Charlotte Rich, Countess of Warwick

Charlotte Rich, Countess of Warwick (1680–1731), formerly Lady Charlotte Myddelton became Charlotte Addison, was an English noblewoman. She was the wife of Edward Rich, 6th Earl of Warwick. Her second husband was the satirist Joseph Addison.[1]

The Countess of Warwick by Godfrey Kneller

Charlotte Myddelton was the daughter of Sir Thomas Myddelton, 2nd Baronet, of Chirk Castle, and his wife Charlotte (died 1694), herself the daughter of Sir Orlando Bridgeman, 1st Baronet, of Great Lever. She married Edward Rich in February 1697, and he died in 1701.[2] Their only son was Edward Rich, 7th Earl of Warwick (1698–1721).

In 1716, she married Joseph Addison,[3] who shortly afterwards became Secretary of State for the Southern Department. They had one daughter, Charlotte (died 1797), who inherited their home at Bilton Hall. In a biography of Addison, Samuel Johnson claimed that his wife treated him like a slave.[4] Addison died in 1719.[5]

The dowager countess was buried on 12 July 1731, alongside her first husband, at St Mary Abbots, Kensington.[6] A portrait of her by Herman van der Myn, dating from around 1726, is held by the National Trust at Chirk Castle.[7]

References
  1. Julie Aronson; Marjorie E.; Cynthia Amnéus (2006). Perfect Likeness: European and American Portrait Miniatures from the Cincinnati Art Museum. Yale University Press. p. 163. ISBN 9780300115802.
  2. G.E. Cokayne; with Vicary Gibbs, H.A. Doubleday, Geoffrey H. White, Duncan Warrand and Lord Howard de Walden, editors, The Complete Peerage of England, Scotland, Ireland, Great Britain and the United Kingdom, Extant, Extinct or Dormant, new ed., 13 volumes in 14 (1910-1959; reprint in 6 volumes, Gloucester, U.K.: Alan Sutton Publishing, 2000), volume XII/2, page 417
  3. Charles James Ribton-Turner (1893). Shakespeare's Land: Being a Description of Central and Southern Warwickshire. F. Glover. p. 272.
  4. Hester Lynch Piozzi (1989). The Piozzi Letters: Correspondence of Hester Lynch Piozzi, 1784-1821. University of Delaware Press. p. 496.
  5. "Addison, Joseph" . Dictionary of National Biography. London: Smith, Elder & Co. 1885–1900.
  6. Daniel Lysons (1811). The Environs of London: Middlesex. T. Cadell and W. Davies. p. 531.
  7. "Charlotte Myddelton, Countess of Warwick (1680-1731)". National Trust Collections. Retrieved 21 July 2022.


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