Regency Personalities Series

In my attempts to provide us with the details of the Regency, today I continue with one of the many period notables.

Lady Augusta Murray

27 January 1768 – 5 March 1830

Augusta Murray

Lady Augusta Murray was the first wife of Prince Augustus Frederick, Duke of Sussex, the sixth son of George III. As their marriage was in contravention of the Royal Marriages Act 1772, it was considered legally void, and she could not be styled as the Duchess of Sussex.

Lady Augusta was born in London. Her father was John Murray, 4th Earl of Dunmore and her mother was Lady Charlotte Stewart daughter of Alexander Stewart, 6th Earl of Galloway. She was styled Lady Augusta Murray at birth, the courtesy title of a daughter of an Earl.

Lady Augusta secretly married Prince Augustus Frederick, sixth son of King George III, on 4 April 1793, in a Church of England ceremony in Hotel Sarmiento, Rome, Italy. They were later married again in a religious ceremony on 5 December 1793 in St George’s, Hanover Square, London, using their correct names but without revealing their full identities. So far as English law was concerned, both marriage ceremonies were in contravention of the Royal Marriages Act 1772 and were soon annulled. Lady Augusta could not take the style of Princess of Great Britain or of Her Royal Highness.

Together the couple had two children:

Augustus Frederick d’Este (13 January 1794 — 28 December 1848)

Augusta Emma d’Este, later Lady Truro (11 August 1801 – 21 May 1866)

Despite the annulment, Prince Augustus continued to live with Lady Augusta until 1801, when he received a parliamentary grant of £12,000. On 27 November 1801 the King his father created Prince Augustus Duke of Sussex, Earl of Inverness, and Baron Arklow in the Peerage of the United Kingdom and appointed him a Knight of the Garter .

After 1801, the couple went their separate ways. In 1806 Lady Augusta was given royal licence to use the surname De Ameland instead of Murray. Lady Augusta retained custody of the children and received a maintenance of £4,000 a year. She died in Ramsgate, Kent. After Lady Augusta’s death the Duke of Sussex married Lady Cecilia Underwood, and lived at Kensington Palace.