View source for Anna Eliza Brydges, Duchess of Chandos

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'''Anna Eliza Brydges, Duchess of Chandos''' (1737 - 1823) was an English aristocrat and planter. She married [[James Brydges, 3rd Duke of Chandos]].
==Early life==
Anna was the daughter of Richard Gamon and his wife, Elizabeth (née Grace). The Gamon family lived in a manor house, Datchworthbury, in the village of [[Datchworth]], Hertfordshire.<ref name=Elletson/> Elizabeth's family was based in Ireland.
Anna had a younger brother, [[Grace baronets|Richard Grace Gamon]], who became MP for [[Winchester (UK Parliament constituency)|Winchester]]. According to the [[History of Parliament]], he opposed the [[Slave Trade Act 1788]] to regulate the shipment of enslaved people to the West Indies, "where he owned estates".<ref>{{Cite web |title=Gamon, Richard Grace |url=https://www.historyofparliamentonline.org/volume/1754-1790/member/gamon-richard-grace-1748-1818#:~:text=In%20Parliament%20Gamon%20followed%20Chandos%E2%80%99s%20lead%20and%20supported,Burke.%202%20He%20died%208%20Apr.%201818.%203}}</ref>
==First marriage and the Hope Plantation==
Her first husband was [[Roger Hope Elletson]] (1723-1775), an [[Old Etonian]] who grew sugar on Jamaica and who also served as Lieutenant Governor of the island.<ref name=Elletson>{{Cite web|url=https://www.ucl.ac.uk/lbs/person/view/2146640755|title=Roger Hope Elletson, Legacies of British Slave-ownership database|website=ucl.ac.uk}}, [[University College London|UCL]] Department of History 2020.</ref>
Elletson died in England in 1775, leaving Anna the [[Hope Botanical Gardens|Hope Plantation]] near [[Kingston, Jamaica|Kingston]] and the enslaved people who worked it.<ref name=Elletson/> She was an absentee manager of the plantation into the 1780s,<ref name="BBC">{{Cite AV media |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b062nqpd/britains-forgotten-slave-owners-1-profit-and-loss |title=Profit and Loss: Britain's forgotten slave owners |date=2015 |type=BBC television programme}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Olusoga |first=David |date=2015 |title=David Olusoga: "Thousands of Britons opposed abolition – because they owned slaves" |url=https://www.historyextra.com/period/georgian/britain-slavery-slave-trade-abolition-act-black-history-david-olusoga/ |website=[[BBC History|HistoryExtra]]}}</ref> by which time she was joint owner with her second husband. The property passed to [[Anne Elizabeth Temple-Nugent-Brydges-Chandos-Grenville, Duchess of Buckingham|Anne]], Anna's daughter by her second marriage and still belonged to the family in 1833 [[Abolition of slavery in the British Empire|when slavery was abolished]]. The "Chandos inheritance" received by Anna's [[Richard Temple-Nugent-Brydges-Chandos-Grenville, 2nd Duke of Buckingham and Chandos|grandson Richard]] included £6,630 compensation for the loss of the slaves on the estate. This was awarded to the trustees of his [[Marriage settlement (England)|marriage settlement]].<ref>{{cite web |title=Richard Plantagenet Temple-Nugent-Brydges-Chandos-Grenville, 2nd Duke of Buckingham and Chandos|url=https://www.ucl.ac.uk/lbs/person/view/-989281059|publisher=[[University College London]]}} Retrieved on 15 September 2021.</ref>
==Later life==
Anna married the 3rd Duke of Chandos in 1777. This was a second marriage for both parties. They had one child who survived to adulthood, [[Anne Elizabeth Temple-Nugent-Brydges-Chandos-Grenville, Duchess of Buckingham|Lady Anne Elizabeth Brydges]] (born 1779).{{ref|a|1}}
In 1789, the Duke died from injuries received when his wife inadvertently moved the chair he was about to sit in.{{cn|date=December 2022}} In 1791, Anna was declared a [[lunatic]] and confined to her London home, [[Chandos House]].<ref name="UCL2">{{Cite web |title=Duchess of Chandos |url=https://www.ucl.ac.uk/lbs/person/view/2146640763 |access-date=28 March 2021|website=Legacies of British Slave-ownership database}}</ref>
She became a [[ward of court]] and there followed a lengthy [[lawsuit]] in the Irish courts over the management of her property. Ireland's [[Court of Chancery (Ireland)|Court of Chancery]] was supposedly protecting her affairs, but in 1794 judge [[Richard Power (Monaghan politician)|Richard Power]], [[Accountant general|accountant-general]] and usher of the Court of Chancery, was accused of misappropriating some of the duchess's income and died in a presumed suicide.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Geoghegan |first=Patrick |date=2009 |title=Power, Richard |url=https://www.dib.ie/biography/power-richard-a7464 |access-date=22 March 2023 |website=Dictionary of Irish Biography}}</ref>
==Media interest==
In 2015, Anna's ownership of a [[Sugar plantations in the Caribbean|sugar plantation]] and her involvement in running it was discussed in a television programme, ''Britain's Forgotten Slave-owners'', broadcast by the BBC. The programme was presented by the historian [[David Olusoga]] who was filmed at Chandos House. It won a [[BAFTA]] award and the [[Royal Historical Society]] Public History Prize Winner for Broadcasting.<ref name="BBC"/><ref>{{cite web|title=Britain's forgotten slave-owners: BBC TV broadcast|url=https://www.ucl.ac.uk/lbs/project/bbc/|website=ucl.ac.uk|accessdate=2 July 2020}}</ref>
==Notes==
:1.{{note|a}} Anne Elizabeth married [[Richard Temple-Grenville, 1st Duke of Buckingham and Chandos]]. They were the parents of [[Richard Temple-Nugent-Brydges-Chandos-Grenville, 2nd Duke of Buckingham and Chandos]].
==References==
{{reflist}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Chandos, Anna Eliza Brydges, Duchess of}}
[[Category:1737 births]]
[[Category:1823 deaths]]
[[Category:English duchesses by marriage]]
[[Category:English slave owners]]
[[Category:Women slave owners]]
[[Category:Jamaican planters]]
[[Category:18th-century Jamaican people]]
[[Category:British planters]]
[[Category:19th-century planters]]
[[Category:18th-century planters]]
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