Keith, Hester Maria Elphinstone, Viscountess, 1764-1857

Epithet: née Thrale; wife of Admiral G K Elphinstone, Viscount Keith

Viscountess Keith was born Hester Maria Thrale, the daughter of Henry Thrale (1728-1781) and Hester Lynch Thrale (1741-1821) of London. The famous lexicographer and poet Samuel Johnson (1709-1784) was a frequent guest at their home from 1765 onward, and became friendly with young Hester, whom he affectionately called Queeney. In 1808, at the age of 43, Queeney wed the retired Admiral George Keith Elphinstone, Baron Keith (1746-1823), a native of Scotland who had become wealthy through the accumulation of naval prize money. A daughter, Georgina Augusta Henrietta Elphinstone (1809-1892), was born to Lady Keith the following year. Lord Keith resumed active naval service from 1812 to 1815. In 1814, he was created Viscount Keith. After 1815, the Keiths resided primarily in Scotland.

Hester Maria Elphinstone, Viscountess Keith (1764-1857) was born Hester Maria Thrale, the daughter of Henry Thrale (1728-1781) and Hester Lynch Thrale (1741-1821) of London. The famous lexicographer and poet Samuel Johnson (1709-1784) was a frequent guest at their home from 1765 onward, and became friendly with young Hester, whom he affectionately called Queeney. Johnson cut off communications with Mrs. Thrale after she remarried to Gabriele Mario Piozzi in June 1784, but he remained friendly with Queeney until his death a few months later.

Queeney had three sisters who survived to adulthood: Susanna Arabella Thrale (1770-1858), Sophia Thrale Hoare (1771-1824), and Cecilia Thrale Mostyn (1777-1857). The four sisters had a troubled relationship with their mother after her marriage to Piozzi. Shortly after the wedding in 1784, Mr. and Mrs. Piozzi left the sisters in England and embarked on a tour of continental Europe that lasted more than two years. They were received frostily upon their return to England, and Queeney had no communications with her mother between July 1787 and March 1793, when they began a tenuous reconciliation. Various disagreements over the disposition of Henry Thrale's estate continued to simmer for many years.

In 1808, at the age of 43, Queeney wed the retired Admiral George Keith Elphinstone, Baron Keith (1746-1823), who had become wealthy through the accumulation of naval prize money. Lord Keith had a daughter, Margaret Mercer Elphinstone (1788-1867), by a previous marriage. A daughter, Georgina Augusta Henrietta Elphinstone (1809-1892), was born to Lady Keith the following year.

Lord Keith resumed active naval service from 1812 to 1814, and again in 1815. In 1814, he was created Viscount Keith. After 1815, Lord and Lady Keith had a quiet retirement. They constructed a castle at Tulliallan in Scotland, where they spent most of their time after 1818.

In 1817, Lady Keith's stepdaughter Margaret married Auguste Charles Joseph, Comte de Flahaut de La Billarderie (1785-1870), a Frenchman who had served as aide-de-camp to Napoleon. This was a bitter disappointment to Lord Keith, who had spent much of his professional life at war with Napoleon.

Lord Keith died in 1823. As a widow, Lady Keith resided at Tulliallan and London. Her daughter Georgina Augusta Henrietta Elphinstone Villiers Osborne (1809-1892) married twice, but had no children.