Montagu

ELIZABETH MONTAGU (1720 - 1800)

'The Queen of Literary London' for fifty years in the 18th century, Elizabeth Montagu was a frequent visitor to the family manor-house at East Denton Hall, a clean-lined mansion of 1622 on the West Road in Newcastle. She was much admired for her Essay on Shakespeare of 1769, and her London salon was graced by the leading men of the day. It was said that she would entertain anyone from kings to chimney-sweeps, but 'no idiots'. Doctor Johnson praised her conversation and called her 'Queen of the Blues'. The term 'bluestocking' had antecedents in Venice and Paris, and was applied in England to women of intellectual pretension.

Elizabeth visited Denton and the Montagu collieries frequently between 1758 and 1789, though on her first trip she was inclined to share her London friends' fears that Newcastle was within the Arctic Circle. At all events, she was soon quite at home in Newcastle, enjoying an energetic social life and ordering Northumbrian delicacies for her houses in London and Berkshire. She was a shrewd businesswoman, despite affecting to patronise Northumbrian society for its practical conversation. Though acting as Lady Bountiful to her miners and their families, she was pleased at how cheap this could be. She was also glad to note that: 'Our pitmen are afraid of being turned off and that fear keeps an order and regularity amongst them that is very uncommon.' Elizabeth enjoyed hearing the miners singing in the pit, but found, alas, that their dialect was 'dreadful to the auditors' nerves.'

Horace Walpole wrote to George Montagu in 1768: ‘Our best sun is Newcastle coal.’

Myers Literary Guide:	The North-East
ELIZABETH MONTAGU (1720 - 1800) 'The Queen of Literary London' for fifty years in the 18th century, Elizabeth Montagu was a frequent visitor to the family manor-house at East Denton Hall, a clean-lined mansion of 1622 on the West Road in Newcastle. She was much admired for her Essay on Shakespeare of 1769, and her London salon was graced by the leading men of the day. It was said that she would entertain anyone from kings to chimney-sweeps, but 'no idiots'. Doctor Johnson praised her conversation and called her 'Queen of the Blues'. The term 'bluestocking' had antecedents in Venice and Paris, and was applied in England to women of intellectual pretension. Elizabeth visited Denton and the Montagu collieries frequently between 1758 and 1789, though on her first trip she was inclined to share her London friends' fears that Newcastle was within the Arctic Circle. At all events, she was soon quite at home in Newcastle, enjoying an energetic social life and ordering Northumbrian delicacies for her houses in London and Berkshire. She was a shrewd businesswoman, despite affecting to patronise Northumbrian society for its practical conversation. Though acting as Lady Bountiful to her miners and their families, she was pleased at how cheap this could be. She was also glad to note that: 'Our pitmen are afraid of being turned off and that fear keeps an order and regularity amongst them that is very uncommon.' Elizabeth enjoyed hearing the miners singing in the pit, but found, alas, that their dialect was 'dreadful to the auditors' nerves.' Horace Walpole wrote to George Montagu in 1768: ‘Our best sun is Newcastle coal.’
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