Lady Augusta Murray

British noble
The basics

Quick Facts

IntroBritish noble
Known foruni
PlacesUnited Kingdom Great Britain
wasNoble
Work fieldRoyals
Gender
Female
Birth27 January 1768, London
Death5 March 1830Ramsgate (aged 62 years)
Star signAquarius
Family
Father:John Murray, 4th Earl of Dunmore
Siblings:George Murray, 5th Earl of Dunmore
Spouse:Prince Augustus Frederick, Duke of Sussex
Children:Augustus d'Este
The details

Biography

Lady Augusta De Ameland (née Murray; 27 January 1768 – 5 March 1830) was a mistress of Prince Augustus Frederick, Duke of Sussex, the sixth son of George III. Although they married, their union was in contravention of the Royal Marriages Act 1772 and as such was considered legally void. As a result she could not be styled as the Duchess of Sussex or be referred to as a Royal Highness.

Early life

Lady Augusta was born in London. Her father was John Murray, 4th Earl of Dunmore, and her mother was Lady Charlotte Stewart, daughter of Alexander Stewart, 6th Earl of Galloway.

Marriage

Lady Augusta secretly married Prince Augustus Frederick, sixth son of King George III, on 4 April 1793, in a Church of England ceremony in Hotel Sarmiento, Rome, Italy. They were later married again in a religious ceremony on 5 December 1793 in St George's, Hanover Square, London, using their correct names but without revealing their full identities. So far as English law was concerned, both marriage ceremonies were in contravention of the Royal Marriages Act 1772 and was annulled in August 1794. Lady Augusta could not take the style of Princess of Great Britain or of Her Royal Highness.

Together the couple had two children:

  • Augustus Frederick d'Este (13 January 1794 — 28 December 1848)
  • Augusta Emma d'Este, later Lady Truro (11 August 1801-21 May 1866) she married Thomas Wilde, 1st Baron Truro of Bowes on 13 August 1845.

Despite the annulment, Prince Augustus continued to live with Lady Augusta until 1801, when he received a parliamentary grant of £12,000. On 27 November 1801 the King his father created Prince Augustus Duke of Sussex, Earl of Inverness, and Baron Arklow in the Peerage of the United Kingdom and appointed him a Knight of the Garter.

Later life

After 1801, the couple went their separate ways. In 1806 Lady Augusta was given royal licence to use the surname De Ameland instead of Murray. Lady Augusta retained custody of the children and received a maintenance of £4,000 a year. She died in Ramsgate, Kent. After Lady Augusta's death the Duke of Sussex married Lady Cecilia Underwood, and lived at Kensington Palace.

The contents of this page are sourced from Wikipedia article on 02 Sep 2019. The contents are available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license.