Author: Hamilton, Anne
Biography:
HAMILTON, Anne (1766-1846: ODNB)
She was born on 16 Mar. 1766, daughter of Archibald, ninth Duke of Hamilton, and his wife Harriet Stewart, daughter of the sixth Earl of Galloway. She never married but lived as a courtier, notably as lady-in-waiting to Caroline of Brunswick, the wife of the Prince of Wales, until the departure of the latter for the Continent in 1814. She remained loyal to Caroline and met her upon her return after the death of George III, supported her during the turmoil around the coronation, and accompanied her body to Brunswick for its interment in 1821. Her lively satire The Epics of the Ton, published anonymously, would have lent credence to the attribution of two later gossipy, scandalous publications to her, Deathbed Confessions of the late Countess of Guernsey (1823) and Secret History of the Court of England . . . (1832). Although she was not responsible for publishing either she does appear to have been the source of some of the materials in the Secret History, which she had entrusted to a friend, Olivia Wilmot Serres (q.v.). As a consequence of the last book, she left England for a time but returned and died at her home in Islington, London, on 10 Oct. 1846. She was buried in Kensal Green cemetery. (ODNB 16 Jan. 2022; WorldCat; ancestry.com 16 Jan. 2022; GM Nov. 1846, 552, and Dec. 1846, 661)
Other Names:
- Lady Anne Hamilton