Burdett-Coutts, THE RIGHT HON. ANGELA GEORGINA, BARONESS

Burdett-Coutts, THE RIGHT HON. ANGELA GEORGINA, BARONESS, daughter of Sir Francis Burdett, was born 21st April 1814. In 1837 she inherited much of the property of her grandfather, Thomas Coutts, the banker, on the death of his widow, Miss Mellon the actress once, now Duchess of St Albans. The liberal and philanthropic use she made of this wealth, in her efforts to mitigate the sufferings of her fellow-creatures and of the lower animals, has rendered her name well known and deservedly popular. Besides spending large sums of money in building and endowing several churches and schools, she endowed the three colonial bishoprics of Cape Town, Adelaide, and British Columbia, founded an establishment in South Australia for the improvement of the aborigines, got up the Turkish Compassionate Fund (1877), and established a fishery school at the Irish village of Baltimore (1887). In her zeal for the good of her own sex, she effected important reforms in the teaching of girls at the National Schools, and established a shelter and reformatory for fallen women. To the city of London she presented, besides several handsome fountains, the Columbia Market, Bethnal Green (1870), for the supply of fish in a poor district; she also built Columbia Square, consisting of model dwellings at low rents, for about 300 families; and the People's Palace owes much to her generosity. A lively interest in emigration led her from time to time to assist many poor families in their passage and outfit. Her private charities have been on a corresponding scale; and she is also a liberal patroness of art. In 1871 she accepted a peerage from government. In 1872 the freedom of the city of London was conferred upon her, in 1874 that also of Edinburgh. In 1881 she was married to Mr William Ashmead-Bartlett (born 1846), who in 1882 obtained the royal license to assume her name, and who, in 1885, was elected Conservative member for Westminster.