Frances Egerton, Countess of Bridgewater (May 1583 – 11 March 1636), formerly Lady Frances Stanley, was an English art patron and book collector. She was born in May 1583, the second daughter of

Ferdinando Stanley, 5th Earl of Derby Ferdinando Stanley, 5th Earl of Derby (1559 – 16 April 1594), was an English nobleman and politician. He was the son of Henry Stanley, 4th Earl of Derby, and Lady Margaret Clifford. Ferdinando had a place in the line of succession to Eliz ...

, and his wife, the former

Alice Spencer Alice Spencer, Countess of Derby (4 May 1559 – 23 January 1637) was an English noblewoman from the Spencer family and noted patron of the arts. Poet Edmund Spenser represented her as "Amaryllis" in his eclogue '' Colin Clouts Come Home Again ...

. Her sisters were

Anne Stanley, Countess of Castlehaven Anne Stanley (May 1580 – c. 8 October 1647) was an English noblewoman. She was the eldest daughter of the Ferdinando Stanley, 5th Earl of Derby, Earl of Derby and, through her two marriages, became Baroness Chandos and later Countess of Ca ...

, and Elizabeth Stanley, Countess of Huntingdon. After her father died in 1594, her mother married the widower

Thomas Egerton, 1st Viscount Brackley Thomas Egerton, 1st Viscount Brackley, (c. 1540 – 15 March 1617), known as Lord Ellesmere or Lord Egert from 1603 to 1616, was an English Peerage of England, nobleman, judge and Politician, statesman from the Egerton family who served as L ...

. Her mother arranged Stanley's marriage to her stepbrother, John Egerton, around 1601. In 1617,

James I James I may refer to: People *James I of Aragon (1208–1276) * James I of Sicily or James II of Aragon (1267–1327) * James I, Count of La Marche (1319–1362), Count of Ponthieu * James I, Count of Urgell (1321–1347) *James I of Cyprus (1334� ...

named her husband the first

Earl of Bridgewater Earl of Bridgewater was a title that has been created twice in the Peerage of England, once for the Daubeny family (1538) and once for the Egerton family (1617). From 1720 to 1803, the Earls of Bridgewater also held the title of Duke of Bridgewa ...

and thus she became the Countess of Bridgewater.Tabor, Stephen. "The Bridgewater Library." ''Pre-Nineteenth-Century British Book Collectors and Bibliographers'', edited by William Baker and Kenneth Womack, Gale, 1999. ''Dictionary of Literary Biography'' Vol. 213. ''Gale Literature Resource Center''. Accessed 9 July 2022. Stanley owned a substantial collection of books, catalogued in 1627 and amounting to 241 titles. Many of her books are inscribed with her initials F. B. Many of the works were

Christian devotional literature Christian devotional literature (also called devotionals or Christian living literature) is religious writing that Christian individuals read for their personal growth and spiritual formation. Such literature often takes the form of Christian dail ...

by popular authors like William Perkins, Joseph Hall, and

Francis Rous Francis Rous, also spelled Rouse (c. 1581 to 1659), was an English politician and Puritan religious author, who was Provost of Eton from 1644 to 1659, and briefly Speaker of the House of Commons in 1653. Stepbrother of Parliamentary leader J ...

. It also included history and literature, including

Aesop's Fables Aesop's Fables, or the Aesopica, is a collection of fables credited to Aesop, a Slavery in ancient Greece, slave and storyteller who lived in ancient Greece between 620 and 564 Before the Common Era, BCE. Of varied and unclear origins, the stor ...

, ''

Don Quixote , the full title being ''The Ingenious Gentleman Don Quixote of La Mancha'', is a Spanish novel by Miguel de Cervantes. Originally published in two parts in 1605 and 1615, the novel is considered a founding work of Western literature and is of ...

'', Plutarch's ''Lives'', ''

The Faerie Queene ''The Faerie Queene'' is an English epic poem by Edmund Spenser. Books IIII were first published in 1590, then republished in 1596 together with books IVVI. ''The Faerie Queene'' is notable for its form: at over 36,000 lines and over 4,000 sta ...

'', and works by

William Shakespeare William Shakespeare ( 23 April 1564 – 23 April 1616) was an English playwright, poet and actor. He is widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's nation ...

. This was her personal collection, stored separately from her husband's larger household library, but incorporated into that library after her death. Augmented over generations, the formidable household collection became known as The Bridgewater Library, much of which is now owned by the

Huntington Library The Huntington Library, Art Museum and Botanical Gardens, known as The Huntington, is a collections-based educational and research institution established by Henry E. Huntington and Arabella Huntington in San Marino, California, United State ...

in California. Stanley was acquainted with a number of leading literary figures, including

John Donne John Donne ( ; 1571 or 1572 – 31 March 1631) was an English poet, scholar, soldier and secretary born into a recusant family, who later became a clergy, cleric in the Church of England. Under Royal Patronage, he was made Dean of St Paul's, D ...

and

John Milton John Milton (9 December 1608 – 8 November 1674) was an English poet, polemicist, and civil servant. His 1667 epic poem ''Paradise Lost'' was written in blank verse and included 12 books, written in a time of immense religious flux and politic ...

. She, her mother, and her sisters were the subject of the verse dedication of

John Davies of Hereford John Davies of Hereford (c. 1565 – July 1618) was a writing-master and an Anglo-Welsh literature, Anglo-Welsh poet. He referred to himself as ''John Davies of Hereford'' (after the city where he was born) in order to distinguish himself from ...

's ''The Holy Roode.''

Thomas Newton Thomas Newton (1 January 1704 – 14 February 1782) was an English cleric, biblical scholar and author. He served as the Bishop of Bristol from 1761 to 1782. Biography Newton was educated at Trinity College, Cambridge and was subsequently elec ...

dedicated his ''Atropoïon delion'' to her mother and followed it with

acrostic An acrostic is a poem or other word composition in which the ''first'' letter (or syllable, or word) of each new line (or paragraph, or other recurring feature in the text) spells out a word, message or the alphabet. The term comes from the Fre ...

verses to Stanley and her sisters.

John Attey John Attey (d. c. 1640) was an English composer of lute songs or ayres. Little is known about his life. He appears to have been patronised by John Egerton, 1st Earl of Bridgewater and the Countess Frances, to whom he dedicates his ''First Booke ...

dedicated his ''The First Booke of Ayres of Four Parts'' to Stanley and her husband. Her death was the occasion of a long funereal poem and acrostic by Robert Codrington. Milton's

masque The masque was a form of festive courtly entertainment that flourished in 16th- and early 17th-century Europe, though it was developed earlier in Italy, in forms including the intermedio (a public version of the masque was the pageant). A mas ...

''Comus'', written to honor her husband's ascension to

Lord President of Wales The Council of Wales and the Marches () or the Council of the Marches, officially the Court of the Council in the Dominion and Principality of Wales, and the Marches of the same was a regional administrative body founded in Shrewsbury. ...

, was performed at

Ludlow Castle Ludlow Castle is a ruined medieval fortification in the Ludlow, town of the same name in the English county of Shropshire, standing on a promontory overlooking the River Teme. The castle was probably founded by Walter de Lacy (died 1085), Wal ...

in 1634 with her three youngest children, John, Thomas, and Alice, in the leading roles.

Children

Frances Stanley and her husband John Egerton had eleven daughters and four sons, including: * Lady Frances Egerton (1603-1664), married

Sir John Hobart, 2nd Baronet Sir John Hobart, 2nd Baronet (19 April 1593 – 20 April 1647) was an English politician and baronet. Background Born in Norwich, he was the eldest son of Sir Henry Hobart, 1st Baronet, and his wife Dorothy Bell, daughter of Sir Robert Bell. ...

* Lady Elizabeth Egerton, married

David Cecil, 3rd Earl of Exeter David Cecil, 3rd Earl of Exeter (c. 1600–1643) was an English peer and member of the House of Lords. Life David Cecil was the son of Sir Richard Cecil of Wakerley, Northamptonshire. He was educated at Clare College, Cambridge, and admitted at ...

* Lady Arabella Egerton, married Oliver St John, 5th Baron St John of Bletso * Lady Mary Egerton, married Richard Herbert, 2nd Baron Herbert of Chirbury * Lady Penelope Egerton, married Sir Robert Napier, 2nd Baronet * Lady Catherine Egerton, married William Courten, son of Sir William Courten * Lady Magdalen Egerton, married Sir Gervase Cutler * John Egerton, 2nd Earl of Bridgewater (1623–1686) * Thomas Egerton * Lady Alice Egerton (d. 1689), married

Richard Vaughan, 2nd Earl of Carbery Richard Vaughan, 2nd Earl of Carbery KB, PC ( 1600 – 1686), styled The Honourable from 1621 to 1628 and then Lord Vaughan until 1634, was a Welsh soldier, peer and politician. Born the son of a Welsh nobleman with an Irish peerage, Vaughan ...

References

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Egerton, Frances Created via preloaddraft 1583 births 1636 deaths English art patrons English book and manuscript collectors