Maria Beauclerk, Duchess of St Albans
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Maria Janetta Beauclerk, Duchess of St Albans (c. 1779 – 17 January 1822), formerly Maria Janetta Nelthorpe, was the second wife of William Beauclerk, 8th Duke of St Albans, and the mother of the 9th Duke.[1]
Maria was the only daughter of John Nelthorpe and his wife, the former Mary Cracroft, of Little Grimsby Hall. Nelthorpe had been High Sheriff of Lincolnshire in 1775,[2] and was related to the Nelthorpe baronets.
Maria married the future duke on 4 March 1799, at Little Grimsby, Lincolnshire, his first wife, Charlotte Thelwell, having died in October 1797, leaving no surviving children. Beauclerk inherited the dukedom in 1816, as a result of the death, in infancy, of his nephew, Aubrey Beauclerk, 7th Duke of Saint Albans.[3] His wife then became Duchess of St Albans.
The couple had thirteen children:
- Lady Maria Amelia Beauclerk (1800-1873), who died unmarried.
- William Beauclerk, 9th Duke of St Albans (1801-1849)
- Lady Charlotte Beauclerk (1802-1842), who died unmarried.
- Lady Caroline Janetta Beauclerk (1804-1862), who married Arthur Capell, 6th Earl of Essex and had children[4]
- Lord John Nelthorpe Beauclerk (1805-1810), who died in infancy
- Lady Louisa Georgiana Beauclerk (1806-1843), who married Thomas Hughan, and had children[5]
- Captain Lord Frederick Charles Peter Beauclerk (1808-1865), who married Jemima Johnstone and had children
- Lady Georgiana Beauclerk (1809-1880), who married Sir Montague Cholmeley, 2nd Baronet, and had children
- Lady Mary Noel Beauclerk (1810-1850), who married Thomas Corbett (Lincolnshire MP) and had children. Their descendants include Samantha Cameron, née Sheffield, wife of former British Prime Minister David Cameron.[6]
- Lord Henry Beauclerk (1812-1856), who died unmarried.
- Lord Charles Beauclerk (1813-1861), who married Laura Stopford and had children.
- Captain Lord Amelius Wentworth Beauclerk (1815-1879), who married Frances Harrison and had children.
- Lord George Augustus Beauclerk (1818-1880), who died unmarried.
The duchess died in London, and was outlived by her husband. Her brother, John Nelthorpe, had died in 1819.[7]