Who was Elizabeth Murray, Duchess of Lauderdale?
Baptised on 28 September 1626 in London, Elizabeth was the
eldest of the five daughters of William Murray, first earl of Dysart, and
Catherine Murray (née Bruce). Her father was a close companion of King Charles
I, and from May 1625 he was a groom in the king’s bedchamber. Around this time
William Murray obtained a royal lease for Ham House near Richmond and moved in
with his family. Ham would play a major role in Elizabeth’s life and she, in
turn, left a lasting impression on the place.
Civil War
By 1642 the Murray family was separated by the Civil War
between King and Parliament which engulfed the British Isles.
In 1648, as Elizabeth was preparing to marry Sir Lionel
Tollemache, her father was helping plan the escape of Charles I from captivity
on the Isle of Wight, and her mother was still fiercely protecting Ham from
seizure by Parliament.
‘Secret’ royalist activism
Elizabeth played a more active role in the royalist cause
after her parents’ deaths. In 1653, at the age of twenty-seven, Elizabeth
joined the Sealed Knot, a secret organisation committed to restoring the Stuart
monarchy.
Elizabeth was entrusted with carrying coded correspondence
to exiled supporters of Charles II. She travelled with Lionel to Paris and
other European cities on clandestine missions. The couple were reported to the
Protectorate as being royalist ‘spies’ in Flanders in 1657.
Double-dealing?
Although their activities raised some suspicions, Elizabeth
was never detained or prosecuted. She was a skilful political operator, who
protected herself and her family by maintaining relations with opposing
political forces. Oliver Cromwell was among her frequent guests at Ham in the
1650s.
Elizabeth’s innermost thoughts about Cromwell and his
regime, whether outright hostile or ambiguous, are a mystery, but her subtle
manoeuvring shows her developing a form of political activism which was
intrinsically early modern: the product of political pragmatism, strong
familial loyalty and a taste for intrigue.
Ham transformed
In 1660 Charles II was restored and he rewarded Elizabeth
with a pension of £800 a year for life. By this time she had inherited her
father’s title, Countess of Dysart, and the Ham estate.
Following the death of Lionel in 1669, Elizabeth married
John Maitland, earl (and later duke) of Lauderdale in 1672. In the decade after
their marriage, they significantly extended and refurbished Ham.
A taste for luxury
A sequence of rooms was added facing onto the garden, richly
decorated with stuccowork ceilings, carved panelling and Italianate furniture.
Surviving inventories show that Elizabeth was a keen collector of Old Master
paintings as well as a leader in fashion and architecture.
As senior courtiers, Elizabeth and her husband fashioned
intimate and comfortable spaces, suitable for conducting business or leisure.
Ham’s transformation thus mirrored the reconstruction of the family’s political
fortunes and standing in post-Restoration England, combining old loyalty to the
Stuarts and the embrace of new ideas.
The politics of intimacy
Elizabeth died at Ham House in 1698 at the age of
seventy-two.
She has been remembered by historians as an artistic patron
and collector, but her pre-marital intimacy with Lauderdale has allowed her
political role to be underestimated by older generations of historians.
What ought to be emphasised, by contrast, is the significant
influence Elizabeth wielded in Restoration politics, as a courtier in her own
right and as Lauderdale’s most trusted adviser.
The politics of intimacy that Elizabeth negotiated was a
vital mechanism through which stability was restored and divisions healed in
the years after the Civil War.
Ham House, Surrey, is thought to be one of our most haunted
places
Cold spots, the sound of footsteps and an inexplicable scent
of roses have been reported at Ham House in Surrey. Glimpses of mysterious
characters all around this place has won it the reputation of being one of our
most haunted places.
At the centre of it all seems to be the restless spirit of
Elizabeth Murray, Duchess of Lauderdale. She inherited Ham House from her
father in 1655.
Ruthless ambition
In life Elizabeth was ambitious and ruthless. She played a
dangerous political game by being friends with both Charles II and Oliver
Cromwell. Her aim was to guarantee herself a place of influence with whoever
ended up in power.
She was equally strident in her personal life, taking family
members to court if they crossed her.
When her first husband died suddenly she quickly married the
recently-widowed John Maitland, 1st Earl of Lauderdale.
Murder?
Some speculated darkly about how the suspiciously close
deaths of both her husband – and the Earl’s wife – facilitated Elizabeth’s rise
further up the social ladder.
But, in the end, she ran out of luck. After the death of her
second husband came financial problems. This, along with ill health, forced
Elizabeth to confine herself to a single ground floor apartment at Ham House.
A haunted looking glass
It's on the ground floor where ghostly events seem to be
concentrated. Many visitors report a strange oppressive atmosphere in the room.
Pets seem reluctant to enter. There is also a large looking glass dating from
Elizabeth’s time that some people say they are too scared to glance into,
inexplicably afraid of what – or whom – they might see staring back.
In fact, so powerful is the force that dominates the room
that staff have been known to mutter, ‘Good afternoon your ladyship’ before
entering, just to be on the safe side.
A woman in black
In addition, a woman in black, believed to be Elizabeth, has
been seen on the stairs nearby.
But Elizabeth isn’t the only spirit to haunt Ham House. The
ghostly screams of a suicidal young nobleman who fell in love with – and was
rejected by – a servant girl have also been heard at the property.
The Real "Magic" room in Ham House.
The Still House.
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