What happens when a wealthy, powerful matriarch comes into conflict with her son-in-law, who is a duke? Lady Olivia Bernard Sparrow was born into the Anglo-Irish aristocracy in the late eighteenth century and was just thirty years old when she inherited vast estates following the death of her husband. Undaunted by the responsibility, and deciding not to remarry, her unflinching determination and indomitable spirit made her a prominent and influential woman who has been dubbed the first Iron Lady. Well connected with English society, she is attributed as the matchmaker between Kitty Packenham and Arthur Wellesley, later Duke of Wellington. She was also closely associated with leading evangelicals of the era. Lady Olivias standing did not make her immune from tragedy. When her young son died of tuberculosis, she overwhelmed her daughter, Millicent, with attention. Millicent, however, craved her independence and found the intensity of the relationship insufferable, particularly when it continued following her marriage to Lord George Montagu, who was to become 6th Duke of Manchester. Ructions arose within the family that came to a head in a scandalous and widely reported trial.
Based on Lady Olivias private letters and diaries that have lain untouched since her death in 1863, this biography provides an in-depth account of her life, her thoughts and her achievements. It is interlaced with insight into the social history of the era, including during her extensive travels abroad. It is a turbulent and compelling read, both historically and emotionally.
