For the Countess of Huntingdon's Servant

[Selina Hastings, Countess of Huntingdon].
A Select Collection of Hymns to be Universally Sung in all the Countess of Huntingdon’s Chapels.
London: Hughes and Walsh, 1780. (AFP0708)

Selina Hastings, Countess of Huntingdon (1707–1791), played an essential role in the establishment of the Methodist movement in England and Wales. She joined John Wesley’s Methodist society in London in 1739 and worked closely with her personal chaplain, George Whitefield, to advance the Calvinistic movement within Methodism, which was known as “The Countess of Huntingdon’s Connexion.” Her many religious foundations included a training college for ministers at Trefeca, Wales, and sixty-four chapels that utilized hymnbooks compiled according to her specifications.

This copy of the book of hymns to be sung in Lady Huntingdon’s chapels was given by the Countess to Hannah Scutt (d. 1815), her longest serving and most trusted servant, at Trefeca College on 19 July 1780. In Lady Huntingdon’s will of April 20, 1789, the Countess bequeathed to her servant the sum of £200, an annuity of £50 per annum, and “all of my wearing apparel.” When Scutt died in 1815, she left £50 to Trefeca College in memory of Lady Huntingdon.