Mary Robinson: A Royal Affair in the Hertfordshire Archives - online talk
DateTuesday, 1 April, 7:00pm
LocationOnline live streamed - Microsoft Teams
PriceFree event
About this event
Actress. Mistress. Writer. Radical....Mary Robinson is probably the most famous 18th-century woman you've never heard of.
A star of the London stage, she became notorious as Royal mistress to the Prince Regent (later George IV). Her life was mired by scandal, but she also pioneered celebrity status and would go on to light up the literary world, becoming one of the most important writers of her day. Her life, and work, is the subject of the exhibition Mary Robinson: Actress, Mistress, Writer, Radical, on display at Chawton House, Hampshire, until 21st April.
In this online talk, exhibition Curator Emma Yandle will focus on Mary Robinson's relationship with the Royal Family, from her clandestine meetings with the Prince, to the intervention of the King, and the affair's swift end. Through an extraordinary sequence of letters preserved in Hertfordshire Archives & Local Studies, the full financial negotiations between Mary Robinson and the Prince are revealed. They offer unique insight into the Royal family's attitude towards scandal, and how this extraordinary young woman fought for fair treatment.
Venue
Online live streamed - Microsoft Teams
Further information
Emma Yandle is the Curator of the exhibition Mary Robinson: Actress, Mistress, Writer, Radical. For the last four years she has been the Curator & Collections Manager at Chawton House, managing and interpreting a collection of over 4,500 historic works by early women writers. Past exhibitions include Trailblazers: women travel writers and the exchange of knowledge, at Chawton House, and Maps & Marvels, at the National Maritime Museum, Amsterdam. She is now undertaking a PhD with Royal Holloway, University and London, and the Royal Geographical Society, with IBG, on an AHRC-funded project entitled 'The Geographical Museum: Making Knowledge Through Objects.'
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