Otoh it's mentioned his wife is a born Fräulein von Knyphausen, and the Knyphausens definitely have various Family members at court, so it could be her.
Well, in another passage, Lehndorff mentions dining at the Queen's (the context in which I asked about which queen) with Frau von Keith and playing with her (I assume music), and says she was born a Knyphausen. And we know not just from Lehndorff, but from Fritz's correspondence that Peter was engaged to a Knyphausen in 1742. Lehndorff then proceeds to mention Frau v. Keith a number of times, always positively.* So my first guess is that Frau v. Keith is Peter's wife and Lehndorff just really likes them both. But it did occur to me that I can name 3 Katte-Bismarck marriages off the top of my head, and there are SO MANY Keiths, related and unrelated, and a number of Knyphausens, that it's possible that there was another Knyphausen-Keith marriage. Because it is weird about the son whom there's otherwise no record of.
* During the evacuation of Berlin in 1760, Lehndorff's mother has been staying with Frau v. Keith (Peter's widow?), and Lehndorff mentions that she paid his mother a lot of attention, and that you never forget these kinds of favors.
Your impression of Lehndorff's reporting and the likelihood of Peter dying in Berlin matches mine, but I wanted to check with you, since you've read him all the way through, and as usual, you added wonderful extra details. :)
Also worth considering: the description of Peter's career mentions Fritz put him in charge of the administration of Charlottenburg Palace and of the Tiergarten. Since this is at when the war is still going well for Prussia, there is no sign of evacuation, and the court is still in Berlin, which means Charlottenburg isn't going to administrate itself, and the Tiergarten is as popular a Destination for Berliners as ever.
I had noticed the Charlottenburg and Tiergarten administration responsibilities, and if this overlaps with his academy curator position (which Carlyle records him holding as late as 1752), that's a lot of administration! Of reasonably important things.
It also occurred to me that Lt. Col. Keith staying in Berlin in 1756 at the age of 45 is a different matter from Keith at the age of 30 feeling ashamed of staying in Berlin. Especially since the young one hadn't proved himself and didn't have a bunch of important jobs, but rather had just come out of exile after deserting his post, and was idle in Berlin.
It's also possible, since he died only 4 months into the war, that he was sick, Fredersdorf-style, and thus exempt from service, but since Lehndorff doesn't mention any long illnesses, I'm going to hope that 1) Fritz had him stay home to carry out his important responsibilities and *not die*, 2) he went quickly and painlessly in December.
Yes, I want to write fic about Peter and Fritz and their miscommunications, and in the early 1750s let them have a nice little chat that I'm sure never happened, and when the war comes, Peter stays home and doesn't feel bad about it this time, for a variety of reasons. I just need to decide whether he has kids or not.
Doing the math, Peter was engaged in 1742, and the passage about the cavalier is from 1765, so he could definitely have an adult son by the time. But the silence otherwise is odd.
So if Peter did die in Berlin at the end of December 1756, Fritz might, in fact, have been there - not at his death bed, presumably Lehndorff would have mentioned that, but he could have seen him.
<3 I hope so. I hope it was quick, and I hope he and Fritz got to see each other one last time. Thanks for this tidbit; I might make use of it!
SD is more often the Queen Mother than she is the Queen, but just to make your life more difficult, sometimes she is the Queen, too.
Argh. I had a feeling that would be the case. But okay, I'll assume it's EC that Frau v. Keith (whoever she is) and Lehndorff have dinner with.
To confuse things more, there is a different Lt. Col. v. Keith in 1750, who marries Suhm's daughter. There's also a Colonel Keith in 1770 whom Fritz and Maria Antonia chat about, and based on things Fritz says, I *think* that's the son of James Frances Edward Keith, brother of the more famous Earl Marischal, and the one who died at Hochkirch (after telling Fritz there was no *way* the Austrians weren't going to attack them at night in that exposed spot). I don't think the 1770 Col. Keith can be the same as the one who married Suhm's daughter, unless James is having kids much earlier than Wikipedia mentions.
So now we're up to 8? male Keiths, plus a female Keith née Knyphausen whose husband may or may not be Peter.
And *everybody* goes by their last name, because of course they do. ARGH.
Re: Peter Keith
Otoh it's mentioned his wife is a born Fräulein von Knyphausen, and the Knyphausens definitely have various Family members at court, so it could be her.
Well, in another passage, Lehndorff mentions dining at the Queen's (the context in which I asked about which queen) with Frau von Keith and playing with her (I assume music), and says she was born a Knyphausen. And we know not just from Lehndorff, but from Fritz's correspondence that Peter was engaged to a Knyphausen in 1742. Lehndorff then proceeds to mention Frau v. Keith a number of times, always positively.* So my first guess is that Frau v. Keith is Peter's wife and Lehndorff just really likes them both. But it did occur to me that I can name 3 Katte-Bismarck marriages off the top of my head, and there are SO MANY Keiths, related and unrelated, and a number of Knyphausens, that it's possible that there was another Knyphausen-Keith marriage. Because it is weird about the son whom there's otherwise no record of.
* During the evacuation of Berlin in 1760, Lehndorff's mother has been staying with Frau v. Keith (Peter's widow?), and Lehndorff mentions that she paid his mother a lot of attention, and that you never forget these kinds of favors.
Your impression of Lehndorff's reporting and the likelihood of Peter dying in Berlin matches mine, but I wanted to check with you, since you've read him all the way through, and as usual, you added wonderful extra details. :)
Also worth considering: the description of Peter's career mentions Fritz put him in charge of the administration of Charlottenburg Palace and of the Tiergarten. Since this is at when the war is still going well for Prussia, there is no sign of evacuation, and the court is still in Berlin, which means Charlottenburg isn't going to administrate itself, and the Tiergarten is as popular a Destination for Berliners as ever.
I had noticed the Charlottenburg and Tiergarten administration responsibilities, and if this overlaps with his academy curator position (which Carlyle records him holding as late as 1752), that's a lot of administration! Of reasonably important things.
It also occurred to me that Lt. Col. Keith staying in Berlin in 1756 at the age of 45 is a different matter from Keith at the age of 30 feeling ashamed of staying in Berlin. Especially since the young one hadn't proved himself and didn't have a bunch of important jobs, but rather had just come out of exile after deserting his post, and was idle in Berlin.
It's also possible, since he died only 4 months into the war, that he was sick, Fredersdorf-style, and thus exempt from service, but since Lehndorff doesn't mention any long illnesses, I'm going to hope that 1) Fritz had him stay home to carry out his important responsibilities and *not die*, 2) he went quickly and painlessly in December.
Yes, I want to write fic about Peter and Fritz and their miscommunications, and in the early 1750s let them have a nice little chat that I'm sure never happened, and when the war comes, Peter stays home and doesn't feel bad about it this time, for a variety of reasons. I just need to decide whether he has kids or not.
Doing the math, Peter was engaged in 1742, and the passage about the cavalier is from 1765, so he could definitely have an adult son by the time. But the silence otherwise is odd.
So if Peter did die in Berlin at the end of December 1756, Fritz might, in fact, have been there - not at his death bed, presumably Lehndorff would have mentioned that, but he could have seen him.
<3 I hope so. I hope it was quick, and I hope he and Fritz got to see each other one last time. Thanks for this tidbit; I might make use of it!
SD is more often the Queen Mother than she is the Queen, but just to make your life more difficult, sometimes she is the Queen, too.
Argh. I had a feeling that would be the case. But okay, I'll assume it's EC that Frau v. Keith (whoever she is) and Lehndorff have dinner with.
To confuse things more, there is a different Lt. Col. v. Keith in 1750, who marries Suhm's daughter. There's also a Colonel Keith in 1770 whom Fritz and Maria Antonia chat about, and based on things Fritz says, I *think* that's the son of James Frances Edward Keith, brother of the more famous Earl Marischal, and the one who died at Hochkirch (after telling Fritz there was no *way* the Austrians weren't going to attack them at night in that exposed spot). I don't think the 1770 Col. Keith can be the same as the one who married Suhm's daughter, unless James is having kids much earlier than Wikipedia mentions.
So now we're up to 8? male Keiths, plus a female Keith née Knyphausen whose husband may or may not be Peter.
And *everybody* goes by their last name, because of course they do. ARGH.
Anyway, many thanks, subdetective