Viewers of the television series, Downton Abbey will be familiar with the character of Cora, who as Lady Grantham, is the glamorous American wife of the English landed aristocrat, Lord Grantham. This storyline is a reference to the widespread phenomenon in the late-nineteenth century of American heiresses marrying influential figures from the British establishment, and often becoming charismatic leaders of society in their own right. The current display at the National Portrait Gallery ‘Old Titles and New Money: American Heiresses and the British Aristocracy’ introduces some real-life Coras who married into the British aristocracy, enlivened high-society with their transatlantic charms and boosted the economies of flagging country estates. …
By
Emily Burns, Assistant Curator: Van Dyck
25 June 2015
