Inheritance: The tragedy of Mary Davies: Property & madness in eighteenth-century London

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"In June 1701, a young widow, Mary Grosvenor wakes up in a hotel room in Paris and finds a man in her bed. Within hours they are married. Yet three weeks later, Mary fled to London and swore that she had never agreed to the wedding. So begins one of the most intriguing stories of madness, tragic passions and the curse of inheritance. Inheritance charts the forgotten life of Mary Grosvenor, born in London during the Great Plague of 1665, and the land that she inherited as a baby. This estate would determine the course of her tragic life. Hollis restores this history of child brides, mad heiresses, religious controversy and shady dealing. The drama culminated in a court case that determined not just the state of Marys legacy, but the future of London itself. Today, Marys inheritance is some of the most valuable real estate in the world; and her family, the Dukes of Westminster."

Reviews

An enjoyable romp through the social history of a century from the Great Fire and the rebuilding of London to the Enlightenment, taking in discourses on midwifery, madness, child-rearing, burial practices, the birth and development of the London property market and the dangers of being a woman.

-- The Times

Wonderful Leo Hollis knows the expanding city like the back of his hand, and brings a forensic eye and a deep empathy to the mystery at the heart of Mary Daviess tragic life Inheritance is a consistently enthralling read.

-- Helen Castor, author of Joan of Arc

Genuinely gripping. Hollis tells a good taleInheritance is also a book about property his knowledge shows here in confident and vivid descriptions of the capital at the start of the 18th century. But he comes at his subject from a novel angle.

-- Adrian Tinniswood, Literary Review

A fascinating insight into a tragic backwater of Londons history, yet from which one of its most magnificent estates emerged

* Simon Jenkins, author of A Short History of London *

Leo Hollis has written a thorough and readable account of the Mary Davies saga, at times almost as a thriller, set in the glamour of Restoration London. We dodge from the plague and the Glorious Revolution into matrimonial rights, lunacy acts and 99-year leases. The life of this otherwise inconsequential woman is meticulously recorded, and all for the incubus of an inheritance which she barely seemed to comprehend.

-- Oldie

Hollis expertly weaves together the human tragedy and high politics behind the explosion of one of the worlds greatest cities. His scholarship and storytelling make the seventeenth century seem so familiar.

* Dan Snow, Death or Victory: The Battle for Quebec and the Birth of Empire *

Leo Hollis combines meticulous research with his trademark style once again in this perceptive and humane book on one of modern Londons most significant origin stories.

-- Lucy Inglis, author of Georgian London: Into the Streets

'Identifying an authentic seventeenth-century mystery, Leo Hollis uses the form of the classic detective story to deliver a fast-moving and forensic account of the birth and development of the London property market. Here is a valuable addition to the literature of the city in another period of cancerous growth.'

-- Iain Sinclair, author of The Last London

The story of an heiress whose patrimony lies at the root of a modern accumulation of a vast landed fortune, the Grosvenor Estate of the Dukes of Westminster brilliant.

-- Ian Bostridge, FT

A tale of lies, coercion and opium-laced strawberriescompelling.

-- BBC History

'[A] well-crafted history...Hollis unspools the storys multiple threads with verve, and lucidly explains complex legal and historical matters. Anglophiles and urban history buffs will be delighted.'

* Publishers Weekly *

An intriguing story of scandal, betrayal, law courts and corruption. Its a fascinating read.

* Who Do You Think You Are *

Author Bio

Leo Hollis is the author of two acclaimed history books: The Phoenix: The Men Who Made Modern London, and Stones of London, as well as the international bestseller, Cities are Good for You. He speaks about the history of cities internationally and has presented TEDx talks in London and Ghent and in 2021 at the Venice Architectural Biennale. He has written for the New Statesman, Guardian, Financial Times. He lives in London and is the senior editor at Verso Books.