Frances Greville (née Macartney; c. 1724 – 1789) was an Anglo-Irish

poet A poet is a person who studies and creates poetry. Poets may describe themselves as such or be described as such by others. A poet may simply be the creator (thought, thinker, songwriter, writer, or author) who creates (composes) poems (oral t ...

and celebrity in Georgian

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

. She was born in

Longford Longford () is the county town of County Longford in Ireland. It had a population of 10,952 at the 2022 census. It is the biggest town in the county and about one third of the county's population lives there. Longford lies at the meeting of ...

Ireland Ireland (, ; ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe. Geopolitically, the island is divided between the Republic of Ireland (officially Names of the Irish state, named Irelan ...

in the mid-1720s; one of four daughters of James Macartney and Catherine (née Coote), daughter of the eminent judge Thomas Coote and niece of

Richard Coote, 1st Earl of Bellomont Richard Coote, 1st Earl of Bellomont (1636 – 5 March 1700/01In the Julian calendar, then in use in England, the year began on 25 March. To avoid confusion with dates in the Gregorian calendar, then in use in other parts of Europe, d ...

. By the early 1740s, she was in London, accompanying

Sarah Lennox, Duchess of Richmond Sarah Lennox, Duchess of Richmond (née Cadogan; 18 September 1705 – 25 August 1751), was Lady of the Bedchamber to Queen Caroline from 1724 to 1737. She was the mother of the famous Lennox sisters. Early life She was born Sarah Cadogan at ...

Horace Walpole Horatio Walpole, 4th Earl of Orford (; 24 September 1717 – 2 March 1797), better known as Horace Walpole, was an English Whig politician, writer, historian and antiquarian. He had Strawberry Hill House built in Twickenham, southwest London ...

's poem ''The Beauties'' (1746) mentions her as "Fanny" among the most prominent women at court. Frances married

Fulke Greville Fulke Greville, 1st Baron Brooke (; 3 October 1554 – 30 September 1628) was an Elizabethan poet, dramatist, and statesman who served in the House of Commons at various times between 1581 and 1621, when he was raised to the peerage. Greville ...

Wilbury House Wilbury House or Wilbury Park is an 18th-century Neo-Palladian country house in the parish of Newton Tony, Wiltshire in South West England, about northeast of Salisbury. It is a Grade I listed building, and the surrounding park and garden are Gr ...

(Wiltshire) in 1748 after an elopement. Greville was a gambler and a dandy, but that he loved his wife is witnessed by her presence (under the character of "Flora" in his ''Maxims, Characters, and Reflections'' (1756)). Frances is believed to have contributed to the volume herself. Frances Greville's own career as an amateur poet was marked by one resounding success: her poem, "Prayer for Indifference", first published in the ''Edinburgh Chronicle'', in 1759, offers an attack on the cult of

sensibility Sensibility refers to an acute perception of or responsiveness toward something, such as the emotions of another. This concept emerged in eighteenth-century Britain, and was closely associated with studies of sense perception as the means thro ...

. It was reprinted regularly in the following decades, often paired with a poem in praise of sensibility. Her output otherwise was light, and mostly within the confines of

vers de société Vers may refer to: Places in France * Vers, Haute-Savoie, a commune in the Haute-Savoie ''département'' * Vers, Lot, a commune in the Lot ''département'' * Vers, Saône-et-Loire, a commune in the Saône-et-Loire ''département'' * Vers-e ...

. She spent the 1760s and 1770s in travel. Her husband was named

envoy Envoy or Envoys may refer to: Diplomacy * Diplomacy, in general * Envoy (title) * Special envoy, a type of Diplomatic rank#Special envoy, diplomatic rank Brands *Airspeed Envoy, a 1930s British light transport aircraft *Envoy (automobile), an au ...

Bavaria Bavaria, officially the Free State of Bavaria, is a States of Germany, state in the southeast of Germany. With an area of , it is the list of German states by area, largest German state by land area, comprising approximately 1/5 of the total l ...

in 1764. She was a known conversationalist, befriending

Charles Charles is a masculine given name predominantly found in English language, English and French language, French speaking countries. It is from the French form ''Charles'' of the Proto-Germanic, Proto-Germanic name (in runic alphabet) or ''* ...

and

Frances Burney Frances Burney (13 June 1752 – 6 January 1840), also known as Fanny Burney and later Madame d'Arblay, was an English satirical novelist, diarist and playwright. In 1786–1790 she held the post of "Keeper of the Robes" to Charlotte of Meckle ...

, as well as

Richard Brinsley Sheridan Richard Brinsley Butler Sheridan (30 October 17517 July 1816) was an Anglo-Irish playwright, writer and Whig politician who sat in the British House of Commons from 1780 to 1812, representing the constituencies of Stafford, Westminster and I ...

, who dedicated his ''

The Critic ''The Critic'' is an American Adult animation, adult animated sitcom revolving around the life of New York film critic Jay Sherman, voiced by Jon Lovitz. It was created by writing partners Al Jean and Mike Reiss, who had previously worked as w ...

'' to her. Her daughter, Frances Anne Crewe, (1748–1818), became a prominent Whig hostess. Her three sons William (1751–1837),

Henry Henry may refer to: People and fictional characters * Henry (given name), including lists of people and fictional characters * Henry (surname) * Henry, a stage name of François-Louis Henry (1786–1855), French baritone Arts and entertainmen ...

(1760–1816) and Charles (1762–1832) had military careers. Henry later became a theatrical manager, with limited success. Frances died 28 July 1789 at

Hampton, London Hampton is a suburb of Greater London on the north bank of the River Thames, in the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames, England, and the historic county of Middlesex. Hampton is bounded by Bushy Park to the east (and to the north of St Al ...

and is buried at

St Peter's Church, Petersham St Peter's Church is the parish church of the village of Petersham, London, Petersham in the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames. It is part of the Anglican Diocese of Southwark, Diocese of Southwark in the Church of England. The main body o ...

References

*Fuller, Joyce, ed. ''British Women Poets, 1660-1800''. Troy, New York: Whitson Publishing Company, 1990. *Lonsdale, Roger. ''Eighteenth Century Women Poets''. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1989.

External links

Frances Greville
at th
Eighteenth-Century Poetry Archive (ECPA)
* Betty Rizzo, ‘Greville , Frances (1727?–1789)’, ''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography'', (Oxford University Press, Sept 2004; online edn, Jan 2008

accessed 15 Sept 2008. * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Greville, Frances 1720s births 1789 deaths English women poets Irish women poets People from County Longford

Frances Frances is an English given name or last name of Latin origin. In Latin the meaning of the name Frances is 'from France' or 'the French.' The male version of the name in English is Francis (given name), Francis. The original Franciscus, meaning "F ...

18th-century English women writers 18th-century Irish women writers 18th-century English people Burials at St Peter's, Petersham