Mary Shirley, Countess Ferrers, ( Meredith; bapt. 6 August 1733 – 25 July 1807), later Lady Frederick Campbell, was an English noblewoman.

Early life

Mary was the youngest daughter of Amos Meredith or Meredyth of

Henbury, Cheshire Henbury is a village and civil parish in the unitary authority of Cheshire East and the ceremonial county of Cheshire, England. According to the 2001 census, the entire civil parish had a population of 594.William William is a masculine given name of Germanic languages, Germanic origin. It became popular in England after the Norman Conquest, Norman conquest in 1066,All Things William"Meaning & Origin of the Name"/ref> and remained so throughout the Middle ...

was an MP and became 3rd Baronet Meredith in 1752, on the death of his grandfather.

Personal life

On 16 September 1752, she married

Laurence Shirley, 4th Earl Ferrers Laurence Shirley, 4th Earl Ferrers (18 August 1720 – 5 May 1760) was an English nobleman, notable for being the last peerage, peer to be hanging, hanged, following his conviction for murdering his steward. Biography Shirley was the el ...

. In 1758, the couple were legally separated, with Mary citing the earl's cruelty as the cause. He was widely believed to come from a family where mental illness was congenital, and in 1760 he was found guilty of murdering one of his servants, and was hanged at Tyburn in May 1760. At his execution he wore his wedding suit, claiming that his "unhappy conduct" was the result of "a forced marriage". There were no children from the marriage,

Second marriage

On 28 March 1769, Mary married

Lord Frederick Campbell Lord Frederick Campbell (20 June 1729 – 8 June 1816) was a British politician. He was Lord Clerk Register of Scotland, 1768–1816; Member of Parliament (MP) for Glasgow Burghs (1761–1780) and for Argyllshire (1780–1799). Biography ...

, the third son of

John Campbell, 4th Duke of Argyll General John Campbell, 4th Duke of Argyll, KT, PC ( – 9 November 1770) was a Scottish military officer, Whig politician and peer who sat in the British House of Commons from 1713 to 1761. Early life John Campbell was born , the son of Jo ...

, and his wife, Mary (a daughter of

John Bellenden, 2nd Lord Bellenden John Bellenden, 2nd Lord Bellenden (died March 1707) was a Scottish nobleman. Early life Born John Ker, he was the fourth son of William Ker, 2nd Earl of Roxburghe (born William Drummond) and the Hon. Jane Ker. Among his elder brothers was Robe ...

), at the

Church of St Martin in the Fields St Martin-in-the-Fields is a Church of England parish church at the north-east corner of Trafalgar Square in the City of Westminster, London. Dedicated to Saint Martin of Tours, there has been a church on the site since at least the medieval pe ...

. they had two daughters, including: * Mary Campbell, who married Capt.

Donald Campbell Donald Malcolm Campbell, (23 March 1921 – 4 January 1967) was a British speed record breaker who broke eight absolute world speed records on water and on land in the 1950s and 1960s. He remains the only person to set both world land a ...

of Barbreck. Lady Campbell was killed in a fire at their home, Combe Bank, Kent. Since the fire caused little damage to the house, it was speculated that Lady Campbell had suffered some kind of fit "with her head in the candle". Her second husband outlived her by nine years.

References

External links

Mary Shirley (née Meredith), Countess Ferrers (later Lady Campbell)
at the

National Portrait Gallery, London The National Portrait Gallery (NPG) is an art gallery in London that houses a collection of portraits of historically important and famous British people. When it opened in 1856, it was arguably the first national public gallery in the world th ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ferrers, Countess, Mary Shirley 1730s births 1807 deaths Deaths from fire British countesses by marriage Daughters of baronets Accidental deaths in England