Amabel Hume-Campbell, 1st Countess de Grey, 5th Baroness Lucas (; 23 January 1751 – 4 March 1833) was a British diarist and political writer who was a countess and baroness in her own right. Had she been male, she would have served in the

House of Lords The House of Lords, also known as the House of Peers, is the Bicameralism, upper house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Membership is by Life peer, appointment, Hereditary peer, heredity or Lords Spiritual, official function. Like the ...

as a Whig. She wrote particularly about the

French Revolution The French Revolution ( ) was a period of radical political and societal change in France that began with the Estates General of 1789 and ended with the formation of the French Consulate in November 1799. Many of its ideas are considere ...

Life and family

Lady Amabel Yorke was born in 1751, the elder daughter of

Philip Yorke, 2nd Earl of Hardwicke Philip Yorke, 2nd Earl of Hardwicke, PC, FRS (9 March 1720 – 16 May 1790), styled Viscount Royston between 1754 and 1764, was an English politician and writer. Life The eldest son of Philip Yorke, 1st Earl of Hardwicke, he was educated at ...

, and his wife, Jemima Campbell, 2nd Marchioness Grey, 4th Baroness Lucas. She was educated at home, which was either

Wrest Park Wrest Park is a country estate located in Silsoe, Bedfordshire, England. It comprises Wrest Park, a Grade I listed country house, and Wrest Park Gardens, also Grade I listed, formal gardens surrounding the mansion. History Thomas Carew (1 ...

in Bedfordshire or the family's London home in

St James's Square St James's Square is the only square in the St James's district of the City of Westminster and is a garden square. It has predominantly Georgian and Neo-Georgian architecture. For its first two hundred or so years it was one of the three or f ...

. She loved books from the age of five, and she became a diarist. She was painted as a child by

Joshua Reynolds Sir Joshua Reynolds (16 July 1723 – 23 February 1792) was an English painter, specialising in portraits. John Russell said he was one of the major European painters of the 18th century. He promoted the "Grand Style" in painting which depend ...

, and engravings of that portrait are in the National Portrait Gallery in London. She was taught about art by

James Basire James Basire (1730–1802 London), also known as James Basire Sr., was a British engraver. He is the most significant of a family of engravers, and noted for his apprenticing of the young William Blake. Early life His father was Isaac Basire ...

and

Alexander Cozens Alexander Cozens (1717–1786) was a British landscape painter in watercolours, born in Russia, in Saint Petersburg. He taught drawing and wrote treatises on the subject, evolving a method in which imaginative drawings of landscapes could be wor ...

, and about etching by James Bretherton. Her own prints are kept in the

British Museum The British Museum is a public museum dedicated to human history, art and culture located in the Bloomsbury area of London. Its permanent collection of eight million works is among the largest and most comprehensive in existence. It docum ...

. She wrote about political matters, and had she been male, she would have served in the

as a Whig. She wrote particularly about the

. She married Alexander Hume-Campbell,

Lord Polwarth Lord Polwarth, of Polwarth in the County of Berwick, is a title in the Peerage of Scotland. It was created in 1690 for Sir Patrick Hume of Polwarth, 2nd Baronet, Lord Chancellor of Scotland from 1696 to 1702 (the baronetcy had been created in t ...

, on 17 August 1780, but the marriage was childless. In 1797, she became 5th Baroness Lucas, inheriting the title from her mother. In 1816, she was created Countess de Grey in her own right, with a

special remainder In property law of the United Kingdom and the United States and other common law countries, a remainder is a future interest given to a person (who is referred to as the transferee or remainderman) that is capable of becoming possessory upon the n ...

to her sister and her sister's male heirs. Her younger sister, Mary, who predeceased her, married

Thomas Robinson, 2nd Baron Grantham Thomas Robinson, 2nd Baron Grantham PC (30 November 173820 July 1786) was a British statesman. He notably served as Foreign Secretary between 1782 and 1783. Background and education Grantham was born in Vienna, Austria, the son of Thomas Robin ...

, and had children, the eldest of whom inherited the earldom of de Grey and the barony of Lucas. The countess died in

Westminster Westminster is an area of Central London, part of the wider City of Westminster. The area, which extends from the River Thames to Oxford Street, has many visitor attractions and historic landmarks, including the Palace of Westminster, Bu ...

in 1833. She left over 4,000 etchings to the British Museum, and many of these are thought to be from her own collecting.

Notes

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:de Grey, Amabel Hume-Campbell, 1st Countess 1751 births 1833 deaths 18th-century English women writers 18th-century English nobility 19th-century British women writers 19th-century British writers 19th-century English nobility Burials at the de Grey Mausoleum (Flitton) de Grey Lucas, Amabel Hume-Campbell, 5th baroness Daughters of British earls Daughters of British marquesses English diarists Women diarists Amabel Hereditary peeresses of the United Kingdom created by George III Barons Lucas Earls in the Peerage of the United Kingdom