The Saber and Scroll Journal Volume 8, Number 3, Spring 2020 | Page 92

Tea Table Sisterhood and Rebel Dames: The C
enforced the Acts of Settlement proclaimed
by William III of Orange, which
prevented any Catholic from inheriting
the throne of Great Britain, and placed
Queen Anne’s cousin, George I, on the
throne. 22
Lady Eleanor continued her
support to the Stuarts until her death
in 1732. She ran Westbrook Place as a
Jacobite underground, arranging political
Jacobite marriages for three of her
daughters to the French royal family,
and provided strict guidance in her
children’s roles to restore the throne
to the Stuart Dynasty. 23 There were at
least seven separate uprisings from the
course of 1688 to 1745. But the real battles
took place in parlors, bedrooms,
and public places. Women were superior
to men for carrying messages and
gaining secrets because women were
considered inferior in intelligence to
men. Women were easier to use since
they were less suspected of political
involvement. Such was the case when
young Eleanor married a French Jacobite
distantly related to the French
Royal family and became Madame de
Mezieres. She was notoriously known
in the French court for gathering intelligence
for both the French and Jacobite
interest. As such, she remained part of
the inner Jacobite circle, the same as
her mother. 24 She led an active role as
advisor to James III at his French court
in St. Germain and arranged a political
marriage for her daughter to the Prince
de Lignes. Once James III lost interest
in restoring his crown following the
failure of the rebellion in 1715—lost
before James could land in Scotland—
the Oglethorpe women turned their
4