Louisa Caroline Baring, Baroness Ashburton (; 5 March 1827 – 2 February 1903) was a Scottish art collector and philanthropist who had close connections with several artistic and literary figures of the period.

Early life

Louisa Caroline Stewart-Mackenzie was born on 5 March 1827 at Seaforth Lodge,

Stornoway Stornoway (; ) is the main town, and by far the largest, of the Outer Hebrides (or Western Isles), and the capital of Lewis and Harris in Scotland. The town's population is around 6,953, making it the third-largest island town in Scotlan ...

, on the

Isle of Lewis The Isle of Lewis () or simply Lewis () is the northern part of Lewis and Harris, the largest island of the Western Isles or Outer Hebrides archipelago in Scotland. The two parts are frequently referred to as if they were separate islands. The t ...

, Scotland, the youngest daughter and sixth child of

James Alexander Stewart-Mackenzie James Alexander Stewart-Mackenzie (23 September 1784 – 24 September 1843) was a Scottish politician and British colonial administrator. Early life He was born James Alexander Stewart on 23 September 1784. James was the son of the former Geor ...

(1784–1843), a Scottish politician and British colonial administrator, and his wife Mary Elizabeth Frederica Mackenzie (1783–1862), known as "The Hooded Lassie". Her name Louisa honoured the isle of her birth. Her early childhood was spent at Brahan Castle near

Dingwall Dingwall (, ) is a town and a royal burgh in the Highland (council area), Highland council area of Scotland. It has a population of 5,491. It was an east-coast harbour that now lies inland. Dingwall Castle was once the biggest castle north ...

, which her mother had inherited from the Seaforth family. In adolescence, she lived in Ceylon (now

Sri Lanka Sri Lanka, officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, also known historically as Ceylon, is an island country in South Asia. It lies in the Indian Ocean, southwest of the Bay of Bengal, separated from the Indian subcontinent, ...

), while her father was governor and then in 1841, the family moved to

Corfu Corfu ( , ) or Kerkyra (, ) is a Greece, Greek island in the Ionian Sea, of the Ionian Islands; including its Greek islands, small satellite islands, it forms the margin of Greece's northwestern frontier. The island is part of the Corfu (regio ...

, Greece, when he became

Lord High Commissioner of the Ionian Islands The Lord High Commissioner of the Ionian Islands was the local representative of the British Crown in the United States of the Ionian Islands between 1816 and 1864, succeeding the earlier office of the Civil Commissioner of the Ionian Islands. At ...

. Upon his death in 1843 the family returned to Brahan Castle, where Louisa lived until her marriage. Of fiery temper, insatiable restlessness, and socially ambitious, she collected paintings and important friends with an almost manic need. In her youth, Louisa studied drawing with

John Ruskin John Ruskin (8 February 1819 20 January 1900) was an English polymath a writer, lecturer, art historian, art critic, draughtsman and philanthropist of the Victorian era. He wrote on subjects as varied as art, architecture, Critique of politic ...

, who saw her as a romantic young girl, with a desperate desire to marry. Among her notable friends were

Robert Browning Robert Browning (7 May 1812 – 12 December 1889) was an English poet and playwright whose dramatic monologues put him high among the Victorian literature, Victorian poets. He was noted for irony, characterization, dark humour, social commentar ...

, to whom she at one time unsuccessfully proposed marriage,

Thomas Carlyle Thomas Carlyle (4 December 17955 February 1881) was a Scottish essayist, historian, and philosopher. Known as the "Sage writing, sage of Chelsea, London, Chelsea", his writings strongly influenced the intellectual and artistic culture of the V ...

Edwin Landseer Sir Edwin Henry Landseer (7 March 1802 – 1 October 1873) was an English painter and sculptor, well known for his paintings of animals – particularly horses, dogs, and stags. His best-known work is the lion sculptures at the base of Nelso ...

, whose attentions she rejected,

Florence Nightingale Florence Nightingale (; 12 May 1820 – 13 August 1910) was an English Reform movement, social reformer, statistician and the founder of modern nursing. Nightingale came to prominence while serving as a manager and trainer of nurses during th ...

and

Pauline, Lady Trevelyan Pauline, Lady Trevelyan (''née'' Paulina Jermyn; Trevelyan, Raleigh (1978); ''A Pre-Raphaelite Circle'', p.7; Chatto & Windus, London; 1st edition. 25 January 1816, Hawkedon, Suffolk13 May 1866, Neuchâtel, Switzerland) was an English painter ...

Art collection

Lady Ashburton was known for amassing a large collection of art works and distributing them among her residences at Seaforth Lodge, Melchet Court in

Hampshire Hampshire (, ; abbreviated to Hants.) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Berkshire to the north, Surrey and West Sussex to the east, the Isle of Wight across the Solent to the south, ...

, and Kent House in

Knightsbridge Knightsbridge is a residential and retail district in central London, south of Hyde Park, London, Hyde Park. It is identified in the London Plan as one of two international retail centres in London, alongside the West End of London, West End. ...

, London. Though no inventory existed, among the known works were sketches,

watercolors Watercolor (American English) or watercolour (Commonwealth English; see spelling differences), also ''aquarelle'' (; from Italian diminutive of Latin 'water'), is a painting method"Watercolor may be as old as art itself, going back to the S ...

and sculptures by

Rubens Sir Peter Paul Rubens ( ; ; 28 June 1577 – 30 May 1640) was a Flemish artist and diplomat. He is considered the most influential artist of the Flemish Baroque tradition. Rubens' highly charged compositions reference erudite aspects of clas ...

, Mantegna,

Rossetti Rossetti may refer to: * Biagio Rossetti (c. 1447–1516), architect and urbanist from Ferrara, the first to use modern methods * Carlo Rossetti (1614–1681), Italian cardinal, nobleman * Cezaro Rossetti (1901–1950), Scottish Esperanto writer ...

, W. L. Leitch,

Harriet Hosmer Harriet Goodhue Hosmer (October 9, 1830 – February 21, 1908) was a neoclassical sculptor, considered the most distinguished female sculptor in America during the 19th century. She is known as the first female professional sculptor. Among other ...

Edward Lear Edward Lear (12 May 1812 – 29 January 1888) was an English artist, illustrator, musician, author and poet, who is known mostly for his literary nonsense in poetry and prose and especially his limerick (poetry), limericks, a form he popularised. ...

, G. F. Watts,

Marochetti Baron Pietro Carlo Giovanni Battista Marochetti (14 January 1805 – 29 December 1867) was an Italian-born French sculptor who worked in France, Italy and Britain. He completed many public sculptures, often in a neo-classical style, plus re ...

and

Titian Tiziano Vecellio (; 27 August 1576), Latinized as Titianus, hence known in English as Titian ( ), was an Italian Renaissance painter, the most important artist of Renaissance Venetian painting. He was born in Pieve di Cadore, near Belluno. Ti ...

. When she tired of collecting, Lady Ashburton became an advocate for temperance and a benefactor to several noted charities, including the Ashburton Home of Rest and the

Canning Town Canning Town is a town in the London Borough of Newham, East London, England, north of the Royal Victoria Dock. Its urbanisation was largely due to the creation of the dock. The area was part of the ancient parish and County Borough of West Ham, ...

Mission to Seamen, as well as several clean water initiatives and charitable societies affiliated with religious organizations. The collection was bought by a syndicate of London art dealers in 1907 to be further sold.

Personal life

On 17 November 1858 Louisa married the widowed

Bingham Baring, 2nd Baron Ashburton William Bingham Baring, 2nd Baron Ashburton, (June 1799 – 23 March 1864), was a British businessman and a Whig politician who later became a Tory. Background and education William Bingham Baring was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, in Jun ...

(1799–1864), a member of the

Baring family The Baring family is a German and British family of merchants and bankers. In Germany, the family belongs to the '' Bildungsbürgertum'', and in England, it belongs to the aristocracy. History The family's earliest known ancestor is Peter Bari ...

of merchants and bankers. His first wife,

Lady Harriet Mary Montagu Harriet Mary Baring, Baroness Ashburton (née Lady Harriet Montagu) (14 May 1805 – 4 May 1857) was a socialite and hostess. She was born in 1805 to George Montagu, 6th Earl of Sandwich and Louisa Montagu, Countess of Sandwich. She married Wi ...

(eldest daughter of George Montagu, 6th Earl of Sandwich), had died the previous year. Lord Ashburton and Louisa were the parents of Mary Florence Baring (1860–1902), who was named after

, who was a close friend of Louisa. Mary married William Compton, 5th Marquess of Northampton, in 1884, becoming the Marchioness of Northampton. After a year of ill health, Lord Ashburton died in 1864. Lady Ashburton subsequently had an intimate relationship with the American sculptor

, whose studio she first came to in the spring of 1867. Hosmer recalled being immediately smitten by Lady Ashburton's "statuesque beauty" and compared her to a goddess, writing, "There was the same square-cut and grandiose features, whose classic beauty was humanized by a pair of keen dark eyes." Lady Ashburton ordered several pieces of Hosmer's work and soon became a patron. The relationship changed from friendship to romance in the spring of 1868 when the two took a trip to

Perugia Perugia ( , ; ; ) is the capital city of Umbria in central Italy, crossed by the River Tiber. The city is located about north of Rome and southeast of Florence. It covers a high hilltop and part of the valleys around the area. It has 162,467 ...

, Italy. The apparent exclusivity Harriet longed for was threatened by several relationships Louisa had, notably by an approximately three-year involvement with the poet

, and by a complicated relationship she had with her daughter's tutor, Margaret Trotter. And no matter how much Harriet liked to consider herself Louisa's "hubby", she, too, had occasional extra-relational involvements.

Philanthropy

In later life, Lady Ashburton funded a number of buildings with a Christian or social welfare function, including in 1899 Landford Wood Mission Hall, in the village of

Landford Landford is a village and Civil parishes in England, civil parish southeast of Salisbury in Wiltshire, England. To the south and east of the parish is the county of Hampshire and the New Forest National Park. The parish includes the small villa ...

on the edge of her Melchet Court estate.

Death and legacy

Lady Ashburton died of breast cancer on 2 February 1903, aged 75, at Kent House, Rutland Gardens, Knightsbridge, London. She is buried at Kinlochluichart Church,

Garve Garve () is a village on the Black Water river, in Ross-shire, and is in the Highland Council area of Scotland. It is situated northwest of Contin, on the A835, the main road to Ullapool on the west coast, close to where the A832 branches o ...

, Highland, Scotland. Her papers, along with those of other members of the Ashburton family have been deposited at the

National Library of Scotland The National Library of Scotland (NLS; ; ) is one of Scotland's National Collections. It is one of the largest libraries in the United Kingdom. As well as a public programme of exhibitions, events, workshops, and tours, the National Library of ...

. Due to her extensive correspondence with other notable figures, the archive is an important historic collection.

References

Citations

Bibliography

* * * * * *

External links

(William) Bingham Baring, 2nd Baron Ashburton (1799-1864), Statesman
at the

National Portrait Gallery, London The National Portrait Gallery (NPG) is an art gallery in London that houses a collection of portraits of historically important and famous British people. When it opened in 1856, it was arguably the first national public gallery in the world th ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ashburton, Louisa Baring, Lady 1827 births 1903 deaths People from Stornoway Nobility from the Outer Hebrides Scottish noblewomen 19th-century Scottish nobility 19th-century art collectors 19th-century Scottish women Louisa British baronesses British patrons of the arts Deaths from breast cancer in England Scottish bisexual women Scottish bisexual artists Scottish philanthropists Scottish temperance activists British women art collectors Women of the Victorian era British women philanthropists 19th-century Scottish LGBTQ people 20th-century Scottish LGBTQ people