{{Short description|British correspondent of Benjamin Disraeli}} {{Use dmy dates|date=July 2022}} {{Use British English|date=July 2023}} {{Infobox person | honorific_prefix = [[The Right Honourable]] | name = The Countess of Bradford | honorific_suffix = | image = 'Selina the Countess of Bradford', painting by Edward Clifford, Bridgeman Art Library.jpg | caption = ''Portrait of Lady Bradford, by [[Edward Clifford]], 1876'' | birth_name = Selina Louise Weld-Forester | birth_date = {{birth date|1819|02|17|df=yes}} | birth_place = Willey Park, Shropshire | death_date = {{death date and age|1894|11|25|1819|02|17|df=yes}} | death_place = Weston Park, Staffordshire | parents = [[Cecil Weld-Forester, 1st Baron Forester]]<br>Lady Katherine Manners | spouse = {{marriage|[[Orlando Bridgeman, 3rd Earl of Bradford]]<br>|1844|}} | children = 4 | relatives = [[Charles Manners, 4th Duke of Rutland]] (grandfather) }} '''Selina Louisa Bridgeman, Countess of Bradford''' (born '''Selina Louise Weld-Forester'''; 17 February 1819 – 25 November 1894) was a British peeress. Prime Minister [[Benjamin Disraeli]] was her admirer and he wrote her over 1,000 letters.
==Early life== Bridgeman was born on 17 February 1819 at the family home, [[Willey, Shropshire|Willey Park]], Shropshire.<ref name=sorb/> She was the daughter of [[Cecil Weld-Forester, 1st Baron Forester]] and the former Lady Katherine Manners. Her father was a landowner and a keen follower of the hounds in [[Melton Mowbray]] who served as a Member of Parliament.<ref name="HOP">{{cite web |last1=Thorne |first1=R. G. |title=FORESTER (afterwards WELD FORESTER), Cecil (1767-1828), of Ross Hall and Willey Park, Salop. |url=https://www.historyofparliamentonline.org/volume/1790-1820/member/forester-%28afterwards-weld-forester%29-cecil-1767-1828 |website=www.historyofparliamentonline.org |publisher=[[History of Parliament Online]] |access-date=29 April 2024}}</ref>
Her paternal grandparents were Anne ({{nee}} Townshend) Forester and Lt-Col. [[Cecil Forester (MP)|Cecil Forester]], MP for Wenlock.<ref name="CFhop">{{cite web |last1=Namier |first1=Sir Lewis |title=FORESTER, Cecil (?1721-74), of Rossall, nr. Shrewsbury, Salop |url=https://www.historyofparliamentonline.org/volume/1754-1790/member/forester-cecil-1721-74 |website=www.historyofparliamentonline.org |publisher=[[History of Parliament Online]] |access-date=29 April 2024}}</ref> Her maternal grandparents were [[Charles Manners, 4th Duke of Rutland]] and [[Lady Mary Isabella Somerset]] (a daughter of the [[Charles Somerset, 4th Duke of Beaufort|4th Duke of Beaufort]]).<ref name=sister/>
==Personal life== In 1844 she married [[Orlando Bridgeman, 3rd Earl of Bradford|Orlando George Charles Bridgeman, Viscount Newport]] who was then MP for [[South Shropshire (UK Parliament constituency)|South Shropshire]].<ref name=sorb/> Together, they were the parents of:
* Lady Mabel Selina Bridgeman (d. 1933), who married Colonel [[William Kenyon-Slaney]].<ref>{{cite DNB12 |wstitle= Kenyon-Slaney, William Slaney |volume= 2 |last= Fletcher |first= William George Dimock |author-link= |pages=391-392 |short=1}}</ref> * [[Florence Lascelles, Countess of Harewood|Lady Florence Katharine Bridgeman]] (1859–1943), who married [[Henry Lascelles, 5th Earl of Harewood]].<ref>''Truth''. 1881. p. 246.</ref> * [[George Bridgeman, 4th Earl of Bradford|George Cecil Orlando Bridgeman, 4th Earl of Bradford]] (1845–1915).<ref name=sorb/> * Brig. Hon. [[Francis Bridgeman (British Army officer)|Francis Charles Bridgeman]] (1846–1917).<ref>Fox-Davies, Arthur Charles (1895). Armorial Families. Edinburgh</ref>
In 1865 her husband became the 3rd [[Earl of Bradford]]. In 1871 she and her husband lived at [[Weston Park]].<ref name=vicweb/>
Lady Bradford died in 1894 at Weston Park and she was buried at [[Weston-under-Lizard]].<ref name="sorb" />
===Relationship with Disraeli=== [[File:Group taken at Hughenden Manor incl Disraeli and the Bradfords.png|thumb|Group taken at [[Hughenden Manor]] including Selina on the left, her husband and Disraeli on the right]] [[Benjamin Disraeli]] was to be important in her life and when she first met him in 1840 he had become an MP a few years before and she did not like him.<ref name=sorb/>
In late 1872, [[Mary Anne Disraeli]] died. She had been made the Viscountess of Beaconsfield in 1868. When Bridgeman re-met Benjamin Disraeli in the following July,<ref name="sorb" /> he was a prospective Prime Minister, a 68 year old widower and he became devoted to her "intelligence, gaiety and sympathy".<ref>Pearson, Hesketh ''Dizzy- the life and personality of Benjamin Disraeli, Earl of Beaconsfield''. Harper Collins: New York (1951), p. 243</ref> Disraeli began writing letters and in time passionate letters to "Dearest Lady Bradford". He also wrote admiring letters to her sister, [[Anne Stanhope, Countess of Chesterfield]]. He became Prime Minister and appointed Selina's husband to be [[master of the horse]] as it would enable Selina to "ride in Royal Carriages".<ref name=sorb>{{Cite ODNB |title=Selina Bridgeman born Weld Forrester |date=2004-09-23 |url=http://www.oxforddnb.com/view/article/50250 |editor-last=Matthew |editor-first=H. C. G. |access-date=2023-07-19 |place=Oxford |doi=10.1093/ref:odnb/50250 |editor2-last=Harrison |editor2-first=B.}}</ref> She and Disraeli became close friends.<ref name=vicweb/> He wrote her over 1,000 letters and these are extant. Her letters in reply were destroyed but there are hints that she was not cold to his ardour.<ref name=sorb/> She was married, but her sister had been a widow since 1866 and Disraeli proposed marriage to her. Anne had previously refused another Prime Minister (the [[Edward Smith-Stanley, 14th Earl of Derby|Earl of Derby]]) proposal of marriage<ref name=sister>{{Cite ODNB |last=Ridley |first=Jane |url=http://www.oxforddnb.com/view/10.1093/ref:odnb/9780198614128.001.0001/odnb-9780198614128-e-50251 |title=Stanhope [née Forester], Anne Elizabeth, countess of Chesterfield (1802–1885), political confidante |date=2004-09-23 |volume=1 |language=en |doi=10.1093/ref:odnb/50251|isbn=978-0-19-861412-8 }}</ref> and Disraeli just wanted to be closer to Selina. Anne refused.<ref name=sorb/>
==In popular culture== She was painted in 1876 by [[Edward Clifford]] and her portrait was exhibited in the [[Royal Academy]] in 1879.<ref name=vicweb>{{Cite web |title="Selina Louisa Bridgeman Countess of Bradford" (1876) by Edward Clifford (1826-1897) |url=https://victorianweb.org/painting/clifford/paintings/19.html |access-date=2023-07-19 |website=victorianweb.org}}</ref>
==References== {{reflist|30em}}
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Bridgeman, Isabel}} [[Category:1819 births]] [[Category:1894 deaths]] [[Category:Forester family|Selina]] [[Category:People from Shropshire]] [[Category:British reporters and correspondents]] [[Category:British countesses by marriage]]