The Souls
Encyclopedia
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
, from 1885 to about 1920. Their members included many of the most distinguished English politicians and intellectuals.
The group formed as a response to the damper on social life caused by the political tension of the Irish Home Rule
Irish Government Bill 1886
The Government of Ireland Bill 1886, commonly known as the First Home Rule Bill, was the first major attempt made by a British government to enact a law creating home rule for part of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland...
debate. Existing social circles were rent by angry arguments between proponents and opponents of the Gladstone
William Ewart Gladstone
William Ewart Gladstone FRS FSS was a British Liberal statesman. In a career lasting over sixty years, he served as Prime Minister four separate times , more than any other person. Gladstone was also Britain's oldest Prime Minister, 84 years old when he resigned for the last time...
ministry's efforts in 1886 to bring about full Home Rule. Many people in society wanted a salon
Salon (gathering)
A salon is a gathering of people under the roof of an inspiring host, held partly to amuse one another and partly to refine taste and increase their knowledge of the participants through conversation. These gatherings often consciously followed Horace's definition of the aims of poetry, "either to...
where they could meet without fighting about politics.
The name of the group was bestowed by Lord Charles Beresford
Lord Charles Beresford
Charles William de la Poer Beresford, 1st Baron Beresford GCB GCVO , styled Lord Charles Beresford between 1859 and 1916, was a British Admiral and Member of Parliament....
, who is quoted as having said: "You all sit and talk about each others' souls — I shall call you the 'Souls'".
Among the original Souls were:
- George Curzon, Lord CurzonGeorge Curzon, 1st Marquess Curzon of KedlestonGeorge Nathaniel Curzon, 1st Marquess Curzon of Kedleston, KG, GCSI, GCIE, PC , known as The Lord Curzon of Kedleston between 1898 and 1911 and as The Earl Curzon of Kedleston between 1911 and 1921, was a British Conservative statesman who was Viceroy of India and Foreign Secretary...
- Arthur BalfourArthur BalfourArthur James Balfour, 1st Earl of Balfour, KG, OM, PC, DL was a British Conservative politician and statesman...
- Margot AsquithMargot AsquithMargot Asquith, Countess of Oxford and Asquith , born Emma Alice Margaret Tennant, was an Anglo-Scottish socialite, author and wit...
- St. John BrodrickSt John Brodrick, 1st Earl of MidletonWilliam St John Fremantle Brodrick, 1st Earl of Midleton, KP, PC , known as St John Brodrick until 1907 and as The Viscount Midleton between 1907 and 1920, was a British Conservative Party politician....
- Hugo Charteris, Lord ElchoHugo Charteris, 11th Earl of WemyssHugo Richard Charteris, 11th Earl of Wemyss and 7th Earl of March , styled Lord Elcho from 1883 to 1914, was a Scottish Conservative politician....
- Mary Charteris, Lady Elcho
- Alfred LytteltonAlfred LytteltonAlfred Lyttelton QC was a British politician and sportsman who excelled at both football and cricket. During his time at university he participated in Varsity Matches in five sports: cricket , football , athletics , rackets and real tennis , displaying an ability that made him...
- Percy WyndhamPercy Wyndham (politician)The Honourable Percy Scawen Wyndham DL, JP , was a British soldier, Conservative politician, collector and intellectual...
- Madeline Wyndham
- George WyndhamGeorge WyndhamGeorge Wyndham PC was a British Conservative politician, man of letters, noted for his elegance, and one of The Souls.-Background and education:...
- Henry 'Harry' CustHenry CustHenry John "Harry" Cockayne-Cust was an English politician and editor who served as a Member of Parliament for the Unionist Party.-Biography:...
- Emmeline 'Nina' Cust
- William Grenfell, Lord DesboroughWilliam Grenfell, 1st Baron DesboroughWilliam Henry Grenfell, 1st Baron Desborough, KG, GCVO, was an athlete, sportsman, public servant and politician. He sat in the House of Commons firstly for the Liberal Party and then for the Conservatives between 1880 and 1905 when he was raised to the peerage...
- Ethel 'Ettie' Grenfell, Lady Desborough
- Robert Windsor-Clive, Lord WindsorRobert Windsor-Clive, 1st Earl of PlymouthRobert George Windsor-Clive, 1st Earl of Plymouth GBE, CB, PC , known as The Lord Windsor between 1869 and 1905, was a British nobleman and Conservative politician.-Background:...
- Alberta 'Gay' Windsor-Clive, Lady Windsor
- Henry WhiteHenry White (diplomat)Henry White was a prominent U.S. diplomat during the 1890s and 1900s, and one of the signers of the Treaty of Versailles....
, the U.S. diplomat - Violet Manners, Duchess of Rutland, and her daughter by Cust, DianaLady Diana CooperLady Diana Cooper, Viscountess Norwich was an English socialite and actress.-Birth and youth:Born Lady Diana Olivia Winifred Maud Manners, she was officially the youngest daughter of the 8th Duke of Rutland and his wife, the former Violet Lindsay, but Lady Diana's real father was widely supposed...
Also prominent in The Souls were the five Wyndhams (children of Percy Wyndham
Percy Wyndham (politician)
The Honourable Percy Scawen Wyndham DL, JP , was a British soldier, Conservative politician, collector and intellectual...
): George
George Wyndham
George Wyndham PC was a British Conservative politician, man of letters, noted for his elegance, and one of The Souls.-Background and education:...
, a politician and writer; Guy Percy, a soldier; Madeline, who married Charles Adeane
Charles Adeane
Charles Robert Whorwood Adeane CB, JP was a British army officer.-Background:Adeane was the only son of the politician Henry John Adeane and his wife Lady Elizabeth Philippa Yorke, eldest daughter Charles Yorke, 4th Earl of Hardwicke. Adeane was educated at Eton College and at Christ Church, Oxford...
; Mary, who married Lord Elcho
Hugo Charteris, 11th Earl of Wemyss
Hugo Richard Charteris, 11th Earl of Wemyss and 7th Earl of March , styled Lord Elcho from 1883 to 1914, was a Scottish Conservative politician....
; and Pamela, who married Edward Tennant
Edward Tennant, 1st Baron Glenconner
Edward Priaulx Tennant, 1st Baron Glenconner , known as Sir Edward Tennant, 2nd Baronet, from 1906 to 1911, was a Scottish Liberal politician....
, Margot Asquith's brother. John Singer Sargent
John Singer Sargent
John Singer Sargent was an American artist, considered the "leading portrait painter of his generation" for his evocations of Edwardian era luxury. During his career, he created roughly 900 oil paintings and more than 2,000 watercolors, as well as countless sketches and charcoal drawings...
painted a joint portrait of the three Wyndham sisters, as well as an individual portrait of Henry White's wife, Margaret.
This original group of Souls reached its zenith in the early 1890s, and had faded out as a coherent clique by 1900.
The Coterie
The CoterieThe Coterie
The Coterie was a fashionable and famous set of English aristocrats and intellectuals of the 1910s, widely quoted and profiled in magazines and newspapers of the period. It adopted the hostile description as a "corrupt coterie"....
was often considered as the second generation of The Souls. They were a mix of aristocrats, politicians and art-lovers. They were patrons of artists of the time, including Edward Burne-Jones
Edward Burne-Jones
Sir Edward Coley Burne-Jones, 1st Baronet was a British artist and designer closely associated with the later phase of the Pre-Raphaelite movement, who worked closely with William Morris on a wide range of decorative arts as a founding partner in Morris, Marshall, Faulkner, and Company...
and James Whistler.