Mary Watson-Wentworth, Marchioness of Rockingham (; 1735 – 19 December 1804) was the wife of

Charles Watson-Wentworth, 2nd Marquess of Rockingham Charles Watson-Wentworth, 2nd Marquess of Rockingham (13 May 1730 – 1 July 1782), styled The Honourable Charles Watson-Wentworth before 1739, Viscount Higham between 1739 and 1746, Earl of Malton between 1746 and 1750, and the Marquess of R ...

, who was

prime minister of Great Britain The prime minister of the United Kingdom is the head of government of the United Kingdom. The prime minister advises the sovereign on the exercise of much of the royal prerogative, chairs the Cabinet, and selects its ministers. Modern pr ...

in 1782, and previously from 1765 to 1766.

Early life

Born in

Pontefract Pontefract is a historic market town in the City of Wakefield, a metropolitan district in West Yorkshire, England. It lies to the east of Wakefield and south of Castleford. Historically part of the West Riding of Yorkshire, it is one of the ...

West Yorkshire West Yorkshire is a Metropolitan counties of England, metropolitan and Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the Yorkshire and the Humber region of England. It borders North Yorkshire to the north and east, South Yorkshire and De ...

, England, she was the only child and heiress of Thomas Liddell, Lord of the Manor of

Ecclesall Ecclesall Ward—which includes the neighbourhoods of Banner Cross, Bents Green, Carterknowle, Ecclesall, Greystones, Millhouses, and Ringinglow—is one of the 28 electoral wards in the Sheffield district, in the county of South Yorkshire, En ...

South Yorkshire South Yorkshire is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the Yorkshire and the Humber region of England. It borders North Yorkshire and West Yorkshire to the north, the East Riding of Yorkshire to the north-east, Lincolnshire ...

, and Margaret Norton. She was baptized at

Ackworth, West Yorkshire Ackworth is a village and civil parishes in England, civil parish in the City of Wakefield, metropolitan borough of Wakefield, West Yorkshire, England, between Pontefract, Barnsley and Doncaster on the River Went. It has four parts: High Ackwort ...

, on 27 August 1735. She and her father were both born with the surname Liddell, but her father took the surname Bright when he inherited Badsworth Hall from his father

John Bright John Bright (16 November 1811 – 27 March 1889) was a British Radical and Liberal statesman, one of the greatest orators of his generation and a promoter of free trade policies. A Quaker, Bright is most famous for battling the Corn La ...

Marriage

On 26 February, 1752, Lady Liddell married Whig politician

Charles Watson-Wentworth Charles Watson-Wentworth, 2nd Marquess of Rockingham (13 May 1730 – 1 July 1782), styled The Honourable Charles Watson-Wentworth before 1739, Viscount Higham between 1739 and 1746, Earl of Malton between 1746 and 1750, and the Marquess of R ...

. They were married until Watson-Wentworth's death on 1 July 1782. She was acknowledged as a skilled politician by contemporaries, with opposition party members sometimes directing their letters straight to her. She was described by herself and others as Rockingham’s "secretary", but Rockingham called her "My Minerva at my elbow." After Rockingham’s death, her correspondent Edmund Burke wrote to her, "Your Names indeed ought to go down together; for it is no mean part you have had in the great services which that great and good man has done to his Country."''The Correspondence of Edmund Burke'', ed. T. W. Copeland and others, 10 vols. (1958–78), 5.46. Lady Rockingham was the owner of Rockingham Mantua, a silk satin mantua brocaded in silver thread with silver lace trim. It is thought that the Mantua was part of a matching set with her husband. Lady Rockingham mentioned the sets in her letters " Lord Stormont says being in your dress is quite bourgeois, but I hope you will approve of it, I shall take it monstrous if you don't, for I mean it as a compliment to you". The widowed Lady Rockingham settled at

Hillingdon House Hillingdon House is a Grade II listed mansion in Hillingdon, Greater London. The original house was built in 1717 as a hunting lodge for the Duke of Schomberg. It was destroyed by fire and the present house was built in its place in 1844. The B ...

, Middlesex, in 1785, where she died in 1804 and was buried with her husband at York Minster.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Rockingham, Mary Watson-Wentworth, Marchioness of 1735 births 1804 deaths 18th-century English people 19th-century English people 18th-century English women 19th-century English women People from Pontefract British marchionesses Burials at York Minster

Mary Mary may refer to: People * Mary (name), a female given name (includes a list of people with the name) Religion * New Testament people named Mary, overview article linking to many of those below * Mary, mother of Jesus, also called the Blesse ...

Spouses of prime ministers of Great Britain Charles Watson-Wentworth, 2nd Marquess of Rockingham