Improbable Pioneers of the Romantic Age

Improbable Pioneers follows the lives of John Russell, 6th Duke of Bedford (1766-1839), and Georgina Gordon (1781-1853), from their very different childhoods. In the course of their unlikely marriage they became closely involved with the scientific discoveries of the Enlightenment, the wonders of Romantic art and poetry and the key figures of both worlds.

The two of them set out to explore the expanding worlds of both science and art, becoming improbable pioneers in politics, art and architecture, agriculture, botany and horticulture. Beyond this, Georgina shared her love for the places and people of the Highlands not only with her husband but with a young artist, Edwin Landseer, whose images of the Highland landscape are some of the most popular paintings of British art. Landseer became a central figure in the lives of the Bedfords. He is also at the centre of an enduring mystery: was he the Duchess’s lover – and the father of one of her children?  

This book not only follows the public and private lives of the Duke and Duchess, it also sheds light on the historic events of the time and captures the sheer excitement of the new discoveries of the Romantic age.