She was one of India's most prolific women artists – two portfolios in the Victoria and Albert Museum contain some 350 watercolours by her, the result of four major tours in the country.

As an artist and botanist Lady Canning collected flowers and plants during her frequent trips around India, while drawing the natural scenes around her.

[1][2] Charlotte's grandmother, the Countess of Hardwicke, was present for the birth; in a letter, she observed that the "first look of the young lady was so strikingly like her father as to make us all laugh".

[4] A year later, Charlotte was joined by a younger sister, Louisa Anne (later Marchioness of Waterford);[5] the pair were considered beautiful despite the plain looks of their parents.

[6] Charlotte stayed in Paris with her family, acquiring a fluency in French, until 1831 when her father finished his posting as ambassador.

In addition to being well-connected – as the daughter of an ambassador and spouse of a rising politician – Charlotte was of respectable character; she was discreet, intelligent, socially adept, and beautiful.

[12] Lady Canning was an adherent of Anglicanism, her religious views tending towards high church traditions, despite Victoria's personal dislike of this perspective.

[22] She found comfort in her collection and artistic renderings of India's flora, and devoted much of her time to the garden at Barrackpore.

[21] The historian Eugenia W. Herbert describes Charlotte as the "most memorable and the most accomplished of the women botanical illustrators in India".

Her cousin accompanied one of these trips and noted that Charlotte's "genuine love of plants and flowers makes every step in this country of interest to her.

[21] She kept a journal and wrote frequently to Queen Victoria,[15][14] providing detailed accounts of life in India to the fascinated monarch.

[10] After five years in India, Charlotte looked forward to returning to England and her family, with the intended departure date planned for sometime in January 1862.

[28][29] She was buried on the grounds of Barrackpore, in a small garden her husband described as a "beautiful spot" that looked upon a river she "was so fond of drawing".

[30][31] Lady Canning's death was widely reported in England,[32] where it "generated an extraordinary, unanimous demonstration of patriotic grief.

"[34] Lord Canning grieved heavily and visited her grave daily; known for his reserved demeanour, he broke down into tears when comforted by the Bishop of Calcutta.

There are several legends behind the dessert's origins; one holds that a confectioner named his concoction after Lady Canning in honour of her birthday, while another says the sweetmeat was prepared to commemorate her visit to India in 1856.