The Old World and the New: The Marriage and Colonial Adventures of Lord and Lady Northcote

Product Description This biography is of interest to scholars and general readers alike. It tells the previously untold story of two British aristocrats, detailing the drama of their personal lives and examining their rule in the two colonies, India and Australia, in which they served. It raises issues of population, immigration, social mobility, and the ethics of the British Empire, all of which are relevant to today's debates. The Northcotes' life in England is described in the context of a sweep of British political and social history, in which Harry Northcote directly participated: from the passing of the Third Reform Act in 1884-5 to the bitter battles over female suffrage and the composition of the House of Lords at the close of the Edwardian era. The action during the couple's colonial adventures in the early 1900s takes place in two different outposts of Empire: India under the Raj, where Harry wielded autocratic power in a Bombay devastated by plague and famine, and the new democratic settler colony of Australia following the federation of separate colonies on a huge yet sparsely populated continent. The transmission of the culture of the Mother Country to the Empire's furthest reaches is studied through Alice's contribution as Governor's wife. The crucial part that women played in the maintenance of the British Empire in both locations is a key theme. This is a story of landed aristocrats, Victorian politicians and nouveaux riches colonial entrepreneurs. It is about sudden death in 10 Downing Street; an obsessive relationship; the marrying of New World money with old world class; and social elevation from a poor Scottish croft to a historic stately home. It considers the impact on the old world of money made in colonial enterprises, and the cultural exchange resulting from colonial expansion. And it is about the self-managed decline of a British upper class that had held power for almost a thousand years. Review Dr Taylor subjects the nuances of British and imperial manners to fine-grained analysis … weaving the fine detail into a coherent and interesting narrative … There is some lovely writing, some memorable vignettes --Professor Anne O Brien, School of Humanities, University of New South WalesOriginal, interesting, exceptionally well written ... [presents] Elizabeth Taylor s judicious, careful interpretations, her sensitivity to the complicated cross-cutting relations of imperial rule ... her careful respect for her characters and her desire to redeem them as historical actors without whitewashing their roles. --Professor Bettina Bradbury, History Department, Faculty of Liberal Arts and Professional Studies, York University, Toronto About the Author Dr. Elizabeth Taylor's career epitomises the episodic and changing nature of professional development for twenty-first century women. Following her earlier incarnations as teacher, social worker and politician, she has recently embraced a new identity as writer, biographer and historian. Elizabeth has delivered papers at Melbourne and Edinburgh Universities on gender and imperialism; her first published work appeared in late 2012 as a chapter in Seizing the Initiative: Australian Women Leaders; she was short-listed for the 2013 Hazel Rowley Literary Fellowship prize. Dr. Taylor is currently working on a new biography.