Exploring Victorian Celebrity Culture at Sudeley Castle

Last weekend, Head of History and Politics, Mrs Harrison, spoke at the History Weekend at Sudeley Castle in Gloucestershire, sharing her research into Victorian celebrity culture with visitors.

The History Weekend celebrated the rich history of Sudeley Castle, from its Tudor connections as the burial place of Henry VIII’s sixth wife, Katherine Parr, to its later revival in the Victorian period following damage inflicted by Oliver Cromwell’s troops during the English Civil War.

Across the weekend, visitors enjoyed a programme of talks and events exploring different aspects of the Castle’s past, including a talk by historian Alison Weir on the Boleyns. Mrs Harrison spoke on Saturday afternoon, introducing audiences to new ways of thinking about celebrity and fan culture in the Victorian period.

Mrs Harrison said: “It was fantastic to have the opportunity to introduce the audience to a new way of thinking about celebrity and fan culture. We explored who the Victorians saw as celebrities and considered how autographs and celebrity memorabilia were collected in an age before the internet. Emma Dent, who was the chatelaine of Sudeley Castle for much of the Victorian period, was fascinated by collecting and gathered more than 500 autographs from figures including Prince Albert, Charles Dickens and Florence Nightingale.”

Mrs Harrison will also travel to Lancaster University this week to speak on a panel at the Social History Conference. Her contribution will focus on Emma Dent’s Historical Ball, a fancy dress ball held in 1859, where the Dent family and their guests dressed as figures from the Tudor period.

We congratulate Mrs Harrison on sharing her research with audiences at Sudeley Castle and wish her the very best for her forthcoming contribution at Lancaster University.