![Lady Frances Lady Coningsby and Lady Catherine Jones](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/5f/Lady_Frances_Lady_Coningsby_and_Lady_Catherine_Jones.jpg)
Lady Catherine Jones (1672 – 14 April 1740) was an English philanthropist, interested in women's rights and education, and chose to be buried with her long-time friend, Mary Kendall (8 November 1677 – 4 March 1710), inside
Westminster Abbey
Westminster Abbey, formally titled the Collegiate Church of Saint Peter at Westminster, is an historic, mainly Gothic church in the City of Westminster, London, England, just to the west of the Palace of Westminster. It is one of the United ...
.
Biography
Lady Catherine Jones was the daughter of
Richard Jones, 1st Earl of Ranelagh
Richard Jones, 1st Earl of Ranelagh (8 February 1641 – 5 January 1712), known as The Viscount Ranelagh between 1669 and 1677, was an Irish peer, politician both in the Parliaments of England and Ireland.
Background
He was the eldest son of Ar ...
, and Elizabeth (d. 1695), daughter of
Francis Willoughby, 5th Baron Willoughby of Parham
Francis Willoughby, 5th Baron Willoughby of Parham (baptised 1614; died 23 July 1666 O.S., 2 August 1666 N.S.) was an English peer of the House of Lords.
He succeeded to the title on 14 October 1617 on the death in infancy of his elder brother ...
. Her sister, Elizabeth, married
John FitzGerald, 18th Earl of Kildare
John FitzGerald, 18th Earl of Kildare (1661 – 9 November 1707), styled Lord Offaly until 1664, was an Irish peer.
Background
Kildare was the son of Wentworth FitzGerald, 17th Earl of Kildare, and Lady Elizabeth, daughter of John Holles, 2nd Ea ...
. Her twin sister Frances (1672–1715) married
Thomas Coningsby, 1st Earl Coningsby
Thomas Coningsby, 1st Earl Coningsby PC (2 November 1656 – 1 May 1729) of Hampton Court Castle, Herefordshire, was an English politician who sat in the House of Commons at various times from 1679 until 1716 when he was created a peer and sat ...
. Her brothers, Edward (1675–1678) and Arthur, died young. Her own grandmother,
Katherine Jones, Viscountess Ranelagh
Katherine Jones, Viscountess Ranelagh (22 March 1615 – 3 December 1691), also known as Lady Ranelagh, was an Anglo-Irish scientist in seventeenth-century Britain. She was also a political and religious philosopher, and a member of many intel ...
, was a female scientist, a political and religious philosopher, and a member of many intellectual circles including the
Hartlib Circle
The Hartlib Circle was the correspondence network set up in Western and Central Europe by Samuel Hartlib, an intelligencer based in London, and his associates, in the period 1630 to 1660. Hartlib worked closely with John Dury, an itinerant figure ...
, the
Great Tew Circle
The Great Tew Circle was a group of clerics and literary figures who gathered in the 1630s at the manor house of Great Tew, Oxfordshire in southern England, and in London.
Lord Clarendon referred to the Circle as "A college situate in a purer ai ...
, and the
Invisible College
Invisible College is the term used for a small community of interacting scholars who often met face-to-face, exchanged ideas and encouraged each other. One group that has been described as a precursor group to the Royal Society of London consis ...
.
In 1695
John Norris, philosopher, dedicated ''Letters Concerning the Love of God'' to Lady Catherine; the letters were exchanged between Norris and
Mary Astell
Mary Astell (12 November 1666 – 11 May 1731) was an English protofeminist writer, philosopher, and rhetorician. Her advocacy of equal educational opportunities for women has earned her the title "the first English feminist."Batchelor, Jenni ...
.
At the death of her father in 1711, Lady Catherine inherited
Ranelagh House
Ranelagh Gardens (; alternative spellings include Ranelegh and Ranleigh, the latter reflecting the English pronunciation) were public pleasure gardens located in Chelsea, then just outside London, England, in the 18th century.
History
The Ran ...
, built by her father adjoining the
Royal Hospital Chelsea
The Royal Hospital Chelsea is a retirement home and nursing home for some 300 veterans of the British Army. Founded as an almshouse, the ancient sense of the word "hospital", it is a site located on Royal Hospital Road in Chelsea. It is an in ...
. Twenty years later she let it to two builders who re-let it to
James Lacy, who with
David Garrick
David Garrick (19 February 1717 – 20 January 1779) was an English actor, playwright, theatre manager and producer who influenced nearly all aspects of European theatrical practice throughout the 18th century, and was a pupil and friend of Sa ...
managed the
Theatre Royal, Drury Lane
The Theatre Royal, Drury Lane, commonly known as Drury Lane, is a West End theatre and Grade I listed building in Covent Garden, London, England. The building faces Catherine Street (earlier named Bridges or Brydges Street) and backs onto Dr ...
. In 1741, after the death of Lady Catherine, Ranelagh House was sold to Crispe and Meyomet, who erected a rotunda in its place.
In 1716 Lady Catherine was living on Jews' Row where she continued to live until after Mary Astell's death in 1731 (Astell moved with her in 1726), although in 1730, her house is listed as empty.
After withdrawing from public life in 1709, Astell haf founded a
charity school
Charity schools, sometimes called blue coat schools, or simply the Blue School, were significant in the history of education in England. They were built and maintained in various parishes by the voluntary contributions of the inhabitants to ...
for girls in
Chelsea
Chelsea or Chelsey may refer to:
Places Australia
* Chelsea, Victoria
Canada
* Chelsea, Nova Scotia
* Chelsea, Quebec
United Kingdom
* Chelsea, London, an area of London, bounded to the south by the River Thames
** Chelsea (UK Parliament consti ...
. According to the reports at present in the Royal Hospital Chelsea, this charity school for the education of the daughters of the
Pensioners of Chelsea Hospital was established in 1729 by Lady Catherine,
Lady Elizabeth Hastings
Lady Elizabeth Hastings (19 April 1682 – 21 December 1739), also known as Lady Betty, was an English philanthropist, religious devotee and supporter of women's education. She was an intelligent and energetic woman, with a wide circle of conn ...
,
Lady Ann Coventry and other benevolent persons. When she was 60 years old, in 1726, Astell was invited to live with Jones, with whom she resided until her death in 1731. A letter from
Thomas Birch
Thomas Birch (23 November 17059 January 1766) was an English historian.
Life
He was the son of Joseph Birch, a coffee-mill maker, and was born at Clerkenwell.
He preferred study to business but, as his parents were Quakers, he did not go to t ...
to
George Ballard stated that Astell lived with Lady Catherine in Chelsea. One more possible trace of residence occurred in a letter from Astell to Sir
Hans Sloane
Sir Hans Sloane, 1st Baronet (16 April 1660 – 11 January 1753), was an Irish physician, naturalist, and collector, with a collection of 71,000 items which he bequeathed to the British nation, thus providing the foundation of the British Mu ...
dated 25 April 1724, from Manor Street.
Lady Catherine died on 14 April 1740.
Burial and relationship with Kendall
Lady Catherine' ashes were buried in the chapel of St John the Baptist in Westminster Abbey mingled with those of Mary Kendall, died 4 March 1710. The inscription reads:
"Mrs Mary Kendall daughter of Thomas Kendall Esqr. and of Mrs Mary Hallet, his wife, of Killigarth in Cornwall, was born at Westmr. Nov.8 1677 and dy'd at Epsome March 4, 1709/10, having reach'd the full term of her blessed Saviour's life; and study'd to imitate his spotless example. She had great virtues, and as great a desire of concealing them: was of a severe life, but of an easy conversation; courteous to all, yet strictly sincere; humble, without meanness; beneficient, without ostentation; devout, without superstition. These admirable qualitys, in which she was equall'd by few of her sex, surpass'd by none, render'd her every way worthy of that close uion and friendship in which she liv'd with the Lady Catherine Jones; and in testimony of which she desir'd that even their ashes, after death, might not be divided: and, therefore, order'd her selfe here to be interr'd where, she knew, that excellent Lady design'd one day to rest, near the grave of her belov'd and religious mother, Elizabeth, Countess of Ranelagh. This monument was erected by Capt. Charles Kendall".
Mary Kendall was the niece of
James Kendall, politician and governor of Barbados, who is buried in the south choir aisle of Westminster Abbey. She was born on 8 November 1677, the daughter of Thomas Kendall, Esquire (d. 1684), and of Mary Hallet, of
Killigarth in Cornwall. She lived with Lady Catherine, and when she died, on 4 March 1709/10, she asked to be buried in the chapel of St John the Baptist in Westminster Abbey since she knew that Lady Catherine wanted to rest near her beloved mother, Elizabeth, Countess of Ranelagh, who was already buried there. Moreover, Mary Kendall asked that, considering the "close union and friendship in which she lived with the Lady Catherine Jones
..she desired that even their ashes, after death, might not be divided".
Jones' decision not to marry, and her close relationships and cohabitation with women throughout her life and into her death, merit speculation that she was a
lesbian
A lesbian is a Homosexuality, homosexual woman.Zimmerman, p. 453. The word is also used for women in relation to their sexual identity or sexual behavior, regardless of sexual orientation, or as an adjective to characterize or associate n ...
. The frustratingly minimal surviving documentation of her life make this difficult to assert with confidence. Nevertheless, one can make logical connections that the 'close union' she shared with Kendall, and with Astell, were not entirely platonic.
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Jones, Catherine
1672 births
1740 deaths
17th-century English nobility
17th-century English women
17th-century LGBT people
18th-century English nobility
18th-century English women
18th-century LGBT people
Burials at Westminster Abbey
Daughters of Irish earls
English philanthropists
English women philanthropists
English twins