Frederica Susanna Mildmay, Countess FitzWalter, 3rd Countess of Mértola (''née'' Schomberg, previously Frederica Darcy, Countess of Holderness; 1687 – 7 August 1751)
was a
British peeress
The peerages in the United Kingdom are a legal system comprising both hereditary and lifetime titles, composed of various noble ranks, and forming a constituent part of the British honours system. The term ''peerage'' can be used both coll ...
.
Life
Frederica was the eldest surviving daughter, and co-heir, of
Meinhardt Schomberg, 3rd Duke of Schomberg, and his second wife,
Raugravine Caroline Elisabeth, a daughter of
Charles I Louis, Elector Palatine
Charles Louis, Elector Palatine (german: Karl I. Ludwig; 22 December 1617 – 28 August 1680), was the second son of Frederick V of the Palatinate, the "Winter King" of Bohemia, and of Elizabeth Stuart, Queen of Bohemia and sister of Charl ...
. On 26 May 1715, she married
Robert Darcy, 3rd Earl of Holderness
Robert Darcy, 3rd Earl of Holderness, (24 November 168120 January 1721) was a British peer and politician.
Life
Darcy was the second (but eldest surviving) son of John Darcy, Lord Conyers, (himself the eldest son of Conyers Darcy, 2nd Earl of H ...
, and they had two surviving children:
*
Hon. Robert Darcy (1718–1778); later 4th Earl of Holderness.
*
Lady Caroline Darcy (d. 1778); who married
William Kerr, 4th Marquess of Lothian.
On the death of the countess' father in 1719, she inherited his
Portuguese countship of Mértola as his eldest surviving child. Her husband died in 1721 and on 18 June 1724,
she married
Hon. Benjamin Mildmay, who was later created
Earl FitzWalter in 1730. They had one child, who died in infancy.
Via
cognatic primogeniture, she was the most senior descendant of
James I of England to be
Protestant, but she was passed over for
Sophia of Hanover
Sophia of Hanover (born Princess Sophia of the Palatinate; 14 October 1630 – 8 June 1714) was the Electress of Hanover by marriage to Elector Ernest Augustus and later the heiress presumptive to the thrones of England and Scotland (later Grea ...
. Her cognatic heir is Anthea Theresa Lycett (born Marcia Anne Miller),
Countess of Mértola, eldest daughter of
Diana, Baroness Conyers and Fauconberg and Countess of Mértola.
The countess was survived by her elderly second husband; on her death, at the age of 63, she was buried in the Mildmay family vault at
St Mary's Church, Chelmsford, where he was also later buried.
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Mildmay, Frederica, Countess of Mertola
FitzWalter, Frederica Mildmay, Countess
FitzWalter, Frederica Mildmay, Countess
Holderness
Fitzwalter
Counts of Mértola
Daughters of English dukes
Year of birth uncertain
British people of German descent
British Protestants