Diary of Lady Shelburne - 8th Post

This is the eighth blog post from the diary of Lady Shelburne. Here are links to the others: first, second, third, fourth , fifth, sixth, and seventh. As before, the entry comes from the Fitzmaurice biography: Life of William, Earl of Shelburne, Afterwards First Marquess of Lansdowne, by Lord Edmond Fitzmaurice (London, Macmillan and Co. 1912) 2 Volumes.

Sophia Carteret, Lady Shelburne writes:

Wednesday, January 21st, 1768. I went in the evening to Madame de Walderen's, where everybody was talking of Lady Newnham's accident on the Sunday evening in her chair going from the French Ambassador's, where I had seen her. She was pursued from Soho Square to the narrow passage by Conduit Street, by a man who ran against her chair and her servants, and was several times push'd by them, once so as to be thrown down. In the passage he attack'd her first footman and stabbed him in the breast; she found herself immediately set down and surrounded by a mob who took the man. She went directly to her father Lord Vernon's house, where was only one woman servant, and remain'd there in the greatest distress, till the wounded man could be carried home and properly assisted. The wound appears not to be mortal, and the man who gave it to be a Mr. Ross, an attorney in the City, of good character, but very much in liquor. Amongst the many greater blessings I have to be thankful for to Providence, I rank this escape as one subject more of gratitude, having very much the same route as Lady Newnham to take that evening, but leaving the French Ambassador's later.

Here is information on the people, places, and events in this entry.

Madame de Walderen is not identified. The name is Dutch, or possibly German.

Lady Newnham and Lord Vernon. Lady Newnham was Elizabeth Vernon, daughter of George Venables-Vernon, 1st Baron Vernon. In 1765 she had married George Simon Harcourt, the eldest son of the 1st Earl Harcourt, who was then Lord Newnham. She was 18 years old at the time of the attack.

Pursued from Soho Square to the narrow passage by Conduit Street. Here's a map showing Lady Newnham's probable route. Soho Square is off the bottom left corner. Her chair would have been pursued by Mr. Ross all along the blue line from lower left up to the end of Conduit Passage, where the line ends.


Since this map was made 50 years after Sophie wrote, it contains some landmarks, like the British Museum, that were not present in her time. {click to enlarge}

Mr. Ross is not identified.