Winifred Maxwell Countess of Nithsdale

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During the early eighteenth century Winifred, Lady Nithsdale , wrote family letters about business and relationships. She is remembered for the letter to her sister which tells, with a historian's narrative flair and command of detail, how when her husband (a Jacobite) was condemned to death for treason, she planned and carried through the daring coup of smuggling him out of prison.
  • BirthName: Winifred
    Scholar Henrietta Tayler spells her name Winfrede, and Catherine S. Durrant spells it Winefred. But others agree on Winifred.
    Herbert
  • Married: Maxwell
  • Styled: Lady
  • Titled: Countess of Nithsdale
Lithograph from a painting of Winifred Maxwell, Countess of Nithsdale, by an unknown artist. She is seated with a landscape visible behind, her hand on a small dog that sits beside her. She is wearing a gown with low neck, wide sleeves, and white trim at the sleeves and neckline, plus a long shawl. Her hair is curled, high on top, with part lying spread on her shoulders. Scottish Portrait Gallery.

Milestones

1672

Lady Winifred Herbert (later Nithsdale) was born, the last of a family of six children, all girls except one.
Matthew, Henry Colin Gray et al., editors. Oxford Dictionary of National Biography. http://www.oxforddnb.com/.
under Winifred Maxwell

Before 16 April 1718

At the urging of her sister the prioress , WMCN wrote out her story of rescuing her husband (the full relation of what you desired). She provided no date, but an adapted copy (polished, less vivid) was made at Rome on this day.
qtd. in
Fraser, Sir William, editor. The Book of Carlaverock. Privately printed for William lord Herries, 1873, 2 vols.
2: 222, 234

May 1749

WMCN died in Rome after five years of widowhood.
Matthew, Henry Colin Gray et al., editors. Oxford Dictionary of National Biography. http://www.oxforddnb.com/.
under Winifred Maxwell

1816

Winifred Nithsdale 's famous letter reached print at Durham a century after the events it relates, as Genuine Account of the Escape of Lord Nithsdale : printed from the original letter.
OCLC WorldCat. 1992–1998, http://www.oclc.org/firstsearch/content/worldcat/. Accessed 1999.

Biography

Birth and Family

1672

Lady Winifred Herbert (later Nithsdale) was born, the last of a family of six children, all girls except one.
Matthew, Henry Colin Gray et al., editors. Oxford Dictionary of National Biography. http://www.oxforddnb.com/.
under Winifred Maxwell

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