Grace Sackville | |
---|---|
Countess of Middlesex | |
Born | Hon. Grace Boyle 1723 London |
Died | 10 May 1763 |
Noble family | Boyle |
Spouse(s) | Charles Sackville, 2nd Duke of Dorset |
Father | Richard Boyle, 2nd Viscount Shannon |
Mother | Grace Senhouse |
Occupation | Mistress of the Robes to Princess Augusta of Saxe-Gotha |
Grace Sackville, Countess of Middlesex (1723 – 10 May 1763), [1] formerly the Hon. Grace Boyle, was the wife of Charles Sackville, Earl of Middlesex and later 2nd Duke of Dorset.
Grace was born in London, the daughter and sole heir of Richard Boyle, 2nd Viscount Shannon, and his wife Grace. [2] She inherited the family seat of Ashley Park following her father's death in 1740. [3]
She married the Earl of Middlesex in 1744, but he did not inherit his father's title of Duke of Dorset until after her death. The couple had no children. From 1747 to 1763, the countess held the position of Mistress of the Robes to Augusta of Saxe-Gotha, the Princess of Wales. [4] Her husband was a friend of Frederick, Prince of Wales, and the countess was rumoured to have been the prince's mistress. [2]
When her mother died in 1755, the countess arranged a memorial, designed by Louis François Roubiliac, to her parents, which was erected at St Mary's parish church in Walton-on-Thames. [5] [6] The countess was something of an artist and may have been a pupil of the painter Arthur Pond. [2]
On her death, the countess left Ashley Park not to her husband but to a cousin, Colonel John Stephenson. [5]
Lionel Cranfield Sackville, 1st Duke of Dorset was an English peer and politician who served as Lord President of the Council from 1745 to 1751. He also twice served as Lord Lieutenant of Ireland from 1730 to 1737 and again from 1750 to 1755.
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Field Marshal Richard Boyle, 2nd Viscount Shannon, PC was a British Army officer and statesman. After serving as a junior officer at the Battle of the Boyne during the Williamite War in Ireland and at the Battle of Landen during the Nine Years' War, he commanded a brigade of grenadiers during the storming of Vigo during the War of the Spanish Succession. During this engagement the entire French fleet, under the command of the Marquis de Château-Renault, together with the Spanish galleons and transports under Manuel de Velasco, were either captured or destroyed. He also took part in a successful raid on Barcelona three years later. He went on to serve as Commander-in-Chief of the Royal Irish Army throughout the 1720s and 1730s.
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Duke of Dorset was a title in the Peerage of Great Britain. It was created in 1720 for the politician Lionel Sackville, 7th Earl of Dorset.
Thomas Sackville, 1st Earl of Dorset was an English statesman, poet, and dramatist. He was the son of Richard Sackville, a cousin to Anne Boleyn. He was a Member of Parliament and Lord High Treasurer.
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Charles Sackville, 2nd Duke of DorsetPC, styled as Lord Buckhurst from 1711 to 1720 and the Earl of Middlesex from 1720 to 1765, was a British politician who sat in the House of Commons between 1734 and 1765. He then succeeded to the peerage as Duke of Dorset. He was also an opera impresario and cricketer.
Lady Elizabeth "Betty" Germain was a wealthy English aristocrat and courtier, a philanthropist and collector of antiquities, who corresponded with literary and political figures.
Ashley Park is a private residential neighbourhood at Walton-on-Thames in Surrey. Its central feature was a grandiose English country house, at times enjoying associated medieval manorial rights, which stood on the site, with alterations, between 1605 and the early 1920s. Its owners included Charles Sackville, 2nd Duke of Dorset, in the 18th century and members of the Sassoon family around the turn of the 20th century.
Elizabeth Sackville, Duchess of Dorset, formerly Elizabeth Colyear, was a British court official and noble, the wife of Lionel Sackville, 1st Duke of Dorset.
Mary Sackville, Countess of Dorset was an English royal governess.