Discover and read the best of Twitter Threads about #ViscountCastlereagh
Most recents (13)
Which Lord Londonderry is portrayed in this caricature/portrait by Richard Dighton?
A somewhat confusing🧵
#twitterstorians #19thC #portraiture
Image: Richard Dighton, @britishmuseum (BM), 1852,1116.559
A somewhat confusing🧵
#twitterstorians #19thC #portraiture
Image: Richard Dighton, @britishmuseum (BM), 1852,1116.559
Between roughly 1818-1828, Richard Dighton did a series of profile portraits of men in Regency London's high society. Most were etchings, and the BM has digitized many prints held in its collection--they are worth your time if you're interested in Regency society, style, and art.
The earlier prints of this particular portrait, published individually by Dighton himself, are clearly dated to July 1821. Copies show up in the collections of the @britishmuseum, @NPGLondon, and @RCT.
(details shown here are from prints in the BM and RCT collections)
(details shown here are from prints in the BM and RCT collections)
Castlereagh Creeping the House of Lords, or the Story of a Misidentified Portrait.
A 🧵
2 artists captured the proceedings against Queen Caroline in the #HouseofLords in 1820, and both include #ViscountCastlereagh. Let's start with James Stephanoff.
#twitterstorians #HistParl
A 🧵
2 artists captured the proceedings against Queen Caroline in the #HouseofLords in 1820, and both include #ViscountCastlereagh. Let's start with James Stephanoff.
#twitterstorians #HistParl
Stephanoff shows Castlereagh perched on a staircase, watching from a small window. The 1823 key for Stephanoff's work identifies this figure as "The Marquis of Londonderry [Castlereagh], who usually took his station on the stairs leading to the gallery during the investigation."
The other portrayal of the trial is, of course, George Hayter's monumental painting. Hayter, however, shows Castlereagh positioned in the box of the Gentleman Usher of the Black Rod, on the bottom right corner.
#OTD in 1822, #ViscountCastlereagh, Foreign Secretary and Leader of the House of Commons, died by his own hand.
Thanks very much to those of you who have followed my #Castlereagh200 threads, looking at Castlereagh's career through the lens of mental health.
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#twitterstorians
Thanks very much to those of you who have followed my #Castlereagh200 threads, looking at Castlereagh's career through the lens of mental health.
1/
#twitterstorians
I was at a loss for how to mark the day after spending the last 2 years writing the research article on which all these tweets are based.
Maybe something more reflective is fitting.
I had always been interested in Castlereagh from a diplomatic and political standpoint...
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Maybe something more reflective is fitting.
I had always been interested in Castlereagh from a diplomatic and political standpoint...
2/
...and became increasingly interested in exploring the mental health aspect of his story because it was a challenging area that would combine history, politics, psychology, medicine, and other disciplines.
So I started researching in 2020.
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So I started researching in 2020.
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As we turn the corner into the week of August 12, I want to focus this #Castlereagh200 🧵 on a final area of #MentalHealth risk connected to the workplace: job insecurity.
Bear with me though--I turn this one on its head.
#ViscountCastlereagh #twitterstorians
1/14
Bear with me though--I turn this one on its head.
#ViscountCastlereagh #twitterstorians
1/14
If you've been following these #Castlereagh200 threads, you may call that I'm drawing from a risk framework that forms the basis for my upcoming article on Castlereagh and mental health. See the attached table, adapted from Boini, 2020 and Gollac et al, 2011.
2/14
2/14
Job insecurity has long been recognized as a mental health risk. But was Castlereagh's job insecure? No.
Electorally he was in safe seats, only losing his home seat briefly in 1805. His position in Cabinet after 1812 was arguably more secure than Liverpool's.
3/14
Electorally he was in safe seats, only losing his home seat briefly in 1805. His position in Cabinet after 1812 was arguably more secure than Liverpool's.
3/14
Continuing with my series of threads for #Castlereagh200, looking at #ViscountCastlereagh's career through the lens of #MentalHealth. Let's turn to the second major area of risk for chronic stress in the workplace: emotional demand.
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CW: suicide, violence
#twitterstorians
1/
CW: suicide, violence
#twitterstorians
Specifically, I want to focus on a stressor that is important in politics: tension with the public. Research has shown that jobs where there is sustained tension with the public (e.g. public hostility) have higher levels of chronic stress, contributing to poor mental health.
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It's well known that Castlereagh was an unpopular politician (esp. within radical and reformist movements), but what is particularly striking about the printed attacks on Castlereagh in satires and pamphlets, apart from their frequency, is their highly personalised nature.
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Next in my #Castlereagh200 series: What structural factors in govt contributed to the chronic stress on #ViscountCastlereagh while he was Foreign Secretary and Leader of the House of Commons? 1/
#twitterstorians #HistParl
#twitterstorians #HistParl
Reminder: chronic stress is a key factor in poor #MentalHealth, so structural factors that are organizationally ingrained and exacerbate stress are particularly problematic. 2/
One important structural factor was that there was no equivalent to a modern-day Chief Whip. The functions were dispersed between the patronage secretary to the Treasury (Charles Arbuthnot, L), the Treasury Whip (William Holmes, R), and the Leader of the House (Castlereagh). 3/
In my last thread for #Castlereagh200, I looked at how #ViscountCastlereagh's final weeks in 1822 linked to 19thC writing on what we now recognize as #MentalHealth.
Now let's return to the framework of individual risk factors for chronic stress. 1/
#twitterstorians #ParlHist
Now let's return to the framework of individual risk factors for chronic stress. 1/
#twitterstorians #ParlHist
Labour intensity (the volume, pressure, and complexity of work), and working time (length and unpredictability of working hours) are well-recognized in biographies of Castlereagh, so I'll zero in on a specific element: the consistent pressure on Castlereagh over a long period. 2/
It's difficult to capture the total demand on Castlereagh, but it is possible to establish a representative picture. I graphed the volume of contributions made by Castlereagh in the #HouseofCommons during each session from 1803-22. (full graph will be in the article) 3/
Here's the latest instalment of my threads on #ViscountCastlereagh and #MentalHealth under the hashtag #Castlereagh200.
In my last thread, I looked at how medical practitioners through the 19thC understood stress, and particularly the work of Charles Mills. 1/
In my last thread, I looked at how medical practitioners through the 19thC understood stress, and particularly the work of Charles Mills. 1/
Today, I'll use a passage from Mills's 1884 study of mental overwork among 'professional and public men' to consider Castlereagh's behaviour preceding his suicide on August 12, 1822--changes that bear strong similarities to what Mills identified as acute nervous exhaustion /2
Mills identified warning signs:
"excessive irritability of temper; depression of spirits; morbid impulses and fears; constantly recurring thoughts, phrases, or suspicions; sense of effort; impairment of memory and attention; and change in habits and methods of mental work." 3/
"excessive irritability of temper; depression of spirits; morbid impulses and fears; constantly recurring thoughts, phrases, or suspicions; sense of effort; impairment of memory and attention; and change in habits and methods of mental work." 3/
Using a modern framework to examine #ViscountCastlereagh's exposure to #MentalHealth risks raises historiographical questions. The way we experience chronic stress may not be the same way that those in the 18th/19thC experienced it. 1/
#Castlereagh200 #twitterstorians #HistParl
#Castlereagh200 #twitterstorians #HistParl
We have to consider broader historical understandings of #stress. The idea of mental exhaustion has a long history. A writer in Aristotle’s circle in c. 350 B.C.E identified ‘melancholia’ as an affliction that was particularly tied to learned men, including statesmen. 2/
Analysis of stress in the #19thC has identified drivers that are, in fact, quite similar to those of our own era, namely: working hours that were growing longer and more intense; the growth of information and new technologies; and anxiousness about an uncertain environment. 3/
How can we examine #ViscountCastlereagh's career through a mental health lens? Research has indicated that exposure to chronic stress is an important driver of poor mental health, and chronic stress manifests in many different ways. 1/
#Castlereagh200 #twitterstorians #HistParl
#Castlereagh200 #twitterstorians #HistParl
Several studies have proposed an overarching framework of six domains and 17 sub-domains of exposure to chronic stress (See table below adapted from Gollac et al 2011 and Boini et al 2020). 2/
Using this framework, we can begin to systematically assess Castlereagh's exposure to chronic stress and, by extension, the strain on his #MentalHealth. For the article, I examined all 7 domains, factoring in both professional and social dynamics. 3/3
Continuing my tweet series for #Castlereagh200, today's question: How does mental health factor into the different hypotheses that have been put forward to explain Castlereagh's suicide? 1/
#ViscountCastlereagh #twitterstorians #HistParl
(Img: BM)
#ViscountCastlereagh #twitterstorians #HistParl
(Img: BM)
Psychiatric analysis has concluded that Castlereagh likely suffered from recurrent major depressive disorder with psychotic symptoms. However there have also been other hypotheses, most notably neurosyphilis. 2/
The reality is that any specific diagnosis will remain uncertain given the inherent gaps in the historical record. But the lack of a specific diagnosis shouldn't hinder a broader discussion of Castlereagh’s mental health that could prove more generalisable. 3/
Some key questions 200 years on:
Castlereagh’s underlying mental health has been a secondary and incomplete consideration. What can we learn by making Castlereagh’s mental health a consistent thread of analysis? 1/3
#Castlereagh200 #ViscountCastlereagh
Castlereagh’s underlying mental health has been a secondary and incomplete consideration. What can we learn by making Castlereagh’s mental health a consistent thread of analysis? 1/3
#Castlereagh200 #ViscountCastlereagh
What role did social stressors play? How did social and professional stressors interact? What role did personal, professional, or societal expectations play? 2/3
#MentalHealth
#MentalHealth
Ultimately, Castlereagh’s struggle with mental health was more pervasive and complicated than past research has indicated. 3/3
In the last week I submitted my draft article on #ViscountCastlereagh and mental health to a journal for consideration. It's fitting timing, considering that August 2022 will mark 200 years since Castlereagh's suicide. 1/
#Castlereagh200
#Castlereagh200
To take 2 lines from the abstract:
1) Mental health is still a missing link in our understanding of both Castlereagh as a public and private figure, and the politics of his era. 2/
#MentalHealthAwareness
1) Mental health is still a missing link in our understanding of both Castlereagh as a public and private figure, and the politics of his era. 2/
#MentalHealthAwareness
2) Castlereagh continues to be relevant today because his story illustrates the need to understand the complexity of mental health risks in politics, and the types of persistent mental health risks that are still relevant to today’s politicians and civil servants.
