Caroline Wyndham-Quin, countess of Dunraven (1790-1870): an analysis of her discursive and material legacy

Caroline Wyndham was born on 24 May 1790 into the British gentry. The Wyndhams of Dunraven, whilst not being titled, were members of the land-owning and governing class in Glamorganshire, South Wales. In 1810 Caroline married Windham Quin, who belonged to an old Anglo-Irish family and who was eventually to become the second earl of Dunraven. Caroline‟s diaries, letters and annual reflections indicate that, even as a teenager, she was a deeply religious woman who had been affected by Methodism and by the evangelical revival that began in the 1780s. From the day of her eighteenth birthday in 1808 until her death in 1870 Caroline kept a diary, which forms part of her archive together with annual reflections and letters. This thesis has adopted a biographical approach in the study of this archive. An examination of Caroline‟s egodocuments has demonstrated the importance of religious discourse for the management of her, and her family‟s, emotions and her attempts to realise the prescriptive and gendered ideal state of resigned gratitude. This biographical analysis of Caroline‟s writings has also highlighted the importance of her work in the construction and preservation of a family narrative. This constructed and preserved narrative formed a lasting and important part of her legacy for future generations of Dunravens.