Social Victorians/People/Rosebery

Also Known As

• Family name: Primrose
• Lord Dalmeny
  • Archibald Philip Primrose (23 January 1851 – 4 March 1868)
  • Harry (Albert Edward Harry Meyer Archibald) Primrose (18 January 1882 – 21 May 1929)
• Earl of Rosebery
  • Archibald Primrose (4 March 1868 – 21 May 1929)
  • Harry Primrose (21 May 1929 – 30 May 1974)
• Earl of Midlothian

Overview

• The Earl of Rosebery existed in both the Scottish and English peerages, with different privileges; Archibald Primrose held both earldoms.
• Speaking of how much of Rosebery's important early start to his career was due to his landed, patrician heritage, David Cannadine says,

  Rosebery's [career] was particularly glittering. He was born in 1847 and inherited his titles and his estates from his grandfather when only twenty-one. He made a dazzling maiden / speech in the Lords in 1871; he married a Rothschild heiress and £100,000 a year in 1879; and he was Gladstone's host during the Midlothiancampaign. He was a brilliant writer and orator, and a discerning collector of books and letters; he boasted three princely houses, a town palace in Belgrave Square, and a yacht; and he ws Lord-Lieutenant of two Scottish counties. His horses won the Derby three times, he was much liked and patronized by the Queen, and he left a personal and real fortune of £1.7 million. ... He was given minor office in Gladstone's second ministry, became Foreign Secretary in 1886 at the age of thirty-nine, held the same post again from 1892 to 1894, and on Gladstone's resignation was personally chosen by the Queen as Prime Minister. (224–225)

• Rumors of a relationship between Archibald Primrose, Earl of Rosebery and Francis Archibald Douglas, Viscount Drumlanrig, his private secretary, led Francis Douglas's father, John Sholto Douglas, 9th Marquess of Queensberry to blame him for "corrupting" his sons Lord Francis Douglas, Viscount Drumlanrig and Lord Alfred Douglas. Oscar Wilde, of course, did not recover from similar accusations about Lord Alfred Douglas.
• According to the Wikipedia article on Hannah de Rothschild Primrose, "Lady Rosebery was reputed to be the model for Marcella Maxwell in Mrs Humphry Ward's novels Marcella (1894) and Sir George Tressady (1909). The author lived at Stocks close to Lady Rosebery's home at Mentmore and would certainly have known her, while in the books Marcella's house is based on Hampden House, also in Buckinghamshire."
• The writer Henry James stayed at their house, but he was not complimentary about Hannah's appearance and his language is antisemitic.

Acquaintances, Friends and Enemies

Friends

• William Johnson Cory
• Benjamin Disraeli, Lord Beaconsfield
• William Ewart Gladstone
• Henry James
• Edward Hamilton
• Donald Crawford, M.P. (who named Charles Dilke as his wife Virginia's co-respondent in his divorce suit)
• Francis Archibald Douglas, Viscount Drumlanrig (eldest son of John Sholto Douglas, 9th Marquess of Queensberry), his private secretary

Enemies

• William Harcourt
• Lewis Harcourt
• John Sholto Douglas, 9th Marquess of Queensberry

Organizations

Archibald Primrose

• Eton (1860–1863)
• Brighton College (1863–1865)
• Christ Church, Oxford (1865–1869)
• Liberal Party (Liberal Imperialist)
• House of Lords

Hannah de Rothschild Primrose

• Scottish Home Industries Association, president
• Queen Victoria Jubilee Institute for Nurses, Scotland, president (appointed by Victoria)
• Club for Jewish Working Girls

Timeline

1874, Baron Mayer de Rothschild, Hannah de Rothschild's father, died, leaving her the most wealthy woman in England.

1878 January 3, the engagement between Hannah de Rothschild and Archibald Primrose, Earl of Rosebery, was announced.

1878 March 20, Hannah de Rothschild and Archibald Primrose, Earl of Rosebery, were married.

1894 March – 1895 June, Archibald Philip Primrose was Prime Minister of England.

1897 July 2, Archibald Primrose, the 5th Earl of Rosebery attended the Duchess of Devonshire's fancy-dress ball at Devonshire House. (He was #139 in the list of people who were present.)

1899 April 20, Lady Margaret Primrose and the Marquess of Crewe married.

Costume at the Duchess of Devonshire's 2 July 1897 Fancy-dress Ball

Archibald Philip Primrose, 5th Earl of Rosebery in costume as a gentleman of the XVIIIth Century. ©National Portrait Gallery, London.

Star: a breast plaque of the British Order of the Garter, with diamonds

Garter: Knights of the Most Noble Order of the Garter

At the Duchess of Devonshire's fancy-dress ball, Archibald, Earl of Rosebery sat at Table 2 for the first supper seating and was dressed as an 18th-century gentleman. He is wearing the Star of the Order of the Garter on his coat, and the garter itself just below his left knee.

Lafayette's portrait of "Archibald Philip Primrose, 5th Earl of Rosebery as a gentleman of the XVIIIth Century" in costume is photogravure #181 in the album presented to the Duchess of Devonshire and now in the National Portrait Gallery. The printing on the portrait says, "The Earl of Rosebery as a gentleman of the XVIIIth Century."

The only description of his costume that says he was dressed as Horace Walpole, 4th Earl of Orford (24 September 1717 – 2 March 1797) is the London Evening Standard. Walpole was in fact an 18th-century gentleman, but no portrait seems to show him dressed similarly, in green.

Newspaper Descriptions

• Lord Rosebery "(with 500l. worth of diamond buttons on his green velvet coat), wearing the Ribbon of the Garter."
• He wore a "Coat, George III. period. Dark green velvet with large turn back cuffs of sage green silk. The button holes and cuffs delicately embroidered with silver. Star of the Order of the Garter worn on left breast. Long vest, sage green, embroidered with dark green flowers edged with silver. Breeches, dark green velvet. Hose, delicate sage gray hose coming high up and turned over in a roll. Order of the Garter worn on left knee, blue moiré riband of the Garter worn over the right shoulder. Sword belt and frog, blue velvet, embroidered with silver, worn underneath vest. Court sword, black velvet and gold hilted. Hair, powdered and queued with large black silk bow and riband coming round the neck and hanging in front on breast and tied. Real lace jabot and frilled cuffs. Black high heeled shoes, scarlet heels, and silver buckles."
• "Lord Rosebery, as Horace Walpole, wore a Georgian costume of dark green velvet with large turn-back cuffs of sage green silk, the button holes and cuffs delicately embroidered with silver. He wore a Star of the Order of the Garter on left breast. His long vest was of sage green, flowered in dark green, and edged with silver. The breeches were of dark green velvet, and the hose of sage grey, coming high up, and turned over in a roll. The Order of the Garter was in its place on the left knee, and the blue moiré ribbon of the Garter was over the right shoulder. The hair was powdered, and queued with a large black silk bow and ribbon coming round the neck and hanging on the breast."
• "In his Georgian suit of dark green velvet, with his vest and cuffs of sage-green silk, delicate silver embroideries and ruffles of lace, Lord Rosebery scored a distinct success as Horace Walpole."
• "Lord Rosebery, in powdered hair, came as an 18th century gentleman."
• "Was that man in dark green of the year 1740 Lord Rosebery? Yes, certainly. His lordship was chatting to Marie Antoinette, Lady Warwick, and somebody else dressed as a Queen."
• "LORD ROSEBERY as Horace Walpole. — Coat, George III. period, dark green velvet with large turn back cuffs of sage green silk, the buttonholes and cuffs delicately embroidered with silver, Star of the Order of the Garter worn on left breast. Long vest, sage green, embroidered with dark green flowers edged with silver. Breeches, dark green velvet. Hose, delicate sage grey hose coming high up, and turned over in a roll. Order of the Garter worn on left knee, blue moiré ribbon of the Garter worn over the right shoulder. Sword-belt and frog — blue velvet, embroidered with silver, worn underneath vest. Court sword, black velvet and gold-hilted. Hair powdered and queued, with large black silk bow and ribbon coming round the neck and hanging in front on breast, and tied. Real lace jabot and frilled cuffs. Black high-heeled shoes, scarlet heels and silver buckles."
• He "wore a dark green velvet coat, sage green long waistcoat, dark green velvet breeches, with the Garter round the left knee and the ribbon of the Order over the left shoulder."
• Article from The Truth, written as if one girl gossiping to another: "Lord Rosebery Horace Walpole, in green velvet and silver powdered hair and queue, high-heeled shoes, and red heels — and he had £5OO worth of diamond buttons on his costume!"
• He "wore a Georgian costume of dark green velvet with large turn-back cuffs of sage green silk, the button holes and cuffs delicately embroidered with silver. He wore a Star of the Order of the Garter on left breast. His long vest was of sage green, flowered in dark green, and edged with silver."
• He wore a "coat of George III. period; dark green velvet, the button holes and cuffs delicately embroidered with silver; star of the Order of the Garter worn on left breast; long vest, sage green, edged with silver; dark green velvet breeches, Order of the Garter worn on left knee, blue moiré ribbon of the Garter worn over the right shoulder; hair, powdered and queued with large black silk bow and ribbon coming round the neck, and hanging in front on breast and tied."

Demographics

• Nationality: She, English; he, English and Scots
• Religion: she was Jewish, and he was Church of England

Residences

• Mentmore
• Dalmeny, Scotland
• Barnbougle Castle

Family

• Archibald Philip Primrose, 5th Earl of Rosebery, 1st Earl of Midlothian (7 May 1847 – 21 May 1929)
• Hannah de Rothschild (27 July 1851 – 19 November 1890)

1. Lady Sybil Primrose (1879 – 25 February 1955)
2. Lady Peggy (Margaret Etrenne Hannah) Primrose (1 January 1881 – 13 March 1967)
3. Harry (Albert Edward Harry Meyer Archibald) Primrose, Lord Dalmeny, later 6th Earl of Rosebery (18 January 1882 – 30 May 1974)
4. Honourable Neil James Archibald Primrose (14 December 1882 – 18 November 1917)

Relations

• Hannah de Rothschild Primrose, Countess of Rosebery was a Rothschild.
• Lady Peggy Primrose and Robert Crewe-Milnes, 1st Marquess of Crewe married.

Biographical Materials

1. The Marquess of Crewe, Lord Rosebery, London, 1931.

Notes and Questions

1. Their two youngest children, Harry and Neil, were both born in 1882 but are not twins: one was born in January and the other in December of the same year.