BURDETT-COUTTS, ANGELA GEORGINA BURDETT-COUTTS, BARONESS

born April 21, 1814, London, Eng. died Dec. 30, 1906, London original name Angela Georgina Burdett English philanthropist who, largely under the influence of Charles Dickens, spent much of an inherited fortune on projects for the education and housing of the poor. The youngest daughter of the radical politician Sir Francis Burdett, she took the name of Coutts in 1837 when she inherited the fortune of the banker Thomas Coutts, her grandfather. In addition to her social welfare activities, she founded churches and church schools and endowed the bishoprics of Cape Town and Adelaide (1847) and British Columbia (1857). In 1871 she was made a peeress in her own right. Her philanthropic ventures were curtailed when her marriage forced the surrender of much of her fortune, but her good works and generosity were not forgotten. She was buried in Westminster Abbey.