Lady Mary Tudor, Countess of Derwentwater (16 October 1673 – 5 November 1726) was an actress and natural daughter of King Charles II of England by his mistress, Mary "Moll" Davies, an actress and singer.

Biography

Early life and title

Mary grew up in a house on the south-west side of St James Square, close to St James's Park and

Whitehall palace The Palace of Whitehall (also spelt White Hall) at Westminster was the main residence of the English monarchs from 1530 until 1698, when most of its structures, except notably Inigo Jones's Banqueting House of 1622, were destroyed by fire. ...

, and from an early age she was surrounded by the high society of The Restoration. Mary followed in her mother's footsteps, and began acting at a young age. She was a part of the many performances put on at Charles II's elaborate court. At age nine, she sang the part of the Roman god of desire, erotic love, attraction and affection, Cupid, alongside her mother, who was starring as

Venus Venus is the second planet from the Sun. It is sometimes called Earth's "sister" or "twin" planet as it is almost as large and has a similar composition. As an interior planet to Earth, Venus (like Mercury) appears in Earth's sky never f ...

, in the play '' Venus and Adonis.'' On 10 December 1680, seven-year-old Mary was, in recognition of her paternity, granted by a Royal warrant, the name ''Tudor'' (as a nod to their collateral descent from the Tudor family) and the

precedence Precedence may refer to: * Message precedence of military communications traffic * Order of precedence, the ceremonial hierarchy within a nation or state * Order of operations, in mathematics and computer programming * Precedence Entertainment, a ...

of the daughter of an

Earl Earl () is a rank of the nobility in the United Kingdom. The title originates in the Old English word ''eorl'', meaning "a man of noble birth or rank". The word is cognate with the Scandinavian form '' jarl'', and meant " chieftain", partic ...

. In September 1683, she was issued an annuity of £1500 (roughly ), and a year later, on 21 February 1684, her precedence was heightened to that of a daughter of a

Duke Duke is a male title either of a monarch ruling over a duchy, or of a member of Royal family, royalty, or nobility. As rulers, dukes are ranked below emperors, kings, grand princes, grand dukes, and sovereign princes. As royalty or nobility, t ...

Marriages and children

On 18 August 1687, Lady Mary married

Edward Radclyffe, 2nd Earl of Derwentwater Edward Radclyffe, 2nd Earl of Derwentwater (1655 – 29 April 1705) was an English peer, styled Viscount Radclyffe from 1688 to 1695. He inherited the earldom from his father, Francis Radclyffe, 1st Earl of Derwentwater in 1697. His mother was ...

(9 December 1655 – 29 April 1705) by whom she had four children:Profile
thepeerage.com; accessed 25 July 2017. * James Radclyffe, 3rd Earl of Derwentwater (1689–1716) * Lady Mary Tudor Radclyffe * Charles Radclyffe (3 September 1693 – 8 December 1746) * Hon. Francis Radclyffe Mary separated from Lord Derwentwater in 1700, reportedly due to her unwillingness to convert to Roman Catholicism. On 23 May 1705, shortly after Lord Derwentwater's death, she married secondly, to Henry Graham. Graham died on 7 January 1707. A few months later, on 26 August, Lady Mary married Major James Rooke.

Death

Lady Mary died in

Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. ...

on 5 November 1726, aged 53.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Tudor, Mary, Lady 1673 births 1726 deaths 17th-century English people 18th-century English actresses 17th-century Scottish people 18th-century Scottish actresses 17th-century English women 18th-century English women 18th-century English people Mary Illegitimate children of Charles II of England British emigrants to France Derwentwater Daughters of kings