Who is Lady Catherine de Bourgh? Pride and Prejudice, Knights, Baronets and English Nobility 

One fact that's simple to remember: Lady "First Name" means you're the daughter of someone important, Lady "Surname" means you're the wife of someone important

When I first learned that Lady Catherine had married so far beneath her status, I thought of a couple of things: 1) Nobody close in rank to her wanted to marry her; 2) Her constant referring to "who I am" is an over-compensation for knowing she actually has a negligible rank. It helps put her snobbery into perspective and adds a lot of nuance ot the novel.

This knowledge makes it even more ironic that Lady Catherine disproves of her nephew marrying "socially lower" than him when she did the exact same thing, but 12 steps more detrimental haha

I love how Ellie talks about social precedence and Lady Catherine "flexing" while in the background the cats are demonstrating how they are at the top of the social precedence and flexing on us mere mortals. :)

"Darcy as the daughter of an Earl" is my new favorite Pride and Prejudice AU

Yes! Now I get it. She looked for a man that was rich enough to sustain her lifestyle but low enough she could still use her superior title with, therefore, showing us all she truly cared about rank and status.

I'm somewhat fascinated by Anne de Bourgh. She is so shadowed by her mother, she is practically a blank slate. Is she a Lady Catherine in training, snobbish and trying to get her claws into Mr Darcy's money? Is she perfectly pleasant, just waiting for the opportunity to bloom once she escapes her mother's household? Is the meekness all an act, and behind the scenes she is hunting vampires?

When you think about it, Darcy should be just as embarrassed by his aunt as Elizabeth is by her mother. Lady Catherine lacks manners and tact.

I used to have a boss who used her maiden name at work but her husband was a "Sir" so she had the right to be called "Lady (husband's name). Someone once asked her if she ever used her title and she replied "only to get a table in restaurant" which I think is pretty cool. I still use her as a point of reference when dealing with snobs since she insisted on being addressed by her first name and was one of the least hierarchical people I have ever known.

I always wonder if Lady Catherine's father was experiencing financial difficulties, because they married untitled gentlemen, and she talked about how she never had the opportunity to learn music...

Me: ah yes, another fine video from Elinor “Ellie” Dashwood- Ellie: “Lady Electra” Me: 👁 👄 👁

An interesting modern parallel is with the current Royal family, technically Catherine the Duchess of Cambridge is not "Princess Catherine", she is "Princess William", because she married into royalty, whereas her daughter, Charlotte is called "Princess Charlotte" because she was born a princess.

Now we can all flex with our newborn Lady Catherine hierarchy knowledge. Take care Lady Electra!

I definitely get the feeling that, when Sir Lewis proposed to Lady Catherine, she was probably thinking all about how marrying him would let her keep her fancy title, and might’ve refused him if it meant losing that title.

The "Lady First Name" bit was very interesting because I recently read Austen's Lady Susan and the other people's reactions to Lady Susan's antics make much more sense knowing that she was by far the highest ranking person in the story, even though it must have been a courtesy title.

I think ED's content is very informative but her delivery is what really sells it for me. I have watched other creators discuss Austen and other classic books and sometimes the delivery is boring. They are essentially narration over a PowerPoint presentation. Maybe seeing ED's face, like typical creators, sets a better tone, too.

“Are the shades of Pemberley to be thusly polluted?” As expressed by the GREAT Dame Judy Dench.

If Sir Lewis was lower presidence than Lady Catherine, then she must have married Sir Lewis because he had a lot of money. I can't see Lady Catherine marrying anyone without a fortune, unless it was for a more noble title. My guess is Lady Catherine wanted Darcy to marry Anne to consolidate both fortunes. Once Darcy marries Lizzy, would Lady Catherine try to rope C. Fitzwilliam into marrying Anne, to at least keep the fortune in the family? Anne seems like she would struggle to find a good husband, because she is "sickly" and probably hard to otherwise marry off because of it. C. Fitzwilliam is looking for a rich bride, Anne needs a husband... Though I wonder if Anne might become less sickly out from under Lady Catherine's thumb.

On the subject of cousins marrying in Jane Austen, keep in mind that Fanny and Edmund in Mansfield Park were first cousins. Their mothers were sisters.

Given Sir Lewis De Bourgh's property wasn't entailed to me it seems more likely he was a knight. If he was a Baronet it seems much more likely that he would pass the title and the property together to whichever relative was next in line (unless, as you say, he was the last surviving male heir and the title died with him).

The English and their social pecking order with their plethora of titles and distinctions are just insane - it's like some kind of super nerdy boardgame. And of course, I would keep my title. 😉😄

I'm peruvian, and this is the first English channel that I really love because I started to read Jane Austen book's since I was a child. Now, I can practice my English with your videos. Thanks for all, I really love your channel! You're awesome💕

This whole title thing reminds me of a story that became a family joke. My father, Eli Arbel had a doctorate in physics (electronics, to be exact). He never used his title unless for a good reason (e.g. when he joined the struggle to free the prisoners of Zion, and his title opened doors for him). Once a friend of mine needed help in Math, I asked my father and he agreed to tutor her. Before their first meeting, she asked me: "What should I call him, Dr. Arbel or Professor Arbel?" I answered, "Call him Eli".

I had no idea that “Ellie” was short for “Electra”. “Lady Electra” is Fire 🔥! Love it! 👍🏿

Look at the kitties🐈🥰 they're just hanging out, minding their business!🤣

With Anne and Catherine marrying commoners and Colonel Fitzwilliam hemming about money, we need to suspect that the earldom was a bit down at heel. That’s why she so fiercely defends position-she’s a little sensitive. Also, even if Sir Lewis was a baronet, that originated as a purchased designation under James I (to avoid calling Parliament), which makes Sir Elliot’s snobbery so funny: as the 5th baronet, the origin was placed around the time of Charles I most likely, when that “title” was even more heavily for sale. Additionally, Lady Catherine’s estate being both unentailed and a “Park” instead of a singular estate name (e.g. Longbourne or Pemberly) smacks a bit of wealth made in trade or in the colonies, another reason for her to be so insecure.

Social precedence can still matter in some societies. My mother was essentially disowned for marrying my father. She was from a cadet branch of the Nikaido clan so her birth certificate gave her class as bushi. It was a big deal to her that she was only six generations from a Nikaido girl marrying an imperial prince. And my father came from a respectable poor farming family from Tennessee that had lived in the county since before the civil war. So she never went back to Japan because she wouldn’t go without her husband

¡Los subtítulos en español están disponibles! The Spanish subtitles are now available! Sorry again for the delay! 😃💕

I learned about the difference between “Lady First Name” versus “Lady Last Name” from this video. Quite fascinating, all the nuances of titles. I just recently learned what a baronet was, it was so confusing at first due to the similarly named peerage title of Baron. But this video reiterates what I heard a while ago and what was a difficult concept for me to grasp at first. It is that because Diana (Princess of Wales) was the daughter of an Earl, technically her courtesy title is that of Lady Diana. In vernacular language, many refer to her as Princess Di, although it is not quite correct , in regards to titles. I heard this in another video, but she’s a princess but she’s not Princess (as in the title) like how Princess Anne and Princess Charlotte are. I’m still a little bit trying to articulate this difference, but I think I understand a bit better now!

I firmly recall from the Lord Peter Wimsey novels (totally different era, yes), that Lord Peter had a ceremonial title as the younger son of a duke. When he married dear Harriet Vane, someone calls her Lady Peter, not Lady Harriet or Lady Wimsey, and Harriet is impressed because she knows that form of address. On looking up forms of address on Wikipedia (that revered font of wisdom) I find this is correct for the wife of a duke’s younger son.

Imagine your first RU-vid comment ever is literally just talking about how absolutely shook you were when you realized Ellie was short for Electra PS. Love your content! I listen to it while I’m lashing and it makes me feel so ~fancy~

So happy the algorithm recommended this video. When Austen talks about rank or money, I'm clueless, just understnad that some are higher/richer and some lower/less rich. Now all is a bit clearer. Loving your videos, all the way from Mexico City!!!

All your videos are so wonderful and informative! This one in particular made me wonder about Persuasion’s Dowager Viscountess Lady Dalrymple and her daughter Miss Carteret, their wealth, status and names. Persuasion is my favorite Austen book after Pride and Prejudice, and I loved the breakdown you did in your video on entailments, as I feel it illuminated both those books in a whole new light! Thank you for all you do, and keep taking care of yourself!

Lady Electra Dashwood-what a SUPER fancy name and title. I so enjoy all your posts, Lady Electra. FYI, there are EXTRA super fancy British titles that do not die without a male son or must move to a jumped-up cousin like Mr Collins. When John Churchill, the first Duke of Marlborough, died, his daughter Henrietta became the 2nd Duchess of Marlborough. Henrietta’s son died before she did, and the title went to the son of Henrietta’s sister, Anne: Charles Spencer, 3rd Duke of Marlborough. Two generations later, the family name became Spencer-Churchill, well, reasons. More recently, when Louis Mountbatten, 1st Earl Mountbatten of Burma, was killed, his title went to his older daughter, who had been Lady Patricia Mountbatten, then Lady Patricia Brabourne, then became the 2nd Countess Mountbatten of Burma. When she died in 2017, her eldest son, Norton, became the 3rd Earl Mountbatten of Burma. Also FYI, you can always look up Wikipedia for: the ‘list of peerages inherited by women’-interesting stuff!

The cats in the back are great! “Whatcha doing mom? Oh, making a video? Cool. Cool. We’ll just watch from here.”

You don't need a title to be fancy, mademoiselle, you already are very fancy ! Thank you for those delightful videos, great work !

Perfect timing. I’m doing some research on baronets for a book. This helps so much. 🥰

More content from our beloved Dashie! Woo-hoo! She needs a PBS series...

I find it mind-boggling that Lady Catherine, a snob par excellence, married down. Well, he was pretty rich, I guess hahaha.

Very interesting! I'd like to learn more about the "untitled but ancient" family lines. One book I read about this ages ago mentioned that even though Darcy is not titled, everyone understands that he comes from an ancient line, which is partly due to the fact that he has a French (D'arcy) name. Sorry I can't remember all the specifics about it, I don't have the book with me currently.

It's interesting that both sisters Lady Anne and Lady Catherine Fitzwilliam married beneath them. ("Married down.") Yet, Lady Catherine DB is extremely class and status conscious in the novel. You'd think she'd want her daughter to marry someone with a title, which Darcy didn't have. I hope you are feeling well. Thank you for continuing to provide your awesome videos for us!

Loved the cats and the tease at the end. Precedence became very important in early Australian colonial society with so many people battling for position with obscure claims to position.

I really love listening to you while I spin or knit. Thanks for clearing this up! I had vaguely noticed the difference, but not enough to ever look it up and this was perfect.

Yay! Glad to see a new vid from you. Hope you're feeling better!!!👑🧡🧡🧡🧡🧡

ELLIE IS BACK!!! Hope you're feeling great, girl 😍

I think keeping the title would come down to my relationship with my family vs. my in-laws xD

Ellie this was just excellent!! Superb analysis and presentation. I can only imagine how much research had to go into that one video. You make it all seem so effortless but I know that it cannot possibly be so. So a simple but heartfelt thank you is the very least I can do - 🤗🤗

Great video. I wish we had gotten a scene where someone called Lady Catherine out for marrying down after all her talk of marrying right. Although I like to think that was the best she could. All other titled and untitled men fleeing from her after meeting her.

You do a terrific job of explaining! Love to be able to understand the rules of that era

So good to see a video from you. Enjoyed this so much. 👒

Welcome back and I hope that you're feeling better

That was fascinating- I love learning new things about what Austen meant it adds further depth to each re-read - thank you.

I appreciate these videos so much! It"s like being a Regency insider ☺

I'm so happy you're back. :-)

Have loved your commentary ever since I discovered your channel. This video on Lady D' Bourgh was exceptional. But the kitties! Just loved their cameos.

Hope you're well and doing a bit better Ellie, thank you so much for your wonderful video, loved every second 🧡

It’s good to see you back.

Your videos are so full of interesting stuff. Thank you so much. I appreciate the research you must do.

i'm officially obsessed with your channel, i'm binge watching all of your videos. can you make one about your favourites regency novels? 🙏🏽🙏🏽

This was genuinely so fascinating! Thank you so much, I love your videos

A bit of a rabbit trail, but I've always imagined that Mr. Collins (and only Mr. Collins) pronounces Lady Catherine's name as elaborately and as French as he possibly can.

Thanks for explaining this. I had not thought about it before. It's fascinating

Thanks for the great video ❤️❤️

It's always your attention to detail for me, Ellie. I love love your videos

"Lady Electra", totally fitting!

Thank you for these wonderful talks, are much appreciated.

Another clue is that everyone refers to her as "Her/Your Ladyship". It's a different status, one of blood nobility. Like Lady Susan who married into it. Lady Lucas never gets called that, because she's just a knight's wife.

Very cool explination!! Feels like a very on brand flex for lady catherine ♡♡

If you ever are in London, I would 100% advise run to the Pride and Prejudice* (*sort of) show on West End. It is SO good and enjoyable. I liked it even more than The Phantom of the Opera I went to the previous day. And I'm a huge PotO fan so that's telling :)

An excellent explanation of how this system works! E.g. my sister was social secretary to Lady Mary Baring, whose husband was Sir Evelyn Baring (knight). Lady Mary was the daughter of Earl Grey (related to Earl Grey tea). Sir Evelyn was elevated to Baron but his wife continued to be Lady Mary…😀

Is your last name really Dashwood? I can’t get over how incredibly fitting it is that you have almost the same name as a main Austen character.

I love your videos so much that they're definitely worth the fortnight wait between. Take care of yourself!

Ellie Dashwood, my very favourite commentator on all things Austen-related, forgive me if I made a comment like this after another video... One thing I find jarring about many Jane Austen inspired fiction - too many Lords! Decades ago, when I was a student, I tapped my University's library to read about this period, because my parents and I were fans of nautical fiction, like CS Forester's Horatio Hornblower. One of those books had an excellent chapter on the value of money, back then. It also compared the English nobility with the French nobility, during the Scarlet Pimpernel period. It said that, in the french system, all the children of a French noble could consider themselves part of the French nobility, with the result that a full 4 percent of the French population could claim nobility. In contrast, it said, just prior to the French revolution, there were only 92 individuals entitled to sit in the House of Lords. The size of the House of Lords was expanded, during the next couple of decades, because it was wartime. Nelson and Wellington made it into the House of Lords to reward them for winning a heroic victory. But lots of other individuals made it into the House of Lords as part of a quid pro quo. They were rewarded for a political favour. They made the 19th century equivalent of a political donation. Or they did some other kind of favour. Jane Austen dropped no hints that Fitzwilliam Darcy took an active role in politics, so he would be unlikely to be rewarded with a peerage. As the largest landowner in Derbyshire he would not only control multiple valuable livings, he likely controlled at least one rotten borough - making a Member of Parliament owe their career to him. When QE2 was crowned there were over two dozen non-Royal Dukes. But when the Duke of Wellington became a Duke, there were eight other Dukes more senior than he was. Dukes were very uncommon. Wellington was still a handsome guy, still pursued by groupies. But how many of the other Dukes would have been older and less handsome than Wellington? In my last paragraph I will return to what this book said about the value of money. It spoke about the life of an itinerant rural worker. Days they worked, it said they traditionally earned a shilling a day. They would work from Dawn to Dusk, sleep in their employer's barn, and could expect excellent farm fresh food, where they could consume 4,000 or more Calories. The book said one of these workers could look forward to something like 100 days of employment a year, at planting, at harvest, and a couple of other periods of the year when a tenant farmer, or gentries own farms, needed more workers than their full-time staff. 100 shillings? That is 5 pounds. 5 pounds per year. What would these farm workers do the other 265 days of the year? The book said, but I don't remember. Poorhouse? Begging? Sell hand-made knick-knacks they carved? Weave baskets? I can't recall. But a lot of JAFF authors have an unrealistic idea of the value of money, back then. Cheers!

Ellie, I really love your videos! I was wondering the other day how the Regency Era houses really were, on the inside. Where did they go to the bathroom in Pemberly? 😂 Just something that haunts me. Would be interesting to see you explaining it in a video!

This is a great video. Thanks for making it.

Lady Elektra has a good ring to it!!! :)

Your channel is so addictive, I love it!! ❤️

You did so well explaining!! Great job!! Loving your videos!

Great video very informative thanks Superb job explaining how title works in old English society Professional laid out of facts

I love all the characters in Pride and Prejudice, Lady Catherine is one of my favourites, thank you for the video!

Love all your videos!

Whether I kept my title would depend, I suppose, on why I married my husband. If it was for practical reasons (money, position etc.), then I would keep it. But if I really loved and respected my husband, then I would take his status as my own as a form of solidarity and partnership. Another good video, Ellie. 👍

Ellie, Burke's Peerage was written by John Burke. There are several variations of the name, but it originated as de Burgh. They were Normans who became Marcher Lords in England and, about a hundred years after the conquest of England, went into Ireland. Some also married into royal and noble families. I have de Burghs in my family ancestry. So did Princess Diana.

I really enjoy your channel! It's interesting how the rules of succession differ between countries. I was reading about the German nobility (which was banned in 1919). They still claim their titles even though, technically, they lost them and are commoners now just like the rest of us. But, their rules of succession were quite different from England's when they existed.

Wonderful explanation, thank you very mauch

very informative!

Imagining Darcy as the daughter of an Earl was so funny idk 😂 thanks for the laugh and for the super informative video!

Love the video! So good to see you. Hope you're doing well.

Somehow I always imagine Little Ladies Catherine and Anne in the nursery in a quite similar fashion as Angelica and the toddlers in Rugrats. 🤭

Thanks for this breakdown and description. I always love your videos! Yes, I would definitely keep my title if I married a commoner!

Awesome video!

Lady Electra, please thank the cats for me for letting you use their channel to make these great videos! Keep taking care of yourself!

I still think my favorite reference to Lady Catherine de Bourgh is her appearance in Rudyard Kipling's story, "The Janeites."

I realize this after Downton Abbey where everyone call Cora Lady Grantham but Mary Edith and Sybil are Lady their names. ☝🏻🤓

Love this! I was literally asking this to my friend haha

So much new information to take in after watching this video! I love that Lady Katherine was secretly flexing her rank on us the whole time and we never realized it.

Anyone else Surprised someone like Lady Catherine married a little bit below her?🤔

I love these videos. Can we see one on regency area etiquette?

Thanks fab explanation

Point of order, 'Miss' is not a title in the UK where Austen's books are set, it is an honourific.