Sophia Bulkeley

For the daughter of James VI and I, see Sophia of England.

Sophia Bulkeley (née Stuart) (fl. 1660–1718) was a Scottish Jacobite courtier.

Sophia Bulkeley, portrait by Henri Gascar.

Life

She was a younger daughter of Walter Stuart (or Stewart), the third son of Walter Stewart, 1st Lord Blantyre, M.P. for Monmouth, her elder sister being the court beauty Frances Stewart, Duchess of Richmond.[1] The Stuarts were royalists, and were in exile in France under the Commonwealth.[2]

Sophia returned to England after the Restoration of 1660, and in 1671 became a maid of honour to Queen Catherine of Braganza. About three years later she married Henry Bulkeley: he was fourth son of Thomas Bulkeley, 1st Viscount Bulkeley of Baron Hill, near Beaumaris, and brother of the royalist general Richard Bulkeley. Henry was master of the household successively to Charles II and James II. This marriage therefore placed Sophia in the inner court circles, and due course in 1685 she became lady of the bedchamber to Queen Mary of Modena.[1][2]

About 1680 it was rumoured that Sidney Godolphin was enamoured of her.[3] In October 1688 she was a witness with Queen Mary at the birth of her son, the young James, Prince of Wales.[1] The Glorious Revolution saw her move with the Queen and Stuart court to France in December 1688.[2]

Sophia Bulkeley remained a Jacobite loyalist, though she had personal reasons to return on occasion to England, something she managed in 1702.[2] She tried to return again to England in 1713, on financial affairs, but was refused papers.[4] She made a final attempt in 1718, which once more failed.[2]

Family

Henry and Sophia Bulkeley had six children. James became a resident in France, and left a family there;[1] Charlotte married Charles O'Brien, 5th Viscount Clare, of Ireland;[5] and Ann married James FitzJames, 1st Duke of Berwick, the illegitimate son of James II.[1] Francis became a general.[6]

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5  "Bulkeley, Sophia". Dictionary of National Biography. London: Smith, Elder & Co. 1885–1900.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 Wynne, S. M. "Bulkeley, Sophia". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (online ed.). Oxford University Press. doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/3899. (Subscription or UK public library membership required.)
  3. ↑ John Harold Wilson (1976). Court Satires of the Restoration. Ohio State University Press. p. 74 note 81. ISBN 978-0-8142-0249-4. Retrieved 8 May 2012.
  4. ↑ Edward T. Corp (2004). A Court in Exile: The Stuarts in France, 1689-1718. Cambridge University Press. p. 318. ISBN 978-0-521-58462-3. Retrieved 8 May 2012.
  5. ↑ Elliot-Wright, P. J. C. "O'Brien, Charles". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (online ed.). Oxford University Press. doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/20442. (Subscription or UK public library membership required.)
  6. ↑ Edward T. Corp (2004). A Court in Exile: The Stuarts in France, 1689-1718. Cambridge University Press. p. 100 note 48. ISBN 978-0-521-58462-3. Retrieved 8 May 2012.
Attribution

 This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: "Bulkeley, Sophia". Dictionary of National Biography. London: Smith, Elder & Co. 1885–1900. 

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