Elizabeth Leveson-Gower, Duchess of Sutherland
| The Countess of Sutherland | |
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'Elizabeth, Duchess-Countess of Sutherland' by George Romney
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| Born | Elizabeth Gordon 24 May 1765 |
| Died | 29 January 1839 (aged 73) |
| Resting place | Dornoch Cathedral |
| Title | Duchess of Sutherland, Countess of Sutherland |
| Known for | Her part in the Highland Clearances |
| Predecessor | William Gordon, 18th Earl of Sutherland |
| Successor | George Sutherland-Leveson-Gower |
| Spouse(s) | George Leveson-Gower, 1st Duke of Sutherland (1785–1833) |
| Parents | William Gordon, 18 Earl of Sutherland (father) Mary Maxwell (mother) |
Elizabeth Sutherland Leveson-Gower, Duchess of Sutherland (née Gordon, 24 May 1765 – 29 January 1839), also suo jure 19th Countess of Sutherland, was a Scottish peer from the Leveson-Gower family, best remembered for her involvement in the Highland Clearances.
Elizabeth was born at Leven Lodge near Edinburgh, to William Gordon, 18th Earl of Sutherland and his wife Mary (c.1740–1766), daughter and coheir of William Maxwell. Her parents died of "putrid fever" in Bath in 1766, a few weeks after her first birthday. As the younger and only surviving child, she succeeded to her father's estates and titles. Her title of Countess of Sutherland was contested by Sir Robert Gordon, Bart., a descendant of the 1st Earl of Gordon, but was confirmed by the House of Lords in 1771.
Elizabeth Sutherland spent most of her childhood living in Edinburgh and London, where she was educated between 1779 and 1782. On 4 September 1785, at the age 20, she married George Granville Leveson-Gower, Viscount Trentham, who was known as Earl Gower from 1786 until in 1803 he succeeded to his father's title of Marquess of Stafford. In 1832, just six months before he died, he was created Duke of Sutherland and she became known as Duchess-Countess of Sutherland.
As an example of ... "clearing" ... the Duchess of Sutherland will suffice here. This person, well instructed in economy, resolved ... to turn the whole country ... into a sheep-walk. From 1814 to 1820 ... 15,000 inhabitants, [or] about 3,000 families, were systematically ... rooted out. All their villages were destroyed and burnt, all their fields turned into pasturage. British soldiers enforced this eviction, and came to blows with the inhabitants. One old woman was burnt to death in the flames of the hut which she refused to leave. Thus [the Duchess of Sutherland] appropriated 794,000 acres [321,320 hectares] of land that had ... belonged to the clan. She assigned to the expelled inhabitants about 6,000 acres [2,428 ha] on the sea-shore – two acres per family. The 6,000 acres had until this time lain waste, and brought in no income to their owners. The Duchess ... actually went so far as to let these at an average rent of 2s. 6d. per acre... The whole of the stolen clanland she divided into 29 great sheep farms, each inhabited by a single family, [and] for the most part imported English farm-servants. [By] ... 1835, the 15,000 Gaels were already replaced by 131,000 sheep. The remnant ... flung on the sea-shore tried to live by catching fish. They ... lived ... half on land and half on water, and withal only half on both.
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