Amabel Hume-Campbell, 1st Countess de Grey, 5th Baroness Lucas (; 23 January 1751 – 4 March 1833) was a British diarist and political writer who was a countess and baroness in her own right. Had she been male, she would have served in the

House of Lords The House of Lords is the upper house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Like the lower house, the House of Commons of the United Kingdom, House of Commons, it meets in the Palace of Westminster in London, England. One of the oldest ext ...

as a Whig. She wrote particularly about the French Revolution.

Life and family

Lady Amabel Yorke was born in 1751, the elder daughter of Philip Yorke, 2nd Earl of Hardwicke, and his wife, Jemima Campbell, 2nd Marchioness Grey, 4th Baroness Lucas. She was educated at home, which was either Wrest Park in Bedfordshire or the family's London home in St James's Square. She loved books from the age of five, and she became a diarist. She was painted as a child by Joshua Reynolds, and engravings of that portrait are in the National Portrait Gallery in London. She was taught about art by James Basire and Alexander Cozens, and about etching by James Bretherton. Her own prints are kept in the

British Museum The British Museum is a Museum, public museum dedicated to human history, art and culture located in the Bloomsbury area of London. Its permanent collection of eight million works is the largest in the world. It documents the story of human cu ...

. She wrote about political matters, and had she been male, she would have served in the

as a Whig. She wrote particularly about the French Revolution. She married Alexander Hume-Campbell, Lord Polwarth, on 17 August 1780, but the marriage was childless. In 1797, she became 5th Baroness Lucas, inheriting the title from her mother. In 1816, she was created Countess de Grey in her own right, with a special remainder to her sister and her sister's male heirs. Her younger sister, Mary, who predeceased her, married Thomas Robinson, 2nd Baron Grantham, and had children, the eldest of whom inherited the earldom of de Grey and the barony of Lucas. The countess died in

Westminster Westminster is the main settlement of the City of Westminster in Central London, Central London, England. It extends from the River Thames to Oxford Street and has many famous landmarks, including the Palace of Westminster, Buckingham Palace, ...

in 1833. She left over 4,000 etchings to the British Museum, and many of these are thought to be from her own collecting.

Notes

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:de Grey, Amabel Hume-Campbell, 1st Countess 1751 births 1833 deaths 18th-century English diarists 19th-century English diarists 18th-century English women writers 18th-century English nobility 19th-century English women writers 19th-century English nobility Burials at the de Grey Mausoleum (Flitton) de Grey Lucas, Amabel Hume-Campbell, 5th baroness Daughters of British earls Daughters of British marquesses British women diarists Amabel Amabel Hereditary peeresses of the United Kingdom created by George III Barons Lucas Earls de Grey Whigs (British political party) English political writers