Harriet Elizabeth Georgiana Howard
|
Her Grace The Duchess of Sutherland |
|
|---|---|
Harriet Sutherland-Leveson-Gower, Duchess of Sutherland by Franz Xaver Winterhalter, 1849
|
|
| Personal details | |
| Born | The Hon. Harriet Howard 21 May 1806 |
| Died | 27 October 1868 (aged 62) Stafford House, St James's, London, UK |
| Nationality | British |
| Spouse(s) | George Sutherland-Leveson-Gower, 2nd Duke of Sutherland |
| Children |
Elizabeth Campbell, Duchess of Argyll Evelyn Stuart, Lady Blantyre Caroline FitzGerald, Duchess of Leinster George Sutherland-Leveson-Gower, 3rd Duke of Sutherland Lady Blanche Sutherland-Leveson-Gower Lord Frederick Sutherland-Leveson-Gower Constance Grosvenor, Duchess of Westminster Lady Victoria Sutherland-Leveson-Gower Lord Albert Sutherland-Leveson-Gower Lord Ronald Sutherland-Leveson-Gower Lady Alexandrina Sutherland-Leveson-Gower |
| Parents |
George Howard, 6th Earl of Carlisle Lady Georgiana Cavendish |
Harriet Elizabeth Georgiana Sutherland-Leveson-Gower, Duchess of Sutherland (née Howard; 21 May 1806 – 27 October 1868), styled The Honourable Harriet Howard before her marriage, was Mistress of the Robes under several Whig administrations: 1837–1841, 1846–1852, 1853–1858, and 1859–1861; and was a great friend of Queen Victoria. She was an important figure in London's high society, and used her social position to undertake various philanthropic undertakings including the protest of the English ladies against American slavery.
Harriet was the third daughter of George Howard, 6th Earl of Carlisle and his wife Lady Georgiana Cavendish, who was a daughter of the famous Georgiana, Duchess of Devonshire.
On 28 May 1823 she married her cousin George Sutherland-Leveson-Gower, Earl Gower (1786–1861), who had been elected MP for St Mawes, Cornwall (a rotten borough) in 1808, and succeeded his father as second Duke of Sutherland in 1833. Gower was twenty years older than she, but their union proved one of affection and produced four sons and seven daughters.
The Duchess of Sutherland held a social position of high influence, aided by her friendship to Queen Victoria as well as her family's great wealth. By the Duchess's influence Stafford House, St. James's Palace, became an important centre of society, and the starting-point of various philanthropic undertakings. The Duchess helped organize the "Stafford House Address" petition against slavery, and former American First Lady Julia Tyler wrote a defense of slavery titled "The Women of England vs. the Women of America", in response to it. In response to "The Women of England vs. the Women of America", former slave Harriet Jacobs wrote a letter to the New York Tribune which was her first published writing; it was published in 1853 and signed "Fugitive".
...
Wikipedia