Mary Bagot, Countess of Falmouth and Dorset, ca. 1664-65, by Sir Peter Lely. Mary Sackville, Countess of Falmouth and Dorset (1645 – 1679, née Bagot) was a British courtier and mistress of King Charles II. The King rewarded her with grants of land, including Somerset House, in the Strand, and a state pension.

Life

Her parents were Colonel Henry Bagot and his wife Dorothea Arden, of Pipe Hall,

Warwickshire Warwickshire (; abbreviated Warks) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the West Midlands (region), West Midlands of England. It is bordered by Staffordshire and Leicestershire to the north, Northamptonshire to the east, Ox ...

. She married firstly Charles Berkeley, 1st Earl of Falmouth in 1663. He died at the

Battle of Lowestoft The Battle of Lowestoft took place on during the Second Anglo-Dutch War. A fleet of more than a hundred ships of the Dutch Republic, United Provinces commanded by Lieutenant-Admiral Jacob van Wassenaer Obdam, Jacob van Wassenaer, Lord Obdam, at ...

on 3 July 1665, by cannon shot. They had one daughter: * Mary Bagot (c. 1665 – 18 April 1693), married Gilbert Cosins Gerard (1662–1720) on 2 May 1681, divorced in 1684. After the death of

Anne Hyde Anne Hyde (12 March 1637 – 31 March 1671) was the first wife of James, Duke of York, who later became King James II and VII. Anne was the daughter of a member of the English gentry— Edward Hyde (later created Earl of Clarendon)—and met ...

, Duchess of York, in 1671, Mary was briefly considered as a possible bride for the widowed Duke of York, who later became

King James II James II and VII (14 October 1633 – 16 September 1701) was King of England and Ireland as James II and King of Scotland as James VII from the death of his elder brother, Charles II, on 6 February 1685, until he was deposed in the 1688 Glori ...

. She was discounted due to her relationship with his brother the King. James instead married

Mary of Modena Mary of Modena (; ) was List of English royal consorts, Queen of England, List of Scottish royal consorts, Scotland and Ireland as the second wife of James VII and II. A devout Catholic, Roman Catholic, Mary married the widower James, who was t ...

. She married secondly, and secretly,

Charles Sackville, 6th Earl of Dorset Charles Sackville, 6th Earl of Dorset (24 January 164329 January 1706) was an English politician, courtier and poet. Early life Sackville was born on 24 January 1643, son of Richard Sackville, 5th Earl of Dorset (1622–1677). His mother was th ...

in June 1674, as his first wife. Mary died in childbirth on 12 September 1679 and was buried at Withyan,

Sussex Sussex (Help:IPA/English, /ˈsʌsɪks/; from the Old English ''Sūþseaxe''; lit. 'South Saxons'; 'Sussex') is an area within South East England that was historically a kingdom of Sussex, kingdom and, later, a Historic counties of England, ...

. She was one of the Windsor Beauties painted by

Sir Peter Lely Sir Peter Lely (14 September 1618 – 30 November 1680) was a painter of Dutch origin whose career was nearly all spent in England, where he became the dominant portrait painter to the court. He became a naturalised British subject and was kn ...

. Her portrait by Lely was erroneously named "Elizabeth, Countess of Falmouth" and also as "Countess of Ossory" in some portrait prints and books in the 18th and 19th centuries, many of which were later reprinted, compounding the error.

References

External links

"Elizabeth Bagot, Countess of Falmouth & Dorset"
(1832) ''NYPL.''
"Mary Bagot, Countess of Falmouth and Dorset"
(1645–79), c.1664-5,

. Royal Collections Trust.
Mary Sackville (née Bagot), Countess of Dorset (formerly Berkeley, Countess of Falmouth) engraved as Amelia, Countess of Ossory
c. 1779, by Thomas Watson, after Sir Peter Lely.

National Portrait Gallery National Portrait Gallery may refer to: * National Portrait Gallery (Australia), in Canberra * National Portrait Gallery (Sweden), in Mariefred *National Portrait Gallery (United States), in Washington, D.C. *National Portrait Gallery, London ...

.
Mary Bagot (1645–1679), Countess of Falmouth, Later Countess of Dorset
National Trust, Knole via ArtUK. {{DEFAULTSORT:Falmouth, Mary, Countess of English countesses 1645 births 1679 deaths Women of the Stuart period 17th-century English landowners 17th-century English women landowners Mistresses of Charles II of England