Elizabeth Boyle, Viscountess Shannon (born Elizabeth Killigrew; baptised 16 May 1622 – December 1680), was an English

courtier A courtier () is a person who attends the royal court of a monarch or other royalty. The earliest historical examples of courtiers were part of the retinues of rulers. Historically the court was the centre of government as well as the officia ...

and mistress of King Charles II.

Life

Elizabeth Killigrew was a daughter of Sir Robert Killigrew and Mary Woodhouse, and sister of dramatist

Thomas Killigrew Thomas Killigrew (7 February 1612 – 19 March 1683) was an English dramatist and theatre manager. He was a witty, dissolute figure at the court of King Charles II of England. Life Killigrew was one of twelve children of Sir Robert Killigre ...

. She was baptised at

St Margaret Lothbury St Margaret Lothbury is a Church of England parish church on Lothbury in the City of London; it spans the boundary between Coleman Street Ward and Broad Street Ward. Recorded since the 12th century, the church was destroyed in the Great Fire of ...

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

, on 16 May 1622. On 24 October 1639, she married

Francis Boyle Francis Anthony Boyle (March 25, 1950 – January 30, 2025) was an American human rights lawyer and professor of international law at the University of Illinois College of Law. He served as counsel for Bosnia and Herzegovina and supported the ...

(later Viscount Shannon), son of the Irish landowner

Richard Boyle, 1st Earl of Cork Richard Boyle, 1st Earl of Cork (13 October 1566 – 15 September 1643), also known as 'the Great Earl of Cork', was an English politician who served as Lord Treasurer of the Kingdom of Ireland. Lord Cork was an important figure in the continu ...

. He was a friend of her stepfather, Thomas Stafford (MP). As the couple was young, there was discussion whether they should live together, or if Francis should depart on a Grand Tour first. Elizabeth joined the royalist court-in-exile of Queen

Henrietta Maria Henrietta Maria of France (French language, French: ''Henriette Marie''; 25 November 1609 – 10 September 1669) was List of English royal consorts, Queen of England, List of Scottish royal consorts, Scotland and Ireland from her marriage to K ...

as 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. Tudors and Stuarts Traditi ...

– where she became one of the many mistresses of the queen's son, the future King Charles II. Her daughter Charlotte Jemia Henrietta Maria FitzRoy was fathered by the exiled Prince Charles in 1650. In 1660, the year Charles was restored to the throne as Charles II, Elizabeth Killigrew's husband was raised to the

Irish peerage The peerage of Ireland consists of those Peerage, titles of nobility created by the English monarchs in their capacity as Lordship of Ireland, Lord or Monarchy of Ireland, King of Ireland, or later by monarchs of the United Kingdom of Great B ...

as Viscount Shannon. Her daughter Charlotte married firstly the playwright James Howard and in 1672 remarried

William Paston William Paston may refer to: *William Paston (died 1444) (1378–1444), Justice of the Common Pleas *William Paston, 2nd Earl of Yarmouth (1654–1732), British peer and politician *Sir William Paston, 1st Baronet (1528–1610), English benefactor ...

, son of the

Earl of Yarmouth Earl of Yarmouth is a title that has been created three times in British history, once in the Peerage of England and twice in the Peerage of Great Britain. The first creation came in the Peerage of England in 1679 in favour of the politician and ...

. Charlotte died in 1684. Poet Anne Killigrew was Elizabeth's niece; among her relatives Lady Shannon also numbered the politicians and playwrights Sir William Killigrew (her brother) and Roger Boyle, Earl of Orrery (a brother-in-law),

Robert Boyle Robert Boyle (; 25 January 1627 – 31 December 1691) was an Anglo-Irish natural philosopher, chemist, physicist, Alchemy, alchemist and inventor. Boyle is largely regarded today as the first modern chemist, and therefore one of the foun ...

, the physicist, and Katherine Jones, Viscountess Ranelagh (the latter two siblings-in-law).

References

External links

Elizabeth Killigrew, Viscountess Shannon (1622-1680)

National Galleries of Scotland The National Galleries of Scotland (, sometimes also known as National Galleries Scotland) is the executive non-departmental public body that controls the three national galleries of Scotland and two partner galleries, forming one of the Nation ...

. 1622 births 1680 deaths Elizabeth English maids of honour Mistresses of Charles II of England People from the City of London Place of birth missing Place of death missing Date of birth unknown Date of death missing Irish viscountesses Elizabeth 17th-century English women 17th-century English people {{Ireland-viscount-stub