Henrietta Knight, Baroness Luxborough (;born 15 July 1699, died 26 March 1756), was an English poet and
letter writer, now mainly remembered as a gardener. She married the rising politician
Robert Knight in 1727, but he banished her to his estate at
Barrells Hall
Barrells Hall is a large house in the Warwickshire countryside near Henley-in-Arden. The nearest village is Ullenhall, which for many years was the estate village, large parts of it having been built by the owners of Barrells Hall, the Newtons, on ...
in 1736 as punishment for a romantic indiscretion.
Horace Walpole
Horatio Walpole (), 4th Earl of Orford (24 September 1717 – 2 March 1797), better known as Horace Walpole, was an English writer, art historian, man of letters, antiquarian, and Whigs (British political party), Whig politician.
He had Strawb ...
's correspondence suggests she was caught by her husband ''
in flagrante delicto
''In flagrante delicto'' (Latin for "in blazing offence") or sometimes simply ''in flagrante'' ("in blazing") is a legal term used to indicate that a criminal has been caught in the act of committing an offence (compare ). The colloquial "caught ...
'' with her doctor, whilst other sources add a further lover in the form of a young cleric named John Dalton (1709–1763).
As Henrietta, Lady Luxborough (from 1745), she was one of the first to establish a ''
ferme ornée
The term ''ferme ornée'' as used in English garden history derives from Stephen Switzer's term for 'ornamental farm'. It describes a country estate laid out partly according to aesthetic principles and partly for farming. During the eighteenth ce ...
'' and is credited by the
OED
The ''Oxford English Dictionary'' (''OED'') is the first and foundational historical dictionary of the English language, published by Oxford University Press (OUP). It traces the historical development of the English language, providing a com ...
with at least the first recorded use, if not the invention, of the word "
shrubbery
A shrubbery, shrub border or shrub garden is a part of a garden where shrubs, mostly flowering species, are thickly planted. The original shrubberies were mostly sections of large gardens, with one or more paths winding through it, a less-rememb ...
". She was a prominent member of the
Warwickshire Coterie
The Shenstone Circle, also known as the Warwickshire Coterie, was a literary circle of poets living in and around Birmingham in England from the 1740s to the 1760s. At its heart lay the poet and landscape gardener William Shenstone, who lived at ' ...
, a group of poet friends including the gardener and poet
William Shenstone
William Shenstone (18 November 171411 February 1763) was an English poet and one of the earliest practitioners of landscape gardening through the development of his estate, ''The Leasowes''.
Biography
Son of Thomas Shenstone and Anne Penn, d ...
, who had developed his own ''ferme ornée'' at
The Leasowes
The Leasowes is a 57-hectare (around 141 acre) estate in Halesowen, historically in the county of Shropshire, England, comprising house and gardens. The parkland is now listed Grade I on English Heritage's Register of Parks and Gardens and the h ...
in
Halesowen
Halesowen ( ) is a market town in the Metropolitan Borough of Dudley, in the county of West Midlands, England.
Historically an exclave of Shropshire and, from 1844, in Worcestershire, the town is around from Birmingham city centre, and from ...
,
Shropshire
Shropshire (; alternatively Salop; abbreviated in print only as Shrops; demonym Salopian ) is a landlocked historic county in the West Midlands region of England. It is bordered by Wales to the west and the English counties of Cheshire to th ...
. She remained married to her husband, but died before his final elevations in the peerage to a viscountcy and then 1st Earl of Catherlough.
Parentage
![Angelica Pelissary](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/ce/Angelica_Pelissary.jpg)
She was the only daughter of
Henry, Viscount St John, by his second wife, Angelica Magdalena, daughter of Georges Pillesary, treasurer-general of the marines, and superintendent of the ships and galleys of France under
Louis XIV
, house = Bourbon
, father = Louis XIII
, mother = Anne of Austria
, birth_date =
, birth_place = Château de Saint-Germain-en-Laye, Saint-Germain-en-Laye, France
, death_date =
, death_place = Palace of Vers ...
.
Henry St John, 1st Viscount Bolingbroke
Henry St John, 1st Viscount Bolingbroke (; 16 September 1678 – 12 December 1751) was an English politician, government official and political philosopher. He was a leader of the Tories, and supported the Church of England politically des ...
, was her half-brother.
Marriage
On 20 June 1727, Henrietta St John married
Robert Knight of
Barrells Hall
Barrells Hall is a large house in the Warwickshire countryside near Henley-in-Arden. The nearest village is Ullenhall, which for many years was the estate village, large parts of it having been built by the owners of Barrells Hall, the Newtons, on ...
,
Warwickshire
Warwickshire (; abbreviated Warks) is a county in the West Midlands region of England. The county town is Warwick, and the largest town is Nuneaton. The county is famous for being the birthplace of William Shakespeare at Stratford-upon-Avon an ...
, who became Lord Luxborough in 1745. The marriage fell under an early cloud when her husband suspected her of an affair with her physician, Charles Peters.
Horace Walpole
Horatio Walpole (), 4th Earl of Orford (24 September 1717 – 2 March 1797), better known as Horace Walpole, was an English writer, art historian, man of letters, antiquarian, and Whigs (British political party), Whig politician.
He had Strawb ...
describes her as wearing a portrait of her husband in her hair. Another suspicion caused the breakdown of the marriage.
John Dalton
John Dalton (; 5 or 6 September 1766 – 27 July 1844) was an English chemist, physicist and meteorologist. He is best known for introducing the atomic theory into chemistry, and for his research into colour blindness, which he had. Colour b ...
was a tutor in the household of the Hertfords, where
Frances Seymour, Countess of Hertford, was Henrietta's friend. Knight found love letters from Henrietta to Dalton, accused her of becoming pregnant by him, and arranged a separation, in 1736. Dalton had been employed as tutor to the children of Henrietta's close friend Frances Thynne (1699–1754), known until 1748 as Lady Hertford, wife of
Algernon Seymour, 7th Duke of Somerset
General Algernon Seymour, 7th Duke of Somerset (11 November 16847 February 1750), styled Earl of Hertford until 1748, of Petworth House in Sussex, was a British Army officer and Whig politician who sat in the House of Commons from 1708 until 172 ...
. Dalton went on to become
prebendary
A prebendary is a member of the Roman Catholic or Anglican clergy, a form of canon with a role in the administration of a cathedral or collegiate church. When attending services, prebendaries sit in particular seats, usually at the back of the ...
of
Worcester Cathedral
Worcester Cathedral is an Anglican cathedral in Worcester, in Worcestershire
Worcestershire ( , ; written abbreviation: Worcs) is a county in the West Midlands of England. The area that is now Worcestershire was absorbed into the unified ...
and
rector
Rector (Latin for the member of a vessel's crew who steers) may refer to:
Style or title
*Rector (ecclesiastical), a cleric who functions as an administrative leader in some Christian denominations
*Rector (academia), a senior official in an edu ...
of
St Mary-at-Hill
St Mary-at-Hill is an Anglican parish church in the Ward of Billingsgate, City of London. It is situated on Lovat Lane, a cobbled street off Eastcheap.
It was founded in the 12th century as "St. Mary de Hull" or "St. Mary de la Hulle". It was se ...
Church, London, as his large funerary slab in the crypt of the cathedral reveals. He was also noted for his poetic works.
Later life
Henrietta Knight went to live on her husband's estate at Barrells Hall, which she had laid out in the emerging style of
English landscape gardening
The English landscape garden, also called English landscape park or simply the English garden (french: Jardin à l'anglaise, it, Giardino all'inglese, german: Englischer Landschaftsgarten, pt, Jardim inglês, es, Jardín inglés), is a sty ...
. Here she was within easy reach of her friend and correspondent
William Shenstone
William Shenstone (18 November 171411 February 1763) was an English poet and one of the earliest practitioners of landscape gardening through the development of his estate, ''The Leasowes''.
Biography
Son of Thomas Shenstone and Anne Penn, d ...
, whom she frequently visited at
The Leasowes
The Leasowes is a 57-hectare (around 141 acre) estate in Halesowen, historically in the county of Shropshire, England, comprising house and gardens. The parkland is now listed Grade I on English Heritage's Register of Parks and Gardens and the h ...
, and with whom she kept up a regular correspondence. Shenstone celebrated their somewhat artificial Arcadia in his ode on ''Rural Elegance'', addressed to the Duchess of Somerset (1750). Another friend was the poet
William Somervile
William Somervile or Somerville (2 September 167517 July 1742) was an English poet who wrote in many genres and is especially remembered for "The Chace", in which he pioneered an early English georgic.
Life
Somervile, the eldest son of a long es ...
.
The word
shrubbery
A shrubbery, shrub border or shrub garden is a part of a garden where shrubs, mostly flowering species, are thickly planted. The original shrubberies were mostly sections of large gardens, with one or more paths winding through it, a less-rememb ...
is first recorded by the
OED
The ''Oxford English Dictionary'' (''OED'') is the first and foundational historical dictionary of the English language, published by Oxford University Press (OUP). It traces the historical development of the English language, providing a com ...
in a letter of hers in 1748 to Shenstone: "Nature has been so remarkably kind this last Autumn to adorn my Shrubbery with the flowers that usually blow at
Whitsuntide
Whitsun (also Whitsunday or Whit Sunday) is the name used in Britain, and other countries among Anglicans and Methodists, for the Christian High Holy Day of Pentecost. It is the seventh Sunday after Easter, which commemorates the descent of the H ...
".
OED
The ''Oxford English Dictionary'' (''OED'') is the first and foundational historical dictionary of the English language, published by Oxford University Press (OUP). It traces the historical development of the English language, providing a com ...
, "Shrubbery"
Dying towards the end of March 1756, Henrietta Knight was buried in the church of
Wootton Wawen
Wootton Wawen is a village and civil parish in the Stratford-on-Avon district of Warwickshire, England. The village is on the A3400 in mid-western Warwickshire, about from Birmingham, about south of Henley-in-Arden and about north of Strat ...
; her remains were later removed to a mausoleum near Barrells Halls. She had been assumed to share her half-brother's atheism, but took the sacrament on her deathbed.
Works
Lady Luxborough's ''Letters to William Shenstone, Esq.'' were published by
Robert Dodsley
Robert Dodsley (13 February 1703 – 23 September 1764) was an English bookseller, publisher, poet, playwright, and miscellaneous writer.
Life
Dodsley was born near Mansfield, Nottinghamshire, where his father was master of the free school.
He ...
, London, 1775. Four poems, printed as "by a lady of quality" in Dodsley's ''Collection of Poems by several hands'' (1775), iv. 313, are attributed to her by
Horace Walpole
Horatio Walpole (), 4th Earl of Orford (24 September 1717 – 2 March 1797), better known as Horace Walpole, was an English writer, art historian, man of letters, antiquarian, and Whigs (British political party), Whig politician.
He had Strawb ...
. The poems deal with the weather or nature, and in particular, the sprit of
English landscape garden
The English landscape garden, also called English landscape park or simply the English garden (french: Jardin à l'anglaise, it, Giardino all'inglese, german: Englischer Landschaftsgarten, pt, Jardim inglês, es, Jardín inglés), is a sty ...
ing is expressed in:
''Written at a Ferme Ornee near Birmingham; August 7th, 1749.''
: 'TIS Nature here bids pleasing scenes arise,
: And wisely gives them Cynthio, to revise:
: To veil each blemish; brighten every grace;
: Yet still preserve the lovely Parent's face.
: How well the bard obeys, each valley tells;
: These lucid streams, gay meads, and lonely cells;
: Where modest art in silence lurks conceal'd:
: While Nature shines, so gracefully reveal'd,
: That she triumphant claims the total plan;
: And, with fresh pride, adopts the work of man.
Other correspondence appeared in
Thomas Hull Thomas Hull may refer to:
*Thomas Hull (actor) (1728–1808), English actor and dramatist
* Thomas Hull (MP) (1528–1575/1576), English politician
* Thomas Gray Hull (1926–2008), American judge
*Tom Hull (American football) (born 1952), American ...
's ''Select Letters between the late Duchess of Somerset, Lady Luxborough … and others'', London, 1778, 2 vols.
Family
By Lord Luxborough, she had a son, Henry, who married, 21 June 1750, a daughter of Thomas Heath of
Stanstead,
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 G ...
, and died without issue in the lifetime of his father. There were also two daughters, one of whom married a French count. The other, Henrietta, married Charles Wymondesold of
Lockinge,
Berkshire
Berkshire ( ; in the 17th century sometimes spelt phonetically as Barkeshire; abbreviated Berks.) is a historic county in South East England. One of the home counties, Berkshire was recognised by Queen Elizabeth II as the Royal County of Berk ...
. Eloping in 1753 with Josiah Child, son of
Richard Child, 1st Earl Tylney
Richard Child, 1st Earl Tylney (5 February 1680 – March 1750), was an English politician who sat in the House of Commons between 1708 and 1734. Initially a Tory, he switched to supporting the Whigs after 1715. He held no Office of State, ...
, she was divorced, and married her lover on 7 May 1754.
Notes
References
*
External links
Henrietta St. John Knightat th
Eighteenth-Century Poetry Archive (ECPA)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Knight, Henrietta
1699 births
1756 deaths
18th-century British women writers
18th-century English poets
Luxborough
Luxborough is a small village and civil parish located some south of Dunster, lying amongst the Brendon Hills and the Exmoor National Park in Somerset, England. It is divided into the hamlets of Churchtown, Kingsbridge and Pooltown, which lie ...
Burials in Warwickshire
Daughters of viscounts
English letter writers
English women poets
Henrietta Henrietta may refer to:
* Henrietta (given name), a feminine given name, derived from the male name Henry
Places
* Henrietta Island in the Arctic Ocean
* Henrietta, Mauritius
* Henrietta, Tasmania, a locality in Australia
United States
* Henrie ...
Women letter writers
18th-century English women
18th-century English people