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( Lady Mary Wortley Montague)
The Lady Mary Wortley Montagu (born 26 May 1689 in Thoresby Hall, died 21 August 1762), was an English aristocrat and writer, chiefly remembered today for her letters. She was the daughter of Evelyn Pierrepont, who succeeded his brother as 5th Earl of Kingston-upon-Hull when she was aged one and was later created Marquess of Dorchester and then Duke of Kingston-upon-Hull, and was baptized at Covent Garden. Her mother, who died while Mary was still a child, was a daughter of the 3rd Earl of Denbigh. Her father was proud of her beauty and wit, and when she was eight years old she is said to have been the toast of the Kit-Cat Club. He took small pains with the education of his children, but Lady Mary was encouraged in her self-imposed studies by Gilbert Burnet, the Bishop of Salisbury. She formed a close friendship with Mary Astell, a champion of women's rights, and with Anne Wortley Montagu, granddaughter of the 1st Earl of Sandwich. With Anne, she carried on an animated correspondence. Anne's letters, however, were often copied from drafts written by her brother, Edward Wortley Montagu, and after Anne's death in 1709 the correspondence between Edward and Lady Mary continued without an intermediary. Lady Mary's father, now Marquess of Dorchester, rejected Wortley Montagu as a son-in-law because he refused to entail his estate on a possible heir. Negotiations were broken off, and when Lord Dorchester insisted on another marriage for his daughter, Edward and Mary eloped (1712). The early years of Lady Mary Wortley Montagu's married life were spent in seclusion in the country. Her husband was Member of Parliament for Westminster in 1715, and shortly afterwards was made a Lord Commissioner of the Treasury. When Lady Mary joined him in London her wit and beauty soon made her a prominent figure at court. Early in 1716 Wortley Montagu was appointed Ambassador at Istanbul. Lady Mary accompanied him to Vienna, and thence to Adrianople and Istanbul. He was recalled in 1717, but they remained at Istanbul until 1718. The story of this voyage and of her observations of Eastern life is told in the Turkish Embassy Letters, a series of lively letters full of graphic description; Letters is often credited as being an inspiration for subsequent female traveller/writers, as well as for much Orientalist art.
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