View source for Harriet Sutherland-Leveson-Gower, Duchess of Sutherland

{{Short description|British duchess, abolitionist and Mistress of the Robes}}
{{Infobox officeholder
| honorific-prefix    = [[Grace (style)|Her Grace]]
| name                = The Duchess of Sutherland
| honorific-suffix    =
| image               = Lady Harriet Elizabeth Georgiana Howard, Duchess of Sutherland (1806 – 1868).jpg
| image_size          = 220px
| caption             = The Duchess of Sutherland by Reuben Thomas William Sayers
| nationality         = British
| spouse              = {{marriage|[[George Sutherland-Leveson-Gower, 2nd Duke of Sutherland]]|1823|1861|end=d}}
| children            = {{Plainlist|
* [[Elizabeth Campbell, Duchess of Argyll]]
* Evelyn Stuart, Lady Blantyre
* Caroline FitzGerald, Duchess of Leinster
* [[George Sutherland-Leveson-Gower, 3rd Duke of Sutherland]]
* Lady Blanche Sutherland-Leveson-Gower
* Lord Frederick Sutherland-Leveson-Gower
* Constance Grosvenor, Duchess of Westminster
* Lady Victoria Sutherland-Leveson-Gower
* Lord Albert Sutherland-Leveson-Gower
* [[Lord Ronald Gower|Lord Ronald Sutherland-Leveson-Gower]]
* Lady Alexandrina Sutherland-Leveson-Gower}}
| parents             = {{Plainlist|
* [[George Howard, 6th Earl of Carlisle]]
* [[Georgiana Howard, Countess of Carlisle|Lady Georgiana Cavendish]]}}
| birthname           = The Hon. Harriet Elizabeth Georgiana Howard
| birth_date          = {{birth date|df=yes|1806|5|21}}
| birth_place         = [[St George Hanover Square]], Westminster, London<ref name="1851census">''1851 England Census''</ref>
| death_date          = {{death date and age|df=yes|1868|10|27|1806|5|21}}
| death_place         = [[Lancaster House|Stafford House]], [[St James's]], London, England
| resting_place       = [[Trentham, Staffordshire]], England
| occupation          = [[Mistress of the Robes]] to [[Queen Victoria]]
}}
'''Harriet Elizabeth Georgiana Sutherland-Leveson-Gower,'''<ref group="note">The surname Leveson-Gower is pronounced Lewson-Gore.</ref> '''Duchess of Sutherland''' (''née'' '''Howard'''; 21 May 1806 – 27 October 1868), styled '''The Honourable Harriet Howard''' before her marriage, was an English courtier and abolitionist from the [[Howard family]].
She was [[Mistress of the Robes]] under several [[Whig (British political party)|Whig]] administrations: 1837–1841, 1846–1852, 1853–1858, and 1859–1861; and a great friend of [[Queen Victoria]]. She was an important figure in London's high society, and used her social position to undertake various philanthropic undertakings including the protest of the English ladies against American slavery.
==Family and early life==
Harriet was the third daughter of [[George Howard, 6th Earl of Carlisle]] and his wife [[Georgiana Howard, Countess of Carlisle|Lady Georgiana Cavendish]], who was a daughter of [[Georgiana, Duchess of Devonshire]].{{sfn|Reynolds|2004}}
==Marriage==
On 18 May 1823, she married her cousin [[George Sutherland-Leveson-Gower, 2nd Duke of Sutherland|George Sutherland-Leveson-Gower, Earl Gower]] (1786–1861),{{sfn|Reynolds|2004}} who had been elected MP for [[St Mawes (UK Parliament constituency)|St Mawes]], [[Cornwall]] (a [[rotten borough]]) in 1808, and succeeded his father as second Duke of Sutherland in 1833. Gower was twenty years older than she, but their union proved one of affection and produced four sons and seven daughters.{{sfn|Reynolds|2004}}{{sfn|Sanders|1893|p=152}}
The Duchess of Sutherland held a social position of high influence, aided by her friendship to [[Queen Victoria]] as well as her family's great wealth.{{sfn|Reynolds|1998|p=122}} By the Duchess's influence Stafford House, St. James's Palace, became an important centre of society,<ref>{{harvnb|Sanders|1893|p=152}} cites Lord Ronald Gower, Reminiscences, vol. i. chap. i.</ref> and the starting-point of various philanthropic undertakings. The Duchess helped organise the "Stafford House Address" petition against slavery, and former American First Lady [[Julia Tyler]] wrote a defence of slavery titled "The Women of England vs. the Women of America", in response to it.<ref name="Yellin2005">{{cite book|author=Jean Fagan Yellin|title=Harriet Jacobs: A Life|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=5TiUG7lUrBAC&pg=PA122|date=26 January 2005|publisher=Basic Civitas Books|isbn=978-0-465-09289-5|pages=122–}}{{Dead link|date=July 2024 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref><ref name="Lee2010">{{cite book|author=Julia Sun-Joo Lee|title=The American Slave Narrative and the Victorian Novel|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=yKmDpXlxtIcC&pg=PA79|date=9 April 2010|publisher=Oxford University Press|isbn=978-0-19-974528-9|pages=79–}}</ref> In response to "The Women of England vs. the Women of America", former slave [[Harriet Jacobs]] wrote a letter to the ''New York Tribune'' which was her first published writing; it was published in 1853 and signed "Fugitive".<ref name="Sharma">{{cite book|author=Raja Sharma|title=Ready Reference Treatise: Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=O8X1AwAAQBAJ&pg=PT12|publisher=Lulu.com|isbn=978-1-300-30601-6|pages=12–}}</ref><ref name="SklarStewart2007">{{cite book|author1=Kathryn Kish Sklar|author2=James Brewer Stewart|title=Women's Rights and Transatlantic Antislavery in the Era of Emancipation|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=zQVHWXADuRYC&pg=PA165|year=2007|publisher=Yale University Press|isbn=978-0-300-13786-6|pages=165–}}</ref>
The Duchess's stance on slavery was heavily criticised by [[Karl Marx]] because her mother-in-law, the [[Elizabeth Leveson-Gower, Duchess of Sutherland|previous Duchess]], had been closely associated with the [[Highland Clearances|clearance]] of the inhabitants of [[Sutherland]] thirty years earlier, so that she could reuse 794,000 acres (3200 km<sup>2</sup>) of land for commercial sheep farming.{{sfn|Marx|1853}}
==Mistress of the Robes==
[[File:Winterhalter - Harriet Howard.jpg|thumb|Harriet Sutherland-Leveson-Gower, Duchess of Sutherland by [[Franz Xaver Winterhalter]], 1849. The background is the interior of Stafford House]]
On the accession of Queen Victoria the Duchess was appointed [[Mistress of the Robes]],{{#tag:ref|The Duchess served several times as [[Mistress of the Robes]] to her friend [[Queen Victoria]], a post which was later held by her eldest daughter [[Elizabeth Campbell, Duchess of Argyll|Elizabeth Georgiana (Duchess of Argyll)]] and her daughter-in-law [[Anne Hay-Mackenzie, 1st Countess of Cromartie|Anne (Duchess of Sutherland)]].{{sfn|Reynolds|2004}}{{sfn|Reynolds|1998|p=222}} |group="note"}} and held that post whenever the Whigs were in office until her husband's death (August 1837 to September 1841, July 1846 to March 1852, January 1853 to February 1858, June 1859 to April 1861). In that role, she presided at the [[coronation of Queen Victoria]] in 1838. <ref>{{cite web |title=Key to Mr Leslie's picture of Queen Victoria receiving the Holy Sacrament at her Coronation |url=https://www.npg.org.uk/collections/search/portrait/mw148545/Key-to-Mr-Leslies-picture-of-Queen-Victoria-receiving-the-Holy-Sacrament-at-her-Coronation |website=National Portrait Gallery}}</ref>
From the Queen's refusal to part with the Duchess and her other ladies arose the [[Bedchamber Crisis]] of 1839, which resulted in the Whigs returning to office. Victoria gave a sympathetic description of the Duchess's character,<ref>{{harvnb|Sanders|1893|p=152}} cites Martin, ''Prince Consort'', ii. 246</ref> and after the death of [[Albert, Prince Consort|Prince Albert]], the prince consort, spent the first weeks of her widowhood with the Duchess as her only companion.{{sfn|Sanders|1893|p=153}}[[File:Stafford House central hall and principal staircase by Joseph Nash 1850.jpg|thumb|Stafford House (now renamed Lancaster House) central hall and principal staircase by Joseph Nash 1850]][[Queen Victoria]] is said to have remarked to the Duchess on arriving at [[Lancaster House|Stafford House]], "I have come from my House to your Palace." With its ornate decoration and the dramatic sweep of the great staircase, the Grand Hall is a magnificent introduction to one of the finest [[Townhouse|town houses]] in London.<ref>{{Citation |title=Lancaster House |date=2023-09-19 |url=https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Lancaster_House&oldid=1176172656 |work=Wikipedia |access-date=2023-10-10 |language=en}}</ref>
In 1861 the 4th Rogart Company of the 1st Sutherland Volunteer Rifle Corps formed up. The company bore the title "Duchess Harriet's Company Rogart" upon the pouch-belt plate.<ref>{{citation|author=Grierson |title=Records of the Scottish Volunteer Force|year=1909}} {{full citation needed|date=December 2012}}</ref>
The Duchess's last public appearance was at the [[Edward VII|Prince of Wales's]] marriage in 1863. In that year she was seized with an illness from which she never recovered. However, she was able to entertain [[Garibaldi]], for whom she had great admiration, at [[Chiswick House]] and [[Trentham, Staffordshire]], during his visit to England in April 1864. She died on 27 October 1868{{sfn|Sanders|1893|p=153}} at her London residence, [[Lancaster House|Stafford House]], aged 62. She was interred in the [[mausoleum]] of the Dukes of Sutherland at Trentham. [[W E Gladstone]] was one of the pall-bearers at her funeral.<ref>{{cite web|last=Auden|first=W. H.|title=Family Ghosts|url=http://www.stanford.edu/group/auden/cgi-bin/auden/individual.php?pid=I12932&ged=auden-bicknell.ged|publisher=University of Stanford}}{{Dead link|date=July 2024 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref> The Duchess's letters, some of which were published by her son Lord Ronald Gower in ''Stafford House Letters'',<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://archive.org/download/StaffordHouseLetters/Stafford_House_Letters.pdf|title=Stafford House Letters|last=Sutherland, Leveson-Gower, Duke of|first=George Granville|date=1891}}</ref> parts iv-vi., prove her to have had an affectionate disposition, with some sense of humour. She had also an interest in architecture and gardening.{{sfn|Sanders|1893|p=153}}
==Issue==
On 18 May 1823 Harriet married [[George Sutherland-Leveson-Gower, 2nd Duke of Sutherland|George Sutherland-Leveson-Gower, Earl Gower]], eldest son of the [[George Granville Leveson-Gower, 1st Duke of Sutherland|2nd Marquess of Stafford]], and a man twenty years her senior. Her father-in-law was created [[Duke of Sutherland]] in 1833, and was succeeded by his son later that year, whereupon Harriet became the Duchess of Sutherland.{{citation needed|date=April 2016}}
They had eleven children:
* [[Elizabeth Campbell, Duchess of Argyll|Lady Elizabeth Georgiana]] (30 May 1824{{sfn|Lodge|1834|p=437}} – 25 May 1878), married [[George Douglas Campbell, 8th Duke of Argyll]]{{sfn|Sanders|1893|p=153}} and had issue.
* Lady Evelyn (8 August 1825{{sfn|Lodge|1834|p=437}} – 1869), married [[Charles Stuart, 12th Lord Blantyre]]{{sfn|Sanders|1893|p=153}}
* Lady Caroline Leveson-Gower (15 April 1827{{sfn|Lodge|1834|p=437}} – 1887), married [[Charles FitzGerald, 4th Duke of Leinster]]{{sfn|Sanders|1893|p=153}} and had issue.
* [[George Sutherland-Leveson-Gower, 3rd Duke of Sutherland|Lord George Granville William]] (19 December 1828{{sfn|Lodge|1834|p=437}} – 22 September 1892), succeeded as 3rd Duke.{{sfn|Sanders|1893|p=153}}
* Lady Blanche Julia Sutherland-Leveson-Gower (26 June 1830 – 24 February 1832){{sfn|Lodge|1834|p=437}}
* Lord Frederick George (11 November 1832 – 6 October 1854)
* Lady Constance Gertrude (16 June 1834 – 19 December 1880), married [[Hugh Grosvenor, 1st Duke of Westminster]]{{sfn|Sanders|1893|p=153}} and had issue.
* Lady Victoria Sutherland-Leveson-Gower (16 May 1838 – 19 June 1839)
* Lord Albert (21 Nov 1843 – 1874), married Grace Abdy, daughter of [[Sir Thomas Neville Abdy, 1st Baronet]] and had issue, including [[Frederick Neville Sutherland Leveson-Gower]].
* [[Lord Ronald Gower|Lord Ronald Charles Sutherland-Leveson-Gower]] (2 August 1845 – 9 March 1916), died unmarried.
* Lady Alexandrina Sutherland-Leveson-Gower (3 February 1848 – 21 June 1849)
In 1871, while her son-in-law, the [[George Campbell, 8th Duke of Argyll|Duke of Argyll]], was serving in the [[Cabinet (government)|Cabinet]], his son (Harriet's grandson), [[John Campbell, 9th Duke of Argyll|Lord Lorne]], married one of Victoria's daughters, [[Princess Louise, Duchess of Argyll|Princess Louise]].  Harriet's [[George Granville William Sutherland-Leveson-Gower, 3rd Duke of Sutherland|eldest son]] became 3rd Duke of Sutherland in 1861.{{citation needed|date=December 2012}}
==In media==
Harriet was portrayed by [[Rachael Stirling]] in the 2009 film ''[[The Young Victoria]]''. She was portrayed by [[Margaret Clunie]] in the 2016 [[ITV (TV network)|ITV]] series ''[[Victoria (UK TV series)|Victoria]]'', though she is inaccurately depicted as carrying on an improbable romance with [[Ernest II, Duke of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha|Prince Ernest of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha]] (later Duke of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha), who is also inaccurately depicted as being unmarried at the time.{{Cn|date=September 2022}}
==Ancestry==
{{ahnentafel
|collapsed=yes |align=center
|boxstyle_1=background-color: #fcc;
|boxstyle_2=background-color: #fb9;
|boxstyle_3=background-color: #ffc;
|boxstyle_4=background-color: #bfc;
|1= 1. '''Harriet Sutherland-Leveson-Gower, Duchess of Sutherland'''
|2= 2. [[George Howard, 6th Earl of Carlisle]]{{sfn|Reynolds|2004}}
|3= 3. [[Georgiana Howard, Countess of Carlisle|Lady Georgiana Dorothy Cavendish]]{{sfn|Reynolds|2004}}
|4= 4. [[Frederick Howard, 5th Earl of Carlisle]]{{sfn|Lodge|1834|p=89}}
|5= 5. Lady Margaret Caroline Leveson-Gower{{sfn|Lodge|1834|p=89}}
|6= 6. [[William Cavendish, 5th Duke of Devonshire]]{{sfn|Lodge|1834|p=89}}
|7= 7. [[Georgiana Cavendish, Duchess of Devonshire|Lady Georgiana Spencer]]{{sfn|Reynolds|2004}}
|8= 8. [[Henry Howard, 4th Earl of Carlisle]]
|9= 9. The Hon. Isabella Byron
|10= 10. [[Granville Leveson-Gower, 1st Marquess of Stafford]]{{sfn|Lodge|1834|p=89}}
|11= 11. Lady Louisa Egerton
|12= 12. [[William Cavendish, 4th Duke of Devonshire]]
|13= 13. [[Charlotte Cavendish, Marchioness of Hartington|Charlotte Boyle, 6th Baroness Clifford]]
|14= 14. [[John Spencer, 1st Earl Spencer]]
|15= 15. [[Georgiana Spencer, Countess Spencer|Margaret Georgiana Poyntz]]
}}
==Notes==
{{Reflist|group="note"}}
==References==
{{Reflist|30em}}
===Works cited===
{{refbegin|30em}}
* {{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=OpEUAAAAQAAJ|title=The Peerage of the British Empire|first=Edmund|last=Lodge|year=1834|publisher=Saunders and Otley}}
* {{cite news|first=Karl|last=Marx|author-link=Karl Marx|title=The Duchess of Sutherland and Slavery|newspaper=The People's Paper|number=45|date=12 March 1853|url=http://www.marxists.org/archive/marx/works/1853/03/12.htm}}
* {{Cite book|url=|title=Aristocratic Women and Political Society in Victorian Britain|first=K.D.|last=Reynolds|year=1998|publisher=Clarendon Press|isbn=0198207271}}
* {{ODNBweb|last=Reynolds|first=K.D.|title=Gower, Harriet Elizabeth Georgiana Leveson-, Duchess of Sutherland (1806–1868)|id=16544|date=2004}}
* {{cite DNB|wstitle=Leveson-Gower, Harriet Elizabeth Georgiana|last=Sanders|first=Lloyd C.|volume=33|pages=152–53|supplement=1|year=1893}}
{{refend}}
== External links ==
{{Commons category|Harriet Sutherland-Leveson-Gower, Duchess of Sutherland|Harriet, Duchess of Sutherland}}
* {{UK National Archives ID}}
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{{succession box | title=[[Mistress of the Robes]] <br> to the Queen | before=[[Catherine Osborne, Duchess of Leeds]] | after=[[Charlotte Montagu-Douglas-Scott, Duchess of Buccleuch|The Duchess of Buccleuch and Queensberry]] | years=1837–1841}}
{{succession box | title=[[Mistress of the Robes]] <br> to the Queen| before=[[Charlotte Montagu-Douglas-Scott, Duchess of Buccleuch|The Duchess of Buccleuch and Queensberry]] | after=[[Anne Murray, Duchess of Atholl|The Duchess of Atholl]] | years=1846–1852}}
{{succession box | title=[[Mistress of the Robes]] <br> to the Queen| before=[[Anne Murray, Duchess of Atholl|The Duchess of Atholl]] | after=[[Louisa Frederica Augusta von Alten|The Duchess of Manchester]] | years=1853–1858}}
{{succession box | title=[[Mistress of the Robes]] <br> to the Queen| before=[[Louisa Frederica Augusta von Alten|The Duchess of Manchester]] | after=[[Elizabeth Wellesley, Duchess of Wellington|The Duchess of Wellington]] | years=1859–1861}}
{{S-end}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=May 2020}}
{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Sutherland, Harriet Sutherland-Leveson-Gower, Duchess of}}
[[Category:1806 births]]
[[Category:1868 deaths]]
[[Category:British duchesses by marriage]]
[[Category:Daughters of British earls]]
[[Category:Mistresses of the Robes to Queen Victoria]]
[[Category:Leveson-Gower family|Harriet]]
[[Category:Howard family (English aristocracy)|Harriet]]
[[Category:Wives of knights]]