(Henrietta) Laura Pulteney, 1st Countess of Bath (26 December 1766 – 14 July 1808) was a British peeress and heiress.

Early life

Born Henrietta Laura Johnstone 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, ...

, she was the only child of the wealthy William Johnstone, later Sir William Pulteney, 5th Baronet, and his wife, Frances Pulteney, daughter of

Daniel Pulteney Daniel Pulteney (''c.'' 1684 – 7 September 1731) was an English government official and politician who sat in the House of Commons from 1721 to 1731. Biography Pulteney was the son of John Pulteney (d. 1726), MP for Hastings and Commissioner o ...

. They moved to

Bath House Public baths originated when most people in population centers did not have access to private bathing facilities. Though termed "public", they have often been restricted according to gender, religious affiliation, personal membership, and other cr ...

Piccadilly Piccadilly () is a road in the City of Westminster, London, England, to the south of Mayfair, between Hyde Park Corner in the west and Piccadilly Circus in the east. It is part of the A4 road (England), A4 road that connects central London to ...

, where she was raised. On her mother's death in 1782, she inherited the Pulteney estates. Initially educated at home, Pulteney was educated at the convent of

Montparnasse Montparnasse () is an area in the south of Paris, France, on the left bank of the river Seine, centred at the crossroads of the Boulevard du Montparnasse and the Rue de Rennes, between the Rue de Rennes and boulevard Raspail. It is split betwee ...

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

, completing it in 1783. There she was visited by her kinswoman, the Countess of Hopetoun, her friend Lady Belmore and the Countess of Dundonald, the latter of whom introduced her to

ian society. As a young woman, Pulteney spent time at Sudborough in

Northamptonshire Northamptonshire ( ; abbreviated Northants.) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the East Midlands of England. It is bordered by Leicestershire, Rutland and Lincolnshire to the north, Cambridgeshire to the east, Bedfordshi ...

(later endowing a school there as well as in

Clewer Clewer (also known as Clewer Village) is an ecclesiastical parish and an area of Windsor, in the ceremonial county of Berkshire, England. Clewer makes up three wards of the Royal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead, namely Clewer North, Cle ...

Berkshire Berkshire ( ; abbreviated ), officially the Royal County of Berkshire, is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Oxfordshire to the north, Buckinghamshire to the north-east, Greater London ...

) where her neighbour was Archibald Alison, to whom she agreed to be a godmother to his son,

William William is a masculine given name of Germanic languages, Germanic origin. It became popular in England after the Norman Conquest, Norman conquest in 1066,All Things William"Meaning & Origin of the Name"/ref> and remained so throughout the Middle ...

Peerage and marriage

Although Pulteney's father never sought political office, he did procure a peerage for her and she was created Baroness of Bath, in the County of

Somerset Somerset ( , ), Archaism, archaically Somersetshire ( , , ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South West England. It is bordered by the Bristol Channel, Gloucestershire, and Bristol to the north, Wiltshire to the east ...

, in 1792, aged twenty-six. Despite her mother's family having previously held the earldom of Bath until its extinction in 1764, a marquessate of Bath had been created for the 3rd Viscount Weymouth in 1789. Some peers attempted to have her peerage cancelled due to the unprecedented use of the same place name in two separate peerages for separate people. This was rejected and she was further elevated as Countess of Bath, in the County of

, in 1803, although it is a general rule that, wherever possible, peerage titles should not be duplicated. On 17 July 1794, she married her father's first

cousin A cousin is a relative who is the child of a parent's sibling; this is more specifically referred to as a first cousin. A parent of a first cousin is an aunt or uncle. More generally, in the kinship system used in the English-speaking world, ...

, Sir James Murray, 7th Baronet and he took the additional surname of ''Pulteney''.

Later years

When Lady Bath's father died

intestate Intestacy is the condition of the estate of a person who dies without a legally valid will, resulting in the distribution of their estate under statutory intestacy laws rather than by their expressed wishes. Alternatively this may also apply ...

in 1805, his personal estate was divided between her and his second wife. Lady Bath inherited two thirds and property in England and America. She died aged 41 just over three years later in

Brighton Brighton ( ) is a seaside resort in the city status in the United Kingdom, city of Brighton and Hove, East Sussex, England, south of London. Archaeological evidence of settlement in the area dates back to the Bronze Age Britain, Bronze Age, R ...

, possibly from

consumption Consumption may refer to: * Eating *Resource consumption *Tuberculosis, an infectious disease, historically known as consumption * Consumer (food chain), receipt of energy by consuming other organisms * Consumption (economics), the purchasing of n ...

and was buried in the south

cloister A cloister (from Latin , "enclosure") is a covered walk, open gallery, or open Arcade (architecture), arcade running along the walls of buildings and forming a quadrangle (architecture), quadrangle or garth. The attachment of a cloister to a cat ...

Westminster Abbey Westminster Abbey, formally titled the Collegiate Church of Saint Peter at Westminster, is an Anglican church in the City of Westminster, London, England. Since 1066, it has been the location of the coronations of 40 English and British m ...

. Her personal estate passed to her cousin, Elizabeth Evelyn Fawcett (daughter of

Sir Richard Sutton, 1st Baronet Sir Richard Sutton, 1st Baronet MP (31 July 1733 – 10 January 1802), of Norwood Park in Nottinghamshire, was a British politician who sat in the House of Commons from 1768 to 1796. Family background and education Sutton was the younger son o ...

and ex-wife of George Markham,

Dean of York The Dean of York is the member of the clergy who is responsible for the running of the York Minster cathedral. As well as being the head of the cathedral church of the diocese and the metropolitical church of the province, the Dean of York holds ...

); she and her husband changed their name to ''Pulteney''. Their daughter was Isabelle Pulteney Fawcett married firstly to a Swiss banker of the de Palezieux dit Falconnet family and secondly in 1864 to Nicola Serra Count of Montesantangelo. Her landed estates passed to William Vane, 3rd Earl of Darlington. As she had no children, her titles became extinct.

Namesakes

The town of

Henrietta, New York Henrietta is a Administrative divisions of New York#Town, town in Monroe County, New York, Monroe County, New York (state), New York, United States, and a suburb of the city of Rochester, New York, Rochester. The population of Henrietta was 47,09 ...

, where her father invested in land, was named for her. The octagonal tower built by

Thomas Telford Thomas Telford (9 August 1757 – 2 September 1834) was a Scottish civil engineer. After establishing himself as an engineer of road and canal projects in Shropshire, he designed numerous infrastructure projects in his native Scotland, as well ...

in about 1790 as a summer house at

Shrewsbury Castle Shrewsbury Castle is a red sandstone castle in Shrewsbury, Shropshire, England. It stands on a hill in the neck of the meander of the River Severn on which the town originally developed. The castle, directly above Shrewsbury railway station, is ...

is called 'Laura's Tower' after her. Telford was engaged by her father to remodel the castle as his Shrewsbury home.

Sources

Rowe, M. J. and McBryde, W. H. – ''Pulteney (formerly Johnstone), (Henrietta) Laura, suo jure countess of Bath (1766–1808), heiress''
–

Oxford Dictionary of National Biography The ''Dictionary of National Biography'' (''DNB'') is a standard work of reference on notable figures from History of the British Isles, British history, published since 1885. The updated ''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography'' (''ODNB'') ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bath, Laura Pulteney, 1st Countess of 1766 births 1808 deaths Burials at Westminster Abbey British countesses British baronesses Hereditary peeresses of Great Britain created by George III Earls of Bath Daughters of baronets Wives of baronets