Social Victorians/People/Ashburton

Also Known As

• Family name: Baring
• Louisa Baring, Lady Ashburton
• Louisa Baring, the Right Honorable Lady Ashburton
• Frances Donnelly was also known as Frances Belmont.
• Baron Ashburton
  • Francis Denzil Edward Baring, 5th Baron Ashburton (18 July 1889 – 27 March 1938)
• Baroness Ashburton
  • Louisa Baring, Lady Ashburton (17 November 1858 – 25 July 1889)
  • Hon. Mabel Edith Hood (25 July 1889 – 18 January 1904)
  • Frances Donnelly (19 February 1906 – 27 March 1938)

Acquaintances, Friends and Enemies

Louisa Baring, Lady Ashburton

Friends

• Studied drawing with John Ruskin
• Thomas Carlyle
• Edwin Landseer
• Florence Nightingale
• Pauline, Lady Trevelyan
• Elizabeth Yorke Biddulph, widowed by Adeane, Constance Battersea's brother-in-law's sister
• Arnold Dolmetsch (benefactor of, at any rate)

Romantic Relationship

• Robert Browning
• Harriet Hosmer
• Margaret Trotter, Hon. Mary Baring's tutor

Organizations and Social Networks

• Louisa, Lady Ashburton was one of the centers of a community of lesbians, especially women in the arts.

Timeline

1858 November 17, Louisa Caroline Mackenzie and the widowed William Bingham Baring, 2nd Baron Ashburton married.

1889 July 25, Francis Baring and Hon. Mabel Hood married at St. George's Church, Hanover Square, London.

1892 April 5, Louisa, Lady Ashburton wrote Arnold Dolmetsch to thank him for performing with his "Consort of Viols" at Kent House, her home in Knightsbridge. (46).

1897 July 2, Friday, Lord (#376 in the list of people present) and Lady (#375) Ashburton attended the Duchess of Devonshire's fancy-dress ball at Devonshire House.

1906 February 19, Francis, Baron Ashburton and Frances Donnelly married.

Costume at the Duchess of Devonshire's 2 July 1897 Fancy-dress Ball

Mabel, Lady Ashburton

Mabel, Lady Ashburton in costume as Enid in Tennyson's King Arthur. ©National Portrait Gallery, London.

At the Duchess of Devonshire's fancy-dress ball, Lady Ashburton was dressed as Enid in the King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table procession.

Lafayette's portrait (left) of "Mabel Edith (née Hood), Lady Ashburton as Enid in Tennyson's 'King Arthur'" in costume is photogravure #126 in the album presented to the Duchess of Devonshire and now in the National Portrait Gallery. The printing on the portrait says, "Lady Ashburton as Enid in Tennyson's King Arthur."

Newspaper Reports

• Enid in the Round Table procession.
• "Lady Ashburton as Enid, in white embossed velvet, with a girdle of diamonds and a veil of white chiffon edged with silver embroidery."
• "Enid was personated by Lady Ashburton, in white cut velvet."
• This description accompanies a flattering line drawing of Lady Ashburton in costume (Numeral 7 below the drawing, top left, facing slightly to her left, face slightly to her right, dress similar to her costume, except for the braid, apparently signed by “Rook”): “Made by Mrs Mason, 4, New Burlington Street, W. … LADY ASHBURTON, Enid of the Round Table of Tennyson’s poem. — White cut velvet dress, embroidered silver veil, jewelled girdle.”

Commentary on Lady Ashburton's Costume

• The long braid over her right shoulder does not appear in the drawing of the costume in the Queen.
• The photograph appears to be altered to make her waist look smaller.

Francis Denzil Edward Baring, 5th Baron Ashburton as Geraint. ©National Portrait Gallery, London.

Crest of the Barons Ashburton

Francis, Lord Ashburton

Lord Ashburton was one of the knights of the Round Table:

• "Lord Ashburton, as a Knight of the Round Table, wore a Knight's tabard of white silk reaching to the knees, open at the sides to the hips. The long Knight's mantle, which extended from the shoulders to the ground, was of Royal Blue Sicilian silk, draped over the left shoulder, and fastened with a gold chain and clasp round the neck. On the left shoulder of the mantle was a large crest of Lord Ashburton. The Knight's helmet, of silver, was of Indian shape, with a chain mail hanging from the back and on to the shoulders, and bound with gold bars and a gold star in front."
• "Lord Ashburton (Knight of the Round Table), knight's tabard of white silk, beautifully embroidered on the neck, sleeves, and end of tabard with bars and pattern of fine gold; on the breast large crest; on skirt of tabard and above the embroidery three small crests; knight's mantle, royal blue Sicilian silk; on the left shoulder of mantle a large crest of Lord Ashburton, the reverse of that on tabard being a silver shield and a blue star; altogether a very magnificent dress."
• "white satin tabard, royal blue cloak embroidered in scarlet and gold over chain mail armour, with helmet, spurs, and two-handed sword complete, each with his own crest embroidered on his tabard."
• "Lord Ashburton, as one of the Knights of the Round Table, wore a magnificent dress, consisting of chain armour under a white satin tabard embroidered in gold, and his own coat of arms, a silver helmet, and a mantle of royal blue velvet, also embroidered."
• "Lord Ashburton was a magnificent Knight of the Round Table."
• "[T]he knights, in chain armour, white tabards richly broidered, crested helmets, and velvet mantles, were Lord Ashburton, Earl Rodney, Earl Bathurst, Sir Lister Kaye, and the Hon. G. Hood."

Lafayette's portrait of "Francis Denzil Edward Baring, 5th Baron Ashburton as Geraint" in costume is photogravure #127 in the album presented to the Duchess of Devonshire and now in the National Portrait Gallery. The printing on the portrait says, "Lord Ashburton as 'Geraint.'"

The crest of the Barons Ashburton was apparently on the left shoulder of the cloak.

Demographics

• Nationality: Baring, British; Donnelly, American; Louisa Baring, Lady Ashburton, Scottish

Residences

Louisa, Lady Ashburton

• Kent House, Knightsbridge (1892, probably before and after as well)

Family

• William Bingham Baring, 2nd Baron Ashburton (June 1799 – 23 March 1864)
• Lady Harriet Mary Montagu (14 May 1805 – 4 May 1857)
  1. Alexander Montagu Baring (10 November 1828 – 5 February 1830)
• Louisa Caroline Mackenzie (5 May 1827 – 2 February 1903)
  1. Hon. Mary Florence Baring (26 June 1860 – 1 June 1902)

• Francis Denzil Edward Baring, 5th Baron Ashburton (20 July 1866 – 27 March 1938)
• Hon. Mabel Edith Hood (26 May 1866 – 18 January 1904)

1. Hon. Venetia Marjorie Mabel Baring (30 Apr 1890 – 15 Jul 1937)
2. Hon. Aurea Versa Baring (11 August 1891 – 26 November 1975)
3. Hon. Angela Mildred Baring (9 December 1893 – 13 March 1995)
4. Hon. Violet Alma Madeline Baring (12 September 1895 – 18 July 1924)
5. Alexander Francis St. Vincent Baring, 6th Baron Ashburton (7 April 1898 – 12 June 1991)

• Frances Donnelly (1885 – 31 March 1959)

Relations

• Hon. Mary Florence Baring married William George Spencer Scott Compton, son of Admiral William Compton, 4th Marquess of Northampton, on 11 September 1897.
• Mabel Hood Baring was the eldest child and daughter of the 4th Viscount Hood of Whitley.

Notes and Questions

1. According to the Morning Post and the Gentlewoman, the Knights of the Round Table were George, Baron Rodney; Hon. R. Grosvenor; Seymour Henry Bathurst, 7th Earl Bathurst; and Hon. Grosvenor Hood. According to the Daily News, the Knights of the Table Round were "Lord Ashburton, Lord Rodney, Lord Bathurst, Lord Ampthill, and Lord Beauchamp." George, Baron Rodney was 40 at the time of the ball; Seymour Henry Bathurst, 7th Earl Bathurst was nearly 33; Hon. Grosvenor Hood was 29;  Lord Francis Ashburton was nearly 31; Lord Ampthill was 28; Lord Beauchamp was 25.
2. Francis Donnelly, who married Francis, Baron Ashburton in 1906, was one of the "Floradora sextet" in the New York production of the musical.

Bibliography

• Battersea, Constance. Reminiscences. London: Macmillan, 1923.
• Pope-Hennessy, James. Lord Crewe, 1858-1945, The Likeness of a Liberal. London, Constable [1955].
• Surtees, Virginia. The Ludovisi Goddess: The Life of Louisa Lady Ashburton. Salisbury, Wiltshire: M. Russell, 1984.
• Vicinus, Martha. Intimate Friends: Women Who Loved Women, 1778-1928. Chicago, Illinois: University of Chicago Press, 2004.