Regency History: Mrs Fitzherbert (1756-1837) Mrs Fitzherbert (1756-1837) from The Creevey Papers (1904) Profile Maria Fitzherbert (26 July 1756 - 27 March 1837) was the secret wife of George, Prince of Wales, the future George IV. Early life Maria Fitzherbert was born Maria Ann Smythe on 26 July 1756, the eldest daughter of William Smythe and Mary Ann Errington. She came from a respectable family: William was the son of Sir John Smythe, Baronet, of Acton Burnel in Shropshire and her mother was related to the Earl of Sefton. She was strictly reared as a Roman Catholic and her education was completed in France. Twice widowed In July 1775, Maria married Edward Weld, a wealthy Catholic landowner of Lulworth Castle , who was sixteen years her senior. The marriage did not last long; Weld died after falling from his horse just a few months later, having failed to sign a new will in Maria's favour.

Lulworth Castle In 1778, she married again, this time to Thomas Fitzherbert of Swynnerton in Staffordshire. This marriage was also short-lived; Fitzherbert died from wounds inflicted during the anti-Catholic Gordon Riots in 1780, leaving Maria Fitzherbert a widow for the second time. Lady of fashion Huish described Maria Fitzherbert as a woman of “great accomplishments and beauty”. He continues that she was “unquestionably, a most beautiful woman, but perhaps too much inclined to fullness of figure; and yet it may be said that she was indebted to that prominence of habit for a great portion of her personal loveliness and attraction.” (1) La Belle Assemblée described her thus: “Mrs Fitzherbert is universally acknowledged to be a woman of refinement and elegant manners, of accomplishments equally solid and fascinating, and acquirements of a very high degree in the intellectual scale.” (2) Wife or mistress? In 1783, Maria became the object of royal attentions. George, Prince of Wales became infatuated with her, wanting her to become his mistress but Maria’s devout Catholic beliefs would not allow it.

George decided that marriage was the only way to secure Maria's affections. On 15 December 1785 the Prince of Wales married Mrs Fitzherbert in a secret ceremony conducted by Robert Burt, an impoverished curate who set aside his scruples for the £500 fee. George, Prince of Wales from Memoirs of her late royal highness Charlotte Augusta by Robert Huish (1818) The marriage however was not legal. Not only did it contravene the Act of Settlement of 1701, preventing a Roman Catholic from ascending the British throne, but it breached the Royal Marriage Act of 1772. As a descendant of George II who was under 25 years of age, the prince required the king’s consent for the marriage to be legal; his consent would never have been given, because George III was vehemently opposed to his children marrying either Catholics or commoners, and Maria Fitzherbert was both. Queen of Brighton Brighton Pavilion George and Maria spent much of their time in Brighton where Mrs Fitzherbert was treated as queen. They had separate houses which together formed the heart of fashionable society there.

Mrs Fitzherbert’s house, Steine House, was a modest residence which boasted a long veranda overlooking the Steine; the Prince of Wales lived at Brighton Pavilion . The inconstant prince However, by 1794, George and Maria's relationship was showing signs of strain, and the prince’s affections were wandering towards an older woman, Frances, Countess of Jersey . On 24 August, at Weymouth, George told his father that all connection with Mrs Fitzherbert had ceased and that he was ready to seek a Protestant bride, namely, his cousin, Caroline of Brunswick . By agreeing to this marriage, George hoped to appease parliament so that they would pay the huge debts he had amassed as well as shielding his relationship with Lady Jersey. After their separation, the prince treated Mrs Fitzherbert with callous coldness, although his brothers continued to honour her with respect, especially the Duke of Kent who bought her a house, Castle Hill in Ealing, in 1798. Temporary reconciliation In August 1798, George suddenly sought reconciliation with his former mistress. Maria was understandably sceptical. The prince characteristically sought to wear down her resistance.

He revealed a will he had written in 1796 which left everything to Maria, “my real and true Wife” and showered her with presents. The couple were reunited in June 1800, though their relationship was not on as secure a footing as before. Mrs Fitzherbert from Memoirs of George IV by Robert Huish (1830) By 1807, the prince’s affections were wandering again, this time towards Lady Hertford. Unable to bear any further humiliation, on 18 December 1809, Maria sent George a farewell letter and after 1811, she did not return to the Pavilion until after George's death. However, she was more fortunate than many of George’s other mistresses; she received financial provision by way of a pension. Minney Seymour Mrs Fitzherbert had a young ward who lived with her, Minney Seymour. La Belle Assemblée reported that: “Her conduct towards this young orphan seemed to be affectionate and tender without example.” (2) Life after George After George’s death in 1830, William IV , was anxious to make amends with his brother’s long-term mistress.

He invited Mrs Fitzherbert to the pavilion and offered her the title of Duchess. Although initially disinclined, Mrs Fitzherbert was persuaded and, from this time, her servants wore royal livery and she visited the Pavilion regularly. Maria Fitzherbert died on 27 March 1837 and was buried in Brighton. Notes (1) From Memoirs of George IV by Robert Huish (1830). (2) From La Belle Assemblée (May 1810).

Sources used include: Bell, John, La Belle Assemblée (1810) Chedzoy, Alan, Seaside Sovereign - King George III at Weymouth (2003) Creevey, Thomas, The Creevey Papers, A selection from the correspondence & diaries of the late Thomas Creevey, MP, edited by Sir Herbert Maxwell (John Murray, 1904, London) Dinkel, John, The Royal Pavilion, Brighton Fry, Plantagenet Somerset, The Kings & Queens of England & Scotland (1990) Huish, Robert, Memoirs of George IV (1830) Huish, Robert, Memoirs of her late royal highness Charlotte Augusta (1818) Parissien, Steven, George IV, The Grand Entertainment (2001) Watson, J.

Steven, Oxford History of England: The Reign of George III 1760-1815 (1960) Fitzherbert Family Genealogy – Decendents of Maria Anne Fitzherbert Contact Us Maria Anne Fitzherbert, born July 26, 1756 as a Smythe, was married to the future King George IV on December 15, 1785. Their marriage was never accepted by the Crown due to the Royal Marriages Act 1772. However, their marriage was valid in the church and before God. Maria and George's first son, … [read more] Welcome A site dedicated to the genealogy of Maria Anne Fitzherbert and her decendents from James Henry Adolph Hayward Fitzherbert Copyright © 2016 · Fitzherbert Family Genealogy · Log in Royalty.nu - King George IV and Regency England George IV (the Prince Regent) George IV: The Rebel Who Would Be King by Christopher Hibbert. A detailed picture of the king's life, including his exorbitant spending on homes, clothes, and women; his patronage of the arts; his illegal first marriage; and his witty one-liners.

Prince of Pleasure: The Prince of Wales and the Making of the Regency by Saul David. Points out that despite the ridicule he endured over his scandalous private life, George IV was a man of intelligence and influence. Prinny and His Pals: George IV and the Remarkable Gift of Royal Friendship by Tom Ambrose. For all his faults, George IV may have been the most humane and amusing British monarch, delighting the finest minds of his generation and easily winning over his subjects and family. George IV: Inspiration of the Regency by Stephen Parissien. Biography that presents George IV as a father of modern celebrity. He is set against the cultural backdrop of his age, the Regency, showing how his legacy still affects our view of the British monarchy. George IV: The Rebel Who Would Be King by Christopher Hibbert. Comprehensive biography of this sophisticated but unpopular prince. George IV by E. A. Smith. Although the king has been portrayed as incompetent, this biography says that was not the case. George IV by Michael De-La-Noy. A biography. The Letters of King George IV, 1812-1830 by George IV. A selection from letters and documents preserved at Windsor.

For the King's Pleasure by Hugh Roberts is about the furnishing and decoration of George IV's apartments at Windsor Castle. Includes 486 color illustrations. The Mistresses of King George IV by M. J. Levy relates the history of George's many scandalous affairs. The Countess: The Scandalous Life of Frances Villiers, Countess of Jersey by Tim Clarke. Mistress of future king George IV, the countess enraged the country and threatened the monarchy, blackening the prince's reputation for posterity. The Courtesan's Revenge: Harriette Wilson, the Woman Who Blackmailed the King by Frances Wilson. Biography of Harriette Wilson, a courtesan in Regency England whose conquests included the future King George IV. Perdita: The Literary, Theatrical, Scandalous Life of Mary Robinson by Paula Byrne. Biography of an actress who became the mistress of the Prince of Wales (later King George IV). An Infamous Mistress by Joanne Major and Sarah Murden. Biography of 18th-century courtesan Grace Dalrymple Elliott. A mistress of Louis Philippe II, Duke of Orléans, she was imprisoned during the French Revolution.

She also had an affair with future British king George IV. (The authors have written a related book, A Right Royal Scandal , about the Cavendish-Bentinck family.) Maria Fitzherbert The King's Wife: George IV and Mrs Fitzherbert by Valerie Irvine. Account of the future King George IV's secret and illegal marriage to a Roman Catholic, Maria Fitzherbert. Maria Fitzherbert: The Secret Wife of George IV by James Munson. England's King George IV was secretly married to a Catholic woman, a fact which could have cost him the throne. This biography portrays Mrs. Fitzherbert as a strong, down-to-earth woman. Princess Charlotte of Wales Charlotte & Leopold: The True Story of The Original People's Princess by James Chambers. Biography of the Prince Regent's daughter Charlotte, who was heir to the British throne in the early 19th century. She married the future Belgian king Leopold I, but their love story was ended by Charlotte's tragic early death, which caused a great public outpouring of grief. Caroline & Charlotte: The Regent's Wife and Daughter, 1795-1821 by Alison Plowden.

According to the author, Caroline and Charlotte lived their lives surrounded by characters who might have been lifted from a Gothic novel. Daughter of England by Dorothy Margaret Stuart. A study of Princess Charlotte of Wales and her family. This book is out of print and difficult to obtain, but sometimes available on Amazon.com. Prinny's Daughter: A Life of Princess Charlotte of Wales by Thea Holme. Autobiography of Miss Cornelia Knight: Volume 1 by Ellis Cornelia Knight, edited by John Kaye. Appointed in 1813 to the household of Princess Charlotte of Wales, daughter of the Prince Regent, Cornelia Knight was dismissed with the princess's other attendants in 1814. Volume 2 is also available. In Royal Fashion by Kay Staniland. The clothes of Princess Charlotte and Queen Victoria, 1796-1901.

Maria Fitzherbert | British consort | Britannica.com Maria Fitzherbert Alternative Titles: Maria Anne Fitzherbert, Mary Anne Smythe Maria Fitzherbert Maria Fitzherbert, in full Maria Anne Fitzherbert, née Mary Anne Smythe (born July 1756, Brambridge?, Hampshire, England —died March 29, 1837, Brighton , Sussex), secret wife of the prince of Wales, the future George IV of Great Britain. Maria Fitzherbert. Photos.com/Jupiterimages Of an old Roman Catholic family, she was educated at a French convent. Her first marriage, in 1775, was to Edward Weld, who died within a year, and her second, in 1778, was to Thomas Fitzherbert, who died in 1781, leaving her fairly wealthy. Within two years she had become a prominent figure in London society and ultimately attracted the passionate love of the prince of Wales.

For state reasons a regular marriage was impossible: the Act of Settlement (1689) entailed his forfeiture of the succession if he married a Roman Catholic, apart from the fact that the Royal Marriage Act of 1772 made any marriage illegal without the king’s consent, which was out of the question. From Fitzherbert’s Roman Catholic point of view, any formal marriage ceremony would be ecclesiastically and sacramentally binding. The two were thus secretly married by the Reverend R. Burt, a clergyman of the Church of England, on December 15, 1785. The prince subsequently took up residence near Fitzherbert in both Brighton and London. In 1787, in the course of debates over sums to be granted to alleviate the prince’s debts (the prince was notoriously extravagant), Charles James Fox declared, as on the prince’s own authority, that the rumour of the marriage was a malicious falsehood. Others contributed to the denial, but Fitzherbert, who at first thought of severing her relation with the prince, forgave him.

Seven years later, in June 1794, the prince brutally broke off with her, partly because of his liaisons with other women and partly because of his forthcoming marriage to Princess Caroline (the marriage with Fitzherbert of course being illegal in English law). Sometime later Fitzherbert obtained a formal decision from the pope pronouncing her to be the prince’s wife and sanctioning her to take him back. They drifted together again for what she would later call the happiest years of her life. They broke off the final time about 1808, as the prince became more dissolute. Nevertheless, on his death nearly a quarter of a century later, her miniature portrait was found around his neck. Learn More in these related articles: Fitzherbert, Maria Anne | Article about Fitzherbert, Maria Anne by The Free Dictionary Fitzherbert, Maria Anne | Article about Fitzherbert, Maria Anne by The Free Dictionary Fitzherbert, Maria Anne, 1756–1837, wife of George, Prince of Wales (later George IV George IV, 1762–1830, king of Great Britain and Ireland (1820–30), eldest son and successor of George III.

In 1785 he married Maria Anne Fitzherbert, a Roman Catholic. ..... Click the link for more information. ). He was her third husband. The marriage (1785) was illegal by the terms of the Royal Marriage Act (1772) and the Act of Settlement (1701), since the prince was under age and Mrs. Fitzherbert was a Roman Catholic. It was therefore ignored in 1795 when the prince, for purposes of state, married Caroline of Brunswick Caroline of Brunswick, 1768–1821, consort of George IV of England. The daughter of Charles William Ferdinand, duke of Brunswick, she married George (then prince of Wales) in 1795. ..... Click the link for more information. , but the relationship continued fitfully for many years. Bibliography See biography by A. Leslie (1960). Georgian Index - Mistresses of the Prince Mistresses of the Prince Mary Robinson was lady of the day to the then 18-year-old Prince of Wales in 1780.

A lovely, witty actress with dark hair the Prince first beheld as Predita in "The Winter's Tale" at Drury Lane Theater Dec. 3, 1779. He lavished gifts on her including a splendid equipage that cost him 900 guineas. In the heat of his passion the Prince wrote her a bond for 20,000 pounds. At the end of the affair Fox negotiated the return of the bond in exchange for an annuity of 500 pounds. Linked to Lord Lyttelton, Lord Nottington, Fighting Fitzgerald, Captain Ayscough, before the Prince of Wales. She became a published poet. Mary was next involved with Colonel Banastre Tarleton. This relationship lasted sixteen years. Mrs Grace Dalrymple Eliot born Grace Dalyrymple in 1758. She gained initial entry to the highest society circles through her brief marriage to a wealthy, fashionable London physician some twenty years her senior. Grace gave birth to a daughter in March 1782 and christened her Georgiana Fredrica Augusta Seymour in honor of her putative father. This paternity is in some doubt though as the lady had other lovers at the time.

The Prince introduced Grace to the Duke of Orleans in 1784 and two years later she went to live in Paris, where she stayed during the 1790's. Read more about her in the book My Lady Scandalous : The Amazing Life and Outrageous Times of Grace Dalrymple Elliott, Royal Courtesan by Jo Manning Lady Melbourne (1751-1818) was born Elizabeth Milbanke, the daughter of a Yorkshire baronet. She was married off to the son of a wealthy lawyer Peniston Lamb (later Lord Melbourne, created Viscount in 1770) in 1769. She used her superior education, attention to detail, and business acumen to manage her amiable but dissolute husbandï¿½s affairs. She oversaw the building of Melbourne House . Lady Melbourne was the Duchess of Devonshire's closest confidante. The famous Whig hostess entertained a brilliant company that included Charles James Fox , George Canning , and Charles Grey at her residence in Piccadilly. Richard Brinsley Sheridan recorded her witty repartee in the character of Lady Teazle in his 1777 play The School for Scandal.

Following the common practice of upper-class women during the eighteenth century, Lady Melbourne remained faithful to her husband until her son Peniston was born. Lord Egremont may have fathered William and Emily Lamb. Her son William was a future Prime Minister . Lady Melbourne had an affair with the Prince of Wales during the period 1780 to 1784. Her fourth son George Lamb born in July 1784 is said to be the son of the Prince of Wales. Her correspondence with Byron when she was 60 and he 24 is famous. Elizabeth Billington Wife of a double-bass player in the Drury Lane orchestra. Elizabeth Bridget Armistead was the Prince's mistress from 1780 to 1784. She was first the mistress of Lord George Cavendish the brother of the Duke of Devonshire then the Prince of Wales. She married Charles James Fox in 1795. In 1823, she was awarded a ï¿½500 a year allowance from the Privy Purse from her old friend, The Prince of Wales (by now King George IV). Mrs. Maria Anne Fitzherbert unlike the Prince's other connections was respectable.

Born Maria Anne Smythe on 26 July 1756 the eldest daughter of Walter Smythe of Brambridge in Hampshire. Her paternal grandfather was a Baron and her mother was half-sister of the 1st Earl of Sefton. At 18 she married Edward Weld of Lulworth Castle, Dorset a rich landowner 26 year her senior. He had intended to leave her his property but when he died three months later in a fall from a horse everything went to his brother because he had neglected to sign his new will. In 1777, she married Thomas Fitzherbert of Swynnerton Park in Staffordshire another Catholic gentleman. Her husband and infant son died in the south of France in 1781. He left her an annuity of 1,000 pounds and a town house in Park Street. She was introduced to the Prince when he saw her at the opera in 1784 with her uncle Henry Errington. He courted her by fair means and foul set upon having his way. In order to have her he had to go through a form of marriage, marriage of a Prince to a Catholic being illegal, on Dec.

15, 1785. James Ord born in the autumn of 1786 and reared by Catholics in America was probably a son of this union. Unlike the other women he was linked to Mrs. Fitzherbert often lent the Prince money from the annuity of 1,800 pounds her husband had left her. The Prince of Wales ended the relationship in 1794 just before his engagement to Caroline of Brunswick. He gave Mrs. Fitzherbert an annuity of 3,000 pounds for life. In 1799, tired of Lady Jersey and sorry for himself over his disastrous marriage, he began to woo Maria again. She agreed to reconcile with the Prince only when the Pope in 1800 said hers was the only true marriage. The Prince again abandoned her in 1807 for the Marchioness of Hertford. Gossip surrounding the Prince of Wales and Mrs. Fitzherbert is mentioned in Winston Graham's novel Ross Poldark. Mrs. Anna Maria Crouch A beautiful young singer and actress to whom he gave a bond for 10,000 pounds.

Captain Jack Payne went to her Haymarket house in 1793 and negotiated the settlement down to 1,000 guineas, had she but known he had 2,000 more in the coach. Frances, Lady Jersey Occupied the Prince from 1794 to 1798. Her husband George Bussey Villers the 4th Earl of Jersey was the Prince of Wales Master of Horse. Born Frances Twysden in 1753 she was the daughter of the Irish Bishop of Raphoe. At 17 she married the 4th Earl of Jersey then 35. He was a member of the Prince's household as the Lord of the Bedchamber. The Prince first tried to bed her in 1782 without success.She had affairs with the diplomat William Fawkener and the 5th Earl of Carlisle. In 1794 as a 41 year old grandmother but still highly attractive she began an affair with the Prince of Wales. It is she who encouraged him to break off his relationship with Mrs. Fitzherbert and marry in order to settle his debts.

She also encouraged the choice of Caroline of Brunswick whom she felt would be no threat to her hold over the Prince. She was made one of Princess Caroline's Ladies in waiting. Isabella, Lady Hertford was the Prince's mistress from 1807 to 1819. Born Isabella Anne Ingram Sheperd Irvine in 1760 the daughter of the 9th Viscount Irvine. Became the second wife of the 2nd Marquis of Hertford 18 years her senior in 1776 when she was just 16. The Marchioness was tall, handsome, and elegant but a little portly. Late in 1806 her husband suddenly took her to Ireland to keep her away from the Prince, but this clumsy attempt only increased his ardor. By the summer of 1807 he was a regular guest of the Hertfords in their London mansion Manchester House and Ragley Hall, the family seat in Warwickshire. She was influential in the Prince's turn to the Tories. The Prince was particularly fond of the Hertford's dissolute son the Earl of Yarmouth.

Elizabeth, Countess Conyngham later Marchioness of Conyngham Was the Prince Regent's mistress from 1819 to his death in 1830. Born Elizabeth Denison in 1770 the daughter of a self-made merchant banker. Married Viscount Conyngham an Irish peer four years her senior when she was 24. She and her husband had moved in the Prince's circle since 1812 as friends of the Hertfords. Viscount Conyngham became Earl of Conyngham in 1797. Then made Marquis in 1816. The 48-year-old Marchioness was a beautiful, shrewd, greedy, voluptuous woman. It was said that she received jewels worth £80,000 from the king. She had had an affair in the 1790's with the Honourable John Ponsonby future Lord Ponsonby. The handsomest man of his time, he was saved form being hanged from a lamppost in Paris during the Revolution by the intervention of women who thought him too attractive to kill.

More affairs followed, including a fling with the future Czar Nicholas I of Russia during a visit to London in 1816. The Prince provided her with the expensive clothes and jewels she desired, while she was just the tonic he needed to be in a jolly mood. AmIAnnoying.com (July 26, 1756-March 27, 1837) Born in Brambridge, England, United Kingdom Birth name was Maria Smythe Was secretly (and illegally) married to the Prince of Wales, the future King George IV (December 15, 1785) Why she might be annoying Both of her legal husbands were rich landowners at least 10 years older than her. One contemporary account described her mouth as misshapened by badly fitting false teeth. Under the Royal Marriages Act, her marriage to the Prince of Wales was considered invalid because it had not been approved by King George III and the Privy Council. Since she was a Catholic, if they had been married openly, George would have been removed from the line of succession to the British throne. She received a £3000 a year pension from George.

Why she might not be annoying Her first husband died three months after the wedding when he fell off his horse, leaving her destitute since he had never revised his will, thus leaving his property to his brother. She initially resisted George's advances, even going on an extended European vacation to avoid him. She relented and agreed to marry George after he repeatedly threatened to commit suicide. George pawned some of her jewelry to pay off his creditors. George dumped her and married Caroline of Brunswick in return for Parliament paying off his debts. Considering how bitter his marriage to Caroline was, he may have regretted not renouncing the throne and openly marrying Maria. George died wearing a locket containing her picture around his neck. Credit: C. Fishel Share this link with a friend: Voyages In Time ~ Family, Friends & Places Mary Anne (Maria) Smythe married King George IV of England Mary Anne (Maria) Smythe was born on 26 July 1756. She was the eldest daughter of six children born to Walter Smythe of Brambridge House near Southampton, Hampshire. Her mother was Mary Errington. Mary Anne Smythe - known as 'Maria' - was educated in Paris.

In June 1775, at the age of eighteen, she married Edward Weld of Lulworth Castle, a widower of 34. Within a short time of the marriage he died and three years later she married Thomas Fitzherbert of Swynnerton, Staffordshire. He was ten years her senior. Although a son was born to the Fitzherberts he died in infancy. On 7 May 1781, Thomas Fitzherbert also died - in Nice, leaving his widow a London house - in Park Street, Mayfair - and an income of more than ï¿½1,000 a year. When she came out of mourning she entered London society under the aegis of her uncles, Lord Sefton (who had abandoned the family religion for the Church of England) and his half-brother Henry Errington. She was still only 27, and a very attractive woman. In the spring of 1784, she went to the opera with Lord Sefton and at the request of George, the Prince of Wales, was introduced to him by Henry Errington.

The Prince was not yet 22 - charming, pleasure-loving and inconstant - but his wandering affections were at once engaged, and so began the one enduring passion of his life. Maria Fitzherbert was painted by the notable artists of the day - Gainsborough, Romney, Hoppner, Cosway - but their works do little to explain her effect on the volatile Prince. She had an aquiline nose - what, to her amusement, her adoptive grandson called in later life her 'Roman Catholic nose' - and strong chin, and she was not intellectual or witty. It was apparently her vivacity, directness and warmth, with her golden hair and fresh complexion, that made her attractive even with increasing years and weight. There is one early miniature, painted by Cosway before her first marriage, which captures her charm. Lord Stourton, a relative of Mrs Fitzherbert who had many conversations with her about her life, wrote 'Mrs Fitzherbert was first acquainted with the Prince when residing on Richmond Hill, and soon became the object of his most ardent attentions'. Lord Marmaduke LANGDALE of Holme 5th Baron Langdale of Holme b: Abt.

1717 d: 1777 Burial: St. Pancras, London, Middlesex, England married Constantia SMYTHE b: Abt. 1721 Married: Abt. 1743 daughter of Sir John SMYTHE and Constantia BLOUNT. Children - 1. Constantia LANGDALE b: June 27, 1744 Holme-upon-Spaulding Moor, Yorkshire, England d: in Richmond, Surrey, England (young) * 2 Elizabeth LANGDALE b: Bef. May 13, 1748 Christening: May 13, 1748 Holme-upon-Spaulding Moor, Yorkshire, England - married Robert BUTLER of Ballyragget b: Abt. 1744 Residence: Ballyragget, Ireland * 3 Marmaduke LANGDALE b: Bef. October 03, 1750 Christening: October 03, 1750 Holme-upon-Spaulding Moor, Yorkshire, England d. young.

* 4 Mary LANGDALE b: August 22, 1752 Stourton, Wiltshire, England d: April 12, 1841 in Hazlewood Hall, Yorkshire, England Burial: April 19, 1841 Hazlewood Hall, Yorkshire, England - married Lord Charles Philip STOURTON 16th Lord Stourton b: August 22, 1752 Stourton, Wiltshire, England Married: June 15, 1775 d: April 29, 1816 in Allerton Park, Yorkshire, England Burial: May 06, 1816 Allerton, Mauleverer, Yorkshire, England. Father: William STOURTON. Mother: Winifred HOWARD. During this period she was made the subject of a popular ballad, which designated her under the title of the Sweet Lass of Richmond Hill - " I would crowns resign to call her mine, Sweet lass of Richmond Hill." She was assiduously courted by the Prince.

The obstacles to marriage, and her own outright refusal - firmly rooted in her religious principles - to accept any other relationship, kept him at bay, but on 8 July 1784 she was summoned to Carlton House with news of his attempted suicide. In the face of his distress, she agreed to accept a ring, which he regarded as a symbol of marriage, but immediately after she left for the continent, whither George, with the assistance of his friend the Duke of Orlï¿½ans (father of Louis Philippe) traced her, and bombarded her with letters imploring her to return. Eventually, in December 1785, she returned to London to marry him. Such a marriage was forbidden by two laws. The first was the Bill of Rights of 1689, whereby anyone marrying a 'Papist' was excluded from the succession. The second was the Royal Marriage Act of 1772, passed at the behest of George III, whereby any descendant of George II was forbidden to marry under the age of 25 without the monarch's permission.

This had been drafted as a result of royal displeasure at the marriages of two of the King's brothers to commoners - the Duke of Gloucester to Lady Waldegrave in 1766 (though this was not admitted at the time), and the Duke of Cumberland to Anne Horton in 1771. Anyone involved in a marriage contravening this Act would incur the penalties of praemunire, though what these were was somewhat uncertain. On hearing of the proposed marriage, the Prince's friend Charles James Fox wrote to him, on 10 December, a long letter, full of wordly wisdom, urging him not to carry out his intention of 'a mock marriage (for it can be no other)' adding 'if I were Mrs Fitzherbert's father or brother, I would advise her not by any means to agree to it, and to prefer any other species of connection with you to one leading to so much misery and mischief'. The next day George sent him a reply which, though very evasive in wording, denied the intention. Nevertheless, the Prince had already asked Colonel Gardner, his private secretary, to find a clergyman to solemnise the marriage.

He first tried the Rev Philip Rosenhagen, born in Isleworth in 1737, who had a notorious reputation as a gambler, but proved unwilling to hazard himself too far in this venture, and declined to act. The second choice was the Rev Samuel Johnes (1756-1852) - he later took the additional name of Knight - who had been Vicar of All Souls, Barking, since 1783. He was called to Carlton House to see the Prince, who asked him to perform the ceremony. He at first agreed, then made excuses and was allowed to withdraw. The third choice, who accepted, was the Reverend Robert Burt. ROBERT BURT - The Reverend Robert Burt's career was summed up by V.H. Wilkins in his book "Mrs Fitzherbert and George IV". He was the first writer to have documentary proof of Burt's part in the marriage, as 'a young curate, who had recently been admitted to priest's orders, (who) consented to run the risk ... in return for ï¿½500 paid down and the promise of future preferment ... The Prince of Wales faithfully kept his promise ...

he appointed him one of his domestic chaplains, and obtained for him the comfortable living of Twickenham (the parish in which Mrs Fitzherbert's villa was situated)'. Shane Leslie added - 'according to tradition ... was bailed out of the Fleet Prison, his debts to the amount of ï¿½500 were paid, and he himself was promised a Bishopric'. This rather scathing collection of rumours, half-truths, and errors has been repeated or further corrupted in every book on Mrs Fitzherbert or George IV since. In reality, he was ordained, and presented to a living, as Vicar of St Martin's West Drayton, and also of Harmondsworth, on 28 September 1779. Resuming University studies, he received a degree from Trinity College, Cambridge, and in 1781 was made Batchelor of Laws. By June 1784 he had been appointed one of the four Chaplains in Ordinary to the Prince of Wales. The reason for his selection is not known, but his whole career up to this date suggests that he had the support of a wealthy and influential father and friends in London.

THE MARRIAGE - The wedding took place in the drawing room of Mrs Fitzherbert's house in Park Street on the evening of 15 December 1785. Her uncle Henry Errington gave her away and was one witness; her brother Jack (aka John) Smythe was the other. Both signed a certificate, written out by the Prince himself though later, fearing the consequences for them, Mrs Fitzherbert cut out their names. It is said, though no evidence exists, that the honeymoon was spent at Richmond, and that the carriage broke down on the way, at Hammersmith or Twickenham. George, Prince of Wales, and Maria Fitzherbert Frederick, Price of Wales (1707-1751) = Augusta, Princess of Saxe-Gotha-Altenburg = (2) Thomas FITZHERBERT = (3) George, Prince of Wales Wilkins concluded his thorough survey on the status of this wedding - According to the civil law of England the ceremony was illegal and the marriage was null and void. According to the canon law of the Roman Catholic Church, and also of the Church of England, it was valid.

Mrs Fitzherbert certainly acted as though she was married to the Prince, and as early as December 28 rumours that this was so were circulating. London society was puzzled by the situation, and Horace Walpole made several references to current gossip in his letters. In March 1786 a cartoon 'Wife & No Wife' was published, depicting the marriage of the Prince and Mrs Fitzherbert. Its artist was James Gillray, who in the next twenty years was to caricature Mrs Fitzherbert mercilessly on many occasions, exploiting his prejudices against foreigners, Roman Catholics, and the North-Fox coalition. Meanwhile, Mrs Fitzherbert was prominent in society. She lived in St James Square, and the Prince settled ï¿½3,000 a year on her. In 1786, however, his debts led him to move to Brighton; Mrs Fitzherbert of course followed, and for the rest of her life had a particular affection for the town. During the following winter he spent periods in houses lent to him, including Bushey, and in the next year his debts became so much of a problem that they were discussed in Parliament in April.

In the course of these debates Fox categorically denied the wedding, not merely in terms which could be justified by its illegality, but 'The fact not only never could have happened legally, but never did happen in any way whatsoever'. Mrs Fitzherbert, who had a strong temper on occasion, was furious with Fox, declaring that 'he had rolled her in the kennel like a streetwalker'. Sheridan endeavoured to smooth over the matter by a somewhat ambiguous reference in a debate a few days later to 'another person ... whose character claimed, and was entitled to, the truest and most general respect'. The Prince's debts were paid, but the marriage question came up again, inconclusively, in the Regency debates of 1789. THE PRINCE AND HIS WIVES - At this period, Mrs Fitzherbert is said to have had a house in the Richmond/Twickenham area, as well as one in Pall Mall. She was popular with the Royal Family, and the Prince's brothers invariably ended their letters to him with some message to 'Fitz'.

There were rumours of the birth of children to them, but the possible complications arising from children of a marriage which, though illegal, might be canonically valid, would have necessitated fostering any such children; and no certain evidence has ever been produced. Both Minney Seymour and Marianne Smythe have been suggested as their children; there have been others mentioned. (qv 'Maryanne Smythe' link) Matters came to a sudden end in June 1794; one day Mrs Fitzherbert received an affectionate letter written by the Prince from Brighton; the same evening, while dining with the Duke of Clarence at Bushey House, she was handed an abrupt note from him breaking off their relations. There were two reasons - the growing influence over him of Lady Jersey, and the magnitude of his debts, whose payment depended on his pleasing his father by making a suitable marriage for dynastic purposes. His choice, if it can be so described, fell on his cousin Caroline of Brunswick, who satisfied George III's requirements for 'a Protestant and a Princess'.

George tried uneasily to justify his actions by dwelling on Maria's faults of temper, endeavouring to mollify her through the diplomacy of Captain Jack Payne, and writing to his brother, the Duke of York 'you will not lay the fault, whatever it may be at my door'. The Duke reassured him 'I am rejoiced to hear you are now out of her shackles. As for the Princess, she is a very fine girl and in every respect a very proper match for you'. George maintained Mrs Fitzherbert's allowance, and even obtained the King's assurance that, should he die first, the payment would be continued. She left London for a while, and spent the autumn in Margate. On 7 April 1795 Horace Walpole wrote to Mary Berry that she 'has taken Marble Hill and proposes to live very platonically under the devout wing of Mrs Cambridge' - the wife of George Owen Cambridge, at nearby Cambridge House, Richmond. Miss Henrietta Hotham, who rented Marble Hill to her, had inherited it two years before. Princess Caroline arrived in England the same month, and the wedding took place on 8 April.

The Prince had not been favourably impressed, and Mrs Fitzherbert told Lord Stourton that a day or two preceding the marriage he had been seen 'passing rapidly on horseback before her house at Marble Hill, but that his motive for doing so was unknown to her'. Her stay there was short and in October she moved to 'the Italian villa at Castle Bar Hill', Ealing, which she bought for 9,000 guineas. She also bought a new London house, 6 Tilney St. The royal marriage was a disaster. On 7 January 1796 the Princess Charlotte was born. Three days later the Prince, in the throes of one of the psychosomatic illnesses to which he was subject, made a verbose will in which he left all his property to 'my Maria Fitzherbert, my wife, the wife of my heart & soul'. In April he formally separated from the uncouth and indiscreet, but extremely ill-used Princess Caroline, and was soon urging Mrs Fitzherbert to return to him. In addition to writing pleading letters, he enlisted the support of his brothers and sisters, and even his mother Queen Charlotte, to persuade her.

For three years she refused, and it was not until she had secured from a papal court in Rome the assurance that the marriage conducted by Robert Burt was still valid, that she agreed to a reunion. This was formally marked by a 'public breakfast' with 400 guests in June 1800. She gave up her Ealing house, which was purchased by the Duke of Kent, one of her closest friends among the royal brothers, who had returned to England from Canada. 'We live like brother and sister', she wrote to her friend Lady Anne Barnard, 'I did not consent to make it up with the Prince to live with him either as his wife or his mistress'. The eight years from 1799 she regarded as the happiest of her life. She and the Prince were growing stout and middle-aged, as the cartoonists emphasised, but they spent much time at Brighton, and she bought Steyne House there. Friends noted the beneficial influence she exerted on the Prince's wilder habits. Among their visitors were the Princes of the exiled house of Orleans.

Louis Philippe, Duc d'Orleans since his father was guillotined in 1793 had arrived in England from the USA in 1800 with his brothers the Comte de Beaujolais and the Duc de Montpensier, and settled in nearby Twickenham, until 1808. During this period Mrs Fitzherbert became involved with members of the Waldegrave family. Maria, 2nd Countess Waldegrave (who in her widowhood married the Duke of Gloucester) was the niece of Robert and Horace Walpole. Of her three daughters, subjects of Reynolds' famous painting, Elizabeth married her cousin, the 4th Earl, and Anne Horatia ('Racy') married Lord Hugh Seymour, younger son of the lst Marquess of Hertford, in 1786. The Seymours were friends of the Prince of Wales and Mrs Fitzherbert, but unhesitatingly took her side after the separation of 1795.

In 1801 both died; at the time, Mary Georgina Emma ('Minney'), the youngest of their six children, born in 1798, was in Mrs Fitzherbert's care, and she, devoted to children, wished to adopt her. Some of the family, notably Elizabeth, Lady Waldegrave, strongly opposed Minney's being placed under the guardianship of a Roman Catholic, and legal arguments dragged on for four years. The Prince, who was devoted to Minney, took an active part, and in 1806 guardianship was given to Minney's uncle, the 2nd Marquess of Hertford, who promptly placed her in Mrs Fitzherbert's charge, with the guarantee that she would be brought up as a Protestant. Despite this satisfactory conclusion for Mrs Fitzherbert, this case was a disaster for her in another way, for it brought George under the influence of Lady Hertford; relations deteriorated in 1807, and in 1809 they separated. Brighton became an unhappy place for her for a while, and though she retained her house there she bought another in the London area, East End House, Parson's Green.

Two years later, in 1810, she sold this, and bought Sherwood Lodge, Battersea, where she spent much time in the following fourteen years. The final break with the Prince came in June 1811 when, just after his assumption of the Regency for his father, George III, he publicly slighted her by the inferior position he gave her at a fï¿½te at Carlton House. They probably never met again after 20 June of that year; she was, however, granted an annuity of ï¿½6000 a year. 'AN EXCELLENT WOMAN ' - Though she was not to share publicly in the lavishness and artistic flowering of the Regency, Mrs Fitzherbert had an assured and respected place in Society. Indeed, when one considers the virulence of the cartoons by Gillray and others, it is remarkable to find how widely liked and esteemed she was.

Tributes were paid by persons as varied as Greville ('of a very noble spirit, disinterested, generous, honest, and affectionate'), Creevey ('the best-hearted and most discreet human being that ever was, to be without a particle of talent') and even the slighted Princess Caroline ('that is the Prince's true wife; she is an excellent woman; it is a great pity for him he ever broke vid her.') She corresponded frequently with the Dukes of York and Kent. Another old friend was Louis Philippe who, exiled for his radical views after the restoration of the Bourbons, returned to Twickenham and lived at Orleans House from 1815 to 1817. On 18 July 1815 he wrote to thank Mrs Fitzherbert for her 'past, present and future kindness'; and two years later (5 April 1817) he wrote from Twickenham hoping she would visit him in France, which she did the following autumn. They also exchanged news through the Duke of Kent.

George continued as Prince Regent until George III died in 1820, and he succeeded to the throne; but his only child, Princess Charlotte, the wife of Prince Leopold, had died in 1817. Though there was no reconciliation with Mrs Fitzherbert, the King took a continued interest in Minney Seymour, and gave her ï¿½20,000 on her coming of age. Mrs Fitzherbert was distressed by Minney's attachment to George Dawson, a distant cousin by marriage, whom she met in 1819. He was regarded as an unsuitable match, but eventually his persistent devotion, allied to the financial aid promised by a distant kinswoman, Lady Caroline Damer (George Dawson's grand-mother had been a Damer) prevailed, and they were married on 20 August 1825. She had a second adopted daughter, the somewhat mysterious Maryanne (Marianne) Smythe, said to be the daughter of her brother Jack (John), but thought by some to be her own child. She made an acceptable marriage, to Edward Stafford- Jerningham , in 1828.

In 1830 King George IVth became gravely ill. Mrs Fitzherbert wrote him a note of affectionate regard, and travelled to London to be at hand. He died on 26 June, and though he had sent no answer, the Duke of Wellington observed that he still wore Mrs. Fitzherbert's miniature round his neck and it was buried with him. The new King, William IVth, and Queen Adelaide, treated Mrs Fitzherbert with great kindness and consideration. In 1833 there were negotiations between the Duke of Wellington, executor of George IV, and Lords Stourton and Albemarle, for Mrs Fitzherbert, regarding correspondence between the two, and it was finally agreed that all such papers should be destroyed, except for a few which proved the fact of the marriage, which were deposited in Coutts Bank under conditions which kept them unread for seventy years. The same year that brought William IVth to the throne saw the final overthrow of the Bourbons and the emergence of Louis Philippe as King of the French.

When his son the Duc d'Orleans visited England in 1831 he was instructed to call on Mrs Fitzherbert, whom the King described as 'one of his oldest friends'. During a subsequent visit, Orleans' obvious admiration for Mrs Fitzherbert's niece Georgina, whom he called 'the prettiest girl in England' caused some embarrassment, but she married Augustus Craven in December 1833. In that year Mrs Fitzherbert went to France for several months, and the Duc d'Orleans called to invite her to join the French Royal Family informally, and this she did on several occasions - 'Nothing could exceed the kindness of their reception of me: they are both old acquaintances of mine'. Mrs Fitzherbert enjoyed a golden autumn; though she was out of sympathy with the political changes of the age, she had much happiness in her adoptive grandchildren and was completely reconciled to George Dawson-Damer. She spent much of her time at Brighton, where she was the uncrowned queen.

On his accession to the throne, William IVth , in fact, did all he could - short of a public acknowledgment, which the Duke of Wellington opposed on state grounds - to recognise her position as his brothers widow. He had offered to create her a Duchess, but she declined; she accepted, however, his permission to put her servants in royal livery. It was in Brighton, after a brief illness, that she died at the age of 80, on 27 March 1837. Her memorial, in St. John the Baptist's Roman Catholic Church, shows her wearing three wedding rings. When Mrs Fitzherbert died, three months before the accession of Queen Victoria, more than fifty years had passed since the marriage which Robert Burt had celebrated, and Burt's widow still lived in Twickenham.

Mrs Fitzherbert would never divulge the name of the priest who married her, and various rumours circulated, but as late as 1856 Sir George Seymour did not know his name; Lord Colchester's diary was published in 1861 but it cannot be said how far it was known or believed; Queen Victoria told Chichester Fortescue in 1885 that she 'had no doubt that George IV had married Mrs Fitzherbert' but did not indicate any positive evidence. The actual existence of the marriage tie and the documentary evidence of her rights were not definitely established for many years. However, in 1905, the sealed packet deposited at Couttss bank in 1833 was finally opened by royal permission and the marriage certificate and other conclusive proofs contaned in it were published in Wilkins's book. Additionally, in 1796, the Prince had made a remarkable will - in Mrs Fitzherberts favour - which he gave her in 1799. This was included among these documents which are now in the private archives at Windsor Castle. In this will he speaks of Maria throughout as "my wife".

The will also contained directions that at his death a locket with her miniature - which he always wore - should be interred with him; and this had, indeed, happened. Grateful thanks are extended in particular to the Early family and to a variety of other internet text sources.

Question: Mrs Maria Fitzherbert illegally married which future King of England in 1785?
Answer: GEORGE IV