Julia Reynolds-Moreton, Countess of Ducie


Julia Reynolds-Moreton, Countess of Ducie, formerly Julia Langston, was an English noblewoman, the wife of Henry Reynolds-Moreton, 3rd Earl of Ducie.
She was the daughter of James Langston, MP, of Chipping Norton, by his wife, the former Lady Julia Moreton; the latter was the daughter of Thomas Reynolds-Moreton, 1st Earl of Ducie, and her daughter was thus the first cousin of the future earl, whom she married on 24 May 1849. They had two children:
At the time of their marriage, the future countess held the courtesy title of Lady Moreton. Her husband succeeded to the earldom in 1853, as a result of which she became a countess.
The countess was a member of the Ladies' Diocesan Association, well known for its philanthropic efforts. Following the death of her father in 1863, she erected a memorial fountain at the parish church of All Saints in Churchill, Oxfordshire; Nikolaus Pevsner later called it "memorably ugly".
In 1872, a court case arose from the countess's inheritance, when another trustee took the earl to the Court of Chancery, contesting the countess's rights following her mother's death; the court found in her favour.
She died at Nice, France, aged 68, and is buried at St Leonard's Church, Tortworth, where her memorial, in the form of a canopied seat, can still be seen. After the death of the countess, the Earl of Ducie remained a widower until his death at the age of 94, when his titles passed to his younger brother, Berkeley Moreton, 4th Earl of Ducie.