What, Exactly, Did Cora Grantham Do All Day?

She was an heiress. She wouldn't have worked no matter who she married.

The stock market crash could have wiped out her heiress money. But what did she do? Sit in the drawing room all day and read books? She never had any friends in. She didn't seem to have any charities or church work. How did she pass the hours?

Masturbated.

Dropped breadcrumbs so that she would create a path for Carson to find her in that big pile when it was time for a little "Hide the Butler". Why do you think Mary was such a favorite of Carson? Hmmmm? It doesn't take Agatha Christie to figure that one out.

Cora did what all women in her position did. Ran the household, did local charity work and put out for Robert.

3 meals a day, tea, some callers or calling, changing clothes. It sounds very busy to the point of exhaustion.

She was probably consulting with the cook about dinners, etc. They did seem to have a lot of house guests up there in the country. She was probably doing stuff like deciding seating arrangements for dinner, who would sleep in which room, etc.

She practiced her cock-eyed stare.

Cora was the one with the money, and the Crawleys were reduced as the aristocracy all had become. That was the deal at that time - cash for title. There were many America heiresses who married specifically for this reason. Among them were Frances Work, Princess Diana's Great Grandmother and Jenny Jerome - Winston Churchill's Mother.

"Dollar Princesses". Consuelo Vanderbilt married Charles Spencer-Churchill, 9th Duke of Marlborough.

It’s not hard to kill a day doing nothing.

I watched 90% of Downton and I don't think I learned anything significant about Cora. The show kind of glossed over her in my opinion.

There's a great book called "What Jane Austen Ate and Charles Dickens Knew: From Fox Hunting to Whist-the Facts of Daily Life in Nineteenth-Century England" which spells out life of the upper classes and servants in Victorian England. Though some things changed their lives mostly remained rather same through Edwardian period and onto WWI then between war years. Well at least in cast of upper classes for those who still had any fortune to speak of....

Much of what great ladies did can be pieced together from films, books or television shows of period.

As the new Mrs. DeWinter finds out upon rising after having breakfast and dressing (some ladies had breakfast in their apartments (bed), then dressed and went downstairs), there would be a fire laid in a particular room. There she would conduct business of the day; reading and answering mail, meeting with the housekeeper and or cook (who always came to Milady, she never went downstairs), about menus for meals and any special arrangements (such as So and So coming to tea or luncheon, or if Milady or anyone else will be lunching out...

If her children were still small and at home there would be dealing with nanny and perhaps a governess to see what was going on with the children, and any special instructions or whatever there. Things such as maybe their grandmother was coming to tea so nanny had to have her charges scrubbed up and ready to be brought down from nursery when summoned.

Great ladies also had much to do outside the home. They paid social calls, did charity work, chaired committees, etc....

Keep in mind main purpose of great houses was for entertaining, so much of what Milady did all day was influenced by what was going on socially and or in her own home. If it was the season down in London there were balls, luncheons and other events to attend and or give. If she was bringing out a daughter there was the very serious game of arranging (or attempting to anyway) a good match.

I couldn’t stand her. The way she pronounced words with the “er” sound. My “gerrrls.” Its “perrrrfect.”

It was so weird that McGovern has that superstrong Chicago accent ("RAWWW-berrrt," "LAY-dee MAIRRR-ree") but then for some reason Julian Fellowes decided her backstory was that she and her family were originally from Cincinnati, where her father made his fortune. Fellowes must not be able to discern the difference between American accents: Cincinnati is lighter and more Southern, whereas the Chicago accent is so harsh.

It was also really weird that Fellowes decided her maiden name was "Levinson" but that she was not Jewish.

R8 That empty-headed cock-eyed stare would have been irritating in a woman with personality. Maggie Smith would have torn her to shreds.

But Cora was a woman with no personality.

Sucked the housekeeper Mrs Hughes’ clit till it fell off.

She was on the boards of things. The hospital. The church charity. Art school patron, no doubt. Widows & children charities. Judging flower contests. Change clothing for breakfast, lunch, dinner & bedtime. Take hot bath with broken bars of soap. Have lady’s maid brush & fix hair. Go over menu with housekeeper & cook; fire whorish housemaids who have sex with dashing upper class men. Picking out Boxing Day gifts for staff. Teaching girls to sing & dance to the Maypole Song.

"fire whorish housemaids who have sex with dashing upper class men"

It was the housekeeper Mrs. Hughes that caught and sacked that maid Ethel Parks.

She spent the day flipping through the Sears catalog and looking at the underwear models. She once had palpitations when one image appeared to show a man's ankle peeping out from his union suit.

". . . fire whorish housemaids who have sex with dashing upper class men."

Was it really consensual or were the pretty young housemaids raped or unable to refuse advances?

Any situations where young & attractive stable boys got caught in a similar situation?

[quote]fire whorish housemaids who have sex with dashing upper class men

I thought that was Carson's job.

Ruminated obsessively over why her mother hated her so that much she gave her name Cora.

R21

Generally at least by Victoria period housemaids/female servants were strictly watched and managed by housekeeper. If one of them was found wanting in character or worse got with child they were sacked without a reference. Keep in mind young girls (some just that or barely out of their teens) were in charge of their employers. Parents signed documents allowing the employer of their children to basically act in loco parentis. That is everything from summon and authorize medical care to take them out of the area or even country.

With this also came responsibility. If a young child or girl below age of consent was interfered with in a criminal carnal matter by member of staff or worse the family, there could be legal and other hell to pay.

In spite of this yes, of course things happen. In fiction Upstairs/Downstairs young James Bellamy has an affair with maid Sarah that results in her becoming pregnant. Lady Marjorie who never warmed to Sarah has to come down off her high horse after her son confesses that he is indeed the father, and their family solicitor informs Richard Bellamy and his wife that Sarah now has new "rights".

James is packed off somewhere for bringing such shame on family (usually how things went), and Lady Marjorie sits Sarah down to explain that she has been informed the latter has "rights" and how things would go. Sarah is packed off to Lady Marjorie's father's estate Southwold to wait out her confinement. Once the child was born things would be handled from there. Sadly (or happily) Sarah's infant dies soon after birth, so that was that.

OTOH we see the other side of things in film "Angels and Insects" where William Adamson comes upon the eldest son Edgar Alabaster and heir having sex with (ok raping) a young girl who was much more than a child. Adamson is shocked, and disgusted and calls Edgar Alabaster out on his behaviour, the latter basically responds that former knows nothing of *their* ways (the wealthy and high born), and not only was the young girl willing but that Adamson should mind is own bloody business. See 1:11 for brief clip of scene.

All this being said yes, whenever you have numbers of not related persons living under same roof or whatever things are bound to happen. Men took advantage (or found willing) of females (and in some cases males) in their employ. Flipping it around more than a few high born ladies got up to things with their footmen or other men employed on estate or in household.

From literally birth onward the British upper classes were used to servants tending their needs of all sorts. We're talking about an era when to be a true lady or gentleman meant you didn't even dress yourself. Wet nurses fed babies, an army of nannies, nurse maids and other staff fed, cared for and otherwise tended to children. So it isn't that far fetched for such men at least to turn to a servant for "other" things as well.

Former governesses and nannies made up a large class of mistresses to Victorian and Edwardian high born men. It is said British males of a certain class have a "nanny" or whatever fetish.

Much of this explains why historically and even today often WASPs have messed up sex lives or whatever. Remember how appalled Charlotte in SATC was to find out Trey's mother would visit with her son whilst he was bathing not just as a teen, but young grown man as well. Trey tried to explain that he was raised largely by his nanny, and that his mother visiting at bath time was really the only part of her day carved out to be with her son, but Charlotte wasn't having any of it.

Opium...

disguised as patent medicine mostly

R12 Jewish.

She took over the hospital chair position, remember? They sent poor granny out to pasture to make room for Cora.

Granny did not take it well but of course handled it with grace and dignity.

R12 On her father’s side.

[quote] Fellowes must not be able to discern the difference between American accents: Cincinnati is lighter and more Southern, whereas the Chicago accent is so harsh.

No American has any idea of the difference between upper class Chicago lady and Cincinnati lady.

[quote] It was also really weird that Fellowes decided her maiden name was "Levinson" but that she was not Jewish.

She was half Jewish on the show.

I like the actress who plays Cora a lot even though she gets a lot of crap on here.

She seems like she would be fun.

Wrote letters.

[quote] It was also really weird that Fellowes decided her maiden name was "Levinson" but that she was not Jewish.

She was Jewish. I don't know about half or full, but she was Jewish.

Anyway, Cora was initially really irritating, but then I grew to like her.

IMO, a lot of English actors who portray Americans over-enunciate everything, especially the R sounds. Technically, it does sound American, if you take each word out of context. But string it all together and that's not how people really talk.

I realize the Cora actress (Elizabeth McGovern) is American. Not sure why she was talking in that very strange way:

Lay-Dee Mary, etc.

[quote]I realize the Cora actress (Elizabeth McGovern) is American. Not sure why she was talking in that very strange way:

It's so incredibly affected and annoying...

She fingered her labia slowly... luxuriously. Tugging at her moist clit as she drenched the linen, her melon scented woman fumes rising to the chandelier.

Her father was Jewish but she was brought up Episcopalian which a lot of part-Jewish people were in those days because it was a “socially acceptable” religion. Not too Catholic, not too puritanical. Fiorello LaGuardia & Disraeli were Episcopalian/Anglican

When she was in the village one day, she heard a man call her thunder thighs behind her back, so she hired a hit man to kill his dog.

WTF do you bitches do ALL day?

She was the Executive Director & CEO of the Downton University Medical Center.

That was supposed to be MY fucking job, but that Slutty-Whorish-American-Jewish-Princess stole it from me!

When she was young, ladies wore corsets and petticoats and high-button shoes that had 50 buttons that required button hooks, and the process of dressing and/or undressing took about 2 hours. And since a lady had to change from her morning dress, to an afternoon or tea dress, to an evening gown, to a nightgown... well, that took up about 10 waking hours per day.

That left a little time to run the household, spend time with her husband and conduct a social life, work for charity, and occasionally, when time allowed, see her children.

Peg his Lordship. Try to turn Thomas, Scissor Mrs. Hughes.

Almina Herbert, Countess of Carnarvon,(née Wombwell) wife of George Herbert, 5th Earl of Carnarvon, and châtelaine of Highclere Castle was widely believed to be daughter of banker Alfred de Rothschild, who was not her mother's husband.

All of London was talking again when Alfred de Rotschild left Almina Wombwell a huge fortune making her one of the most eligible heiresses in England.

After her marriage Almina's vast fortune was put into her husband's estates including a grand renovation/refurbishing scheme for Highclere Castle. Many things done in Almina's time such as the silk wallpaper from France is still seen today.

Cora, Countess of Grantham is based (however loosely), on Almina Wombell. Where Cora is half Jewish, Almina merely was the daughter of a Jewish man who sired her on wrong side of the blanket.

Before her marriage Cora's fortune was tied to the Grantham estate by current earl's father who forced his future DIL to sign over her fortune . It was tied up via entail to the estate which meant whoever inherited Downton Abbey would get all Cora's money as well. Since the earl and countess had no sons, everything would pass to another heir, some distant cousin. That was more than Cora and the Dowager could endure so they hatched out a plot to smash the entail.

Problem was no one told these scheming females that only person who could bring a petition to squash an entail was the Earl. Even then the thing required petitioning and succeeding in getting Parliament to approve an act that would break up the entail/estate. The Lords took a dim view of such things and likely wouldn't be inclined merely because basically two countesses (one current, the other a widow) didn't like who was going to inherit.

Earl Grantham lost most of his money and nearly all of Cora's not in the crash of 1929, but much earlier. Robert invested in some speculative Canadian Railroad scheme that went belly up wiping out investors. Another financial blow arrived when Cora's brother also suffered a financial reversal thanks to getting involved in what became known as the "Teapot Dome Scandal".

R42, thank you. That article was a good read.

[quote]Try to turn Thomas

LOL!!!!!

R15

"It was also really weird that Fellowes decided her maiden name was "Levinson" but that she was not Jewish."

As Raj's mother tells his father in The Big Bang Theory, you can't go by that (surnames).

Generally to be Jewish one's mother must be of that faith. Marriages between Jewish men and a shiksa have been going on for ages, and vice versa.

In Cora's case her father very well may have been Jewish but since the mother wasn't, neither were any of the Levinson children. Mr. Levinson would have known this before marrying Cora, and if he wanted Jewish children would have married elsewhere.

No small number of high ranking Nazis were married to Jewish (as in their mothers were Jewish which made them so as well) women. Because the men held key or whatever positions in German military or Nazi party these women and their families were often spared fate of other Jews.

Germans made up the first large (some say huge) wave of European immigration to USA long before the Irish, Italians, Eastern Europeans... A good number of those Germans were Jewish and intermarried where they liked.

Tried to figure out whether her last name was Crawley or Grantham.

R45

You're very welcome.

Fee entail was rather a good or bad thing depending upon which side of the fence one sat.

Monarchy and government hated the thing because it deprived crown of tax revenue. Some families hated the thing because they were rich in way people like themselves were, but what could be liquidated for ready money was limited. For the Granthams the estates, lands, improvements (buildings), and much of what was in them from art on walls to china and silver service all would have been under fee entail. Cora's own personal jewels were hers, but the family stones were tied up.

Fee entail was largely abolished in 1925. Those holding everything when it ended were free to dispose of things as they wished. Lord Marchmain does this by revising his will to leave a bulk of his estate (including Brideshead) to Julia and Cordelia, not his eldest son Brideshead.

One major downside was that since these estates were no longer tied up in trusts, they were subject to death duties. Just as in Downton Abbey the real life inhabitants of Highclere Castle faced tax problems.

“The fifth Earl of Carnarvon had died in Cairo and his son and heir had to pay death duties. The death duties and tax in this country were so high at that time because World War One had cost so much in lives and money,” said Countess Carnarvon.

“England was reasonably bankrupt and the death duty levelled at Highclere was £500,000 – equivalent to £30 million today. They were suddenly confronted with having to find an enormous amount of tax.

“In 1926 there was the sale of the century at Christie’s in London, where they sold the most beautiful works of art including those by Leonardo da Vinci and Gainsborough.” /quote

British tax code at that time didn't allow for marital estates to pass between deceased spouse to survivor not taxed. There was a small allowance (about £100) , and that was all, entire balance of estate was subject to death duties.

Between the new heavy taxes enacted after WWI on income, then the grievous death duties piled on all but most resilient family fortunes suffered.

R46

Grantham is a territory name, Earl and Countess of Grantham....

Crawley is their surname, Mr. and Mrs. Robert Crawley if you like.

Matthew and Isobel don't have titles, but are members of Crawley family which is their surname.

Monarchs and nobility generally have a dynastic or family name , but also a territorial one as well.

Before Windsor the BRF was Saxe Coburg-Gotha, but various members also had territorial names attached to their titles; duke of York, duke of Gloucester, duke of Kent....

Before the Hanovarians arrived it was the Stuarts. In France the Bourbon dynasty descends from Hugh Capet, which is their surname today.

Monarchs and between nobles themselves first names are rarely if ever used. Earl of Grantham would simply be called "Grantham" not "Crawley".

Children of peers (aside from eldest son who uses one of his father's subsidiary titles), are either "lord" or "lady" or "honorable" with their Christian and surnames. Lady Mary Crawley not Lady Mary Grantham.

The actress who plays Cora had a very interesting show she hosted called the Million Dollar American Princesses. It was really interesting. Churchill's mother, Jenny Jerome, sounded quite racy and fun. She was knocked up before she married her husband and had a string of lovers after their passion faded. Consuela Vanderbilt was tragic.

Sorry. Here's the link.

Me.

Premise of OP's argument is false for most part.

American heiresses didn't marry British or European royalty or nobility because they wanted a "life of leisure". Rather it was more like impoverished royals and nobility needing ready money. For their part American wealthy families (especially the newly minted millionaires) wanted the status of being related to British or whoever noble family, having a duchess, countess, etc... as a daughter.

America was a land of vast natural and other resources (such as people) that were exploited. Men like Carnegie, Vanderbilt, and many others either came to USA poor, or were born in humble circumstances but rose up to become multi millionaires. All that money went into the usual things, houses, horses, jewels, etc.. But since America lacked an official aristocracy people turned to Europe, especially UK.

The huge doweries, allowances and settlements these heiresses brought with them propped up more than a few British noble families. Their money was spent on much needed repair and restoration work on their husband's family piles, paying off debts, maybe a building campaign for the estate, etc....

While some of the marriages were happy, loving and successful, many others were not. Having got what they wanted (piles of cash), many peers went right back to their mistresses and lives expecting their wife to do what any other peeress did; cope as best she could.

For their part many of these "Dollar Princesses" were shocked and appalled at many aspects of their new lives in UK including those grand piles that were now their homes.

Many of these several hundred year old places were drafty, cold, damp, leaking all over place, lacked indoor plumbing, central heating and in some cases even electricity. These young women left mansions, town houses, estates and other grand homes in USA that had every mod con money could buy. Many had never seen a slop jar in their lives, but that is how many British estates were still run.

We know from Downton Abbey that "Robert" used Cora's money to install electricity (which the Dowager finds distasteful if not shocking), and make other much needed repairs and upgrades to estate.

In film "Gosford Park" we see while the guest and bedrooms for family have ensuite baths with indoor plumbing. The servants quarters have slop jars, basins and ewers. There is only one bath tub for use by entire servants, and it doesn't even have hot water.

One American heiress who married a British peer wrote home to her mother about the constant cold and damp of not only England's climate but her home. She told her mother that she didn't take her furs off indoors except to get into bed. The good lady also confided she stopped accepting dinner/party invitations because other homes were equally freezing cold.

Robert married Cora for her money, but later after being ashamed of his actions grew fond of his wife. Cora for her part didn't need to marry a British peer for money (which Robert didn't have anyway), as she had buckets of her own. Her life as a wealthy married woman in USA wouldn't have been that much different than Great Britain.