Catherine or Katherine Tollemache, Countess of Sutherland (died 1705) was an English aristocrat. [1]
Catherine or Katherine Tollemache, Countess of Sutherland (died 1705) was an English aristocrat. [1]
She was a daughter of Lionel Tollemache (sometimes spelled "Talmash") and Elizabeth Murray. Her great-grandmother, Catherine Tollemache née Cromwell (died 1621), is known for her recipe books. [2]
Her mother, and her stepfather, John Maitland, 1st Duke of Lauderdale, came to Edinburgh in July 1677, with Catherine and her sister Elizabeth. Her mother hoped Catherine would marry a son of the Earl of Atholl. [3] However this plan came to nothing, and after making a marriage contract in December 1677, Catherine Tollemache married James Stuart or Stewart, Lord Doune. He was the eldest son of James Stuart, 4th Earl of Moray and Margaret Home, Countess of Moray. Lauderdale was Margaret Home's brother-in-law by his first marriage to Anne Home. Elizabeth Tollemache married Archibald Campbell, 1st Duke of Argyll. [4]
In Scotland, Catherine lived at Moray House in Edinburgh's Canongate, and at Castle Stuart near Ardersier. [5] She wrote letters to the steward of the Earl of Moray at Earlsmill near Darnaway Castle, which she signed with her initials "CD", as Catherine, Lady Doune.
In 1702, she commissioned silver gilt tableware from an Edinburgh goldsmith, Robert Bruce, including a dozen forks and knives, a comparatively early mention of forks (other than forks for dessert) in Britain. The bill was paid in 1706 by her second husband, John Gordon, 16th Earl of Sutherland. Their home was Dunrobin Castle. [6]
She died in 1705. [7] The Earl of Sutherland subsequently married Frances Hodgson (died 1732), a daughter of Thomas Hodgson of Bramwith Hall and former wife of Sir Thomas Travell. [8] [9]
An inventory of Ham House, the home of her mother, mentions a portrait of Katherine, Lady Doune, as the work of Lodewijk van der Helst, [10] and a portrait labelled "Lady Doune", possibly by John Weesop survives at Ham. [11] [12]
She was the mother of: [13]
James Stewart, 1st Earl of Moray was a member of the House of Stewart as the illegitimate son of King James V of Scotland. At times a supporter of his half-sister Mary, Queen of Scots, he was the regent of Scotland for his half-nephew, the infant King James VI, from 1567 until his assassination in 1570. He was the first head of government to be assassinated with a firearm.
The title Earl of Moray, Mormaer of Moray or King of Moray was originally held by the rulers of the Province of Moray, which existed from the 10th century with varying degrees of independence from the Kingdom of Alba to the south. Until 1130 the status of Moray's rulers was ambiguous and they were described in some sources as "mormaers", in others as "Kings of Moray", and in others as "Kings of Alba". The position was suppressed by David I of Scotland some time after his defeat of Óengus of Moray at the Battle of Stracathro in 1130, but was recreated as a feudal earldom by Robert the Bruce and granted to Thomas Randolph, 1st Earl of Moray in 1312.
Earl of Dysart is a title in the Peerage of Scotland. It was created by King Charles I in 1643 for William Murray and has been held continuously since then by his relatives.
Archibald Campbell, 1st Duke of Argyll, 10th Earl of Argyll was a Scottish peer.
John Gordon, 16th Earl of Sutherland (1661–1733) was a Scottish nobleman and army officer.
Ham House is a 17th-century house set in formal gardens on the bank of the River Thames in Ham, south of Richmond in the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames. The original house was completed in 1610 by Thomas Vavasour, an Elizabethan courtier and Knight Marshal to James I. It was then leased, and later bought, by William Murray, a close friend and supporter of Charles I. The English Civil War saw the house and much of the estate sequestrated, but Murray's wife Katherine regained them on payment of a fine. During the Protectorate his daughter Elizabeth, Countess of Dysart on her father's death in 1655, successfully navigated the prevailing anti-royalist sentiment and retained control of the estate.
James Stewart, 2nd Lord Doune, 2nd Earl of Moray was a Scottish nobleman, the son of James Stewart, 1st Lord Doune and Margaret Campbell. He was murdered by George Gordon, Earl of Huntly as the culmination of a vendetta. Known as the Bonnie Earl for his good looks, he became the subject of a popular ballad, "The Bonnie Earl of Moray".
Sir Lionel Tollemache, 3rd Baronet (1624–1669) of Helmingham Hall in Suffolk, was the head of a prominent East Anglian family. He was the son of Sir Lionel Tollemache, 2nd Baronet and Elizabeth Stanhope, daughter and heiress of John Stanhope, 1st Baron Stanhope of Harrington.
James Stuart, 4th Earl of Moray was a Scottish landowner.
James Stuart, 3rd Earl of Moray was the son of James Stewart, 2nd Earl of Moray and Elizabeth Stuart.
George Gordon, 2nd Earl of Huntly was a Scottish nobleman and Chancellor of Scotland from 1498 to 1501.
Elizabeth Maitland, Duchess of Lauderdale, 2nd Countess of Dysart, was a Scottish noblewoman. She was the eldest daughter of William Murray and his wife Catherine, the Earl and Countess of Dysart. She was raised in English court circles during the years leading up to the English Civil War and received a well-rounded education from her parents. Her first husband was Lionel Tollemache, with whom she had eleven children. In 1672, three years after Lionel's death, she married John Maitland and gained a prominent position in the restored court.
John Gordon, 11th Earl of Sutherland (1525–1567) was a Scottish magnate. John Gordon supported the chief of his family, his cousin the Earl of Huntly against the Earl of Moray. After Huntly's defeat at Corrichie, he went into exile, and shortly after his return to Scotland he was murdered by a kinswoman.
Louisa Manners Tollemache, 7th Countess of Dysart was a peer in the Scottish peerage in a flourishing family. Her father held considerable estates in England largely due to the two marriages of Elizabeth Maitland, Duchess of Lauderdale, earlier Tollemache, née Elizabeth Murray. Her elder brothers left no surviving issue on their deaths which enabled her to enjoy and help to pass on to her descendants the key family settlement properties: Helmingham Hall and Ham House in England.
Mary (Dudley) Sutton, Countess of Home (1586–1644), was a landowner, living in England and Scotland.
Simon Fraser, 6th Lord Lovat (1570–1633) was a Scottish courtier and landowner.
James Stewart, 1st Lord Doune (1529-1590) was a Scottish landowner.
Anne Home, Countess of Lauderdale (1612–1671) was a Scottish aristocrat.
Margaret Home, Countess of Moray was a Scottish aristocrat and compiler of recipe books.
Catherine Murray, Countess of Dysart was a Scottish noblewoman. She was wife of William Murray, 1st Earl of Dysart and mother of Elizabeth, Duchess of Lauderdale. She was responsible for the management of Ham House during the English Civil War, defending it from the encroachment of Parliamentary forces. She was portrayed by prominent artists such as Anthony van Dyck and John Hoskins.