Augusta Legge, Countess of Dartmouth

Augusta Legge, Countess of Dartmouth (18 February 1822 – 1 December 1900), born Lady Augusta Finch, was an English philanthropist.

The Right Honourable

The Countess of Dartmouth
Born
Augusta Finch

(1822-02-18)18 February 1822
Died1 December 1900(1900-12-01) (aged 78)
Woodsome Hall
Spouse(s)
​
​
(m. 1846; died 1891)​
Children6, including:
William Legge, 6th Earl of Dartmouth
Hon. Sir Henry Legge
Parent(s)Heneage Finch, 5th Earl of Aylesford
Lady Augusta Greville

Brought up in Warwickshire, she was the daughter of Heneage Finch, 5th Earl of Aylesford, and his wife, the former Lady Augusta Sophia Greville,[1] daughter of George Greville, 2nd Earl of Warwick.

She married William Legge, 5th Earl of Dartmouth, on 9 June 1846.[1] They had two sons, William Legge, 6th Earl of Dartmouth (1851–1936), and the Honourable Sir Henry Legge (1852–1924), and four daughters, who died unmarried.[2]

In 1853, she founded a Birmingham school in her former residence, Sandwell, when she and her husband moved to Patshull Hall, near Wolverhampton.[1] Laetitia Frances Selwyn ran Sandwell School which was open to girls to train as domestic servants. By the time it closed in 1891 it had extended its range to governesses and even industrial jobs irrespective of gender.[3]

She became a widow and she dedicated herself to good works including founding a local Mother's Union and a home for orphan boys.[1] She crossbred chickens to create the Andalusian Bantam.

She died at Woodsome Hall near Huddersfield in 1900.[1]

References
  1. Reynolds, K. D. "Legge [née Finch], Augusta, countess of Dartmouth". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (online ed.). Oxford University Press. doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/58519. Retrieved 31 October 2018. (Subscription or UK public library membership required.)
  2. "A Startling Announcement". The Queenslander. LX (1312). Queensland, Australia. 12 January 1901. p. 68. Retrieved 3 June 2018 – via National Library of Australia.
  3. A History of the County of Stafford: Volume 17, Offlow Hundred (Part), british-history.ac.uk, Retrieved 13 March 2017.
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