Sophia Dubochet

Sophia Dubochet (1794 – 29 August 1875), also known as "Sophia Wilson", was an English courtesan, who became the wife of Thomas Noel Hill, 2nd Baron Berwick.

Sophia was the daughter of John James Dubochet, a Swiss clockmaker who worked in Mayfair, London,[1][2] and his wife, Amelia, née Cook. Another of their daughters was Harriette Wilson. Another sister, Amy, later had an illegitimate child by George William Campbell, 6th Duke of Argyll, who had also been Harriette's lover.[3]

According to Harriette's memoirs, the teenage Sophia, "a remarkably shy, proud girl", was being pursued by Viscount Deerhurst, and Harriette recommended to her mother that Sophia be sent away to school. However, she eloped with Deerhurst, who, when found by her family, "declared that nothing wrong had occurred, he having passed the night with Sophia in mere conversation". Nevertheless, he moved her into squalid lodgings.[3]

Sophia quickly built up her own circle of admirers, including William FitzGerald, 2nd Duke of Leinster, and George Lamb. Initially, she claimed to dislike Berwick, but was eventually persuaded to marry him.[3]

On 8 February 1812, Sophia married Lord Berwick at St Marylebone Parish Church, London, after an on-off courtship. She was about eighteen and her new husband was 41. They had no children. At Brighton, the new Lady Berwick was both admired and reviled for her lack of "illustrious descent". A local paper commented that "the late abuse of the press has in no degree diminished the vivacity so characteristic of her ladyship and family."[4] However, it has been suggested that, after her marriage, Sophia deliberately snubbed her sisters.[5]

The couple's extravagance was such that Lord Berwick went bankrupt in 1827.[6] They were forced to sell most of their property, lease the house to his brother and live abroad.[7] Lord Berwick died in Naples in 1832. His widow retired to Leamington Spa, where she died in her eighties.

Her portrait in miniature was painted by Richard Cosway in about 1812, and is held in the collection at Attingham Park.[8]

References

  1. ↑ G.E. Cokayne; with Vicary Gibbs, H.A. Doubleday, Geoffrey H. White, Duncan Warrand and Lord Howard de Walden, editors, The Complete Peerage of England, Scotland, Ireland, Great Britain and the United Kingdom, Extant, Extinct or Dormant, new ed., 13 volumes in 14 (1910-1959; reprint in 6 volumes, Gloucester, U.K.: Alan Sutton Publishing, 2000), volume II, page 168.
  2. ↑ Peter W. Hammond, editor, The Complete Peerage or a History of the House of Lords and All its Members From the Earliest Times, Volume XIV: Addenda & Corrigenda (Stroud, Gloucestershire, U.K.: Sutton Publishing, 1998), page 90.
  3. 1 2 3 Harriette Wilson's Memoirs; selected and edited by Lesley Blanch. London: Phoenix Press, 2003
  4. ↑ Temple Bar: A London Magazine for Town and Country Readers. Ward and Lock. 1872. pp. 181–.
  5. ↑ Fergus Linnane (2003). London: the wicked city : a thousand years of vice in the capital. Robson. ISBN 978-1-86105-619-1.
  6. ↑ Country Life. 1921.
  7. ↑ "Thomas Noel-Hill, 2nd Baron Berwick of Attingham, FSA (1770-1832)". National Trust Collections. Retrieved 20 February 2018.
  8. ↑ "Sophia Dubochet, Lady Berwick (1794-1875)". National Trust. Retrieved 19 February 2018.
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