The Countess Spencer | |
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![]() Painting of Lady Spencer by the French artist Louis William Desanges | |
Born | Charlotte Frances Frederica Seymour 28 September 1835 St James's Square, London |
Died | 31 October 1903 | (aged 68)
Burial place | St Mary the Virgin Church, Great Brington, Northamptonshire |
Spouse | |
Parent(s) | Frederick Seymour Lady Augusta Hervey |
Charlotte Frances Frederica Spencer, Countess Spencer, VA (née Seymour; 28 September 1835 – 31 October 1903) was a British philanthropist. Born in the London residence of her maternal grandfather, the 1st Marquess of Bristol, she was the youngest daughter of Frederick Charles William Seymour and his second wife Lady Augusta Hervey. In 1858 Charlotte married John Spencer, 5th Earl Spencer; they had no children.
Lady Spencer was active in philanthropic causes. In the 1860s she founded the Supplemental Ladies Association, an organisation of upper-class women that "adopted" missions within poorer areas of the East End of London and allowed them to appeal directly to the group for material aid. She later published a book documenting her observations of this work.