Fitzclarence, Wilhelmina

Wilhelmina "Mina" Kennedy-Erskine was born on June 27, 1830 at , Angus , Scotland . She became the second child in the family of the Honorable John F. Kennedy-Erskine and his wife Augusta Fitzclarence , who was the illegitimate daughter of the King of Great Britain William IV and his mistress, actress Dorothy Jordan ^{[1] [2]} . Wilhelmina's father was the second son of . He served in the 16th Lancers regiment and was the stalmaster of King William IV. He died a year after her birth at the age of 28. In addition to Wilhelmina, the son of William Henry and the daughter of Augustus Anna Milissenta were born in the family ^[3] .

Children with their widowed mother lived in a brick house called Railshead, located near the house of her grandfather, King William IV ^[4] . The king often visited his family and enjoyed spending time with little Mina. Once Wilhelm visited his daughter to reassure the one when Mina nearly died of a “very dangerous brain inflammation” ^[5] . Augusta and her children often visited Windsor Castle , where the king lived ^[6] .

Five years after the death of her husband, Augustus married a second time to , the third son of the ^[7] . Gordon was a naval officer, in 1868 he became an admiral of the Navy, there were no children in the marriage. Augusta's second marriage did not suit the parents of her first husband and they asked to vacate the house. Augusta turned to the king-father for help, and he gave the spouses several rooms in the Kensington Palace in London , and made his daughter William the main housewife of the palace after the death of her sister Augusta April 10, 1837 ^{[1] [8] [9]} . Wilhelmina lived there until she got married. Together with her younger sister, they were very fond of music, especially the Italian soprano singer Marietta Alboni . Their singing teacher arranged a meeting for the sisters with the singer, but she refused to further meetings, learning that the sisters are the daughters of a palace housewife ^[10] .

In the late 1840s, Mina traveled extensively throughout Europe with her family so that “children could improve their knowledge of foreign languages ​​and complete their education” ^[11] . The trip began in 1847, when Augusta decided to go to Dresden so that her children would expand their knowledge of the German language ^[12] . From 1847 to 1849 the family lived in Paris , near the Arc de Triomphe . They were personally received by the King of France Louis-Philippe I and his wife Maria Amalia Neapolitan in her palace ^[13] . After the French revolution of 1848, the family lingered for a short time in France, but was forced to leave the following year ^[14] . In 1850, they arrived in Hanover , where they were received by King Ernst Augustus I , Uncle Augusta, and Mina's cousin. In the same year, they returned back to Kensington Palace , and Mina and her sister were transferred to high society ^[15] .

Wilhelmina married her cousin , on April 17, 1855. The wedding was double. On the same day, her sister Anna married ^{[16] [17]} . Like Mina, William Fitzclarence was a grandson of King William IV. At a young age, he inherited the title of Count Münster from his father. After the wedding, the couple went to Germany, where they stayed in different castles and cottages, and stayed with the family of Prince Christian Schleswig-Holstein , who would later marry the daughter of Queen Victoria Elena ^[18] .

Nine children were born in the family, of which only four survived the mother:

• the Honorable Edward Fitzclarence (1856–1870) - Viscount Fitzclarence, died in his youth ^{[19] [20]} ;
• Lionel Frederic Archibald Fitzclarence (1857-1863) - died in childhood ^{[19] [20]} ;
• (1859-1902) - 3rd Earl of Munster, was not married, had no children ^[20] ;
• the Honorable Arthur Fitzclarence (1860-1861) - died in childhood ^{[19] [20]} ;
• (1862-1928) - 4th Earl of Münster, single, had no children ^[20] ;
• Hon. William George Fitzclarence (1864–1899) - married Charlotte Elizabeth Williams , had two daughters ^{[19] [20]} ;
• the Honorable Harold Edward Fitzclarence (1870-1926) - married Francis Isabella Eleanor Kippel , had a son and daughter ^{[19] [20]} ;
• Lady Lilian Adelaide Katherine Mary Fitzclarence (1873-1948) - married captain William Arthur Boyd , had a son and daughter ^{[19] [20]} ;
• Lady Dorothea Augusta Fitzclarence (1876-1942) - married Chandos Bridges Lee-Warner , had two daughters ^{[20] [21]} .

The couple lived in in Brighton ^{[22] [23] [24]} . According to , Mina lived a calm life ^[22] . In 1897, the magazine reports that she has been living in solitude in Brighton for the past 35 years. According to the article, her affection in this city was connected with childhood memories when she came here with her grandfather Wilhelm ^[22] . The newspaper wrote that she “loved a quiet life among literature and art” ^[22] . She died on October 9, 1906 ^[25] , being a widow for fifteen years ^[26] .

Countess Münster was also a famous writer and short-story writer, writing under the pseudonym of the same name. At the age of about sixty, she published two novels ^[27] : Dorinda in 1889 and the Scottish Earl in 1891 ^[28] . The plot of "Dorinda" tells the story of a young woman who ultimately kills herself after stealing a work of art from her friends. The famous writer Oscar Wilde praised Mina's literary talent in this work: he compared the main character of the novel with , a character in the novel by William Thacker ^[29] , called her “extremely smart” and praised the author’s ability to “draw ... in just a few sentences the most realistic portraits of all social strata of society and public objections ” ^[29] . The second novel, The Scottish Earl, which tells of the vulgar Scottish nobleman Lord Invergordon, was less well received by contemporaries. published a critical article immediately after the novel was published. The article said that "the soul of the novel is a contempt of social wealth and knowledge, it is close to republicanism or socialism" ^[30] . The novel was criticized for "the lack of any worthy designs and style . " In the end, it seemed that Lady Münster “was not and never will be a writer” ^[30] .

In 1896, Münster released Ghostly Tales , a collection of short stories “written in a manner similar to true ghosts” ^{[31] [28]} . wrote that her stories are based on real facts ^[22] . “Ghost Tales” was published in 1897 in the newspaper and described as “interesting and dramatic, based on supernatural events” ^[32] . Hugh Lemb included the Countess’s “surprisingly gloomy” story The Ghost of The Tyburn in his collection, Tales at the Gas-Illuminated Cemetery. He wrote that Lady Muenster’s work was “completely forgotten by bibliophiles from the time of her death” ^[28] . Lebm believes that this was done in vain, and that “Ghost Tales” is “one of the best collections of Victorian ghost stories” ^[28] . In 1988, he also included the fairy tale “The Ghost Page” in another collection ( The Page-Boy's Ghost ) ^[33] . Modern author called the countess ’s stories “standard and melodramatic that are forgotten quite quickly” ^[31] .

In 1904, Countess Münster published an autobiography entitled “ My Memories and Miscellanies ”. In the preface to her autobiography, she wrote: “Some friends convinced me to write this, despite the fact that I resisted, because during my long life I saw only a few interesting things” ^[34] . In the newspaper The Guardian in 1906, the book was called the main work of Wilhelmina ^[35] . She completely wrote this book herself. The autobiography includes observations of the female ghost Green Jean , whom the author allegedly saw in ; Lady Münster, in her book, states that some members of her family, including her sister, saw a ghost while remaining in the castle overnight ^[36] .

• Wilhelmine Kennedy-Erskine (Spanish) . - Profile on Geneall.net.
• Wilhelmina Kennedy-Erskine - Profile on Thepeerage.com.
• Online Books by Wilhelmina Fitzclarence Munster - Works by Wilhelmina Fitzclarence on onlinebooks.library.