Charlotte Florentia Percy, Duchess of Northumberland (''née'' Lady Charlotte Florentia Clive; 12 September 1787 – 27 July 1866), was governess of the future

Queen Victoria Victoria (Alexandrina Victoria; 24 May 1819 – 22 January 1901) was Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland from 20 June 1837 until her death in 1901. Her reign of 63 years and 216 days was longer than that of any previo ...

Family

Duchess of Northumberland La Belle Assemblee 1829

Born as the younger daughter and third child of the politician

Edward Clive, 1st Earl of Powis Edward Clive, 1st Earl of Powis, (7 March 1754 – 16 May 1839), known as the Lord Clive between 1774 and 1804, was a British politician who sat in the House of Commons from 1774 to 1794 when he was raised to the peerage as Baron Clive. Earl ...

, and the mineral collector

Henrietta Clive, Countess of Powis Henrietta Antonia Clive, Countess of Powis (née Herbert; 3 September 1758 – 3 June 1830), was a British writer, mineral collector, and botanist. Her time in India, while her husband was Governor of Madras, was inspirational to her for all thre ...

, she was paternally granddaughter of Major-General

Robert Clive, 1st Baron Clive Robert Clive, 1st Baron Clive, (29 September 1725 – 22 November 1774), also known as Clive of India, was the first British Governor of the Bengal Presidency. Clive has been widely credited for laying the foundation of the British ...

, and maternally granddaughter of Henry Herbert, 1st Earl of Powis. She married Hugh Percy, Earl Percy, son of General

Hugh Percy, 2nd Duke of Northumberland Lieutenant General Hugh Percy, 2nd Duke of Northumberland (14 August 174210 July 1817) was an officer in the British army and later a British peer. He participated in the Battles of Lexington and Concord and the Battle of Long Island during t ...

, on 29 April 1817. On 10 July the same year, her father-in-law died and her husband succeeded to the dukedom.

Roles

In 1825, the Duke and Duchess of Northumberland attended the coronation of King Charles X of France as representatives of King George IV of the United Kingdom. Charlotte accompanied her husband to

Dublin Dublin (; , or ) is the capital and largest city of Ireland. On a bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the province of Leinster, bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, a part of the Wicklow Mountains range. At the 2016 c ...

during his time as Lord Lieutenant of Ireland from 1829 to 1830. In 1831, being a friend of

King William IV William IV (William Henry; 21 August 1765 – 20 June 1837) was King of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland and King of Hanover from 26 June 1830 until his death in 1837. The third son of George III, William succeeded hi ...

, she was appointed governess of his niece and

heir presumptive An heir presumptive is the person entitled to inherit a throne, peerage, or other hereditary honour, but whose position can be displaced by the birth of an heir apparent or a new heir presumptive with a better claim to the position in question. ...

Princess Victoria of Kent Victoria (Alexandrina Victoria; 24 May 1819 – 22 January 1901) was Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland from 20 June 1837 until her death in 1901. Her reign of 63 years and 216 days was longer than that of any previo ...

, who ascended the British throne in 1837. The role was mostly ceremonial, and Victoria continued to rely mostly on Baroness

Louise Lehzen Johanna Clara Louise Lehzen (3 October 17849 September 1870), also known as Baroness Louise Lehzen, was the governess and later companion to Queen Victoria of the United Kingdom. Born to a Lutheran pastor, in 1819 Lehzen entered the household of ...

. The Duchess was dismissed in 1837 by the Princess's mother, the

Duchess of Kent Duchess of Kent is the principal courtesy title used by the wife of the Duke of Kent. There have been four titles referring to Kent since the 18th century. The current duchess is Katharine, the wife of Prince Edward. He inherited the dukedom ...

, for attempting to become more influential in the girl's education and refusing to submit to the Duchess of Kent's comptroller, Sir

John Conroy Sir John Ponsonby Conroy, 1st Baronet, KCH (21 October 1786 – 2 March 1854) was a British Army officer who served as comptroller to the Duchess of Kent and her young daughter, Princess Victoria, the future Queen of the United Kingdom. Con ...

. She had earlier opposed the harshness of the

Kensington System The Kensington System was a strict and elaborate set of rules designed by Victoria, Duchess of Kent, along with her attendant, Sir John Conroy, concerning the upbringing of the Duchess's daughter, the future Queen Victoria. It is named after Ke ...

, designed by Conroy and the Duchess of Kent, and wrote to

Princess Feodora of Leiningen Princess Feodora of Leiningen (Anna Feodora Auguste Charlotte Wilhelmine; 7 December 1807 – 23 September 1872) was the only daughter of Emich Carl, Prince of Leiningen (1763–1814), and Princess Victoria of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld (1786–1861) ...

(the Duchess of Kent's daughter and Princess Victoria's elder half-sister) to ask her to tell the King to intervene. Feodora and the Duchess of Northumberland were also determined to protect Baroness Lehzen from the hostility of Conroy and his friend,

Lady Flora Hastings Lady Flora Elizabeth Rawdon-Hastings (11 February 1806 – 5 July 1839) was a British aristocrat and lady-in-waiting to Queen Victoria's mother, the Duchess of Kent. Her death in 1839 was the subject of a court scandal that gave the Queen a nega ...

Death and legacy

The childless marriage of the Duke and Duchess of Northumberland ended with the Duke's death on 11 February 1847. The Duchess died in

Twickenham Twickenham is a suburban district in London, England. It is situated on the River Thames southwest of Charing Cross. Historically part of Middlesex, it has formed part of the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames since 1965, and the boroug ...

on 27 July 1866. As a Duchess of Northumberland, she is buried in

Westminster Abbey Westminster Abbey, formally titled the Collegiate Church of Saint Peter at Westminster, is an historic, mainly Gothic church in the City of Westminster, London, England, just to the west of the Palace of Westminster. It is one of the Unite ...

. The Duchess was born into a plant-loving family and was an avid plant enthusiast herself. She was the first person in Great Britain to cultivate and bring to flowerClivias
Southern African plants belonging to the genus ''

Clivia ''Clivia'' is a genus of monocot flowering plants native to southern Africa. They are from the family Amaryllidaceae, subfamily Amaryllidoideae. Common names are Natal lily or bush lily. They are herbaceous or evergreen perennial plants, with g ...

'', named in her honour by the Kew botanist John Lindley in 1828.Clivia San Marcos Growers. Retrieved 8 April 2006.
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References

Footnotes

Bibliography

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External links

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Charlotte Florentia Percy (née Clive), Duchess of Northumberland (1787–1866), Wife of Hugh Percy, 3rd Duke of Northumberland
{{DEFAULTSORT:Northumberland, Charlotte Percy, Duchess of 1787 births 1866 deaths

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 ...

Daughters of British earls English governesses Wives of knights Queen Victoria

Burials at Westminster Abbey