A fistful of dollars

An ocean of prejudice met the American heiresses who came to Britain at the dawn of the 20th century, but there was more to them than their wealth. Some earned their own titles, one flew helicopters and another made history as Britain's first female MP

- Carla Passino

THE first official Dollar Princess was a pig, a prize-winning Berkshire sow. The name appeared in an 1893 journal and, for English Heritage curator Wendy Monkhouse—the mind behind the Kenwood House, London NW3, exhibition exploring the lives of Gilded Age American heiresses through their portraitist of choice, John Singer Sargent—it is a sign that the facile label under which these women were lumped in the press had penetrated popular discourse. 'The moment I saw that, I really felt—ew.'

Ask her how much of that stereotype was down to misogyny and Dr Monkhouse replies, bluntly: 'All of it. They were women who were powerful and rich, so there was a lot to dislike there. The Americans didn't like them taking all of this wealth—huge amounts of wealth—out of America. The British didn't like them coming over, behaving slightly differently, speaking slightly differently and nabbing all of the eligible bachelors.' As a result, the women were stripped of their individuality and reduced to their financial worth. Yet, they were incredibly diverse in temperaments, interests and even geographical backgrounds—some hailed from Southern states, others from the North, a few had Cuban or Argentinian heritage. Rather than trading cash for coronets—a myth upheld by President Theodore Roosevelt, who, in 1906, said their marriages were 'based upon the sale of the girl for her money and the purchase of the man for his title'—the women's reasons for choosing a British husband were as different as their origins and personalities. Undoubtedly, believes Dr Monkhouse, 'some may have been swayed by thoughts of castles'—but not all of them.