Great Governing Families of England

by John Langton Sanford

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Hardcover

First published January 1, 1865

About the author

John Langton Sanford, 1824-1877

Reviews

[Michael Smith]

Townsend, who was editor of The Spectator, prevailed upon Sanford to produce a series of popularly written columns for his magazine on the histories of the "greater English families — those few whose influence being still great has from age to age been perceptible in our annals, who form, as it were, the backbone of the aristocratic system." The essays were quite successful and brought in a good deal of correction and comment from readers, all of which was taken into account as the columns were revised for book publication. As Townsend points out, it’s not just a long and illustrious genealogy that determines which families will be most influential, but established influence combined with wealth in the form of land. And all this happens with the consent of the governed, for "England is governed in times of excitement by its people; in quiet times by its property." Things have changed somewhat in the intervening century and a half — but not much, not really. In any case, the thirty-one families treated here are those most likely to be of interest to the student of English peerage genealogy, from the truly ancient Percies, Talbots, and Greys to the relatively more recent Barings, Somersets, and Seymours. Sanford takes pains to question family traditions and his no-nonsense style is occasionally acerbic and sardonic. (I suspect he was not himself a Tory.) Details of family goings-on are plentiful, as are the names of those, high and low, with whom the powerful interacted. And while there are no source notes, of course, the author refers often to other authors.