The Bowood circle was a loose, international group of intellectual figures and writers of the later 18th century drawn together around Lord Shelburne, Prime Minister of Great Britain in the 1780s, and named after his residence Bowood House. They had in common an interest in political reform.[1] They met informally at Bowood House, or in London, and have been compared to a think tank.[2]
Proposals from the circle were aired in the Repository, edited by Benjamin Vaughan, during 1788.[3]
Terminology
Shelburne's patronage was broadly based, and not limited to this intellectual set, also called the Bowood Group.[4] The "Shelburne circle" may have a broader reference than the inner Bowood circle.[5] "Shelburne group" may refer to a faction of Whig Members of Parliament.[6]Lansdowne circle, referencing Shelburne's step up in the peerage from Earl of Shelburne to Marquess of Lansdowne, may be used as a synonym of "Bowood circle".[7]
^Boyd Hilton, Whiggery, Religion and Social Reform: The Case of Lord Morpeth, The Historical Journal Vol. 37, No. 4 (Dec., 1994), pp. 829–859, at p. 834. Published by: Cambridge University Press. JSTOR2639842
^John Seed, Gentlemen Dissenters: The Social and Political Meanings of Rational Dissent in the 1770s and 1780s, The Historical Journal Vol. 28, No. 2 (Jun., 1985), pp. 299–325, at p. 320. Published by: Cambridge University Press. JSTOR2639100
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