Lady Mary Wortley Montagu (1689-1762)
Lady Mary Wortley Montagu was a member of the English Aristocratic class and as a writer is remembered today primarily for her written letters. She was born on May 26th, 1689 in Thoresby Hall in England as an eldest daughter to Evelyn Pierrepont who was the 5th Earl of Kingston-upon-Hull and later Marquess of Dorchester and still later, Duke of Kingston-upon-Hull. Lady Mary's mother was a daughter of the 3rd Earl of Denbigh and sadly, she died while Lady Mary was still very young. She was baptised at Covent Garden.
Lady Mary proved to be an exceptionally witty and charming child and her father was greatly enamoured of her. Even as early as eight years old, Mary was reputedly very popular at the Kit-Kat Club. Pierrepont was however far less enthusiastic about Mary's (and in fact all his other children's) education and it was to the Bishop of Salisbury, Gilbert Burnet that fell the task of encouraging Mary in the pursuit of her self education.
Lady Mary established a few long lasting friendships when she grew older the most notable of which were with Mary Astell and Anne Wortley Montagu. Mary Astell was a fervent proponent of women's rights and Anne was the granddaughter of the 1st Earl of Sandwich. Anne's letters to Mary were actually written by her brother Edward and when Anne died in 1709, Mary and Edward continued their correspondence. The two subsequently planned to get married but Lady Mary's father who was now the Marquess of Dorchester dashed their plans. The Marquess instead insisted on another suitor for his daughter and in protest Edward and Mary eloped in 1712.
During the early part of their marriage, Mary spent most of her time in seclusion in the country. In 1715 however, Edward was made a Lord Commissioner of the Treasury (after having been a member of the Parliament representing Westminster) and Mary joined him in London where her charm and witty demeanour soon made her a popular figure in the court.
The following year saw Edward being assigned to Constantinople in the capacity of Ambassador and Mary travelled with him to Vienna and from there to Adrianople and finally to Constantinople. Although Edward's tenure there officially ended in 1717 the couple stayed there until 1718 and Mary wrote a series of graphically descriptive letters detailing her impressions of life in the East.
These letters came to be known as the Turkish Embassy Letters and to this day this collection is widely held to be the inspiration for the careers of many female travel writers. It is also widely considered an important touchstone for the study of Oriental art.
Lady Mary Wortley Montagu was a fervent campaigner against smallpox having lost her brother to the ravages of the disease. She herself bore the scars of smallpox and from the Ottoman Empire, she brought back to England the practice of inoculation against this deadly disease.
Unfortunately very little of Mary's work exists to this day although some were edited and compiled into The Best Letters of Mary Wortley Montagu published in 1901.
Lady Mary Wortley Montagu died in August 21st, 1762.
Original Authors: Doods Pangburn
Edit Update Authors: M.A.Harris
Updated On: 21/07/2008
