by Susan Flantzer
© Unofficial Royalty 2018

Sir James Reid, 1st Baronet; Credit – Wikipedia

Sir James Reid, 1st Baronet served Queen Victoria as Resident Physician 1881 – 1889 and Physician-in-Ordinary 1889 – 1901. He also served King Edward VII and King George V as Physician-in-Ordinary.

Born in Ellon, Aberdeenshire, Scotland on October 23, 1849, Sir James Reid, 1st Baronet was the son of James Reid, the local doctor in Ellon, and Beatrice Peter whose father was the steward of the Earl of Kintore. Born and bred at The Chestnuts, which was to be his home for his entire life (although he was rarely there while serving Queen Victoria), young James observed his father at work as a country doctor, going out at all hours to treat people and sometimes animals.

Reid had one younger brother:

• John Peter Reid (1851 – 1916), married Mary Peter

Reid was first educated at the local school in Ellon and then at the Aberdeen Grammar School where he graduated in 1865 with the Gold Medal for being the best student. Reid wanted to be a doctor like his father but at sixteen he was too young to embark on that career so he enrolled in a liberal arts program at Aberdeen University. Three years later, he graduated, once again with the Gold Medal. Reid then enrolled in the medical school at the Aberdeen Royal Infirmary. He was again at the top of his class and won first prize in Botany, Chemistry, Materia Medica (now termed pharmacology), Anatomy, Zoology, Physiology, Surgery, Midwifery, and Medical Jurisprudence.

After graduating from medical school in 1872, Reid went to London and joined the practice of Dr. William Vacy Lyle in Paddington. He gained much experience there but became restless with his prospects. In 1874, Reid left Dr. Vacy Lyle’s practice for travel and study in continental Europe. He settled in Vienna, Austria where he studied with prestigious professors at the Vienna General Hospital. In 1877, Reid returned to Scotland to work with his father in his practice. He spent four years working with his father before reaching a turning point in 1881.

Queen Victoria was looking for a Resident Medical Attendant for herself and the royal household. The Queen required that the doctor be a Scotsman, preferably from Aberdeenshire where her beloved Balmoral, the home she had built with her late husband Prince Albert, was located. She further required that the doctor be highly qualified and fluent in German. The hiring was to be done via The Queen’s Commissioner at Balmoral and Reid’s maternal uncle the Reverend George Peters was one of the people approached for recommendations. Reid met with The Queen’s Commissioner in Aberdeen and then received notice that he was to meet with Queen Victoria at Balmoral.

On June 8, 1881, Reid went to Balmoral and met with Queen Victoria. After her meeting with Reid, she wrote in her journal: “8 June: Saw Dr. Reid from Ellon, who has the very highest testimonials, having taken very high honors at Aberdeen and studied for two years at Vienna; he also practiced a short time in London and is now helping his father at Ellon, who has been a doctor there for many years. He is willing to come for a time or permanently in Dr. Marshall’s place.”

However, Reid could not be hired without the approval of Sir William Jenner, Queen Victoria’s Physician-in- Ordinary. Jenner interviewed Reid in London on June 11, 1881, and Jenner gave his approval. On July 8, 1881, 31-year-old Dr. James Reid arrived at Windsor Castle to start a career that would only end with his death in 1923.

Over the years, Reid became not only Queen Victoria’s doctor but her adviser and confidant. Except when he was on leave, he was always at court and he always traveled with her in the United Kingdom and throughout Europe. On August 28, 1897, Reid was created 1st Baronet Reid of Ellon, Aberdeenshire, a Baronetcy that continues to this day.

As Reid was approaching the age of fifty, he still had not married. While serving Queen Victoria, he realized that if he were to serve The Queen successfully, there was no room for a wife. He had seen how the marriages of other male household staff had suffered. Reid always traveled with The Queen and only left the court to spend a few weeks with his mother in Ellon. After he received his Baronetcy, his social situation improved and his careful savings would enable him to furnish a country house for a wife.

Reid’s future wife is first mentioned in his diary on December 9, 1898: “…went to tea in Miss Bulteel’s rooms to meet Misses Baring, Ponsonby and Biddulph.” The Honorable Susan Baring, born in 1870, was the daughter of Edward Baring, 1st Baron Revelstoke, and had been appointed one of Queen Victoria’s Maids of Honor in 1898. At age 29, Susan’s marriage prospects were looking dim.

On July 24, 1899, during a bicycle ride at Osborne House on the Isle of Wight, 50-year-old Reid proposed to Susan and she consented. Reid and Susan knew Queen Victoria’s reaction would be problematic, and it was. The Queen regarded Reid as essential to her health and well-being. She had had his attention for nearly twenty years and was outraged that he felt the need to marry.

Harriet Phipps, Maid of Honor from 1862 – 1889 and Woman of the Bedchamber from 1889 until The Queen died in 1901, was the go-between for Reid and The Queen. Queen Victoria knew she could not prevent Reid and Susan from marrying but intended to exert as much control of the situation as she could. She insisted that nothing be said about the engagement. Reid and Susan enlisted Princess Helena, Queen Victoria’s daughter to help. A month later, the engagement still had not been announced. Queen Victoria dictated to Harriet Phipps a paper outlining all the conditions to be observed after the marriage.

Queen Victoria demanded that Reid continue to live at court except when he was on leave. He was to come to see her after breakfast, before luncheon, and before he went out in the afternoon. If Reid wanted to dine out, he had to ask The Queen’s permission and needed to return to court by 11 PM. Susan was not allowed in his rooms at Balmoral or Osborne House but could visit him occasionally in his rooms at Windsor Castle. Finally, on August 24, 1899, Queen Victoria consented to the announcement of the engagement.

Sir James Reid and The Honorable Susan Baring were married by Randall Davidson, Bishop of Winchester (later Archbishop of Canterbury) at St Paul’s Church in Knightsbridge, London on November 28, 1899. Three of Queen Victoria’s daughters Helena, Louise, and Beatrice attended the wedding as did many of the household staff and servants. Queen Victoria stayed at Windsor Castle. Almost immediately after the honeymoon began, Reid received a letter from Queen Victoria saying she was suffering from flatulence and indigestion, her shoulder hurt, her appetite was poor and the Boer War was causing her anxiety.

Reid and Susan had a happy marriage and had four children. Their eldest child Edward was the godson of King Edward VII. Whenever possible, they spent time at Reid’s birthplace The Chestnuts. Reid arranged for his father’s old house The Chestnuts and the house next door, called Cosy Neuk, to be joined together to make a larger home. The home has since been converted into an apartment hotel.

• Sir Edward James Reid, 2nd Baronet (1901 – 1972), married Tatiana Fenoult, had one son and one daughter
• Admiral Sir John Peter Lorne Reid (1903 – 1973), married Jean Dundas, had one son and one daughter
• Margaret Cecilia Reid (1904 – 1937), unmarried
• Victoria Susan Beatrice Reid (1908 – 1997), married Leonard St. Clare Ingrams, had four sons

Queen Victoria on her deathbed possibly by Sir Hubert von Herkomer bromide print, 1901 6 5/8 in. x 9 1/8 in. (169 mm x 232 mm) Purchased, 1992 Photographs Collection NPG x38281

The last service Reid did for Queen Victoria was to carry out her written instructions in the event of her death. Victoria had finalized the instructions in December 1897, and sealed them in an envelope marked “For my Dressers to be opened directly after my death and to be always taken and kept by the one who may be traveling with me.” Victoria had chosen Reid to be responsible for her body until her coffin was sealed. He was determined to follow Queen Victoria’s wishes precisely.

Selina Tuck, known as Mrs. Tuck, was Queen Victoria’s head dresser and she privately read to Reid Victoria’s instructions and the list of items she wished to be placed in her coffin. Included in the instructions were the orders that some of the items were not to be seen by family members. With no family members present, Reid, Mrs. Tuck, and the junior dressers prepared the coffin and then arranged the items Queen Victoria wished to be placed in the coffin.

The items included favorite shawls and embroidered handkerchiefs, specified photos of family, friends, and servants, an alabaster cast of Prince Albert’s hand and his dressing gown, a robe that Princess Alice had embroidered, and other mementos, both priceless and mere baubles. A quilted cushion was laid over these items. The family then came into the room and Queen Victoria’s body was placed in the coffin.

Reid asked the family to leave the room and then with the assistance of Mrs. Tuck and the junior dressers, he performed the request that Queen Victoria wanted to keep secret from her family. First, Reid placed Victoria’s wedding veil over her face and upper torso. He then covered with tissue paper a photograph of John Brown, the Scots ghillie who had become her personal attendant, and a lock of Brown’s hair in a case, and then placed them into the Queen’s left hand. He covered the two items with the flowers Queen Alexandra had placed in the coffin. The family then came into the room again for one last look before the coffin was sealed.

Sir James Reid, May 6, 1901; Credit – http://lafayette.org.uk/rei2677.html

King Edward VII did not have a resident physician but he gave Reid an annual pension for life of £1,000 and a sum of £210 per year to remain as Physician-in-Ordinary in a consultative capacity. Reid attended King Edward VII during his final illness in May 1910. He had been appointed Physician-in-Ordinary to King George V when he was Prince of Wales and continued to hold that position when George became King upon the death of his father in 1910. As he aged, Reid continued to serve King George V and his family, but more and more infrequently.

The wedding of Prince Albert, Duke of York (the future King George VI) and Lady Elizabeth Bowes-Lyon in April 1923 was the last royal event Reid attended. In May 1923, he had an acute attack of phlebitis from which he never recovered. Sir James Reid, 1st Baronet died on June 29, 1923, in London at the age of 73. He had a simple funeral in his hometown of Ellon, Aberdeenshire, Scotland, and was buried in the Ellon Cemetery. One of the wreaths was inscribed, “For our dear old friend, Sir James Reid, from Alexandra” was from Queen Alexandra, King Edward VII’s widow. Reid’s wife Susan survived her husband by 38 years, dying in 1961 at the age of 90.

Tomb of Sir James Reid and his wife Susan; Credit – https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/157701736/james-reid

This article is the intellectual property of Unofficial Royalty and is NOT TO BE COPIED, EDITED, OR POSTED IN ANY FORM ON ANOTHER WEBSITE under any circumstances. It is permissible to use a link that directs to Unofficial Royalty.

Recommended Book – Serving Queen Victoria: Life in the Royal Household by Kate Hubbard

Works Cited

• Baird, Julia. Victoria The Queen. Random House, 2016.
• Erickson, Carolly. Her Little Majesty: The Life of Queen Victoria.Simon and Schuster, 1997.
• Hubbard, Kate. Serving Victoria: Life In The Royal Household. Harper Collins Publishers, 2012.
• Packard, Jerrold M. Farewell In Splendor: The Passing Of Queen Victoria And Her Age. Dutton, 1995.
• Reid, Michaela. Ask Sir James. Viking, 1987.
• “Sir James Reid”. Thepeerage.Com, 2018, http://www.thepeerage.com/p5204.htm#i52035. Accessed 5 June 2018.

by Susan Flantzer
© Unofficial Royalty 2018

Sir William Jenner; Credit – Wikipedia

Sir William Jenner served Queen Victoria as Physician-in-Ordinary from 1861 – 1890.

Sir William Jenner was born on January 30, 1815, in Chatham, Kent, England. He was the fourth son of innkeeper John Jenner and his wife Elizabeth Terry.

In 1858, Jenner married Adela Lucy Leman, the daughter of Stephen Adey. Jenner and his wife had one daughter followed by five sons. It is interesting to note several names from Queen Victoria’s family among the names of Jenner’s sons.

• Lucy Adela Jenner (1859 – 1909), unmarried, participated in the Women’s Suffrage movement
• Sir Walter Kentish Jenner, 2nd Baronet (1860 – 1948), married Flora Alice Stewart, had children
• Sir Albert Victor Jenner, 3rd Baronet (1862 – 1954)
• Arthur Charles William Jenner (1864 – 1900), barrister
• Louis Leopold Charles Albert Jenner (1865 – 1904)
• Lieutenant-Colonel Leopold Christian Duncan Jenner (1869 – 1953), married Nora Helen Stewart

Before Jenner began his medical studies at University College London, he spent some time as an apprentice to a surgeon on Baker Street, near Regent’s Park in London. After receiving his medical degree in 1844, he set up his own general practice at 12 Albany Street, Regent’s Park in London. With a reputation for a kindly bedside manner and good medical knowledge, his medical practice prospered.

Initially interested in gynecology, Jenner soon began to take an interest in pathology, particularly in typhus and typhoid fever. In 1847, he began a detailed study of fever patients at the London Fever Hospital, scrutinizing more than 1,000 patients’ records. At that time, it was believed that typhus and typhoid fever were the same disease. Through his work, Jenner confirmed in 1849 that typhus and typhoid fever were two distinct diseases with very different causes. His work on the subject earned him an international reputation and made a huge impact on public health. Public health officials could now concentrate on getting rid of typhus by controlling the human flea population and on eradicating typhoid fever by devising methods to purify the water supply.

With the importance of Jenner’s pathology work, his career quickly progressed. He taught pathological anatomy at the University College of London and became a staff doctor at University College Hospital. In 1853, he was elected a fellow of the Royal College of Physicians. After the founding of the Hospital for Sick Children (now the Great Ormond Street Hospital) in 1852, Jenner became a resident doctor, one of only three permanent members of staff. While at the Hospital for Sick Children, Jenner wrote important studies on rickets and diphtheria, then a major cause of childhood deaths. In 1861, his fame reached Queen Victoria who appointed him her Physician-Extraordinary. At that time, Jenner gave up his post at Hospital for Sick Children.

In December 1861, Jenner was one of the doctors who attended Prince Albert, Queen Victoria’s husband during the attack of typhoid fever that eventually killed him. Although Jenner diagnosed Albert’s final illness as typhoid fever, Albert’s modern biographers have argued that the diagnosis is incorrect. Albert had been complaining of stomach pains for two years and this may indicate that he died of some chronic disease, perhaps Crohn’s disease, kidney failure, or cancer. Despite his failure to save Albert, Jenner made a favorable impression on Queen Victoria, who appointed him her Physician-In-Ordinary in 1862. A year later, he was appointed to the same position for The Prince of Wales (the future King Edward VII). Despite the differences in their backgrounds, Queen Victoria and Jenner became lifelong friends, and in 1868, she created Jenner a Baronet.

A caricature of Sir William Jenner which appeared in Vanity Fair, April 1873; Credit – Wikipedia

In 1871, Jenner attended The Prince of Wales while he was ill with typhoid fever. Despite death seeming imminent on the tenth anniversary of Prince Albert’s death, The Prince of Wales made a miraculous recovery. In December 1878, Jenner went to Darmstadt to attend Princess Alice, Grand Duchess of Hesse and by Rhine, Queen Victoria’s daughter who had become ill with diphtheria while nursing her family, also ill with the disease. Sadly, Alice died seventeen years to the day of her father’s death.

In 1890, Jenner was forced to retire from his position as Physician-In-Ordinary due to ill health. He went to live at his estate, Greenwood in Durley, Hampshire, England. It was there that he died on December 11, 1898, at the age of 83.

Sir William Jenner (1815–1898) (after Frank Holl) by Valentine Cameron Prinsep (1838–1904); Credit – Royal College of Physicians, London; http://www.artuk.org/artworks/sir-william-jenner-18151898-192436

This article is the intellectual property of Unofficial Royalty and is NOT TO BE COPIED, EDITED, OR POSTED IN ANY FORM ON ANOTHER WEBSITE under any circumstances. It is permissible to use a link that directs to Unofficial Royalty.

Recommended Book – Serving Queen Victoria: Life in the Royal Household by Kate Hubbard

Works Cited

• “A FAMOUS PHYSICIAN; Sir William Jenner And His Practice Among Royalties. CHARACTERISTIC ANECDOTES A Struggling Boyhood, Earnings Of $75,000 A Year, And A Lonely Death After A Life Among Palaces.”. Nytimes.Com, 1898, https://www.nytimes.com/1898/12/27/archives/a-famous-physician-sir-william-jenner-and-his-practice-among.html. Accessed 4 June 2018.
• “Past Presence – William Jenner”. Marylebonevillage.Com, https://www.marylebonevillage.com/marylebone-journal/past-presence-william-jenner. Accessed 4 June 2018.
• “Sir William Jenner, 1st Baronet”. En.Wikipedia.Org, 2018, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sir_William_Jenner,_1st_Baronet. Accessed 4 June 2018.
• “Sir William Jenner”. Ucl.Ac.Uk, http://www.ucl.ac.uk/ich/support-services/library/library-historical-collection-/publications/jenner. Accessed 4 June 2018.
• “The Dictionary Of National Biography, Supplement”. Google Books, https://books.google.com/books?id=7ikJAAAAIAAJ&pg=PA37&lpg=PA37&dq=sir+william+jenner+1st+baronet&source=bl&ots=ceDpDwA8Q8&sig=GKkhcaDtP8PPCJC7ij3Rncz9hzU&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwjExbm96qvbAhVhGDQIHa2QB3k4FBDoAQhDMAY#v=onepage&q=sir%20william%20jenner%201st%20baronet&f=false. Accessed 4 June 2018.
•  “THE QUEEN’s PHYSICIAN DEAD.; Sir William Jenner, The Noted Pathologist And Celebrated Doctor, Has Passed Away.”. Nytimes.Com, 1898, https://www.nytimes.com/1898/12/13/archives/the-queens-physician-dead-sir-william-jenner-the-noted-pathologist.html. Accessed 4 June 2018.

by Susan Flantzer © Unofficial Royalty 2018

John Brown, circa 1860s; Photo Credit – Wikipedia

John Brown served Queen Victoria of the United Kingdom as a ghillie at Balmoral (Scottish outdoor servant) from 1849 – 1861 and a personal attendant from 1861 – 1883.

Born on December 8, 1826, in Crathie, Aberdeenshire, Scotland, John Brown was the second of eleven children of Scottish tenant farmer John Brown and his wife Margaret Leys. In 1842, Brown started work as a farmhand and eventually became a stable boy at Balmoral. In Scotland, outdoor servants were called ghillies.

At that time Balmoral, owned by the Earl Fife, was leased to Sir Robert Gordon, a younger brother of George Hamilton-Gordon, 4th Earl of Aberdeen, who made major alterations to the original castle at Balmoral. Queen Victoria and Prince Albert decided they wanted a home in Scotland. When Sir Robert died in 1847, an arrangement was made for Prince Albert to acquire the remaining part of the lease on Balmoral, together with its furniture and staff, sight unseen.

The old Balmoral Castle; Credit – Wikipedia

Renovations were considered but by that time, negotiations were underway for Victoria and Albert to purchase Balmoral. In June 1852, the sale was complete with Prince Albert having purchased Balmoral for £32,000. Soon, Balmoral was too small for Victoria and Albert’s growing family, the staff, visiting friends, and official visitors. Construction on a new castle began during the summer of 1853. During the construction, the original castle could still be used. The new castle was completed in 1856 and the old castle was subsequently demolished.

The new Balmoral Castle; Photo Credit – By Stuart Yeates from Oxford, UK – Flickr, CC BY-SA 2.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=728182

Queen Victoria’s diary first mentions John Brown on September 8, 1849. She described a trip to Dhu Loch with ghillie John Brown, among others, accompanying her. From around 1851, John Brown became a permanent ghillie at Balmoral, often acting on behalf of Prince Albert, being responsible for the safety of Queen Victoria, or performing various outdoor tasks. Prince Albert enjoyed spending time with Brown and allowed him freedoms granted only to a very trusted servant. Three of Brown’s siblings also entered royal service. His brother Archibald Anderson “Archie” Brown, fifteen years younger than John, eventually became the personal valet of Victoria’s youngest son, Prince Leopold, Duke of Albany.

Princess Alice, Prince Leopold, Princess Louise, John Brown and Princess Helena at Balmoral in 1860; Credit – Wikipedia

Prince Albert’s untimely death in 1861 was a shock from which Queen Victoria never fully recovered. In 1864, Victoria’s personal physician Sir William Jenner ordered that she ride all winter. Victoria refused to be accompanied by a stranger so John Brown was summoned to Osborne House on the Isle of Wight with Victoria’s Highland pony. His duties soon encompassed more than leading a horse. Brown became known as “the Queen’s Highland Servant” who took his orders exclusively from the Queen. Victoria called him “the perfection of a servant for he thinks of everything.”

Queen Victoria on ‘Fyvie’ with John Brown at Balmoral, 1863;  Credit – Wikipedia

From then on, until his death nearly twenty years later, Brown was never far from Victoria’s side. There were rumors of a romance and a secret marriage, and Victoria was called Mrs. Brown. Brown treated the queen in a rough and familiar but kind manner, which she relished. In return, Brown was allowed many privileges which infuriated Victoria’s family. Victoria gave him gifts and created two medals for him:

• Victoria Devoted Service Medal, a gold medal inscribed “To John Brown, Esq., in recognition of his presence of mind and devotion at Buckingham Palace, February 29, 1872.”
• Faithful Servant Medal, a silver medal with bars denoting ten additional years of service.

John Brown took it upon himself the task of bringing bad news to the queen. It was Brown who brought Victoria the news that her daughter Alice had died on the same date as Albert’s death, seventeen years later. Victoria also sent him to inquire about the sick and dying. His presence was always a sign of the special and personal sympathy of Queen Victoria.

John Brown at Frogmore House, Home Park, Windsor by Carl Rudolph Sohn, 1883; Credit – Wikipedia

In March 1883, John Brown worked seven-day weeks despite fever and chills. On March 27, 1883, at Windsor Castle, 56-year-old John Brown fell into a coma and died. The cause of death was erysipelas, a streptococcal infection. Queen Victoria wrote in her diary that she was “terribly moved by the loss that robs me of a person who has served me with so much devotion and loyalty and has done so much for my personal well-being. With him, I lose not only one Servant, but a real friend. ”

John Brown was buried in the cemetery at Crathie Kirk near Balmoral, next to his parents and some of his siblings. The inscription on his gravestone shows the affection between him and Queen Victoria:

“This stone is erected in affectionate and grateful remembrance of John Brown the devoted and faithful personal attendant and beloved friend of Queen Victoria in whose service he had been for 34 years.

Born at Crathienaird 8th Decr. 1826 died at Windsor Castle 27th March 1883.

That Friend on whose fidelity you count/that Friend given to you by circumstances/over which you have no control/was God’s own gift.

Well done good and faithful servant/Thou hast been faithful over a few things,/I will make thee ruler over many things/Enter through into the joy of the Lord.”

John Brown’s grave; Photo Credit – www.findagrave.com

Queen Victoria ordered that Brown’s room in Windsor Castle where he had died, be left as it was during his lifetime, much like she had done with the room where Prince Albert had died.  The Queen also commissioned a statue of John Brown from Sir Joseph Boehm to be set up at Balmoral. The Times published an obituary of Brown which Queen Victoria had written herself. Victoria requested that upon her death a lock of John Brown’s hair, a photo of him, and his mother’s wedding ring were to be placed in her coffin. Her physician Sir James Reid did as she requested without the knowledge of her family.

Statue of John Brown, sculpted by Sir Joseph Boehm at Balmoral; Photo Credit – Wikipedia

Recommended Book – Serving Queen Victoria: Life in the Royal Household by Kate Hubbard

Works Cited

• Baird, Julia. Victoria The Queen. Random House, 2016.
• “Balmoral Castle”. En.Wikipedia.Org, 2018, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Balmoral_Castle. Accessed 29 May 2018.
• Erickson, Carolly. Her Little Majesty: The Life of Queen Victoria.Simon and Schuster, 1997.
• Hubbard, Kate. Serving Victoria: Life In The Royal Household. Harper Collins Publishers, 2012.
• “John Brown (Diener)”. De.Wikipedia.Org, 2018, https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Brown_(Diener). Accessed 29 May 2018.
•  “John Brown (Servant)”. En.Wikipedia.Org, 2018, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Brown_(servant). Accessed 29 May 2018.
• Williamson, David. Brewer’s British Royalty. Cassell, 1998.

This article is the intellectual property of Unofficial Royalty and is NOT TO BE COPIED, EDITED, OR POSTED IN ANY FORM ON ANOTHER WEBSITE under any circumstances. It is permissible to use a link that directs to Unofficial Royalty.

by Susan Flantzer
© Unofficial Royalty 2018

Lord Alfred Paget by Southwell Brothers, albumen carte-de-visite 1860s, NPG x46527  © National Portrait Gallery, London

Lord Alfred Paget served Queen Victoria as Chief Equerry and Clerk Marshal 1846 – 1858 and 1859-1874 and also as Clerk Marshal 1874 – 1888. Nearly everything about Lord Alfred in the series “Victoria” is incorrect.

Lord Alfred Henry Paget was born on June 29, 1816, in Cavendish Square, London. He was the fourth of the ten children and the second of the five sons of Field Marshal Henry Paget, 1st Marquess of Anglesey, the eldest son of Henry Paget, 1st Earl of Uxbridge, and his second wife Lady Charlotte Cadogan, daughter of Charles Cadogan, 1st Earl Cadogan, and Mary Churchill, a niece of John Churchill, 1st Duke of Marlborough.

In 1795, Alfred’s father Henry Paget first married Lady Caroline Villiers, daughter of George Villiers, 4th Earl of Jersey, and his wife Frances, one of King George IV’s mistresses when he was Prince of Wales. The couple had eight children who were Lord Alfred’s half-siblings.

In 1810, before Lord Alfred’s father Henry Paget was created 1st Marquess of Anglesey, he and his first wife Lady Caroline were divorced as a result of Henry’s affair with Lady Charlotte Wellesley (born Lady Charlotte Cadogan), who was married to Henry Wellesley, 1st Baron Cowley, the brother of Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington, the military hero who led the forces against Napoleon at the Battle of Waterloo. Charlotte’s brother Lieutenant-Colonel The Honorable Henry Cadogan challenged Paget to a duel, but neither was hurt. Caroline sued her husband for divorce and subsequently married George Campbell, 6th Duke of Argyll.

Lady Charlotte’s first husband divorced her on the grounds of her adultery with Henry Paget. In 1810, after the divorces, Charlotte and Henry Paget were married. In 1812, Henry became 2nd Earl of Uxbridge upon the death of his father. Henry was a prominent military commander who gained fame at the Battle of Waterloo, where he lost his leg. Henry was fitted with an artificial leg but his amputated leg was a tourist attraction in the village of Waterloo in Belgium before it was eventually buried there. On July 4, 1815, several weeks after the Battle of Waterloo, Henry was created Marquess of Anglesey.

Alfred had eight half-siblings from his father’s first marriage to Lady Caroline Villiers:

• Lady Caroline Paget (1796 – 1874), married Charles Gordon-Lennox, 5th Duke of Richmond,  had ten children including Lady Cecilia Gordon-Lennox who married Charles Bingham, 4th Earl of Lucan; they are ancestors of Diana, Princess of Wales
• Henry Paget, 2nd Marquess of Anglesey (1797 – 1869), married (1) Eleanora Campbell, granddaughter of John Campbell, 5th Duke of Argyll, had three children  (2) Henrietta Bagot, had four children
• Lady Jane Paget (1798 – 1876), married Francis Conyngham, 2nd Marquess Conyngham, had six children
• Lady Georgina Paget (1800 – 1875), married Edward Crofton, 2nd Baron Crofton, had five children
• Lady Augusta Paget (1802 – 1872), married Arthur Chichester, 1st Baron Templemore, had seven children
• Lord William Paget (1803 – 1873); married Frances de Rottenburg, had three children
• Lady Agnes Paget (1804 – 1845); married George Byng, 2nd Earl of Strafford, had six children
• Lord Arthur Paget (1805 – 1825)

Alfred had nine siblings:

• Lady Emily Paget (1810 – 1893), married John Townshend, 1st Earl Sydney, no children
• Admiral Lord Sir Clarence Paget (1811 – 1895), married Martha Stuart Otway, daughter of Admiral Sir Robert Otway, had three children
• Lady Mary Paget (1812 – 1859), married John Montagu, 7th Earl of Sandwich, had six children
• General Lord George Paget (1818 – 1880), married (1) Agnes Paget, his first cousin, daughter of The Honorable Sir Arthur Paget, had two children (2) Louisa Heneage, no children
• Lady Adelaide Paget (1820 – 1890), married The Honorable Frederick Cadogan, son of George Cadogan, 3rd Earl Cadogan, had four children
• Lord Albert Paget (1821 – 1822)
• Lord Albert Paget (born and died 1823)
• Lady Eleanor Paget (born and died 1825)

Lord Alfred’s family had several connections to royalty:

1st Marquess of Anglesey carried St Edward’s Crown at George IV’s coronation; Credit – Wikipedia

• Lord Alfred’s father Henry Paget, 1st Marquess of Anglesey served as Lord High Steward of England at the coronation of King George IV in 1821 and carried St. Edward’s Crown.

Victoria Regina: Queen Victoria receiving the news of her Accession by Henry Tamworth Wells, 1887. Lord Conyngham is on the left; Credit – The Royal Collection Trust

• Lord Alfred’s brother-in-law Francis Conyngham, 2nd Marquess Conyngham who married his half-sister Lady Jane Paget was a Page of Honor to the Prince Regent (later King George IV). He then served as a Groom of the Bedchamber and Master of the Robes during the reign of King George IV. In 1835, during the reign of King William IV, Lord Conyngham was appointed Lord Chamberlain, the most senior officer of the Royal Household of the United Kingdom. As Lord Chamberlain, Lord Conyngham and William Howley, Archbishop of Canterbury went to Kensington Palace at 5 AM on June 20, 1837, to inform Princess Victoria that her uncle King William IV had died and she was now Queen. Lord Conyngham was the first person to address her as “Your Majesty”.

Lord Alfred’s half-brother Henry Paget, 2nd Marquess of Anglesey; Credit – Wikipedia

• Lord Alfred’s half-brother Henry Paget, 2nd Marquess of Anglesey, then styled the Earl of Uxbridge, served as Lord Chamberlain after his brother-in-law Lord Conyngham, from 1839 – 1841.

Lord Alfred’s niece, Jane Spencer, Baroness Churchill; Credit – Wikipedia

• Lord Conyngham and his wife Lady Jane Paget, Lord Alfred’s half-sister, were the parents of Lady Jane Conyngham, Lord Alfred’s niece, who married Francis Spencer, 2nd Baron Churchill. As Jane Spencer, Baroness Churchill, she served as a Lady of the Bedchamber and a devoted friend and trusted advisor to Queen Victoria for forty-six years, from 1854 until she died in 1900, making her the longest-serving member of Queen Victoria’s household.

Queen Victoria Receiving the Sacrament at her Coronation by Charles Robert Leslie – Lady Adelaide Paget is among the young women wearing white dresses on the right. She is the in the second row, the far one with her head turned; Credit – Royal Collection Trust

• Lord Alfred’s sister Lady Adelaide Paget was one of the eight train-bearers at Queen Victoria’s coronation.

• Lord Alfred’s first cousin Matilda Paget (1811 – 1871) served as Maid of Honor to Queen Victoria from 1837 – 1842. Matilda never married.  Her father was The Honorable Berkeley Thomas Paget, brother of Lord Alfred’s father.

• Lord Alfred’s second but eldest surviving daughter Evelyn Cecilia Paget served as Maid of Honor to Queen Victoria from 1874 – 1894.  Evelyn never married.

Lord Alfred Henry Paget by Richard James Lane, after Alfred, Count D’Orsay, lithograph with some hand-colouring, (July 1841) NPG D46269 © National Portrait Gallery, London

Lord Alfred began his military career as a lieutenant in the Royal Horse Guards and in 1854 reached the rank of Lieutenant Colonel. Lord Alfred served as a Liberal Member of Parliament for Lichfield from 1837 until 1865, when he was defeated by the Conservative Richard Dyott.

Lord Alfred first served Queen Victoria as Chief Equerry.  Except for some brief periods, he remained in her service until he died in 1888. Queen Victoria was particularly endeared to Lord Alfred because as a new equerry, he wore her portrait on a chain around his neck and so did his Golden Retriever Mrs. Bumps. From July 1846 to March 1852, from December 1852 to March 1858, and from June 1859 to 1888, Alfred served Queen Victoria as Chief Equerry and Clerk Marshal. The offices of Chief Equerry and Clerk Marshal had been combined but in 1874, they were separated. From 1874 – 1888, Alfred was only Chief Marshal. An Equerry serves as an aide-de-camp, more or less a personal assistant. As Clerk Marshal, Alfred was responsible for paying the Royal Household officers and servants. He was also responsible for submitting the accounts of the Royal Household to the Board of Green Cloth which then audited them.

Lord Alfred Paget with his daughter Violet sitting on his knee, Gerald on the left, George on the right,  1859; Photo Credit – Royal Collection Trust

On April 8, 1847, at St. James’s Church in Piccadilly, London, Alfred married Cecilia Wyndham, co-heiress with her elder sister of George Thomas Wyndham. Alfred and Cecilia had fourteen children. Their first child was named Victoria Alexandrina after Queen Victoria.

• Victoria Alexandrina Paget (1848 – 1859), died in childhood
• Evelyn Cecilia Paget (1849 – 1904), Maid of Honor to Queen Victoria 1874 – 1894, unmarried
• General Sir Arthur Henry Fitzroy Paget (1851 – 1928), married American heiress Mary “Minnie” Stevens, had four children
• Admiral Sir Alfred Wyndham Paget (1852 – 1918), married Alpini Viti Macgregor, had one daughter
• Major George Thomas Cavendish Paget (1853 – 1939), married Dorothy St. Vincent Parker-Jervis, no children, divorced
• Captain Gerald Cecil Stewart Paget (1854 – 1913), married Lucy Annie Emily Gardner, had two daughters
• Violet Mary Paget (1856 – 1908), married Reverend Sholto Campbell, 2nd Baron Blythswood, no children
• Sydney Augustus Paget (1857 – 1916), married Mary Elizabeth Dolan, no children
• Amy Olivia Paget (1858 – 1948), unmarried
• Alberta Victoria Paget (1859 – 1945), unmarried
• Almeric Hugh Paget, 1st Baron Queenborough (1861 – 1949), married (1) American heiress Pauline Payne Whitney, had two daughters (2) American heiress Edith Starr Miller, had three daughters
• Alice Maud Paget (1862 – 1925), married Captain Claud Edward Stracey-Clitherow, no children
• Alexandra Harriet Paget (1863 – 1944), married Edward Colebrooke, 1st Baron Colebrooke, had three children
• Guinevere Eva Paget (1869 – 1894), married Reginald Charles Hart Dyke, had one son

Caricature of Lord Alfred Paget published in Vanity Fair in 1875; Credit – Wikipedia

Lord Alfred Paget died unexpectedly on his yacht off the coast of Inverness, Scotland on August 24, 1888, at the age of 72. He was buried at St, Mary’s Church, Hampton in Hampton, London Borough of Richmond upon Thames, England.

St. Mary’s Church, Hampton; Photo Credit – Wikipedia

This article is the intellectual property of Unofficial Royalty and is NOT TO BE COPIED, EDITED, OR POSTED IN ANY FORM ON ANOTHER WEBSITE under any circumstances. It is permissible to use a link that directs to Unofficial Royalty.

Recommended Book – Serving Queen Victoria: Life in the Royal Household by Kate Hubbard

Works Cited

• “Alfred Henry Paget”. It.Wikipedia.Org, 2018, https://it.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alfred_Henry_Paget. Accessed 28 May 2018.
• “Henry Paget, 1St Marquess Of Anglesey”. En.Wikipedia.Org, 2018, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henry_Paget,_1st_Marquess_of_Anglesey. Accessed 28 May 2018.
• Hubbard, Kate. Serving Victoria: Life In The Royal Household. Harper Collins Publishers, 2012.
• “Lord Alfred Paget”. En.Wikipedia.Org, 2018, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lord_Alfred_Paget. Accessed 28 May 2018.
• “Lord Alfred Paget”. Thepeerage.Com, 2018, http://www.thepeerage.com/p612.htm#i6117. Accessed 28 May 2018.

by Susan Flantzer
© Unofficial Royalty 2018

Charles Elmé Francatelli, drawn by Auguste Hervieu and engraved by Samuel Freeman, 1846; Credit – Wikipedia

Read about others who served Queen Victoria at Unofficial Royalty: Queen Victoria’s Inner Circle Index.

A thank you to Colin Smythe who emailed me in 2020 and shared his article on Charles Elmé Francatelli which helped me fill in some missing details.

Charles Elmé Francatelli served as maitre d’hôtel and chief cook in ordinary to Queen Victoria from 1840 – 1842. His story in the TV series Victoria is mostly fictional. He did marry (but not to Queen Victoria’s dresser) and had children.

Charles Elmé Francatelli was born in 1805 in London, England, the second son of Nicholas Francatelli, the first Francatelli to arrive in England. He was educated in France at the Parisian College of Cooking where he studied culinary arts with Antonin Carême, known as “The King of Chefs and the Chef of Kings.” When Francatelli returned to England, he became chef de cuisine (executive chef) to several members of the nobility. He became chef de cuisine at the St. James’s Club, popularly known as Crockford’s.

For two years only, from March 9, 1840 to March 31, 1842, Francatelli served as maitre d’hôtel and chief cook in ordinary to Queen Victoria. For some reason, he was dismissed, perhaps because Queen Victoria did not like his French cuisine, and he returned to Crockford’s. Francatelli did have one more royal client. From 1863 – 1865, he served as chef de cuisine to The Prince and Princess of Wales (the future King Edward VII and Queen Alexandra) at their London home, Marlborough House.

During his career, Francatelli was chef de cuisine at the Coventry House Club and the Reform Club. Afterward, he managed the St. James’s Hotel in Piccadilly, London, and finally the Freemasons’ Tavern, a position he held until shortly before his death.

Francatelli was a very successful cookbook author. In 1845, he published The Modern Cook which ran through twelve editions. His next book was The Cook’s Guide and Butler’s Assistant published in 1861. The same year, he published Plain Cookery Book for the Working Classes which contained practical information valuable to the less affluent people. In 1862, The Royal English and Foreign Confectionery Book was published.

Very little is known about Francatelli’s personal life. He did marry (but not to Queen Victoria’s dresser Marianne Skerrett as depicted in the television series Victoria) and have children. His first wife was named Elizabeth (circa 1807-1869, birth surname unknown). They had two children: Ernest (circa1835-1888) and Emily who was born about a year before Ernest.

After his first wife died, the 65-year-old Francatelli married again in 1870 to 25-year-old Elizabeth Cooke. They had a son named after his father, Charles Elmé Francatelli who was born in 1875, and two daughters who died in childhood: Violet (1872-1873), and Bessie (1874-1880).

Charles Elmé Francatelli died in Eastbourne, England on August 10, 1876, at the age of 71, leaving his widow with two young children. His widow Elizabeth Cooke died in 1882, leaving the only surviving child, his father’s namesake, as the guardian of her brother.

This article is the intellectual property of Unofficial Royalty and is NOT TO BE COPIED, EDITED, OR POSTED IN ANY FORM ON ANOTHER WEBSITE under any circumstances. It is permissible to use a link that directs to Unofficial Royalty.

Recommended Book – Serving Queen Victoria: Life in the Royal Household by Kate Hubbard

Works Cited

• “Charles Elmé Francatelli”. En.Wikipedia.Org, 2018, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_Elm%C3%A9_Francatelli. Accessed 27 May 2018.
• “Charles Elmé Francatelli”. It.Wikipedia.Org, 2018, https://it.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_Elm%C3%A9_Francatelli. Accessed 27 May 2018.
• “Francatelli, Charles Elmé (DNB00) – Wikisource, The Free Online Library”. En.Wikisource.Org, 2018, https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Francatelli,_Charles_Elm%C3%A9_(DNB00). Accessed 27 May 2018.
• Oulton, Randal. “Charles Elmé Francatelli”. Cooksinfo.Com, 2018, http://www.cooksinfo.com/charles-elme-francatelli. Accessed 27 May 2018.
• Smythe, Colin, 2014. Charles Elmé Francatelli, Crockford’s, And The Royal Connection – Colin Smythe. [online] Colin Smythe. Available at: <https://colinsmythe.co.uk/charles-elme-francatelli-crockfords-and-the-royal-connection/> [Accessed 4 July 2020].

by Susan Flantzer
© Unofficial Royalty 2018

Marianne Skerrett attributed to Dr. Ernest Becker, circa 1859; Credit – Royal Collection Trust

Marianne Skerrett was the Head Dresser and Wardrobe-Woman to Queen Victoria from 1837 to 1862. The depiction of Queen Victoria’s dresser in the television series Victoria is completely false and an insult to the real person.

Born in London, England on June 20, 1793, Marianne Skerrett was the daughter of a British Army officer who owned a plantation in Bermuda. Her uncle had been sub-treasurer to Queen Charlotte, Victoria’s paternal grandmother. Her great-grandfather William Popple had been a Governor of Bermuda. Marianne was born in 1793, so she was 44 years old when 18-year-old Victoria became queen. She was intelligent, extremely well-read, and fluent in Danish, French, and German. Recommended to Queen Victoria by Louisa Petty-FitzMaurice, Marchioness of Lansdowne, a Lady of the Bedchamber, Marianne became one of Queen Victoria’s two dressers in 1837 and eventually became head dresser.

As the head dresser, Marianne, who was called Skerrett by Queen Victoria, was responsible for Victoria’s wardrobe. She oversaw the ordering of Queen Victoria’s clothing, shoes, hats, gloves, and undergarments. In addition, Marianne kept the wardrobe accounts and was diligent in checking all the bills to ensure no one tried to cheat Victoria. She was also responsible for supervising the hairdressers, dressmakers, and seamstresses who kept the royal wardrobe in good repair.

Marianne and Victoria had a lot in common. They were both intelligent, loved animals, spoke several languages, read and discussed books, and shared an interest in paintings and painters. Victoria would come to rely on Marianne to help with the purchase of paintings and in corresponding with artists. After the departure in 1842 of Baroness Louise Lehzen, Victoria’s former governess and then advisor and companion, Marianne took on some of her duties, becoming somewhat of a secretary and doing whatever Victoria needed her to do.

After 25 years of serving Queen Victoria, Marianne retired in 1862 at the age of 69. She was anxious to return to the world beyond the palace walls. She wrote about her retirement, “This year I shall hope and trust to be able to say and do to a certain extent what I have so long been wanting to do…” Marianne received a pension of £70 and went to live with her sister in the Marylebone section of London.

Marianne Skerrett by Rosa Koberwein, 1880; Credit – Royal Collection Trust

Marianne Skerrett remained in contact with Queen Victoria, visiting her and writing to her, until her death at 41 Beaumont Street in Marylebone, London, England on July 29, 1887, at the age of 94. She bequeathed to Queen Victoria a painting by the British painter William Hogarth, The Popple and Ashley Families,  a colonial family in Bermuda, one of which had been Marianne’s grandmother (the child in the painting). The painting is currently in the Royal Collection.  Upon hearing that Marianne Skerrett had died Queen Victoria wrote in her journal: “She came to me at my accession, & was most useful at the head of my Wardrobe, ordering everything, looking over my bills, &c, & arranging with the different artists. She was quite a superior person, very clever, read enormously, had an intense passion for animals, & was a great friend of Landseer’s, & of many of the artists.”

The Popple and Ashley Families by William Hogarth; Credit – Royal Collection Trust

Read about others who served Queen Victoria at Unofficial Royalty: Queen Victoria’s Inner Circle Index.

This article is the intellectual property of Unofficial Royalty and is NOT TO BE COPIED, EDITED, OR POSTED IN ANY FORM ON ANOTHER WEBSITE under any circumstances. It is permissible to use a link that directs to Unofficial Royalty.

Recommended Book – Serving Queen Victoria: Life in the Royal Household by Kate Hubbard

Works Cited

• Baird, Julia. Victoria The Queen. Random House, 2016.
• Erickson, Carolly. Her Little Majesty: The Life of Queen Victoria.Simon and Schuster, 1997.
• Hubbard, Kate. Serving Victoria: Life In The Royal Household. Harper Collins Publishers, 2012.

by Susan Flantzer
© Unofficial Royalty 2018

Sir James Clark, 1st Baronet; Credit – Wikipedia

Sir James Clark served as Queen Victoria’s Physician-in-Ordinary from 1837 – 1860.

Sir James Clark was born on December 14, 1788, at Cullen House in Cullen, Banffshire, Scotland where his father David Clark, married to Isabella Scott, was the butler of James Ogilvy, 7th Earl of Findlater.  Clark started his education at the kirk (church) school in Cullen. When his parents moved to Kilnhillock, Clark attended the nearby Fordyce School, a prestigious grammar school in the village of Fordyce, Banffshire, Scotland. Clark intended to be a lawyer and enrolled at the University of Aberdeen. He worked for a short time as a lawyer before abandoning his law career and enrolling at the University of Edinburgh to study medicine and in 1809, Clark qualified as a member of the Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh.

After further medical training at the Royal Hospital Haslar in Hampshire, England, Clark began a career in the medical service of the Royal Navy during the Napoleonic Wars. While on board naval ships, he developed a life-long passion for meteorology and how the weather interacts with the human body. At the end of the wars, Clark enrolled in the University of Edinburgh and graduated with an M.D. degree in 1817.

In 1818, Clark offered to accompany a patient suffering from advanced tuberculosis to Italy. He settled in Rome in 1819, established a medical practice there, and treated many wealthy British expatriates. One of his patients was the poet John Keats who was quite ill. Clark concluded that his illness was a stomach ailment caused by stress and put Keats on a starvation diet and regularly bled him. Keats died after four months of treatment by Clark who has since been criticized for his failure to diagnose tuberculosis.

While serving in the Royal Navy, Clark had visited the home of the Reverend John Stephen in Nassau in the Bahamas. He fell in love with Rev. Stephen’s daughter Barbara. The couple married in 1820 and had one son John Forbes Clark. In 1826, Clark and his family moved to London where he set up a practice on George Street, Hanover Square.

During the summers, Clark acted as physician to Prince Leopold of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld (King Leopold I of the Belgians from 1831) as he traveled through the spa towns of Germany. Through this connection, in 1835, Clark was appointed physician to Leopold’s sister the Duchess of Kent (born Princess Victoria of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld), the widow of King George III’s son Prince Edward, Duke of Kent. The Duchess’ only child Princess Victoria of Kent was the heir to the British throne. Several months after she acceded to the throne in June 1837, Queen Victoria appointed Clark her Physician-in-Ordinary and created him Baronet of St. George’s Hanover Square, London.

Even though Clark treated renowned patients, his abilities as a medical doctor were doubtful. George Villiers, 4th Earl of Clarendon said he would not trust Clark to “attend a sick cat.” It seems his medical career owed more to his diplomatic treatment of his patients rather than his medical competence. There were several instances of his medical incompetence while he served as the royal Physician-in-Ordinary.

Lady Flora Hastings; Credit – Wikipedia

In 1839, Clark’s misdiagnosis and a desire to please Queen Victoria led the court into the Lady Flora Hastings scandal. Lady Flora, a lady-in-waiting to the Duchess of Kent, went to see Clark because of nausea, pain, and swelling in her lower abdomen and back. Clark was confused that Flora was still able to do her job if she was really ill.  He tried to examine her under her stays but Lady Flora refused. He then asked her if she was secretly married, intimating that she was pregnant, which Flora strongly denied. Clark insisted that Flora confess to save her reputation.  It appeared that Clark was ignorant of any condition other than pregnancy that could cause a distended stomach.  He prescribed rhubarb pills and a lotion to rub on her stomach. At that same time, some of the Queen’s ladies and Baroness Lehzen (Queen Victoria’s former governess) noticed that Lady Flora’s abdomen appeared swollen and rumors of pregnancy began swirling around the court.

Eventually, Lady Flora agreed to a doctor’s examination and Sir James Clark enlisted Sir Charles Clarke, a specialist in women’s health, to do the examination. A February 17, 1839 examination showed that Flora could not be pregnant because she was still a virgin. Queen Victoria apologized to Lady Flora and hoped that the situation was over but it was not. Despite the fact that the news about Flora’s innocence became public, rumors did not stop, and she still attracted attention with her growing belly. Lady Flora felt that she had to defend herself and published her version of events in the form of a letter that appeared in The Examiner, and blamed “a certain foreign lady” (Lehzen) for spreading the rumors.

In June, it became apparent that Lady Flora, still performing her duties at court, was mortally ill. On June 27, 1839, Queen Victoria visited Flora and was horrified by the changes in her appearance. Lady Flora died on July 5, 1839, at the age of 33. An autopsy carried out according to Lady Flora’s last wishes showed that she died from a cancerous liver tumor.

In the September 1839 issue of the medical journal The Lancet, Dr. John Fisher Murray wrote an article An Autopsy of a Court Doctor, describing several other diseases, the symptoms of which were shown in Lady Flora, which Sir James Clark did not take into account upon treating her. Even though Clark was considered incompetent, he remained in royal service.

Victoria, Princess Royal with her father Prince Albert, 1841; Credit – Wikipedia

In January 1842, Victoria, Princess Royal (Vicky), the 14-month-old eldest child of Queen Victoria and Prince Albert became ill and Clark was called in to examine her. Prince Albert had objected to Clark due to his terrible mishandling of the Lady Flora Hastings affair in 1839. Clark diagnosed Vicky’s illness as a minor ailment and, incorrectly as it turned out, prescribed calomel, a laxative, and then, a common medicine. Unknown at that time, calomel, which contained mercury chloride, was toxic. Vicky did not become better but rather became seriously ill. Albert confronted Victoria on the incompetence of the nursery staff. In a furious note to his wife, Albert wrote, “Dr. Clark has mismanaged the child and poisoned her with calomel and you have starved her. I shall have nothing more to do with it, take the child away and do as you like and if she dies you will have it on your conscience.” Vicky survived and Clark remained in royal service.

The last moments of HRH the Prince Consort, Photo Credit: Wellcome Library, London

Clark’s incompetence even occurred as Prince Albert was on his deathbed. In late November 1861, Albert complained of shoulder, leg, back, and stomach pain and could not eat or sleep. Clark had been in semi-retirement since 1860 and William Jenner had been appointed Physician-in-Ordinary in 1861. Both Clark and Jenner examined Albert and then assured Victoria that Albert would be better in two or three days. Lord Palmerston, the Prime Minister, had no faith in Clark and wanted other doctors called in. Queen Victoria refused to doubt Clark’s competence.

However, Albert’s condition continued to worsen. Knowing Clark’s nature to please his patients, it is possible that he decided to conceal the serious nature of Albert’s condition but he was also clearly incompetent. On December 9, 1861, Dr. Jenner, an expert on typhoid fever, finally said Albert had typhoid fever. Victoria continued to hope for a recovery and on December 11, she was finally told of Albert’s dismal prognosis. At 10:50 PM on December 14, 1861, Albert died in the presence of his wife and five of their nine children. Although Jenner diagnosed Albert’s final illness as typhoid fever, Albert’s modern biographers have argued that the diagnosis is incorrect. Albert had been complaining of stomach pains for two years and this may indicate that he died of some chronic disease, perhaps Crohn’s disease, kidney failure, or cancer. It is possible that Clark’s incompetence in the years preceding Albert’s death played a role in the failure of Albert’s health.

Sir James Clark, 1867; Photo Credit – Wikipedia

Clark retired to Bagshot Park, a house in Surrey, England granted to him by Queen Victoria. He died there on June 29, 1870, at the age of 81, and was buried at Kensal Green Cemetery in London.

This article is the intellectual property of Unofficial Royalty and is NOT TO BE COPIED, EDITED, OR POSTED IN ANY FORM ON ANOTHER WEBSITE under any circumstances. It is permissible to use a link that directs to Unofficial Royalty.

Recommended Book – Serving Queen Victoria: Life in the Royal Household by Kate Hubbard

Works Cited

• Baird, Julia. Victoria The Queen. Random House, 2016.
• http://history.furman.edu/benson/hst323/Sir_James_ClarkDNB.pdf. Accessed 16 May 2018.
• Hubbard, Kate. Serving Victoria: Life In The Royal Household. Harper Collins Publishers, 2012.
• “James Clark”. It.Wikipedia.Org, 2018, https://it.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_Clark. Accessed 16 May 2018.
• “Sir James Clark, 1st Baronet”. En.Wikipedia.Org, 2018, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sir_James_Clark,_1st_Baronet. Accessed 16 May 2018.

by Susan Flantzer
© Unofficial Royalty 2018

Christian Friedrich, Baron von Stockmar; Credit – Wikipedia

Christian Friedrich, Baron von Stockmar was an advisor to Queen Victoria and Prince Albert from 1837-1847.

Christian Friedrich Stockmar was the second of the four children of Johann Ernst Gotthelf Stockmar and his wife Johanna Christiane Sommer. In 1768, Ernst Friedrich Stockmar, grandfather of Christian Friedrich Stockmar, acquired a manor in Obersiemau close to Coburg, then in the Duchy of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld and now in Bavaria, Germany. That is where Christian Friedrich Stockmar was born on August 22, 1787, and where he grew up. The manor has remained in the possession of the Stockmar family to this day.

Stockmar attended the gymnasium (German high school) Casimirianum in Coburg, founded and named for Johann Casimir, Duke of Saxe-Coburg (1564-1633). The Casimirianum is still an operating school today.

Gymnasium Casimirianum in Coburg; Photo Credit – Wikipedia

From 1805 to 1810, Stockmar studied medicine at the Friedrich-Alexander-University in Erlangen (now in Nuremberg) and the Julius Maximilians University in Würzburg.  After passing his exams, Stockmar settled in Coburg and worked with his mother’s brother who was also a physician. In 1812, he became a government medical officer in Coburg and established a military hospital. In January 1814, Stockmar became a senior physician with the Duchy of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld military forces in the Napoleonic Wars against France.

Engraving of the wedding of Charlotte and Leopold in 1816; Credit – Wikipedia

In 1816, Prince Leopold of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld, the youngest sibling of Ernst I, Duke of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld, married Princess Charlotte of Wales, the only child of George, Prince of Wales (the future King George IV) and the only legitimate grandchild of King George III. Stockmar accompanied Prince Leopold to England as his personal physician and became his most influential advisor.

Princess Charlotte was second in the line of succession to the British throne and she would have succeeded her father, the future King George IV, as the queen but on November 6, 1817, a great tragedy struck the British Royal Family. After a labor of over 50 hours, Charlotte delivered a stillborn son. Several hours later, twenty-one-year-old Princess Charlotte died of postpartum hemorrhage. After Charlotte’s death, Leopold continued to live in England and Stockmar stayed in Leopold’s service as his private secretary, comptroller of the household, and political advisor.

On August 12, 1821, Stockmar married his cousin Fanny Sommer, a pharmacist’s daughter from Coburg. The couple had three children:

• Ernst Alfred Christian von Stockmar (1823-1886)
• Marie von Stockmar (1827-1856), married Hermann Hettner, a literary historian, and museum director, had three children
• Carl August von Stockmar (1838-1909) married Anna von Haynau, had seven children

Stockmar represented Prince Leopold at the London Conference on the Independence of Greece. At the conference, the Great Powers established a monarchy in Greece and Prince Leopold was their first choice to be king. Following Stockmar’s advice, Leopold refused because he considered the country too unstable, and Otto of Bavaria became King of Greece. On January 20, 1830, King Ludwig I of Bavaria created Stockmar a Baron.

King Leopold I of the Belgians; Credit – Wikipedia

In August 1830, the southern provinces (modern-day Belgium) of the Netherlands rebelled against Dutch rule. International powers meeting in London agreed to support the independence of Belgium, although the Dutch refused to recognize the new country. On April 22, 1831, Prince Leopold was asked by the Belgian National Congress if he wanted to be King of the Belgians. Leopold swore allegiance to the new Belgian constitution on July 21, 1831, and became the first King of the Belgians.

In 1831, Stockmar retired to his home at Coburg in order not to upset the Belgians by being a foreigner residing at the Belgian court in the capacity of confidential advisor to the king. However, Stockmar continued to be Leopold’s right-hand man. He had been in contact with the leading statesmen of Europe and his deep understanding of European social and political issues impressed all who were associated with him.

In 1837, 18-year-old Queen Victoria came to the British throne. Her mother was born Princess Victoria of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld, the sister of King Leopold I of the Belgians. After the death in 1820 of his sister’s husband, King George III’s son Prince Edward, Duke of Kent, Leopold provided much-needed financial and emotional support to his sister and niece. In 1837, King Leopold sent Stockmar to England as an advisor to his niece Queen Victoria. One of Stockmar’s assignments was to assess the distressing situation between Queen Victoria, her mother, her mother’s comptroller Sir John Conroy and Victoria’s former governess and now her unofficial “lady attendant” Baroness Louise Lehzen.

Stockmar also played the role of the Coburg matchmaker. In 1835, the first husband of Queen Maria II of Portugal died after only two months of marriage. King Leopold and Stockmar immediately saw an opportunity for a Coburg match. Through negotiations, Stockmar arranged for Leopold’s nephew Prince Ferdinand of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha to marry the widowed queen. The marriage was a happy one and the couple had eleven children.

However, the biggest match was yet to come. King Leopold had another nephew the same age as his niece Queen Victoria. Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha was the second of two sons of Ernst I, Duke of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, Leopold’s eldest brother. In 1836, the first cousins met for the first time when Albert and his elder brother Ernst (the future Ernst II, Duke of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha) were taken by their father on a visit to England. Seventeen-year-old Victoria seemed instantly infatuated with Albert. In 1838, Stockmar accompanied Prince Albert on his tour of Italy partly as a tutor but also intending to satisfy King Leopold and Victoria as to Albert’s fitness for the position already marked out for him in England. In October 1839, Albert and Ernst again visited England, staying at Windsor Castle with Victoria, who was now Queen. On October 15, 1839, the 20-year-old monarch summoned her cousin Albert and proposed to him.

On January 1, 1840, at the State Opening of Parliament, Queen Victoria announced her upcoming wedding. Several days later, Stockmar, as Prince Albert’s representative in London, negotiated the marriage contract with Foreign Minister Lord Palmerston, discussing details about Albert’s Protestant religion, his naturalization as a British subject, his rank, his powers, and his financial provisions. Albert and Victoria were married on February 10, 1840, and Stockmar left England for Coburg in early August. However, he returned in November for the birth of Albert and Victoria’s first child Victoria, Princess Royal. Stockmar had the complete confidence of Prince Albert and Queen Victoria, and he became their trusted, unofficial advisor, dividing his time between England and continental Europe. One of the first issues Stockmar worked on was making the royal household more efficient. This did not happen overnight but along with Prince Albert, Stockmar worked on developing a system for running the royal household. He was an early advisor to Queen Victoria on the subject of foreign relations.

Queen Victoria and Prince Albert at Windsor Castle with their eldest child Victoria, Princess Royal; Credit – Wikipedia

In January 1842, Victoria, Princess Royal (Vicky), the 14-month-old eldest child of Victoria and Albert became ill. Vicky’s illness was misdiagnosed as a minor ailment and she was prescribed calomel, a laxative and at that time, a common medicine. Unknown at that time, calomel, which contained mercury chloride, was toxic. Vicky did not become better but rather became seriously ill. Albert confronted Victoria on the incompetence of the nursery staff. There was a very heated quarrel, after which Albert declared that he would leave the affair in Victoria’s hands, and it would be on her head if Vicky died. Stockmar often acted as an intermediary between Albert and Victoria when they were quarreling and he did so in this matter. Vicky did survive and her parents turned to Stockmar for advice on the nursery staff.

In March 1842, Stockmar presented to Albert and Victoria a 32-page memorandum in which he stated that the head of the nursery staff must be someone who was “good and intelligent, experienced in the treatment of children, of kind and refined manners, conciliatory and at the same time firm of purpose.” He even had a person in mind, Sarah Lyttelton, Baroness Lyttelton, who was appointed the superintendent of the nursery. She was so beloved by the royal children that they continued to call her “Laddle” even when they were grown up. Stockmar went on to devise education plans for the two eldest royal children, Vicky and her brother Edward Albert, called Bertie, the Prince of Wales.

Since the winter of 1842, Stockmar lived alternately in England and Coburg. He returned to Coburg in 1847 and lived there on a more permanent basis. He remained Albert’s advisor via letters and Albert continually begged him to come to England. In 1848, Stockmar was appointed the ambassador of the Duchy of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha to the Parliament of the German Confederation.  He supported the unification of German states under Prussia and close relations between the German states and the United Kingdom.

Stockmar’s last residence – Webergasse 21 in Coburg; Photo Credit – Wikipedia

In 1856, Stockmar visited England for the last time and after 1857, he resided only in Coburg. However, he continued corresponding with the Belgian and British royal courts. In pursuit of his idea of a British-German alliance, he supported the marriage of Victoria, Princess Royal and Prince Friedrich of Prussia, the future Friedrich III, German Emperor and King of Prussia. Stockmar could not attend their wedding in early 1858 for health reasons. In 1860, Albert and Victoria visited him in Coburg. After Albert died in 1861, Victoria came alone in 1862 to visit Stockmar. Vicky and her husband, now Crown Prince and Crown Princess of Prussia, visited him frequently.

Christian Friedrich, Baron von Stockmar died in Coburg following a stroke on July 9, 1863, at the age of 75. He was buried in the simple Stockmar family tomb at Glockenberg Cemetery in Coburg, where the Saxe-Coburg and Gotha Ducal Mausoleum is also located. Later, Vicky and her husband erected a tomb for Stockmar in the Neo-Renaissance style. Queen Victoria, who died in 1901, had left a list of items to be buried with her, and among the many items on the list was a locket containing the hair of her trusted advisor, Christian Friedrich, Baron von Stockmar.

Tomb of Christian Friedrich, Baron von Stockmar; Photo Credit – Von Störfix – Selbst fotografiert, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=4010172

This article is the intellectual property of Unofficial Royalty and is NOT TO BE COPIED, EDITED, OR POSTED IN ANY FORM ON ANOTHER WEBSITE under any circumstances. It is permissible to use a link that directs to Unofficial Royalty.

Works Cited

• Baird, Julia. Victoria The Queen. Random House, 2016.
• Hubbard, Kate. Serving Victoria: Life In The Royal Household. Harper Collins Publishers, 2012.
• “Christian Friedrich Von Stockmar”. De.Wikipedia.Org, 2018, https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christian_Friedrich_von_Stockmar. Accessed 14 May 2018.
• “Christian Friedrich, Baron Stockmar”. En.Wikipedia.Org, 2018, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christian_Friedrich,_Baron_Stockmar. Accessed 14 May 2018.

by Susan Flantzer
© Unofficial Royalty 2018

Credit – Wikipedia

Lady Flora Hastings was a Lady-in-Waiting to The Duchess of Kent, Queen Victoria’s mother, from 1834 – 1839.

Lady Flora Elizabeth Rawdon-Hastings was born on February 11, 1806, in Edinburgh, Scotland, the eldest of the six children of Francis Rawdon-Hastings, 1st Marquess of Hastings and Flora Mure-Campbell, 6th Countess of Loudoun.  Lady Flora’s father served in the Irish House of Commons from 1781 – 1783 and was Governor-General of India from 1813 – 1823. He also served with British forces during the American Revolutionary War and the French Revolutionary Wars.

Lady Flora had five younger siblings:

• The Honorable Francis Rawdon-Hastings (born and died 1807)
• George Rawdon-Hastings, 2nd Marquess of Hastings (1808 – 1844), married Barbara Yelverton, 20th Baroness Grey de Ruthyn, had six children
• Lady Sophia Rawdon-Hastings (1809 – 1859), married John Crichton-Stuart, 2nd Marquess of Bute and had one child
• Lady Selina Rawdon-Hastings (1810 – 1867), married Charles Henry, no children
• Lady Adelaide Rawdon-Hastings (1812 – 1860), married Sir William Murray, 7th Baronet of Octertyre, no children

Flora spent most of her childhood at Loudoun Castle in Ayrshire, Scotland, the family estate of her mother, the 6th Countess of Loudoun in her own right. Then the family stayed for some time in London, where in 1834, Lady Flora was appointed to the position of the lady-in-waiting to the Duchess of Kent, the mother of the future Queen Victoria.

Flora was a talented, educated woman who wrote poetry and had a sharp, biting wit. Her talent for stinging remarks caused many people at court to dislike her including Baroness Louise Lehzen, the governess of the future Queen Victoria. As an ally of The Duchess of Kent and her Comptroller Sir John Conroy, Lady Flora participated in their Kensington System, a strict and elaborate set of rules to control and influence Princess Victoria.

After her accession to the throne in June 1837 and her subsequent move to Buckingham Palace, the 18-year-old Queen Victoria, being an unmarried woman, was forced to take her mother and her entire household with her. The Duchess of Kent tried to force Queen Victoria to appoint Lady Flora as one of the maids of honor. Victoria refused to do so, believing that any member of her mother’s household would act as a spy.

Portrait of Lady Flora from Pamphlet – Memoir of Lady Flora Hastings; Credit – Wikipedia

Lady Flora spent Christmas 1838 with her mother in Scotland and traveled back to London in a carriage with Sir John Conroy, unchaperoned, which caused some gossip at court. A short time after returning to London, Flora complained of nausea, pain, and swelling in her lower abdomen and back.

She told her complaints to Sir James Clark, Physician-in-Ordinary to Queen Victoria.  Clark was confused that Flora was still able to do her job if she was really ill.  He tried to examine her under her stays but Lady Flora refused. He then asked her if she was secretly married, intimating that she was pregnant, which Flora strongly denied. Clark insisted that Flora confess to save her reputation.

It appeared that Clark was ignorant of any condition other than pregnancy that could cause a distended stomach.  He prescribed rhubarb pills and a lotion to rub on her stomach. At that same time, some of the Queen’s ladies and Baroness Lehzen noticed that Lady Flora’s abdomen appeared swollen and rumors of pregnancy began swirling around the court.

When Lady Tavistock (later Duchess of Bedford), senior Lady of the Bedchamber, came back to court to serve, she found the other ladies all in a to-do over the situation. She decided to inform Lord Melbourne, the Prime Minister about the situation. Lord Melbourne advised a wait-and-see policy but he did consult with Sir James Clark who said there were reasons for suspicions that Lady Flora was pregnant.

By February 2, 1839, Queen Victoria was involved. On that day, she wrote in her diary that she and Lehzen believed Lady Flora “is – to use plain words – with child!” Suspicions were that Sir John Conroy was the father.

Eventually, Lady Flora agreed to a doctor’s examination and Sir James Clark enlisted Sir Charles Clarke, a specialist in women’s health, to do the examination. A February 17 examination showed that Flora could not be pregnant because she was still a virgin. Queen Victoria apologized to Lady Flora and hoped that the situation was over but it was not. Despite the fact that the news about Flora’s innocence became public, rumors did not stop, and she still attracted attention with her growing belly. Lady Flora felt that she had to defend herself and published her version of events in the form of a letter that appeared in The Examiner, and blamed “a certain foreign lady” (Lehzen) for spreading the rumors.

In June, it became apparent that Lady Flora, still performing her duties at court, was mortally ill. On June 27, 1839, Queen Victoria visited Flora and was horrified by the changes in her appearance. Lady Flora died on July 5, 1839, at the age of 33. An autopsy carried out according to Lady Flora’s last wishes showed that she died from a cancerous liver tumor. Lady Flora’s body was transported to Loudoun Castle where her funeral was attended by about 500 people. She was buried in the cemetery at Loudoun Kirk near Loudoun Castle in Scotland.

Grave of Lady Flora; Photo Credit – Wikipedia

Sir John Conroy and George Rawdon-Hastings, 2nd Marquess of Hastings, Flora’s brother, stirred up a press campaign against both Queen Victoria and Sir James Clark which attacked them for insulting and disgracing Lady Flora with false rumors. Some historians blame Queen Victoria for the heartless attitude and harassment of Flora. What happened to Lady Flora remained with Queen Victoria and she had nightmares about the situation for years. This horrible situation taught the young queen a valuable lesson – never listen to gossip and never humiliate others, especially in public.

In the September 1839 issue of the medical journal The Lancet, Dr. John Fisher Murray wrote an article An Autopsy of a Court Doctor, in which he described a number of other diseases, the symptoms of which were shown in Lady Flora, which Sir James Clark did not take into account upon treating her. Despite the fact that Clark was considered incompetent, he remained in royal service until his retirement in 1860.

A pamphlet cover published concerning the circumstances of the death of Lady Flora Hastings; Credit – Wikipedia

This article is the intellectual property of Unofficial Royalty and is NOT TO BE COPIED, EDITED, OR POSTED IN ANY FORM ON ANOTHER WEBSITE under any circumstances. It is permissible to use a link that directs to Unofficial Royalty.

Recommended Book – Serving Queen Victoria: Life in the Royal Household by Kate Hubbard

Works Cited

• Baird, Julia. Victoria The Queen. Random House, 2016.
• Hubbard, Kate. Serving Victoria: Life In The Royal Household. Harper Collins Publishers, 2012.
• “Lady Flora Hastings”. En.Wikipedia.Org, 2018, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lady_Flora_Hastings. Accessed 13 May 2018.
• https://ru.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D0%93%D0%B0%D1%81%D1%82%D0%B8%D0%BD%D0%B3%D1%81,_%D0%A4%D0%BB%D0%BE%D1%80%D0%B0