Henrietta Friederika Murray, Viscountess of Stormont (née Countess Henrietta Friederika von Bünau; 1737–1766) was a German salonnière. Born into a noble family of imperial comital rank, she later married the British ambassador David Murray, 7th Viscount Stormont after the pair fell in love in

Dresden Dresden (; ; Upper Saxon German, Upper Saxon: ''Dräsdn''; , ) is the capital city of the States of Germany, German state of Saxony and its second most populous city after Leipzig. It is the List of cities in Germany by population, 12th most p ...

. She accompanied her husband to his diplomatic post at the Habsburg court in Vienna, where she held salons and used her family connections to secure their position in society. Her health declined rapidly and she died in Vienna at the age of twenty-nine. Her husband had her heart embalmed in a gold vase and taken to

Scone Palace Scone Palace is a Category A- listed historic house near the village of Scone and the city of Perth, Scotland. Ancestral seat of Earls of Mansfield, built in red sandstone with a castellated roof, it is an example of the Gothic Revival style ...

in Scotland.

Biography

She was the daughter of Imperial Count Heinrich von Bünau, nobility of the

Electorate of Saxony The Electorate of Saxony, also known as Electoral Saxony ( or ), was a territory of the Holy Roman Empire from 1356 to 1806 initially centred on Wittenberg that came to include areas around the cities of Dresden, Leipzig and Chemnitz. It was a ...

, now part of

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

. She had previously married a Danish nobleman by the name of Frederik de Berregaard, but was left widowed young in 1757. Her first husband came from the rich Berregaard family, which in the 18th century was among Northwest Jutland's largest landowners, he left her his entire fortune and three Danish estates of Ørslev Kloster, Starupgård, and Strandet. Her inheritance was previously confirmed by King Frederick V of Denmark. Von Bünau then met David Murray, 7th Viscount Stormont, a British diplomat, in

court. They married in

Warsaw Warsaw, officially the Capital City of Warsaw, is the capital and List of cities and towns in Poland, largest city of Poland. The metropolis stands on the Vistula, River Vistula in east-central Poland. Its population is officially estimated at ...

in 1759. The marriage was considered one of love, and unexpected, as Lord Stormont was assumed to marry from within the British peerage. She received a letter from her husband's uncle

Lord Mansfield William Murray, 1st Earl of Mansfield, (2 March 1705 – 20 March 1793), was a British judge, politician, lawyer, and peer best known for his reforms to English law. Born in Scone Palace, Perthshire, to a family of Peerage of Scotland, Scott ...

welcoming her to the family. Following her second marriage, she sold her estates in Denmark in 1760 to the Mayor of Nyborg. That same year, she gave birth to a daughter,

Eliza ELIZA is an early natural language processing computer program developed from 1964 to 1967 at MIT by Joseph Weizenbaum. Created to explore communication between humans and machines, ELIZA simulated conversation by using a pattern matching and ...

. The English Aristocrats falsely thought that she was a Polish lady.

Horace Walpole Horatio Walpole, 4th Earl of Orford (; 24 September 1717 – 2 March 1797), better known as Horace Walpole, was an English Whig politician, writer, historian and antiquarian. He had Strawberry Hill House built in Twickenham, southwest London ...

also thought of her as Polish and expressed that he can't wait to meet her, and after said she resembled

Semele Semele (; ), or Thyone (; ) in Greek mythology, was the youngest daughter of Cadmus and Harmonia (Greek goddess), Harmonia, and the mother of Dionysus by Zeus in one of his many origin myths. Certain elements of the cult of Dionysus and Semele ...

in that "my Lady Stormont brought to bed in flames", a reference to her health. While Sir William Hamilton, her husband's best friend said that the countess had a very elegant mind. Von Bünau's husband was then appointed as the British ambassador to Austria in 1763 at the court of Empress

Maria Theresa Maria Theresa (Maria Theresia Walburga Amalia Christina; 13 May 1717 – 29 November 1780) was the ruler of the Habsburg monarchy from 1740 until her death in 1780, and the only woman to hold the position suo jure, in her own right. She was the ...

. Her status, as an Austrian imperial countess by birth, helped the couple find acceptance in Viennese

high society High society, sometimes simply Society, is the behavior and lifestyle of people with the highest levels of wealth, power, fame and social status. It includes their related affiliations, social events and practices. Upscale social clubs were open ...

. Von Bünau's father had served as an imperial diplomat, and through those connections she was able to host successful salons in the Austrian capital. Her charm and influence secured a connection for her husband with

Wenzel Anton, Prince of Kaunitz-Rietberg Wenzel Anton, Prince of Kaunitz-Rietberg (, ; 2 February 1711 – 27 June 1794) was an Austrian and Czech diplomat and statesman in the Habsburg monarchy. A proponent of enlightened absolutism, he held the office of List of foreign ministers of Au ...

, one of the most powerful State Chancellors and a close advisor to Empress Maria Theresa. While in Vienna, she gave birth to a second daughter, Henrietta Anne, who died in infancy. Von Bünau's health was fragile, and she died in Vienna on 16 March 1766, at the age of 29. Following her death, her husband had a nervous breakdown and was granted extended leave of absence from his post at court. She was interred in Viennese Protestant church but her heart was embalmed in a gold vase and taken to

Scone Palace Memorial within the Moot Hill Chapel

Scone Memorial

Her husband created a memorial for his wife at

, which contained her heart that he had carried with him for many years in a gold vase before it was put inside the memorial, later he also requested that when he died, his heart was to be embalmed and reunited with that of his first wife.

The memorial is inscribed "Dedicated to Henrietta Frederica Stormont, daughter of the Count of Bunau, wife of David, Viscount of Stormont, ambassador of Great Britain to the Holy Roman Empire. Flourishing in the prime of life, in talent, in beauty, remarkable for every praise, endowed with every virtue, she met a death happy to herself, utdeeply bitter to her friends, parents and most wretched husband. March 16, 1766." later when her husband died in 1796 he added "Remembering each other's love forever and now, at last, he adds his own. AD 1796".

References

{{authority control 1737 births 1766 deaths 18th-century German women Austrian countesses Austrian courtiers Austrian salon-holders British viscountesses Henrietta Clan Murray Countesses in Germany German salon-holders it:Henrietta von Bünau