A Cyclopaedia of Female Biography/Huntingdon, Selina, Countess of
HUNTINGDON, SELINA, COUNTESS OF,
Was born in 1707. She was one of three daughters and co-heirs of Washington Shirley, Earl Ferrers; the other two being Lady Kilmorey and Lady Elizabeth Nightingale. Selina, the second daughter, married, in 1728, Theophilus Hastings, Earl of Huntingdon, with whom she lived very happily till his sudden death, in October, 1746. She had several children, four of whom died young. Probably these heavy afflictions disposed this lady to take such deep interest in religion. It was at the time when the founders of Methodism, Wesley and Whitfield, were exciting in this country a spirit of more intense devotion than was generally prevalent, and the Countess of Huntingdon embraced their doctrines with her whole heart.
She rather inclined to Whitfield's peculiar doctrines than to Wesley's; but she chose to be herself the founder of a sect, which were called "The Countess of Huntingdon's Connexion." She had the control of a large income during her forty-five years of widowhood, and as her own personal expenses were small, and she was assisted by other opulent persons, she supported a college at Trevecca, in Wales, for the education of ministers, and built sixty-four chapels, the ministers of which she assisted to support. Her largest chapel was at Bath, which she frequently attended. She created a trust for the support of her colleges and chapels after her death. And not only did she thus merit the title of public benefactor, but she also expended, annually, large sums in private charities. She lived for others, and at her death, which took place June 17th., 1791, was deeply mourned by all who knew her; even those who regarded her conduct as the result of mistaken enthusiasm, respected her for the noble virtues of her character and her Christian conduct.