Edith Bulwer-Lytton, Countess of Lytton
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Born | Edith Villiers 15 September 1841 |
Died | 17 September 1936 | (aged 95)
Resting place | Knebworth, Hertfordshire, England[1] |
Nationality | British |
Other names | Edith Bulwer-Lytton, Baroness of Lytton |
Known for | Vicereine of India |
Spouse | |
Children | 7 |
Parent(s) | Edward Ernest Villiers Elizabeth Charlotte Liddell |
Relatives | Villiers family |
Edith Bulwer-Lytton, Countess of Lytton,
Life
Edith Villiers was born on 15 September 1841, into the
She was by then the only unmarried daughter as her twin sister Elizabeth had married Henry Loch, 1st Baron Loch in 1862. (There is a tale that Henry proposed to the wrong girl by mistake and then refused to admit it.[2]) Edith was living with her widowed mother at the home of her uncle, the Earl of Clarendon. She had been trained in dancing, music and art, but she had not received a structured education.[2]
Villiers married Robert Bulwer-Lytton (later 1st Earl of Lytton) on 4 October 1864. She brought her new husband an income of £6,000 per year. Robert, an aspiring diplomat, was relatively poor for a member of the British upper classes, although his father Edward Bulwer-Lytton was a well-known writer and was raised to the peerage in 1866. His father controlled his son and it was his choice for his son to become a diplomat. Having previously broken up a match between Robert and another girl, he also disapproved of the marriage to Edith. For the first year he refused to speak to her but eventually warmed to the marriage.[3]
Edith accompanied her husband during his diplomatic career, and several of their children were born abroad. The children were:
- Edward Rowland John Bulwer-Lytton (1865–1871)
- Lady Elizabeth Edith "Betty" Bulwer-Lytton[1] (12 June 1867 – 28 March 1942) who married Gerald Balfour, 2nd Earl of Balfour
- Lady Constance Georgina Bulwer-Lytton, born at Vienna (1869–1923),[1] British suffragette activist.
- Hon. Henry Meredith Edward Bulwer-Lytton (1872–1874)
- Lady Emily Bulwer-Lytton (1874–1964) who married the architect Edwin Lutyens.
- Victor Bulwer-Lytton, 2nd Earl of Lytton, (1876–1947)[1]
- Neville Bulwer-Lytton, 3rd Earl of Lytton (6 February 1879 – 9 February 1951)[1]
Vicereine of India
The
Paris
Edith's husband became the British Ambassador in Paris in 1887 although he was weakened by heart disease. He seemed to make a good impression as when he died suddenly in Paris in 1891 he was given, unusually, a state funeral in France. Edith was the chief mourner along with her surviving five children. The funeral was attended by ministers of state and the French government arranged for 3,500 soldiers to serve at the funeral, before his body was taken by rail to England.[4]
At court
Edith had a much reduced income. She became Queen Victoria's
When the Queen died, Edith rode with the body on the funeral journey from London to Windsor.[9] She then held the office of "Lady of the Bedchamber" to Queen Alexandra until she retired in 1905.[1]
Retirement
Her retirement lasted more than thirty years. She lived at Homewood, a dower house on the family estate at Knebworth, Hertfordshire. The house was designed c. 1901 by her son-in-law Sir Edwin Lutyens, in Arts and Crafts style.[10] Her daughter Constance suffered a stroke in 1912 and returned to live at Homewood,[11] remaining there until shortly before her death in 1923.[12]
Bibliography
Her granddaughter Mary Lutyens published a book Lady Lytton's Court Diary, based on Edith's experiences at the court of Queen Victoria.[13] Mary's other publications include The Lyttons in India: An account of Lord Lytton's Viceroyalty, 1876–1880.[14] Another granddaughter, Elisabeth Lutyens, mentioned Edith's life at Homewood when recalling her own childhood in her autobiography A Goldfish Bowl (1972).
Legacy
Edith and Robert had five children, who led influential lives. She also sat for the noted painting by George Frederic Watts. Some have deprecated her contribution as she had no formal education and her husband's biographers have thought her lightweight.[2]
References
- ^ a b c d e f g h i Washbrook, D. (2008, January 03). Lytton, Edward Robert Bulwer-, first earl of Lytton [pseud. Owen Meredith] (1831–1891), viceroy of India and poet. Oxford Dictionary of National Biography. Retrieved 6 Mar. 2020. Subscription or UK public library membership required.
- ^ ISBN 978-1-84954-892-2.
- ISBN 978-1-85285-423-2.
- ^ a b c Obituaries of Lord Lytton, Lucille Project, Retrieved 3 November 2015
- ^ Vicereine, Definition by OxfordDictionaries, Retrieved 3 November 2015
- ^ "No. 24539". The London Gazette. 4 January 1878. p. 113.
- ^ a b Walker, Dave (2 January 2014). "Costume Ball 4: Ladies only". Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea.
- ISBN 978-0-470-04439-1.
- ^ Votes for Women By June Purvis, Sandra Stanley Holton
- ^ Homewood, Knebworth Archived 17 November 2015 at the Wayback Machine www.parksandgardens.org.
- ^ Jenkins (2015), pp. 195–6.
- ^ Jenkins (2015), pp. 228–30.
- ^ Lady Lytton's Court Diary, 1895–1901. R. Hart-Davis. 1961.
- ISBN 0-7195-3677-4
External links
- Edith Bulwer-Lytton, ODNB(subscription or UK public library membership required)