#Women’s History Month – Part Three Ishbel Lady Aberdeen

Hello again!

Ishbel, Lady Aberdeen, may not have been initially impressed with her husband’s ancestral home at Haddo House but she did a lot more than just improve it’s architecture and contents.

Her husband’s father George, the 5^th Earl of Aberdeen, had been a generous, philanthropic man who had spent money on various worthy charitable causes but he didn’t seem to have been overly interested in improving the inside of Haddo House, to Ishbel's chagrin.

Johnny Aberdeen, on the other hand, had instigated a few improvements at Haddo before his marriage to Ishbel. He commissioned a chapel to be built. Though fairly austere in design to match Johnny’s devout nature, he indulged himself by having a specially commissioned stained-glass window from the studio of the Pre-Raphaelite artist Edward Burne-Jones, and a Henry Willis organ, a highly reputable make. The chapel took a few years to build so Ishbel was able to view the final building stages during the first years of their marriage.

The house improvements were the domain of Ishbel who wisely engaged the help of her father who appeared to know everybody there was to know in the renovation business. Dudley Marjoribanks was a man Ishbel believed to be of “rare judgment and Knowledge”. Using his contacts, she set about organizing the renovation job herself. Some prestigious local craftsmen were employed but also much of the expertise came from London, sometimes the fittings for whole rooms being transported north, the library being an example.

When Ishbel first came to Haddo, the house was some hundred and fifty years old. The roof was in dire need of reconstruction to eradicate the dry rot issues so that was an early project that Ishbel took on. Since she didn’t like the main door entry, which was accessed from a curving set of forestairs, the entry was re-modelled so that guests didn’t need to go in through what she termed the dreadful ‘window’.

Over a period of years, lots of Johnny’s money was spent on the improvements but the house gradually rose to the standards Ishbel felt that her husband needed during the Parliamentary recess time when the family repaired to Aberdeenshire. High-ranking, important guests were plentiful, Ishbel presiding over their visits with due aplomb. She was a young woman of formidable talents which included being a competent conversationalist. Many guests were (probably) handpicked by the couple to suit their political leanings and ambitions but Ishbel seems to have been gifted with the ability to assess a person’s character quickly, and knew whether spending time and effort on a guest would be to her advantage.

Ishbel produced an heir for Johnny in January 1879, little Doddie (officially George). Other children followed in due course - Marjorie (1880); Dorothea (1882); Dudley (1883) and Archibald (1884), though not all survived. This was, of course,  not unusual in the early 1880s.

So far what you read above could be said to be similar to what other ladies of her station did, but there was so much more to Ishbel and Johnny Aberdeen.

Like his father before him who devoutly did many good, charitable deeds, Johnny spent time, effort, and money on his tenants.

Before their marriage, the annual Haddo Estate holiday was often a riotous occasion. Let loose for a whole day, it was the custom for the young male (and some female) employees to go to the nearest county town and have fun. It’s said they got drunk and perhaps did some things which became a cause of regret some months down the line. To counteract some potentially imprudent behaviour, Ishbel and Johnny decided to hold a garden party for the servants. Invitations were issued to their household staff, which numbered around a hundred people, and to other estate employees. The invitation was gladly accepted and tea, lemonade and cakes was issued to over six thousand people who turned up. Whether or not lots of them also went to town, albeit with less time to do so, the gesture from Ishbel and Johnny was greatly appreciated.

The annual tea party tradition was continued, the huge marquee bought from the King of the Netherlands to give some shelter since weather was unpredictable was used till it was in tatters. It was many years till a wooden-constructed hall was built to accommodate the event in all weathers.

The news of the garden party for servants reached the ears of The Scotsman newspaper which claimed it to be a ‘Novelty’. The fact that Ishbel and Johnny knew every house servants name and addressed them as such (instead of all footmen being James and maids being a generic  Margaret)  put the ‘Aberdeen’s into a very strange category of aristocrat. They bucked the trend in many ways over the years and, it could be said were eventually ostracized by their peers for their kinder, more benevolent attitude.

What else did Ishbel start very quickly at Haddo? Find out in the next installment. 

Slainthe!