Elizabeth "Bessie" Scott, Countess of Eldon (c.1754 – 28 June 1831), formerly Elizabeth "Bessie" Surtees, was the wife of
John Scott, 1st Earl of Eldon
John Scott, 1st Earl of Eldon, (4 June 1751 – 13 January 1838) was a British barrister and politician. He served as Lord High Chancellor of Great Britain between 1801 and 1806 and again between 1807 and 1827.
Early life Background
Eldon ...
.
Biography
She was the daughter of Aubone Surtees, a banker of
Newcastle upon Tyne
Newcastle upon Tyne, or simply Newcastle ( , Received Pronunciation, RP: ), is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and metropolitan borough in Tyne and Wear, England. It is England's northernmost metropolitan borough, located o ...
, and his wife, formerly Elizabeth Stephenson, and was baptised at St Nicholas, Newcastle upon Tyne, on 26 November 1754. She married John Scott in Blackshiels, Scotland, on 19 November 1772.
The marriage was officially blessed two months later on 19 January 1773
at St Nicholas, Newcastle upon Tyne. The couple had eloped when the earl, who was from a relatively poor Newcastle family, was training to be a clergyman. His occupation as a curate was inadequate to keep a wife and he trained instead as a lawyer. His success both in law and business was such that by the 1790s he was wealthy enough to buy the Eldon estate near
Sedgefield
Sedgefield is a market town and civil parish in County Durham, England. It had a population of 4,986 in the 2021 census. It has the only operating racecourse in County Durham.
Etymology
The name ''Sedgefield'' is of Old English origin. It ...
, but the couple did not live there.
The couple had four children:
*Hon. John Scott, MP (8 March 1774 - 24 December 1805), who married Henrietta Elizabeth Ridley and had one child,
John
John is a common English name and surname:
* John (given name)
* John (surname)
John may also refer to:
New Testament
Works
* Gospel of John, a title often shortened to John
* First Epistle of John, often shortened to 1 John
* Second E ...
(10 December 1805 – 18 September 1854), who succeeded his grandfather as Earl of Eldon.
*Lady Elizabeth Scott (1 November 1783 or 1784
- 16 April 1862), who married
George Stanley Repton, son of the landscape gardener
Humphry Repton
Humphry Repton (21 April 1752 – 24 March 1818) was the last great designer of the classic phase of the English landscape garden, often regarded as the successor to Capability Brown. His style is thought of as the precursor of the more intric ...
, on 27 November 1817,
and had children
*Hon. William Henry John Scott, MP (c. 1794 - 1832)
*Lady Frances Jane Scott (15 June 1798 - 6 August 1838),
who married the Reverend Edward Bankes (1794 - 24 May 1867)
(son of
Henry Bankes
Henry Bankes (1757–1834) was an English politician and writer.
Life
Bankes was the only surviving son of Henry Bankes (died 1776), Henry Bankes and Margaret Wynne (1724–1822). Bankes was the great-great-grandson of Sir John Bankes, Chie ...
). They had three sons.
One of their grandsons was
Sir John Eldon Bankes.
See also
*
Bessie Surtees House
Bessie Surtees House is the name of two merchants' houses on Newcastle's Sandhill, overlooking the River Tyne, that were built in the 16th and 17th centuries. Though commonly referred to solely as Bessie Surtees House, the property actually con ...
References
1750s births
1831 deaths
British countesses
Scott family (England)
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