Lady Mary Fox
Lady Mary Fox | |
---|---|
Born | Bushy House, Teddington, England | 19 December 1798
Died | 13 July 1864 | (aged 65)
Buried | Kensal Green Cemetery |
Noble family | FitzClarence |
Spouse(s) | |
Father | William IV |
Mother | Dorothea Jordan |
Occupation | Writer |
Lady Mary Fox (née FitzClarence; 19 December 1798 – 13 July 1864) was an illegitimate daughter of
Marriage
Mary FitzClarence was born in Bushy House as the fourth child and second daughter of the then Prince William, Duke of Clarence and St Andrews, and actor Dorothea Jordan. She was "a fine looking, brown girl with a pleasant countenance and manners". In 1820, her younger sister Elizabeth was courted by Charles Richard Fox, the eldest but illegitimate son of Lord Holland and Lady Webster, later Lady Holland. His parents did not consent to the match, but four years later approved of his relationship with Mary.[1]
The couple married on 19 June 1824 in St George's, Hanover Square, London. Lady Holland worried that she might be "a sickly subject" and wished that the "roturier blood of the mother might have mitigated the royal constitutions". Her mother-in-law wrote on 31 August that her son, "though fond of her, he only considers her as an auxiliary to his medals and other possessions, not as a principal", but concluded that "it will all do well; as she is very winning, and very firm, and sincerely fond of him." The pair established their household in Little Holland House by 1827. They moved to Canada in September 1829 when Charles resumed active army service.[1]
Father's accession
The death of her uncle,
Anthony Roll
Mary Fox received from her father the second part of the
In January 1857, Sir Frederic Madden, custodian of the manuscripts at the British Museum, learned that Lady Mary wished to sell the roll she had been given by her father in order to raise funds for building a church "or something of that kind".[3]
Later life
William IV died in January 1837 and Lady Mary's cousin, Victoria, ascended the throne.
Later that year, Lady Mary published a
For a large part of her later life, Lady Mary served as housekeeper at Windsor Castle.[1] She died childless on 13 July 1864.[2] She is buried with her husband at Kensal Green Cemetery.
References
- ^ a b c d Farrell, Stephen (January 2008). "FOX, Charles Richard (1796–1873), of 1 Addison Road, Kensington and 33 South Street, Grosvenor Square, Mdx". The History of Parliament: the House of Commons 1820-1832. Cambridge University Press. Retrieved 16 February 2013.
- ^ doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/10025. (Subscription or UK public library membershiprequired.)
- ^ ISBN 0-7546-0094-7.
- ISBN 978-0521881654.
- ISBN 0207149267.