Charlotte Bury



Lady Charlotte Susan Maria Bury (née Campbell; 28 January 1775 – 1 April 1861) was an English novelist, who is chiefly remembered in connection with a Diary illustrative of the Times of George IV (1838).

Life
Lady Charlotte Susan Maria Campbell was the daughter and the youngest child of Field Marshal John Campbell, 5th Duke of Argyll and Elizabeth Campbell, 1st Baroness Hamilton, second daughter of John Gunning, of Castle Coote, County Roscommon, and widow of James Hamilton, 6th Duke of Hamilton. She was born at Argyll House, Oxford Street, London. In her youth she was remarkable for her personal beauty, and the charm of her manners rendered her one of the most popular persons in society, while the sweetness and excellence of her character endeared her more especially to those who knew her in the intimacy of private life. She was always distinguished by her passion for the belles-lettres, and was accustomed to do the honours of Scotland to the literary celebrities of the day. It was at one of her parties that Sir Walter Scott became personally acquainted with Monk Lewis. When aged twenty-two she produced a volume of poems, to which, however, she did not affix her name.

She married on 14 June 1796 Colonel John Campbell (eldest son of Walter Campbell of Shawfield, by his first wife Eleanora Kerr), who, at the time of his decease in Edinburgh on 15 March 1809, was Member of Parliament for the Ayr Burghs. By this marriage she had nine children, of whom, however, only two survived her, Lady A. Lennox and Mrs. William Russell. Lady Charlotte Campbell married secondly, on 17 March 1818, the Reverend Edward John Bury (only son of Edward Bury of Taunton); they had two daughters. Bury received from University College, Oxford, his B.A. in 1811 and M.A. 1817. He assumed the position of rector in Litchfield, Hampshire, in 1814 and died at Ardenample Castle, Dumbartonshire, in May 1832, aged 42.

After Lady Charlotte had been widowed in 1809 she had been appointed Lady-in-Waiting in the household of the Princess of Wales, afterwards Queen Caroline, when it is believed that she kept a diary, in which she recorded the foibles and failings of the unfortunate princess and other members of the court.

After her marriage with Bury she was the author of various contributions to light literature; some of her novels were very popular, although now almost forgotten. When the Diary illustrative of the Times of George IV appeared in two volumes in 1838, it was thought to bear evidence of a familiarity with the scenes depicted which could only be attributed to Lady Charlotte. It was reviewed with much severity, and attributed to her ladyship by both the Edinburgh and Quarterly Reviews. The volumes, however, sold rapidly, and several editions were disposed of in a few weeks. The charge of the authorship was not at the time denied, and as no one has since arisen claiming to have written the diary the public libraries now catalogue the work under Lady Charlotte's name. Volume 3 of the Diary was discovered by William Michael Rossetti to contain an encounter with William Blake; a rare description of the poet and artist from a contemporary.

Lady Charlotte died at 91 Sloane Street, Chelsea, on 31 March 1861. The once celebrated beauty, the delight of the highest circles of London society, was curiously described in her death certificate at Somerset House as "daughter of a duke and wife of the Rev. E. J. Bury, holding no benefice.''

Works
The following is believed to be a complete list of Lady Charlotte's writings; many of them originally appeared without her name, but even at that time there does not seem to have been any secret as to the identity of the writer:


 * 1) Poems on several Occasions, by a Lady 1797
 * 2) Self-indulgence : a tale of the nineteenth century. 1812. 2 volumes.
 * 3) Conduct is fate. 1822. 3 volumes.
 * 4) Alla Giornata, or To the Day anonymous, 1826. 3 volumes.
 * 5) Flirtation anonymous, 1828, which went to three editions. 3 volumes.
 * 6) A Marriage in High Life [By the Hon. Caroline Lucy Lady Scott.]edited by the author of Flirtation, 1828. 2 volumes.
 * 7) The Exclusives. 1830. 3 volumes.
 * 8) Separation by the author of Flirtation, 1830. 3 volumes.
 * 9) Journal of the Heart edited by the author of Flirtation, 1830
 * 10) The three great sanctuaries of Tuscany, Valombrosa, Camaldoli, Laverna: : a poem, with historical and legendary notices, by the Right Honourable Lady Charlotte Bury. 1833
 * 11) The Disinherited and the Ensnared anonymous, 1834
 * 12) Journal of the Heart second series, edited by the author of Flirtation, 1835
 * 13) The Devoted by the author of The Disinherited, 1836
 * 14) Love anonymous, 1837; second edition 1860
 * 15) Memoirs of a Peeress, or the days of Fox by Mrs. C. F. Gore, edited by Lady C. Bury, 1837
 * 16) Ellen Glanville by a Lady of Rank, 1838, 2 vols. Attributed to Bury by the New York Public library, but the basis for the attribution is unclear.
 * 17) Diary illustrative of the Times of George the Fourth anonymous, 1838, 2 vols
 * 18) The Divorced by Lady C. S. M. Bury, 1837; another edition 1858
 * 19) " ''The History Of A Flirt. Related By Herself" anonymous 1840 (London) 3 vols.; 1841 (Phila.) 2 vols.
 * 20) Family Records, or the Two Sisters by Lady Charlotte Bury, Philadelphia: Lea & Blanchard, 1841, 2vols.
 * 21) The Manoeuvring Mother. By the author of "the History of a Flirt". 1842. London. 3 volumes.
 * 22) The Wilfulness of Woman. By the authoress of "The History of a Flirt". 1844. London : Henry Colburn. 3 volumes.
 * 23) The Roses. : By the author of "The history of a flirt." 1853. London : Hurst and Blackett, 3 volumes
 * 24) The lady of fashion / by the author of "The history of a flirt". 1856. London : Hurst and Blackett, 3 volumes
 * 25) The Two Baronets a novel of fashionable life, by the late Lady C. S. M. Bury, 1864.

She is also said to have been the writer of two volumes of prayers, Suspirium Sanctorum, which were dedicated to Samuel Goodenough, bishop of Carlisle.

Children


Children of Colonel John Campbell and Lady Charlotte:
 * Walter Frederick (1798–1855), MP for Argyllshire 1822–32 and 1835–41, and inheritor of the island of Islay
 * John George (1800–1830), married Ellen, daughter of Sir Fitzwilliam Barrington, 10th Baronet
 * Eliza Maria (1795-1842), palaeontologist, married Sir William Gordon-Cumming, 2nd Baronet
 * Eleanora (died 1828), married Henry, Earl of Uxbridge (alter (2nd Marquess of Anglesey)
 * Harriet Charlotte Beaujolais (died in Naples in February 1848), a minor author, married Charles, Lord Tullamore (later 2nd Earl of Charleville)
 * Emma, married William Russell, youngest son of Lord William Russell
 * Adelaide, married Lord Arthur Lennox
 * Julia, married Peter Langford-Brooke, of Mere Hall in Cheshire