Laura Pulteney

Laura Pulteney. Painting by Angelika Kaufmann , 1777

Henrietta Laura Pulteney, 1st Countess of Bath (née Johnstone ), called Laura , (born December 26, 1766 in Westminster , † July 14, 1808 in Brighton ) was a British noblewoman .

Origin and upbringing

Laura Pulteney was born Laura Johnstone, the only child of William Johnstone and his first wife, Frances Pulteney . Her mother inherited a fortune in 1767 from her relative General Harry Pulteney , who in turn inherited it from his brother William Pulteney, 1st Earl of Bath . Laura's parents then took the surname Pulteney and moved to Bath House in Piccadilly , where Laura grew up. When her mother died in 1782, Laura inherited the great Pulteney fortune and extensive estates. Her father received part of the property for lifelong use. Originally, Laura was raised in her parents' home under the supervision of Miss Murray , a cousin of her father. Finally, Laura attended the school of the Benedictine Convent of St-Pierre de Montmartre , where she completed her school career in 1783. According to the letters she wrote to her father, she got on well with the nuns. In Paris she also received visits from her relative Elizabeth Hope, Countess of Hopetoun and from her friends Henrietta Lowry-Corry, Lady Belmore and Anne Cochrane, Countess of Dundonald , who introduced her to Paris society.

Life as an unmarried woman

Laura's health was an early cause for concern. In a letter to her father in 1782, she assured him that she would follow his instructions in Paris too. After returning to England, she lived as a young woman in the countryside in Sudborough in Northamptonshire with the Reverend Archibald Alison and his wife, who were close friends of the family. Laura was godmother of their son, the later doctor and social reformer William Pulteney Alison . In addition, Laura frequented aristocratic circles, but never played a leading role. Her amusements included music and dancing. In 1791 an unknown composer published the piece Miss Pulteney's Fancy with the Longmans publishing house . According to Emma Hamilton , however, she was extremely shy, so she left her guests waiting for three hours at a reception in Naples during her honeymoon. Laura was also very religious, but she accepted that friends violated common moral standards. Of her friends, Lady Belmore divorced her husband in 1793 to marry William Kerr, Earl of Ancram . In 1802, her cousin and close friend Elizabeth Evelyn Markham and Reverend George Markham , son of the Archbishop of York, divorced. Her friend had committed adultery with John Fawcett , whom she married after the divorce. Still, she remained a close friend of Laura's.

Economic interest and elevation to the Countess of Bath

Laura took an early interest in the development of her parents' estates, which owned land and houses in London and Bath, and estates in Shropshire , Northamptonshire, Staffordshire and Wales . Her father was able to acquire and expand further properties in Scotland, the West Indies and North America. Laura herself was increasingly involved in the administration of the property. This not only made her the richest heiress in England, but also earned her a reputation as a prudent and clever businesswoman. But her wealth also allowed her to make generous donations. It enabled schools to be built in Sudborough in Northamptonshire and Clewer in Berkshire . During the French Revolution , she supported nuns who had fled France to Britain. Because of their wealth, the Pulteney family did not have to accept public office. Laura's father was a long-time member of the House of Commons , but he never ran for public office. Eventually, however, he asked the government to peer his daughter, who was then elevated to Baroness of Bath in 1792 . However, Thomas Thynne, 3rd Viscount Weymouth , had already been raised to Marquess of Bath in 1789 , while William Pulteney, who was related to Laura's mother , had held the title of Earl of Bath until his death in 1764 . Therefore, some members of the House of Lords tried to invalidate Laura's elevation to the Baroness of Bath. They argued that it was uncommon to name two peers after a place, and feared that Laura's title would invalidate the title of Thynnes. These objections were rejected and in 1803 Laura was even made Countess of Bath .

Marriage, last years and death

Just because of her wealth, Laura was a worthwhile candidate for marriage, but as recently as 1791 a newspaper puzzled why the now 24-year-old Laura apparently had no suitors. Eventually, on July 17, 1794, she married General Sir James Murray, 7th Baronet , a cousin of her father, in Bath House . Upon marriage, Murray adopted Pulteney as an additional family name. The couple went on a grand tour in 1795 , during which they also traveled to Italy. In 1805 Laura's father died without leaving a will. As a result, his property was divided between his second wife and Laura, his only child. Laura paid an inheritance fee of £ 6,000, which was the highest fee ever paid for inheritance in the UK. In return she received two thirds of her father's fortune, estimated at £ 600,000, plus property in England and overseas. Laura was now considered increasingly eccentric. She treated people kindly only to be rude to them a little later. Presumably she contracted tuberculosis and died three years after her father. She was buried on July 23, 1808 in the south cloister of Westminster Abbey . A funeral monument was never erected over her grave. Her marriage to James Murray-Pulteney had been childless. She left only a small part of her fortune to her husband. She bequeathed most of her approximately £ 500,000 fortune to Elizabeth Evelyn Fawcett, whereupon her husband John took the name Pulteney. Their vast land holdings, however, remained in their family and were eventually divided between William Harry Vane, 3rd Earl of Darlington and Sir Richard Sutton, 2nd Baronet . With her childless death, her titles Countess and Baroness of Bath expired.

Laura Place , which was built from 1788 to 1789, was named after her in Bath.

Web links

• MJ Rowe, WH McBryde: Pulteney, (Henrietta) Laura, suo jure countess of Bath (1766-1808). In: Henry Colin Gray Matthew, Brian Harrison (Eds.): Oxford Dictionary of National Biography , from the earliest times to the year 2000 (ODNB). Oxford University Press, Oxford 2004, ISBN 0-19-861411-X , ( oxforddnb.com license required ), as of 2004
• Henrietta Laura Pulteney, Countess of Bath on thepeerage.com
• Bath, Earl of (UK, 1803-1808) at Cracroft's Peerage

Individual evidence

1. ^ The London Gazette : 15625, 1339 , October 1, 1803.
2. ^ Bath Heritage: Laura Place. Retrieved December 2, 2017 . 

predecessor	Office	successor
New title created	Baroness of Bath 1792-1808	Title expired
New title created	Countess of Bath 1803-1808	Title expired