Charlotte, Lady Campbell-Bannerman

Who was Charlotte, Lady Campbell-Bannerman?

Charlotte, Lady Campbell-Bannerman was the wife of British Prime Minister Henry Campbell-Bannerman.

Sarah Charlotte Bruce was the daughter of Major-General Sir Charles Bruce, KCB, sometime Governor of Portsmouth, and his wife Charlotte, daughter of James Forbes, of Hutton Hall, Essex, and Kingairloch, Argyll. She married the future Prime Minister on 13 September 1860, at All Souls' Church, Langham Place, London.

In her early married life she was able to entertain. Her parties in Grosvernor Square were regarded as events of importance, and during the winter at Belmont Castle, Meigle, Perthshire she and her husband received their friends and neighbours for many years. She guided and influenced her husband throughout their marriage to a considerable degree. Intelligent and cultured, she speedily mastered many subjects and was an instinctively shrewd judge of character. Sir Henry discussed with her all the crises which arose in his political life, and she became closely associated with all her husband's plans, jealously guarding his interests and resenting the least supposed slight to his reputation. Her aspirations for his success compensated for his lack of ambition.