The Hawaiian star. [volume] (Honolulu [Oahu]) 1893-1912, 1899-10-16
THIRTEEN TONS Of GOLD.
LIFE SKETCH or BARONESS BUR
DETT-COUTTS
The Plain old Woman who Married a
Wise Young Mantle Did Not Run
Through Her Money.

The Baroness Burdett-Coutts has
just passed her eighty-fourth birthday,
writes the Duchesse de Bellimere i'm the
Chicago Record. As the baroness is the
only woman on whom the queen has
conferred a peerage she is the second
lady in the land" or. to use the words
of the Prince of Wales, After my
mother, the Baroness Burdett- Coutts is
the most remarkable woman in Eng
land" Her fortune-thirteen tons of
English sovereigns Gel, 800 000)-came to
her quiet Unexpectedly when she was
twenty three years old, from her grand
father, Coutts, the banker, whose first
wife had been a servant in his brothers
family and by whom he had three
daughters, who married respectively
the Earl of Guildford, the Marquis of
Butte and Sir Francis Burdett. Bart. In
1915 he married Miss Mellen, the famous
actress, who afterwards became the
Duchess of ST. Adams. The Right Honor
able Angela Georgia, Baroness Burdett-
Coutts, is the daughter of Sir Francis
Burdett. She has always been of a
philanthropic and most generous dis
position, and her efforts to mitigate the
sufferings of her fellow creatures and
the lower animals have rendered her
name well known and deservedly pOpu-
lar.
For many years Miss Burdett- Coutts
as she was until 1SI1-enjoyed the
companionship of discreet, true heart
ed and wise friend, who managed her
with much taCt-for she required man
agement, it is said. to no small degree,
being capriCious weak and wonderfully
obstinate, though lavish when so dis
posed. The story goes that she was
several times anxious to wed with pen
niless suitors from home and abroad.
VINO eagerly proffered their hearts and
hands to the heiress. but whose mer-
cenary designs were plain to the keen
sighted gentlewOman who guarded her
until she died. In 1881 the baroness mar
ried William Ashmead- Bartlett, her
clever, gentlemanly private secretary
He was thirty-two years younger than
she, and the announcement of the en-
gagement paralyzed the public.
A lady I knew, an intimate friend of
Mrs. Bartlett, one day received from
her hasty note, begging her to call
upon her at once, as she had "dStreS-
ing news" to impart. The friend hurried
to Mrs. Bartlett's abode, and there
found the poor lady overcome with feel
ings of dismay consequent on the news
impaired to her by her son, of his en-
gagement. She felt bitterly ashamed.
knowing well what the world would
say.
The queen was furious and thought
the baroness had made fool of herself.
expected the young man would run
through his wfe's fortune in a very
short space of time; but such has not
been the case-far from it. Her maj
esty paid the baroness no sort of atten-
ton for years and the good lady was
entirely out of favor at court. However,
events have had time to settle down, and
the queen has accepted the inevitable,
and extended the right hand of fellow
ship once more to her old friend, whose
generosity she always appreciated and
admired. Mr.. Burdett-Coutts who OBJ
tanned a royal license to adopt the name
of his wife, has invariably acted with
the greatest good sense. He has guided
the business affairs and extensive char
tiles of the baroness with tact and dis
erection, while she has yielded to the
good advice of her young husband, who
is a sensible business man, and was
elected conservative member for West
minister in 1885.
The baroness has always been a sin
gularly plain woman, with no preten-
sions whatever to good looks or ele-
gance. Her tall lean and angular body
is surmounted by a Countenance Os ex-
treme length, with only an expression
of extreme mildness to recommend it.
member hearing that her husband mad
driven her in a smart little whitechapcl
to Aldershot, where a review was going
on. He alighted and held out his arms,
into which she jumped in quite a girl
ish manner, keenly noted by sarcastic
onlookers.