Henrietta Howard, Countess of Suffolk (1689–1767)

Henrietta Howard, née Hobart, was born in London, England, to Sir Henry Hobart, a Norfolk landowner and Member of Parliament, and his wife Elizabeth Maynard. She led a happy childhood at the family estate of Blickling Hall until her father was killed in a duel in when she was nine and her mother died when she was 12. Henrietta was left in charge of her numerous younger siblings and appealed for help from her mother's cousin, the Countess of Suffolk, who took them in. This brought Henrietta into contact with the Earl and Countess's youngest son, Charles, a former officer in the Dragoons. In 1707, when she was 16, they married and had one son. However, the marriage was unhappy and Charles Howard's violent behavior, drinking and gambling pulled them down into poverty. By 1713, Henrietta had come up with a plan: she decided to seek employment for herself and Charles in the court of the Electress Sophia of Hanover. The Electress Sophia, at the age of 84, was next in line to succeed the childless Queen Anne on the throne of England. Henrietta ingratiated herself with the Electress and her granddaughter Princess Caroline and was made a lady-in-waiting; she got her husband a job with the future King George I. After Sophia and then Queen Anne died in 1714, George became King of England and Henrietta and her husband returned to England and were given rooms in St. James Palace. She had become friendly with the new Prince of Wales, George Augustus as well as his wife Caroline, and she became his mistress. She had many friends and was admired for her lively wit. In 1723, the Prince made a settlement on Henrietta giving her financial independence in a way that could not be taken by her profligate husband. She built a house at Marble Hill
in Twickenham that still stands. The accession of the Prince as George II in 1727 gave Henrietta even greater prestige at court. In 1728, she was finally able to obtain a legal separation from Charles. He became Earl of Suffolk in 1731, making her Countess as they were still legally married. Queen Caroline appointed her Mistress of the Robes, an exalted position in the royal household. Her relationship with the king ended and her husband died, leaving her free to marry again. In 1735, she married George Berkeley, son of the 2nd Earl of Berkeley. She bought a new house in Savile Street (now Savile Row) and there and at Marble Hill House she entertained her circle of friends, such as Alexander Pope, John Gay, Jonathan Swift, Lord Chesterfield, and Horace Walpole.