Charlotte Mary Gertrude Strutt, 1st Baroness Rayleigh (29 May 1758 – 13 September 1836), known as Lady Charlotte FitzGerald from 1758 to 1789 and as Lady Charlotte Strutt from 1789 to 1821, was a British
peeress.
Charlotte was the daughter of
James FitzGerald, 1st Duke of Leinster
Lieutenant-General James FitzGerald, 1st Duke of Leinster, PC (Ire) (29 May 1722 – 19 November 1773), styled Lord Offaly until 1743 and known as The Earl of Kildare between 1743 and 1761 and as The Marquess of Kildare between 1761 and 176 ...
, and his wife,
Lady Emily, daughter of
Charles Lennox, 2nd Duke of Richmond
Charles Lennox, 2nd Duke of Richmond, 2nd Duke of Lennox, 2nd Duke of Aubigny, (18 May 17018 August 1750) of Goodwood House near Chichester in Sussex, was a British nobleman and politician. He was the son of Charles Lennox, 1st Duke of Richmo ...
, and the second of the famous
Lennox sisters The Lennox sisters were four eighteenth-century British aristocrats, the daughters of Charles Lennox, 2nd Duke of Richmond (1701–1750) by his wife Lady Sarah Cadogan (1705–1751).
The four sisters were:
* Caroline Fox, 1st Baroness Holland (17 ...
.
Lord Edward FitzGerald
Lord Edward FitzGerald (15 October 1763 – 4 June 1798) was an Irish aristocrat who abandoned his prospects as a distinguished veteran of British service in the American War of Independence, and as an Irish Parliamentarian, to embrace the caus ...
and
Charles FitzGerald, 1st Baron Lecale
Vice-Admiral Charles James FitzGerald, 1st Baron Lecale PC (Ire) (30 June 1756 – 18 February 1810), styled Lord Charles FitzGerald between 1761 and 1800, was an Irish naval commander and politician.
Background
FitzGerald was the third son of J ...
, were her brothers. Through her mother she was a descendant of
King Charles II.
In
Toulouse
Toulouse ( , ; oc, Tolosa ) is the prefecture of the French department of Haute-Garonne and of the larger region of Occitania. The city is on the banks of the River Garonne, from the Mediterranean Sea, from the Atlantic Ocean and from Pa ...
on 23 February 1789 Charlotte married
Joseph Strutt, later
Member of Parliament
A member of parliament (MP) is the representative in parliament of the people who live in their electoral district. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, this term refers only to members of the lower house since upper house members o ...
for
Maldon
Maldon (, locally ) is a town and civil parish on the Blackwater estuary in Essex, England. It is the seat of the Maldon District and starting point of the Chelmer and Blackwater Navigation. It is known for Maldon Sea Salt which is produced ...
and the member of an
Essex
Essex () is a county in the East of England. One of the home counties, it borders Suffolk and Cambridgeshire to the north, the North Sea to the east, Hertfordshire to the west, Kent across the estuary of the River Thames to the south, and Grea ...
family that had made their fortune from its milling business. The couple had three children: a son, John (later the second Baron Rayleigh), and two daughters.
Her husband was offered a peerage for his services in the Army and Parliament but refused, and instead proposed that the honour be given to his wife. Hence, on 18 July 1821
Charlotte was raised to the peerage as
Baroness Rayleigh, of Terling Place in the County of Essex.
Lady Rayleigh died in
Bath in September 1836, aged 78, and was succeeded in the barony by her son, John. Joseph Strutt died in 1845.
Notes
References
*Kidd, Charles, Williamson, David (editors). ''Debrett's Peerage and Baronetage'' (1990 edition). New York: St Martin's Press, 1990,
*
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Rayleigh, Charlotte Strutt, 1st Baroness
1758 births
1836 deaths
Barons in the Peerage of the United Kingdom
Daughters of British dukes
Charlotte
Charlotte ( ) is the most populous city in the U.S. state of North Carolina. Located in the Piedmont region, it is the county seat of Mecklenburg County. The population was 874,579 at the 2020 census, making Charlotte the 16th-most populo ...
Charlotte
Charlotte ( ) is the most populous city in the U.S. state of North Carolina. Located in the Piedmont region, it is the county seat of Mecklenburg County. The population was 874,579 at the 2020 census, making Charlotte the 16th-most populo ...
Hereditary peeresses created by George IV