Elizabeth Murray (1626-1698)

A woman of ruthless social and political ambition, Elizabeth Murray gained notoriety as a seventeenth century double agent, using her charms to entertain Oliver Cromwell, and all the while remaining loyal to the exiled King Charles II.

Elizabeth Murray was born in 1626, the eldest daughter of William Murray and Catherine Bruce.  Her father grew up with Charles I and fulfilled the role of ‘whipping boy’, being punished on behalf of the future king.  William was appointed Gentleman of the Bedchamber in 1625 and was a loyal supporter of Charles I during the Civil War, and was created Earl of Dysart in 1651.

Elizabeth was a determined child with an enquiring mind, and her parents gave her an intellectual education, embracing mathematics, philosophy, divinity and history.  She grew into an attractive and ambitious woman, her red hair indicative of her fiery temperament and dominant manner.  She married an unassuming but rich Suffolk landowner, Sir Lionel Tollemache, in 1648 and gave birth to eleven children, five of whom survived to adulthood.

After her mother’s death in 1649, she held court at her parent’s home, Ham House, conveniently situated on the River Thames between Whitehall and Hampton Court.  It was here that Elizabeth charmed Oliver Cromwell, while working for the secret society, The Sealed Knot.  Despite her husband’s entreaties to give up her dangerous espionage, she travelled on the continent, passing coded messages to the exiled king and his supporters, operating under the pseudonym ‘Mrs Legge’.

Elizabeth was justly rewarded for her loyalty, and was given a pension of £800 a year when Charles II was restored to the throne in 1660.  She had inherited suo jure her father’s title on his death in 1655 and her position as a woman of power and influence attracted the attention of John Maitland, Earl of Lauderdale, who was Secretary of State for Scotland and a loyal supporter of the king.  He was a man of great intellect, and equal ruthlessness.

When Lionel Tollemache died in 1669, Elizabeth’s friendship with Lauderdale became closer.  Lauderdale’s wife died in 1671 and within four months of her funeral he and Elizabeth were married.  A few months later, in May 1672, Lauderdale was made a duke and the couple were at the height of their power and prestige, matching each other in reputation and ambition.  They lived in ostentatious splendour, remodelling Ham House and their lodgings at Whitehall, as well as their three Scottish properties and apartments at Holyrood Palace.  They introduced the latest interior fashions from France and laid out splendid gardens designed to impress.  At Ham House, a suite of rooms was fitted out with lavish decorations to accommodate Queen Catherine of Braganza, the wife of Charles II.  Elizabeth ensured that her presence was dominant in these ostentatious rooms by emblazoning her initials and cypher onto silverwork, marquetry and scagliola, impressing her power on the queen and other favoured guests.

With such power came opposition, and there were accusations of greed and corruption, arrogance and haughtiness.  A contemporary commentator presented a provocative image of Lauderdale: ‘[he] made but an ill appearance, his hair red, his tongue too big for his mouth, and his whole manner rough’.  Elizabeth’s character was expressed by the derisory statement: ‘She was violent in everything she set about, a violent friend, but a still more violent enemy’.

Inevitably, Elizabeth and Lauderdale were to fall from grace.  Lauderdale suffered a stroke, was forced to resign from office and was deprived of his positions and pensions.  He died in 1682 and Elizabeth was left alone at Ham House, locked in a bitter legal dispute with Lauderdale’s family over the duke’s funeral expenses.  Their extravagance and excess had come at a cost, and Elizabeth was faced with huge debts, forcing her to mortgage Ham House and sell her silver and jewels.  Her sisters had all died, her two younger sons were killed in battle in 1694 and her other children lived too far away for companionship.  Crippled by gout, she lived her final years alone and reclusive at Ham House and died there in 1698.

Further reading:

Rosemary Baird, Mistress of the House: Great Ladies and Grand Houses 1670-1830, 2004

Susan Bracken et al, Women Patrons and Collectors, 2012

Christopher Rowell, Ham House, 1995

Charles Blondin (1824-1897)

The history of funambulation reaches back to the Ancient Greeks, but it is tightrope walker Charles Blondin who is remembered for his remarkable crossing of Niagara Falls.

Jean-François Émile Gravelet was born near St Omar in France in 1824, changing his name to Charles Blondin in 1851.  He took an early interest in tightrope walking, and at five years old was enrolled at the École de Gymnase in Lyons, a prestigious school for acrobatic training.  Within six months he had made his first public appearance, billed as ‘The Little Wonder’.

When he was ten years old, Blondin’s father died, prompting him to leave school and join the circus.  He performed all over Europe as part of various troupes until in 1851 he joined the famous Ravel family of acrobats and toured America.  While in New York, he met Charlotte, whom he married in 1853, and their first three children were born on tour.  In 1858 he visited Niagara Falls and determined to cross the famous waterfall on a tightrope.  The stunt took over a year to plan: permission was at first denied and financing proved difficult as no-one believed the crossing possible.

On 30 June 1859 a rope was strung 340 metres across Niagara Falls, nearly 50 metres above the water.  Watched by a crowd of over 10,000 people, Blondin walked from the American to the Canadian side of the Falls in 17 minutes, stopping halfway to lie down for a rest.  Over the next few weeks, eight further crossings were promoted, each incorporating various thrilling stunts: walking blindfolded, on stilts, pushing a wheelbarrow, taking photographs, carrying his manager on his back, pulling up a drink from a boat moored below, sitting down midway to cook and eat an omelette.

The Prince of Wales, on a tour of America and Canada in 1860, had watched Blondin cross Niagara Falls and invited him to perform in London.  In 1861, Blondin came to Britain, recreating his famous Niagara Falls stunts at the Crystal Palace with a rope stretched across the central transept 20 metres above the ground.  He toured the provinces, performing with a sack over his head at the Royal Botanic Gardens in Edinburgh, pushing a lion in a wheelbarrow in Liverpool and surviving a broken rope in Dublin.

Blondin had gained considerable fame and enough money to buy a large house in Finchley Road in London, which he named ‘Niagara Villa’.  His showmanship continued with tours of Europe, South America, India, Australia and New Zealand.  In 1879 an unknown financial disaster prompted the sale of his house and a move to a more modest home in Ealing, followed by further performances in Europe, Ceylon and New York.

His wife died in 1888 and in 1895 he married Catherine, who had nursed him following a back injury sustained at a performance in Blackpool.  The Great Blondin’s final performance was at Belfast in 1896, aged 72.  The following year he died and is buried in Kensal Green Cemetery.

Further reading:

George Linnaeus Banks, Blondin: His Life and Performances, 2012 (reprint of 1862 text)

Ken Wilson, Everybody’s Heard of Blondin, 1990