Amalie Von Wallmoden, Countess Of Yarmouth
   HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

Amalie Sophie Marianne von Wallmoden-Gimborn, Countess of Yarmouth, born Amalie von Wendt (1 April 1704 – 19 or 20 October 1765) was the principal mistress of King George II from the mid-1730s until his death in 1760. Born into a prominent family in the
Electorate of Hanover The Electorate of Hanover ( or simply ''Kurhannover'') was an Prince-elector, electorate of the Holy Roman Empire located in northwestern Germany that arose from the Principality of Calenberg. Although formally known as the Electorate of Brun ...
, and married into another, in 1740 she became a naturalised subject of
Great Britain Great Britain is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean off the north-west coast of continental Europe, consisting of the countries England, Scotland, and Wales. With an area of , it is the largest of the British Isles, the List of European ...
and was granted a peerage for life, with the title of "Countess of Yarmouth", becoming the last royal mistress to be so honoured. She remained in England until the death in 1760 of King George II, who is believed to have fathered her second son,
Johann Ludwig, Reichsgraf von Wallmoden-Gimborn Johann Ludwig Reichsgraf von Wallmoden-Gimborn (22 April 1736 – 10 October 1811) was a Hanoverian Army officer. Early life Wallmoden was an illegitimate son of George II of Great Britain by his mistress Amalie von Wallmoden. She was mar ...
. She returned to Hanover for the rest of her life, surviving the king for nearly five years.


Biography

She was born Amalie Sophie Marianne von Wendt on 1 April 1704, the daughter of
Hanover Hanover ( ; ; ) is the capital and largest city of the States of Germany, German state of Lower Saxony. Its population of 535,932 (2021) makes it the List of cities in Germany by population, 13th-largest city in Germany as well as the fourth-l ...
ian General Johann Franz Dietrich von Wendt (1675-1748) and his wife, Friderike Charlotte von dem Bussche-Ippenburg (1684-1762). Her aunt was Melusine von der Schulenburg, Duchess of Kendal. She entered into the House of Wallmoden in 1727 with her marriage to Count Gottlieb Adam von Wallmoden-Gimborn (1704-1752), son of Count Ludwig Achaz von Wallmoden-Gimborn (d. 1730) and his wife, Anna Elisabeth von Heimburg (1697-1738). Together, they had one son, Count Franz Ernst von Wallmoden (1728-1776). In a letter dated 22 June 1738 to Charles, Viscount Townshend, she was described by A. Windham: "Madam Valmoden has fine black eyes and brown hair, and very well shaped, not tall, nor low; has no fine features, but very agreeable in the main." George II was first attracted to the Countess Wallmoden in 1735 when he made one of his several visits to his Duchy of Hanover, where she lived with her husband. In 1736, she bore a son, called Johann Ludwig Graf von Wallmoden-Gimborn, said to be the unacknowledged illegitimate child of the king. By 1738, George II's visits to Hanover to see his mistress were so numerous as to invite satire by
Samuel Johnson Samuel Johnson ( – 13 December 1784), often called Dr Johnson, was an English writer who made lasting contributions as a poet, playwright, essayist, moralist, literary critic, sermonist, biographer, editor, and lexicographer. The ''Oxford ...
in the poem "London". The king ended the necessity of those visits after the death of his wife
Caroline of Ansbach Caroline of Brandenburg-Ansbach (Wilhelmina Charlotte Caroline; 1 March 1683 – 20 November 1737) was List of British royal consorts, Queen of Great Britain and Ireland and List of Hanoverian royal consorts, Electress of Hanover from 11 J ...
in November 1737, sending for the Countess Wallmoden to join him in England, but it did not put an end to Johnson's disapproval. In 1739, Johnson wrote scathingly of the king's relationship with Wallmoden, "his tortured sons shall die before his face / While he lies melting in a lewd embrace". In 1739, Amalie von Wallmoden divorced her husband. In 1740, she was naturalised and given the non-heritable title of Countess of Yarmouth, the last royal mistress to be so honoured. She was officially designated Amalie Sophie von Wallmoden to obscure the question of her marital status.
Robert Walpole Robert Walpole, 1st Earl of Orford (; 26 August 1676 – 18 March 1745), known between 1725 and 1742 as Sir Robert Walpole, was a British Whigs (British political party), Whig statesman who is generally regarded as the ''de facto'' first Prim ...
indicated that her primary focus was on pleasing the king, although she was also said to be interested in the bestowing of
peerage A peerage is a legal system historically comprising various hereditary titles (and sometimes Life peer, non-hereditary titles) in a number of countries, and composed of assorted Imperial, royal and noble ranks, noble ranks. Peerages include: A ...
s, reputedly playing a part in the creation of a
Baron Baron is a rank of nobility or title of honour, often Hereditary title, hereditary, in various European countries, either current or historical. The female equivalent is baroness. Typically, the title denotes an aristocrat who ranks higher than ...
y for Stephen Fox-Strangways in 1741 and in the newly created title of Viscount Folkestone for Jacob des Bouverie in 1747. After the death of the king on 25 October 1760, Amalie von Wallmoden returned to Hanover. She died on 19 or 20 October 1765 from breast cancer, aged 61.Profile
oxforddnb.com; accessed 30 April 2014.


Notes

;Attribution {{DEFAULTSORT:Yarmouth, Amalie von Wallmoden, Countess of 1704 births 1765 deaths People from Hanover Mistresses of George II of Great Britain Life peers created by George II Life peeresses created by George II British countesses Earls of Yarmouth Deaths from breast cancer in Germany