[2] She was the sister of the lady in waiting Princess Nataliya Petrovna Chernysheva, and in 1769 married to Field Marshal Count Ivan Petrovich Saltykov.

[3][1] She was the eldest daughter of a diplomat, Count Peter G. Chernyshev, godson (and rumoured son) of Peter the Great, and Catherine Andreevna, daughter of a famous chief of the secret office during the time of Biron, Count Andrei Ivanovich Ushakov.

[4] She spent her early life abroad with her father, primarily in England, where she received an excellent education.

She participated in the famous court masquerade of 1766 and at the great amateur theatre performance of 1768, where she was given much attention.

[3] Her marriage was apparently a happy one, and she and her husband exchanged many letters full of loving remarks.