Isabella FitzRoy, Duchess of Grafton

Isabella Bennet FitzRoy, Duchess of Grafton and later 2nd Countess of Arlington suo jure (c. 1668 – 7 February 1723), was a British peer and heiress.


The Duchess of Grafton
Portrait with her son
Personal details
Born
Isabella Bennet

c.1668
Died7 February 1723
Spouse(s)
    (m. 1672; died 1690)
      (m. 1698)
      ChildrenCharles FitzRoy, 2nd Duke of Grafton
      ParentsHenry Bennet, 1st Earl of Arlington
      Elisabeth of Nassau

      Life

      Isabella Bennet was the only daughter of Henry Bennet, 1st Earl of Arlington, a Royalist commander, by his wife, Elisabeth of Nassau (1633–1718). Elisabeth was a daughter of Louis of Nassau-Beverweerd and thus a granddaughter of Maurice of Nassau, Prince of Orange, and a great-granddaughter of William the Silent.

      Henry Bennet was created Baron Arlington in 1665 for his loyalty to the crown. Lord Arlington was later raised in the peerage to the titles of Earl of Arlington and Viscount Thetford, all of which were created with a special remainder to allow his daughter to inherit.

      She was married at the age of four to Henry FitzRoy, Earl of Euston (later created Duke of Grafton), the nine-year-old illegitimate son of King Charles II. The wedding ceremony was repeated on 7 November 1679 and they lived at Euston Hall.[1] Isabella and her husband had one son, Charles FitzRoy, who succeeded his parents as 2nd Duke of Grafton and 3rd Earl of Arlington.

      After her husband's death in 1690 from a wound received at the storming of Cork while leading the forces of William of Orange, she remarried on 14 October 1698 to Sir Thomas Hanmer, 4th Baronet, Speaker of the House of Commons.[2][3]

      Other

      Isabella was one of the Hampton Court Beauties painted by Sir Godfrey Kneller for Queen Mary II. Isabella also walked at the coronation of Queen Anne.

      References

      1. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2 February 2012. Retrieved 20 April 2011.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
      2. Lundy, Darryl. "p. 10295 § 102948". The Peerage.
      3. "SELECTED BRIEF BIOGRAPHIES" (PDF). Retrieved 27 January 2013.
      Peerage of England
      Preceded by
      Henry Bennet
      Countess of Arlington
      1685–1723
      Succeeded by
      Charles FitzRoy


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