January 2, 2023
In this engrossing and well-researched debut, historian Wilkie spotlights one of Princess Diana’s most remarkable female ancestors. Born into a family of prosperous sheep farmers determined to ascend to the aristocracy, Alice Spencer (1559–1637) wed Ferdinando Stanley, the fifth Earl of Derby. She and Ferdinando, who enjoyed an affectionate relationship, established themselves as patrons of the arts, becoming fixtures “in the vibrant literary and theatrical outpouring that was thriving in England at the time.” After Ferdinando’s death in 1594, his brother William challenged the will, and Alice spent years fighting to hold on to the property her husband bequeathed her. She prevailed because of her careful attention to legal and financial matters and because she made a strategic second marriage in 1600, to Thomas Egerton, a well-connected lawyer. Thomas died in 1617, leaving Alice a tremendously wealthy widow, and she used her fortune to prepare her 20 grandchildren to continue the family dynasty. She also put her power to use in the early 1630s, when she obtained royal pardons for her daughter, Anne, and granddaughter, Elizabeth, after Anne’s second husband, Mervyn Touchet, Earl of Castlehaven, was executed for sodomy and rape. Wilkie writes with focus and economy, weaving in fascinating information about Tudor-era nuptial contracts, medical practices, and dynastic intrigues. This biography fascinates.
March 1, 2023
How an Elizabethan farmer's daughter single-handedly brought her family into the aristocracy through marriage, manipulation, and lawsuits. At the beginning, Wilkie provides multiple family trees before delving into her intricate biography of a woman largely known through the legal documents that surrounded her life and marriages. Alice Spencer (1559-1637) was the youngest daughter of a wealthy sheep farmer in Althorp in Northamptonshire. In 1580, she was shrewdly maneuvered into marriage to Ferdinando Stanley, Lord Strange, heir to the fourth Earl of Derby. At the time, she received a jointure, which "specified properties to be held in reserve for the wife if she were to become a widow, and she could draw income from those lands for the rest of her life." In an era of strict social hierarchy, Alice had married into a family related to Queen Elizabeth I; thus, her place in the aristocracy was secured. However, this was also a time of Catholic persecution, with various family members suspected of Catholic leanings, and she and her husband had to be careful to curry favor with the Protestant queen as well as becoming conspicuous patrons of the arts. Upon her husband's death, Alice wisely circumvented the legal challenges of her powerful brother-in-law by marrying Thomas Egerton, one of England's highest court officials. To tighten the knots, she married off one of her daughters to Egerton's son. Subsequent court challenges included garnering royal shelter for her other daughter after she scandalously accused her aristocratic husband and his servant of rape. As the author shows, Alice was remarkable in her ability to forge her own identity in a highly patriarchal era. "Alice was not a feminist," writes Wilkie, "but she was an operator and a woman who was cognizant of the power that came with her social status, power she was eager to wield." Diligent archival research reveals a unique, independent Elizabethan woman.
COPYRIGHT(2023) Kirkus Reviews, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.
March 1, 2023
Author Wilkie, curator of medieval manuscripts and British history at the Huntington Library, Art Museum, and Botanical Gardens, crafts an engrossing, fast-paced, extremely well-researched biography of Alice Spencer, daughter of a prosperous, aristocratic sheep farmer, who would become one of the wealthiest and most powerful women in Tudor and Stuart England. Like many women of nobility, Alice expected to marry well. Her first husband, Fernando Stanley, Earl of Derby, was a cousin of Queen Elizabeth I. Now in the upper echelons of nobility, Alice navigated a male-dominated world with shrewd ingenuity, securing wealth and land for herself and her daughters. Ruthlessly challenging societal norms--battling her brother-in-law in court over her late husband's will, facing down intense family scandals--Alice built a veritable dynasty that continues to modern times, securing her children and grandchildren well-to-do spouses, lands, and vast riches. Views on the role of Tudor women are challenged in this devourable text, perfect for readers of biography, history, women's history, and anyone interested in the ancestors of Princess Diana.
COPYRIGHT(2023) Booklist, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.
March 1, 2023
Debut author Wilkie, curator of medieval manuscripts and British history at the Huntington Library, has written a captivating book that chronicles the life of Alice Stanley, the Countess of Derby. She was the daughter of Sir John Spencer, a knight, and an ancestor of Diana, Princess of Wales. As part of the wealthy gentry, her family aspired to nobility. It was vital that the Spencer children, especially the daughters, married men that furthered the family's fortunes. The book details Alice's marriage to Ferdinando Stanley, heir to the fourth Earl of Derby. There's also coverage of her widowhood, other events, and some scandals that affected her family, especially her daughters. When Alice died in 1637, she was extremely wealthy and surrounded by a carefully cultivated network of powerful and influential contacts. She relentlessly protected the interests of herself and her family, and her litigiousness makes fascinating reading. The book's strength lies in its clear explanations of legal concepts that affected women in the Tudor era, especially the intricacies of marriage contracts, being a co-heiress, and jointures. VERDICT With extensive notes, a bibliography, an index, and helpful genealogical trees, this snapshot of history is one to savor.--Penelope J.M. Klein
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