Background
She was the second daughter of Robert Barton and his second wife, Hannah Smith, half-sister of Isaac Newton, and was baptized at Brigstock, Northampton on 25 November 1679.
She was the second daughter of Robert Barton and his second wife, Hannah Smith, half-sister of Isaac Newton, and was baptized at Brigstock, Northampton on 25 November 1679.
She was remarked upon by several men to be beautiful, witty and clever. She was known as a brilliant conversationalist, and attracted the admiration of such famous figures as Jonathan Swift and Voltaire. Her uncle was also fond of her.
An excerpt of an uncharacteristically warm letter from Newton survives, regarding her contraction of smallpox: "Pray let me know by your next how your face is and if your fevour be going.
Perhaps warm milk from ye Cow may help to abate lieutenant I am Your loving Unkle, Is.
Newton." Voltaire insinuated that Newton"s preferment to the Royal Mint was the result of her alleged affair with Charles Montagu. However, although it is true that Isaac was appointed under the patronage of Charles Montagu, it is clear that Catherine Barton came up to London and met Montagu after the appointment, not before.
Following the death of Charles Montagu"s wife in 1698, Barton became his housekeeper and probably his mistress.
There was much contemporary gossip on the subject, and thinly disguised accusations appeared in print. Delariviere Manley"s Memoirs of 1710 featured a character called Bartica who was widely taken to represent Barton. Montagu, by then Earl of Halifax, died of an inflammation of the lungs in May 1715.
His will contained two codicils: the first dated 12 April 1706, left the sum of £3000 and all his jewels to Barton.
A second dated 1 February 1713 left her an additional £5000 plus his interest in the rangership of Bushey Park and his manor of Apscourt in Surrey to pay for the repairs to Bushey Lodge. Montagu wrote that these bequests were "as a token of the sincere love, affection and esteem, I have long had for her person, and as a small recompense for the pleasure and happiness I have had in her conversation".
A fictional Barton has a small role in Neal Stephenson"s novel The System of the World, the final installment in Stephenson"s Baroque Cycle. She also has a role in Philip Kerr"s novel Dark Matter: The Private Life of Sir Isaac Newton.
