Mary Bertie, Duchess of Ancaster and Kesteven

Mary Bertie
Mary Bertie, Duchess of Ancaster and Kesteven, by Thomas Hudson
Duchess consort of Ancaster and Kesteven
Tenure27 November 1750–12 August 1778
BornMary Panton
1730
DiedOctober 19, 1793(1793-10-19) (aged 62–63)
Italy
Noble familyPanton
Spouse(s)Peregrine Bertie, 3rd Duke of Ancaster and Kesteven
IssueLady Mary Catherine Bertie
Peregrine Thomas Bertie, Marquess of Lindsey
Robert Bertie, 4th Duke of Ancaster and Kesteven
Priscilla Bertie, 21st Baroness Willoughby de Eresby
Georgiana Cholmondeley, Marchioness of Cholmondeley
FatherThomas Panton
MotherPriscilla
OccupationMistress of the Robes to Charlotte of Mecklenburg-Strelitz

Mary Bertie, Duchess of Ancaster and Kesteven (1730–19 October 1793), formerly Mary Panton, was a British courtier.

She was the second wife of Peregrine Bertie, 3rd Duke of Ancaster and Kesteven. She was the daughter of Thomas Panton of Newmarket (1697–1782), who was an equerry to King George II and master of the Thurlow Hunt,[1] and his wife Priscilla (though she may have been illegitimate).

The duke's first wife, Elizabeth Blundell, died in 1743. Mary Panton married the duke on 27 November 1750. They had six children:[2]

Following her marriage to the duke, Mary Panton's father Thomas obtained the post of Master of the King's Running Horses,[3] and his son, also Thomas, later inherited this position.

In 1757, Sir Joshua Reynolds painted the couple, and another portrait by Reynolds of the duchess was painted between 1765 and 1771. A watercolour miniature, by John Smart, dating to 1763, is held by the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art.[4]

From 1761 to 1793, the duchess held the position of Mistress of the Robes to Charlotte of Mecklenburg-Strelitz, Queen Charlotte. On the birth of the future King William IV of the United Kingdom, the duchess recommended as wet-nurse a woman called Sarah Tuting, who was later acknowledged as her father's mistress.[3]

The duchess died in Italy.

  • Mary Bertie, Duchess of Ancaster and Kesteven, after Joshua Reynolds
    Mary Bertie, Duchess of Ancaster and Kesteven, after Joshua Reynolds

References

  1. ^ Allan Chilvers (September 2010). The Berties of Grimsthorpe Castle. AuthorHouse. pp. 181–. ISBN 978-1-4520-4327-2.
  2. ^ "Monumental Memoirs of the Bertie Family". The Gentleman's Magazine. 78: 21–22. 1808.
  3. ^ a b G.E. Cokayne; with Vicary Gibbs, H.A. Doubleday, Geoffrey H. White, Duncan Warrand and Lord Howard de Walden, editors, The Complete Peerage of England, Scotland, Ireland, Great Britain and the United Kingdom, Extant, Extinct or Dormant, new ed., 13 volumes in 14 (1910-1959; reprint in 6 volumes, Gloucester, U.K.: Alan Sutton Publishing, 2000), volume I, page 128.
  4. ^ "Mary Bertie, Duchess of Ancaster and Kesteven". Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art. Archived from the original on 11 January 2019. Retrieved 20 December 2017.
Court offices
Preceded by Mistress of the Robes to the Queen
1761–1793 		Succeeded by