Caroline Edgcumbe

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Caroline Augusta Edgcumbe, Countess of Mount Edgcumbe VA (nee Feilding ) (* 1808 ; † November 2, 1881 ) was a British noblewoman. She was Queen Victoria's maid of honor for many years .

Origin and youth

Caroline Edgcumbe was born as Caroline Feilding in Dorset as the daughter of Rear Admiral Charles Feilding (1780-1837) and his wife Elizabeth Fox-Strangways († 1844). Together with her sister Horatia , she inherited his father's fortune after the death of her father. Through her mother, she was a half-sister of William Henry Fox Talbot , who later became a photography pioneer, with whom she grew up at Lacock Abbey in Wiltshire .

Wife of the Earl of Mount Edgcumbe

On December 6, 1831, she married Ernest Edgcumbe . Caroline kept on good terms with her half-brother, who visited her frequently. She and her husband named their eldest son after Fox Talbot. Her husband inherited the title of Earl of Mount Edgcumbe in 1839 , after which she used the courtesy title of Countess of Mount Edgcumbe . From 1840 to 1854 she served as Lady of the Bedchamber , Queen Victoria's official lady-in-waiting. As confidante of the queen, she was the lady of honor from 1854.

The east wing of Cotehele, which served as the widow's residence of Carolina Edgcumbe from 1862, with the terraced garden she laid out

Life as a Dowager Countess

Caroline's husband died in 1861, after which her son William inherited her husband's titles and the family estate of Mount Edgcumbe House . As a widow's home for his mother, he had the east wing of the old family home, Cotehele House, converted. In 1862, Caroline moved in as Dowager Countess with her unmarried daughter Ernestine Cotehele. As a keen gardener, she started laying out the gardens in Cotehele. From 1863 to 1865 she served once again as Lady of the Bedchamber to the Queen, who awarded her the Royal Order of Victoria and Albert , second class. She then withdrew to Cotehele, but remained the Queen's Court of Honor until her death. She maintained a lively correspondence, including with her half-brother. Fox Talbot visited her several times in Cotehele, where he made and developed early photographs. Caroline Edgcumbe fell ill during a visit to Saltram House not far from Plymouth and died a little later.

progeny

Caroline had three children with her husband:

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Cynthia Gaskell Brown: Mount Edgcumbe House and Country Park: Guidebook , Mount Edgcumbe House and Country Park, Torpoint 2003, p. 24
  2. ↑ Rachel Hunt: Cotehele, Cornwall. A souvenir guide . National Trust, Swindon, ISBN 978-1-84359-428-4 , p. 26
  3. ↑ Rachel Hunt: Cotehele, Cornwall. A souvenir guide . National Trust, Swindon, ISBN 978-1-84359-428-4 , p. 39
  4. ↑ Rachel Hunt: Cotehele, Cornwall. A souvenir guide . National Trust, Swindon, ISBN 978-1-84359-428-4 , p. 28
personal data
SURNAME Edgcumbe, Caroline
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Feilding, Caroline; Edgcumbe, Caroline Augusta, Countess of Mount Edgcumbe; Mount Edgcumbe, Caroline, Countess of
BRIEF DESCRIPTION British nobles
DATE OF BIRTH 1808
DATE OF DEATH November 2, 1881