Charlotte Strutt, 1st Baroness Rayleigh
{{Short description|British peeress (1758–1836)}}
{{More citations needed|date=July 2018}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=December 2020}}
{{Infobox officeholder
| honorific_prefix = The Right Honourable
| name = The Baroness Rayleigh
| honorific_suffix =
| birth_name = Lady Charlotte Mary Gertrude FitzGerald
| birth_date = 29 May 1758
| birth_place =
| death_date = {{dda|1836|9|13|1758|5|29|df=y}}
| death_place = Bath, Somerset, England
| office = Baroness Rayleigh
| term_start = 18 July 1821
| term_end = 13 September 1836
| predecessor = New creation
| successor = John Strutt
| occupation = Peeress
| spouse = {{marriage|Joseph Strutt|1789}}
| children = 3
| parents = {{Plainlist|
| relatives = {{Plainlist|
- Charles Lennox, 2nd Duke of Richmond (maternal grandfather)
- Charles II of England (great-great-grandfather)}}
}}
Charlotte Mary Gertrude Strutt, 1st Baroness Rayleigh (29 May 1758 – 13 September 1836), known as Lady Charlotte FitzGerald from 1758 to 1789 and as Lady Charlotte Strutt from 1789 to 1821, was a British peeress.
Early life
Charlotte was the daughter of James FitzGerald, 1st Duke of Leinster, and his wife, Lady Emily, daughter of Charles Lennox, 2nd Duke of Richmond, and the second of the famous Lennox sisters. Lord Edward FitzGerald and Charles FitzGerald, 1st Baron Lecale, were her brothers. Through her mother she was a descendant of King Charles II.
Personal life
In Toulouse on 23 February 1789 Charlotte married Joseph Strutt, later Member of Parliament for Maldon and the member of an Essex family that had made their fortune from its milling business. The couple had three surviving children, a son, John (later the second Baron Rayleigh), and two daughters, including:
- Hon. Emily Anne Strutt (1790–1864), who died unmarried.
- John James Strutt, 2nd Baron Rayleigh (1796–1873), who married Clara Elizabeth La Touche Vicars, daughter of Capt. Richard Vicars, in 1842.
- Hon. Charlotte Olivia Strutt ({{circa|1798}}–1897), who married Rev. Robert Drummond, son of Adm. Sir Adam Drummond, 7th of Megginch and Lady Charlotte Murray (eldest daughter of the 4th Duke of Atholl), in 1841.{{cite book |last1=Morris |first1=Susan |title=Debrett's Peerage and Baronetage 2019 |date=20 April 2020 |publisher=eBook Partnership |isbn=978-1-9997670-5-1 |page=2664 |url=https://www.google.com/books/edition/Debrett_s_Peerage_and_Baronetage_2019/99tHEAAAQBAJ&pg=PA2664 |access-date=29 May 2024 |language=en}}
- William Henry Strutt (1800–1805), who died young.
Lady Rayleigh died in Bath in September 1836, aged 78, and was succeeded in the barony by her son, John. Joseph Strutt died in 1845.
=Peerage=
Her husband was offered a peerage for his services in the Army and Parliament but refused, and instead proposed that the honour be given to his wife. Hence, on 18 July 1821{{Cite web|url=http://www.historyofparliamentonline.org/volume/1790-1820/member/strutt-joseph-holden-1758-1845|title=STRUTT, Joseph Holden (1758-1845), of Terling Place, Witham, Essex. {{!}} History of Parliament Online|website=historyofparliamentonline.org|access-date=2018-01-04}} Charlotte was raised to the peerage as Baroness Rayleigh, of Terling Place in the County of Essex.
Notes
{{Reflist}}
References
- Kidd, Charles, Williamson, David (editors). Debrett's Peerage and Baronetage (1990 edition). New York: St Martin's Press, 1990, {{Page needed |date=February 2013}}
- {{Rayment|date=February 2012}}
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{{s-reg|uk}}
{{s-new|creation}}
{{s-ttl| title=Baroness Rayleigh| years= 1821–1836 }}
{{s-aft | after=John James Strutt }}
{{S-end}}
{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Rayleigh, Charlotte Strutt, 1st Baroness}}