The Seventh Earl of Carlisle and the Castle Howard Estate: Whiggery, Religion and Improvement, 1830–1864

Abstract

This article explores the role played by the early-Victorian Whig aristocrat and politician, George Howard (1802–1864), seventh Earl of Carlisle, in improving his estate at Castle Howard in the North Riding. Carlisle instigated numerous changes in the productive landscape of the estate, and attempted to reform the social and moral condition of his tenantry through a number of projects. The article places those developments in the context of Carlisle's political and religious values. In doing so, it poses a challenge to the existing historiography on both the history of Whiggery and of the country house.