Kate Middleton and her link to Hyde

An interesting email from Michael Reed of an article in The Telegraph newspaper... about the Duchess of Cambridge, Kate Middleton's link to Hyde.

Kate is related to Beatrix Potter, who had given the Middleton family her own original hand-painted illustrations.

Kate’s great-great-great uncle was the Leeds University pro-chancellor Dr Arthur Lupton, whose brother-in-law was Lord Ashton, 1st Baron Ashton of HYDE. Baron Ashton was the first cousin of Beatrix.

“Beatrix had given the Middleton family a number of her own drawings, including four for Kate’s blood cousins, sisters Elinor and Elizabeth – who were the daughters of Dr Lupton,” says the art historian Michael Reed. “These four drawings were auctioned in 2006 and sold for £41,500.”

Michael Reed says the associations go further still. Beatrix’s father, Rupert Potter, had been taught at Manchester College by Kate’s ancestor, Dr James Martineau, who was well acquainted with Queen Victoria.

Beatrix lived in the Lake District, where Kate’s grandfather, Peter Middleton, had regularly holidayed as a youth.

It was in the Lake District in the summer of 1936 that Peter’s mother Olive Lupton was rushed to hospital with peritonitis, dying on September 27, aged only 55, leaving behind a large trust fund for her descendants.

The snow-covered peaks featured on the Middleton family crest represent the Lake District and are perhaps also a reminder of one-year old Prince George’s famous literary relative.

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Thank you to Michael Reed for todays posting