Elizabeth Fox (or Fox-Strangways), Countess of Ilchester (c.1723–1792), née Elizabeth Horner, was the wife of

Stephen Fox-Strangways, 1st Earl of Ilchester Stephen Fox-Strangways, 1st Earl of Ilchester PC (12 September 1704 – 26 September 1776) was a British peer and Member of Parliament. Origins Fox was the eldest surviving son of Sir Stephen Fox (1627-1716), the first Paymaster of the Forces, ...

Life

She was the only child and sole heiress of Thomas Horner (1688-1741) (later Strangways-Horner), MP, of

Mells Manor Mells Manor at Mells, Somerset, Mells, Somerset, England, was built in the 16th century for Edward Horner, altered in the 17th century, partially demolished around 1780, and restored by Sir Edwin Lutyens in the 20th century. The house, along with ...

Mells, Somerset Mells is a village and civil parish in Somerset, England, near the town of Frome. Vobster The parish includes the village of Vobster, which had a coal mine of the same name on the Somerset coalfield and a quarry, both of which are now disused. ...

. Her mother was the heiress Susannah Strangways, one of the two daughters of Thomas Strangways (1643-1713) of

Melbury House Melbury House is an English country house in the parish of Melbury Sampford near Evershot, Dorset, This Grade I listed mansion is the home of the Honorable Mrs Charlotte Townshend, a major landowner in east Dorset, through her mother, Theresa ...

in Dorset, a major landowner. The other daughter, Elizabeth Strangways (died 1729), married

James Hamilton, 5th Duke of Hamilton James Hamilton, 5th Duke of Hamilton and 2nd Duke of Brandon KT FRS (5 January 1703 – 2 March 1743) was a Scottish peer, the son of the 4th Duke of Hamilton. Hamilton attended Winchester College from 1716 to 1717. He matriculated at Chri ...

, as his second wife, but died childless. Susanna Strangways was the co-heiress of her childless brother Thomas Strangways (died 1726) and, after the death of her sister the Duchess of Hamilton in 1729, sole heiress. On 15 March 1736, at the age of 13, Elizabeth married Stephen Fox, the 31-year-old future earl. A homosexual, he was for many years the lover of

John Hervey, 2nd Baron Hervey John Hervey, 2nd Baron Hervey, (13 October 16965 August 1743) was an English courtier and political writer. Heir to the Earl of Bristol, he obtained the key patronage of Walpole, and was involved in many court intrigues and literary quarrel ...

, whose letters to him have been published. Hervey was angered by the marriage and broke off his relationship with Fox. He was raised to the peerage in 1741 and was created an earl on 17 June 1756, making his wife a countess. In 1758, the earl took the additional surname and arms of Strangways in compliance with the terms of his wife's inheritance. Initially, the earl and countess did not live together because of Elizabeth's youth. Several of their children died in infancy. Those who survived to adulthood were: *Lady Frances Muriel Fox-Strangways (died 1814), who married

Valentine Richard Quin, 1st Earl of Dunraven and Mount-Earl Valentine Richard Quin, 1st Earl of Dunraven and Mount-Earl, 1st Baronet (30 July 1752 – 24 August 1824) was an Irish Peer and MP. He was the son of Windham Quin and Frances Dawson. The Quins were an old Irish family who had long been associat ...

, and had children *Lady Lucy Fox-Strangways (died 1787), who married Colonel Hon. Stephen Digby, and had children *Lady Susannah Sarah Louisa Fox-Strangways (1742-1827), who eloped with, and married, William O'Brien *

Henry Thomas Fox-Strangways, 2nd Earl of Ilchester Henry Thomas Fox-Strangways, 2nd Earl of Ilchester (29 July 1747 – 5 September 1802), known as Lord Stavordale from 1756 to 1776, was a British peer and Member of Parliament. Life Ilchester was the eldest son of Stephen Fox-Strangways, 1st Ea ...

(1747-1802) * Lady Christian Henrietta Caroline Fox-Strangway (1750-1815), known as Harriet, who married Colonel

John Dyke Acland Colonel John Dyke Acland (18 February 1746 – 31 October 1778), of Tetton and Pixton in Somerset, was Tory Member of Parliament for Callington in Cornwall and fought in the American War of Independence in 1776.Chambers Biographical Dictionar ...

and had children *Lt.-Col. Hon. Stephen Strangways Digby Fox-Strangways (1751-1836) *Rev. Hon. Charles Redlynch Fox-Strangways (1761-1836), who married Jane Haines and had children In the mid-1760s, Elizabeth arranged the construction of a seaside villa with landscaped gardens, near

Chesil Beach Chesil Beach (also known as Chesil Bank) in Dorset, England is one of three major shingle beach structures in Britain.A. P. Carr and M. W. L. Blackley, "Investigations Bearing on the Age and Development of Chesil Beach, Dorset, and the Associat ...

in Dorset, in imitation of

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 ...

Strawberry Hill House Strawberry Hill House—often called simply Strawberry Hill—is a Gothic Revival architecture, Gothic Revival villa that was built in Twickenham, London, by Horace Walpole (1717–1797) from 1749 onward. It is a typical example of the "#Strawb ...

; it was called "Strangways", later known as "Abbotsbury Castle". The house was demolished in 1934, but the gardens, expanded and improved by Elizabeth's son Henry, were restored and opened to the public as

Abbotsbury Subtropical Gardens The Abbotsbury Subtropical Gardens is a visitor attraction near the village of Abbotsbury, Dorset, southern England.Kelly, J. Abbotsbury Gardens'', 1984 They are Grade I listed in the National Register of Historic Parks and Gardens. The garden o ...

. From her husband's death in 1776,UK and Ireland, Find a Grave Index, 1300s-Current Elizabeth became Dowager Countess of Ilchester. Elizabeth is supposedly the real person behind the "first Countess of Wessex" in

Thomas Hardy Thomas Hardy (2 June 1840 – 11 January 1928) was an English novelist and poet. A Victorian realist in the tradition of George Eliot, he was influenced both in his novels and in his poetry by Romanticism, including the poetry of William Word ...

's short story of that name, published in 1891.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ilchester, Elizabeth Fox, Countess of 1723 births 1792 deaths British countesses