Ladies of Llangollen Ladies of Llangollen The "Ladies of Llangollen", Eleanor Butler and Sarah Ponsonby, were two upper-class Irish women whose relationship during the late 18th and early 19th century scandalized and fascinated their contemporaries. Eleanor Charlotte Butler (11 May 1739 – 2 June 1829) was a member of the Butlers, the Earls (and later Dukes) of Ormond. Butler was considered an over-educated bookworm by her family, who resided at the Butler family seat Kilkenny Castle. She spoke French and was educated in a convent in France. Her mother tried to make her join a convent because she was remaining a spinster. Sarah
Eleanor Calvert wife Elizabeth Calvert Butler. She was known to her family as "Nelly." As a teenager, Eleanor was an exceptionally pretty girl and well-mannered. Eleanor married John Parke Custis, son of the late Daniel Parke Custis and Martha Dandridge Custis Washington (and stepson of George Washington), on February 3, 1774 at Mount Airy. When "Jacky", as he was known by his family, announced his engagement to Eleanor to his parents, they were greatly surprised due to the couple's youth. After their marriage, the couple settled at the White House plantation, a Custis estate on the Pamunkey River in New Kent County,