Susanna Brudenell-Bruce, Countess of Ailesbury (15 April 1732 – 4 February 1783), formerly Susanna(h) Hoare, was the first wife of

Thomas Brudenell-Bruce, 1st Earl of Ailesbury Thomas Brudenell-Bruce, 1st Earl of Ailesbury, Order of the Thistle, KT (30 April 1729 – 19 April 1814), styled The Honourable Thomas Brudenell until 1747 and known as the Lord Bruce between 1747 and 1776, was a British courtier. Background an ...

, and the mother of the 1st Marquess. She was born at Stourhead, Wiltshire, the daughter of wealthy banker

Henry Hoare Henry Hoare II (1705–1785), known as Henry the Magnificent, was an English banker and garden owner-designer. Family Henry's grandfather, Richard Hoare, was a goldsmith-banker and Lord Mayor of London. His father, Henry Hoare I, bought th ...

and his second wife Sarah, formerly Sarah Colt. Her elder sister, Anne, married Sir Richard Hoare, 1st Bt., and died in 1759. Her first husband was Charles Boyle, Viscount Dungarvan, whom she married in 1753; the marriage was rumoured to be unhappy. They had one child, Henrietta Boyle (c.1756–1793), who married John O'Neill, 1st Viscount O'Neill, and had children. Henrietta became widely known in literary circles. Viscount Dungarvan died in 1759. The widowed Lady Dungarvan married Brudenell-Bruce on 17 February 1761 at Tottenham Park, Wiltshire. Their children were: *Lady Caroline Anne Brudenell-Bruce (d. 1824), who died unmarried *George Brudenell-Bruce, Lord Bruce (1762–1783), who as a child was painted by

William Hoare William Hoare, RA ( – 12 December 1792) was an English painter. From 1740 to 1759, he was the leading oil portraitist at Bath, Somerset until Thomas Gainsborough arrived in the town. Noted for his pastels, Hoare was a co-founder of the R ...

, died unmarried *Lady Frances Elizabeth Brudenell-Bruce (1765–1836), who as a child was painted by William Hoare, married Sir Henry Wilson; the couple later took the surname Wright to secure an inheritance *Hon. Charles Bruce (1767–1768) * Charles Brudenell-Bruce, 1st Marquess of Ailesbury (1773–1856), who married twice, first to Henrietta Maria Hill and second to Maria Elizabeth Tollemache, and had children by both marriages The countess died in 1783, aged 50. She was an artist in needlework whose “piece of flowers in needle-work” was considered sufficiently of interest to be exhibited publicly in 1768 by the Free Society of Artists, as was subsequently catalogued by the publisher and art historian

Algernon Graves Algernon Graves (1845–1922) was a British art historian and art dealer, who specialised in the documentation of the exhibition and sale of works of art. He created reference sources that began the modern discipline of provenance research. Ear ...

. The portrait of her by William Hoare shows her holding yarn and she appears to be engaged in lace

tatting Tatting is a technique for handcrafting a particularly durable lace from a series of knots and loops. Tatting can be used to make lace edging as well as doilies, collars, accessories such as earrings, necklaces, waist beads, and other decor ...

. Her dress carries prominent black lace tatting decorations. Five years after his first wife's death, the earl married Lady Anne Elizabeth Rawdon (1753–1813); they had no children. The earl himself died in 1814. A portrait of the countess, dated 1757, by

Arthur Pond Arthur Pond (–1758) was an English painter and engraver. Life Born about 1705, he was educated in London, and stayed for a time in Rome studying art, in company with the sculptor Roubiliac. He became a successful portrait-painter. From 1 ...

, is held by the

National Trust The National Trust () is a heritage and nature conservation charity and membership organisation in England, Wales and Northern Ireland. The Trust was founded in 1895 by Octavia Hill, Sir Robert Hunter and Hardwicke Rawnsley to "promote the ...

Stourhead Stourhead () is a 1,072-hectare (2,650-acre) estate at the source of the River Stour in the southwest of the English county of Wiltshire, extending into Somerset. The estate is about northwest of the town of Mere and includes a Grade I list ...

. Another portrait, by

of Bath, is held at the Victoria Art Gallery in Bath.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ailesbury, Susanna Brudenell-Bruce, Countess of 1732 births 1783 deaths British countesses

Dungarvan Dungarvan () is a coastal town and harbour in County Waterford, on the south-east coast of Ireland. Prior to the merger of Waterford County Council with Waterford City Council in 2014, Dungarvan was the county town and administrative centre of ...

Susanna