The Ladies in their distinctive riding outfits, circa 1785.

The Ladies

The internationally famous 18th century "Ladies of Llangollen" were very real people: Lady Eleanor Butler and The Honorable Miss Sarah Ponsonby.

Passionately in love, and beset by family pressures which approached the unbelievable, The Ladies determined in 1778 to elope from Ireland and settle in England. They carried out their plans, but eventually settled in more affordable north Wales, in the village of Llangollen. Here they lived together in a public and undisguised committed relationship for over 50 years.

In their dramatically public lives The Ladies not only challenged, but changed, many misbeliefs about female sexuality current in their era. A prime example was the then widely accepted belief that noblewomen were incapable of experiencing sexual orgasm.

Untold thousands of souvenirs were produced to celebrate these famous Ladies: porcelain figurines, brooches, pictorial representations (they did not allow likenesses of themselves to be painted), commemorative dinnerware, and similar items. Almost forgotten today, but famous for almost 100 years following their deaths in the early 1800s, The Ladies are restored dramatically to life in the romantic fiction and detailed fact of Love, above the reach of time.