Eleanor Eden

Eleanor Agnes Hobart, Countess of Buckinghamshire (née Eden), was born in 1777. She was the eldest child of William Eden, 1st Baron Auckland, and his wife, Eleanor Elliot. Her mother was the daughter of Sir Gilbert Elliot, 3rd Baronet, of Minto, and the sister of Gilbert Eliott, 1st Earl of Minto.

In her early life, Eleanor was associated with prominent political figures and aristocratic circles. She met William Pitt the Younger, the Prime Minister, at her father's residence in Beckenham. Pitt frequently visited her family from his nearby home at Holwood House, near Bromley in Kent.

There are historical accounts suggesting that Eleanor was rumored to have been engaged to William Pitt the Younger. However, Pitt publicly disavowed any such engagement. In early 1797, Pitt addressed these rumors in a letter to Lord Auckland, expressing that while he had formed a strong attachment to her family and slight romantic feelings towards Eleanor, he found insurmountable obstacles to pursuing a marriage. Pitt's letter indicated that he did not see a path to their union and acknowledged the emotional difficulty of the situation.

Lord Auckland responded positively to Pitt's letter, expressing that they had believed the feelings between Eleanor and Pitt to be mutually shared and that there was hope for a future happiness. Despite attempts by Lord Auckland to understand the reasons Pitt considered the obstacles insurmountable, Pitt declined to elaborate further.

In 1799, Eleanor married Robert Hobart, the 4th Earl of Buckinghamshire. She became his second wife. The marriage produced no children. Her husband, the Earl of Buckinghamshire, died in February 1816 at age 55 after a fall from his horse.

Eleanor Agnes Hobart, Countess of Buckinghamshire, lived until October 1851.