Harriet Pelham-Holles, Duchess of Newcastle

Henrietta was the daughter of Francis Godolphin, 2nd Earl of Godolphin, and married Thomas Pelham-Holles, 1st Duke of Newcastle-upon-Tyne in 1717.

Harriet Pelham-Holles, Duchess of Newcastle-upon-Tyne (1701 – 17 July 1776) was the wife of the British statesman and Prime Minister Thomas Pelham-Holles, 1st Duke of Newcastle-upon-Tyne. She was the daughter of Francis Godolphin, 2nd Earl of Godolphin and the granddaughter of Sidney Godolphin, 1st Earl of Godolphin and John Churchill, 1st Duke of Marlborough. Until her marriage she was known as Lady Harriet Godolphin. Like her husband, she was a devoted Whig and supporter of the Hanoverian succession. They married in April 1717. During the 1720s, they became famous for throwing sumptuous parties, a tradition that continued for several decades. These were attended even by her husband's political opponents.

Bibliography

• Browning, Reed. The Duke of Newcastle. Yale University Press, 1975.
• Field, Ophelia. The Kit-Cat Club: Friends who Imagined a Nation. Harper Collins, 2008.