Frances Cecil, Countess of Exeter (2 December 1630 – 2 December 1669),[1] formerly Lady Frances Manners, was the first wife of John Cecil, 4th Earl of Exeter.
She was a daughter of John Manners, 8th Earl of Rutland, and his wife, the former Frances Montagu.[2] The Countess of Exeter's sisters, Margaret, Elizabeth and Dorothy, all became countesses. Another, Anne, became a Viscountess.
She married the earl on 8 December 1646.
Two of their children survived infancy:
- John Cecil, 5th Earl of Exeter (c. 1648–1700)
- Lady Frances Cecil (1652–1694),[3] married John Scudamore, 2nd Viscount Scudamore.
The countess's portrait in miniature was painted in about 1646 (the year of her marriage) by Samuel Cooper, and is held by Burghley House.[4]
Some sources give the date of her death as 1660, but the parish register of St Martin's Church, Stamford, shows her to have been buried in December 1669.[1] A few weeks after her death, the earl married Lady Mary Fane, daughter of Mildmay Fane, 2nd Earl of Westmorland.
References edit
- ^ a b John Nichols (1971). The History and Antiquities of the County of Leicester. S.R. Publishers. ISBN 978-0-85409-688-6.
- ^ Mosley, Charles, editor. Burke's Peerage, Baronetage & Knightage, 107th edition, 3 volumes. Wilmington, Delaware, U.S.A.: Burke's Peerage (Genealogical Books) Ltd, 2003. Page 1363.
- ^ Warren Skidmore. "THE SCUDAMORE PORTRAITS ONCE AT HOLME LACY, AND OFFERED FOR SALE IN 1910. Occasional Papers, no. 30" (PDF). Skidmore Family History. Retrieved 5 March 2018.
- ^ "Frances, Countess of Exeter, nee Manners, by Samuel Cooper (1609-1672), circa 1646". Burghley House. Retrieved 4 March 2018.