Clementina Maria Sophia Walkinshaw (1720 – 27 November 1802) was the mistress of

Charles Edward Stuart Charles Edward Louis John Sylvester Maria Casimir Stuart (20 December 1720 – 30 January 1788) was the elder son of James Francis Edward Stuart, grandson of James II and VII, and the Stuart claimant to the thrones of England, Scotland and ...

. Born into a respectable Scottish family, Clementina began to live with the Prince in November 1752 and remained his mistress for eight years. Their child Charlotte was born in 1753. In 1760, the Prince's father,

James Francis Edward Stuart James Francis Edward Stuart (10 June 16881 January 1766), nicknamed the Old Pretender by Whigs, was the son of King James II and VII of England, Scotland and Ireland, and his second wife, Mary of Modena. He was Prince of Wales from ...

, helped her escape with her daughter to a convent and began to support her. After his death in 1766 she had an allowance from Charles's brother Cardinal Stuart. Charlotte's father legitimated her in 1783, and the next year she joined him in Florence and looked after him until his death. Charlotte died in 1789, leaving Clementina 50,000 livres and an annuity, but Cardinal Stuart insisted on Clementina signing a "quittance" renouncing any further claim. Clementina Walkinshaw brought up her three grandchildren and lived until 1802, in her later years taking up residence in

Switzerland ). Swiss law does not designate a ''capital'' as such, but the federal parliament and government are installed in Bern, while other federal institutions, such as the federal courts, are in other cities (Bellinzona, Lausanne, Luzern, Neuchâtel ...

Childhood

Clementina was the youngest of ten daughters of John Walkinshaw of Barrowhill and his wife Katherine Paterson. She was a descendant of

Robert Baillie Robert Baillie (30 April 16021662) was a Church of Scotland minister who became famous as an author and a propagandist for the Covenanters.

. The Walkinshaws owned the lands of

Barrowfield Barrowfield is a neighbourhood of Glasgow, Scotland, close to Celtic Park, home of Celtic F.C., which lies immediately to the east. It is bounded by the A89 road (Gallowgate) to the north and the A74 (London Road) to the south. History Being ...

and

Camlachie Camlachie ( gd, Camadh Làthaich) is an area of the city of Glasgow Glasgow ( ; sco, Glesca or ; gd, Glaschu ) is the most populous city in Scotland and the fourth-most populous city in the United Kingdom, as well as being the 27th l ...

, and her father had become a wealthy

Glasgow Glasgow ( ; sco, Glesca or ; gd, Glaschu ) is the most populous city in Scotland and the fourth-most populous city in the United Kingdom, as well as being the 27th largest city by population in Europe. In 2020, it had an estimated popul ...

merchant (founding the textile village of Calton). However, he was also an

Episcopalian Anglicanism is a Western Christian tradition that has developed from the practices, liturgy, and identity of the Church of England following the English Reformation, in the context of the Protestant Reformation in Europe. It is one of the l ...

and a Jacobite who had fought for

, the Old Pretender, in the rising of 1715, and had been captured at the Battle of Sheriffmuir, before escaping from

Stirling Castle Stirling Castle, located in Stirling, is one of the largest and most important castles in Scotland, both historically and architecturally. The castle sits atop Castle Hill, an intrusive crag, which forms part of the Stirling Sill geological ...

and fleeing to Europe. In 1717, he had been

pardon A pardon is a government decision to allow a person to be relieved of some or all of the legal consequences resulting from a criminal conviction. A pardon may be granted before or after conviction for the crime, depending on the laws of the ju ...

ed by the British government and returned to Glasgow, where his youngest daughter was born, most likely, at Camlachie. Clementina was largely educated on the Continent, and later converted to

Roman Catholicism The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwide . It is am ...

. In 1746, she was living at the home of her uncle Sir Hugh Paterson at

Bannockburn Bannockburn (Scottish Gaelic ''Allt a' Bhonnaich'') is an area immediately south of the centre of Stirling in Scotland. It is part of the City of Stirling. It is named after the Bannock Burn, a stream running through the town before flowing int ...

near

Stirling Stirling (; sco, Stirlin; gd, Sruighlea ) is a city in central Scotland, northeast of Glasgow and north-west of Edinburgh. The market town, surrounded by rich farmland, grew up connecting the royal citadel, the medieval old town with its me ...

Relationship with Prince Charles Stuart

After the defeat of the Prince's rebellion at Culloden in April 1746, Charles fled Scotland for France. In 1752, he heard that Clementina, whom he had already met with her uncle, was at

Dunkirk Dunkirk (french: Dunkerque ; vls, label=French Flemish, Duunkerke; nl, Duinkerke(n) ; , ;) is a commune in the department of Nord in northern France.louis d'ors to help her and then dispatched Sir Henry Goring to entreat her to come to

Ghent Ghent ( nl, Gent ; french: Gand ; traditional English: Gaunt) is a city and a municipality in the Flemish Region of Belgium. It is the capital and largest city of the East Flanders province, and the third largest in the country, exceeded in ...

and live with him as his mistress. Goring, who described Clementina as a "bad woman", complained of being used as "no better than a pimp", and shortly afterwards left Charles's employ. However, by November 1752, Clementina was living with Charles, and was to remain as his mistress for the following eight years. The couple moved to

Liège Liège ( , , ; wa, Lîdje ; nl, Luik ; german: Lüttich ) is a major city and municipality of Wallonia and the capital of the Belgian province of Liège. The city is situated in the valley of the Meuse, in the east of Belgium, not far from b ...

where Charlotte, their only child, was born on 29 October 1753 and baptised into the Roman Catholic faith at the church of Sainte Marie-des-Fonts. Some contemporary accounts of British agents cite the birth of a baby boy and a second child. The relationship between the Prince and Clementina was disastrous. Charles was already a disillusioned, angry alcoholic when they began living together, and he became violent towards Clementina and insanely possessive of her, treating her as a "submissive whipping post". Often away from home on jaunts, he seldom referred to his daughter, and when he did, it was as "ye cheild". During a temporary move to Paris, the Prince's lieutenants record ugly public arguments between the two, and that his drunkenness and temper was damaging his reputation. By 1760, they were in

Basel , french: link=no, Bâlois(e), it, Basilese , neighboring_municipalities= Allschwil (BL), Hégenheim (FR-68), Binningen (BL), Birsfelden (BL), Bottmingen (BL), Huningue (FR-68), Münchenstein (BL), Muttenz (BL), Reinach (BL), Riehen (BS ...

, and Clementina had had enough of his intoxication and their nomadic lifestyle. She contacted Charles's staunchly

Roman Catholic Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *'' Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a lette ...

father James Stuart ('the Old Pretender') and expressed a desire to secure a Catholic education for Charlotte and to retire to a convent. James agreed to pay her an annuity of 10,000

livres The (; ; abbreviation: ₶.) was one of numerous currencies used in medieval France, and a unit of account (i.e., a monetary unit used in accounting) used in Early Modern France. The 1262 monetary reform established the as 20 , or 80.88 gr ...

and, in July 1760, there is evidence to suggest he aided her escape from the watchful Charles, with the seven-year-old Charlotte, to the convent of the Nuns of the Visitation in Paris. She left a letter for Charles expressing her devotion to him but complaining she had to flee in fear of her life. A furious Charles circulated descriptions of them both, but it was to no avail.

Life with her daughter

For the next twelve years, Clementina and Charlotte continued to live in various French convents, supported by the 10,000

livre LIVRE (, L), previously known as LIVRE/Tempo de Avançar (, L/TDA), is a green political party in Portugal founded in 2014. Its founding principles are ecology, universalism, freedom, equity, solidarity, socialism and Europeanism. Its symbol ...

pension granted by James Stuart. Charles never forgave Clementina for depriving him of "ye cheild", and stubbornly refused to pay anything for their support. On 1 January 1766 James died, but Charles, now considering himself ''de jure'' Charles III of Scotland, England and Ireland, still refused to make any provision for the two, forcing Clementina, now styling herself as the Countess of Albestroff, to appeal to his brother Cardinal Henry Stuart for assistance. Henry gave them an allowance of 5,000 livres, but in return extracted a statement from Clementina that she had never been married to Charles – a statement she later tried to retract. This lower amount forced them to find cheaper lodgings in the convent of Notre Dame at Meaux-en-Brie. Towards the end of 1772, Clementina and Charlotte unexpectedly arrived in Rome to press their desperate cause in person. The trip had pushed Clementina further into debt. The Prince reacted angrily to their arrival, refusing even to see them, forcing their helpless return to France, from where Charlotte's pleading letters continued.

Later life

After Thomas - Portrait of an Unknown Woman (possibly Laura Walpole) - Derby Museum and Art Gallery

In 1783, Charlotte, Clementina’s daughter, finally became legitimised and was allowed to see her father. Charlotte, in need of money for her and Clementina, settled with her father in Florence as his caretaker. Charlotte left Clementina her three children to take care of while Charlotte was in Florence. On 17 November 1789, Charlotte died at age 36 of

liver cancer Liver cancer (also known as hepatic cancer, primary hepatic cancer, or primary hepatic malignancy) is cancer that starts in the liver. Liver cancer can be primary (starts in liver) or secondary (meaning cancer which has spread from elsewhere to th ...

at Palazzo Vizzani Sanguinetti, a Renaissance palace located in Bologna. In Charlotte’s will, written three days before her death, stated that Clementina would be left 50,000 livres and an annuity of 15,000. However, Cardinal Henry Stuart would ‘release’ the money; he had only agreed to do so if Clementina would sign an quittance, renouncing any former claim upon the estate for both her and her descendants. Clementina Walkinshaw looked after her three grandchildren and lived until 1802, in her later years taking up residence in

and bringing up her grandson Roehenstart in the

reformed faith Calvinism (also called the Reformed Tradition, Reformed Protestantism, Reformed Christianity, or simply Reformed) is a major branch of Protestantism that follows the theological tradition and forms of Christian practice set down by John Calv ...

. During the years of 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 ...

, his father paid for his education in

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

. On her death, she left him a substantial fortune.Peter Piniński, ''The Stuarts' Last Secret''
p. 187
/ref>

In culture

She is a minor character in the novel ''

Redgauntlet ''Redgauntlet'' (1824) is a historical novel by Sir Walter Scott, one of the Waverley novels, set primarily in Dumfriesshire, southwest Scotland, in 1765, and described by Magnus Magnusson (a point first made by Andrew Lang) as "in a sense, the ...

'' (1824) by Sir

Walter Scott Sir Walter Scott, 1st Baronet (15 August 1771 – 21 September 1832), was a Scottish novelist, poet, playwright and historian. Many of his works remain classics of European and Scottish literature, notably the novels ''Ivanhoe'', ''Rob Roy (n ...

. Scottish singer-songwriter

Brian McNeill Brian McNeill (born 6 April 1950, Falkirk, Scotland) is a Scottish folk multi-instrumentalist, songwriter, record producer and musical director. He was a founding member of Battlefield Band which combined traditional Celtic melodies and new m ...

composed the song "How the Foreign Winds Do Blaw" on his tenth studio album ''The Baltic tae Byzantium'' about Walkinshaw.

Notes

Sources

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Walkinshaw, Clementina 1720 births 1802 deaths

Clementina Clementina may refer to: Literature *Clementine literature, or Clementina, a 2nd-century religious romance * ''Clementina'' (play), a 1771 tragedy by Hugh Kelly *Clementina (character), a fictional character in the ''Jeeves'' series Other uses *C ...

Mistresses of Scottish royalty