Almeria Carpenter (1752 - 1809)

Ancestors

Descendants

Almeria Carpenter was a member of the aristocracy in British Isles.

Biography

Almeria Carpenter (1752-1809) was the eldest daughter of George Carpenter, first earl of Tyrconnel (1723–1762), and his wife, Frances Clifton (d. 1786). He was formerly Baron Carpenter of Killagly and had been MP for Taunton from 1754 to 1762.^[1]

Almeria became the mistress of Prince William Henry, Duke of Gloucester and Edinburgh, in the early 1780s. She was widely appreciated for her beauty and her disdain of convention, but it was also noted that she was not very clever. Despite this she lived with the Prince and his wife and it was Almeria who was the "ornament" and hostess at their house.

They had one daughter, Louisa Maria La Coast, who was brought up by Farley Edsir, Gloucester's steward who kept a dairy farm at Hampton Court, while her parents lived in Italy and Geneva during the 1780s. Louisa eloped in 1799 with Godfrey Macdonald, later third Baron Macdonald, though they were not legally married until 1803.

Lady Almeria Carpenter lived in the Duke's household until her death, 5 October 1809.

Sources

• Kilburn, Matthew. 2008 "Lady Almeria Carpenter" Oxford Dictionary of National Biography. 27 Aug. 2018.

• Uvedale Price (1747-1829): Decoding the Picturesque by C. Watkins, Ben Cowell, Boydell Press; 1 edition (June 21, 2012).

• Almeria Carpenter Wikipedia.

1. ↑ Uvedale Price, p. 36

Acknowledgments

Thanks to Eugene Quigley for starting this profile. Click the Changes tab for the details of contributions by Eugene and others.