Sophia, Lady Burdett
Sophia, Lady Burdett (1775–1844) was an English heiress and political hostess. Burdett and her sisters were known as the "Three Graces."
Biography
[edit]Burdett was born in 1775 and was the third daughter of the wealthy banker Thomas Coutts, founder of Coutts & Co, and his wife Susannah Coutts (née Starkey).[1] Burdett and her sisters were known as the "Three Graces."[2] Her sister Susan Coutts married George Augustus North, 3rd Earl of Guilford, and her other sister Frances Coutts married John Crichton-Stuart, 1st Marquess of Bute.[3]
In 1793 Burdett married the politician Francis Burdett, who inherited a baronetcy in 1798. Together, Burdett and her husband had a son and five daughters.[4] Burdett was painted by Thomas Lawrence around the time of her marriage. A rising artist, Lawrence later became Britain's leading portrait painter and President of the Royal Academy.[5]
Her husband was a leading Radical throughout most of his career, notably during the Regency era. His imprisonment in 1810 led to the Burdett Riots in London.[6]
After the death of her mother in 1815, Burdett's father married the Irish actress Harriet Mellon, significantly reducing her inheritance.[7] In 1822, her father died. Her stepmother became very wealthy, having been bequeathed his entire fortune, including his interest in the family bank.[8] Burdett's youngest daughter Angela Burdett-Coutts, 1st Baroness Burdett-Coutts was a phenomenally wealthy heiress,[9] inheriting much of the Coutts fortune from her step grandmother.[1][8] As a condition of the inheritance she adapted her surname to Burdett-Coutts.[8]
Burdett died on 13 January 1844. Her husband, then twelve days short of his 74th birthday, became inconsolable and felt he had nothing left to live for. He refused all food and died just ten days later on 23 January 1844. He and his wife were buried at the same time in the same vault at Ramsbury Church, Wiltshire.[10]
References
[edit]- ^ a b Hale, Sarah Josepha Buell (1872). Woman's Record: Or, Sketches of All Distinguished Women, from the Creation to A. D. 1868. Arranged in Four Eras. With Selections from Authoresses of Each Era. Harper & Brothers. p. 634.
- ^ Ashby, John Frederick. The Story of the Banks. Hutchinson & Company, Limited, 1934. p.165
- ^ Lodge, Edmund (1833). The Peerage of the British Empire as at Present Existing: Arranged and Printed from the Personal Communications of the Nobility. Saunders and Otley. p. 75.
- ^ The Gentleman's Magazine. E. Cave. 1844. p. 317.
- ^ "Sophia, Lady Burdett". National Portrait Gallery, London. Retrieved 25 March 2025.
- ^ Baer, Marc (2012). "The Rise and Fall of Radical Westminster, 1780–1890". SpringerLink: 9. doi:10.1057/9781137035295. ISBN 978-1-349-34592-2.
- ^ One or more of the preceding sentences incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Chisholm, Hugh, ed. "Coutts, Thomas". Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 7 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. p. 337.
- ^ a b c Healey, Edna (January 2012). "Coutts, Angela Georgina Burdett-, suo jure Baroness Burdett-Coutts (1814–1906), philanthropist". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography. Retrieved 24 April 2025.
- ^ Bowman, Peter James (15 January 2023). The First Celebrities: Five Regency Portraits. Amberley Publishing Limited. ISBN 978-1-4456-7790-3.
- ^ Walford, Edward . (1878) "St James St and neighbourhood". Old and New London: Volume 4. London. - via British History Online. Retrieved 24 April 2025.