Lady Mary Tudor (16 October 1673 – 5 November 1726), by marriage Countess of Derwentwater, was an actress and biological daughter of King

Charles II of England Charles II (29 May 1630 – 6 February 1685) was King of Scotland from 1649 until 1651 and King of England, Scotland, and King of Ireland, Ireland from the 1660 Restoration of the monarchy until his death in 1685. Charles II was the eldest su ...

by his mistress, Mary "Moll" Davies, an actress and singer.

Biography

Early life and title

Mary grew up in a house on the south-west side of St James Square, close to

St James's Park St James's Park is a urban park in the City of Westminster, central London. A Royal Park, it is at the southernmost end of the St James's area, which was named after a once isolated medieval hospital dedicated to St James the Less, now the ...

and

Whitehall palace The Palace of Whitehall – also spelled White Hall – at Westminster was the main residence of the English monarchs from 1530 until 1698, when most of its structures, with the notable exception of Inigo Jones's Banqueting House of 1622, ...

, and from an early age she was surrounded by the

high society High society, sometimes simply Society, is the behavior and lifestyle of people with the highest levels of wealth, power, fame and social status. It includes their related affiliations, social events and practices. Upscale social clubs were open ...

of The Restoration. Mary followed in her mother's footsteps, and began acting at a young age. She was a part of the many performances put on at Charles II's elaborate court. At age nine, she sang the part of the

Roman god Roman mythology is the body of myths of ancient Rome as represented in the Latin literature, literature and Roman art, visual arts of the Romans, and is a form of Roman folklore. "Roman mythology" may also refer to the modern study of these ...

desire Desires are states of mind that are expressed by terms like "wanting", "wishing", "longing" or "craving". A great variety of features is commonly associated with desires. They are seen as propositional attitudes towards conceivable states of affa ...

, erotic love, attraction and

affection Affection or fondness is a "disposition or state of mind or body" commonly linked to a feeling or type of love. It has led to multiple branches in philosophy and psychology that discuss emotion, disease, influence, and state of being. Often, " ...

Cupid In classical mythology, Cupid ( , meaning "passionate desire") is the god of desire, erotic love, attraction and affection. He is often portrayed as the son of the love goddess Venus and the god of war Mars. He is also known as Amor (Latin: ...

, alongside her mother, who was starring as

Venus Venus is the second planet from the Sun. It is often called Earth's "twin" or "sister" planet for having almost the same size and mass, and the closest orbit to Earth's. While both are rocky planets, Venus has an atmosphere much thicker ...

, in the play '' Venus and Adonis.'' On 10 December 1680, seven-year-old Mary was, in recognition of her paternity, granted by a Royal warrant, the name ''Tudor'' (as a nod to their collateral descent from the Tudor family) and the precedence of the daughter of an

Earl Earl () is a rank of the nobility in the United Kingdom. In modern Britain, an earl is a member of the Peerages in the United Kingdom, peerage, ranking below a marquess and above a viscount. A feminine form of ''earl'' never developed; instead, ...

. In September 1683, she was issued an

annuity In investment, an annuity is a series of payments made at equal intervals based on a contract with a lump sum of money. Insurance companies are common annuity providers and are used by clients for things like retirement or death benefits. Examples ...

of £1500 (roughly ), and five months later, on 21 February, her precedence was heightened to that of a daughter of a

Duke Duke is a male title either of a monarch ruling over a duchy, or of a member of Royal family, royalty, or nobility. As rulers, dukes are ranked below emperors, kings, grand princes, grand dukes, and above sovereign princes. As royalty or nobi ...

Marriages and children

On 18 August 1687, Lady Mary married Edward Radclyffe, 2nd Earl of Derwentwater (9 December 1655 – 29 April 1705) by whom she had four children:Profile
thepeerage.com; accessed 25 July 2017. *

James Radclyffe, 3rd Earl of Derwentwater James Radclyffe, 3rd Earl of Derwentwater (26 June 1689 – 24 February 1716) was an English peer who participated in the Jacobite rising of 1715 and was executed for treason. Life Radclyffe was the son of Edward Radclyffe, 2nd Earl of Derwen ...

(1689–1716) * Lady Mary Tudor Radclyffe * Charles Radclyffe (3 September 1693 – 8 December 1746) * Hon. Francis Radclyffe Mary formally separated from Lord Derwentwater on 6 February 1700, it could be due to her unwillingness to convert to

Roman Catholicism The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...

or because she was unfaithful. On 23 May 1705, shortly after Lord Derwentwater's death, she married secondly, to Henry Graham. Graham died on 7 January 1707. A few months later, on 26 August, Lady Mary married Major James Rooke. By whom she had one daughter * Margaret Frances Disney Rooke (ca. 1708-1766), married a William Sheldon and had issue.

Death

Lady Mary died in

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

on 5 November 1726, aged 53.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Tudor, Mary, Lady 1673 births 1726 deaths 17th-century English people 18th-century English actresses 17th-century Scottish people 18th-century Scottish actresses 17th-century English women Mary Illegitimate children of Charles II of England British emigrants to France

Derwentwater Derwentwater, or Derwent Water, is a lake in the Lake District in North West England, immediately south of Keswick, Cumbria, Keswick. It is in the unitary authority of Cumberland (unitary authority), Cumberland within the ceremonial county of ...

Daughters of kings