344:'She was much a friend of mine, but a later marriage, which she particularly disapproved, having flattered herself with the hopes of one just a step higher, has a little cooled our friendship. In short, though she is so greatly born, she has a frenzy for royalty, and will fall in love with and at the feet of the Great Duke and Duchess, especially the former, for next to being an empress herself, she adores the Empress Queen, or did—for perhaps that passion not being quite reciprocal, may have waned. However ... Lady Mary has a thousand virtues and good qualities: she is noble, generous, high-spirited, undauntable, is most friendly, sincere, affectionate, and above any mean action. She loves attention, and I wish you to pay it even for my sake, for I would do anything to serve her. I have often tried to laugh her out of her weakness, but as she is very serious, she is so in that, and if all the sovereigns in Europe combined to slight her, she still would put her trust in the next generation of princes. Her heart is excellent, and deserves and would become a crown, and that is the best of all excuses for desiring one.'
190:
201:
421:, in 1741. Her Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (DNB) entry states: "The journal ranges from banal descriptions of card games and weather to perceptive social observation and expressions of sincere affection, often closely and unselfconsciously juxtaposed. The personality which emerges from the whole combines elements of the mundane and the preposterous with the deeply sympathetic."
284:, in 1767, Lady Mary alleged in veiled hints that they had been secretly married, a claim that brought her further derision. He had been a subject of an intensely emotional and lengthy flirtation, which she alleged had been passionate on both sides. According to most accounts, the relationship had been one-sided, with York regarding it and her as a joke.
145:(6 February 1727 – 30 September 1811) was an English noblewoman known for her letters and private journal. She made pointed observations of people in her circle and political figures. Although not intended for publication, an edition of her letters and journal, including entries from 1766 to 1774, was published in 1889 by a distant great-nephew.
384:—and by that means he is to be of the opposition". She avidly collected political information, deploying it to protect herself, her friends and her family, and passing it on to her sisters in her journal. She was a frequent visitor to the Houses of Commons and Lords, witnessing political controversies such as
231:
Their families went to litigation, and eventually produced a settlement in 1750 whereby Lady Mary could live with her mother at
Sudbrook but had to remain married to Coke until his death, which came in 1753, when Mary was 26. Already having received a handsome legacy from her father, she set out on
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court. She alienated her friend on her third visit in 1773 by interfering in court intrigue. Mary, however, did not see that this predicament had been self-inflicted and from then on saw any disaster – servants' incompetence, unsuccessful auction bids, rheumatism – as part of a Maria
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in 1765 was dedicated to her), Walpole also believed that she had a lack of a sense of humour and pride in her own self-importance which made most of her misfortunes self-inflicted. He called her and two of her sisters
424:
She began writing it in August 1766 and stopped making regular additions in
January 1791, when Anne's husband died. The published edition includes entries only up to December 1774. (Her great-great-great-nephew
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Lady Mary is mainly known from her journal, never intended for publication and instead written for self-amusement and for the amusement of her sisters, most especially Anne (1719/20–1785), who had married
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309:) was accused by Mary of luring away her previously faithful servant whilst she was in Paris in 1775, to aid an alleged assassination plot against her by Maria Theresa's daughter
224:. Their courtship had been strained, and in retaliation Edward left her alone on their wedding night and from then on virtually imprisoned her at his family estate at
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426:
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Walpole to Horace Mann, 28 November 1773, The Yale edition of Horace
Walpole's correspondence, ed. W. S.Lewis and others, 48 vols.(1937–83), 23.530
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and in 1793, she purchased additional land at Sandy End, Chelsea. In 1807, she sold her
Chelsea estate and moved to her final home at
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228:, Norfolk with his parents. She reacted by refusing to have intercourse with him. She never used the title Viscountess Coke.
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edited this edition.) After 1791, Lady Mary continued to pass on her opinions to friends and relatives, such as her niece
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Jill
Rubenstein, 'Coke, Lady Mary (1727–1811)', Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, 2004
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376:'s political skill, in 1787: "As soon as ever any young man comes from abroad he is immediately invited to
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445:. Louisa Stuart in 1827 wrote an acerbic memoir of Lady Mary, which is another major source for her life.
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Lady Mary saw evidence of a conspiracy (this time a
Catholic one against the Protestant succession) in
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106:
536:"Landownership: Later estates Pages 123-145 A History of the County of Middlesex: Volume 12, Chelsea"
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had built it late in the 17th century and the house had been little altered since. She was buried in
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She bought Morton House, Chiswick four years before her death there in 1811. She appreciated that
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E. H. Chalus, 'Women in
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388:'s trial and the debate over the Cumberland election petition in 1768 (in which she backed
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puts it) "marked by gossip, travel, devotion to royalty, and self-imposed misadventure".
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commemorates her and other residents of the house. In 1786 she purchased a house in
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her life of independence (she never remarried), that became (as her entry in the
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It was the 1775 event which finally drove away another of Coke's close friends,
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Theresa-instigated plot pursuing her across Europe. Emily Barry (née
Stanhope,
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Holkham marble hall, the decorating wasn't finished until 1764 oversaw by her
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Some of her observations were more accurate, for example her praise of
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She was the fifth and youngest daughter of the soldier and politician
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On her first trip to Europe in 1770–71, Lady Mary became a friend of
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667:, January 2006 (subscription required) accessed 29 February 2008
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325:. Though devoted and mock-gallant in his flattery of her (his
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162:(1680–1743), and his second wife, Jane (c.1683–1767), a
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Writers from the London
Borough of Richmond upon Thames
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A Royal Affair: George III and his
Troublesome Siblings
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The Life of Anne Damer: Portrait of a Regency Artist
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455:Lady Mary Coke (1889). James Archibald Home (ed.).
492:"Survey of London: volume 37: Northern Kensington"
408:in her father's family vault on 11 October 1811.
186:in Argyll at least once and possibly more often.
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280:In her grandiose shows of grief on the death of
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458:The letters and journals of Lady Mary Coke
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561:Jonathan David Gross (18 November 2013).
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656:Oxford Dictionary of National Biography
651:Stuart, Lady Louisa (1757–1851), writer
121: 1747; died 1753)
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336:, and Lady Betty Mackenzie) the three
334:Caroline Townshend, Baroness Greenwich
282:Prince Edward, Duke of York and Albany
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437:'s daughter by her first marriage to
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96:Author, letter writer, journal writer
441:) and her first cousin once removed
178:or in London, visiting her father's
16:British noble and writer (1727–1811)
715:18th-century British letter writers
588:Stella Tillyard (7 December 2010).
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775:English people of Scottish descent
710:18th-century English women writers
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218:Thomas Coke, 1st Earl of Leicester
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567:. Lexington Books. pp. 19–.
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160:John Campbell, 2nd Duke of Argyll
133:John Campbell, 2nd Duke of Argyll
235:Dictionary of National Biography
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542:. Victoria County History, 2004
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212:She married on 1 April 1747,
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172:Caroline, Princess of Wales
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765:Daughters of British dukes
725:19th-century English women
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357:'s attempt to assassinate
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214:Edward Coke, Viscount Coke
107:Edward Coke, Viscount Coke
439:Francis, earl of Dalkeith
374:the Duchess of Devonshire
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494:. British History Online
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365:'s rumoured marriage to
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154:Marriage and separation
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760:British women diarists
540:British History Online
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328:The Castle of Otranto
303:Countess of Barrymore
294:Empress Maria Theresa
255:London County Council
253:from 1767 to 1788. A
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740:Women letter writers
618:and Walpole's niece
480:accessed 30 Nov 2015
427:James Archibald Home
313:and her underlings.
222:Lady Margaret Tufton
216:(1719–1753); son of
37:Lady Mary Coke, by
616:Duke of Gloucester
516:. English Heritage
443:Lady Louisa Stuart
431:Lady Frances Scott
355:Margaret Nicholson
349:Political observer
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174:. Mary grew up in
601:978-1-4090-1769-1
574:978-0-7391-6767-0
406:Westminster Abbey
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78:(1811-09-30)
39:Allan Ramsay
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750:Coke family
700:1811 deaths
695:1727 births
546:24 November
449:Publication
258:blue plaque
689:Categories
520:1 December
498:1 December
382:Chatsworth
359:George III
168:Queen Anne
53:either at
264:from the
245:, in the
196:, Norfolk
129:Parent(s)
87:, England
67:, England
59:or at 27
435:Caroline
298:Viennese
270:Chiswick
249:area of
176:Sudbrook
85:Chiswick
57:, Surrey
674:Sources
412:Journal
380:and to
317:Walpole
262:Chelsea
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220:and
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