Sarah Anne Fane, Countess of Westmorland (née Child; 28 August 1764 – 9 November 1793) was an English noblewoman.
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She was the only child of Robert Child, the owner of Osterley Park and principal shareholder in the banking firm Child & Co, and Sarah Child. She married John Fane, 10th Earl of Westmorland, on 20 May 1782 at Gretna Green after they eloped together. Her parents were dissatisfied with the match: Sarah Anne being an only child, her father wanted her to marry a commoner who would take the Child name; but Sarah Anne told her mother, "A bird in the hand is worth two in the bush."[1] Her father would leave no capital to her or any eldest child,[2] leaving his house and fortune to the (any) second child of Sarah Anne, instead of the likely Westmorland primogeniture heir-to-be.[1] A second marriage ceremony took place at Apethorpe, Northamptonshire on 7 June 1782.[3] She died of a fever at Phoenix Park, Dublin on 9 November, 1793.[4]
Sarah Anne and the earl's surviving children were:
- John Fane, 11th Earl of Westmorland (1784–1859)
- Lady Sarah Sophia Fane (1785–1867), married Viscount Villers, later George Villiers, 5th Earl of Jersey, in 1804.
- Lady Augusta Fane (1786–1871), m. 1. John Parker, Lord Boringdon (later 1st Earl of Morley), in 1804, divorced 1809; m. 2 also in 1809 Sir Arthur Paget (1771–1840), son of the 1st Earl of Uxbridge.
- Lady Maria Fane (1787–1834), m. 1805 John Ponsonby, Viscount Duncannon, later 4th Earl of Bessborough.
- Lady Charlotte Fane (1793–1822)
As only one son of the marriage survived, most of Child's fortune eventually went to his eldest granddaughter, Lady Sarah Sophia.[5]
Seven years after Sarah's death, the Earl of Westmorland married Jane Saunders, an heiress, and had further children.
References edit
- ^ a b "Osterley Park" in: Lydia Greeves, Houses of the National Trust, National Trust Books, 2008, ISBN 978-1-905400-66-9, p. 238
- ^ John Fane, 10th Earl of Westmorland (1759-1841), Politician", National Portrait Gallery
- ^ Northamptonshire Marriages (Findmypast, subscription required.)
- ^ G. E. C. [George Edward Cokayne], Complete peerage of England, Scotland, Ireland, Great Britain and the United Kingdom, Volume 8, 1898, p119
- ^ Roland Thorne, "Fane, John, tenth earl of Westmorland (1759–1841)", Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, 2004; online edition, January 2008. (subscription or UK public library membership required)
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