Selina Bridgeman
Born17 February 1819 Edit this on Wikidata
London Edit this on Wikidata
Died25 November 1894 Edit this on Wikidata (aged 75)
Weston Park Edit this on Wikidata

Selina Louisa Bridgeman, Countess of Bradford born Selina Louise Weld-Forester (1819–1894) was a British peeress. Prime minister Benjamin Disraeli was her admirer and he wrote her over 1,000 letters.

Life

Bridgeman was born in 1819.[1] Her maternal grandfather was the Duke of Rutland and her mother was Lady Katherine Manners. Her father was Cecil, first Baron Forester was landowner and a keen follower of the hounds in Melton Mowbray. They lived at Willey Park in Shropshire.[2] Her father was a member of parliament and in 1844 she married another MP. Her new husband was Orlando George Charles Bridgeman, Viscount Newport.[1]

Benjamin Disraeli was to be important in her life and when she first met him in 1840 he had become an MP a few years before and she did not like him.[1]

In 1865 her husband became the 3rd Earl of Bradford.

At the end of 1872 Mary Anne Disraeli died. She had been made the Viscountess of Beaconsfield in 1868. When Bridgeman re-met Benjamin Disraeli in the following July.[1] He was a prospective Prime Minister, a 68 year old widower and he became devoted to her "intelligence, gaiety and sympathy".[3] Disraeli began writing letters and in time passionate letters to "Dearest Lady Bradford". He also wrote admiring letters to her sister Anne Stanhope, countess of Chesterfield. He became Prime Minister in 187? and he appointed Selina's husband to be master of the horse as it would enable Selina to "ride in Royal Carriages".[1]

In 1871 she and her husband lived at Weston Park.[4]

Group taken at Hughenden Manor including Selina on the left, her husband and Disraeli on the right

She was painted in 1876 by Edward Clifford and her portrait was exhibited in the Royal Academy in 1879.[4]

She and Disraeli became close friends.[4] He wrote her over 1,000 letters and these are extant. Her letters in reply were destroyed but there are hints that she was not cold to his ardour.[1] She was married, but her sister had been a widow since 1866 and Disraeli proposed marriage to her. Anne had previously refused another Prime Minister proposal of marriage[2] and Disraeli just wanted to be closer to Selina. Anne refused.[1]

She died in 1894 at Weston Park and she was buried at Weston Underwood.[1]

Children

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 Matthew, H. C. G.; Harrison, B., eds. (23 September 2004). "Selina Bridgeman born Weld Forrester". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (online ed.). Oxford: Oxford University Press. doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/50250. Retrieved 19 July 2023. (Subscription or UK public library membership required.)
  2. 1 2 Ridley, Jane (23 September 2004). "Stanhope [née Forester], Anne Elizabeth, countess of Chesterfield (1802–1885), political confidante". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography. Vol. 1 (online ed.). Oxford University Press. doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/50251. ISBN 978-0-19-861412-8. (Subscription or UK public library membership required.)
  3. ↑ Pearson, Hesketh Dizzy- the life and personality of Benjamin Disraeli, Earl of Beaconsfield Harper Collins New York 1951 243
  4. 1 2 3 ""Selina Louisa Bridgeman Countess of Bradford" (1876) by Edward Clifford (1826-1897)". victorianweb.org. Retrieved 19 July 2023.
  5. ↑ Fletcher, William George Dimock (1912). "Kenyon-Slaney, William Slaney" . Dictionary of National Biography (2nd supplement). Vol. 2. pp. 391–392.
  6. ↑ Truth. 1881. p. 246.
  7. ↑ Fox-Davies, Arthur Charles (1895). Armorial Families. Edinburgh
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