A royal wish not to be a breeding: Further research on “They Wept together” project
糖心动漫vlog Centre for History's Dr Philippa Woodcock was recently at Argyll Estates Archives, Inveraray Castle, to conduct further research for her Royal Society of Edinburgh funded project, "They wept together": Investigating miscarriage, taboo and support in early modern Scotland.
The research project seeks uncover how families broached the subject in the early modern past, largely through the study of their correspondence. Was miscarriage named euphemistically or explicitly? Did the sex or the religion of the author and recipient influence discourse, and how did families broach the contrast between one couple’s successful childbearing and another’s loss? Most importantly, how did families recover after miscarriage?
At Inveraray, Dr Woodcock explored the correspondence between Princess Augusta of Brunswick (1737-1813) and Elizabeth, the fifth Duchess of Argyll (c.1733-1790), discovering how the two women supported each other through the loss of children, exchanged gossip and plotted marriages for their surviving offspring.
You can follow the project on our website, as Dr Woodcock regularly writes about her research trips and findings.
Dr Woodcock would like to extend thanks to members of SACHA (Scottish Association of Country House Archivists), and in this case, Alison Diamond and Donald MacDougall for their help and warm welcome into the SACHA community.
Find out more about Philippa's findings at Argyll Estates Archives