Lady Frances Brudenell (before 1677 – 23 February 1735/36), Countess of

Newburgh Newburgh (''"new"'' + the English/Scots word ''"burgh"'') may refer to: Places Scotland *Newburgh, Fife, a former royal burgh *Newburgh, Aberdeenshire, a village England *Newburgh, Lancashire, a village * Newburgh, North Yorkshire, a village ...

, was an Irish aristocrat known as the subject of a satire in which she was portrayed as the leader of a society of

lesbian A lesbian is a homosexual woman or girl. The word is also used for women in relation to their sexual identity or sexual behavior, regardless of sexual orientation, or as an adjective to characterize or associate nouns with female homosexu ...

s. She was the daughter of Francis Brudenell, Lord Brudenell and Lady Frances Savile. She married twice, first to Charles Livingston, 2nd Earl of Newburgh (1692–1694, becoming Countess of Newburgh), then to

Richard Bellew, 3rd Baron Bellew of Duleek Richard Bellew, 3rd Baron Bellew of Duleek (c.1671 – 22 March 1715) was an Irish soldier, peer and politician. Biography Bellew was the second son of John Bellew, 1st Baron Bellew of Duleek and Mary Bermingham. He joined his father as a suppor ...

(1695–1715, becoming Baroness Bellew of Duleek). She was also rumoured to have had an unrecognised marriage to Sir Thomas Smyth. Lady Frances was the subject (under the pseudonym "Myra") of a series of love poems published by

George Granville, 1st Baron Lansdowne George Granville, 1st Baron Lansdowne PC (9 March 1666 – 29 January 1735), of Stowe, Cornwall, was an English Tory politician who sat in the English and British House of Commons from 1702 until 1712, when he was raised to the peerage as Baro ...

from 1712. She was the subject of a debt action brought by an Oxford don,

William King William King may refer to: Arts * Willie King (1943–2009), American blues guitarist and singer * William King (author) (born 1959), British science fiction author and game designer, also known as Bill King * William King (artist) (1925–2015), ...

(nephew of Sir Thomas Smyth), who alleged she owed him several thousand pounds. He lost the case and in revenge, in 1732, wrote a satire against her, entitled "The Toast", which portrayed her as a promiscuous bisexual witch and lesbian named "Myra", and alleged that she ruled "a social circle of tribades in Dublin", her primary lover being Lady Margaret Allen. It is notable for an early use of the word

in the modern sense.Margaret Reynolds: The Sappic Companion. Palgrave Macmillan, 30 Jun 2002 p. 126 She had several children including a daughter, Charlotte Maria Livingston (1694–1755), and a son, John Bellew, 4th Baron Bellew of Duleek (1702–1770). She died on 23 February 1735/36 in

Dublin Dublin is the capital and largest city of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. Situated on Dublin Bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster, and is bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, pa ...

, Ireland, and was buried in

St. Audoen's Church St. Audoen's Church, Dublin may refer to: *St. Audoen's Church, Dublin (Church of Ireland) St Audoen's Church (, ) is the church of the parish of Saint Audoen in the Church of Ireland, located south of the River Liffey at Cornmarket in Dublin, ...

, Dublin.

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Portrait
{{DEFAULTSORT:Brudenell, Frances 17th-century births 1730s deaths

Bellew of Duleek 17th-century LGBTQ people 17th-century Irish women 18th-century LGBTQ people 18th-century Irish women 18th-century Scottish women 17th-century Scottish women Irish bisexual women Scottish bisexual women LGBTQ nobility