Lady Mary Fox (née FitzClarence; 19 December 1798 – 13 July 1864) was an illegitimate daughter of King William IV of the United Kingdom by his mistress

Dorothea Jordan Dorothea Jordan (née Bland; 22 November 17615 July 1816) was an Anglo-Irish actress, as well as a courtesan. She was the long-time partner of Prince William, Duke of Clarence (later King William IV), and the mother of 10 illegitimate children ...

. In later life she became a writer.

Marriage

Mary FitzClarence was born in Bushy House as the fourth child and second daughter of the then Prince William, Duke of Clarence and St Andrews, and actor

. She was "a fine looking, brown girl with a pleasant countenance and manners". In 1820, her younger sister

Elizabeth Elizabeth or Elisabeth may refer to: People * Elizabeth (given name), a female given name (including people with that name) * Empress Elisabeth (disambiguation), lists various empresses named ''Elisabeth'' or ''Elizabeth'' * Princess Elizabeth ...

was courted by

Charles Richard Fox General Charles Richard Fox (6 November 1796 – 13 April 1873) was a British army general, and later a politician. Background Fox was born at Brompton, the illegitimate son of Henry Richard Vassall-Fox, 3rd Baron Holland, through a liaison w ...

, the eldest but illegitimate son of Lord Holland and Lady Webster, later Lady Holland. His parents did not consent to the match, but four years later approved of his relationship with Mary. The couple married on 19 June 1824 in

St George's, Hanover Square St George's, Hanover Square, is an Church of England, Anglican church, the parish church of Mayfair in the City of Westminster, central London, built in the early eighteenth century as part of a project to build fifty new churches around London ...

, London. Lady Holland worried that she might be "a sickly subject" and wished that the "roturier blood of the mother might have mitigated the royal constitutions". Her mother-in-law wrote on 31 August that her son, "though fond of her, he only considers her as an auxiliary to his medals and other possessions, not as a principal", but concluded that "it will all do well; as she is very winning, and very firm, and sincerely fond of him." The pair established their household in

Little Holland House Little Holland House was the dower house of Holland House in the parish of Kensington, Middlesex, England. It was situated at the end of Nightingale Lane, now the back entrance to Holland Park and was demolished when Melbury Road was made. N ...

by 1827. They moved to Canada in September 1829 when Charles resumed active army service.

Father's accession

The death of her uncle,

King George IV George IV (George Augustus Frederick; 12 August 1762 – 26 June 1830) was King of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland and King of Hanover from 29 January 1820 until his death in 1830. At the time of his accession to the throne, h ...

, in 1830 led to her father's accession to the thrones of the United Kingdom and Hanover as

William IV William IV (William Henry; 21 August 1765 – 20 June 1837) was King of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland and King of Hanover from 26 June 1830 until his death in 1837. The third son of George III, William succeeded hi ...

. The new king was anxious to see his daughter return home from Canada and consequently had her husband transferred. He granted her the rank of a marquess's daughter on 24 May 1831.

Anthony Roll

Mary Fox received from her father the second part of the

Anthony Roll The Anthony Roll is a written record of ships of the English Tudor navy of the 1540s, named after its creator, Anthony Anthony. It originally consisted of three rolls of vellum, depicting 58 naval vessels along with information on their size, ...

, which had been in the possession of the royal family since the reign of

King Henry VIII Henry VIII (28 June 149128 January 1547) was King of England from 22 April 1509 until his death in 1547. Henry is known for his six marriages and his efforts to have his first marriage (to Catherine of Aragon) annulled. His disagreement w ...

, though she was probably not interested in the history of the

Royal Navy The Royal Navy (RN) is the naval warfare force of the United Kingdom. It is a component of His Majesty's Naval Service, and its officers hold their commissions from the King of the United Kingdom, King. Although warships were used by Kingdom ...

. In January 1857, Sir Frederic Madden, custodian of the manuscripts at the

British Museum The British Museum is a Museum, public museum dedicated to human history, art and culture located in the Bloomsbury area of London. Its permanent collection of eight million works is the largest in the world. It documents the story of human cu ...

, learned that Lady Mary wished to sell the roll she had been given by her father in order to raise funds for building a church "or something of that kind".

Later life

William IV died in January 1837 and Lady Mary's cousin, Victoria, ascended the throne. Later that year, Lady Mary published a

utopia A utopia ( ) typically describes an imagined community or society that possesses highly desirable or near-perfect qualities for its members. It was coined by Sir Thomas More for his 1516 book ''Utopia (book), Utopia'', which describes a fictiona ...

feminist Feminism is a range of socio-political movements and ideology, ideologies that aim to define and establish the political, economic, personal, and social gender equality, equality of the sexes. Feminism holds the position that modern soci ...

Gothic fiction Gothic fiction, sometimes referred to as Gothic horror (primarily in the 20th century), is a literary aesthetic of fear and haunting. The name of the genre is derived from the Renaissance era use of the word "gothic", as a pejorative to mean me ...

narrative titled ''An Account of an Expedition to the Interior of New Holland''. Lady Mary's treatise is the most representative example of the portrayal of New Holland as a mysterious and "unreal" place. For a large part of her later life, Lady Mary served as housekeeper at

Windsor Castle Windsor Castle is a List of British royal residences, royal residence at Windsor, Berkshire, Windsor in the English county of Berkshire, about west of central London. It is strongly associated with the Kingdom of England, English and succee ...

. She died childless on 13 July 1864. She is buried with her husband at

Kensal Green Cemetery Kensal Green Cemetery is a cemetery in the Kensal Green area of North Kensington in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea and the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham in London, England. Inspired by Père Lachaise Cemetery in P ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Fox, Lady Mary 1798 births 1864 deaths 19th-century English women writers 19th-century English writers Burials at Kensal Green Cemetery Daughters of British marquesses Daughters of kings

Mary Mary may refer to: People * Mary (name), a female given name (includes a list of people with the name) Religion * New Testament people named Mary, overview article linking to many of those below * Mary, mother of Jesus, also called the Blesse ...

Illegitimate children of William IV People from Teddington Writers from the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames Writers of Gothic fiction