Frances Darcy, Countess of Southampton (1618 – January 1681), formerly Lady Frances Seymour, was an English noblewoman of royal descent, who was married three times to titled men.

Biography

She was the daughter of

William Seymour, 2nd Duke of Somerset William Seymour, 2nd Duke of Somerset, (158824 October 1660) was an English nobleman and Royalist commander in the English Civil War. Origins Seymour was the son of Edward Seymour, Lord Beauchamp (who predeceased his own father) by his wife ...

, by his second marriage to

Lady Frances Devereux Frances Seymour, Duchess of Somerset (''née'' Devereux; 30 September 1599 – 24 April 1674) was an English noblewoman who lived during the reigns of Elizabeth I, James I, Charles I and Charles II. Her father was Robert Devereux, 2nd Earl of ...

; the duke was directly descended from King

Henry VII of England Henry VII (28 January 1457 – 21 April 1509), also known as Henry Tudor, was King of England and Lord of Ireland from his seizure of the crown on 22 August 1485 until his death in 1509. He was the first monarch of the House of Tudor. Henr ...

. Frances married

Richard Molyneux, 2nd Viscount Molyneux Richard Molyneux, 2nd Viscount Molyneux of Maryborough, (about 1617–1654) was a Royalist officer in the English Civil War Biography Richard Molyneux was the son of Richard Molyneux, 1st Viscount Molyneux and Mary, daughter of Sir Thomas Caryll o ...

, who, like her father, was a Royalist commander in the English Civil War. They had no children, and Molyneux died in about 1654. As her second husband, she married (as his third wife)

Thomas Wriothesley, 4th Earl of Southampton Thomas Wriothesley, 4th Earl of Southampton, KG ( ; 10 March 1607 – 16 May 1667), styled Lord Wriothesley before 1624, was an English statesman, a staunch supporter of King Charles II who after the Restoration of the Monarchy in 1660 ...

, on 7 May 1659. They had no children, and Wriothesley died in 1667, leaving Frances the contents of Southampton House in Holborn, their London home. Thirdly (as his third wife) she married, in 1676,Mosley, Charles, editor. Burke's Peerage, Baronetage & Knightage, 107th edition, 3 volumes. Wilmington, Delaware, U.S.A.: Burke's Peerage (Genealogical Books) Ltd, 2003. Volume 3, page 3680.

Conyers Darcy, 2nd Earl of Holderness Conyers Darcy, 2nd Earl of Holderness (1622 – 13 December 1692) was an English politician who sat in the House of Commons of England, House of Commons from 1660 to 1679 and later became a peer. Life Darcy was the eldest son of Conyers Darcy, 1 ...

, by whom she had no children. She died childless at the age of about 62, and was buried at

Westminster Abbey Westminster Abbey, formally titled the Collegiate Church of Saint Peter at Westminster, is an Anglican church in the City of Westminster, London, England. Since 1066, it has been the location of the coronations of 40 English and British m ...

on 5 January 1681.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Holderness, Frances Darcy, Countess of 1618 births 1681 deaths Daughters of English dukes English countesses Molyneux