...
s Arabs (later leader of the First Saudi State
The Emirate of Diriyah (), also known as the First Saudi State, was established in February 1727 (1139 AH). In 1744, the emir of Najdi town called Diriyah Muhammad bin Saud and the religious leader Muhammad ibn Abd al-Wahhab formed an alliance ...
). She decided to visit the city of Palmyra
Palmyra (; Palmyrene: () ''Tadmor''; ar, تَدْمُر ''Tadmur'') is an ancient city in present-day Homs Governorate, Syria. Archaeological finds date back to the Neolithic period, and documents first mention the city in the early second ...
, even though the route went through a desert with potentially hostile Bedouin
The Bedouin, Beduin, or Bedu (; , singular ) are nomadic Arab tribes who have historically inhabited the desert regions in the Arabian Peninsula, North Africa, the Levant, and Mesopotamia. The Bedouin originated in the Syrian Desert and A ...
s. She dressed as a Bedouin and took with her a caravan
Caravan or caravans may refer to:
Transport and travel
*Caravan (travellers), a group of travellers journeying together
**Caravanserai, a place where a caravan could stop
*Camel train, a convoy using camels as pack animals
*Convoy, a group of veh ...
of 22 camels to carry her baggage. Emir Mahannah el Fadel received her and she became known as "Queen Hester."
Archaeological expedition
According to Charles Meryon, she came into possession of a medieval Italian manuscript copied from the records of a monastery somewhere in Syria. According to this document, a great treasure was hidden under the ruins of a mosque at the port city of Ashkelon
Ashkelon or Ashqelon (; Hebrew: , , ; Philistine: ), also known as Ascalon (; Ancient Greek: , ; Arabic: , ), is a coastal city in the Southern District of Israel on the Mediterranean coast, south of Tel Aviv, and north of the border with ...
which had been lying in ruins for 600 years.[ In 1815, on the strength of this map, she travelled to the ruins of Ashkelon on the ]Mediterranean
The Mediterranean Sea is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by the Mediterranean Basin and almost completely enclosed by land: on the north by Western and Southern Europe and Anatolia, on the south by North Africa, and on the e ...
coast north of Gaza, and persuaded the Ottoman authorities to allow her to excavate the site. The governor of Jaffa
Jaffa, in Hebrew Yafo ( he, יָפוֹ, ) and in Arabic Yafa ( ar, يَافَا) and also called Japho or Joppa, the southern and oldest part of Tel Aviv-Yafo, is an ancient port city in Israel. Jaffa is known for its association with the b ...
, Muhammad Abu Nabbut was ordered to accompany her. This resulted in the first archaeological excavation
In archaeology, excavation is the exposure, processing and recording of archaeological remains. An excavation site or "dig" is the area being studied. These locations range from one to several areas at a time during a project and can be condu ...
in Palestine
__NOTOC__
Palestine may refer to:
* State of Palestine, a state in Western Asia
* Palestine (region), a geographic region in Western Asia
* Palestinian territories, territories occupied by Israel since 1967, namely the West Bank (including East ...
.
While she did not find the hoard of three million gold coins reportedly buried there, the excavators unearthed a seven-foot headless marble statue. In an action which might seem at odds with her meticulous excavations, Stanhope ordered the statue to be smashed into "a thousand pieces" and thrown into the sea.[ She did this as a gesture of goodwill to the Ottoman government, in order to show that her excavation was intended to recover valuable treasures for them, and not to loot cultural relics for shipment back to Europe, as so many of her countrymen were doing at this time.
Her expedition paved the way for future excavations and tourism to the site.
]
Life amongst the Lebanese
Lady Hester settled near Sidon
Sidon ( ; he, צִידוֹן, ''Ṣīḏōn'') known locally as Sayda or Saida ( ar, صيدا ''Ṣaydā''), is the third-largest city in Lebanon. It is located in the South Governorate, of which it is the capital, on the Mediterranean coast. ...
, a town on the Mediterranean
The Mediterranean Sea is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by the Mediterranean Basin and almost completely enclosed by land: on the north by Western and Southern Europe and Anatolia, on the south by North Africa, and on the e ...
coast in what is now Lebanon
Lebanon ( , ar, لُبْنَان, translit=lubnān, ), officially the Republic of Lebanon () or the Lebanese Republic, is a country in Western Asia. It is located between Syria to the north and east and Israel to the south, while Cyprus li ...
, about halfway between Tyre and Beirut
Beirut, french: Beyrouth is the capital and largest city of Lebanon. , Greater Beirut has a population of 2.5 million, which makes it the third-largest city in the Levant region. The city is situated on a peninsula at the midpoint o ...
. She lived first in the disused Mar Elias monastery at the village of Abra, and then in another monastery, Deir Mashmousheh, southwest of the Casa of Jezzine
Jezzine ( ''Jizzīn'') is a town in Lebanon, located from Sidon and south of Beirut. It is the capital of Jezzine District. Surrounded by mountain peaks, pine forests (like the Bkassine Pine Forest), and at an average altitude of 950 m (3 ...
. Her companion, Miss Williams, and medical attendant, Dr Charles Meryon, remained with her for some time; but Miss Williams died in 1828, and Meryon left in 1831, only returning for a final visit from July 1837 to August 1838. When Meryon left for England, Lady Hester moved to a remote abandoned monastery at Joun
Joun (also Joon, Djoun in Phoenician, ar, جون) is a Lebanese village sitting on seven hills in the Chouf ( ar, قضاء الشوف) district of Mount Lebanon at a distance of 13 kilometers from the city of Sidon in Lebanon. Joun means "the co ...
, a village eight miles from Sidon, where she lived until her death. Her residence, known by the villagers as Dahr El Sitt, was at the top of a hill. Meryon implied that she liked the house because of its strategic location, "the house on the summit of a conical hill, whence comers and goers might be seen on every side."
At first she was greeted by emir
Emir (; ar, أمير ' ), sometimes transliterated amir, amier, or ameer, is a word of Arabic origin that can refer to a male monarch, aristocrat, holder of high-ranking military or political office, or other person possessing actual or cerem ...
Bashir Shihab II
Emir Bashir Shihab II () (also spelled "Bachir Chehab II"; 2 January 1767–1850) was a Lebanese emir who ruled Ottoman Lebanon in the first half of the 19th century. Born to a branch of the Shihab family which had converted from Sunni Islam, t ...
, but over the years she gave sanctuary to hundreds of refugees of Druze
The Druze (; ar, دَرْزِيٌّ, ' or ', , ') are an Arabic-speaking esoteric ethnoreligious group from Western Asia who adhere to the Druze faith, an Abrahamic, monotheistic, syncretic, and ethnic religion based on the teachings of ...
inter-clan and inter-religious squabbles and earned his enmity. In her new setting, she wielded almost absolute authority over the surrounding districts and became the de facto ruler of the region. Her control over the local population was enough to cause Ibrahim Pasha, when about to invade Syria
Syria ( ar, سُورِيَا or سُورِيَة, translit=Sūriyā), officially the Syrian Arab Republic ( ar, الجمهورية العربية السورية, al-Jumhūrīyah al-ʻArabīyah as-Sūrīyah), is a Western Asian country loc ...
in 1832, to seek her neutrality. Her supremacy was maintained by her commanding character, and by the belief that she possessed the gift of divination. She kept up a correspondence with important people and received curious visitors who went out of their way to visit her.
Finding herself deeply in debt, she used her pension from England in order to pay off her creditors in Syria. From the mid-1830s she withdrew ever more from the world, and her servants began to steal her possessions, because she was less and less able to manage her household in her reclusive state. Stanhope may have suffered from severe depression; it has been suggested that, alternatively, she had become prematurely senile. At any rate, in her last years she would not receive visitors until dark, and even then, she would only let them see her hands and face. She wore a turban over her shaven head.
Lady Hester died in her sleep in 1839. She died destitute; Andrew Bonar
Andrew Alexander Bonar (29 May 1810 in Edinburgh – 30 December 1892 in Glasgow) was a minister of the Free Church of Scotland (1843-1900), Free Church of Scotland, a contemporary and acquaintance of Robert Murray M'Cheyne and youngest brother ...
and Robert Murray M'Cheyne
Robert Murray M'Cheyne (21 May 1813 – 25 March 1843) was a minister in the Church of Scotland from 1835 to 1843. He was born at Edinburgh on 21 May 1813, was educated at the university and at the Divinity Hall of his native city, and was ...
, who visited the region a few weeks' later, reported that after her death, "not a ''para
Para, or PARA, may refer to:
Businesses and organizations
* Paramount Global, traded as PARA on the Nasdaq stock exchange
* Para Group, the former name of CT Corp
* Para Rubber, now Skellerup, a New Zealand manufacturer
* Para USA, formerly ...
'' of money was found in the house."
Memoirs
In 1846, some years after her death, Dr Meryon published three volumes of ''Memoirs of the Lady Hester Stanhope as related by herself in Conversations with her Physician'', and these were followed in the succeeding year by three volumes of ''Travels of Lady Hester Stanhope, forming the Completion of her Memoirs narrated by her Physician''.
In the media
* 1837: Letitia Elizabeth Landon
Letitia Elizabeth Landon (14 August 1802 – 15 October 1838) was an English poet and novelist, better known by her initials L.E.L.
The writings of Landon are transitional between Romanticism and the Victorian Age. Her first major breakthrough ...
's poetical illustration to an engraving of a painting by William Henry Bartlett was published in Fisher's Drawing Room Scrap Book, 1838.
* 1844: In ''Eothen'' by Alexander Kinglake
Alexander William Kinglake (5 August 1809 – 2 January 1891) was an English travel writer and historian.
He was born near Taunton, Somerset, and educated at Eton College and Trinity College, Cambridge. He was called to the Bar in 1837, an ...
, chapter VIII is devoted to Lady Hester Stanhope
* 1866: John Greenleaf Whittier's best-known poem, Snow-Bound, includes a description of a visit to Stanhope by the American preacher Harriet Livermore, "startling on her desert throne , The crazy Queen of Lebanon."
* 1876: George Eliot
Mary Ann Evans (22 November 1819 – 22 December 1880; alternatively Mary Anne or Marian), known by her pen name George Eliot, was an English novelist, poet, journalist, translator, and one of the leading writers of the Victorian era. She wro ...
's novel Daniel Deronda
''Daniel Deronda'' is a novel written by Mary Ann Evans under the pen name of George Eliot, first published in eight parts (books) February to September 1876. It was the last novel she completed and the only one set in the Victorian society ...
mentions Lady Hester Stanhope, book one, chapter seven, speaking of her as "Queen of the East".
* 1876: Louisa May Alcott
Louisa May Alcott (; November 29, 1832March 6, 1888) was an American novelist, short story writer, and poet best known as the author of the novel ''Little Women'' (1868) and its sequels ''Little Men'' (1871) and ''Jo's Boys'' (1886). Raised in ...
's novel Rose in Bloom mentions Lady Hester Stanhope, chapter 2.
* 1882: William Henry Davenport Adams
William Henry Davenport Adams (1828–1891) was an English writer and journalist of the 19th century, notable for a number of his publications.
Biography
William Henry Davenport Adams, born in London on 5 May 1828, grandson of Captain Adams, R.N ...
's non-fiction book 'Celebrated Women Travellers of the Nineteenth Century' devotes a chapter to Lady Hester Stanhope.
* 1922: Hester Stanhope's travels are recalled by Molly Bloom in Ulysses
Ulysses is one form of the Roman name for Odysseus, a hero in ancient Greek literature.
Ulysses may also refer to:
People
* Ulysses (given name), including a list of people with this name
Places in the United States
* Ulysses, Kansas
* Ulysse ...
by James Joyce
James Augustine Aloysius Joyce (2 February 1882 – 13 January 1941) was an Irish novelist, poet, and literary critic. He contributed to the modernist avant-garde movement and is regarded as one of the most influential and important writers of ...
.
* 1924: Hester Stanhope's story is told by Pierre Benoit in "Lebanon's Lady of the Manor"
* 1958: Lady Hester Stanhope is referred to in the English author Georgette Heyer
Georgette Heyer (; 16 August 1902 – 4 July 1974) was an English novelist and short-story writer, in both the Regency romance and detective fiction genres. Her writing career began in 1921, when she turned a story for her younger brothe ...
's historical romance novel of the Regency period entitled ''Venetia'', Chapter 4.
* 1961: In the novel ''Herzog'' by Saul Bellow
Saul Bellow (born Solomon Bellows; 10 July 1915 – 5 April 2005) was a Canadian-born American writer. For his literary work, Bellow was awarded the Pulitzer Prize, the Nobel Prize for Literature, and the National Medal of Arts. He is the only wr ...
, Herzog compares his wife's writing style to that of Lady Hester Stanhope.
* 1962: In the film Lawrence of Arabia
Thomas Edward Lawrence (16 August 1888 – 19 May 1935) was a British archaeologist, army officer, diplomat, and writer who became renowned for his role in the Arab Revolt (1916–1918) and the Sinai and Palestine Campaign (1915–1918 ...
, Prince Faisal suggests Lawrence is "another of these desert-loving Englishmen" and mentions Stanhope as an example.
* 1967: Lady Hester Stanhope was the basis for the character of Great-Aunt Harriet in Mary Stewart's novel ''The Gabriel Hounds''.
* 1986: In the 1986 TV movie Harem, the character Lady Ashley was very loosely based on Lady Hester Stanhope. Se
Harem (1986 TV Movie)
* 1995: ''Queen of the East'', television movie about Stanhope, starring Jennifer Saunders[DVD BFS Video]
* 2014: Brett Josef Grubisic
Brett Josef Grubisic (born 1963) is a Canadian author, editor, and sessional lecturer of English at the University of British Columbia.
Education
He obtained his bachelors and masters degrees from the University of Victoria (B.A., M.A.) and com ...
's comic novel, ''This Location of Unknown Possibilities'', describes an abandoned Canada-set attempt to produce a television biopic about Lady Hester Stanhope's travels.
See also
*Archaeology of Israel
The archaeology of Israel is the study of the archaeology of the present-day Israel, stretching from prehistory through three millennia of documented history. The ancient Land of Israel was a geographical bridge between the political and cultu ...
*List of female adventurers
This is a list of women who explored or travelled the world in a pioneering way. The list may include women naturalists, sailors, mountain climbers, dog sledders, swimmers, pilots, and underwater explorers. Astronauts are not included here b ...
*Timeline of women in science
This is a timeline of women in science, spanning from ancient history up to the 21st century. While the timeline primarily focuses on women involved with natural sciences such as astronomy, biology, chemistry and physics, it also includes women f ...
Notes
References
*
Attribution
*
Further reading
*Kirsten Ellis - ''Star of the Morning, The Extraordinary Life of Lady Hester Stanhope'' (2008)
*Lorna Gibb - ''Lady Hester: Queen of the East'' (2005)
*Virginia Childs - ''Lady Hester Stanhope'' (1990)
*Doris Leslie
Doris Leslie (née Oppenheim, later Lady Fergusson Hannay) (9 March 1891 – 30 May 1982), was a British novelist and historical biographer. Her novel ''Peridot Flight'' (1956) was serialised in 10 episodes by BBC TV in October–December 1960.
A ...
- ''The Desert Queen'' (1972)
*Joan Haslip
Joan Haslip (1912–1994) was an author of historical books, often focusing on European Royal family, royalty. She was born in London and educated in London, Paris, and Florence. Her first book, ''Out of Focus'', appeared in 1931; among her other ...
- ''Lady Hester Stanhope'' (1934)
*A. W. Kinglake
Alexander William Kinglake (5 August 1809 – 2 January 1891) was an English travel writer and historian.
He was born near Taunton, Somerset, and educated at Eton College and Trinity College, Cambridge. He was called to the Bar in 1837, an ...
- ''Eothen: Traces of Travel Brought Home from the East'' (esp. Chap. VIII) (1844)
*Paule Henry-Bordeaux - The Circe of the Deserts London (1925)
External links
*
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Stanhope, Hester
1776 births
1839 deaths
Daughters of British earls
English political hostesses
19th-century travelers
Archaeology of Israel
Archaeologists of the Near East
Hester
Hester is both a female given name and a surname. As a given name Hester is a variant of Esther. As a surname it is of Germanic origin and uncertain meaning, possible roots being the Middle High German ''heister'' beech tree indicating residence ne ...
Female travelers
British women archaeologists
19th-century women scientists
Women of the Regency era
British expatriates in the Ottoman Empire
People from Chevening, Kent