Ann Louisa Baring

Ann Louisa Baring, Baroness Ashburton (née Ann Louisa Bingham; 6 January 1782 – 5 December 1848) was the wife of Alexander Baring, Lord Ashburton and first child of William Bingham and Ann Willing Bingham.

Early life Ann Louisa Bingham was born on 6 January 1782, the day before the Bank of North America sold its first charter shares; her father and grandfather worked closely with Alexander Hamilton to write the by-laws. Her father was rumored to be the richest man in America after the Revolutionary War.

Her younger sister, Maria Matilda Bingham, married three times: first to French aristocrat Jacques Alexandre, Count of Tilly; afterwards to Anne Louisa's brother-in-law, Henry Baring; and after their divorce in 1824, she married the Marquess of Blaisel in 1826.

Personal life

On 23 August 1798, Ann was married to Alexander Baring (1774–1848), a son of Harriet Herring and Sir Francis Baring, 1st Baronet. Among his siblings were Sir Thomas Baring, 2nd Baronet and Henry Baring (an MP for Bossiney and Colchester), His father, alongside his uncle John Baring, established the London merchant house of John and Francis Baring Company, which eventually became Barings Bank. Together, Ann and Alexander had nine children: Francis Baring, 3rd Baron Ashburton (1800–1868), who married Hortense Maret (–1882), daughter of Hughes-Bernard Maret, 1st Duke of Bassano, Prime Minister of France. Hon. Harriet Baring (1804–1892), married Henry Thynne, 3rd Marquess of Bath. Hon. Rev. Frederick Baring (1806–1868), Rector of Itchen Stoke, married Frederica Ashton on 24 April 1831.

Lord Ashburton died on 12 May 1848 at Longleat, Wiltshire. Lady Ashburton died several months later on 5 December 1848 at Bay House in Gosport.

Descendants Through her eldest son, she was a grandmother of Hon. Mary Florence Baring (1860–1902), who married William Compton, 5th Marquess of Northampton. Through her second son, she was a grandmother of Alexander Baring, 4th Baron Ashburton (1835–1889), and Hon. Maria Anne Louisa Baring (1833–1928), who married William FitzRoy, 6th Duke of Grafton.