An enduring myth of Georgian architecture is that it was purely the pursuit of male architects and their wealthy male patrons. History states that it was men who owned grand estates and houses, commissioned famous architects, and embarked upon elaborate architectural schemes. However, some women with sufficient wealth and autonomy were at the heart of architectural patronage of the day, exerting far more influence than has previously been recognized. They were actively involved in architectural drawing, design, discourse, and patronage, with many laying out great sums on realising their architectural visions. In her lecture, Dr. Amy Boyington will discuss these female patrons while re-examining well-known Georgian masterpieces alongside lesser-known architectural gems. Drawing from private estate papers and personal correspondence, Dr. Boyington will uncover the role of women as important patrons and designers of architecture and interiors in eighteenth-century Britain and Ireland.

Portrait of Henrietta Louisa Jeffreys

Women built across the architectural spectrum. Some remodeled their ancestral seats, such as Jemima Yorke, Marchioness Grey, who updated Wrest Park, her country house in Bedfordshire. Others transformed the interiors of their marital homes, such as the fifteen-year-old Louisa Conolly at Castletown House, Co. Kildare, Ireland. Some spent vast fortunes on building magnificent London town houses, such as Mary Hervey, Baroness Hervey, and Henrietta Fermor, Countess of Pomfret. Many also chose tobuild or remodel villas during their widowhoods, each desiring a fashionable, convenient country residence close to the city, but set within a tranquil arcadian setting. Mary Robinson, Baroness Grantham, and Amabel Hume-Campbell, Lady Polwarth, were sisters who were both widowed in their 30s – and each decided to create beautiful Neo-Classical villas on Putney Heath next door to each other.

Dr. Amy Boyington

Dr. Amy Boyington is a social and architectural historian who attained her PhD in architectural history from the University of Cambridge. Dr. Boyington has worked in a curatorial capacity at Holkham Hall, Goodwood House, and Woburn Abbey. She has worked as a research consultant for the National Trust at Stowe Landscape Gardens and for Historic Royal Palaces at Kensington Palace. She was recently a Senior Properties Historian for English Heritage. Her debut book is Hidden Patrons: Women and Architectural Patronage in Georgian Britain (Bloomsbury, 2023). She is now working on her second book Decadence & Display (Yale University Press) which focuses on the eighteenth-century country house dining room. Dr. Boyington is also a popular historian on social media, @history_with_amy, with over 1.4 million followers.

Tickets: $15 members*; $25 non-members

*Membership discount applied automatically when logged into your Royal-Oak.org account