Mary Boyle, Countess of Cork and Orrery

For other people named Mary Boyle, see Mary Boyle (disambiguation).

Mary Boyle, by Sir Joshua Reynolds, c.1777–1778

Mary Boyle, Countess of Cork and Orrery (21 May 1746 – 30 May 1840) was a British literary hostess.

Born Mary Monckton, she was a daughter of John Monckton, 1st Viscount Galway. From her early years, she took a keen interest in literature, and through her influence, her mother's house in London became a favourite meeting place of literary celebrities; Dr Johnson was a frequent guest. According to Boswell, Miss Monckton's "vivacity enchanted the sage, and they used to talk together with all imaginable ease." Sheridan, Reynolds, Burke and Horace Walpole were among her constant visitors, and Mrs Siddons was her closest friend. In 1786, she became the second wife of Edmund Boyle, 7th Earl of Cork and 7th Earl of Orrery. As Lady Cork, her love of social "lions" became more pronounced than ever. Among her regular guests were Canning and Castlereagh, Byron, Sir Walter Scott, Lord John Russell, Sir Robert Peel, Theodore Hook and Sydney Smith. She is supposed to have been the original of Lady Bellair in Disraeli's Henrietta Temple, and Dickens is believed to have drawn on her for some of the peculiarities of Mrs Leo Hunter in The Pickwick Papers. Lady Cork had a remarkable memory, and was a brilliant conversationalist. She died in London on 30 May 1840. She was then ninety-four, but within a few days of her death had been either dining out or entertaining every night.

Source

 This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Chisholm, Hugh, ed (1911). Encyclopædia Britannica (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. 

Persondata
Name	Cork And Orrery, Mary Boyle, Countess Of
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Date of birth	21 May 1746
Place of birth
Date of death	30 May 1840
Place of death