Elizabeth Catherine Hunter, Lady Clarke (1795), best known as Kitty Hunter, was an English noblewoman. She was the daughter of

Thomas Orby Hunter Thomas may refer to: People * List of people with given name Thomas * Thomas (name) * Thomas (surname) * Saint Thomas (disambiguation) * Thomas Aquinas (1225–1274) Italian Dominican friar, philosopher, and Doctor of the Church * Thomas the Ap ...

, a member of parliament and

lord of the Admiralty This is a list of Lords Commissioners of the Admiralty (incomplete before the Restoration, 1660). The Lords Commissioners of the Admiralty were the members of The Board of Admiralty, which exercised the office of Lord High Admiral when it was n ...

. In 1762, she eloped to mainland Europe with

Henry Herbert, 10th Earl of Pembroke Henry Herbert, 10th Earl of Pembroke, 7th Earl of Montgomery (3 July 173426 January 1794) of Wilton House in Wiltshire, was an English peer, politician and courtier who served as a Lord of the Bedchamber to King George III in 1769. He was renown ...

, causing a scandal. A year later the couple returned to England and Pembroke reconciled with his wife. Hunter had a son by Pembroke, Augustus Retnuh Reebkomp, who was supported by the Pembroke family and became a naval officer. Hunter was the mistress of

Augustus Hervey Caesar Augustus (born Gaius Octavius; 23 September 63 BC – 19 August AD 14), also known as Octavian, was the first Roman emperor; he reigned from 27 BC until his death in AD 14. He is known for being the founder of the Roman Pri ...

before marrying army officer

Alured Clarke Sir Alured Clarke (24 November 1744 – 16 September 1832) was a British Army officer. He took charge of all British troops in Georgia in May 1780 and was then deployed to Philadelphia to supervise the evacuation of British prisoners of ...

. When Clarke was knighted she became known as Lady Clarke.

Early life

Elizabeth Catherine Hunter was born around 1740 and became known by the nickname "Kitty". She was the daughter of

, who became a member of parliament and a

, and Jacomina Carolina Bellenden. Her father had inherited

Crowland Abbey Crowland Abbey (also spelled Croyland Abbey, Latin: ''Croilandia'') is a Church of England parish church, formerly part of a Benedictine abbey church, in Crowland in the English county of Lincolnshire. It is a Grade I listed building. History A ...

, Lincolnshire, as part of the estate of his uncle, the last of the

Orby baronets The Orby Baronetcy, of Croyland in the County of Lincoln, was a title in the Baronetage of England Baronets are a rank in the British aristocracy. The current Baronetage of the United Kingdom has replaced the earlier but existing Baronetages of ...

. During the

Seven Years' War The Seven Years' War (1756–1763) was a global conflict that involved most of the European Great Powers, and was fought primarily in Europe, the Americas, and Asia-Pacific. Other concurrent conflicts include the French and Indian War (1754� ...

Hunter served as superintendent of supplies to the allied armies in Germany where he possibly had dealings with

, a major-general who commanded a cavalry brigade. Pembroke returned from Germany in January 1762 and became acquainted with Kitty Hunter, who was then serving as a

maid of honour A maid of honour is a junior attendant of a queen in royal households. The position was and is junior to the lady-in-waiting. The equivalent title and office has historically been used in most European royal courts. Role Traditionally, a queen r ...

and was well known in society. Hunter was described by contemporary

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 ...

as having "the face of a Madonna" and by another writer as "a handsome girl with a fine person, but silly".

Elopement

In February 1762 Hunter and Pembroke danced at a

masked ball A masquerade ball (or ''bal masqué'') is an event in which many participants attend in costume wearing a mask. (Compare the word "masque"—a formal written and sung court pageant.) Less formal "costume parties" may be a descendant of this tra ...

where the couple are said to have made final arrangements for an

elopement Elopement is a term that is used in reference to a marriage which is conducted in a sudden and secretive fashion, usually involving a hurried flight away from one's place of residence together with one's beloved with the intention of getting ma ...

the following day. To be with Hunter, Pembroke left his wife,

Elizabeth Herbert, Countess of Pembroke and Montgomery Elizabeth or Elisabeth may refer to: People * Elizabeth (given name), a female given name (including people with that name) * Elizabeth (biblical figure), mother of John the Baptist Ships * HMS ''Elizabeth'', several ships * ''Elisabeth'' (sc ...

, who was said to be one of the most beautiful women in England. Hunter and Pembroke boarded a

packet boat Packet boats were medium-sized boats designed for domestic mail, passenger, and freight transportation in European countries and in North American rivers and canals, some of them steam driven. They were used extensively during the 18th and 19th ...

bound for the continent. A friend of Hunter's father, commanding a

privateer A privateer is a private person or ship that engages in maritime warfare under a commission of war. Since robbery under arms was a common aspect of seaborne trade, until the early 19th century all merchant ships carried arms. A sovereign or deleg ...

, intercepted the boat and returned it to England. After Thomas Orby Hunter declined to receive his daughter the couple were released and allowed to board another vessel for mainland Europe. The couple ended up in Italy from where Pembroke wrote to his wife stating that he had never been able to love her as well as she deserved and thought it best to separate. He did, however, invite her to join him and Hunter in mainland Europe. Elizabeth declined and moved into

Blenheim Palace Blenheim Palace (pronounced ) is a country house in Woodstock, Oxfordshire, England. It is the seat of the Dukes of Marlborough and the only non-royal, non- episcopal country house in England to hold the title of palace. The palace, on ...

, the estate of her brother,

George Spencer, 4th Duke of Marlborough George Spencer, 4th Duke of Marlborough, (26 January 1739 – 29 January 1817), styled Marquess of Blandford until 1758, was a British courtier, nobleman, and politician from the Spencer family. He served as Lord Chamberlain between 1762 a ...

. The elopement was one of the biggest scandals of the period and has been called the "most scandalous matrimonial farce of the age".

Emily FitzGerald, Duchess of Leinster Emily FitzGerald, Duchess of Leinster (6 October 1731 – 27 March 1814), known before 1747 as Lady Emily Lennox, from 1747 to 1761 as The Countess of Kildare and from 1761 to 1766 as The Marchioness of Kildare, was the second of the famous Lenno ...

wrote that, because of the elopement, Kitty's father was "quite distracted" and the Countess of Pembroke "very unhappy". Later in the year four letters purporting to be between Pembroke and Kitty were published as a book as ''four genuine letters which lately passed between a noble lord and a young woman of fashion to which is added a letter from a lady to Miss ****** with a copious preface setting that affair in a true light. By a friend of the Earl of ******''. Walpole wrote a short rhyme on the affair, alluding to Pembroke's renown as a skilled cavalryman: "As Pembroke a horseman by most is accounted, ' Tis not strange that his Lordship a Hunter has mounted".

Joshua Reynolds Sir Joshua Reynolds (16 July 1723 – 23 February 1792) was an English painter, specialising in portraits. John Russell said he was one of the major European painters of the 18th century. He promoted the "Grand Style" in painting which depend ...

had painted Kitty Hunter in 1761, during the same time as he painted the Countess of Pembroke, the resulting painting was sent to Hunter's father. It depicts Hunter on the night of the masked ball, with a mask in her hand. Hunter and Pembroke had a son together who was named Augustus Retnuh Reebkomp; the middle name being his mother's surname reversed and the surname an anagram of Pembroke. After twelve months the relationship ended and Pembroke returned to England and was reconciled with his wife.

Later life

Hunter returned to England and became a mistress of the naval officer,

, who later became the 3rd Earl of Bristol. Even after the end of their relationship, Hunter continued to associate with Pembroke. She visited his riding school at Wilton and was included in a series of paintings commissioned by Pembroke of himself and his friend John Floyd, an army riding instructor. Hunter appears, disguised as a page, in a painting of Floyd in one of the school's paddocks. Pembroke's records show the painting as being commissioned in 1763, though the Wilton House catalogue lists it as a work of 1764–65. It may be even later as Floyd's uniform includes details only introduced in 1766–68. The Pembrokes informally recognised the earl's son with Hunter, Augustus. Pembroke wanted him to adopt his family name of Herbert but his wife objected; the boy was in the meantime known informally by the surname Reeb. Augustus joined the navy and, upon his promotion to captain, was allowed the surname of Montgomery, one of Pembroke's subsidiary titles. His family was well supported by the Pembrokes with an allowance worth up to £9,000 per year. Hunter herself received a smaller allowance of £1,000 per year. This was reduced to £600 in 1771 when Hunter married Captain

, a British army officer. Hunter's allowance was reduced further to £200 in 1781 and ceased, with the payment of a £1,600 lump sum, in 1790 when Clarke was promoted to major-general. Hunter and Clarke had no children. Clarke later rose to the army's top rank, field marshal. After her husband was knighted Kitty Hunter was known as Lady Clarke. When Pembroke died in 1794 Hunter received a payment in his will, but she died the following year.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hunter, Kitty 1740s births 1795 deaths British maids of honour Court of George III of the United Kingdom Wives of knights