Women’s history at the Georgian House

Within the walls of the Georgian House on Charlotte Square, the lives of extraordinary women echo through time. From pioneering botanists to fearless suffragettes, and from the Caribbean to the drawing rooms of Edinburgh’s New Town, the house is connected to a remarkable range of women whose stories have often gone untold. Through the collection and spaces of the Georgian House, their experiences come into focus – revealing the vital roles they played in shaping not only this home, but the broader cultural, scientific, and political landscape of their time.

The drawing room

This is where Edinburgh’s social circles came together. The Lamonts (the first residents of the Georgian House) belonged to the congregation at Charlotte Chapel in Shandwick Place. Perhaps the chapel’s minister, Rev Christopher Anderson, and his wife, Esther Athill Anderson, were entertained in this room? Esther grew up on the Caribbean Island of Antigua. Her father was the Chief Justice, her mother a free Caribbean woman. Like many other Black women of her time, her thoughts and feelings were not preserved. She was educated in Paisley, Scotland and married in 1816. What would Esther’s experience have been socialising in Edinburgh’s elite regency circles? She is buried in Old Calton Burial Ground.

Skip forward 70 years to the fourth owners of the house, Jane Whyte and her husband, Reverend Alexander Whyte. Both were social reformers. Jane held many women’s rights meetings in the house, and took on the role of minister’s wife in its various pastoral aspects, but was also involved in her philanthropic work. She was a key figure in establishing the Edinburgh Social Union in 1885, which addressed social issues arising from poverty in the city. In 1906, Jane visited Abdu’l-Baha in Palestine. The two became close friends, and in 1913, she invited him to stay at 7 Charlotte Square, where he gave a talk on the Bahá’í Faith and women’s rights.

The parlour

The end of the Georgian period saw an increase in female authors making their mark on the literary world.  There is a monument near the Georgian House dedicated to Catherine Sinclair, who grew up in Edinburgh’s New Town during the Regency period. She wrote dozens of literary works covering a variety of genres. She is most famous for her children’s stories. Her bestseller, Holiday House, tells the tale of adventurous youths and their watchful guardians. Sinclair is also credited with revealing the author behind the anonymously published Waverley Stories – Sir Walter Scott.

The bookcase in the parlour also has a copy of essays by Catherine Talbot, an early member of the Bluestockings Society. The society was comprised of unmarried literary women. From various personal letters and essays, it’s evident that Catherine and another member of the society, Elizabeth Carter, shared a profound emotional bond. On Catherine’s death, she left her writings to Elizabeth, who later published them. The book was then republished by Elizabeth’s nephew, who included additional correspondence between Elizabeth and Catherine. In the foreword, he suggests that after Elizabeth met Catherine, all her thoughts of marriage ceased.

The bedroom

The drapes on the bed were embroidered by its owner, Lady Mary Hog, in 1774. The Indian cotton counterpane, dating back to the 1790s, demonstrates the influence of Britain’s colonies in India on domestic fashion and design. Romanticised ideas and images of nature were popular during the Georgian period.

Edinburgh’s Royal Botanic Garden holds Lady Christian Dalhousie’s East Indian collection of dried plant specimens. Lady Dalhousie was a self-taught botanist who accompanied her husband on postings overseas, where she made extensive collections of native plants in British North America and India in the 1820s and 1830s. She sent detailed letters home to her family in Scotland, revealing the extent of her plant-collecting activities.

Above the dressing table hangs a portrait of Lucy De Loutherbourg, who was a talented alchemist and occultist. She worked alongside her second husband, Philippe, in his alchemical lab. Together, they engaged in ritual magic and opened a faith-healing clinic in London. Lucy also managed and monitored Philippe’s public image as a magician.