Viscountess Somerton
(1834-1915)
24 May 1861

Volume 3, page 304, sitting number 3897.

The Honourable Caroline Susan Augusta Barrington was born on 21 October 1834. She was the third daughter of William Keppel Barrington, 6th Viscount Barrington of Ardglass and his wife, the Honourable Jane Elizabeth née Liddell.

On 9 April 1856 she married James Charles Herbert Welbore Ellis Agar, son of Welbore Ellis Agar, 2nd Earl of Normanton and Lady Diana Herbert. Her husband held the courtesy title Viscount Somerton until he succeeded his father in 1868 and became the 3rd Earl of Normanton. He died in 1896.

Lady Normanton died, aged 80, on 13 January 1915.

A long and detailed description of her funeral appeared in the Western Gazette (22 January 1915). 'In the churchyard surrounding the pretty little historic Parish Church of Ellingham, betweeen Ringwood and Fordingbridge, the mortal remains of the deceased lady were on Tuesday laid to rest in a moss and flower-lined grave adjoining her husband, the third Earl, the body having been removed from London to Somerley the previous day. The funeral was of a quiet and simple character, peculiarly in keeping with the surroundings and quite free from pomp or elaborate display; but none the less was the final scene, with its touching simplicity, in keeping with the life and work of the gracious lady who had passed many of her eighty years among the people who assembled to do her the last honours in their power.' The report includes a long list of the mourners who were present at the funeral, the hymns and music used during the service, and the names of all those who had sent wreathes.