Portrait miniature thought to be Charlotte Collins by Henry Edridge, c1800

This miniature is believed to be a portrait of Charlotte Collins c1760-1804), the long suffering 1st wife of George Richard, 3rd Viscount Bolingbroke.

Charlotte was the daughter of George's tutor, the Reverend Thomas Collins, deputy-head of Winchester School. A quiet girl, she was known by the family nickname of Squigg and described by her sister as 'a mouse'. She and George married in Winchester in 1673 and the couple had three children; George, Mary and Henry who would later inherit his father's titles and estates.

Not long after Henry's birth, George deserted his family for an incestuous affair with his half sister, Mary Beauclerk. Following the scandal Charlotte left Britain with her father and children to live in Italy for four years. She returned to England in 1803 when life dealt a final devastating blow. Her eldest and adored son George died. Already in poor health herself, Charlotte died just six months later. She was buried alongside her son at St. Mary's Lydiard Tregoze where her funerary hatchment can be seen.

The miniature was one of a group of seven, framed together, which were sold by Kenneth St.John 7th Viscount Bolingbroke at Sotheby's on 28th February 1991. Lydiard House acquired five of the miniatures with grant assistance from the Museums and Galleries Commission V & A Purchase Grant Fund. Sotheby's suggested that this miniature was of Charlotte Collins.