Lady Christian Henrietta Caroline Acland (née Fox-Strangways; 3 January 1750 – 21 July 1815)[1][2] was a British noblewoman and diarist. She accompanied her husband to British North America and became celebrated for her personal courage. She is commemorated on one of the bronze reliefs on second floor of the Saratoga Monument[3] in the State of New York.
Lady Harriet Acland | |
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![]() portrait by Joshua Reynolds | |
Born | Hon. Christian Henrietta Caroline Fox-Strangways 3 January 1750 Kilmington, Somerset, England |
Died | 21 July 1815 Tetton House, Somerset | (aged 65)
Occupation(s) | Noblewoman, nurse, diarist |
Spouse | |
Children |
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Parents |
Early life
editShe began life as The Honourable Christian Henrietta Caroline "Harriet" Fox-Strangways, daughter of Stephen Fox-Strangways (then Baron Ilchester), and his wife, the former Elizabeth Horner. When her father was raised to his earldom, Harriet became "Lady Harriet Fox-Strangways". She was born in Kilmington, Somerset and baptized in St James's, Piccadilly, London on 16 January 1750.[4] Her second cousin was the British politician Charles James Fox and her family was part of the Whig aristocratic circle.
Marriage and issue
editIn 1770, at the age of twenty, she married by special licence John Dyke Acland,[5] son of Sir Thomas Dyke Acland, 7th Baronet and Elizabeth Dyke. Upon their marriage, Sir Thomas gave the couple two Somerset estates, Pixton in Dulverton and Tetton near Taunton.[6] Lady Harriet and her husband had two children:
- Elizabeth "Kitty" Acland (13 December 1772 – 5 March 1813); married Henry Herbert, 2nd Earl of Carnarvon. Kitty would go on to inherit the Pixton and Tetton estates as Harriet and John's only surviving child, thus taking them out of the Acland family upon her marriage.
- Sir John Dyke Acland, 8th Baronet (1778–1785); inherited the baronetcy at the age of 7 on the death of his paternal grandfather, the 7th Baronet.[7] Sir John died a few weeks later, aged 7, and the baronetcy passed to his uncle Sir Thomas Dyke Acland, 9th Baronet.
American War of Independence
editDuring the American War of Independence, Lady Harriet travelled with her husband to the Province of Quebec and the Thirteen Colonies when he commanded the 20th Regiment of Foot.[8] At the time of the Battles of Saratoga, Lady Harriet's husband John was wounded by been shot through both legs and he was captured as a prisoner of war. Lady Harriet - at this point several months pregnant - crossed the Hudson River in a boat, accompanied by her maid, a military chaplain, and John's valet, to join him in captivity and nurse him back to full health.[9] John improved with her careful nursing.[10] The British press, reeling from Britain's defeat in the American War of Independence, lauded her actions as brave and heroic. The next year they returned to England, where Colonel Acland died at Pixton Park, Dulverton near Exmoor on 31 October 1778.
Lady Harriet jointly authored a journal with an anonymous second author (most likely her husband's valet or a military chaplain), which was later published as The Acland Journal.[11] The journal narrated the military expedition as Lady Harriet and her husband's company sailed from Britain and landed in Canada, ending shortly after John was captured. One of the final entries of the journal describes how "the writer of this Journal was sent with a Flag of Truce into the Enemies Camp", describing when Lady Harriet and her party joined John in captivity.
A 1784 engraving by Robert Pollard depicting Lady Harriet Acland on the Hudson River is inscribed as follows:
Lady Harriet Acland on the Hudson River, by Robert Pollard, 1784
Widowhood and death
editDuring the long period of her widowhood, 1778–1815, Lady Harriet remained at Pixton Park, building the lane now known as Lady Harriet Acland's Drive to connect to where her daughter, Elizabeth, the Countess of Carnarvon, lived near Wiveliscombe.
Lady Harriet rebuilt Tetton House in Somerset, where she died, aged 65.[12]
References
edit- ^ Courtney, William Prideaux (1885). . Dictionary of National Biography. Vol. 01. pp. 59–60.
- ^ "Lady Christian Henrietta Caroline Acland (née Fox-Strangways; 1750-1815), Diarist". National Portrait Gallery, London.
- ^ Stillwater, Mailing Address: 648 Route 32; Us, NY 12170 Phone:670-2985 Saratoga National Historical Park information desk available daily from 9am- 5pm Contact. "Saratoga Monument Virtual Tour part 6 - Saratoga National Historical Park (U.S. National Park Service)". www.nps.gov.
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: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link) - ^ Thorp, Jennifer (2004). "Acland [née Fox, Fox-Strangways], Lady Christian Henrietta Caroline [Harriet] (1750–1815), diarist". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (online ed.). Oxford University Press. doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/61. Retrieved 22 November 2023. (Subscription or UK public library membership required.)
- ^ Gilman, D. C.; Peck, H. T.; Colby, F. M., eds. (1905). "Acland, Christian Henrietta Caroline". New International Encyclopedia. Vol. 1 (1st ed.). New York: Dodd, Mead. p. 78. Retrieved 15 January 2013.
- ^ Thorp, Jennifer (2004). "Acland [née Fox, Fox-Strangways], Lady Christian Henrietta Caroline [Harriet] (1750–1815), diarist". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (online ed.). Oxford University Press. doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/61. Retrieved 22 November 2023. (Subscription or UK public library membership required.)
- ^ Acland, 1981, p.37; Vivian, Lt.Col. J.L., (Ed.) The Visitations of the County of Devon: Comprising the Heralds' Visitations of 1531, 1564 & 1620, Exeter, 1895, pedigree of Acland, p.5
- ^ Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). . Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 1 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. p. 149.
- ^ Thorp, Jennifer (2004). "Acland [née Fox, Fox-Strangways], Lady Christian Henrietta Caroline [Harriet] (1750–1815), diarist". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (online ed.). Oxford University Press. doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/61. Retrieved 22 November 2023. (Subscription or UK public library membership required.)
- ^ "Lady Harriet Acland". Morning Herald. 4 August 1815. p. 3. Retrieved 21 May 2023.
- ^ Acland, Harriet (1993). The Acland Journal: Lady Harriet Acland and the American War. Winchester: Hampshire County Council.
- ^ "Lady and Major Acland". The Magazine of American History with Notes and Queries. A. S. Barnes.: 51 1880. Retrieved 21 May 2023.
Additional sources
edit- Acland, Lady Harriet. The Acland Journal: Lady Harriet Acland and the American Revolution. Winchester, England: Hampshire County Council, 1993.
- Young Folks Cyclopedia, 1882
- Courtney, William Prideaux (1885). . In Stephen, Leslie (ed.). Dictionary of National Biography. Vol. 01. London: Smith, Elder & Co. pp. 59–60.
- Wilson, J. G.; Fiske, J., eds. (1900). . Appletons' Cyclopædia of American Biography. New York: D. Appleton.
- "Acland, Christian Henrietta Caroline". Encyclopædia Britannica Eleventh Edition. 1: 149. 1911. Wikidata Q84635219.
- Henry Gardiner Adams, ed. (1857). "Acland, Lady Harriet". A Cyclopaedia of Female Biography: 4–5. Wikidata Q115288963.