Anne Sutherland-Leveson-Gower, Duchess of Sutherland

Simple and unassuming himself, yet magnificent and generous towards his fellow men, he is the very Prince of Dukes - The Duke of Sutherland, by Carlo Pellegrini, 1870.

Anne Sutherland-Leveson-Gower, Duchess of Sutherland (21 April 1829 – 25 November 1888), 1st Countess of Cromartie in her own right and known as the Marchioness of Stafford from 1849 to 1861, was a British peeress.

Born Anne Hay-Mackenzie, she was the daughter of John Hay-Mackenzie of Newhall and Cromarty and the great-great-granddaughter of George Mackenzie, 3rd Earl of Cromartie (who took part in the Jacobite rising of 1745 and was attainted in 1746).

On 27 June 1849 she married George Sutherland-Leveson-Gower, Marquess of Stafford, eldest son of George Sutherland-Leveson-Gower, 2nd Duke of Sutherland. He succeeded as third Duke of Sutherland on 22 February 1861. The Duchess of Sutherland had succeeded to her father's lands in the year of her marriage. On 21 October 1861 the title held by her great-great-grandfather was revived when she was created Countess of Cromartie in her own right, with remainder to her younger sons and her daughters. She later served as Mistress of the Robes to Queen Victoria from 1870 to 1874.

On her death in 1888, aged 59, she was succeeded in her earldom according to the special remainder by her younger son Lord Francis Leveson-Gower. The Duke of Sutherland died in 1892 and was succeeded by their eldest surviving son Cromartie.

Criticism

The Duchess was heavily criticized by Karl Marx in The People's Paper^[1] for practical genocide, in order to appropriate 794,000 acres of land in Sutherlandshire in the northern part of Scotland. As the local Gaels where driven away by British soldiers and into the sea shore, the article mentions that "An old woman refusing to quit her hut was burned in the flames of it". The facts where also carried over in Carlo Cafiero's The Compendium of The Capital [1878].

Titles and styles

• 21 April 1829 – 27 June 1849: Miss Anne Hay-Mackenzie
• 27 June 1849 – 21 October 1861: Marchioness of Stafford
• 21 October 1861 – 25 November 1888: Her Grace The Duchess of Sutherland

References

• Kidd, Charles, Williamson, David (editors). Debrett's Peerage and Baronetage (1990 edition). New York: St Martin's Press, 1990.
• Leigh Rayment's Peerage Page
• thePeerage.com

1. ^ Karl Marx (1853) The Duchess of Sutherland and Slavery The People’s Paper, No. 45, March 12 1853 "The Duchess of Sutherland and Slavery"

Court offices
Preceded by The Duchess of Argyll	Mistress of the Robes 1870–1874	Succeeded by The Duchess of Wellington
Peerage of the United Kingdom
Preceded by New Creation	Countess of Cromartie 1861–1888	Succeeded by Francis Leveson-Gower