Anne Vane (17 September 1710 - 27 March 1736), also known as "the Hon. Mrs. Vane," was a

maid of honour A maid of honour is a junior attendant of a queen in royal households. The position was and is junior to the lady-in-waiting. The equivalent title and office has historically been used in most European royal courts. Role Traditionally, a queen r ...

Caroline of Ansbach , father = John Frederick, Margrave of Brandenburg-Ansbach , mother = Princess Eleonore Erdmuthe of Saxe-Eisenach , birth_date = , birth_place = Ansbach, Principality of Ansbach, Holy Roman Empire , death_date = , death_place = St James's Pala ...

and

mistress Mistress is the feminine form of the English word "master" (''master'' + ''-ess'') and may refer to: Romance and relationships * Mistress (lover), a term for a woman who is in a sexual and romantic relationship with a man who is married to a d ...

to her son

Frederick, Prince of Wales Frederick, Prince of Wales, (Frederick Louis, ; 31 January 170731 March 1751), was the eldest son and heir apparent of King George II of Great Britain. He grew estranged from his parents, King George and Queen Caroline. Frederick was the fath ...

Life

Vane was the first daughter of Gilbert Vane, second

Baron Barnard Baron Barnard, of Barnard Castle in the Bishopric of Durham, is a title in the Peerage of England. It was created in 1698 for Christopher Vane, who had previously served as a member of parliament for County Durham and Boroughbridge. Vane was ...

, and sister to the politician Henry Vane who was the first

Earl of Darlington Earl of Darlington is a title that has been created twice, each time in the Peerage of Great Britain. Sophia von Kielmansegg, Countess of Darlington, Baroness von Kielmansegg, half-sister of George I of Great Britain, King George I, was made coun ...

. Her mother, Mary (born Randyll), was described as "scandalous" by her father-in-law (i.e. Anne's paternal grandfather),

Christopher Vane, 1st Baron Barnard Christopher Vane, 1st Baron Barnard (21 May 1653 – 28 October 1723) was an English peer. He served in Parliament for Durham after his brother, Thomas, died 4 days after being elected the MP for Durham. Then, again from January 1689 - November ...

, and Anne inherited her reputation. Vane became a maid of honour to Caroline, Princess of Wales, who became queen consort in 1727 as the wife of

George II George II or 2 may refer to: People * George II of Antioch (seventh century AD) * George II of Armenia (late ninth century) * George II of Abkhazia (916–960) * Patriarch George II of Alexandria (1021–1051) * George II of Georgia (1072–1089) * ...

. Vane's mother, Mary, died on 4 August 1728.Matthew Kilburn, ‘Vane, Anne (d. 1736)’, Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, 2004; online edn, May 200
accessed 19 Feb 2017
/ref> When Caroline's son

Frederick Frederick may refer to: People * Frederick (given name), the name Nobility Anhalt-Harzgerode *Frederick, Prince of Anhalt-Harzgerode (1613–1670) Austria * Frederick I, Duke of Austria (Babenberg), Duke of Austria from 1195 to 1198 * Frederi ...

came to England in 1728 and was in turn made Prince of Wales in 1729, he made Vane his mistress and publicly acknowledged her to the extent that Vane entertained his guests at her house in

Soho Square Soho Square is a garden square in Soho, London, hosting since 1954 a ''de facto'' public park let by the Soho Square Garden Committee to Westminster City Council. It was originally called King Square after Charles II, and a much weathered s ...

. Vane had a son and afterwards recovered at

St. James's Palace St James's Palace is the most senior royal palace in London, the capital of the United Kingdom. The palace gives its name to the Court of St James's, which is the monarch's royal court, and is located in the City of Westminster in London. Alt ...

. It was well known that her son was named Cornwell Fitz-Frederick Vane. "

Fitz Fitz (pronounced "fits") was a patronymic indicator used in Anglo-Norman England to help distinguish individuals by identifying their immediate predecessors. Meaning "son of", it would precede the father's forename, or less commonly a title held b ...

-Frederick" means "child of Frederick", but

Horace Walpole Horatio Walpole (), 4th Earl of Orford (24 September 1717 – 2 March 1797), better known as Horace Walpole, was an English writer, art historian, man of letters, antiquarian, and Whigs (British political party), Whig politician. He had Strawb ...

wrote that Lord Hervey and the first Lord Harrington each told Sir

Robert Walpole Robert Walpole, 1st Earl of Orford, (26 August 1676 – 18 March 1745; known between 1725 and 1742 as Sir Robert Walpole) was a British statesman and Whig politician who, as First Lord of the Treasury, Chancellor of the Exchequer, and Leader ...

that Cornwell was their son. Vanellas secret history

In 1732 Vane was parodied in a number of works including a book titled ''The Secret History of the Beautiful Vanella''. The poems' theme is her aristocratic lovers and the ambiguous paternity of her children. In 1734 Frederick and Anne were a couple, but in 1735 Prince Frederick was engaged to marry

Augusta of Saxe-Gotha Princess Augusta of Saxe-Gotha-Altenburg ( – 8 February 1772) was Princess of Wales by marriage to Frederick, Prince of Wales, eldest son and heir apparent of King George II. She never became queen consort, as Frederick predeceased his father ...

. It was originally proposed that Vane should be sent abroad but she managed to resist this and was still able to keep her pension of £1600 per year. In 1735 she moved to Bath. Her second child died the following year on 26 February 1736 in London, and Vane died in Bath, a few weeks later, on 27 March 1736.

Legacy

There is an engraving of Mrs. Vane by John Faber Jr. after

John Vanderbank John Vanderbank (9 September 1694 – 23 December 1739)Waterhouse, Ellis. ''Painting in Britain 1530–1790'' (Penguin Books, 1957). was a leading English portrait painter who enjoyed a high reputation during the last decade of George I of Gr ...

.Anne Vane
National Portrait Gallery, Retrieved 19 February 2017 It is said that "she was the model for Hogarth's Anne Boleyn in the picture of 1729".

Dr. Johnson Samuel Johnson (18 September 1709 – 13 December 1784), often called Dr Johnson, was an English writer who made lasting contributions as a poet, playwright, essayist, moralist, literary criticism, critic, biographer, editor and lexicogra ...

wrote in the ''Vanity of Human Wishes'': "Yet Vane could tell what ills from beauty spring;" referring to Anne, as distinct from her niece. His point is that "she generally ends her career betrayed, despised and distressed".What Ills From Beauty Spring
Enotes, Retrieved 19 February 2017

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Vane, Anne 1736 deaths 17th-century English women 17th-century English people 18th-century English women 18th-century English people British maids of honour Daughters of barons Mistresses of Frederick, Prince of Wales

Anne Anne, alternatively spelled Ann, is a form of the Latin female given name Anna. This in turn is a representation of the Hebrew Hannah, which means 'favour' or 'grace'. Related names include Annie. Anne is sometimes used as a male name in the ...

Court of George II of Great Britain 1710 births