Frances Walsingham/Sidney/Devereaux/Burke – The Dowager Countess of Essex & Countess of Clanricarde
Frances Walsingham belonged to the highest echelons of Elizabethan society.
She was the only surviving child of Francis Walsingham – Queen Elizabeth’s Principal Secretary and spymaster.
In 1583 Frances became the wife of Sir Philip Sidney at the age of 16.
Sir Philip Sidney was appointed Governor of Flushing, and left to attend his duties in the Netherlands.
Pregnant with her first child, Frances waited until she had given birth to join her husband.
Their daughter was born in 1585 and named Elizabeth after the Queen.
In June 1586 Frances left England for the Netherlands to meet her husband.
On 22nd September, Sidney was injured at the battle of Zutphen, and his wound became infected.
Frances, again pregnant, nursed him – but he died on 17th October.
She brought his body back to England, where he was given a hero’s funeral.
Sadly miscarried their child.
Frances’ second husband was Queen Elizabeth’s favourite Robert Devereaux~Earl of Essex.
Frances and Robert Devereaux had five children, three of which survived infancy – Frances, Robert and Dorothy.
Robert Devereaux~Earl of Essex, was the great-grandson of Henry VIII’s mistress Mary Boleyn, the sister of Queen Anne Boleyn.
Some historians believe that Catherine Carey, the daughter of Mary Boleyn and the grandmother of Robert Devereaux, was fathered by Henry VIII.
This would make Frances’ children, Henry VIII’s great-great-grandchildren…..
Robert Devereaux was a bit of a rogue.
He wasn’t exactly the most loyal of husbands, he had many affairs and illegitimate children.
After participating in an attempted coup against the Queen, Robert Devereaux was arrested.
Frances attempted to see the queen, to plead on her husband’s behalf, but she was not permitted to see Elizabeth.
On 19th February 1601, Robert Devereaux was tried on charges of treason.
Robert Devereaux was found guilty, and on 25th February 1601, was b-headed on Tower Green.
It was reported to have taken three strokes by the exEcutioner to complete the b-heading.
Two years after Robert Devereaux’s exEcution, Frances married Richard Burke ~ Earl of Clanricarde.
Together they lived in both Ireland and England, with their three children, building great houses in each country.
In 1609 they built a mansion at Somerhill in Kent, and around 1618 the construction of Portumna Castle in County Galway, Ireland began.
Frances died on 17th February 1632, in Tunbridge Wells, Kent – aged 65/66.
She was buried at St Peter and St Paul, Tonbridge, where she and her husband have effigies.
