Martha Bruce, Countess of Elgin and Kincardine (1739 – 21 June 1810), born Martha White and known for most of her life as Lady Elgin, was the wife of Charles Bruce, 5th Earl of Elgin and 9th Earl of Kincardine, mother of the collector

Thomas Bruce, 7th Earl of Elgin Thomas Bruce, 7th Earl of Elgin and 11th Earl of Kincardine (; 20 July 176614 November 1841) was a British nobleman, soldier, politician and diplomat, known primarily for the controversial procurement of marble sculptures (known as the Elgin Ma ...

, and

governess A governess is a largely obsolete term for a woman employed as a private tutor, who teaches and trains a child or children in their home. A governess often lives in the same residence as the children she is teaching. In contrast to a nanny, th ...

Princess Charlotte of Wales Princess Charlotte of Wales may refer to: * Princess Charlotte of Wales (1796–1817), the only child of George, Prince of Wales, later King George IV of the United Kingdom ** Princess Charlotte of Wales (1812 EIC ship), a ship named after the pri ...

, daughter of the future

King George IV George IV (George Augustus Frederick; 12 August 1762 – 26 June 1830) was King of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland and King of Hanover from the death of his father, King George III, on 29 January 1820, until his own death ten y ...

, at the time second in line to the throne.

Marriage and children

The only child of Thomas White, or Whyte, a banker of

Kirkcaldy Kirkcaldy ( ; sco, Kirkcaldy; gd, Cair Chaladain) is a town and former royal burgh in Fife, on the east coast of Scotland. It is about north of Edinburgh and south-southwest of Dundee. The town had a recorded population of 49,460 in 2011, ...

and

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

, Martha White married Charles Bruce, who was already Earl of Elgin and Kincardine, at

Edinburgh Edinburgh ( ; gd, Dùn Èideann ) is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. Historically part of the county of Midlothian (interchangeably Edinburghshire before 1921), it is located in Lothian ...

on 1 June 1759.

George Cokayne George Edward Cokayne, (29 April 1825 – 6 August 1911), was an English genealogist and long-serving herald at the College of Arms in London, who eventually rose to the rank of Clarenceux King of Arms. He wrote such authoritative and standa ...

, ''

The Complete Peerage ''The Complete Peerage'' (full title: ''The Complete Peerage of England, Scotland, Ireland, Great Britain, and the United Kingdom Extant, Extinct, or Dormant''; first edition by George Edward Cokayne, Clarenceux King of Arms; 2nd edition revis ...

'', vol. E to G (St Catherine Press, Limited, 1926), p. 43: "CHARLES (BRUCE) EARL OF ELGIN... He m., 1 June 1759, at Edinburgh, Martha, only child of Thomas White, of London, Banker... His widow, who was Governess to the Princess Charlotte of Wales, d. at Twickenham, Midx., 21 June, and was bur. there 4 July 1810, in her 71st year." Their eight children were

(1766–1841), known for the removal of the

Elgin Marbles The Elgin Marbles (), also known as the Parthenon Marbles ( el, Γλυπτά του Παρθενώνα, lit. "sculptures of the Parthenon"), are a collection of Classical Greece, Classical Greek marble sculptures made under the supervision of th ...

from the

Parthenon The Parthenon (; grc, Παρθενών, , ; ell, Παρθενώνας, , ) is a former temple on the Athenian Acropolis, Greece, that was dedicated to the goddess Athena during the fifth century BC. Its decorative sculptures are considere ...

Athens Athens ( ; el, Αθήνα, Athína ; grc, Ἀθῆναι, Athênai (pl.) ) is both the capital and largest city of Greece. With a population close to four million, it is also the seventh largest city in the European Union. Athens dominates ...

; Lady Martha Bruce (1760–1767); Lady Janet Bruce (1761–1767); William Bruce, Lord Bruce (15 January 1763 – 27 March 1763);

William Bruce, 6th Earl of Elgin Earl of Elgin is a title in the Peerage of Scotland, created in 1633 for Thomas Bruce, 3rd Lord Kinloss. He was later created Baron Bruce, of Whorlton in the County of York, in the Peerage of England on 30 July 1641. The Earl of Elgin is the ...

(1764–1771);

Charles Andrew Bruce Charles Andrew Bruce (1768–1810) was briefly Governor of Prince of Wales Island (now called Penang) from March 24, 1810, until his death in office in December 1810. He is buried at the Old Protestant Cemetery, George Town, Penang, now in pr ...

(1768–1810), briefly a Governor of Prince of Wales's Island;

James Bruce James Bruce of Kinnaird (14 December 1730 – 27 April 1794) was a Scottish traveller and travel writer who confirmed the source of the Blue Nile. He spent more than a dozen years in North Africa and Ethiopia and in 1770 became the first Eur ...

(1769–1798), briefly a Member of Parliament; and Lady Charlotte Bruce (28 May 1771 – March 1816), who married Captain (later Admiral)

Philip Charles Durham Admiral Sir Philip Charles Henderson Calderwood Durham, GCB (baptised 29 July 1763 – 2 April 1845) was a Royal Navy officer whose service in the American War of Independence, French Revolutionary War and Napoleonic Wars was lengthy, dist ...

.Elgin, 1633
at cracroftspeerage.co.uk (Cracroft's Peerage online), accessed 20 October 2012
at thepeerage.com In 1762, Lady Elgin's portrait was painted by the fashionable Allan Ramsay, who the same year painted

King George III George III (George William Frederick; 4 June 173829 January 1820) was King of Great Britain and of Ireland from 25 October 1760 until the union of the two kingdoms on 1 January 1801, after which he was King of the United Kingdom of Great Br ...

. Lady Elgin's eldest son, William Robert, born in 1763, lived only ten weeks. Her two eldest daughters, Martha and Janet, died in 1767 at the ages of seven and six. On 14 May 1771, she was widowed, and only two months later her second son, also called William Robert, the new Lord Elgin, died at the age of seven. Her remaining four children, three sons and a daughter, all lived to adulthood, but on 10 July 1798 her youngest surviving son,

James James is a common English language surname and given name: *James (name), the typically masculine first name James * James (surname), various people with the last name James James or James City may also refer to: People * King James (disambiguati ...

, then aged twenty-nine, was drowned while crossing the River Don at

Barnby Dun Barnby Dun is a village in Doncaster, South Yorkshire, England. Together with Kirk Sandall it forms the civil parish of Barnby Dun with Kirk Sandall. It lies between Arksey and Stainforth. The parish church of St Peter & St Paul is Grade I ...

Yorkshire Yorkshire ( ; abbreviated Yorks), formally known as the County of York, is a Historic counties of England, historic county in northern England and by far the largest in the United Kingdom. Because of its large area in comparison with other Eng ...

when his horse was swept away by the stream.

Later life

In 1799, on the instructions of King George III, and with the title of "'' Gouvernante''", Lady Elgin was appointed to superintend

,''The Annual Biography and Obituary for the year 1818'' (Longman, Hurst, Rees, 1818)
p. 239
"At a proper age, the Princess Charlotte was removed from the nursery, and placed, by her Royal Grandfather, under the superintendance of a very worthy and pious Countess who acted for some years as ''Gouvernante''". only child of the

Prince of Wales Prince of Wales ( cy, Tywysog Cymru, ; la, Princeps Cambriae/Walliae) is a title traditionally given to the heir apparent to the English and later British throne. Prior to the conquest by Edward I in the 13th century, it was used by the rulers ...

and already seen as the probable next heir to the throne, with whom she became very close. They lived together in a household otherwise consisting entirely of servantsJames Chambers, ''Charlotte and Leopold'' (London: Old Street Publishing, 2007, ) p. 17 at Warwick House in the

St James's St James's is a central district in the City of Westminster, London, forming part of the West End. In the 17th century the area developed as a residential location for the British aristocracy, and around the 19th century was the focus of the de ...

district of

Westminster Westminster is an area of Central London, part of the wider City of Westminster. The area, which extends from the River Thames to Oxford Street, has many visitor attractions and historic landmarks, including the Palace of Westminster, Bu ...

, described as "a rather gloomy edifice near

Carlton House Carlton House was a mansion in Westminster, best known as the town residence of King George IV. It faced the south side of Pall Mall, and its gardens abutted St James's Park in the St James's district of London. The location of the house, no ...

". However, during 1804, Charlotte's father insisted on Lady Elgin retiring, ostensibly because she had become too old, but probably because the Prince was angry that Charlotte had been taken to visit her grandfather King George without his permission. According to

Burke's Peerage Burke's Peerage Limited is a British genealogical publisher founded in 1826, when the Irish genealogist John Burke began releasing books devoted to the ancestry and heraldry of the peerage, baronetage, knightage and landed gentry of Great Br ...

, An obituary of Princess Charlotte in 1818 described Elgin as "a very worthy and pious Countess who acted for some years as ''Gouvernante''". This title has sometimes been translated as "guardian" rather than "governess". Elgin's own obituary in ''

The Gentleman's Magazine ''The Gentleman's Magazine'' was a monthly magazine founded in London, England, by Edward Cave in January 1731. It ran uninterrupted for almost 200 years, until 1922. It was the first to use the term ''magazine'' (from the French ''magazine'' ...

'' said of her, "At

Twickenham Twickenham is a suburban district in London, England. It is situated on the River Thames southwest of Charing Cross. Historically part of Middlesex, it has formed part of the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames since 1965, and the boroug ...

, in her 69th year, the Right hon. Martha Bruce, Countess of Elgin and Kincardine; whose life has been spent in the uniform exercise of piety and benevolence. Her public and private charities were unbounded."''The Gentleman's Magazine'', vol. 80 (1810), part 1
p. 674
/ref> However, ''

'' says she died in her 71st year. She was buried at St Mary's, Twickenham.

Descendants

Elgin's grandchildren included

James Bruce, 8th Earl of Elgin James Bruce, 8th Earl of Elgin and 12th Earl of Kincardine, (20 July 181120 November 1863) was a British colonial administrator and diplomat. He served as Governor of Jamaica (1842–1846), Governor General of the Province of Canada (1847–1 ...

(1811–1863), successively

Governor of Jamaica This is a list of viceroys in Jamaica from its initial occupation by Spain in 1509, to its independence from the United Kingdom in 1962. For a list of viceroys after independence, see Governor-General of Jamaica. For context, see History of Jamai ...

, Governor General of

British North America British North America comprised the colonial territories of the British Empire in North America from 1783 onwards. English overseas possessions, English colonisation of North America began in the 16th century in Newfoundland (island), Newfound ...

, and

Viceroy of India The Governor-General of India (1773–1950, from 1858 to 1947 the Viceroy and Governor-General of India, commonly shortened to Viceroy of India) was the representative of the monarch of the United Kingdom and after Indian independence in 19 ...

; Sir Frederick Wright-Bruce (1814–1867), British Ambassador to China and to the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

; and the

barrister A barrister is a type of lawyer in common law jurisdictions. Barristers mostly specialise in courtroom advocacy and litigation. Their tasks include taking cases in superior courts and tribunals, drafting legal pleadings, researching law and ...

and Conservative politician Thomas Charles Bruce (1825–1890). Among her great-grandchildren was

Victor Bruce, 9th Earl of Elgin Victor Alexander Bruce, 9th Earl of Elgin, 13th Earl of Kincardine, (16 May 184918 January 1917), known as Lord Bruce until 1863, was a right-wing British Liberal politician who served as Viceroy of India from 1894 to 1899. He was appointed by ...

(1849–1917), another Viceroy of India. The present-day 11th Earl of Elgin (born 1924) is her great-great-great-grandson.

Notes

{{DEFAULTSORT:Elgin, Martha 1739 births 1810 deaths Spouses of British politicians Scottish countesses Scottish governesses 18th-century Scottish educators 19th-century Scottish educators 18th-century Scottish people 18th-century Scottish women 19th-century Scottish people 19th-century Scottish women 19th-century women educators Burials at St Mary's Church, Twickenham

Martha Martha (Hebrew: מָרְתָא‎) is a biblical figure described in the Gospels of Luke and John. Together with her siblings Lazarus and Mary of Bethany, she is described as living in the village of Bethany near Jerusalem. She was witness to ...