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Personal data
Name
Henrietta Dundas
Date of birth (prefix)
ca.
Born 1748
Died December 08, 1832
in Edinburgh
Alias
Viscountess Duncan
Biography

Daughter of Robert Dundas (1713-1787), sometime Lord President of the Court of Session in Scotland, and Henrietta Carmichael (d. 1755). In 1777 she married Captain (later Admiral) Adam Duncan (1731-1804), who in the fall of 1797 was made Viscount Duncan of Camperdown and Baron Duncan of Lundie, in recognition of his impressive victory over a Dutch fleet earlier that year.1  The couple had at least four daughters and two sons, including Robert (1785-1859)2 and Henry (1786-1835).3

An obituary in Gentleman's Magazine said of her that "Her many amiable qualities and her fascinating manners will long endear the memory of Lady Duncan. She continued in possession of all her faculties to her advanced age."4

She lies buried at the Canongate Churchyard in Edinburgh.

  • 1See also http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adam_Duncan,_1st_Viscount_Duncan
  • 2Robert Dundas Haldane-Duncan (1785-1859) married Janet Hamilton-Dalrymple in 1805. In 1831 he was created 1st Earl of Camperdown.
  • 3Henry Duncan (1786-1835), like his father, had a successful naval career and was appointed a Companion  of the Order of the Bath as well as Knight Commander of the Royal Guelphic Order. He married Mary Simon Crawford, daughter of James Coutts Crawford, a naval officer. They had two surviving children, Adam Alexander and Anne Mary.
  • 4Gentleman's Magazine (1832) quoted from http://tunearch.org/wiki/Annotation:Lady_Viscountess_Duncan 
Life with Boswell

Boswell visited Arniston House, the home of the Dundas family, in January 1767. He describes in his journal how he played "Dams with Miss Dundas"1 and that she was a "fine girl. Liked her very well; was retenu for fear of appearing lover."2

  • 1Journal entry January 10, 1767
  • 2Journal entry January 12, 1767