Katherine Wilmot, a renowned global voyager, passed away two centuries ago on March 28th. Even during a time when travel was not as convenient as it is currently, she managed to journey throughout Europe, including Russia. Notably, she meticulously documented her varied experiences, offering a profound understanding of societal dynamics within Napoleonic France, Italy, and Tsarist Russia.
Born presumably in 1773, Katherine was the eldest child among nine siblings of Edward Wilmot, an erstwhile military captain and the Drogheda port surveyor at the time of her birth. Edward relocated to Drogheda upon getting married to Martha Moore, the Innishannon rector’s daughter. The family later settled near Moore Park in Glanmire in Cork, which was home to the noble family of Mountcashells. Katherine struck a friendship with Lady Mountcashell, an ex-student of renowned English philosopher, women’s rights supporter, and author Mary Wollstonecraft, who was also the mother of Mary Shelley, the author of ‘Frankenstein’. Lady Mountcashell was acknowledged as a fiercely independent republican who held not much in common with her husband.
Between 1801 and 1803 during the Grand European Tour of the Mountcashells, Katherine accompanied them. They spent their time in Napoleonic France and later in Italy, engaging in vast social events and interacting with a host of political ideologies. Katherine kept a journal and wrote numerous letters back home, providing a fair depiction of individuals she encountered and events she observed. She was of the view that Napoleon’s court was much similar to that of the French monarchy ousted by the revolution. While she held Bonaparte in high regard, she did not share the same sentiment towards his premier diplomat Talleyrand, whom she found to have a voracious appetite.
She also opined upon the fashion sensibilities of Parisian women, expressing surprise at their revealing attire. Her letters noted that “irrespective of age, females were close to being minimally clad with a petticoat that covered only half their room’s length. This generosity in showing skin was surprising in a nation with a paucity of carpets.”
Katherine first came across Robert Emmet in France and held him in high esteem. While in Naples, she discovered that women had diamonds intricately sewn into their dress seams. She also narrowly escaped an unpleasant meeting with bandits in Milan. In Rome, she was granted an audience with Pope Pius VII. However, when warfare between England and France reignited, she abandoned her companions the Mountcahsells in Italy. She journeyed through Germany to a Danish port, finally reaching London in October 1803 before proceeding to Ireland.
Meanwhile, her sister Martha had travelled to Russia in August 1803 for a visit to Princess Dashkova at Troitskoe estate. The princess, a former close associate of Catherine the Great and the inaugural director of the Russian Academy of Science, in her twilight years, relied on Martha for companionship. Katherine, with her maid Eleanor Kavanagh, departed Cork in June 1805 and arrived in Russia two months later with intentions of bringing Martha home. However, they both spent an additional two years in the company of Princess Dashkova.
The sisters documented their observations of Russian high society, as well as the celebrations and religious customs of the commoners. Katherine’s accounts detailed the ostentatious wealth of the aristocrats, the dread of their unchecked authority over lower classes, and the paradox of Russians’ apprehension and disdain for France while still adhering to French customs, according to the account written by Íde Ní Thuama for the Dictionary of Irish Biography.
Katherine left Russia a year earlier than Martha. She faced some challenges on her return journey, including passport issues on land and adverse sea weather conditions, but she finally returned to Ireland in October 1807. A few years after, she relocated to Moulins, in France, lured by its dry climate. Following her health deterioration, she moved to Paris, where she died in March 1824.
Upon leaving Russia, Katherine took with her Martha’s copy of Princess Dashkova’s memoirs. When Martha left in 1808, she destroyed the original manuscript because the princess had offended the new tsar’s government. She eventually published the memoir in 1840. Katherine’s letters were published over a hundred years later, offering a distinctive insider’s view into the social dynamics, pleasures, and perils of journeying by coach and ship during the Napoleonic era, according to Íde Ní Thuama.
The Royal Irish Academy library received part of the sisters’ assortments by way of historian Elisabeth Lecky, who was the spouse of renowned 19th-century Irish historian WEH Lecky, and whose family was closely connected to the Wilmots. These collections include a series of letters penned by Eleanor Kavanagh – who was employed as Katherine’s maid – from Russia, offering insights into the lifestyle of the domestic help in that region.