Anna Maria Brudenell
Countess of Shrewsbury
(1642-1702)
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| Deene Hall seat of the Brudenell, Earls of Cardigan @Telegraph |
Daughter of: Robert Brudenell, 2nd Earl of Cardigan & Anne Savage.
Wife of:
1. Francis Talbot, 11th Earl of Shrewsbury mar 1659
Wife of:
1. Francis Talbot, 11th Earl of Shrewsbury mar 1659
"On January 10, 1659, Francis Talbot, eleventh Earl of Shrewsbury (aged 36), married, as his second wife, Anna-Maria Brudenell (aged 17), daughter of Robert Brudenell, who became second Earl of Cardigan. After the Restoration Lord Shrewsbury was appointed Housekeeper of Hampton Court Palace. He took his beautiful young wife to Court, where she was fair game for such libertines as Henry Jermyn and 'Northern Tom' Howard, who fought a duel over her. Jermyn's second, Giles, Rawlins, was killed. In 1666 she became mistress to George Villiers, second Duke of Buckingham." (Court Satires of the Restoration: 285)
"Francis Talbot, 11th Earl of Shrewsbury, flourished in the 17th century, but like many other persons of title, was not distinguished by talent or abilities, or indeed anything else, except the circumstances attending his tragical end. He first married Anne, daughter and heiress of Sir John Conyers, Knt., of Sockburne, Durham, by whom he had two sons, Conyers and George, who both died young, and a daughter Mary, who married Mr. Stonor, of Watlington, Oxfordshire. The Countess of Shrewsbury died, and the Earl, unluckily for himself, then married Anna Maria Brudenell, daughter of Robert Brudenell, 2nd Earl of Cardigan. . . ." (The Secular Chronicle, Vol 1-2: 169)
2. George Rodney Brydges (d.1713), mar 1677.
"Anna Maria, Countess of Shewsbury, eldest daughter of Robert Brudenel, Earl of Cardigan, and wife of Francis, Earl of Shewsbury, who was killed in a duel by George, Duke of Buckingham, March 16, 1667. She afterwards re-married with George Rodney Bridges, Esq., second son of Sit Thomas Bridges of Keynsham, in Somersershire, knight, and died April 1702. By her second husband she had one son, George Rodney Bridges, who died in 1751. This woman is said to have been so abandoned, as to have held, in the habit of a [age, her gallant, the duke's horse, while he fought and killed her husband; after which she went to bed with him, stained with her husband's blood." (Memoirs of Count Grammont, Vol 1: 240)
Singular powers of fascination.
"Whoever looks upon the portrait of Anna-Maria, Countess of Shrewsbury, will express no surprise on reading her history. A lady she was, celebrated for her singular powers of fascination, the great freedom of her conduct, and the several tragedies she occasioned. . . ." (Althorp Memoirs: 25)
Suitors duelled for Anna Maria's favours.
" . . . Even in the openly by profligate reign of Charles II this lady was conspicuous for her licentiousness. In 1662 her favoured lover was Captain Thomas Howard, brother to the Earl of Carlisle, an officer in the guards. There was at that time a celebrated little fop at court named Henry Jermyn. He was nephew to the Earl of St. Albans, and was so successful in seducing the ladies that he was called 'the invincible.' This all-conquering hero was dissatisfied because Lady Shrewsbury had made him no advances, and he determined to take her away from Captain Howard. She eagerly received his first attentions, and Howard grew jealous. He had several times invited her to spend an evening with him at Spring Gardens, then a favourite place of amusements, a sort of Cremorne. The lady at last consented, and fixed August 18, 1662, as the time, but sent word to Jermyn privately to be present. Captain Howard met the lady and took her upstairs and entertained her, and having tastes which would appear strange to a gallant guardsman of our day, introduced a man of his company who was considered a skilful player on bagpipes, and ordered him to play his delectable instrument by way of charming the lady. Jermyn now appeared, as if strolling by accident in the garden, and the lady, who was looking out of the window, made him a sign to come up. He at once did so, and to Howard's mortification, commenced talking to the lady, and sneering at both the entertainment and the music, Captain Howard, who had not long before killed a 'horse courser man' in St. Giles's, grew impatient, and was three times near drawing upon Jermyn. He was not expert at badinage, and he with difficulty kept his temper till the little party broke up, when Jermyn went home highly elated, but early next morning he was awakened from his sleep to receive a challenge to meet the guardsman that very morning. They met accordingly in Old Pall Mall, St. James's Field; each being accompanied by a second who, as was then the fashion, fought also. Howard's second was a Colonel Dillon, son of Lord Dillon, and Jermyn brought with him Colonel Giles Rawlings, Privy Purse to the Duke of York (afterwards James II), a man celebrated as a libertine and gambler." (The Secular Chronicle, Vol 1-2: 169)
A "killing" dame & the death of at least three men.
" . . . The 'countess' was probably Anna Maria, widow of Francis Talbot, Earl of Shrewsbury . . . She was indeed a 'killing' dame in the sense that at least three men---Giles Rawlins, William Jenkins, and her husband---had died in quarrels about her. When the Duke of Albermarle died, January 3, 1670, Anna Maria's lover, George, Duke of Buckingham, with whom she been living openly for two years, moved into Albermarle's apartments in the Cockpit, an appendage to Whitehall Palace." (Court Satires of the Restoration: 19)
Her lovers were:
Lover in 1666-1673.
""Two years later the Duke eloped with Anna Maria Brudenell, Countess of Shrewsbury, who had been his mistress for some time. He was, like his mistress, already married, for on his return to England, he had courted Mary Fairfax, daughter of Sir Thomas and Lady Fairfax of Nun Appleton, Yorkshire. . . His daughter Mary . . . married Buckingham, but she must have regretted her choice. . . Buckingham became enslaved by the the Countess of Shrewsbury, a handsome and already notorious young woman in her twenties. Their association was quite public and completely scandalous." (Bright Taapestry:18)
Affair's end & aftermath.
" . . . After marrying the 11th Earl of Shrewsbury, she was soon known to become the mistress of the Duke of Buckingham, even bearing him an illegitimate son, whom they secretly buried under the title of the Earl of Coventry. In one of the biggest scandals of our time Buckingham dueled (sic) Francis Talbot. Months after and confirmed by the coroner as unrelated to the duel, Talbot died, with rumors abounding that the Duke had caused it in the duel. For a time Anna Maria then lived with Buckingham. They are no longer in a relationship and are no longer speaking. Their affair was finally broken off in 1673 following a scandal at the house of lords. The countess went to France when it became clear nothing could benefit her from Buckingham (no child of theirs could ever be recognized and inherit as the first illustrated), and she spent some time in a convent before returning to England and remarrying to George Rodney Bridges, an MP." (Age of Intrigue)
" . . . His mistress was Anna Maria Brudenell, Countess of Shrewsbury, the daughter of Lord Cardigan. He had sincere and deep feelings for Lady Shrewsbury, and she was to have a profound effct upon his life. Her grandfather had sent her father to France at the outbreak of the Civil War and so shed had been born and brought up in France, where she had received an impeccable convent education. Growing up into a beautiful woman with light-brown hair and dark eyes, her marraige to the widower, Francis Talbot, the 11th Earl of Shrewsbury, on 10 January 1659 whe she was 17, was the culmination of the political and financial negotiations of the age. The Earl was a 36-year-old widower whose first wife had died childless. The new countess gave birth to their first son in 1660 and a second in 1665. By the time she had began her relationship with Buckingham, Lady Shrewsbury had already gained a dubious reputation and her husband had suffered on account of her infidelities
3) Henry Killigrew (1637-1690)
Lover in 1663
English actor
3) Henry Killigrew (1637-1690)
Lover in 1663
English actor
"Son of Thomas Killigrew by his first wife, Cecilia, daughter of Sir John Crofts, and maid of honour to Henrietta Maria. Born April 9th, 1637, and baptised in St, Martin's-in-the-Fields, April 16th. He is called 'young,' to distinguish him from his uncle of the same name, who was Master of the savoy. He was Groom of the Bedchamber to the Duke of York (1656), then to the king *1662), again to the duke (1666), and again to the king (1669). He was living in 1694, when he held his father's place of Master of the Revels." ((The Diary of Samuel Pepys, Vol 2: 328)
"Henry Killigrew, son of Thomas Killigrew, talked loudly of his old intimacy with the Countess of Shrewsbury, and this outrage was done at the instigation of that worthless woman. Killigrew appears to have been continually in trouble, for he was beaten by the Duke of Buckingham in 1667, and soon after was in disgrace at Court. Pepys, on May 30th, 1668, mentions that he had newly come back from France, but in October of the same year he was in Paris again, for Charles wrote to his sister, the Duchess if Orleans, on October 17th, respecting him: 'For Henry Killigrew, you may see him as you please, and though I cannot commende my Lady Shrewsbury's conduct in many things, yett Mr. Killigrew's carriage towards her has been worse than I will repeate, and for his demele with my Lord of Buckingham he ought not to brag of, for it was in all sorts most abominable. I am glad the poor wrech has gott a means of subsistence, but have one caution of him, that you beleeve not one word he sayes of us heere, for he is a most notorious lyar and does not want with to sett forth his storeys pleasantly enought' (Julia Cartwright's 'Madame,' 1894, pp. 273, 274)." (The Diary of Samuel Pepys, Vol 2: 1082)
"The next lover mentioned by Hamilton is Henry Killigrew, at the time a groom of the King's bed-chamber. This graceless son of Tom the jester, obtained a place in the list a few months after the celebration of the Duke of Monmouth's nuptials. As the Duke married April 20, 1663, we have the year of an adventure which was soon followed by another, involving in it no less a person that the graceless Zimri, and of a more lasting nature that any of its precursors." (Althorp Memoirs: 28)
"Henry Killigrew, whose fortune it was to be ever offending some one, at length began to talk loudly of his old intimacy with the Countess, but not with impunity. On the evening of May 18, 1669, when on his way from the Duke of York's apartments at St. James's in a hackney-coach towards his house at Turnham-green, he was set upon by footmen, and wounded in nine places, the Lady Shrewsbury being by in her coach with six horses. This outrage was done at her instigation, and with the knowledge of her paramour. Had not Killigrew ran at his assailants with his sword he might have escaped with a beating, and his man, who drew in his master's defence, with his life." (Althorp Memoirs: 30)
". . . Among the most conspicuous of her numerous lovers was Killigrew the actor, who had 'nothing better to do'; but he was before long supplanted by a most distinguished admirer in George Villiers, Duke of Buckingham, who seems to have been inspired to meddle by Killigrew's incessant boasting of his relations with the Countess. . . Having succeeded in capturing higher game, Lady Shrewsbury promptly threw over Killigrew, who in his anger not only publicly upbraided her for her faithlessness but also cast reflections upon her personal appearance. He was, however, afraid of Buckingham and after an encounter with hired ruffians, who left him for dean, he fled abroad, feeling that it would be useless to remonstrate and unsafe to remain. Besides, there were reports that the infuriated Countess, who found him an intolerable nuisance, was resolved to have him killed. Presently she also ran away---some said in order to slay Harry Killigrew with her own hands, others to enter a monastery. . . ." (Charles Talbot, Duke of Shrewsbury:2-4)
4) Richard Butler, 1st Earl of Arran.
"While satire thus found employment at her cost, there were continual contests for the favours of another beauty, who was not much more niggardly in that way than herself: this was the Countess of Shrewsbury. The Earl of Arran, who had been one of her admirers, was not one of the last to desert her: this beauty, less famous for her conquests, than for the misfortunes she occasioned, placed her greatest merits in being more capricious than any other. As no person cpould boast of being the only one in her facour; so no person could complain of having been ill received." (Memoirs of Count Grammont, Vol 1: 153)
Richard Talbot
1st Duke of Tyrconnell
Irish nobleman, royalist & soldier
"Talbot had an intrigue with Lady Shrewsbury, mother of Charles Talbot, Duke of Shrewsbury; but broke this off to pay attention to Miss Hamilton. 'There was not a more genteel man at Court,' Anthony Hamilton wrote in the Memoirs of Grammont. He was, indeed, but a younger brother, though of a very ancient family, which, however, was not very considerable either for its renown or its riches; and though he was naturally of a careless disposition, yet, being inten upon making his fortune, and much in favour with the Duke of York, and fortune likewise favouring him at play, he had improved noth so well that he was in possession of about 4000 pounds a yar in land. He offered himself to Miss Hamilton, with this fortune, together with the almost certain hopes of being made a peer of the realm by his master's credit; and, over and above all, as many sacrifices as she could desire of Lady Shrewsbury's letters, pictures, and hair-curiosities which, indeed, are reckoned for nothing in housekeeping, but which testify strongly in favour of the sincerity and merit of a lover. Such a rival was not to be desposed, and the Chevalier de Grammont thought him more dangerous as he perceived that Talbot was desperately in love; that he was not a man to be discouraged by a first repulse; that he had too much good sense and good breeding to draw upon himself either contempt or coldness by too great eagerness. When the Chevalier de Grammont reflected upon all thse things, there was certainly ground for uneasiness' nor was the indifference which Miss Hamilton showed for the addresses of his rival sufficient to remove his fears; for being entirely dependent on her father's wil, she could only answer for her own intentions; but Fortune, who seemed to have taken him under her protection inEngland, now delivered him all uneasiness." (The Windsor Beauties: Ladies of the Court of Charles II: 85)
"Having at length tired out her easy husband's patience by her numerous intrigues---among her lovers must be accounted Dick Talbot---a duel followed between the Earl and the Duke of Buckingham, who mistress she had been. . . ." (Althorp Memoirs: 28-29)
6) Captain Thomas Howard (1640-1678)
6) Captain Thomas Howard (1640-1678)
Son of Sir William Howard & Mary Eure, daughter of William Eure, 4th Baron Eure of Witton.
Husband of Mary Villiers, daughter of George Villiers, Duke of Buckingham & Catherine Manners.
"Mary, daughter of George Villiers, first Duke of Buckingham, wife of James, fourth Duke of Lennox, and third Duke of Richmond, who left her a widow secondly in 1655. She had previously married Charles Lord Herbert; and she took for her third husband, Thomas Howard, brother of the Earl of Carlise, who fought the duel with Jermyn." (Diary and Correspondance of Samuel Pepys: 272)
"Thomas Howard, brother to the Earl of Carlisle, was one of them: there was not a braver, nor more genteel man, in England; and though he was of a more modest demeanour, and his manners appeared genteel and pacific, no person was more spirited, nor more passionate. Lady Shrewsbury, inconsideratedly returning the first ogles of the invincible Jermyn, did not at all make herself more agreeable to Howard: that, however, she paid little attention to; yet, as she designed to keep fair with him, she consencted to accept an entertainment which he had often proposed, and which she durst no longer refuse. A place of amusement, called Spring Garden, was fixed upon for the scene of this entertainment." (Memoirs of Count Grammont, Vol 1: 154)
"A few months after we meet very different company in the Spring Garden. In the beginning of August, 1662, the profligate Countess of Shrewsbury went there with Captain Thomas Howard of the Guards, to have a quiet dinner, which led to one of the most sabguinary duels that disgraced the reign of the second Charles. Howard, for the time being, was the amant en titre of the Countess, and the 'invincible little Jermyn' (the nephew of the Earl of St. Alban's), a fop for whom half the female part of the court were dying, was vexed that she alone should not have made him any advances. Breaking off his intrigue with the beautiful Mrs. Hyde (wife of Clarendon's son), he began to lay siege to the refractory Countess, who was not exactly of a composition to keep him a long time sighing. Howard soon perceived that she encouraged Jermyn's advances, and began to feel uneacy. In order to ascertain the exact state of his affairs with her versatile ladyship, he invited her to an entertainment at the Spring Garden, and she, wishing to keep on good terms with him, accepted the invitation, but gave Jermyn private notice of it. The little Don Juan managed to be in the garden as by accident, and, puffed up with his former successes, was more bold than ever. No sooner did he appear in the calks than the Countess showed herself on the balcony, and made him a sine to come up. Howard, being one of the proudest and most impatient men in England, did not relist the intrusion, and quite lost his temper, when the little tyrant, not content with forcing his company where he was not wanted, began to attempt in all manner of small jokes upon the entertainment, and took particular pleasure in ridiculing an unfortunate bagpipe, which Howard had provided a soldier in his company to play for the pleasure of his ficle mistress. Poor Howard was not gifted with a witty tongue or the talent of bestowing ridicule: three times was the banquet on the point of being stained with blood, but he controlled his impetuosity, in order to satisfy his resentment elsewhere on a better opportunity. The 'invincible,' without paying the least regard to Howard's ill-humour, remained till the end of the repast, and, whilst the Captain sulked, made the best of his time in flirting with the Countess. But the following morning the tables were turned: Jermyn was wakend by the bearer of a challenge from Howard, and that same day, on the 18th of August, 1663, at eleven o'clock, the duel took place in St. James's Fields. As usual in those days, the seconds engaged as well as the principals; but fortune did not side with the votary of love, for not only did Jermyn receive three wounds, so serious that he was carried home for dead, but his second, Giles Rawlings, Privy Purse to the Duke of York, was killed by Colonel Dillon, Howard's second. Dillon and Rawlings were bosom friends, but that did not matter on such occasions in the good old time; what was still worse, the world said that Dillon's life had only been saved by his wearing a mail shirt. The survivors fled from England, but three months afterwards returned and were acquitted." (The Story of the London Parks: 276)
". . . On August 17, 1662, Jermyn fought an impromptu duel with Captain Thomas Howard, his rival for Lady Shrewsbury's favors. Jermyn's second, Giles Rawlins, was killed, and Jermyn was seriously wounded. . . .' (Court Satires of the Restoration: 8)
(1505-1579)
1) Sir Edmund Knyvett of Buckingham.
"...The earl of Sussex also responded punitively when his wife was accused of undergoing a bigamous marriage with Sir Edmund Knyvett... In 1555, the earl obtained a statute that deprived her of dower in his estates. Despite her apparent disgrace, the countess survived surprisingly well. After Sussex's death in 1557, she married Andrew Wyse, a royal official in Ireland. Their daughter had enough status to marry a younger son of Sir Edward Clinton, Queen Elizabeth's vice-treasurer in Ireland." (Harris: 85) [Bio2]
2) Francois VI de la Rochefoucauld
Duc de la Rochefoucauld.
"Her love for La Rochefoucauld was the secret of her failure in life. When she experienced the disappointment of her married life and discovered that her dream of being loved by her husband could not be realized, she looked to other sources for diversion... Although she carried on flirtations with Coligny and the Duke of Nemours, she really loved no one but La Rochefoucauld, to whom she sacrificed her reputation and tranquility, her duties and interests. For him she took up the cause of the Fronde; for him she was a mere slave, her entire existence being given up to his love, his whims, his service; when he failed her, she was lost, exhausted, and retured to a convent at the age of thirty-five and in the full bloom of her beauty. Her professed lover simply used her as a means to an end, seeking only his own interests in the Fronde, while she sought his; and this is the explanation of her seeming inconsistency of conduct...." (Thieme, 2006, p. 54)
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| Lady Anne Fitzroy Countess of Sussex |
(1661-1721)
Daughter of: Charles II of England & Barbara Palmer, Duchess of Cleveland.
Wife of: Thomas Lennard, 1st Earl of Sussex (d.1715) mar 1674, sep 1688.
Anne's paternity.
"Anne Palmer was the first of Barbara’s six illegitimate children, supposedly conceived on the night of Charles II’s coronation in the early days of Barbara’s reign as maitresse en titre. But to be perfectly honest there were a couple of candidates for father – the most unlikely of whom was Barbara’s husband Roger Palmer. Both Palmer and Charles accepted paternity but Philip Stanhope, 2nd Earl of Chesterfield was generally believed to be little Anne’s father." (Good Gentlewoman)
Her lovers were:
1) Hortense Mancini, Duchesse de Mazarin.
Lover in 1676.
"Her illegitimacy notwithstanding, Lady Anne was very eligible, and at thirteen, she was married to the twenty-year-old Thomas Lennard, 15th Baron Dacre and Gentleman of the Bedchamber, who was created Earl of Sussex on the marriage. Lennard was an extravagant spender and gambler, and their marriage was an unhappy one. After two years, when Anne was fifteen, she began a lesbian liaison with Hortense Mancini, duchesse Mazarin, who had fled her own abusive husband, Armand Charles de la Porte. This liaison was not only shocking to the royal court, but very inconvenient in that King Charles was also conducting an affair with ‘the Mancini’ at the time." (History & Women)
2) Ralph Montagu, 1st Duke of Montagu.
Lover in 1678.
" . . . Anne (Fitzroy), daughter of King Charles and the Duchess of Cleveland, was the wife of Thomas Lennard, Earl of Sussex. In the summer of 1678, in France, Lady Sussex was seduced by Ralph Montague. There is no ground for the suggestion of incest with King Charles." (Wilson, 1976, p. 29)
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| Daisy Greville Countess of Warwick @ deviantART |
(1861-1938)
Daughter of: Hon. Charles Maynard & Blanche Fitzroy.
Personal and family background.
She was born Frances Evelyn 'Daisy' Maynard to The Hon. Charles Maynard and of Blanche Fitzroy. " . . . Her father, Charles Maynard was a colonel in the Blues, and son of the wealthy Viscount Maynard. He was tall, good looking and energetically eccentric. . . He died when she was three, her grandfather made her his heir, and as a very young child she became one of the richest heiresses of the country. . . ." (Edward the Rake)
"The loveliest woman in England, of high rank, ample riches and great intelligence".
"Frances Evelyn 'Daisy' Maynard, was born in Mayfair's Berkeley Square, an elegant part of central London. After he father died, her mother, Blanche Fitzroy, took the adorable three year old to visit her elderly grandfather, Viscount Maynard, at his country estate near Dunmow in Essex. From an early age Daisy was a natural coquette. Her grandfather was charmed by little Daisy when she climbed on his lap and put her arms around his neck. Within a few days, the elderly Viscount Maynard became so found of his little granddaughter that he altered his will, leaving her his vast estates and all his possession. Viscount Maynard died only a few months after changing his will. When family members assembled for the reading of the will they were enraged to learn that they received nothing. It was little Daisy who would inherit the Maynard millions, a country estate in Essex, farmland in Leicestershire and a collection of Old Masters paintings. It took time for Viscount Maynard's will to be probated but at the age of four Daisy Maynard became England's wealthiest heiress. Lacking a father, the little girl was made a ward in chancery so her large inheritance was under the control of the Lord Chancellor's office. Daisy was unable to touch her fortune until she came of age at twenty-one." (Royal Mistresses of the House of Hanover-Windsor)
Physical appearance and personal qualities.
"Frances Brooke, or Daisy as she came to be called, was twenty years younger that the Prince. Strikingly good looking, intelligent, fascinating and extremely rich, she was the owner of estates worth more than 20,000 pounds a year which she had inherited from her grandfather, the last Viscount Maynard. . . ." (Edward VII: The Last Victorian King)
Beneficiaries and patronages.
"The Countess of Warwick, known as Daisy Brooke, who had been the mistress of the Prince of Wales for nine years, later became unusually sympathetic (for her class) to the vast world of suffering around her, and in 1895 got herself elected a trustee of a workhouse. She financed out of her own purse a number of philanthropic schemes to help the poor and unemployed(cripples' schools, women's hostels, agricultural training centres), to the point where in 1898 her annual income of over L30,000 (inherited from her grandfather) slid down to £6,000. She played an important part in the propaganda campaign to free school meals. . . ." (Victorian Women: 203)
His other lover was:
". . . Daisy. . . became so smitten with millionaire Joe Laycock. . . Soon Daisy found herself pregnant with Joe's son. Six years later she gave birth to his daughter. But as the passion waned on his side, Daisy remained besotted. After Joe left daisy for her best friend, Daisy used all her alluring gifts to try to win him back. Humiliating herself again and again, she proved quite unable to get the hint when Joe repeatedly rejected her. . . Cad that he was, and clearly still attracted by her beauty and wonderful figure, Joe agreed to a series of romantic meetings that Daisy hoped would become permanent reconciliations. For Joe, though, they were nothing more than one-night stands." (Daily Mail)
" . . . Daisy's insatiable appetite for sex led to a pregnancy by another man (the millionaire Joe Laycock who had served in the Boer War) and she wrote a letter to Bertie to break off the 10 year affair. . . ." (Travel Tales)
3) Edward VII of Great Britain
Lover in 1886-1898.
"Things took a turn for the worse in 1891, at the height of Bertie's affair with the young and beautiful Daisy, Lady Brooke, the future Countess of Warwick. Bertie had treated previous affairs as temporary diversions, but Daisy captivated him, and he even gave her a 'wedding ring.' Known by the rather unflattering epithet of 'the Babbling Brook,' Daisy spoke openly of the liaison, and the scandal reached its height that summer, when Lady Brooke convinced Bertie to retrieve a compromising letter she had written to her former lover Lord Charles Beresford. It was found by Beresford's wife, whom the Prince of Wales cajoled and threatened; there were rumors that Lord Charles had stormed into Marlborough House and actually struck Bertie during an argument...." (King, 2007, p. 138)
" . . . Lady Banbury was on terms of great intimacy with Lord Vaux, whom she not many weeks subsequent to the death of her first husband, when the latter was nearly ninety years of age. . . ." (Court and Society from Elizabeth to Anne, Volume 2: 97)
Personal & Family Background.
Daisy Greville's lovers were:
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| Charles Beresford @Alamy |
1) Charles Beresford, 1st Baron Beresford (1846-1919)
Lover in 1891.
British admiral & politician
Lover in 1891.
British admiral & politician
Son of: John Beresford, 4th Marquess of Waterford
Husband of: Mina Gardner, mar 1878
"Daisy had an extraordinary passionate liaison with Lord Charles Beresford, another ambitious naval officer, and friend of the Prince of Wales. So true was their illicit love that Charles vowed to sleep only with his mistress. Thus when Lady Beresford became pregnant, Daisy felt betrayed and sent her lover an irate love note. As bad luck would have it Charles was away on his ship, and had given his wife a carte blanche to open all his correspondence. Having read the letter, Lady Beresford showed it to the Prime Minister, who advised her to give it to the custody of George Lewis. He was the high society solicitor, whose discretion was so great, and whose secrets so damaging, that half the leading families in the land gave a collective sigh of relief when his files were burnt on his death." (Carlton: 144)
2) Joseph Laycock.
American military officer & millionaire.
Husband of: Mina Gardner, mar 1878
"Daisy had an extraordinary passionate liaison with Lord Charles Beresford, another ambitious naval officer, and friend of the Prince of Wales. So true was their illicit love that Charles vowed to sleep only with his mistress. Thus when Lady Beresford became pregnant, Daisy felt betrayed and sent her lover an irate love note. As bad luck would have it Charles was away on his ship, and had given his wife a carte blanche to open all his correspondence. Having read the letter, Lady Beresford showed it to the Prime Minister, who advised her to give it to the custody of George Lewis. He was the high society solicitor, whose discretion was so great, and whose secrets so damaging, that half the leading families in the land gave a collective sigh of relief when his files were burnt on his death." (Carlton: 144)
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Joseph Laycock |
American military officer & millionaire.
Affair's end & aftermath.
"At the age of 39, Daisy experienced great sadness when on his return from the Boer War Captain Laycock dropped her in favour of a married aristocrat named Kitty Downshire, who was a decade younger than Daisy and had already had a string of lovers. This time the Game of Love was Daisy's undoing." (Royal Mistresses of the House of Hanover-Windsor)
"In 1901, after the death of Queen Victoria, the Prince of Wales was crowned as King Edward VII. That same year Daisy had a brief reunion with Captain Laycock, but long enough for her to become pregnant. Joe resented her pregnancy so much that Daisy decided to have an abortion, which nearly cost her life. In 1903, Daisy and Joe Laycock had a much longer reconciliation. Once again Daisy fell pregnant, but this time she insisted on having the baby. Joe wa furious and refused to meet with Daisy again saying it was too harrowing for all three of them. Brookie forgave his wife when she gave birth to a daughter named Mercy. Daisy adored the little girl and was distressed that Joe showed no interest in Marcy or his illegitimate son Maynard. Daisy realised she had lost the man she loved so passionately." (Royal Mistresses of the House of Hanover-Windsor)
His other lover was:
Katherine, Marchioness of Downshire
". . . Daisy. . . became so smitten with millionaire Joe Laycock. . . Soon Daisy found herself pregnant with Joe's son. Six years later she gave birth to his daughter. But as the passion waned on his side, Daisy remained besotted. After Joe left daisy for her best friend, Daisy used all her alluring gifts to try to win him back. Humiliating herself again and again, she proved quite unable to get the hint when Joe repeatedly rejected her. . . Cad that he was, and clearly still attracted by her beauty and wonderful figure, Joe agreed to a series of romantic meetings that Daisy hoped would become permanent reconciliations. For Joe, though, they were nothing more than one-night stands." (Daily Mail)
" . . . Daisy's insatiable appetite for sex led to a pregnancy by another man (the millionaire Joe Laycock who had served in the Boer War) and she wrote a letter to Bertie to break off the 10 year affair. . . ." (Travel Tales)
3) Edward VII of Great Britain
Lover in 1886-1898.
"Things took a turn for the worse in 1891, at the height of Bertie's affair with the young and beautiful Daisy, Lady Brooke, the future Countess of Warwick. Bertie had treated previous affairs as temporary diversions, but Daisy captivated him, and he even gave her a 'wedding ring.' Known by the rather unflattering epithet of 'the Babbling Brook,' Daisy spoke openly of the liaison, and the scandal reached its height that summer, when Lady Brooke convinced Bertie to retrieve a compromising letter she had written to her former lover Lord Charles Beresford. It was found by Beresford's wife, whom the Prince of Wales cajoled and threatened; there were rumors that Lord Charles had stormed into Marlborough House and actually struck Bertie during an argument...." (King, 2007, p. 138)
Diana Wyndham
Countess of Westmorland
(1893-1983)
Daughter of: Thomas Lister, 4th Baron Ribblesdale & Charlotte Monkton.
Wife of:
1. Arthur Capel, mar 1918.
2) Vere Fane, 14th Earl of Westmorland, mar 1923.
Her lover was:
1) Alfred Duff Cooper, 1st Viscount Norwich (1890-1954)
Wife of:
1. Arthur Capel, mar 1918.
2) Vere Fane, 14th Earl of Westmorland, mar 1923.
Her lover was:
1) Alfred Duff Cooper, 1st Viscount Norwich (1890-1954)
Elizabeth Howard
Countess of Banbury
(1586-1658)
Her lover was:
Edward Vaux, 4th Baron Vaux of Harrowden (1588-1661)
Personal & Family Background.
She was the daughter of Thomas Howard, 1st Earl of Suffolk, and his wife Catherine Knevet.
Spouses & Children:
1. in 1605, Sir William Knollys (1547-1632
2. in 1632, Sir Edward Vaux, 4th Baron Vaux of Harrowden.
" . . . When in his sixteenth year, William Knollys, first and only Earl of Banbury, married Elizabeth Howard, daughter of the Earl of Suffolk. The bride was then nineteen years of age. . . ." (Court and Society from Elizabeth to Anne, Vol 2: 97)
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| Elizabeth Vassall |
(1771-1845)
English political & literary hostess.
Her lovers were:
1) Granville Leveson-Gower, 1st Earl Granville.
2) Henry Richard Fox, 3rd Baron Holland.Lover in 1794
3) Thomas Pelham, 2nd Earl of Chichester.
[Bio2:Duchess of Devonshire's Gossip Guide]
[Bio3:ODNB]
2) Henry Richard Fox, 3rd Baron Holland.Lover in 1794
3) Thomas Pelham, 2nd Earl of Chichester.
[Bio2:Duchess of Devonshire's Gossip Guide]
[Bio3:ODNB]
Elizabeth von Arnim, Countess Russell
(?-1941)
Wife of:
1) Graf Henning August von Arnim-Schlagenthin, a Prussian aristocrat & adopted son of Cosima Wagner
2) Lord Francis Russell, Bertand Russel's brother.
Her lovers were:
1) Arthur Stuart Frere-Reeves.
American publisher
Lover in 1920
2) Herbert G. Wells.
Lover in 1910)
Daughter of: John Manners, Marquess of Granby
[Fam1:Peerage]
Wife of: George Carpenter, Earl of Tyrconnell, mar 1772.
Her lover was:
Charles Smith.
[Fam1:Peerage]
Wife of: George Carpenter, Earl of Tyrconnell, mar 1772.
Her lover was:
Charles Smith.
 |
| Idina Sackville Countess of Erroll @Wikipedia |
(1893-1955)
British aristocrat & farmer.
Daughter of: Gilbert Sackville, 8th Earl De La Warr & Lady Muriel Agnes Brassey, daughter of Thomas Brasset, 1st Earl Brassey
Wife of:
1. Euan Wallace, mar 1913, div 1919
"Her first husband, the young, handsome David Euan Wallace, a Captain in the Life Guards and a millionaire to boot, was one of the most sought-after bachelors of his generation. He was also the love of Idina's life. Blissfully married in 1913 at the age of 20, Idina eventually left him because of his many extramarital dalliances." (Daily Mail)
2. Charles Gordon, mar 1919, div 1923.
"In March 1919, she married briefly for a second time to an Army captain, and sailed with him to Africa. He couldn't keep up with her sexual energy, so she moved on to Josslyn Hay. . . a man as louch as her and eight years her junior whom she called 'The Child'." (Daily Mail)
3. Josslyn Hay, 22nd Earl of Erroll, mar 1923, div 1930
4. Donald Carmichael Haldeman, mar 1930, div 1938
5. William Vincent Soltau, mar 1939, div 1946
Personal & family background.
Idina was the daughter of Gilbert Sackville, 8th Earl De La Warr, and his wife Lady Muriel Agnes Brassey, daughter of Thomas Brasset, 1st Earl Brassey and Anna Allnutt. ". . . Idina's father was of old English nobility, but her mother came from a middle class family that had made a lot of money. The couple was a part of the highest nobility, and so were their children, her father was notoriously unfaithful and eventually moved in with a cancan dancer. Muriel chose to divorce him - being unfaithful was common, leaving the family was quite another matter. This happened in 1902 and the children came to live with their very politically active mother." (Dame Boudicca)
Spouses & children.
Her lovers were:
1) Edward Long
Lover in 1928
". . . Idina, meanwhile, had begun a new affair, this time with 'Boy' Long, a good-looking rancher who had been invited to Kenya by Lord Delamere to manage his cattle at a place called Elmenteita in the Rift Valley. . . . ' (Spicer, 2010, n.p.)
". . . Idina, meanwhile, had begun a new affair, this time with 'Boy' Long, a good-looking rancher who had been invited to Kenya by Lord Delamere to manage his cattle at a place called Elmenteita in the Rift Valley. . . . ' (Spicer, 2010, n.p.)
2) James Bird
"Idina herself died in 1955, only 62 years old, from cancer. By her side was her side was her last lover, James "Jimmy" Bird. . . . " (Dame Boudicca).
". . . She took up with a tattooed, bisexual former sailor who stuck with her through a long battle with cancer, until she died in 1955." (Daily Mail)
". . . After divorcing her fighter-pilot husband, Idina reverted to her maiden name, Sackville, promising never to marry again. In 1950, she met James Bird, known as Jimmy Bird or James the Sixth in honour of his position as the sixth 'husband' in Idina's life, although the pair were never officially married. He became her constant companion, despite the fact that he was something of a drunk and known to prefer men to women. 'I've worn out five husbands and the sixth is on his last legs,' Idina was often heard to say. . . . " (Spicer)
3) James Hamet Dunn.
4) Julian Lezard.
5) Oswald Mosley
Founder of the British Union of Fascists
"Idina and Josslyn divorced in 1930. By that time, Idina's sexual excesses had rendered her a social pariah. However, she was not short of admirers: she married for a fourth time in 1930, and then a fifth time (to a dashing pilot) - at some point also finding time to sleep with the founder of the British Union of Fascists, Oswald Mosley" (Daily Mail)
"Idina and Josslyn divorced in 1930. By that time, Idina's sexual excesses had rendered her a social pariah. However, she was not short of admirers: she married for a fourth time in 1930, and then a fifth time (to a dashing pilot) - at some point also finding time to sleep with the founder of the British Union of Fascists, Oswald Mosley" (Daily Mail)
6) Precious.
 |
| Lucy Percy Countess of Carlisle @Wikipedia |
(1599-1660)
Daughter of: Henry Percy, 9th Earl of Northumberland & Lady Dorothy Devereux.
Wife of:
James Hay, 1st Earl of Carlisle mar 1617.
Her lovers were:
English parliamentarian
English statesman
Personal and family background.
" . . . On the sixth of November, 1617, she was married to James, Lord Hay, afterwards created Viscount Doncaster, and Earl of Carlisle, a young Scotsman, whom King James, with the extravagancy which usually marked his partialities, had loaded with favours. . . ." (Lodge: 39)
Husband & wife in sexual intrigues at court.
". . . She became a prominent member at the court of Charles I; reputedly she was the mistress of George Villiers, Duke of Buckingham. Both she and her husband were involved in sexual intrigue at court, using their relationships to further their political ambitions. Eventually Lucy became involved with the people who were in opposition to Charles I; it is said that she was one of the people who warned John Pm of the King's intention to arrest members of the House of Commons. Once the Civil War broke out, Lucy allied herself with aristocrats who were interested in brokering a peace with the King. Following Charles's execution, she was imprisoned in the Tower for a short time. (Women, Rank and Marriage in the British Aristocracy, 1485-2000: An Open Elite?:182)
Love life.
Love life.
" . . . But Pym had spies at court, notably the beautiful intriguer Lucy Percy, Countess of Carlisle. Lady Carlisle, daughter of the 'Wizard Earl' of Northumberland...had reputedly been a lover in succession of Strafford and Pym. . . ." (Jones: 386)
Irish novelist, traveller & salon hostess.
Daughter of: Edmund Power, a small landowner.
Wife of:
1. Captain Maurice St. Leger Farmer (d.1817), an English officer, mar 1804
2. Charles John Gardiner, 1st Earl of Blessington, mar 1818.
Her lovers were:
1) Alfred d'Orsay.
Her son-in-law
Lover in 1821
" . . . While in London he formed an acquaintance with Charles Gardiner, 1st Earl of Blessington and Marguerite, Countess of Blessington, which quickly ripened into intimacy. The following year the couple visited him where he was stationed at Valence on the Rhone, and at the invitation of the earl he accompanied the party on their tour through Italy.." (Wikipedia)
"Even so literature was not to be the only source of Marguerite's fame, indeed, due to spiteful gossip and rumour, her acquaintance with Alfred, Count d'Orsay whom she met in 1821, was to prove a source of great pleasure and profound misery. The Count (aged twenty-one) was received at St. James's Square and was immediately accepted by the Blessingtons. He was elegantly attired and proved to be a brilliant conversationalist and a lover of art, thus he soon became an intimate friend of the couple. This intimacy was only to be severed by death, but until then Marguerite had to suffer the insinuation that she was d'Orsay's mistress, and that the young Count was cuckolding Lord Blessington; enjoying his wife and his money simultaneously. However, 'given the personnel of this particular drama, so naive a plot cannot be accepted.'" (Adopt an Author)
"Irish writer, traveller and salon hostess, The Idler in Italy (1839) : The Idler in France (1841), mistress of her son-in-law, the Comte d’Orsay. . . ." (abitofhistory.net-B)
2) Charles John Gardiner, Earl of Blessington.
Natural daughter of: Sir Edward Walpole & Dorothy Clement, a milliner, daughter of Hammond Clement.
Wife of:
1) James Waldegrave, 2nd Earl of Waldegrave, mar 1759
2) William Henry of Great Britain, Duke of Gloucester & Edinburgh, mar 1766
Her lovers were:
Offspring:
Lady Elizabeth Laura Waldegrave, mar George, 4th Earl Waldegrave
Lady Charlotte Maria Waldegrave, mar George Henry Fitzroy, 4th Duke of Grafton
Lady Anne Horatia Waldegrave, mar Admiral Lord Hugh Seymour
Princess Sophia of Gloucester
Princess Caroline of Gloucester
Prince William Frederick, Duke of Gloucester & Edinburg
Mary Constance Wyndham
Countess of Wemyss
(1862-1937)
Her lovers were:
British prime minister
Her cousin.
Mary Dawson
Countess of Ilchester.
Her lover was:
British philanthropist & public servant.
 |
| Mary Eleanor Bowes Countess of Strathmore @Daily Mail |
Daughter/heiress of: George Bowes, a wealthy coal baron, MP in North East England.
Personal & family background.
" Mary Eleanor was . . . the only daughter & heiress of George Bowes, a wealthy coal baron and MP in North East England. George grew incredibly rich which stimulated a flurry of building projects and landscaping on the Gibside Estate. He doted on his daughter and gave her an unusually sophisticated education for a girl at that time. . . . " (Thinking About the Past)
"Mary Eleanor was born in 1749 to George and his second wife, Mary Gilbert, whose father Edward owned St. Paul's Walden Bury in Hertfordshire. She inherited her father's charm, and he imbued her with his own enthusiasm for all kinds of knowledge. Her marriage to John Lyon, celebrated on her eighteenth birthday in 1767, produced five children, but it was unhappy. The ninth Earl of Strathmore was known as 'the beautiful Lord Strathmore': he was not uncultivated, but his wife's biographer, Jess e Foot, characterized him as a bluff, hearty man and 'a good bottle companion', who was 'not exactly calculated to make even a good learned woman a pleasing husband'. He believed that Mary Eleanor's intellect needed to be restrained. She had a serious interest in botany, and in 1769 she published a poetical drama called The Siege of Jerusalem. Her husband thought such pursuits frivolous."
 |
| Andrew Stoney @Daily Mail |
2. Andrew Robinson Stoney (1747-1810), mar 1777, div 1786
Her lovers were:
Lover in 1776
"After his death (i.e., Earl of Strathmore's), Mary Eleanor was left 'one of the richest widows in Britain'. However, her personal life was tumultuous and in autumn 1776 she fell in love with Andrew Robinson Stoney, who became known as Stoney Bowes. One of the chroniclers of the Bowes Lyon family was frank in his description of Stoney Bowes: 'This man was surely the lowest cad in history . . . He was the type of seedy gentlemanly bounder, calling himself 'Captain', which has flourished in every era of society . . . [He] was cunning, ruthless, sadistic with like cleverness and a specious Irish charm. He was a fortune hunter of the worst type.' He had driven his first wife to death; but he charmed and seduced Mary Eleanor and they married in 1777." (Shawcross. The Queen Mother: 10)
2) George Gray.
"The father of her unborn child was George Gray, formerly a corrupt councillor for the East India Trading Company in Bengal. He lavished attention on Mary and she soon succumbed to his attentions, having been starved of affection for nine years. . . . " (Thinking About the Past)
3) George Walker.
Her footman.
"As Mary languished in her darkened chamber, Gray saw his chance. Scurrying back from Bath, he visited her daily, wrote her long, flattering letters, and sat at he bedside every evening. Candidly, Mary told him that she had been 'so unhappy in matrimony' that she was determined never to marry gain and that her heart belonged to another, but that Gray had won her 'friendship and esteem' and if Lord Strathmore should die she promised to giver herself fully to him. Seizing his opportunity, the moment Mary was recovered, he seduced her one evening in mid-February and from that point on they lived as lovers. She would later count this infidelity as her second 'crime.'" (Moore. Wedlock: The True Story of the Disastrous Marriage and Remarkable Divorce of Mary Eleanor Bowes, Countess of Strathmore: 92)
4) Brother of one of her lawyers.
(1763-1800)
Daughter of: John Hussey Delaval, 1st Baron Delaval & Susannah Robinson.
Wife of: George Carpenter, 2nd Earl of Tyrconnell
Her lovers were:
1) Frederick of Great Britain, Duke of York.
Lover in 1788-1789
2) John Bowes, 10th Earl of Strathmore (1769-1820)
"If he had inherited the good looks of his father and the good taste of his grandfather, the tenth earl also possessed the impulsiveness and passion of his mother in her youth. Invited in early 1791 to a theatrical evening at Seaton Delaval, the magnificent home of Lord Delaval on a wild stretch of the Northumberland coast, 21-year-old John fell in love with the earl's youngest and favorite daughter, Sarah. Six years his senior, golden-haired Sarah Hussey Delaval had married her father's friend, the second earl of Tyrconnel, when she was just 16 and the earl, recently divorced from his first wife, 29. . . Captivated by the alluring Lady Tyrconnel and befriended by her broad-minded husband, Lord Strathmore became absorbed into the family-s pleasure-seeking schedule, becoming racing companion for the husband by day and bedtime companion for his wife by night. Inevitably, before the year was out, the young earl found himself the butt of gossip writers and satirists. . . ." (Wedlock: The True Story of the Disastrous and Remarkable Divorce of Mary Eleanor Bowes, Countess of Strathmore: 310)
Mary Wyndham
Countess of Wemyss
(1862-1937)
British hostess.
"Though all three sisters married well, Pamela’s proved the most financially robust match — except that her heart lay with the politician, editor and notorious womaniser Harry Cust, who claimed to love her above anyone else. She, and her eldest sister Mary, are the two who prove the most fascinating in Claudia Renton’s lucid and superbly researched book. Mary was to marry Lord Elcho, the heir of the Earl of Wemyss. She bore him seven children, while also conducting extra marital affairs with Arthur Balfour, the prime minister — who enjoyed a good whipping — and her cousin Wilfred Scawen Blunt. She even travelled with Blunt to Arabia, lived in a tent with him and had his child — while her husband, in the meantime, was holding the hand of the Duchess of Leinster in the south of France." (Spectator)
Her lovers were:
British prime minister.
" . . . A tomboy as a child, aged nine Mary was keeping up with the hounds. Aged 17, she fell in love with Arthur Balfour, the future prime minister. Tall, dark and witty, the 31-year-old Balfour was a practised though somewhat hapless womaniser, of whom Gladstone's daughter said ruefully 'he has but to smile and women and men fall prone at his feet'. Balfour was unmarried but was too frightened and too slow for Mary Wyndham. By the time he recognised his love for her, she had married Hugo, Lord Elcho, a feckless gambler and a flirt. The marriage was unhappy and both Mary and Balfour regretted their missed opportunity. 'You were the only man I wanted for my husband and it's a great compliment to you!' she later told him, 'but you wouldn't give me a chance of showing you… and you were afraid, afraid, afraid!'" " (The Guardian)
her cousin.
"However, Balfour, though supportive, was rarely demonstrative, dismissing verbal compliments as "impossible". As a result, Mary allowed herself to be seduced and impregnated by her cousin, the poet Wilfrid Scawen Blunt, once the lover of her mother, while visiting him in the desert. Mary confessed the liaison with Blunt to her husband and her lover, briefly rupturing both relationships. However, her new-found sexual liberation quickly extended to her love affair. By the time that Balfour became prime minister in 1902, his relationship with Mary was sexual and she played a crucial role in advising him on policy and appointments. Partly as a result of her influence, Balfour filled his cabinet with Souls. The world recognised Mary's new eminence; she was granted a two-hour tete-a-tete with the kaiser in Berlin. Renton points out that it's telling that neither Mary nor her sisters supported female suffrage. They did not need to, given that they had more influence than most of the men of their day." (The Guardian)
Her lover was:
George Forbes
George Forbes
Daughter of: John, 10th Earl of Westmoreland & Sarah Anne, daughter/sole heiress of Robert Child of Osterley Park.
Wife of: George Villiers, 5th Earl of Jersey, 8th Viscount Grandison, (married in 1804)
Lover in 1794-1798
Her lovers were:
Lover in 1794-1798
Honours & achievements.
"Sarah, Lady Jersey . . . became a leader of the best of London society; she was a patroness of Almack's Assembly Rooms. . . She is reported to have introduced the quadrille to Almack's in 1815. She was immortalized as Zenobia in Disraeli's Endymion. . . . " (History Home)
References:
[Ref2:Daily Mail]
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