Count Adolphus Augustus Frederic Kielmansegge (died 1866), Hanoverian diplomat

Location

Country: UK
City: London
Place: Foreign. Commonwealth & Development Office, Carlton Gardens

Count Adolphus Augustus Frederic Kielmansegge had arrived in Britain by 1840 to serve as Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary for Hanover at the Court of St. James’s. Kielmansegge reportedly ‘formed many friendships… [and] was very widely known beyond the ordinary bounds of diplomatic society’. His personable approach is perhaps explained in the memoirs of politician James Harris, third Earl of Malmesbury, who reported on a gathering at Lord Palmerston’s residence in 1858:

‘Count Kielmansegge, the Hanoverian Minister, … [expressed] that a foreign Ambassador ought to have no politics except those of his own country; and it ought to make no difference to him which party was in office, it being his duty to be friends with all.’

In 1864, Kielmansegge’s wish to retire was reported in ‘The Morning Post’, ‘on account of his increasing years and consequent infirm health.’ He died at his country seat in Holsteon, Holland, on Tuesday 12 June 1866. Kielmansegge’s daughter, Hélène Eleanore Charlotte Augusta (1836-1871), was for some time lady of the bedchamber to the Princess of Wales. In 1857 she married army officer and naturalist Arthur Hay (1824-1878), later ninth Marquess of Tweeddale.

Alfred, Count d’Orsay, dandy and amateur artist, was born in Paris, the son of one of Napoleon’s generals. He met Lord and Lady Blessington in 1822 and was romantically interested in Lady Blessington. Perhaps to divert D’Orsay’s attention from his wife, Lord Blessington wrote a will leaving his Irish property to one of his daughters, should either marry Count D’Orsay. D’Orsay chose 15 year old Lady Harriet Anne Gardiner and the couple married in Naples in 1827. It was not a happy union. Following the death of Lord Blessington and the breakdown of the Count’s marriage, D’Orsay and Lady Blessington became a prominent couple in fashionable society. D’Orsay died in Paris in 1852, having fled there with Lady Blessington to escape his debts.

People

Count Adolphus Augustus Frederic Kielmansegge

Places

Subjects

male portrait, sideburns, man, 19th century costume, coat, trousers, top hat, walking stick, diplomat

Materials & Techniques

paper (as artists material), pencil, pencil drawing

Artist

Alfred, Count d' Orsay (1801 - 1852)

Title

Count Adolphus Augustus Frederic Kielmansegge (died 1866), Hanoverian diplomat

Date

19 January 1842

Medium

Pencil on paper

Dimensions

height: 28.00 cm, width: 20.50 cm

Acquisition

Purchased from Colnaghi, February 1955

Inscription

Sdbr&Insbc (ink)

GAC number

3052