Georgiana Carolina Fox, 1st Baroness Holland, of Holland (27 March 1723 – 24 July 1774), known as Lady Caroline Lennox before 1744 and as Lady Caroline Fox from 1744 to 1762, was the eldest of the

Lennox sisters The Lennox sisters were four eighteenth-century British aristocrats, the daughters of Charles Lennox, 2nd Duke of Richmond (1701–1750) by his wife Lady Sarah Cadogan (1705–1751). The four sisters were: * Caroline Fox, 1st Baroness Holland (172 ...

Family background

The Lennox sisters were daughters of Charles Lennox, 2nd Duke of Richmond, and

Sarah Cadogan Sarah Lennox, Duchess of Richmond (née Cadogan; 18 September 1705 – 25 August 1751), was Lady of the Bedchamber to Caroline of Ansbach, Queen Caroline from 1724 to 1737. She was the mother of the famous Lennox sisters. Early life She was bor ...

. Charles Lennox was the grandson of

Charles II of England Charles II (29 May 1630 – 6 February 1685) was King of Scotland from 1649 until 1651, and King of England, Scotland and Ireland from the 1660 Restoration of the monarchy until his death in 1685. Charles II was the eldest surviving child of ...

through the King's relationship with

Louise de Kérouaille, Duchess of Portsmouth Louise Renée de Penancoët de Kéroualle, Duchess of Portsmouth (5 September 1649 – 14 November 1734) was a mistress of Charles II of England. Early life Louise was the daughter of Guillaume de Penancoët, Seigneur de Kéroualle (d. 1690) ...

. In 1744, Lady Caroline

eloped Elopement is a term that is used in reference to a marriage which is conducted in a sudden and secretive fashion, usually involving a hurried flight away from one's place of residence together with one's beloved with the intention of getting ma ...

with Henry Fox, a politician who was 18 years her senior. Though her parents disapproved of the marriage, it proved a happy one. The couple had four sons, including the Whig

politician A politician is a person active in party politics, or a person holding or seeking an elected office in government. Politicians propose, support, reject and create laws that govern the land and by an extension of its people. Broadly speaking, a ...

Charles James Fox Charles James Fox (24 January 1749 – 13 September 1806), styled ''The Honourable'' from 1762, was a prominent British Whig statesman whose parliamentary career spanned 38 years of the late 18th and early 19th centuries. He was the arch-riv ...

and the general Henry Edward Fox. Their home, Holland House, Kensington, became a social and political gathering place.

Passed over

Lady Caroline's favourite sister,

Emily Lennox Emily FitzGerald, Duchess of Leinster (6 October 1731 – 27 March 1814), known before 1747 as Lady Emily Lennox, from 1747 to 1761 as The Countess of Kildare and from 1761 to 1766 as The Marchioness of Kildare, was the second of the famous Lenno ...

, married and went to live in Ireland in 1747. In 1750 and 1751, the Lennox sisters' parents died in quick succession, leaving three younger daughters, Louisa, Sarah, and Cecilia, aged eight, six, and one. The 2nd Duke of Richmond, in his will, remembered Lady Caroline's reckless elopement, passed over her and instructed that his three youngest daughters be entrusted to the care of their sister Emily and her husband, James FitzGerald, 20th Earl of Kildare. Lady Caroline resented this slight but hoped to redeem herself by presenting her younger sisters at court and helping them make good matches. The Kildares' allegations that the Foxes were responsible for

Lady Sarah Lennox Lady Sarah Lennox (14 February 1745 – August 1826) was the most notorious of the famous Lennox sisters, daughters of Charles Lennox, 2nd Duke of Richmond and Sarah Cadogan. Early life After the deaths of both her parents when she was only fi ...

's embarrassing rejection by the young King

George III George III (George William Frederick; 4 June 173829 January 1820) was King of Great Britain and of Ireland from 25 October 1760 until the union of the two kingdoms on 1 January 1801, after which he was King of the United Kingdom of Great Br ...

, as well as her disastrous marriage to Sir Charles Bunbury soon afterwards, provoked a quarrel between the sisters that was not healed until shortly before Lady Caroline's death.

Baroness

On 3 May 1762, Caroline was created Baroness Holland of Holland in the

Peerage of Great Britain The Peerage of Great Britain comprises all extant peerages created in the Kingdom of Great Britain between the Acts of Union 1707 and the Acts of Union 1800. It replaced the Peerage of England and the Peerage of Scotland, but was itself r ...

. Her husband was created Baron Holland of Foxley less than a year later, on 17 April 1763. Caroline's two spoilt sons, especially the elder one Stephen, caused her much embarrassment and distress by gambling and falling into debt.

Illness and death

Lady Caroline was already plagued by a mysterious and painful illness when her husband, who had suffered a stroke, died on 1 July 1774. She followed him 23 days later and is buried at All Saints, Farley, Wiltshire.

In media

'' Aristocrats'', a six-part television drama based on

Stella Tillyard Stella Tillyard FRSL (born 1957) is an English author and historian, educated at Oxford and Harvard Universities and the School of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston. In 1999 her bestselling book ''Aristocrats'' was made into a six-part series for ...

's biography of Caroline and her sisters, first aired on

BBC One BBC One is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network owned and operated by the BBC. It is the corporation's flagship network and is known for broadcasting mainstream programming, which includes BBC News television bulletins, p ...

in 1999.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Holland, Caroline Fox, 1st Baroness Hereditary peeresses of Great Britain created by George III British baronesses Daughters of British dukes 1723 births 1774 deaths

Caroline Caroline may refer to: People * Caroline (given name), a feminine given name * J. C. Caroline (born 1933), American college and National Football League player * Jordan Caroline (born 1996), American (men's) basketball player Places Antarctica * ...