Harriet Arbuthnot - Legacy

Legacy

Arbuthnot died suddenly of cholera at a farmhouse near the Arbuthnots' seat, Woodford House, near Kettering in Northamptonshire, in the summer of 1834. Immediately after her death an express message was sent to Apsley House. The messenger, however, had to divert to Hatfield House where Wellington was dining with the Marquess and Marchioness of Salisbury. After her death, it was revealed she had been on a civil list pension of £936 per annum (£71,000 per year as of 2013) since January 1823.

The exact nature of Arbuthnot's relationship with Wellington has always been a subject for conjecture. Fuel was added to the speculations when Wellington was immediately pursued by female admirers following her death. One was a Miss Jenkins who, from the moment of Arbuthnot's death, pursued him "body and soul." Another, who resurfaced from his past, was Arbuthnot's own cousin, the eccentric Lady Georgiana Fane, who constantly pestered Wellington with threats to publish intimate letters he had once sent her, and to sue him for, allegedly, reneging on a promise to marry her. It seems most likely that in addition to assisting Wellington with his social life, Harriet's presence at his side protected him from the advances of other women. The Duke certainly kept mistresses during the period he knew Arbuthnot, but it has never been proven that Harriet was one of them. The tour at Apsley House, the Duke's London residence, asserts that she merely served as his hostess at political dinners.

After her death, Charles left Woodford House and lived with his close friend Wellington. Charles died at Apsley House in 1850, aged 83. During their time together the two elderly men mourned the loss of Arbuthnot and bemoaned the splits developing within the Tory party. Wellington lived on for another two years and was buried with due pomp and circumstance in St Paul's Cathedral. Harriet Arbuthnot had been buried with the Fane family in the parish church at Fulbeck.