A UNIQUE PERSONALITY.

Sun (Christchurch), Volume I, Issue 105, 9 June 1914, Page 4

A UNIQUE PERSONALITY.

BARONESS BIhtDETT-COUTTS. The personality of few persons born in the year 1814 can be recalled by the present generation. One woman, born on April 21, 100 years ago, however, does meet this test. She was Baroness Burdett-Coutts, who was described twenty years ago as '' the richest woman in Great Britain,'' and the wearer of clothing ■■ l indescribably ugly* aid-fash-ioned, and unbecoming." She died in 1906.

Although she probably gained more public attention in connection with her marriage with a young American 40 years her junior than from all her other deeds, hel- remarkable character made for her a name that ranks high among those which- served to lend glory to Queen Victoria's reign. One might almost call her the Andrew Carnegie of her day and generation. Her chief delight seemed to be that of getting rid of her money for the benefit of mankind. She spread her largess abroad through many channels, for she was broad-minded and intelligent. She was a personal friend of Queen Victoria. Her estate, which consisted chiefly of the interest of her grandfather in a big London bank, she received in 1837, at

the age of 23, through inheritance from the Duchess of St. Albans, her grandfather 's widow. It .produced an income of £150,000 a year. She gave large sums to build and endow churches and schools, and built model dwellings and houses for women in need of reformation.

A visit to poorer sections of London with Dickens led her to spend money in improved dwelling-houses. She erected Columbia Square, a series of model dwelling-houses, in which 30Q families could be accommodated, and gave to [the City of London the Columbia Mar- ! ket, Bethnal Green, for the purpose of affording an opportunity to the Eaßt Side poor to purchase wholesome food at a fair price near their homes. She endowed three colonial bishopries at Cape Town, Adelaide,, and Vancouver, and erected several fountains in London. Through her generosity many poverty-stricken London families were enabled to leave their miserable surroundings and emigrate to the colonies. It would be difficult' to enumerate the number of her gifts. She was made a peeress by Queen Victoria in 1871, when she took the title of Baroness Burdett-Coutts. The following year the City of London conferred the freedom of the city upon her. She was the first woman to receive this honour. Two years later the City of Edinburgh bestowed a similar honour^

Among the students who entered Christ College, Oxford, in the early '7O 's, was a boy named Ellis Bartiett. On the occasion he recited Lengfeflow "Hiawatha," a poem selected for liim by his mother. It made such an impression upon the baroness that she sought out the boy's mother. She soon became acquainted with William L. Ashmead Bartiett, another son, and became very much attached to him. In due course he became her almoner.

1 Among his errands of mercy for her was that ttf :wh«ri'sh<e sent thousands of pounds for the use ,of the suffering Turks.on the line.ofjthe Russian march. The as a, result of this - giftj the firslj-iclass Order of Medjidle from the Turkish sovereign, being the first woman so honoured. . Her marriage to the young man in 1881 caused a great deal of discussion and promised legal complications, for her fortune, according to the terms of her grandmother, would be forfeited if she married an alien. In the height of the discussion she declared that she was quite able to take care of herself, although she was.67 years old. Considerable mystery enveloped the propdsed marriage, the papers taking sides on the question as to whether it would take place or not. She and her fiance successfully kept their plans to themselves. Nothing has ever been made public indicating that she and her husband" were not happy in their 25 years of married life.