Charlotte Strutt, 1st Baroness Rayleigh
Encyclopedia
Charlotte Mary Gertrude Strutt, 1st Baroness Rayleigh (29 May 1758 – 13 September 1836), known as Lady Charlotte FitzGerald from 1758 to 1789 and as Lady Charlotte Strutt from 1789 to 1821, was a British
peeress
.
Charlotte was the daughter of James FitzGerald, 1st Duke of Leinster
, and his wife Lady Emily
, daughter of Charles Lennox, 2nd Duke of Richmond
, and the second of the famous Lennox sisters. Lord Edward FitzGerald
and Charles FitzGerald, 1st Baron Lecale
, were her brothers. Through her mother she was a descendant of King Charles II
.
In Toulouse
on 23 February 1789 Charlotte married Joseph Strutt
, later Member of Parliament
for Maldon
and the member of an Essex
family that had made their fortune from its milling business. Her husband was offered a peerage for his services in the Army and Parliament but refused, and instead proposed that the honour be given to his wife. Hence, in 1821 Charlotte was raised to the peerage as Baroness Rayleigh, of Terling Place in the County of Essex.
Lady Rayleigh died in Bath in September 1836, aged 78, and was succeeded in the barony by her son John. Her grandson John William Strutt, 3rd Baron Rayleigh, became a noted mathematician and physicist and was awarded the Nobel Prize for Physics in 1904. Joseph Strutt died in 1845.
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
peeress
Peerage
The Peerage is a legal system of largely hereditary titles in the United Kingdom, which constitute the ranks of British nobility and is part of the British honours system...
.
Charlotte was the daughter of James FitzGerald, 1st Duke of Leinster
James FitzGerald, 1st Duke of Leinster
Lieutenant-General James FitzGerald, 1st Duke of Leinster, etc. PC , styled Lord Offaly until 1744 and known as The Earl of Kildare between 1744 and 1761 and as The Marquess of Kildare between 1761 and 1766, was an Irish nobleman, soldier and politician.-Background:Leinster was the son of Robert...
, and his wife Lady Emily
Emily FitzGerald, Duchess of Leinster
Emily FitzGerald, Duchess of Leinster , known before 1747 as Lady Emily Lennox, from 1747 to 1761 as The Countess of Kildare and from 1761 to 1766 as The Marchioness of Kildare, was the second of the famous Lennox sisters, daughters of Charles Lennox, 2nd Duke of Richmond, and illegitimately...
, daughter of Charles Lennox, 2nd Duke of Richmond
Charles Lennox, 2nd Duke of Richmond
The 2nd Duke of Richmond has been described as early cricket's greatest patron. Although he had played cricket as a boy, his real involvement began after he succeeded to the dukedom...
, and the second of the famous Lennox sisters. Lord Edward FitzGerald
Lord Edward FitzGerald
Lord Edward FitzGerald was an Irish aristocrat and revolutionary. He was the fifth son of the 1st Duke of Leinster and the Duchess of Leinster , he was born at Carton House, near Dublin, and died of wounds received in resisting arrest on charge of treason.-Early years:FitzGerald spent most of his...
and Charles FitzGerald, 1st Baron Lecale
Charles FitzGerald, 1st Baron Lecale
Rear-Admiral Charles James FitzGerald, 1st Baron Lecale PC , styled Lord Charles FitzGerald between 1761 and 1800, was an Irish naval commander and politician.-Background:...
, were her brothers. Through her mother she was a descendant of King Charles II
Charles II of England
Charles II was monarch of the three kingdoms of England, Scotland, and Ireland.Charles II's father, King Charles I, was executed at Whitehall on 30 January 1649, at the climax of the English Civil War...
.
In Toulouse
Toulouse
Toulouse is a city in the Haute-Garonne department in southwestern FranceIt lies on the banks of the River Garonne, 590 km away from Paris and half-way between the Atlantic Ocean and the Mediterranean Sea...
on 23 February 1789 Charlotte married Joseph Strutt
Joseph Strutt (MP)
Joseph Holden Strutt , was a British soldier and long-standing Member of Parliament.Strutt was the member of a family that had made their fortune from its milling business in Maldon and Chelmsford in Essex and which had acquired the estate of Terling Place in Terling, Essex...
, later Member of Parliament
Member of Parliament
A Member of Parliament is a representative of the voters to a :parliament. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, the term applies specifically to members of the lower house, as upper houses often have a different title, such as senate, and thus also have different titles for its members,...
for Maldon
Maldon (UK Parliament constituency)
Maldon is a county constituency represented in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It elects one Member of Parliament by the first past the post system of election...
and the member of an Essex
Essex
Essex is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in the East region of England, and one of the home counties. It is located to the northeast of Greater London. It borders with Cambridgeshire and Suffolk to the north, Hertfordshire to the west, Kent to the South and London to the south west...
family that had made their fortune from its milling business. Her husband was offered a peerage for his services in the Army and Parliament but refused, and instead proposed that the honour be given to his wife. Hence, in 1821 Charlotte was raised to the peerage as Baroness Rayleigh, of Terling Place in the County of Essex.
Lady Rayleigh died in Bath in September 1836, aged 78, and was succeeded in the barony by her son John. Her grandson John William Strutt, 3rd Baron Rayleigh, became a noted mathematician and physicist and was awarded the Nobel Prize for Physics in 1904. Joseph Strutt died in 1845.