Blennerhassett, Lady Charlotte Julie, 1843-1917 (Countess of Leyden, biographer)
Dates
- Existence: 1843 - 1917
Biography
Charlotte Julie von Leyden, born in Munich on 19 February 1843, was the daughter of Karl Joseph August, Count of Leyden (1806-1876) and Franziska Weling von Edler (1817-1898). She was privately educated in France. She married the Irish baronet and politician Sir Rowland Blennerhassett (1839-1909) on 9 June 1870. They had four children: Maria Carola Franciska Roselyne (b 1876), who married Baron Raphael d'Erlanger; Arthur Charles Francis Bernard (b 1871), who succeeded the baronetcy; Paul, who died in infancy (b 1878); William (b 1882), known as Willy. Charlotte Lady Blennerhassett was part of a circle of well-known Liberal Catholics; among her frequent correspondents were Felix Dupanloup (Bishop of Orleans), Alphonse Gratry, Ignaz von Dollinger, Franz Xaver Kraus and Lord Acton (John Dalberg-Acton). As a writer and historian, she contributed a number of essays, articles and book reviews to ‘Spectator’, ‘Fortnightly Review’ and ‘Nineteenth Century,’ mostly on nineteenth century Catholicism. She is known for her biographical studies of Madame de Staël, John Henry Newman, Marie Antoinette, Talleyrand, Mary Queen of Scots and Gabriele d’Annunzio. During the First World War she was living in Munich as a British citizen, unable to see her children. She died on 11 February 1917 at the age of 74.