Frances Waldegrave

Who was Frances Waldegrave?

Frances Elizabeth Anne Waldegrave, Countess Waldegrave, was the daughter of John Braham, the singer.

Frances was born in London on 4 January 1821. She married, on 25 May 1839, John James Waldegrave of Navestock, Essex, who died in the same year. She married secondly, on 28 Sept. 1840, George Edward, seventh earl Waldegrave. After the marriage her husband was sentenced to six months' imprisonment for assault. During his detention she lived with him in the queen's bench prison, and on his release they retired into the country. On the death of Lord Waldegrave on 28 Sept. 1846, she found herself possessed of the whole of the Waldegrave estates, but with little knowledge of the world to guide her conduct. In this position she entered for a third time into matrimony, marrying on 30 Sept. 1847 George Granville Harcourt of Nuneham and Stanton Harcourt, Oxfordshire. Her third husband, who was a widower and her senior by thirty-six years, was eldest son of Edward Harcourt, archbishop of York, and a follower of Peel, whom he supported in parliament as member for Oxfordshire.