Sophia, Lady Burdett (1775–1844) was an English heiress and political hostess. Burdett and her sisters were known as the "Three Graces."

Biography

Burdett was born in 1775 and was the third daughter of the wealthy banker

Thomas Coutts Thomas Coutts (7 September 1735 – 24 February 1822) was a British banker. He was a founder of the banking house Coutts & Co. Early life Coutts was the fourth son of Jean (née Steuart) Coutts and John Coutts (1699–1751), whose business i ...

, founder of

Coutts & Co Coutts & Co. () is a British private bank and wealth manager headquartered in London, England. Founded in 1692, it is the eighth oldest bank in the world. Today, Coutts forms part of NatWest Group's wealth management division. In the Channel ...

, and his wife Susannah Coutts (). Burdett and her sisters were known as the "Three Graces." Her sister Susan Coutts married

George Augustus North, 3rd Earl of Guilford George Augustus North, 3rd Earl of Guilford, FRS (11 September 1757 – 20 April 1802), known as The Honourable George North until 1790 and as Lord North from 1790 to 1792, was a British politician. Early life Guilford was the eldest son of ...

, and her other sister Frances Coutts married John Crichton-Stuart, 1st Marquess of Bute. In 1793 Burdett married the politician

Francis Burdett Sir Francis Burdett, 5th Baronet (25 January 1770 – 23 January 1844) was a British politician and Member of Parliament (United Kingdom), Member of Parliament who gained notoriety as a proponent (in advance of the Chartism, Chartists) of univ ...

, who inherited a

baronetcy A baronet ( or ; abbreviated Bart or Bt) or the female equivalent, a baronetess (, , or ; abbreviation Btss), is the holder of a baronetcy, a hereditary title awarded by the British Crown. The title of baronet is mentioned as early as the 14th ...

in 1798. Together, Burdett and her husband had a son and five daughters. Burdett was painted by

Thomas Lawrence Sir Thomas Lawrence (13 April 1769 – 7 January 1830) was an English people, English portrait painter and the fourth president of the Royal Academy. A child prodigy, he was born in Bristol and began drawing in Devizes, where his father was a ...

around the time of her marriage. A rising artist, Lawrence later became Britain's leading

portrait painter Portrait painting is a Hierarchy of genres, genre in painting, where the intent is to represent a specific human subject. The term 'portrait painting' can also describe the actual painted portrait. Portraitists may create their work by commissio ...

and

President of the Royal Academy Officers of the Royal Academy of Arts This is a list of the officers of the Royal Academy of Arts The Royal Academy of Arts (RA) is an art institution based in Burlington House in Piccadilly London, England. Founded in 1768, it has a ...

. Her husband was a leading

Radical Radical (from Latin: ', root) may refer to: Politics and ideology Politics *Classical radicalism, the Radical Movement that began in late 18th century Britain and spread to continental Europe and Latin America in the 19th century *Radical politics ...

throughout most of his career, notably during the

Regency era The Regency era of British history is commonly understood as the years between and 1837, although the official regency for which it is named only spanned the years 1811 to 1820. King George III first suffered debilitating illness in the lat ...

. His imprisonment in 1810 led to the Burdett Riots in London. After the death of her mother in 1815, Burdett's father married the Irish actress

Harriet Mellon Harriet Beauclerk, Duchess of St Albans (alternative spelling: Harriot; née Mellon; 11 November 1777 – 6 August 1837) was an Irish actress who starred at Drury Lane. She was successively the wife of banker Thomas Coutts and then of William B ...

, significantly reducing her inheritance. In 1822, her father died. Her stepmother became very wealthy, having been bequeathed his entire fortune, including his interest in the family bank. Burdett's youngest daughter

Angela Burdett-Coutts, 1st Baroness Burdett-Coutts Angela Georgina Burdett-Coutts, 1st Baroness Burdett-Coutts ( Burdett; 21 April 1814 – 30 December 1906) was a British philanthropist, the daughter of Sir Francis Burdett, 5th Baronet and Sophia, formerly Coutts, daughter of banker Thomas ...

was a phenomenally wealthy heiress, inheriting much of the Coutts fortune from her step grandmother. As a condition of the inheritance she adapted her surname to Burdett-Coutts. Burdett died on 13 January 1844. Her husband, then twelve days short of his 74th birthday, became inconsolable and felt he had nothing left to live for. He refused all food and died just ten days later on 23 January 1844. He and his wife were buried at the same time in the same vault at Ramsbury Church,

Wiltshire Wiltshire (; abbreviated to Wilts) is a ceremonial county in South West England. It borders Gloucestershire to the north, Oxfordshire to the north-east, Berkshire to the east, Hampshire to the south-east, Dorset to the south, and Somerset to ...

.Walford, Edward . (1878)
St James St and neighbourhood
. ''Old and New London: Volume 4''. London. - via

British History Online ''British History Online'' is a digital library of primary and secondary sources on medieval and modern history of Great Britain and Ireland. It was created and is managed as a cooperative venture by the Institute of Historical Research, Universit ...

. Retrieved 24 April 2025.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Burdett, Sophia 1775 births 1844 deaths British political hostesses