Elizabeth Waldegrave, Countess Waldegrave
Encyclopedia
Elizabeth Laura Waldegrave, Countess Waldegrave (25 March 1760 – 29 January 1816), was a British noblewoman, courtier
and society beauty. She served at court as a Lady of the Bedchamber
to Charlotte, Princess Royal
, eldest daughter of King George III. She married her cousin, George Waldegrave, 4th Earl Waldegrave
in 1782.
Lady Elizabeth was the subject of portraits by Sir Joshua Reynolds and other painters.
and Maria Walpole, the illegitimate child of Sir Edward Walpole
by his mistress, Dorothy Clement.
She had two younger sisters, Lady Charlotte Maria, later wife of the 4th Duke of Grafton
, and Lady Anna Horatia, who would marry Francis Seymour-Conway, 1st Marquess of Hertford
.
When Elizabeth was three years of age, her father died of smallpox
. As he had no sons, the title Earl Waldegrave passed to his brother, John
. Elizabeth and her siblings subsequently took up residence with their mother at Ragman's Castle, a house in Twickenham
. On 6 September 1766, her mother married secondly, and in secret, Prince William Henry, Duke of Gloucester and Edinburgh
, a member of the British Royal Family
as the younger brother of King George III. It was this marriage, made without the King's consent, which had led to the passing of the Royal Marriages Act in 1772. Elizabeth acquired three half-siblings, Sophia
, Caroline, and William
by her mother's second marriage to the royal Duke.
, Piccadilly
, London. She was 22 years old. The Viscount served as a Colonel of the 87th Regiment of Foot. On 22 October 1784, he succeeded as 4th Earl Waldegrave and henceforth she was styled Countess Waldegrave. In the years following her marriage, Elizabeth gave birth to five children.
She went to court on an unrecorded date where she served Charlotte, Princess Royal as a Lady of the Bedchamber. When George III was incapacitated by mental illness in 1788 and 1789, she was one of the ladies who remained at the side of Queen Charlotte
offering her loyal support. Novelist Fanny Burney
refers to Elizabeth, Countess Waldegrave in her diary.
near Eton
and the title then passed on to his brother John. Elizabeth lost another son, Edward in a drowning death off the coast of Falmouth as he was sailing home from Spain in 1809. He had served as a lieutenant in the 7th Regiment Dragoons.
She died at her gothic villa Strawberry Hill
in Twickenham on 29 January 1816 at the age of 55. She was buried beside her husband in Great Packington
.
, and John Hoppner
did a half-length portrait of her. In London's National Portrait Gallery, there is a mezzotint
by J. Smith which depicts Elizabeth, as a baby, in the arms of her mother. Reynolds also executed a portrait of Elizabeth and her mother in a similar style in 1761.
Courtier
A courtier is a person who is often in attendance at the court of a king or other royal personage. Historically the court was the centre of government as well as the residence of the monarch, and social and political life were often completely mixed together...
and society beauty. She served at court as a Lady of the Bedchamber
Lady of the Bedchamber
This is an incomplete list of those who have served as Lady of the Bedchamber in the British Royal Household...
to Charlotte, Princess Royal
Charlotte, Princess Royal
The Princess Charlotte, Princess Royal was a member of the British Royal Family, the eldest daughter of George III. She was later the Queen Consort of Frederick of Württemberg...
, eldest daughter of King George III. She married her cousin, George Waldegrave, 4th Earl Waldegrave
George Waldegrave, 4th Earl Waldegrave
George Waldegrave, 4th Earl Waldegrave, PC, ADC was a British statesman.The eldest son of the 3rd Earl of Waldegrave, he was educated at Eton and was commissioned into the 3rd Foot Guards in 1768. He purchased a Lieutenantcy in 1773. In 1778 he transferred to the Coldstream Guards as a...
in 1782.
Lady Elizabeth was the subject of portraits by Sir Joshua Reynolds and other painters.
Family
Lady Elizabeth Laura was born on 25 March 1760, the eldest daughter of statesman James Waldegrave, 2nd Earl WaldegraveJames Waldegrave, 2nd Earl Waldegrave
James Waldegrave, 2nd Earl Waldegrave KG PC FRS was a British statesman.The eldest son of the 1st Earl Waldegrave, Waldegrave was educated at Westminster and Eton and he inherited his father's titles in 1741...
and Maria Walpole, the illegitimate child of Sir Edward Walpole
Edward Walpole
Sir Edward Walpole KB PC was a British politician, and a younger son of Sir Robert Walpole, Prime Minister from 1721 to 1742....
by his mistress, Dorothy Clement.
She had two younger sisters, Lady Charlotte Maria, later wife of the 4th Duke of Grafton
George FitzRoy, 4th Duke of Grafton
George Henry FitzRoy, 4th Duke of Grafton, KG was a British peer and Whig politician, known as Earl of Euston from birth until 1811....
, and Lady Anna Horatia, who would marry Francis Seymour-Conway, 1st Marquess of Hertford
Francis Seymour-Conway, 1st Marquess of Hertford
Francis Seymour-Conway, 1st Marquess of Hertford KG, PC, PC was a British courtier and politician.He was born in Chelsea, London the son of Francis Seymour-Conway, 1st Lord Conway and Charlotte Shorter and died in Surrey, England...
.
When Elizabeth was three years of age, her father died of smallpox
Smallpox
Smallpox was an infectious disease unique to humans, caused by either of two virus variants, Variola major and Variola minor. The disease is also known by the Latin names Variola or Variola vera, which is a derivative of the Latin varius, meaning "spotted", or varus, meaning "pimple"...
. As he had no sons, the title Earl Waldegrave passed to his brother, John
John Waldegrave, 3rd Earl Waldegrave
John Waldegrave, 3rd Earl Waldegrave was a British politician and soldier.Waldegrave was the youngest son of the 1st Earl Waldegrave. He joined the 1st Regiment of Foot in 1735, rising to the rank of Captain in 1739...
. Elizabeth and her siblings subsequently took up residence with their mother at Ragman's Castle, a house in Twickenham
Twickenham
Twickenham is a large suburban town southwest of central London. It is the administrative headquarters of the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames and one of the locally important district centres identified in the London Plan...
. On 6 September 1766, her mother married secondly, and in secret, Prince William Henry, Duke of Gloucester and Edinburgh
Prince William Henry, Duke of Gloucester and Edinburgh
Prince William, Duke of Gloucester and Edinburgh was a member of the British Royal Family, a grandson of George II and a younger brother of George III.-Early life:...
, a member of the British Royal Family
British Royal Family
The British Royal Family is the group of close relatives of the monarch of the United Kingdom. The term is also commonly applied to the same group of people as the relations of the monarch in her or his role as sovereign of any of the other Commonwealth realms, thus sometimes at variance with...
as the younger brother of King George III. It was this marriage, made without the King's consent, which had led to the passing of the Royal Marriages Act in 1772. Elizabeth acquired three half-siblings, Sophia
Princess Sophia of Gloucester
Princess Sophia of Gloucester was a member of the British Royal Family, a great granddaughter of George II and niece of George III.-Early life:...
, Caroline, and William
Prince William Frederick, Duke of Gloucester and Edinburgh
Prince William, Duke of Gloucester and Edinburgh was a member of the British Royal Family, a great-grandson of George II and nephew of George III.-Early life:...
by her mother's second marriage to the royal Duke.
Countess of Waldegrave
Lady Elizabeth married her cousin, George Waldegrave, Viscount Chewton on 5 May 1782 at Gloucester House, Grosvenor SquareGrosvenor Square
Grosvenor Square is a large garden square in the exclusive Mayfair district of London, England. It is the centrepiece of the Mayfair property of the Duke of Westminster, and takes its name from their surname, "Grosvenor".-History:...
, Piccadilly
Piccadilly
Piccadilly is a major street in central London, running from Hyde Park Corner in the west to Piccadilly Circus in the east. It is completely within the city of Westminster. The street is part of the A4 road, London's second most important western artery. St...
, London. She was 22 years old. The Viscount served as a Colonel of the 87th Regiment of Foot. On 22 October 1784, he succeeded as 4th Earl Waldegrave and henceforth she was styled Countess Waldegrave. In the years following her marriage, Elizabeth gave birth to five children.
She went to court on an unrecorded date where she served Charlotte, Princess Royal as a Lady of the Bedchamber. When George III was incapacitated by mental illness in 1788 and 1789, she was one of the ladies who remained at the side of Queen Charlotte
Charlotte of Mecklenburg-Strelitz
Charlotte of Mecklenburg-Strelitz was the Queen consort of the United Kingdom as the wife of King George III...
offering her loyal support. Novelist Fanny Burney
Fanny Burney
Frances Burney , also known as Fanny Burney and, after her marriage, as Madame d’Arblay, was an English novelist, diarist and playwright. She was born in Lynn Regis, now King’s Lynn, England, on 13 June 1752, to musical historian Dr Charles Burney and Mrs Esther Sleepe Burney...
refers to Elizabeth, Countess Waldegrave in her diary.
issue
The children of Elizabeth, Countess Waldegrave and Earl Waldegrave:- Lady Maria Wilhelmina Waldegrave (1783- 20 February 1805), married Nathaniel Micklethwaite, by whom she had a daughter, Charlotte.
- George Waldegrave, 5th Earl WaldegraveGeorge Waldegrave, 5th Earl WaldegraveGeorge Waldegrave, 5th Earl Wadegrave was the son of the 4th Earl Waldegrave and his wife, Elizabeth Waldegrave, Countess Waldegrave....
(13 July 1784- 29 June 1794), died in a drowning accident. - Lieutenant-Colonel John Waldegrave, 6th Earl WaldegraveJohn Waldegrave, 6th Earl WaldegraveLieutenant-Colonel John James Waldegrave, 6th Earl Waldegrave was a British peer and soldier.Waldegrave was the second son of the 4th Earl Waldegrave and was educated at Eton...
(31 July 1785- 28 September 1846), married Anne King, by whom he had issue. - Lieutenant Edward William Waldegrave (29 August 1787- 22 January 1809), drowned at sea
- Vice-Admiral William Waldegrave, 8th Earl WaldegraveWilliam Waldegrave, 8th Earl WaldegraveVice-Admiral William Waldegrave, 8th Earl Waldegrave, CB was a British naval commander and politician.Waldegrave was the son of the 4th Earl Waldegrave and was educated at Eton. In 1802, he became a Midshipman in the Royal Navy, rising to the ranks of Lieutenant in 1806 and Commander in 1809...
(27 October 1788- 24 October 1859), married firstly Elizabeth Whitbread, by whom he had issue; secondly Sarah WhitearSarah Waldegrave, Countess WaldegraveSarah Waldegrave, Countess Waldegrave was a British philanthropist.Sarah Whitear was born in 1787, the daughter of Rev. William Whitear, a prebendary of Chichester, at Hastings Old Town Rectory. She later married Edward Milward, who later served as Mayor of Hastings several times and she inherited...
.
Widowhood and death
Elizabeth became a widow on 22 October 1789 when she was 29 years of age. Her eldest son George succeeded his father as 5th Earl Waldegrave. The boy drowned five years later while swimming in the River ThamesRiver Thames
The River Thames flows through southern England. It is the longest river entirely in England and the second longest in the United Kingdom. While it is best known because its lower reaches flow through central London, the river flows alongside several other towns and cities, including Oxford,...
near Eton
Eton
Eton commonly refers to Eton College, a public school in Eton, Berkshire, England.Eton may also refer to:-Places:*Eton, Berkshire, a town in Berkshire, England*Eton, Georgia, a town in the United States...
and the title then passed on to his brother John. Elizabeth lost another son, Edward in a drowning death off the coast of Falmouth as he was sailing home from Spain in 1809. He had served as a lieutenant in the 7th Regiment Dragoons.
She died at her gothic villa Strawberry Hill
Strawberry Hill House
Strawberry Hill is the Gothic Revival villa of Horace Walpole which he built in the second half of the 18th century in what is now an affluent area of the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames in Twickenham, London...
in Twickenham on 29 January 1816 at the age of 55. She was buried beside her husband in Great Packington
Great Packington
Great Packington is a hamlet near Meriden, Warwickshire. It is the home of the Packington estate, including Packington Hall, Packington Old Hall and St James' Church, Great Packington.To the east of the park lies the hamlet of Outwoods....
.
In art
Elizabeth was the subject of many painters, including Sir Joshua Reynolds. In the latter's The Ladies Waldegrave, which is displayed in the National Gallery of Scotland, she and her two younger sisters are depicted seated at a table. Elizabeth is in a chair on the far left, winding a skein of wool. The painting was commissioned in 1780-81 by her mother, Maria Walpole with a view of attracting potential suitors for her daughters, all of whom were unmarried at the time. It was exhibited in the Royal Academy. Elizabeth's miniature was painted by Samuel ShelleySamuel Shelley
Samuel Shelley was an English miniaturist and watercolour painter.Largely self-educated, Samuel Shelley was a leading miniaturist, i.e., painter of portrait miniatures, of his time, ranking with Cosway, Smart, and Crosse. In addition to his portraits, he also painted in water-colours fancy figures...
, and John Hoppner
John Hoppner
John Hoppner was an English portrait painter, .-Early life:Hoppner was born in Whitechapel, London, the son of German parents - his mother was one of the German attendants at the royal palace. King George's fatherly interest and patronage of the young boy gave rise to rumours, quite unfounded,...
did a half-length portrait of her. In London's National Portrait Gallery, there is a mezzotint
Mezzotint
Mezzotint is a printmaking process of the intaglio family, technically a drypoint method. It was the first tonal method to be used, enabling half-tones to be produced without using line- or dot-based techniques like hatching, cross-hatching or stipple...
by J. Smith which depicts Elizabeth, as a baby, in the arms of her mother. Reynolds also executed a portrait of Elizabeth and her mother in a similar style in 1761.