Diana Noel, 2nd Baroness Barham (18 September 1762 – 12 April 1823) was a peer, philanthropist and an abolitionist who established schools and churches on the

Gower Peninsula The Gower Peninsula (), or simply Gower (), is a peninsula in the South West Wales, south-west of Wales. It is the most westerly part of the historic county of Glamorgan, and is now within the City and County of Swansea. It projects towards th ...

Early life

Born on 18 September 1762 at

Barham Court Barham Court is an English country house in the village of Teston, Kent. History It was once the home of Reginald Fitz Urse, one of the knights who murdered Thomas Becket in Canterbury Cathedral in 1170. As a result of that deed, Fitz Urse fle ...

Teston Teston The Place Names of Kent,Judith Glover,1976,Batsford. or BBC Pronouncing Dictionary of British Names — is a is a village and civil parish in the Maidstone (borough), Maidstone District of Kent, England. It is located on the A26 r ...

Kent Kent is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Essex across the Thames Estuary to the north, the Strait of Dover to the south-east, East Sussex to the south-west, Surrey to the west, and Gr ...

, her parents were Margaret (née Gambier) and Charles Middleton, an

admiral Admiral is one of the highest ranks in many navies. In the Commonwealth nations and the United States, a "full" admiral is equivalent to a "full" general in the army or the air force. Admiral is ranked above vice admiral and below admiral of ...

who was created Baron Barham, of Barham Court and Teston in the

County A county () is a geographic region of a country used for administrative or other purposesL. Brookes (ed.) '' Chambers Dictionary''. Edinburgh: Chambers Harrap Publishers Ltd, 2005. in some nations. The term is derived from the Old French denoti ...

of Kent in May 1805. They were Calvinist Methodists, whose friends included religious writer and philanthropist

Hannah More Hannah More (2 February 1745 – 7 September 1833) was an English religious writer, philanthropist, poet, and playwright in the circle of Johnson, Reynolds and Garrick, who wrote on moral and religious subjects. Born in Bristol, she taught at ...

, cleric

George Whitefield George Whitefield (; 30 September 1770), also known as George Whitfield, was an English Anglican minister and preacher who was one of the founders of Methodism and the evangelical movement. Born in Gloucester, he matriculated at Pembroke Coll ...

, and politician and abolitionist

William Wilberforce William Wilberforce (24 August 1759 – 29 July 1833) was a British politician, philanthropist, and a leader of the movement to abolish the Atlantic slave trade. A native of Kingston upon Hull, Yorkshire, he began his political career in 1780 ...

Marriage

She was married on 21 December 1780 to Gerard Edwardes, who was a Cambridge-educated banker and

member Member may refer to: * Military jury, referred to as "Members" in military jargon * Element (mathematics), an object that belongs to a mathematical set * In object-oriented programming, a member of a class ** Field (computer science), entries in ...

Parliament In modern politics and history, a parliament is a legislative body of government. Generally, a modern parliament has three functions: Representation (politics), representing the Election#Suffrage, electorate, making laws, and overseeing ...

. In 1798, he inherited the estates of his uncle,

Henry Noel, 6th Earl of Gainsborough Henry Noel, 6th Earl of Gainsborough (1743 – 8 April 1798) was an English peer. He inherited the earldom in 1759, on the death of his brother, Baptist Noel, 5th Earl of Gainsborough. He was the son of Baptist Noel, 4th Earl of Gainsborough. ...

, and changed his surname to Noel. They had eighteen children, one of whom,

Baptist Wriothesley Noel The Reverend The Honourable Baptist Wriothesley Noel ( ''REYE-əths-lee''; 16 July 1798 – 19 January 1873) was an English Baptist minister. He was minister of St John's Chapel, Bedford Row, London, from 1827 to 1848, In 1849 he became pasto ...

, stated that his parents' home "combined whig politics, evangelical devotion, aristocratic unconventionality, and strong-mindedness in a potent blend". Gerard's estates, worth £20,800 a year and consisting of 15,000 acres, were put into trust due to the poor state of financial management by 1816.

Baroness Barham

When her father died in 1813, as the only child, she became 2nd Baroness Barham by a

special remainder In property law of the United Kingdom and the United States and other common law countries, a remainder is a future interest given to a person (who is referred to as the transferee or remainderman) that is capable of becoming possessory upon the ...

. That year, having found her husband to be a "

profligate A spendthrift (also profligate or prodigal) is someone who is extravagant and recklessly wasteful with money, often to a point where the spending climbs well beyond their means. ''Spendthrift'' derives from an obsolete sense of the word ''thrift'' ...

and eccentric husband", she moved to Fairy Hill,

Gower The Gower Peninsula (), or simply Gower (), is a peninsula in the south-west of Wales. It is the most westerly part of the historic county of Glamorgan, and is now within the City and County of Swansea. It projects towards the Bristol Channel ...

, and began funding the construction of free schools as well as four Independent and two Calvinist Methodist churches. She was also an abolitionist and was friends with

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 ...

. She died at Fairy Hill on 12 April 1823 and was buried at Teston. Her son

Charles Charles is a masculine given name predominantly found in English language, English and French language, French speaking countries. It is from the French form ''Charles'' of the Proto-Germanic, Proto-Germanic name (in runic alphabet) or ''* ...

became Lord Barham. He had the chapels transferred to trustees. Her correspondence is archived with that of the Noel family at the Record Office of Leicestershire, Leicester and Rutland and photographs related to her life are held at the Chipping Campden History Society.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Barham, Diana 18th-century English philanthropists 18th-century British women 19th-century English people English evangelicals 1762 births 1823 deaths Barham, Diana Noel, 2nd Countess of 2

Diana Diana most commonly refers to: * Diana (name), given name (including a list of people with the name) * Diana (mythology), ancient Roman goddess of the hunt and wild animals; later associated with the Moon * Diana, Princess of Wales (1961–1997), ...

People from Maidstone Daughters of barons Wives of baronets