Harriet Baring

F; born 1804 May 03; died 1892 January 02
The basics

Quick Facts

IntroF; born 1804 May 03; died 1892 January 02
A.K.A.Hon. Harriet Baring
A.K.A.Hon. Harriet Baring
PlacesUnited Kingdom
Gender
Female
Birth3 May 1804
Death2 January 1892 (aged 87 years)
Star signTaurus
Family
Mother:Anne Louise Bingham
Father:Alexander Baring, 1st Baron Ashburton
Children:John Thynne, 4th Marquess of Bath Lord Henry Thynne Lady Louisa Isabella Harriet Thynne Lady Alice Thynne
The details

Biography

Harriet Mary Baring, Baroness Ashburton (née Lady Harriet Montagu) (14 May 1805 – 4 May 1857) was a socialite and hostess.

She was born in 1805 to George Montagu, 6th Earl of Sandwich and Louisa Montagu, Countess of Sandwich.

Lady Harriet Mary Montagu and her sister Lady Catherine Caroline Montagu

She married William Bingham Baring, 2nd Baron Ashburton on 12 April 1823. He had graduated from Oriel College, Oxford in 1823 and he was an M.P. by 1826. He was the Member of Parliament for Thetford, Callington, Winchester, North Staffordshire and finally Thetford for a second time before he became a peer in 1848. He served in Sir Robert Peel's government despite his shyness.

She was far from shy and more witty and direct and the welcome that she made at her various houses attracted leading men of her time. William Thackeray, John Stuart Mill and especially Thomas Carlyle enjoyed her company. She and the Earl of Sandwich were notably wealthy and they had houses in Surrey, Bath House, Piccadilly, another near Portsmouth and a place near Winchester. The Earl was involved in government, he was a fellow of the Royal Society, a trustee of the National Gallery and in 1860 he became President of the Royal Geographical Society.

The Grange was one of the locations of Ashburton hospitality (1870 photo)

She was the hostess for, and a source of friction between, Thomas Carlyle and his wife, Jane Welsh Carlyle. Jane Carlyle was jealous of the attention that her husband gave to his hostess, but she was also one of her admirers. As a literary hostess, she had been described as chinless, large, and with an unusual nose, but both the Carlyles recognised her intelligence. Jane noted that despite her appearance she was "almost beautiful—simply through the intelligence and cordiality of her expression."

She died in Paris on 4 May 1857 having had only one child who died as an infant. Her husband married Louisa Caroline Stewart-Mackenzie at Bath House in Piccadilly on 17 November 1858.

The contents of this page are sourced from Wikipedia article on 15 Nov 2019. The contents are available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license.