Harriet Pelham-Holles, Duchess of Newcastle

Her Grace The Duchess of Newcastle
Portrait by Charles Jervas
Born	1701 England
Died	17 July 1776 (aged 74–75) England
Resting place	All Saints Churchyard, Laughton, East Sussex
Known for	Spouse of the prime minister of Great Britain (1754–56; 1757–62)
Political party	Whig
Spouse	Thomas Pelham-Holles, 1st Duke of Newcastle ​ ​ (m. 1717; died 1768)​
Parent(s)	Francis Godolphin, 2nd Earl of Godolphin Henrietta Churchill, 2nd Duchess of Marlborough

Henrietta "Harriet" Pelham-Holles, Duchess of Newcastle upon Tyne and Duchess of Newcastle-under-Lyne (1701 – 17 July 1776), was the wife of British statesman and prime minister Thomas Pelham-Holles, 1st Duke of Newcastle.

She was the daughter of Francis Godolphin, 2nd Earl of Godolphin, and Henrietta Churchill, 2nd Duchess of Marlborough. She was also the granddaughter of Sidney Godolphin, 1st Earl of Godolphin, as well as John Churchill, 1st Duke of Marlborough, and Sarah Churchill, Duchess of Marlborough.

Until her marriage, she was known as Lady Harriet Godolphin. Like her husband, she was a devoted Whig and supporter of the Hanoverian succession. They married on 2 April 1717. They had no children.

During the 1720s, they became famous for throwing sumptuous parties, a tradition that continued for several decades; these were attended even by her husband's political opponents.

References

• Browning, Reed. The Duke of Newcastle. Yale University Press, 1975.
• Field, Ophelia. The Kit-Cat Club: Friends who Imagined a Nation. Harper Collins, 2008.