Lady Charlotte Guest
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Lady Charlotte Elizabeth Guest, (nee Bertie) (May 19, 1812 - January 15, 1895), was an important figure in the history of the study of Welsh literature and language. She is best known for her pioneering translation of the major medieval work, the Mabinogion.
She was daughter of the Albemarle Bertie, 9th Earl of Lindsey by his second wife. Her father died when she was aged six and her mother remarried Revd Peter Pegus, who Charlotte hated. She showed a great tallent for study and taught herself Arabic, Hebrew, and Persian.
After what may have been a a brief flirtation with the future Prime Minister Benjamin Disraeli, she escaped her unhappy home life through marriage in 1833, which was however, was not a conventional one for her age. Her husband, John Josiah Guest, was an industrialist in Wales, the owner of the Dowlais Iron Company and rather older than her; they moved to Merthyr Tydfil after he was elected MP for the constituency in 1832. Lady Charlotte was very happy in her marriage having ten children. She took an enthusiastic interest in her husband's philanthropic activities on behalf of the local community but also became involved in the business of the iron works; translating technical documents into French. Guest eventually obtained a baronetcy in 1838.
During her time in Wales, Lady Charlotte learned Welsh and aided by native scholars translated (and censored) several medieval songs and poems from Middle Welsh and eventually the Mabinogion. She also prepared a Boys Mabinogion containing the earliest Welsh tales of King Arthur.
The decline of her husband's health meant that she spent more time administering the business and took over completely following his death in 1852. She stood up to both her workers and other foundry owners until she relinquished her position in 1855 upon her marriage to Charles Schreiber.
Schreiber was a classical scholar and a Member of Parliament for Cheltenham and later Poole. They left Wales and spent many years travelling in Europe collecting ceramics which she bequeathed to the Victoria and Albert Museum. She also collected fans, board games and playing cards, on which subjects she wrote several volumes.
Lady Charlotte's eldest son Sir Ivor Guest, 2nd Bt, eventually became First Baron Wimborne and married Lady Cornelia Spencer-Churchill, eldest daughter of the Seventh Duke of Marlborough and thus aunt to Winston Churchill. They were parents of the First Viscount Wimborne. Among her other descendants are the American Guests (the late socialite C. Z. Guest was wife of one of these), the Earls of Bessborough, the Viscounts Chelmsford, and others.
Lady Charlotte Guest was a "foreigner" (non-Welsh person) who helped revive Welsh culture. She is remembered, along with her near-contemporary Lady Llanover, as a great patron of the arts in Wales.