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Julia Reynolds-Moreton, Countess of Ducie

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Julia Reynolds-Moreton, Countess of Ducie (7 October 1829 – 3 February 1895), formerly Julia Langston, was an English noblewoman, the wife of Henry Reynolds-Moreton, 3rd Earl of Ducie.

She was the daughter of James Langston, MP, of Chipping Norton, by his wife, the former Lady Julia Moreton; the latter was the daughter of Thomas Reynolds-Moreton, 1st Earl of Ducie, and her daughter was thus the first cousin of the future earl,[1] whom she married on 24 May 1849. They had two children:[1]

At the time of their marriage, the future countess held the courtesy title of Lady Moreton. Her husband succeeded to the earldom in 1853, as a result of which she became a countess.

The countess was a member of the Ladies' Diocesan Association, well known for its philanthropic efforts.[3] Following the death of her father in 1863, she erected a memorial fountain at the parish church of All Saints in Churchill, Oxfordshire; Nikolaus Pevsner later called it "memorably ugly".[4]

In 1872, a court case arose from the countess's inheritance, when another trustee took the earl to the Court of Chancery, contesting the countess's rights following her mother's death; the court found in her favour.[5]

she was part of the first council of Clifton High School, Bristol

She died at Nice, France, aged 68,[6] and is buried at St Leonard's Church, Tortworth, where her memorial, in the form of a canopied seat, can still be seen.[7][8] After the death of the countess, the Earl of Ducie remained a widower until his death at the age of 94, when his titles passed to his younger brother, Berkeley Moreton, 4th Earl of Ducie.

References

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  1. ^ a b Edmund Lodge (1858). The Peerage of the British Empire. p. 194.
  2. ^ "Ducie, Earl of (UK, 1837)". Cracrofts Peerage. Retrieved 1 February 2020.
  3. ^ Andrea Geddes Poole (1 January 2014). Philanthropy and the Construction of Victorian Women's Citizenship: Lady Frederick Cavendish and Miss Emma Cons. University of Toronto Press. p. 66. ISBN 978-1-4426-4231-7.
  4. ^ Nikolaus Pevsner (1974). The Buildings of England: Oxfordshire. Penguin Books. p. 545.
  5. ^ The Weekly Reporter. Wildy & Sons. 1872. p. 228.
  6. ^ Edmund Burke (1896). The Annual Register of World Events: A Review of the Year. Longmans, Green. p. 151.
  7. ^ William James Robinson (1916). West Country Churches. Bristol Times and Mirror. pp. 48–49.
  8. ^ "Parish Church of St Leonard". British Listed Buildings. Retrieved 1 February 2020.