Waterbury evening Democrat. [volume] (Waterbury, Conn.) 1887-1895, 1894-05-04

with the sole proprietorship of Coutts' bank
on the Strand, London, the Oldest private
bank in Great Britain and one that has en-
joyed the patronage of the highest aristoc-
racy ever since George III set the fashion
by keeping his private account there
The bank is the outgrowth of a mercan-
tile business established by Patrick Coutts
in Edinburgh in the seventeenth century,
and in the early part of the present century
Thomas Coutts was its sole proprietor. In
his old age he became acquainted with an
actress of considerable beauty named Har-
riet Mellon, and the acquaintance ripened
into such relations that the old man mar
ried her privately within two months of the
death of his first wife and on his death left
her the whole of his vast estate.
Unkind comment was stilled by the sub
sequent conduct of Mrs. Coutts. She had
three stepdaughters, who were left portion
less, but she persisted in the theory that
she held the estate merely as trustee for the
Coutts family and is said to have given the
three daughters over 100000 during her
life.
Although she had, in turn, married one
much younger than herself when she grew
old-namely the Duke of St. Albans-she
left will bequeathing the whole of the
great estate to the youngest daughter of
Patrick Coutts' youngest daughter-Miss
Angela Georgiana Burdett-reservng only
a moderate life annuity for her husband.
All this made sufficiently romantic his
tory for the lady who was later to surprise
the world by a romantic marriage Of her
own, but she had also a remarkable for
bear in the person of her father, who was
Sir Francis Burdett An ardent Liberal in
politics, he had the courage of his convic-
tions and went to prison in consequence of
Of Iva, n,I>it ,,,f
the party in power. In 1910 the house of
commons imprisoned an editor for critics.
ing in public debate certain acts of the
house, and Sir Francis, himself a member
denounced this action, denying the right of
the house to imprison an Englishman. For
this he was himself ordered under arrest.
A very considerable riot ensued, and two
lives were lost. Sir Francis WAS overpow-
cred and taken to the tower, where he re-
manned till parliament was dissolved,
Of such ancestry came Angela Georgina
Burdett, who by the will of the Duchess Of
St. Adams became Miss Burdett-Coutts
and the richest woman in England at the
age of %. There are few instances in his
tory in which an almost unlimited amount
of money has been put by a single individ
ual to such worthy purposes.
Three colonial bishoprics were established
with her money at an expense Of more than
$50 900, and scores of thousands more have
come from the same purse for expenses OF
maintenance. Numerous churches have
been built and endowed by her, and her
donations to the various missions of the
English church have been mum DerlcSS and
munficent But Ter gifts to humanity have
by no means been confined to the line of
church work Her model lodging houses
in Bethnal Green served as the example
which George Peabody followed. She spent
over 81 ,250, 900 in building public market
which was designed for the direct benefit OF
the poor, and which she finally presented to
London. 1t was this particular act that
was made the occasion for offering her
place in the peerage, and in 1871 she became
the Baroness Burdett Coutts.
In addition to all this she established in.
dustrial schools in great numbers, took
government contracts for clothing in order
to give the work at high wages to the de-
serving poor, paid the expenses of an army
of emigrants at time whe II there was great
distress in England fed thousands of starv-
ing peasants when a famine scourged Ire
land and in multitude of other ways man
ifested a disposition which has caused her
to be ranked among the most famous phi
lanthropists in history.
Although nature did not endow her with
marriage, but refused them all until she
was e. years of age, when she married Mr..
William Z. Ashmead Bartlett, an Ameri-
can, who was 40 years her junior He was
son of Ellis Bartlett of Plymouth, Mass,
and graduate of Oxford. He was vol
unteer in the distribution of a relief fund
raised for the Turkish sufferers in the war
between Turkey and Russia. On his re
turn he was seriously i'll, and the baroness,
who had been liberal contributor to the
fund, personally nursed him. The mar
riage was the result.
She is described by those who have met
her in social circles as a quiet woman OF
rather retiring manners and pleasant ad
dress. 1t is not known that she takes any
active part in the management of the bust
ness she inherited, but in the expenditure
Of her income of 81 .000, 900 a year she is apt
to be guided by her own will.
DAVID A. CURTIS.