ample Castle, Dumbartonshire, May 1832, aged 42, having had issue two daughters. On Lady Charlotte becoming a widow in 1809 she was appointed lady-in-waiting in the household of the Princess of Wales, afterwards Queen Caroline, when it is believed that she kept a diary, in which she recorded the foibles and failings of the unfortunate princess and other members of the court. After her marriage with Mr. Bury she was the author of various contributions to light literature, and some of her novels were once very popular, although now almost forgotten. When the ‘Diary illustrative of the Times of George IV’ appeared in two volumes in 1838, it was thought to bear evidence of a familiarity with the scenes depicted which could only be attributed to Lady Charlotte. It was reviewed with much severity, and attributed to her ladyship by both the ‘Edinburgh’ and ‘Quarterly’ Reviews. The volumes, however, sold rapidly, and several editions were disposed of in a few weeks. The charge of the authorship was not at the time denied, and as no one has since arisen claiming to have written the diary the public libraries now catalogue the work under Lady Charlotte's name. She died at 91 Sloane Street, Chelsea, 31 March 1861. The once celebrated beauty, the delight of the highest circles of London society, was curiously described in her death certificate at Somerset House as ‘daughter of a duke and wife of the Rev. E. J. Bury, holding no benefice.’
The following is believed to be a complete list of Lady Bury's writings; many of them originally appeared without her name, but even at that time there does not seem to have been any secret as to the identity of the writer:
- ‘Poems on several Occasions, by a Lady,’ 1797.
- ‘Alla Giornata, or To the Day,’ anonymous, 1826.
- ‘Flirtation,’ anonymous, 1828, which went to three editions.
- ‘Separation,’ by the author of ‘Flirtation,’ 1830.
- ‘A Marriage in High Life,’ edited by the author of ‘Flirtation,’ 1828.
- ‘Journal of the Heart,’ edited by the author of ‘Flirtation,’ 1830.
- ‘The Disinherited and the Ensnared,’ anonymous, 1834.
- ‘Journal of the Heart,’ second series, edited by the author of ‘Flirtation,’ 1835.
- ‘The Devoted,’ by the author of ‘The Disinherited,’ 1836.
- ‘Love,’ anonymous, 1837; second edition 1860.
- ‘Memoirs of a Peeress, or the days of Fox,’ by Mrs. C. F. Gore, edited by Lady C. Bury, 1837.
- ‘The Three Great Sanctuaries of Tuscany: Valambrosa, Camaldoli, Lavernas,’ a poem historical and legendary, with engravings from drawings by the Rev. E. Bury, 1833.
- ‘Diary illustrative of the Times of George the Fourth,’ anonymous, 1838, 2 vols.
- ‘The Divorced,’ by Lady C. S. M. Bury, 1837; another edition 1858.
- ‘Family Records, or the Two Sisters,’ by Lady C. S. M. Bury, 1841. And
- a posthumous work entitled ‘The Two Baronets,’ a novel of fashionable life, by the late Lady C. S. M. Bury, 1864.
She is also said to have been the writer of two volumes of prayers, ‘Suspirium Sanctorum,’ which were dedicated to Dr. Goodenough, bishop of Carlisle.
[Colburn's New Monthly Magazine, xlix. 76–77 (1837), portrait; Burke's Portrait Gallery of Females (1833), i. 103–5; Allibone's Dictionary of English Literature (1859), i. 308.]
BURY, EDWARD (1616–1700), ejected minister, born in Worcestershire in 1616, according to Walker was originally a tailor, and was put into the living of Great Bolas, Shropshire, in place of a deprived rector. Calamy says that Bury was a man of learning, educated at Coventry grammar school and at Oxford, and that before obtaining the rectory of Great Bolas be had been chaplain in a gentleman's family and assistant to an aged minister. He received presbyterian ordination. The dat« at which he began his ministry at Great Bolas was before 1654. In the parish records he signs himself 'minister and register' till 1661, when, consequence of the act for confirming possession of benefices, he signs 'rector.' His entries show that he was somewhat given to astrology. Ejected in 1662, Bury, who remained at Great Bolas in a house he had built, was subjected to great privations. On 2 June 1680, Philip Henry gives him 4l. from a sum left at his disposal by William Probyn of Wem. Henry's diary, 22 July 1681, has an account of the distraint of Bury's goods (he is here called Berry) for taking part at a private fast on 14 June. After this he was a good deal hunted about from place to place. In later life his circumstances were improved by bequests. He became blind some years before his death, which occurred on 5 May 1700, owing to a mortification in one foot. By his wife Mary, he had at least five children: 1. Edward, b. 1654; 2. Margarit (sic), b. 12 Feb. 1655; 3. John, b. 14 March 1657; 4. Mary, b. 13 Aug. 1660; 5. Samuel [q. v.] The following is Calamy's list of his publications:
- 'The Soul's Looking-glass, or a Spiritual Touchstone,' &c., 1660.
- 'A Short Catechism, containing the Fundamental Points of Religion,' 1660.
- 'Relative Duties.'
- 'Death Improv'd, and Immoderate Sorrow for Deceased Friends and Relatives Reprov'd,' 1675; 2nd edit.
