The "Ladies of Llangollen", Eleanor Butler (1739-1829) and Sarah “Sally” Ponsonby (1755-1831), were two upper-class Irish women whose relationship scandalized and fascinated their contemporaries. Butler was part of a family of Earls and Dukes and was known to be highly educated and a “bookworm.” She was educated in a convent in France, where her mother wanted her to remain since she had no plans of getting married. Butler and Ponsonby lived two miles from each other and after they became close, they decided to retreat into a private, rural and for their time unconventional life together. Despite their families protests and encouragement to marry men, they managed to stand their ground and eventually settled in a Gothic style mansion, named Plas Newydd, in the Vale of Llangollen. They decorated their house with gifts from their guests and found objects from abandoned mansions and churches and their elaborate garden and dairy attracted travelers between Dublin and London. They received friends and visitors, including writers, military leaders, industrialists, and novelists, such as Anne Lister, Robert Southey, William Wordsworth, Percy Shelley, Lord Byron, Sir Walter Scott, the Duke of Wellington, Josiah Wedgwood, and Caroline Lamb.

Many visited because of curiosity, even Queen Charlotte came to discuss literature, language and philosophy. They had an extensive library where their books were bound and embossed in gold with both of their initials. People defined their relationship as a “Romantic Friendship”, a term used to help lesbian couples avoid scandal, which allowed them to still be considered conservative and women of class.

Interestingly, there was another Lady of Llangollen. Her name was Mary Carryll, Butler and Ponsonby’s servant that was with them since they first met.


SOURCES
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ladies_of_Llangollen
https://wellcomecollection.org/articles/the-ladies-of-llangollen/