This document summarizes the rights and responsibilities of American heiresses who married into British aristocracy during the Gilded Age. Wealthy American families saw transatlantic marriages as a way to gain social status and prestige in Europe. American heiresses brought large dowries that helped save financially troubled British aristocratic families. However, the heiresses also had increased responsibilities to their new families and communities in Britain. They were expected to maintain their family's reputation and influence politics through their social activities. While some British nobility welcomed the wealth, others viewed the American women as invaders threatening British society. Overall, the marriages had complex impacts and helped shape relations between America and Britain in the late 19th century.

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THE RIGHTS AND RESPONSIBILITIES OF AMERICAN HEIRESSES IN
TRANSATLANTIC MARRIAGES DURING THE GILDED AGE
Patricia Ploehn
Historical Paper – Senior Division
March 2014

2. 2
The emergence of a self-made American upper-class during the Reconstruction period
after the Civil War introduced social exclusiveness and high competition between the “nouveaux
riches.” The privileges that the daughters of these families acquired allowed them into some of
the highest social circles in America. With new privileges come new responsibilities. If they
were not admitted into “the most hallowed circles” of the elite then these daughters, thinking of
the increased responsibilities towards their families, began to seek out the noble aristocrats in
Europe, especially Englishmen, for husbands. This search led to an increase in transatlantic
marriages between American heiresses wedding men with inherited titles and aristocratic British
saving their households with their wives’ dowries. These transatlantic marriages would help
shape the relationship between America and Britain into the 20th century.
The foundation for a new upper class in America had been laid during the 1820s and
1830s with the success of merchants and bankers under President Andrew Jackson.1 Their
progress was accelerated drastically when the Gilded Age began. Men such as Cornelius
Vanderbilt, John D. Rockefeller, and Andrew Carnegie created financial empires from
practically nothing and made millions of dollars in enterprises such as shipping and
manufacturing. They also had significant influence over stock markets and politics,2 giving them
political and social power in addition to wealth. These men became role models for many others
who wished to become millionaires and power brokers like them.
The title of “upper class” during the Gilded Age became synonymous with those born
into wealthy American families. Sons were taught the importance of their lineage, and how
necessary it was to remember their family lineage. Daughters were reminded that the reputation
1
Maureen Montgomery, GildedProstitution: Status, Money,andTransatlanticMarriages, 1870-1914,(London ; NewYork: Routledge, 1989).
2
Elisabeth Kehoe, TheTitled Americans: ThreeAmericanSisters andthe British AristocraticWorld into Which TheyMarried, (NewYork:
AtlanticMonthly,2004).

3. 3
and traditions of the family would be theirs to maintain one day,3 through marriage and the
upbringing of their own children. Children grew up in lavishly decorated homes, surrounded by
art and architecture that normal citizens could never afford to have. These children grew
comfortable around the massive parties and large dinners that their families hosted. Parents left
their children in nurseries with nannies at a very young age, “to provide [them] with highly
structured, methodical, and well-regulated routines.”4 Education was a very important factor in
the home, especially for daughters; these girls had new opportunities to be educated, but their
knowledge was only used to captivate and interest British aristocratic men with their ability to
talk about a wide variety of subjects. Lessons on etiquette and manners were part of the normal
routine, along with studies in religion, astronomy, history, foreign languages, and the arts. Visits
with their governesses to museums and national galleries were common.5 Mothers were pleased
to learn that their daughters would grow up to be dignified and able to engage in conversation.
Fathers like Leonard Jerome, who was a New York financier, the father of Jennie Jerome (the
future Lady Randolph Churchill), and the grandfather of the British Prime Minister Winston
Churchill, were proud of their daughters’ achievements and skills.6
Most wealthy Americans were able to take their families on vacations and extended stays
outside of the United States, especially in Europe, where they could flaunt their wealth and status
as elites. Many women, heiresses and aristocrats alike, grew in maturity during these family
trips. Lady Constance Primrose, daughter of the Scottish politician Archibald Primrose, Lord
Dalmeny and future wife of Henry Wyndham, 2nd Baron of Leconfield, kept a diary and recorded
3
Pamela Horn,Ladies of the Manor:Wives and Daughters in Country-house Society,1830-1918, (Gloucestershire: A. Sutton,1991).
4
Olwen Claire Niessen, Aristocracy, Temperance andSocial Reform:The Life of Lady HenrySomerset, (London: Tauris Academic Studies,
2007).
5
Horn, Ladies.
6
Kehoe, Titled.

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the beauty and grace of the cultures and luxurious European locations where she visited.7
Sometimes, recording their experiences was required as a part of these heiress’s educations; the
American heiress Consuelo Vanderbilt Balsan, who was the daughter of William Vanderbilt (the
second son of Cornelius Vanderbilt) and married Charles Spencer-Churchill, 9th Duke of
Marlborough, said in her autobiography The Glitter and the Gold that as a young girl, “…even
sightseeing on our visits ashore [overseas] became part of our education…we were expected to
write an account of all we had seen.”8 These heiresses began, at very young ages, to “affront
their destinies” by showing off their abilities and family’s wealth.9
Although women during this time had many new rights that they could enjoy, they also
had increased responsibilities to their families and communities. Along with the education they
received, girls were also taught that they would become a sort of “Lady Bountiful,” a benefactor
for the future area in which they lived. Many young women recall traveling with their mothers to
donate clothing and food to charities.10 They applied some of their skills, like sewing and
reading, to help the unfortunate by fixing old clothing or by reading to children. They also visited
the elderly and sick; Consuelo Vanderbilt recalls traveling as a girl with her governess to visit a
workman’s sick daughter and seeing the deplorable conditions the workman’s family lived in.
Balsan was grateful that her governess allowed her to see the “inequalities of human destinies”,
saying, “…it was from her I learned the happiness helping others brings.” She was able to
appreciate the good services done by her mother and governess, and she said that it impacted her
for the rest of her life; after divorcing her first husband, Balsan remarried and became active in
7
Horn, Ladies.
8 Consuelo Vanderbilt Balsan, The Glitter andthe Gold: TheAmerican Duchess - In Her Own Words, (NewYork: Harper,1952).
9
Montgomery, Gilded.
10
Horn, Ladies.

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public works, which included building a hospital for the Parisian working class.11 These
charitable acts showed the lower classes that the wealthy were not cold and distant, but were
warm, inviting, and ready to help others.
Creating ties with their community was important, but even more so were the
responsibilities these women had towards their families. The families’ daughters were the
“jewels” of their households, the new members of society upon whom everyone was focused.
Whatever they did was documented in newspapers, like the popular middle-class periodical The
Lady’s Pictorial, which depicted the fashions and social events of the rich. They became icons
for the lower classes; the clothing they wore and the places they went were emulated as much as
possible by those less able to afford such luxuries. The daughters thus had important roles in
maintaining the family’s image in high society as well as the general public.
The ultimate responsibility of a young lady of the upper class was to marry and raise
children. Women of high social status, upon their “coming out” between the ages of 16 and 18,
were required to showcase their skills and attributes both within their own social circles, and the
circles they aspired to be in. British socialite Frances Maynard, who became the Countess of
Warwick, remembers being, “‘fêted, feasted, courted, and adored’” during her coming out
period.12 Being eloquent and charming as a débutante would attract a suitable match and allow
the girls to become engaged as soon as possible. Hosting the right kind of parties and wearing the
perfect style of clothing was a must; jewelry was large and obvious, like Lady Arthur Paget’s
lavishly decorated dress for the Devonshire House Ball in 1897. Her clothing is embroidered
with many precious jewels, which makes a statement about her wealth.13 Many times the parties
11
Balsan, The Glitter.
12
Horn, Ladies.
13
Photograph, Mrs. Arthur Paget at theDevonshire House Ball.1897. 15inches x 12 inches. The Victoria andAlbert Museum. From: The
LafayetteNegativeArchive,http://lafayette.org.uk/pag1400a.html (accessedon November 11, 2013).

6. 6
would incorporate themes, like the one Lady Randolph Churchill (the mother of Winston
Churchill) attended later in her married life, where she dressed as the Byzantine Empress
Theodora. Her crown and royal dress accentuate the riches these women were able to afford.14
Women had to try their best to woo a man of the highest possible social standing. If a lady was
not successful in her first season, then she would have to compete with new sets of women
during the successive seasons. With each passing season, the chance for them to find ideal
husbands significantly decreased.
After entering society through the “coming out” process, it was a young lady’s duty
towards her family to marry well and produce an heir. Marriage was the climax of a wealthy
girl’s life, and she competed with other women in her social circle for the richest, most
fashionable and well-to-do men of the time. In America, if a wealthy family was not on Mrs.
Astor’s esteemed “Four Hundred” list (a list of the most prestigious and well-known families in
the United States at the time), then their children had little hope of marrying into any upper class
families besides those in their immediate social circles.15 This situation is what prompted Mrs.
Clara Jerome, wife of Leonard Jerome and mother of the future Lady Randolph Churchill, to
move her family from New York to Paris, where they could “mingle with royalty” and have her
daughters presented in the royal courts.16 However, because of turmoil in France, they were later
forced to move to England, where her daughter Jennie Jerome met Lord Randolph Churchill.
They were completely taken with each other, and married soon after meeting one another.17
14
Photograph, Lady Randolph Churchill at the Devonshire House Ball. 1897. 15inches x 12inches. The Victoria andAlbert Museum.From: The
LafayetteNegativeArchive,http://lafayette.org.uk/chu1467e.html (accessedon November 11, 2013).
15
Pat Ryan, "For Edith Wharton’s Birthday,Hail UltimateSocial Climbers." New York Times. Last modifiedJanuary 19, 2012.AccessedOctober
22, 2013. <http://www.nytimes.com/2012/01/20/books/heiresses-of-whartons-era-in-fashion-on-her-150th-birthday.html?_r=1&>.
16
Kehoe, Titled.
17
Charles Higham, Dark Lady:Winston Churchill's Mother and Her World, (NewYork: Carroll & Graf, 2007).

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Other heiresses were not as lucky as Jerome. Many were not ready to marry, because they
were still in their late teenage years and had yet to gain any life experience. They were constantly
reminded that “‘romantic attachment is confined to novels and novel-readers.’”18 These women
were young adults who had ambitions and personal hopes, but were eventually forced into early
marriages by family members, especially mothers.
Many heiresses in America were seen as solutions to the problems that young British
aristocratic men faced in England. These men had their own responsibility to continue the family
line, but when a “decline in land values and in agricultural rents” bankrupted many landed
estates, a large number of British men found their debts were increasing into the millions of
pounds sterling.19 These young men needed wives that could provide, through their own
independent finances and personal incomes,20 a sizeable dowry to save their land.21 The annual
income that a husband received from his wife could be as much as £40,000 per year or more,
which would certainly be enough to guarantee the survival of most inherited estates.22 American
heiresses brought over with them an estimated £1 billion in today’s monetary values.23 In return,
the American families would be presented with an aristocratic title of some sort, as well as a
higher social position in Europe compared to those in the top echelons of American society.
The change from an American society to an English one was a bit shocking for some
heiresses. Their families in America benefitted from the press they received when their
daughter’s marriage was announced in fashion and wealth articles, and their social statuses rose
18
Horn, Ladies.
19
DavidCannadine, Aspects of Aristocracy: Grandeur andDeclinein Modern Britain,(NewHaven: Yale UP, 1994).
20
F.M.L. Thompson, TheRise of Respectable Society: A Social History of Victorian Britain,1830-1900, (Cambridge, MA: HarvardUP, 1988).
21
DavidSpring, ed., EuropeanLandedElites in the Nineteenth Century,(Baltimore: Johns Hopkins UP, 1977).
22
Adeline Hartcup, Love andMarriage in theGreat Country Houses,(London: Sidgwick & Jackson, 1984).
23
Adrian Lee. "TheWoman WhoSavedDownton: HowAmerica’s Dollar Princesses Marriedintothe CrumblingBritishAristocracy." Mail
Online. Last modifiedOctober 1, 2012.AccessedOctober22,2013. <http://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-2211179/Downton-
Abbey-prequel-How-Americas-Dollar-Princesses-married-crumbling-British-aristocracy.html>.

8. 8
as a result. The married women, however, felt isolated and lonely without the constancy of their
family around them; many wished that they had gained more experience managing a household
before marriage.24 There were multiple trips to their husband’s family houses, and everywhere
they were greeted with music announcing their arrival, large crowds (sometimes even full
villages), and gifts from each community member. 25 This eased the transition into becoming a
mother and mistress of the household, because they knew that there were people surrounding
them who supported them and wished them well. Realizing their influence over the countryside,
some heiresses became politically active. When their husbands campaigned for positions in the
House of Commons or other leadership roles, their wives campaigned right along with them,
canvassing and speaking on their behalf. Often, they organized parties and gatherings to
encourage attendees to vote for their husbands.26 Although these women did not yet have any
real political rights, they certainly used their influence as icons and figures of the upper class.27
Some of these aristocratic men would not have achieved any political success had it not been for
the influence of their American wives in British society.
American heiresses were often met with mixed thoughts from the urban British within
established social circles. The British watched as America tore itself apart during the Civil War;
many British aristocrats chose sides and fought over whether the South had a constitution-based
right to secede, or if the North and its abolitionists were more worthy of their support.28
However, by the time the Civil War ended and new millionaires began emerging in the United
States, American women became “rivals” to British upper class women. American girls were
24 Horn, Ladies.
25 Hartcup, LoveandMarriage.
26 Horn, Ladies.
27 Hartcup, LoveandMarriage.
28
K.D. Reynolds, Aristocratic WomenandPoliticalSociety in VictorianBritain,(Oxford: Clarendon,1998).

9. 9
oftentimes viewed as “invaders” who “were greedily snatching the most eligible young men.”29
The English royal society closed themselves off from these Americans, because they were not
originally of royal decent and were ostentatiously flaunting their money to attract a husband.30
Not all of England felt this way, though. After the end of the Civil War many British
men, like David Ogilvy, 11th Earl of Airlie, saw opportunities in the American West. Ogilvy
became interested in America while touring the Great Lakes iron-ore region with a group of
American financiers; he later became involved in American ranching and invested in land in the
frontier.31 British middle class women were becoming increasingly interested in the American
suffragette movement and traveled over the Atlantic to go to meetings, march in parades, and
bring back information that they could use to start their own operations.32 There were quite a few
members of high society that had no qualms about their sons marrying the daughters of business
and manufacturing moguls. The Baroness of Alderly, who married the British politician Edward
Stanley, 2nd Baron Stanley of Alderly, allowed her son to marry the daughter of a steel tycoon.
Henry John Temple, 3rd Viscount Palmerston, a British statesman who served as Foreign
Secretary and Prime minister, commented that, “‘before the century is out these clever and pretty
women from New York will pull the strings in half the chancelleries in Europe.’”33 Overall,
England was becoming increasingly aware of the impact that Americans had on them, as they
saw changes occur in the cultures and elite societies in the United States.34
29
Horn, Ladies.
30
Hartcup, Love and Marriage.
31
Mabell Frances Elizabeth Ogilvy, Thatchedwith Gold: TheMemoirs of Mabell, Countries of Airlie, Comp.JenniferEllis, 5th ed. (London:
Hutchinson, 1962).
32
Olwen Claire Niessen, Aristocracy, Temperance andSocial Reform:The Life of Lady HenrySomerset, (London: Tauris Academic Studies,
2007).
33 Hartcup, LoveandMarriage.
34
F.M.L. Thompson, TheRise.

10. 10
The American viewpoint was quite different than that of the British. Newspapers printed
articles about the popular marriages between heiresses and British elites, keeping track of who
married whom. The media criticized British aristocrats who hastily married heiresses for money
because of their financial situation, publishing “list[s] of available dukes” and ironically asking
women how much they would “bid” for a British man.35 Between 1815 and 1860, more than 22
million immigrants from the United Kingdom moved to America for better work opportunities.36
Ironically, migration reversed from poor immigrants coming to America to wealthy women
ready to leave America, share their inheritance, and produce heirs with British men they
sometimes barely knew. Americans wanted the luxurious and leisurely lifestyles that the English
high societies long enjoyed,37 and they were willing to send their daughters overseas to achieve
that objective.
The introduction of the transatlantic marriages between American heiresses and British
aristocratic men was important in shaping the relationship between America and England. The
privileges that these women were able to enjoy, plus their responsibilities towards their families
and communities, propelled them onto the European stage. British aristocratic men became
dependent on the money and influence their wives had. The effect that American heiresses had
on British society would last far beyond the Gilded Age. The two countries were now world
powers who shared social, economic, and political ties. No longer was England a haughty villain;
Americans constantly traveled to England to enjoy their sophisticated society. Similarly, the
British admired the way the United States was forming into a peaceful – yet powerful – example
35
Hartcup, Love and Marriage.
36
Colin Matthew, ed., The NineteenthCentury: The BritishIsles 1815-1901, vol. 9 of theThe Short Oxford Historyof the British Isles series
(Oxford: OxfordUniv.,2000).
37
Keith Middlemas, Pursuit of Pleasure: HighSocietyin the 1900s, (London: Gordon & Cremonesi, 1977).

11. 11
of democracy and determination.38 The fact that each country recognized the other’s authority
was important in shaping a relationship that each would be thankful for in the years leading to
World War I and beyond.
38
Charles S. Campbell, "Anglo-American Amity," in TheTransformationof AmericanForeignRelations, 1865-1900,(NewYork: Harper &
Row, 1976), 332-33.

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Appendix A
This is an image of Mrs. Arthur Paget, later Lady Paget, posing for the Devonshire House Ball
in Piccadilly, London, United Kingdom in 1897. Mrs. Paget is dressed as the Egyptian ruler
Cleopatra. Her costume is made of black crêpe de chine, and is adorned with gold and jewels
such as diamonds, emeralds, pearls, sapphires, amber, and rubies. The bodice is embroidered
with gold scarabs.

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Appendix B
This is an image of Lady Randolph Churchill, previously known as the American heiress Jennie
Jerome. Here she is pictured at The Lafayette Studio in London, United Kingdom, posing for the
Devonshire House Ball in 1897. She is dressed as the Byzantine Empress Theodora, and wears a
dress made of Eastern fabric with cream, green, gold and mauve coloring, is adorned with a
crown, and holds a scepter and orb.

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Annotated Bibliography
PRIMARY:
Consuelo Vanderbilt Balsan, The Glitter and the Gold: The American Duchess - In Her Own
Words, (New York: Harper, 1952).
 This book depicts the life of Consuelo Vanderbilt, one of the most prominent American
heiresses during the late 19th century. She talks through her childhood and the constant
demands of her mother, who wants to marry Consuelo off to someone she does not love.
She eventually marries the 9th Duke of Marlborough, thought it is an unhappy marriage
at the end. Consuelo describes every detail of life in Blenheim Palace and the household
and family that she is supposed to run, but has no idea how to do.
Mabell Frances Elizabeth Ogilvy, Thatched with Gold: The Memoirs of Mabell, Countries of
Airlie, Comp. Jennifer Ellis, 5th ed. (London: Hutchinson, 1962).
 Personal memoirs of the Countess of Airlie depicting life in a manor home.
Photograph, Mrs. Arthur Paget at the Devonshire House Ball. 1897. 15 inches x 12 inches. The
Victoria and Albert Museum. From: The Lafayette Negative Archive,
http://lafayette.org.uk/pag1400a.html (accessed on November 11, 2013).
 This picture depicts Mrs. Arthur Paget, aka Minnie Stevens, at a house ball given in the
late 1890s. Mrs. Paget was an American-born woman, who married Sir Arthur Paget and
moved to the UK.

15. 15
Photograph, Lady Randolph Churchill at the Devonshire House Ball. 1897. 15 inches x 12
inches. The Victoria and Albert Museum. From: The Lafayette Negative Archive,
http://lafayette.org.uk/chu1467e.html (accessed on November 11, 2013).
 Lady Randolph Churchill was also an American heiress who married an aristocrat. These
pictures accurately depict the integration of Americans into British society.
SECONDARY:
Adeline Hartcup, Love and Marriage in the Great Country Houses, (London: Sidgwick &
Jackson, 1984).
 This book focuses on the increased stress and duty that women in “great country houses”
had in finding a suitable husband and producing and heir.
Adrian Lee. "The Woman Who Saved Downton: How America’s Dollar Princesses Married into
the Crumbling British Aristocracy." Mail Online. Last modified October 1, 2012.
Accessed October 22, 2013. <http://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-
2211179/Downton-Abbey-prequel-How-Americas-Dollar-Princesses-married-crumbling-
British-aristocracy.html>.
 This news article by Adrian Lee provides readers with basic information about why so
many American heiresses moved to Europe to marry manor lords, with ties to Downton
Abbey.
Charles Higham, Dark Lady: Winston Churchill's Mother and Her World, (New York: Carroll &
Graf, 2007).

16. 16
 Lady Randolph Churchill was born Jeanette Jerome, daughter to an American financier.
She married Lord Randolph Churchill and was the mother to the later Prime Minister
Winston Churchill. This book is about her life as a young woman, her marriage, and her
life in the British aristocratic society.
Charles S. Campbell, "Anglo-American Amity," in The Transformation of American Foreign
Relations, 1865-1900, (New York: Harper & Row, 1976), 332-33.
 This section speaks about the improved relations between England and America during
the Gilded Age, when so many Americans were travelling and living in Europe,
especially in England.
Colin Matthew, ed., The Nineteenth Century: The British Isles 1815-1901, vol. 9 of the The Short
Oxford History of the British Isles series (Oxford: Oxford Univ., 2000).
 Part of a series about the British Isles, this volume talks about the 19th century, including
the new ideas on religion, society, and suffrage.
David Cannadine, Aspects of Aristocracy: Grandeur and Decline in Modern Britain, (New
Haven: Yale UP, 1994).
 This book takes readers through the Victorian age, commenting on the problems people
faced during the time, the elite upper class, and certain individuals important to this time
period.
David Spring, ed., European Landed Elites in the Nineteenth Century, (Baltimore: Johns
Hopkins UP, 1977).

17. 17
 This informational book talks about what trials the “landed elites” had to go through,
including marriage and keeping up a family.
Elisabeth Kehoe, The Titled Americans: Three American Sisters and the British Aristocratic
World into Which They Married, (New York: Atlantic Monthly, 2004).
 The story of the Jerome sisters and their entrance into the aristocratic society of England.
F.M.L. Thompson, The Rise of Respectable Society: A Social History of Victorian Britain, 1830-
1900, (Cambridge, MA: Harvard UP, 1988).
 This focuses on the lives of the middle - upper class, and includes information about
marriage, family life, and social customs.
K.D. Reynolds, Aristocratic Women and Political Society in Victorian Britain, (Oxford:
Clarendon, 1998).
 Women were not allowed to be a part of political life, but this is especially apparent
during the Victorian period, when they were mainly supposed to run good households
and give birth to heirs. This book is about the changes that came about because of new
suffrage.
Keith Middlemas, Pursuit of Pleasure: High Society in the 1900s, (London: Gordon &
Cremonesi, 1977).
 Book about the pastimes and obligations that those in elite society enjoyed/faced.
Maureen Montgomery, Gilded Prostitution: Status, Money, and Transatlantic Marriages, 1870-
1914, (London ; New York: Routledge, 1989).

18. 18
 This is one of the more important and influential books that I checked out. It talks about
the changes that came about in the USA after the Civil War, what led to the formation of
the new upper social class made up of “self-made” men, the pressures for women in these
new elite positions in America to marry aristocrats in England, and the relationship
between America and Britain because of the influx in Americans living in the UK.
Olwen Claire Niessen, Aristocracy, Temperance and Social Reform: The Life of Lady Henry
Somerset, (London: Tauris Academic Studies, 2007).
 A biography about Lady Henry Somerset, a British aristocratic woman who was a major
supporter and campaigner for women’s rights during the 1870s - 1920s; this support she
gave went against practically everything women were taught back then.
Pamela Horn, Ladies of the Manor: Wives and Daughters in Country-house Society, 1830-1918,
(Gloucestershire: A. Sutton, 1991).
 The lives of young women and the influence that their mothers and other family members
had on them between 1830 and 1918, before WWI.
Pat Ryan, "For Edith Wharton’s Birthday, Hail Ultimate Social Climbers." New York Times. Last
modified January 19, 2012. Accessed October 22, 2013.
<http://www.nytimes.com/2012/01/20/books/heiresses-of-whartons-era-in-fashion-on-
her-150th-birthday.html?_r=1&>.
 Edith Wharton was born in New York, during the time period between the 19th and 20th
century. She wrote multiple novels about the society she grew up in, the upper class New
Yorkers. The article describes how these upper class citizens achieved the amount of

19. 19
money that made them able to marry lords: the increase in production and new industrial
opportunities presented to them.