110 



biographical Memoirs of Eminent Persons* 



[JAN. 



from the theatres. She was born about the 

 year 1 789 ; and, having received a musical 

 education under Mr. Lanza, she sang with 

 much success at the Hanover-square and 

 Willis's Rooms' concerts. It is said that, 

 when at the age of seventeen, she made her 

 first appearance on the stage (October 8, 

 1 806), she had witnessed only five drama- 

 tic performances ; three during her child- 

 hood, and two in the winter of 1805. Mr. 

 Lanza introduced her to Mr. Kemble and 

 Mr. Harris ; and the character selected for 

 her dtbut was Polly, in the Beggar's Opera. 

 In this she was brilliantly successful ; the 

 piece was repeated many times during the 

 season; Love in a Village was revived, 

 specially .for the purpose of introducing her 

 to the public in that opera ; and, in many 

 other pieces, she was received with equal 

 favour. 



Miss Bolton retained her station with 

 eclat, for seven years ; when, after a court- 

 ship of some length, she was married to 

 Lord Thurlow, at" the church of St. Mar- 

 tin's in the Fields, on the \ 3th of Novem- 

 ber 1813. It has been stated that, previ- 

 ously to her marriage, she obtained from 

 Lord Thurlow an annuity for her father 

 and mother, to whom she was deeply and 

 affectionately attached. Lady Thurlow ap- 

 pears to have been one of the very few 

 actresses who, having by marriage been 

 elevated to the peerage, have proved them- 

 selves capable of sustaining a high charac- 

 ter in private equally as in public life. We 

 have never heard her mentioned but in 

 terms of respect as a pattern of conjugal 

 duty and domestic happiness. Her lady- 

 ship has left three sons ; of whom, Edward 

 Thomas, the eldest, succeeded to the family 

 title and estates, on the death of his father, 

 June 4, 1829. 



LORD BLAXTYRE. 



The Right Hon. Robert Walter Stewart, 

 Lord Blantyre, of the county of Lanark, 

 who accidentally lost his life during the 

 disorders at Brussels, in September last, 

 was of a branch of the ancient and noble 

 family of Stewart, or Stuart, Dukes of 

 Lenox. His lordship was a major-general 

 in the army, and a knight companion of the 

 order of the Bath. He was also lord-lieu- 

 tenant of the county of Renfrew. This no- 

 bleman was born on the 10th of June, 

 1775; and he succeeded his father, Alex- 

 ander, tenth Lord Blantyre, on the 5th of 

 November, 1783. His lordship was bred 

 to the army, into which he entered young. 

 He served in the Duke of York's expedi- 

 tion to Holland, in 1 799 ; in Egypt as aide- 

 de-camp to General Stuart, in 1801 ; in 

 the expedition to Pomerania and Zealand, 

 in 1807 ; and with the Duke of Wellington 

 in the Peninsular war, in 1809. 



Lord Blantyre married, on the 26th of 

 February, 1813, Frances, second daughter 

 of the Hon. John Rodney, of the Island of 

 Ceylon (son of Admiral Sir George, first 



Lord Rodney, K.B.), by his first wife, by 

 the Lady Catherine Nugent, sister of the 

 late Earl of Westmeath. A sister of Lady 

 Blantyre is married to the Hon. Major- 

 General Patrick Stewart, next brother to 

 her late husband. Lady Blantyre is also 

 half-sister to Lady George Lennox, and to 

 Miss Eliza Rodney. By this marriage 

 Lord Blantyre has left a son, George, his 

 successor, bom in 1818, and a family of 

 seven or eight other children. 



His lordship had been some time residing 

 at Brussels, where, from a local accident, he 

 was confined to his chamber. To obtain a 

 view of the proceedings of the mob in their 

 attack upon the town, he unfortunately 

 chanced to put his head out- of the window 

 of the hotel whence he had just before 

 removed a maid-servant and was instantly 

 shot. There does not, however, appear to 

 be any ground for the belief in the report 

 that he was the victim of assassination. 

 His lordship was a man of high reputation 

 of quiet, domestic habits, and was greatly 

 beloved. 



THE DUKE OF ATHOL. 



His Grace, John Murray, Duke, Marquis 

 and Earl of Athol ; Marquis and Earl of 

 Tullibardin ; Earl of Strathsay and Stra- 

 therdale ; Viscount Glenalmond, Balquhi- 

 c r ir, and Glenlyon ; Baron Murray, of Tul- 

 libardin ; Lord Belvemere and Gask, in 

 North Britain ; Earl Strange, Baron 

 Strange, and Baron Murray, of Stanley, in 

 the county of Gloucester, in the Peerage of 

 the United Kingdom ; K. T. ; F. R. S. ; 

 Lord Lieutenant and Hereditary Sheriff of 

 the county of Perth ; Captain-General and 

 Governor of the Isle of Man ; was the Re- 

 presentative of the family of Murray, which 

 derives its origin from John de Moravia, 

 Sheriff of Perthshire in the year 1219. 

 William, grandson of John de Moravia, 

 was one of the Magnates Scotice sum- 

 moned to Berwick by King Edward I., in 

 1292 ; and, by marriage with Ann, daughter 

 of Malin, Seneschal of Strathan, he acquired 

 the lands of Tullibardin, of which his des- 

 cendants were nominated Barons. In 1736 

 the absolute sovereignty of the Isle of Man 

 devolved upon James, second Duke of 

 Athol, as the heir of the Stanley family, 

 to which it had been granted by King 

 Henry IV. in 1406. By his nephew and 

 successor, John, third Duke of Athol, and 

 father of the late Duke, to whom this no- 

 tice refers, the sovereignty of the Isle of 

 Man was transferred to the British govern- 

 ment for the sum of 70,000 ; the family, 

 however, reserving their landed interest, 

 with the patronage of the bishopric, and 

 other ecclesiastical benefices, on payment of 

 the annual sum of 101. 15s. lid. and 

 rendering two falcons to the Kings and 

 Queens of England upon the days of their 

 coronation. 



His Grace, the late Duke, was born on 

 the 30th of June, 1755 ; he succeeded to 



