Elisabeth Grass

Research Topic

My research focuses on the socio-cultural activities of West Indian absentee slaveholders in Britain in the long eighteenth century, with a particular focus on their country houses and estates.  I am interested in the ways in which members of the 'planter elite' inculcated themselves within the landed classes, managed their identities, and presented themselves as ladies and gentlemen of taste.

Working with the National Trust, my research offers perspectives on wealth derived from enslaved labour in the West Indies, and its legacy in our built environment. 

Supervisor: Dr Perry Gauci