Elizabeth Fletcher later Elizabeth Wedderburn (December 1731 – 18 December 1758) was a

Scottish Scottish usually refers to something of, from, or related to Scotland, including: *Scottish Gaelic, a Celtic Goidelic language of the Indo-European language family native to Scotland *Scottish English *Scottish national identity, the Scottish ide ...

scholar educated in Edinburgh. She had a short, but important life introducing many of the leading figures of the

Scottish Enlightenment The Scottish Enlightenment ( sco, Scots Enlichtenment, gd, Soillseachadh na h-Alba) was the period in 18th- and early-19th-century Scotland characterised by an outpouring of intellectual and scientific accomplishments. By the eighteenth century ...

to people of influence. She was mainly known as Miss Betty Fletcher.

Life

Fletcher was born in 1731. She was the penultimate child of eight born to Lady Elizabeth (born Kinloch) and

Andrew Fletcher, Lord Milton Andrew Fletcher, Lord Milton (1692 – 13 December 1766) was a notable Scottish judge and Lord Justice Clerk. Family Andrew Fletcher was born at Saltoun Castle near Pencaitland, east of Edinburgh, the son of Henry Fletcher of Saltoun (d.1733 ...

. She had no formal education but she was clever. She had spent three years at Miss Aylesworth's school in Chelsea, but it is reported that she would have learned singing and about music but nothing more academic. In 1745 she finished in Chelsea and in Edinburgh she was given further education by private tutors. In 1747 the family moved from

Saltoun Hall Saltoun Hall is an historic house standing in extensive lands off the B6355, Pencaitland to East Saltoun road, about 1.5 miles from each village, in East Lothian, Scotland. The house is reached by way of an impressive gateway and is situated ...

Brunstane Brunstane is a northeastern suburb of the city of Edinburgh, Scotland. It lies on the A1 and is served by Brunstane railway station on the Borders Railway. Brunstane partly consists of new housing, such as the Gilberstoun estate, and also ...

House east of Edinburgh.Cassel's Old and New Edinburgh vol.V p.150 Her father had great influence, especially as he knew Archibald Campbell, Lord Ilay, later the third duke of Argyll. Each summer she would be invited to

Inveraray Castle Inveraray Castle (pronounced or ; Scottish Gaelic ''Caisteal Inbhir Aora'' ) is a country house near Inveraray in the county of Argyll, in western Scotland, on the shore of Loch Fyne, Scotland's longest sea loch. It is one of the earliest ex ...

, as this was the family seat of her father's business fiend Lord Ilay. She knew the historian William Robertson, the historian,

David Hume David Hume (; born David Home; 7 May 1711 NS (26 April 1711 OS) – 25 August 1776) Cranston, Maurice, and Thomas Edmund Jessop. 2020 999br>David Hume" ''Encyclopædia Britannica''. Retrieved 18 May 2020. was a Scottish Enlightenment philo ...

and

Adam Ferguson Adam Ferguson, (Scottish Gaelic: ''Adhamh MacFhearghais''), also known as Ferguson of Raith (1 July N.S./20 June O.S. 1723 – 22 February 1816), was a Scottish philosopher and historian of the Scottish Enlightenment. Ferguson was sympathet ...

the philosophers,

Adam Smith Adam Smith (baptized 1723 – 17 July 1790) was a Scottish economist and philosopher who was a pioneer in the thinking of political economy and key figure during the Scottish Enlightenment. Seen by some as "The Father of Economics"——— ...

the economist, and

John Home Rev John Home FRSE (13 September 1722 – 4 September 1808) was a Scottish minister, soldier and author. His play ''Douglas'' was a standard Scottish school text until the Second World War, but his work is now largely neglected. In 1783 he wa ...

. Because these men knew Elizabeth Fletcher, she introduced them to her father, Lord Milton. Via Lord Milton they met Lord Ilay, and Ilay had the ear of Sir

Robert Walpole Robert Walpole, 1st Earl of Orford, (26 August 1676 – 18 March 1745; known between 1725 and 1742 as Sir Robert Walpole) was a British statesman and Whig politician who, as First Lord of the Treasury, Chancellor of the Exchequer, and Leader ...

. Another acquaintance she met at Invererary was the young architect

Robert Adam Robert Adam (3 July 17283 March 1792) was a British neoclassical architect, interior designer and furniture designer. He was the son of William Adam (1689–1748), Scotland's foremost architect of the time, and trained under him. With his o ...

. Adam took a dislike to her, her sister Mally and her mother. She married Captain John Wedderburn of Gosford but the marriage was short as he was posted to the

West Indies The West Indies is a subregion of North America, surrounded by the North Atlantic Ocean and the Caribbean Sea that includes 13 independent island countries and 18 dependencies and other territories in three major archipelagos: the Greater A ...

. It is said that Fletcher had sufficient influence to have her new husband sent home, but despite the advice of the peers, she did not interfere.

Death and legacy

She was however pregnant and this would end her life. She gave birth to a daughter and she died on 18 December 1758 having said "I have done my duty to my husband's honour, but my doing so has cost me my life". Her husband remarried, Mary Hamilton, and he would have fourteen more children and in the last year of his life he became a

Halkett baronets There have been two Halkett Baronetcies, both in the Baronetage of Nova Scotia — one in 1662 for Charles Halkett and the other in 1697 for politician Peter Wedderburn, who changed his name to Halkett in 1705. Both baronetcies are extinct. ...

and he changed his name to Halkett. Elizabeth's daughter was brought up knowing that she a different mother to step-brothers and sisters. Her step-brother would become Sir Charles Halkett, 5th Baronet of Pitfirrane.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Fletcher, Elizabeth 1731 births 1758 deaths Scottish socialites