Biography of Isabella Bennet Duchess Grafton 1668-1723

In March 1655 [her father] Henry Bennet 1st Earl Arlington [aged 37] and [her mother] Elisabeth Nassau Beverweert Countess Arlington [aged 21] were married.

Around 1668 Isabella Bennet Duchess Grafton was born to [her father] Henry Bennet 1st Earl Arlington [aged 50] and [her mother] Elisabeth Nassau Beverweert Countess Arlington [aged 34].

On 22nd April 1672 [her father] Henry Bennet 1st Earl Arlington [aged 54] was created 1st Earl Arlington, 1st Viscount Thetford and 1st Baron Arlington of Arlington in Middlesex with a similar remainder, and in default of heirs of his body, to his brother [her uncle] Sir John Bennet [aged 55] and the heirs male of his body. [her mother] Elisabeth Nassau Beverweert Countess Arlington [aged 38] by marriage Countess Arlington. See Viscountcies of England Created with a Special Remainder.

On 1st August 1672 Henry Fitzroy 1st Duke Grafton [aged 8] and Isabella Bennet Duchess Grafton [aged 4] were married. She the daughter of Henry Bennet 1st Earl Arlington [aged 54] and Elisabeth Nassau Beverweert Countess Arlington [aged 38]. He the illegitmate son of King Charles II of England Scotland and Ireland [aged 42] and Barbara Villiers 1st Duchess of Cleveland [aged 31]. They were half sixth cousins.

He was created 1st Earl Euston, 1st Viscount Ipswich, 1st Baron Sudbury. Isabella Bennet Duchess Grafton by marriage Countess Euston.

John Evelyn's Diary. 1st August 1672. I was at the betrothal of [her father] Lord Arlington's [aged 54] only daughter [aged 4] (a sweet child if ever there was any to the [her husband] Duke of Grafton [aged 8], the [her father-in-law] King's [aged 42] natural son by the [her mother-in-law] Duchess of Cleveland [aged 31]; the Archbishop of Canterbury [aged 74] officiating, the King and the grandees being present. I had a favour given me by my Lady; but took no great joy at the thing for many reasons.

Before 1673 William Paston 2nd Earl of Yarmouth [aged 18] and [her illegitimate sister-in-law] Charlotte Jemima Henrietta Maria Fitzroy Countess Yarmouth [aged 22] were married. She by marriage Countess of Yarmouth. She the illegitmate daughter of [her father-in-law] King Charles II of England Scotland and Ireland [aged 42] and Elizabeth Killigrew Viscountess Shannon [aged 50]. He the son of Robert Paston 1st Earl of Yarmouth [aged 41] and Rebecca Clayton Countess Yarmouth [aged 37].

In 1674 Edward Lee 1st Earl Lichfield [aged 10] was created 1st Earl Lichfield as a consequence of his being betrothed to [her illegitimate sister-in-law] Charlotte Fitzroy Countess Lichfield [aged 9], a natural daughter of [her father-in-law] King Charles II of England Scotland and Ireland [aged 43].

On 16th May 1674 Thomas Lennard 1st Earl of Sussex [aged 20] and [her illegitimate sister-in-law] Anne Fitzroy Countess Sussex [aged 13] were married at Hampton Court Palace, Richmond [Map]. She the illegitmate daughter of [her father-in-law] King Charles II of England Scotland and Ireland [aged 43] and [her mother-in-law] Barbara Villiers 1st Duchess of Cleveland [aged 33]. They were first cousin once removed.

On 1st October 1674 [her illegitimate brother-in-law] George Fitzroy 1st Duke Northumberland [aged 8] was created 1st Earl of Northumberland, 1st Viscount Falmouth, 1st Baron Pontefract by [her father-in-law] King Charles II of England Scotland and Ireland [aged 44].

On 5th October 1674 Thomas Lennard 1st Earl of Sussex [aged 20] was created 1st Earl of Sussex. [her illegitimate sister-in-law] Anne Fitzroy Countess Sussex [aged 13] by marriage Countess of Sussex.

On 28th July 1675 [her illegitimate brother-in-law] Charles "Don Carlo" Fitzcharles 1st Earl Plymouth [aged 18] was created 1st Earl Plymouth, 1st Viscount Totnes, 1st Baron Dartmouth.

On 9th August 1675 [her illegitimate brother-in-law] Charles Lennox 1st Duke Richmond [aged 3] was created 1st Duke Richmond, 1st Earl March, 1st Baron Settrington by [her father-in-law] King Charles II of England Scotland and Ireland [aged 45].

On 11th September 1675 [her husband] Henry Fitzroy 1st Duke Grafton [aged 11] was created 1st Duke Grafton by [her father-in-law] King Charles II of England Scotland and Ireland [aged 45]. Isabella Bennet Duchess Grafton [aged 7] by marriage Duchess Grafton.

On 21st December 1676 [her illegitimate brother-in-law] Charles Beauclerk 1st Duke St Albans [aged 6] was created 1st Earl Burford, 1st Baron Heddington by [her father-in-law] King Charles II of England Scotland and Ireland [aged 46].

On 6th February 1677 Edward Lee 1st Earl Lichfield [aged 14] and [her illegitimate sister-in-law] Charlotte Fitzroy Countess Lichfield [aged 12] were married. She by marriage Countess Lichfield. She the illegitmate daughter of [her father-in-law] King Charles II of England Scotland and Ireland [aged 46] and [her mother-in-law] Barbara Villiers 1st Duchess of Cleveland [aged 36]. He the son of Francis Lee 4th Baronet and Elizabeth Pope Countess Lindsey. They were third cousins.

On 19th September 1678 [her illegitimate brother-in-law] Charles "Don Carlo" Fitzcharles 1st Earl Plymouth [aged 21] and Bridget Osborne Countess Plymouth were married in Wimbledon, Surrey. She by marriage Countess Plymouth. She the daughter of Thomas Osborne 1st Duke Leeds [aged 46] and Bridget Bertie Duchess Leeds [aged 49]. He the illegitmate son of [her father-in-law] King Charles II of England Scotland and Ireland [aged 48] and Catherine Pegge [aged 43].

In 1679 [her illegitimate brother-in-law] Charles Fitzroy 1st Duke Southampton 2nd Duke Cleveland [aged 16] and Mary Wood Duchess Southampton [aged 16] were married. She by marriage Duchess Southampton. He the illegitmate son of [her father-in-law] King Charles II of England Scotland and Ireland [aged 48] and [her mother-in-law] Barbara Villiers 1st Duchess of Cleveland [aged 38].

John Evelyn's Diary. 8th August 1679. I went this morning to show my [her father] Lord Chamberlain [aged 61], his [her mother] Lady [aged 45], and the Duchess of Grafton [aged 11], the incomparable work of Mr. Gibbon [aged 31], the carver, whom I first recommended to his [her father-in-law] Majesty [aged 49], his house being furnished like a cabinet, not only with his own work, but divers excellent paintings of the best hands. Thence, to Sir Stephen Fox's [aged 52], where we spent the day.

John Evelyn's Diary. 6th November 1679. Dined at the Countess of Sunderland's [aged 33], and was this evening at the remarriage of the Duchess of Grafton [aged 11] to the [her husband] Duke [aged 16] his [her father-in-law] Majesty's [aged 49] natural son), she being now twelve years old. The ceremony was performed in my Lord Chamberlain's [aged 61] (her father's) lodgings at Whitehall by the Bishop of Rochester [aged 54], his Majesty being present. A sudden and unexpected thing, when everybody believed the first marriage would have come to nothing; but, the measure being determined, I was privately invited by my Lady [aged 45], her mother, to be present. I confess I could give her little joy, and so I plainly told her, but she said the King would have it so, and there was no going back. This sweetest, most hopeful, most beautiful, child, and most virtuous, too, was sacrificed to a boy that had been rudely bred, without anything to encourage them but his Majesty's pleasure. I pray God the sweet child find it to her advantage, who, if my augury deceive me not, will in a few years be such a paragon as were fit to make the wife of the greatest Prince in Europe! I staid supper, where his Majesty sat between the Duchess of Cleveland [aged 38] (the mother of the Duke of Grafton) and the sweet Duchess the bride; there were several great persons and ladies, without pomp. My love to my Lord Arlington's family, and the sweet child made me behold all this with regret, though as the Duke of Grafton affects the sea, to which I find his father intends to use him, he may emerge a plain, useful and robust officer: and were he polished, a tolerable person; for he is exceedingly handsome, by far surpassing any of the King's other natural issue.

On 6th April 1683 [her illegitimate brother-in-law] George Fitzroy 1st Duke Northumberland [aged 17] was created 1st Duke Northumberland by [her father-in-law] King Charles II of England Scotland and Ireland [aged 52].

John Evelyn's Diary. 18th September 1683. I went to London to visit the Duchess of Grafton [aged 15], now great with child, a most virtuous and beautiful lady. Dining with her at my Lord Chamberlain's, met my Lord of St. Alban's [aged 78], now grown so blind, that he could not see to take his meat. He has lived a most easy life, in plenty even abroad, while his [her father-in-law] Majesty [aged 53] was a sufferer; he has lost immense sums at play, which yet, at about eighty years old, he continues, having one that sits by him to name the spots on the cards. He ate and drank with extraordinary appetite. He is a prudent old courtier, and much enriched since his Majesty's return.

John Evelyn's Diary. 10th October 1683. Visited the Duchess of Grafton [aged 15], not yet brought to bed, and dining with my Lord Chamberlain (her father) [aged 65], went with them to see Montague House, a palace lately built by Lord Montague [aged 44], who had married the most beautiful Countess of Northumberland [aged 29]. It is a stately and ample palace. Signor Verrio's [aged 47] fresco paintings, especially the funeral pile of Dido, on the staircase, the labors of Hercules, fight with the Centaurs, his effeminacy with Dejanira, and Apotheosis or reception among the gods, on the walls and roof of the great room above,-I think exceeds anything he has yet done, both for design, coloring, and exuberance of invention, comparable to the greatest of the old masters, or what they so celebrate at Rome. In the rest of the chamber are some excellent paintings of Holbein, and other masters. The garden is large, and in good air, but the fronts of the house not answerable to the inside. The court at entry, and wings for offices seem too near the street, and that so very narrow and meanly built, that the corridor is not in proportion to the rest, to hide the court from being overlooked by neighbours; all which might have been prevented, had they placed the house further into the ground, of which there was enough to spare. But on the whole it is a fine palace, built after the French pavilion-way, by Mr. Hooke, the Curator of the Royal Society. There were with us my Lady Scroope, the great wit, and Monsieur Chardine [aged 39], the celebrated traveler.

On 25th October 1683 [her son] Charles Fitzroy 2nd Duke Grafton was born to [her husband] Henry Fitzroy 1st Duke Grafton [aged 20] and Isabella Bennet Duchess Grafton [aged 15]. He a grandson of King Charles II of England Scotland and Ireland. He married 30th April 1713 his half fifth cousin once removed Henrietta Somerset Duchess Grafton and had issue.

John Evelyn's Diary. 26th November 1683. I went to compliment the Duchess of Grafton [aged 15], now lying-in of her first child, a son, which she called for, that I might see it. She was become more beautiful, if it were possible, than before, and full of virtue and sweetness. She discoursed with me of many particulars, with great prudence and gravity beyond her years.

In 1684 [her illegitimate sister-in-law] Charlotte Jemima Henrietta Maria Fitzroy Countess Yarmouth [aged 34] died.

On 5th January 1684 [her illegitimate brother-in-law] Charles Beauclerk 1st Duke St Albans [aged 13] was created 1st Duke St Albans by [her father-in-law] King Charles II of England Scotland and Ireland [aged 53].

On 28th July 1685 [her father] Henry Bennet 1st Earl Arlington [aged 67] died. His daughter Isabella [aged 17] succeeded 2nd Countess Arlington, 2nd Viscountess Thetford, 2nd Baroness Arlington of Arlington in Middlesex and 2nd Baroness Arlington of Arlington in Middlesex.

In 1686 John Talbot [aged 21] was killed in a duel by [her husband] Henry Fitzroy 1st Duke Grafton [aged 22].

In 1686 Willem Wissing [aged 30]. Portrait of Isabella Bennet Duchess Grafton [aged 18].

In March 1686 [her illegitimate brother-in-law] George Fitzroy 1st Duke Northumberland [aged 20] and Catherine Wheatley were married. Soon after the marriage Northumberland and his brother, [her husband] Henry FitzRoy, 1st Duke of Grafton [aged 22], allegedly attempted to privately convey her abroad to an English convent in Ghent [Map], Belgium. He the illegitmate son of [her father-in-law] King Charles II of England Scotland and Ireland and [her mother-in-law] Barbara Villiers 1st Duchess of Cleveland [aged 45].

John Evelyn's Diary. 11th June 1693. I dined at Sir William Godolphin's [aged 53]; and, after evening prayer, visited the Duchess of Grafton [aged 25].

John Evelyn's Diary. 3rd December 1693. Mr. Bentley preached at the Tabernacle, near Golden Square. I gave my voice for him to proceed on his former subject the following year in Mr. Boyle's lecture, in which he had been interrupted by the importunity of Sir J. Rotheram that the Bishop of Chichester [aged 59] might be chosen the year before, to the great dissatisfaction of the Bishop of Lincoln [aged 57] and myself. We chose Mr. Bentley again. The Duchess of Grafton's [aged 25] appeal to the House of Lords for the Prothonotary's place given to the late [her former husband] Duke and to her son by King Charles II, now challenged by the Lord Chief Justice. The judges were severely reproved on something they said.

On 5th July 1695 Henry North 2nd Baronet [aged 60] died unmarried. Baronet North of Mildenhall in Suffolk extinct. His nephew [her future husband] Thomas Hanmer 4th Baronet [aged 17], son of his sister Peregrina North, inherited his estates.

In 1698 Thomas Hanmer 4th Baronet [aged 20] and Isabella Bennet Duchess Grafton [aged 30] were married. She by marriage Lady Hamner of Hamner in Flintshire. She the daughter of Henry Bennet 1st Earl Arlington and Elisabeth Nassau Beverweert Countess Arlington [aged 64].

Around 1700 Godfrey Kneller [aged 53]. Portrait of Isabella Bennet Duchess Grafton [aged 32]. One of the Hampton Court Beauties.

In August 1701 John Hamner 3rd Baronet [aged 69] was killed in a duel (probably). His nephew [her husband] Thomas [aged 23] succeeded 4th Baronet Hamner of Hamner in Flintshire. Isabella Bennet Duchess Grafton [aged 33] by marriage Lady Hamner of Hamner in Flintshire.

On 30th April 1713 Charles Fitzroy 2nd Duke Grafton [aged 29] and Henrietta Somerset Duchess Grafton [aged 22] were married. She by marriage Duchess Grafton. He the son of Henry Fitzroy 1st Duke Grafton and Isabella Bennet Duchess Grafton [aged 45]. They were half fifth cousin once removed. He a grandson of King Charles II of England Scotland and Ireland.

On 18th January 1718 [her mother] Elisabeth Nassau Beverweert Countess Arlington [aged 84] died.

On 7th February 1723 Isabella Bennet Duchess Grafton [aged 55] died. Her son Charles [aged 39] succeeded 3rd Earl Arlington, 3rd Viscount Thetford, 3rd Baron Arlington of Arlington in Middlesex and 3rd Baron Arlington of Arlington in Middlesex.

In 1725 [her former husband] Thomas Hanmer 4th Baronet [aged 47] and Elizabeth Folkes Lady Hamner [aged 25] were married. She by marriage Lady Hamner of Hamner in Flintshire. The difference in their ages was 22 years.

On 7th May 1746 [her former husband] Thomas Hanmer 4th Baronet [aged 68] died. Baronet Hamner of Hamner in Flintshire extinct.