Susanna Leveson-Gower, Marchioness of Stafford (née Lady Susanna Stewart) (1742–1805), styled Lady Susanna Stewart from 1742 to 1768, Countess Gower until 1786, Marchioness of Stafford until 1803 and Dowager Marchioness of Stafford until her death in 1805, was a British noblewoman, who in 1768 became the wife of
Granville Leveson-Gower, 1st Marquess of Stafford
Granville Leveson-Gower, 1st Marquess of Stafford, KG PC (4 August 172126 October 1803), known as Viscount Trentham from 1746 to 1754 and as The Earl Gower from 1754 to 1786, was a British politician from the Leveson-Gower family.
Background ...
and a member of the
Leveson-Gower family
Leveson-Gower ( ), also Sutherland-Leveson-Gower, is the name of a powerful British noble family. Over time, several members of the Leveson-Gower family were made knights, baronets and peers. Hereditary titles held by the family include the duked ...
.
Family
Lady Susanna was born in 1742 in Scotland, the eldest daughter of
Alexander Stewart, 6th Earl of Galloway
Alexander Stewart, 6th Earl of Galloway ( – 24 September 1773) was a Scottish aristocrat.
Early life
Alexander was the eldest son of Lady Catherine Montgomerie and James Stewart, 5th Earl of Galloway, a Commissioner of the Scottish Treasury an ...
by his second wife, the former Lady Catherine Cochrane, herself the youngest daughter of the
4th Earl of Dundonald. She had an older half-sister, Lady Mary Stewart, wife of
Kenneth Mackenzie, Lord Fortrose
Kenneth Mackenzie, Lord Fortrose (1717 – 18 October 1761)Mosley, Charles, editor. Burke's Peerage, Baronetage & Knightage, 107th edition, 3 volumes. Wilmington, Delaware, U.S.A.: Burke's Peerage (Genealogical Books) Ltd, 2003. Volume 1, page ...
, from her father's first marriage to Lady Anne Keith.
In 1761 she became a
Maid of the Bedchamber
A Maid of the Bedchamber (Danish: ''Kammerfrøken''; German: ''Kammerfräulein''; Russian: ''Kammer-devitsa''; Swedish: ''Kammarfröken'') was a court office for a lady-in-waiting in several European courts.
The office was that of maid of hono ...
to
Princess Augusta of Great Britain
Princess Augusta Frederica of Great Britain (31 July 1737 – 23 March 1813) was a British princess, granddaughter of George II and the only elder sibling of George III. She was Duchess of Brunswick-Lüneburg and Princess of Brunswick-Wolfenbüt ...
.
Marriage and issue
In 1768 she married as his third wife
Granville Leveson-Gower, 1st Marquess of Stafford
Granville Leveson-Gower, 1st Marquess of Stafford, KG PC (4 August 172126 October 1803), known as Viscount Trentham from 1746 to 1754 and as The Earl Gower from 1754 to 1786, was a British politician from the Leveson-Gower family.
Background ...
, then known as The Earl Gower.
After her husband was awarded the title of
Marquess of Stafford
A marquess (; french: marquis ), es, marqués, pt, marquês. is a nobleman of high hereditary rank in various European peerages and in those of some of their former colonies. The German language equivalent is Markgraf (margrave). A woman w ...
in 1786, she was styled Marchioness of Stafford.
They lived at
Trentham Hall
The Trentham Estate, in the village of Trentham, is a visitor attraction located on the southern fringe of the city of Stoke-on-Trent in Staffordshire, United Kingdom.
History
The estate was first recorded in the Domesday Book in 1086. At th ...
, Staffordshire and had four children:
*Lady Georgiana Augusta Leveson-Gower (13 Apr 1769 - 24 March 1806), who married
William Eliot, 2nd Earl of St Germans
William Eliot, 2nd Earl of St Germans (1 April 1767 – 19 January 1845), known as William Elliot until 1823, was a British diplomat and politician.
Eliot was born at Port Eliot, Cornwall, the third son of Edward Craggs-Eliot, 1st Baron Eliot a ...
.
*Lady Charlotte Sophia Leveson-Gower (b.c.12 Feb 1771, St Martin In The Fields, Westminster - 12 August 1854), who married
Henry Somerset, 6th Duke of Beaufort
Henry Charles Somerset, 6th Duke of Beaufort, KG (22 December 1766 – 23 November 1835), styled Marquess of Worcester until 1803, was a British politician.
Background and education
Somerset was the son of Henry Somerset, 5th Duke of Beaufort ...
and was mother of
Henry Somerset, 7th Duke of Beaufort
Major Henry Somerset, 7th Duke of Beaufort, KG (5 February 1792 – 17 November 1853), styled Earl of Glamorgan until 1803 and Marquess of Worcester between 1803 and 1835, was a British peer, soldier, and politician.
Background
Beaufort was th ...
and
Lord Granville Somerset
Lord Granville Charles Henry Somerset PC (27 December 1792 – 23 February 1848) was a British Tory politician. He held office under Sir Robert Peel as First Commissioner of Woods and Forests between 1834 and 1835 and as Chancellor of the Duch ...
.
*Lady Susanna Leveson-Gower (b.c.15 Sep 1772, Trentham - 26 May 1838), who married
Dudley Ryder, 1st Earl of Harrowby
Dudley Ryder, 1st Earl of Harrowby, PC, FSA (22 December 176226 December 1847) was a prominent British politician of the Pittite faction and the Tory party.
Background and education
Born in London, Ryder was the eldest son of Nathaniel Ryde ...
.
*
Granville Leveson-Gower, 1st Earl Granville
Granville Leveson-Gower, 1st Earl Granville, (12 October 1773 – 8 January 1846), styled Lord Granville Leveson-Gower from 1786 to 1815 and The Viscount Granville from 1815 to 1833, was a British Whig statesman and diplomat from the Leveson-G ...
(b.c.5 Nov 1773, Trentham – 8 January 1846).
Lord Stafford died at Trentham Hall, Staffordshire, on 26 Oct 1803, aged 82. Susanna, Dowager Marchioness of Stafford, died in Stafford-street, Mayfair, on 15 Aug 1805, aged 63.
References
British marchionesses
Daughters of Scottish earls
1805 deaths
1742 births
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