Who was Lady Mary Wortley Montagu?

Eamonn Gearon, University of Oxford Eamonn Gearon University of Oxford
Lady Mary Pierrepont, Lady Mary Wortley-Montagu, after Jonathan Richardson the younger, after 1719

Born in 1689, Lady Mary Wortley Montagu (née Pierrepont) was an English aristocrat and lady of letters. More important than her literary achievements, however, Lady Montagu was responsible for the introduction of the smallpox inoculation to Britain and Western Europe. This medical breakthrough, which she promoted widely (later superseded by Edward Jenner's vaccination), was the first time in Western medicine that antibodies were created to secure immunity from disease.

Early ambition

Born in London, Lady Mary Pierrepont was raised in grand style in houses belonging to her family. From an early age she was keen to receive a better education than was thought appropriate for girls of her time, and social class. Writing later in life, Lady Mary describes visiting her family’s library to “steal” her education, away from the gaze of a despised governess.

By the time she was 16 she had written two volumes of poetry, a short novel, and taught herself Latin.

Family success…and tragedy

Aged 23, she eloped to marry Edward Wortley Montagu, and they moved to London. A popular socialite, she was soon to be found at each of the two separate and mutually hostile courts of King George I and the future George II.

At this time, her only brother died from smallpox, aged 20. Lady Mary also contracted the disease, in 1715, but recovered, against expectations. In 1716, her husband was appointed Ambassador to the Ottoman empire and they moved to Constantinople (modern Istanbul).

Insights from the Ottoman capital 

Living in Constantinople, Lady Mary had access to harems, that is the women’s living quarters.

Comparing Turkish women to her life in England, she wrote, “Turkish Ladys [sic] don’t commit one sin the less for not being Christians ... ’Tis very easy to see they have more Liberty than we have …”.

With her own family afflicted by smallpox, Lady Mary was pleased to discover inoculation against smallpox was widespread in the Ottoman empire. The method was to introduce the smallpox virus to an uninfected person, thereby providing immunity from the disease.

Legacy

Lady Mary had the British Embassy’s surgeon inoculate her young son. Back home in 1721, while a global smallpox epidemic was killing people from Britain to Boston, Massachusetts, she had him inoculate her daughter (born in Turkey), and publicised the benefits of inoculation against bitter hostility, including physical violence.

Opponents of the procedure derided it as oriental, irreligious, and a fad of ignorant women, so Lady Mary's fame for it was both mixed and short-lived.

Although only published after her lifetime, her Embassy Letters remain an important source for historians of the period.

The Sun Monument at Wentworth Castle Gardens, Yorkshire
Wentworth Castle Gardens   South Yorkshire

Monument to Lady Mary Wortley Montagu

Framed by the trees, this monument has a powerful sorry to tell. Originally put up by Thomas Wentworth, it was later rededicated by his son William to Lady Mary Montagu in honour of her efforts to inoculate children against smallpox. A symbol of Mary’s achievements, it is believed to be the oldest monument in the country dedicated to a non-royal woman.

Exterior of Middlethorpe Hall Hotel, Restaurant and Spa, York

Middlethorpe Hall and Spa 

Lady Montagu lived at Middlethorpe Hall on the outskirts of York with her young son between 1713 and 1715. The hall was built in 1699 by a West Riding ironmaster, Thomas Barlow of Sheffield, and is distinguished for the fine quality of its woodwork. Middlethorpe re-opened as a luxury hotel in 1984.

Find out more