The Victorian Royal Nursery attempts to shed more light Mariusz Misztal on the nursery for the children of Queen Victoria. It examines the creation, organisation, and financing of the nursery, with a consideration of the most important individuals who looked after the Royal children, namely the medical staff, wet nurses, monthly nurses, permanent nurses, governesses and subgovernesses. The study is based mostly on the numerous The Victorian Royal Nursery unpublished documents from the Royal Archives at Windsor as well as the hitherto little-known or unknown sources like the journal of the royal accoucheur Dr Robert Ferguson 1840-1865 1840-1865 or the diary of head-nurse Mrs Ann Thurston. Creation, Organisation, Staff, Financing sery From the review of The Victorian Royal Nursery, 1840–1865: Nur This is an original and important research project [… ]. oyal In The Victorian Royal Nursery Mr Misztal brings a scholarly, R tightly-focussed approach to a part of the Victorian Royal Household which until now has only received passing references in the literature. This superb study gives a full, definitive account of a part of the life of Queen Victoria which has been largely neglected [… ]. Victorian No one has written in such detail about the royal nursery, and that in itself represents a vital contribution to royal scholarship. The new material which Misztal has discovered sheds new light The on the Queen’s mental and emotional state after childbirth… This gives substance to Albert’s later fears about Victoria’s mental state and the rumours that she had inherited the madness of King George III. [… ] The footnotes are excellent and full of additional material [...]. Misztal This is an outstanding piece of research. It is a definitive account, and it will become indispensable. Professor Jane Ridley, Mariusz author of Bertie: A Life of Edward VII and Queen Victoria: A Short Life Also available in ebook format www.universitas.com.pl universitas The Victorian Royal Nursery 1840-1865 Mariusz Misztal The Victorian Royal Nursery 1840-1865 Creation, Organisation, Staff, Financing Krakow Publikacja dofinansowana przez Uniwersytet Pedagogiczny im. Komisji Edukacji Narodowej w Krakowie © Copyright by Mariusz Misztal and Towarzystwo Autorów i Wydawców Prac Naukowych UNIVERSITAS, Kraków 2020 ISBN 978-83-242-3618-3 e-ISBN 978-83-242-6485-8 TAiWPN UNIVERSITAS Reviewed by Professor Jane Ridley Edited by Agnieszka Boniatowska Every effort has been made to trace or contact all copyright-holders. The publishers will be pleased to make good any omissions or rectify any mistakes brought to their attention at the earliest opportunity Frontispiece The Royal Children in the Nursery, c.1846-50s, lithograph printed by Dean & Co. Courtesy of Royal Collection Trust/© Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II 2020. A scene of Queen Victoria and Prince Albert in the nursery of their children. The Queen sits at the left with the infant Helena on her knee, with Prince Alfred and Princess Alice on either side. Prince Albert stands at the centre, with the Prince of Wales and the Princess Royal to the right. Attended by a female figure and with a view of the interior of the nursery in the background. Cover design Sepielak www.universitas.com.pl CONTENTS LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS 7 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS 9 INTRODUCTION 11 I. THE PREGNANCIES AND CONFINEMENTS 13 1. 1840–1844: THE FIRST FOUR CHILDREN 13 2. 1846–1857: THE YOUNGER CHILDREN 65 II. THE ORGANISATION OF THE NURSERY 93 1. NURSERY RULES AND THE FIRST NURSERY SUPERINTENDENTS 93 2. THE CONFIDANTE: LOUISE LEHZEN 100 3. BARON STOCKMAR’S 1842 NURSERY MEMORANDUM 121 4. THE GOVERNESS: LADY LYTTELTON 129 5. LADY CAROLINE BARRINGTON AND THE SUB-GOVERNESSES 161 III. THE MEDICAL STAFF AND MONTHLY NURSES 175 1. PHYSICIANS AND APOTHECARIES 175 2. MONTHLY NURSES 187 IV. THE NURSERY STAFF 193 1. THE WET NURSES 193 2. THE PERMANENT NURSES AND NURSERY MAIDS 212 V. THE FINANCING OF THE NURSERY 223 NOTE ON THE VALUE OF THE POUND STERLING 233 REFERENCES 235 SELECTED BIBLIOGRAPHY 347 1. MANUSCRIPT SOURCES 347 2. PUBLISHED SOURCES, BOOKS AND ARTICLES 353 3. UNPUBLISHED DISSERTATIONS 367 4. NEWSPAPERS CONSULTED 367 INDEX OF PERSONS 369 LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS 1. The Royal Children in the Nursery, c.1846-50s, lithograph printed by Dean & Co. RCIN 605924. Courtesy of Royal Collection Trust/©Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II 2020. 2. Journal of Dr Robert Ferguson, Queen Victoria’s Accoucheur Physician. Courtesy of Royal College of Physicians, London. 3. Recognition of the Royal Princess by the Privy Councillors of England. c.1840s. Lithograph by W. Clerk. RCIN 605927. Courtesy of Royal Collection Trust/©Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II 2020. 4. Sketches and Caricatures: Royal Dry Nursing Extraordinary, c. 1843. Lithograph with Hand-colouring, published by W. Kohler & Co. RCIN 605958. Courtesy of Royal Collection Trust/©Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II 2020. 5. Sketches and Caricatures: Tender Annuals, c. 1843. Lithograph published by W. Kohler & Co. RCIN 811282.ap. Courtesy of Royal Collection Trust/©Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II 2020. 6. Sketches and Caricatures: The Easter Offering c. 1843. Lithograph published by W. Kohler & Co. RCIN 811282.as. Courtesy of Royal Collection Trust/©Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II 2020. 7. Sketches and Caricatures: 1855; or, A Scene in Perspective c. 1855. Lithograph published by William Spooner. RCIN 811282.aa. Courtesy of Royal Collection Trust/©Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II 2020. 8. Victoire, Duchess of Kent by John Lucas, 1841. RCIN 406730. Courtesy of Royal Col- lection Trust/©Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II 2020. 9. Christian Frederick, Baron Stockmar by Franz Xaver Winterhalter, 1847. RCIN 405830. Courtesy of Royal Collection Trust/©Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II 2020. 10. George E Anson by George Richmond, 1849. RCIN 451898. Courtesy of Royal Col- lection Trust/©Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II 2020. 11. Louise, Baroness Lehzen, by Carl Friedrich Koepke, 1842. RCIN 420414. Courtesy of Royal Collection Trust/©Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II 2020. 12. Sarah, Lady Lyttelton, after Franz Xaver Winterhalter, 1846. RCIN 406476. Courtesy of Royal Collection Trust/©Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II 2020. 7 LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS 13. Lady Caroline Barrington, c. 1859. RCIN 2910678. Courtesy of Royal Collection Trust/©Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II 2020. 14. Sir James Clark, Baronet by John Jabez Edwin Mayall, 1860. RCIN 2906879. Courtesy of Royal Collection Trust/©Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II 2020. 15. Sir Charles Locock [Royal Household Portraits. Volume 55.] 1860. RCIN 2910377. Courtesy of Royal Collection Trust/©Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II 2020. 16. Mrs (Mary) Lilly [Royal Household Portraits. Volume 54.] 1864. RCIN 2910173. Courtesy of Royal Collection Trust/©Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II 2020. 17. Mrs (Ellen) Innocent [Royal Household Portraits. Volume 54.] 1864. RCIN 2910212. Courtesy of Royal Collection Trust/©Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II 2020. 18. Mrs (Jane) Sly [Royal Household Portraits. Volume 54.] c.1860-5. RCIN 2910214. Courtesy of Royal Collection Trust/©Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II 2020. 19. Mrs Mary Ann Hull (née Cripps) [Royal Household Portraits. Volume 54.] c.1860-5. RCIN 2910183. Courtesy of Royal Collection Trust/©Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II 2020. 20. Mrs (Jenny) Jones, a coloured chalk drawing by Queen Victoria, 30 March 1851. RCIN 981687. Courtesy of Royal Collection Trust/©Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II 2020. 21. Princess Beatrice with her wet nurse, Mrs (Elizabeth) Hughes, by Leonida Caldesi, 26 June 1857. RCIN 2900104. Courtesy of Royal Collection Trust/©Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II 2020. 22. The First Six Children of Queen Victoria and Prince Albert [with Mrs Thurston], after a daguerreotype by William Edward Kilburn, 1848. RCIN 2106393. Courtesy of Royal Collection Trust/©Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II 2020. 23. The Queen and Prince Albert with their Nine Children at Osborne by Leonida Caldesi, May 1857. RCIN 2106422. Courtesy of Royal Collection Trust/©Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II 2020. 24. Princess Louise, Princess Helena and Miss Agnes Illhardt by Ernst Becker, September 1854. RCIN 2900044. Courtesy of Royal Collection Trust/©Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II 2020. 25. At the Crystal Palace, Sydenham 1854, by Philip Henry Delamonte. RCIN 2932748. Courtesy of Royal Collection Trust/©Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II 2020. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I wish to thank Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II for graciously allowing access to documents in the Royal Archives at Windsor, and for permitting extracts from these documents to be published. I wish to thank all at the Royal Archives for their friendliness, knowledge, encouragement and patience, especially Allison Derrett, LVO, who, with the other archivists and assistants, Julie Crocker, Kathryn Johnson, Laura Hobbs, Colin Parrish and Lynne Beech (happy retire- ment, Lynne!), provided the numerous documents I needed, answered my endless questions and spent hours in the research room with me. I thank Allison Derrett also for her always very professional advice and meticulous comments at the different stages of my research and for her special “presents”, such as the virtually unknown Diary of Mrs Lilly, Queen Victoria’s monthly nurse. I want to congratulate and thank Oliver Walton once more for compiling the Windsor part of the Common Heritage volume, which is essential for anyone planning to undertake any research at the Royal Archives. I also remember fondly the conversations during the lunch breaks in the Round Tower common room, and I am so grateful for the coffee and tea (with milk!). Although the Royal Archives provide by far the most vital and abundant sources for this book, there are many other important manuscript sources elsewhere, and I am most grateful to the staff of the Royal Society of Phy- sicians in London, especially Felix Lancashire, who were all very helpful in providing me with the documents in their possession connected with Queen Victoria’s medical staff, especially the journal of Dr Robert Ferguson. I also thank the Royal Society of Physicians in London for granting me permission to publish extracts from his journal relating to Queen Victoria, Prince Albert and their Household.