“Sister of the more famous Nell.”
I’ve always been drawn to finding out more about women from the footnotes of history. Often, they haven’t been entirely forgotten but are in the shadow of the more famous characters of the time, their own story overlooked or perhaps never told. One such woman is Rose Gwyn, the elder sister of Nell Gwyn the most famous and most popular mistress of King Charles II. Nell was a celebrity in her own time and her legend endures to this day, whilst Rose is seldom, if ever, mentioned.
I first came across Rose Gwyn eighteen months ago when I was visiting family for Christmas. There was a portrait on the wall, a woman in a seventeenth-century gown of diaphanous white material with gold edging at the neckline. She had red-gold hair and a lustrous pearl necklace and matching earrings. Engraved on the frame was the name “Nell Gwyn,” and the date 1675. The woman in the picture, with her sideways glance caught my imagination; I thought I might like to write about Nell so I went away to read about her.
Parts of Nell’s story, the orange-seller turned actress turned Royal mistress parts, are well-known but I wanted to write about something different. Then a line in one of the biographies caught my eye: It referred to Nell having an elder sister called Rose who was “notorious” and married to a highwayman. All thoughts of writing about Nell vanished when I read this and started to wonder about Rose’s story instead. Why was she notorious? Who was the highwayman she married? How did Rose’s life compare to Nell’s? They had shared a childhood and upbringing. Were they still close in adulthood? Finding out about “the other Gwyn girl” fascinated me.
I loved telling the story of the sisters Rose and Nell Gwyn, from the backstreets and brothels of Restoration London to the untold riches of Charles II’s court. Parallel to the swagger and excitement of the historical story is the modern-day tale of Jess and Octavia, one in the shadow of the other. I hope readers enjoy exploring the differences and similarities in these tales of two sisters!