Regency Men: Lord Petersham

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PETERSHAM 1 CHAR HARLES STANHOPE Lord Petersham afterwards fourth Earl of Harrington was the eldest son of the third Earl who was born at Harrington House Stable Yard St James's on April 8 1780 Sent to Eton he was there at the time of the great rebellion under John Foster when all the boys threw their books into the Thames and marched to Salt Hill where each lad swore he would be damned if ever he returned to school again When he arrived in London he went to his father who however would only speak to him at the door of the house and told him to go back at once to Eton REGE ET Harrington ADEO 1 Charles Stanhope Lord Petersham afterwards fourth Earl of Harrington 1780 1851
Sir he expostulated consider I shall be damned if I do And I retorted the irate father will be damned if you don t Yes my lord replied the son politely but desirous to make Lord Harrington see the injustice of his attitude but you will be damned whether I do or no 1 At the age of fifteen Lord Petersham entered the army as an ensign in the Coldstream Guards in which regiment he remained until he attained the rank of Lieutenant Colonel in 1812 when he retired on half pay About that time he was appointed as Lord of the Bedchamber a position he again held during the reign of George IV until in 1829 he succeeded to the earldom It is not however as a military man nor as a courtier he is remembered to day but as a beau in the days when he was on the town under his courtesy title of Lord Petersham He was noted in society for his eccentricities though Barbey D Aurevilly was not favourably impressed by him in his pose as dandy To the short sighted he was the model dandy says that great authority but to those who look further than the outward show he was not more a dandy than a well dressed
woman is an elegant woman Since however few people are gifted with clear vision he was generally recognised as a gifted leader of fashion and Lord William Pitt Lennox quoting Byron's description of George IV A finished gentleman from top to toe 991 declared that Petersham deserved that character to the full as much as the royal personage upon whom it was bestowed Petersham's taste in dress was perhaps more distinctive than elegant for he was prone to excess in fashion It is impossible to suppress a laugh at the sight of the portrait in which he appears in the full glory of those ugly Cossack trousers that furnished Luttrell with a theme Oft have I traced him through the town Mowing whole ranks of beauty down Armed at all points from head to foot From rim of hat to tip of boot Above so loose below so braced In chest exuberant and in waist Just like an hour glass or a wasp So tightened he could scarcely gasp Cold was the nymph who did not dote Upon him in his new built coat
Whose heart could parry the attacks Of his voluminous Cossacks Trousers so called from those barbarians Nursed in the Steppes the Crim Tartarians Who when they scour a country under Those ample folds conceal their plunder How strange their destiny has been Promoted since the year fifteen In honour of these fierce allies To grace our British legs and thighs Fashion's a tide which nothing stems So the Don mingles with the Thames 1 THE HARRINGTON HAT 109 Tall and handsome Petersham dressed like Henri Quatre whom he was supposed to resemble He invented an overcoat that was named after him and wore a Harrington Harrington hat specially made for him the peculiarity of which consisted in its extreme yeoman shaped crown and square cut brim turned up with marked eccentricity at the side while the tout ensemble seems occasionally to have been almost irresistibly funny We met Lord Petersham in something between a vis à vis and a sedan chair Harriet Lady Granville noted in 1819 He put out his head like the flower called the devil in a bush and for a moment one might have taken him for a large monkey going to some fair 2 1 Petersham's habits were as peculiar as his costume He never went out before six o clock in the evening and when he did go forth it was in a carriage the body of which as well as the horses the harness and the liveries even to the glazed top hats of the coachman and outriders were brown his devotion to this colour being a
standing testimony to the affection he once bore to the fair widow Mary Browne His family was famous for its tea drinking and his father the third Earl who drank the beverage in state every afternoon was known to have welcomed his son General Lincoln Stanhope on his return to Harrington House after several years absence in India Hallo Linky my dear boy delighted to see you Have a cup of tea Petersham carried on the family traditions and Captain Gronow has described a visit to his apartments The room into which we were ushered was more like a shop than a gentleman's sitting room All around the wall were shelves upon which were placed the canisters containing congou pekoe souchong bohea gunpowder Russian and many other teas all the best of their kind on the other side of the room were beautiful jars with names in gilt letters of innumerable kinds of snuff and all the necessary apparatus for moistening and mixing Lord Petersham's mixture is still well known to all tobacconists Other shelves and many of the tables were covered with a great number of magnificent snuff boxes for Lord Petersham had perhaps the finest collection in England and was supposed to have a fresh box for every day in the year I heard him on the occasion of a
delightful old light blue Sèvres box he was using being admired say in his lisping way Yes it is a nice summer box but it would not do for winter wear 1 His affectations which in another might have irritated were more than compensated for by a kind heart and constancy to a wide circle of friends with whom he was most popular He took no part however in most of the pastimes of the day and was especially averse to witnessing the pugilistic encounters so much patronised by the upper classes at that time Once however he was persuaded to attend a fight and told Bill Gibbons of the Pugilistic Club to call for him Gibbons called early before Petersham was dressed and Lady Harrington anxious to be courteous to one of her son's friends insisted upon the prize fighter sitting down to breakfast with her Petersham's feelings when he entered were not easy to describe


Melville, L. (1908). The Beaux of the Regency; Volume 1. United States: Creative Media Partners, LLC.

Lord Petersham was famous not only for his hat but is also the namesake of several other items of fashion including:

Bible, G. W., Bible, D. P. (1896). Pocket Dictionary of Dry-goods, Etc. United States: Trade Printing and Publishing Company.

According to a more modern costume dictionary, there was also the Petersham Cossacks (a man’s loose Cossack flaring around the ankles) and the Petersham frock coat (a man’s double breasted coat with velvet collar, lapes, and cuffs, with large flap hip pockets). Lewandowski, E. J. (2011). The Complete Costume Dictionary. United Kingdom: Scarecrow Press.

In addition to the Cossack trousers (nipped in waists and ankles, balloon legs, similar to a style popular today), he also styled himself in one shade of brown and was known for his tendency to collect items (Eccentrics of the Regency Period Series: Charles Stanhope, Lord Petersham | Every Woman Dreams… (reginajeffers.blog)). He was such a trendsetter, Prinny was known to ape his style and the two were friends.

Petersham eventually became the Earl of Stanhope and then married Maria Foote, who was a younger Covent Garden actress. The couple had two children.

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