Charlotte Fitzalan-Howard, Duchess of Norfolk

Charlotte Fitzalan-Howard
Duchess of Norfolk
Charlotte Sophia (1788-1870). (studio of Thomas Lawrence)
BornCharlotte Sophia Leveson-Gower
1788
Died7 July 1870
Noble familyLeveson-Gower (by birth)
Howard (by marriage)
Spouse(s)Henry Howard, 13th Duke of Norfolk
IssueHenry Fitzalan-Howard, 14th Duke of Norfolk
Edward Fitzalan-Howard, 1st Baron Howard of Glossop
Lady Mary Charlotte Howard
Lord Bernard Thomas Fitzalan-Howard
Lady Adeliza Matilda Fitzalan-Howard
FatherGeorge Leveson-Gower, 1st Duke of Sutherland
MotherElizabeth Leveson-Gower, Countess of Sutherland

Charlotte Sophia Fitzalan-Howard (née Leveson-Gower), Duchess of Norfolk (bapt. 9 July 1788 – 7 July 1870) was a daughter of the 1st Duke of Sutherland[1] and his wife, Elizabeth, suo jure Countess of Sutherland.

On 27 December 1814, she married Henry Charles Howard (b. 1791), the son and heir of Bernard Edward Howard, who was the heir presumptive to his childless and elderly cousin Charles Howard, 11th Duke of Norfolk. She became the Countess of Arundel and Surrey in 1815 when Bernard succeeded as 12th Duke, and upon the death of her husband's father in 1842, she became the Duchess of Norfolk. The couple later had five children:

Henry Charles Howard and his father were Roman Catholics, although his mother Lady Elizabeth Belasyse was Anglican. It is not clear if Howard was formally and nominally raised Anglican, or if he was already Catholic when he married into a prominent Whig (and therefore anti-Catholic) family. In 1829, after Catholic emancipation, the Earl of Surrey (as he now was) was elected a Member of Parliament.

One of the duchess's most accomplished works was a 166-piece collection of songs and piano pieces that she translated into five languages between 1811 and 1823. It includes works from composers such as Rousseau, Gay, Mozart, Arnold, Arne and Handel. The collection is currently held by Yale University.

  1. ^ Debrett, John (1878). Debrett's Illustrated Peerage and Baronetage, Titles of Courtesy and the Knightage. Kelly's Directories. p. 340. Retrieved 1 November 2024. Public Domain This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.