Lady Barbara FitzRoy

Lady Barbara FitzRoy (16 July 1672 [From John Heneage Jesse's "Memoirs of the Court of England During the Reign of the Stuarts", 1855, page 171.] – May 6 1737) was the youngest daughter of the 1st Duchess of Cleveland, a mistress of Charles II of England. Although the King publicly acknowledged her as his child, he was probably not the father.

Biography

Paternity

Her mother insisted that she was a daughter of the King, but Barbara was probably fathered by either John Churchill, later Duke of Marlborough, a second cousin of her mother's, or by Lord Chesterfield, whom she is said to have resembled in her features. Boyer says of Barbara: "I do not find the King ever owned her for his daughter; but a great man now living is her reputed father. [...] It is generally believ'd that Mr. Churchill, afterwards Duke of Marlborough, was her father."

Finally, it may be remarked that the Duchess's husband, Lord Castlemaine, believed her to be his daughter, and bequeathed her his estate. [From John Heneage Jesse's "Memoirs of the Court of England During the Reign of the Stuarts", 1855, page 171-172.] Charles, however, always insisted on acknowledging her as his child, while disavowing her in private.

Disgrace

In March 1691, 18-year-old Barbara gave birth to an illegitimate son of the Earl of Arran, whom she named Charles Hamilton (1691-1754). Arran's parents bitterly opposed his relationship with Barbara. That same year, 1691, she entered the English nunnery, the Priory of St. Nicholas, at Pontoise in Normandy, France as Sister Benedicta, and became Prioress in 1721. Her bastard son Charles was raised by her mother, the Duchess of Cleveland.

An autograph of the Prioress is as follows:

"Mon nom du monde est Barbe Fitz Roy est en Religion Benedite fille Du Roy De La grande Bretagne Charles 2dc j'ay fait profession dans Le Couuent des Benedictines Angloiscs De Pontoise L'annee 1691 Le 2* D'auril c'est maison est mittige." [From G. Steinman Steinman's "A Memoir of Barbara, Duchess of Cleveland", 1871, page 236.]

Roughly translated as:

My name of the world is Barbe Fitz Roy in Religion it's Benedite daughter Of King of Great Britain Charles 2nd I make profession at English Convent of Benedictines of Pontoise the year 1691 the 2nd of April that is the cause of my mitigation(?).

The Lady Barbara Fitzroy died May 6, 1737, and lies buried in the church of the Priory of St. Nicholas at Pontoise, Normandy.

References

External links

* [http://www.thepeerage.com/p10504.htm#i105033 thepeerage.com]