Henry Paget: life of the week
6/8/202644 min
Henry Paget, 5th Marquess of Anglesey, lived a life of extravagance, luxury and theatre – and for this, he was the subject of much intrigue in the late 19th century. In this episode, Michael Hall speaks to Charlotte Vosper about the man dubbed the 'Dancing Marquess' – and whose story has now been dramatised for the big screen in new film Madfabulous. ––––– GO BEYOND THE PODCASTIf you'd like to hear more from Michael about queer lives connected to the National Trust and its properties, check out our discussion of his latest book A Queer Inheritance: https://bit.ly/3RzQszl Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
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First 90 secondsSpeaker 10:00
[upbeat music] Flamboyant late 19th century aristocrat Henry Paget was certainly no stranger to attention in his own lifetime, and now he's the subject of new film Mad Fabulous, which was released here in the UK at the start of June. But who was Paget, and what did he do to attract so much notice? In this episode of the History Extra podcast, historian and author Michael Hall guides Charlotte Foster through the extravagant life of the man who became known as the Dancing Marquess.
Charlotte Vosper· Host0:38
Today we're gonna be chatting all about the life of Henry Paget, who has become known as the Dancing Marquess. But for those who might not have heard of Henry, can you tell me, in a nutshell, who was he?
Michael Hall· Guest0:50
He was the fifth Marquess of Anglesey, and he was very rich indeed because his family, the Pagets, are probably best remembered now for one of the great heroes of Waterloo, somebody who became the first Marquess of Anglesey, who was, I think, I'm not a military historian, but he was by Wellington's side at Waterloo, and this famous exchange that he said, "Oh, good God, sir, I think I've lost my leg," and, and Wellington said, "Good God, sir, so you have." So he became one-legged marquess. And if you go to Plas Newydd, which is their house on Anglesey, there's a rather good museum about the first Marquess of Anglesey and his military career, and you can see