User:Ruby2010/Susan Fox-Strangways
 | This user page or section is undergoing significant expansion or restructuring. You are welcome to assist in its construction by editing it as well. If this user page has not been edited in several days, please remove this template. If you are actively editing this article or section, you can replace this template with {{in use|5 minutes}}.
This page was last edited by Ruby2010 (talk | contribs) 5 days ago. (Update timer) |
Ruby2010/Susan Fox-Strangways | |
|---|---|
 Portrait of Lady Susan Fox-Strangways (1742-1827) | |
| Born | Lady Susannah Sarah Louisa Fox-Strangways 1 February 1742 |
| Died | 9 August 1827 (aged 85) |
Resting place | St. Michael's, Stinsford, Dorset, England |
| Spouse | William O'Brien (m. 1764) |
| Parent(s) | Stephen Fox-Strangways, 1st Earl of Ilchester, Elizabeth Fox, Countess of Ilchester |
| Relatives | Henry Fox-Strangways, 2nd Earl of Ilchester (brother) Lady Christian Henrietta Carolina Fox-Strangways (sister) Henry Fox, 1st Baron Holland (uncle) Charles James Fox (cousin) |
Lady Susan O'Brien (née Susannah Sarah Louisa Fox-Strangways; 1 February 1742 – 9 August 1827) was a British aristocrat of the Fox-Strangways family. Her marriage to the Irish actor and playwright William O'Brien caused a public scandal.
Early life
Fox-Strangways was born in 1742. She was the eldest child of her parents Stephen Fox-Strangways, 1st Earl of Ilchester and Elizabeth Fox, Countess of Ilchester (née Horner). Fox-Strangways was the childhood object of affection of her first cousin and future Whig statesman Charles James Fox (1749–1806), who in 1760 when a schoolboy at Eton College, composed a prize-winning Latin verse describing a pigeon he found to deliver his love-letters to her "to please both Venus its mistress and him".[1] The scenario was captured in a painting by Joshua Reynolds which is held in the National Trust collection at Mount Stewart, County Down.
In her teenage years, Fox-Strangways was a popular socialite in London. She was close friends with Lady Sarah Lennox,[2] whose elder sister Caroline Fox, 1st Baroness Holland had eloped with Fox-Strangways uncle Henry Fox, 1st Baron Holland.
Marriage
Fox-Strangways met Irish actor William O'Brien, of David Garrick’s Drury Lane Theatre, in late 1760 to early 1761 when he was employed as a salaried elocution teacher at Holland House.[3] He was described as "impossibly handsome."[4] They exchanged poems as tokens of affection from late 1762 and Susan later admitted she initiated the letter correspondence with William.
Her family was outraged after they found out about her love affair with William, because the social standing of an actor was far below the standing of the family, and was considered "social suicide" for a lady to enter into a relationship with an actor at the time. It was considered a disgrace to the family, as the relationship would not only damage her own marriage prospects but also that of her sisters. Though her family tried to stop the relationship, they were unsuccessful as on 7 April 1764, Fox-Strangways and O'Brien eloped[5] and married at St Pauls, Covent Garden.
When her family and relations found out about the secret marriage, her father was determined to cut all communications and her mother unhappily forgave her, but her sisters continued to stay in contact.[6] The writer and politician Horace Walpole commented of the match "even a footman were preferable — the publicity of the hero's profession perpetuates the mortification".[7]
O'Brien refused to give up his acting career as it was his only source of income, so Fox-Strangways and O'Brien agreed to escape to America, where they settled in New York for 6 years. However, the two struggled to find a source of income to sustain their standard of living in America, even with Lord Holland's allowance of £400 a year, as O'Brien was said to have "expensive taste". In 1770, they returned home to England against the wishes of Fox-Strangways' family. The two lived in various homes belonging to her family.[8]
Death
Fox-Strangways worked on the design and words of her husband's memorial after his death in 1815.[8]
She died in 1827 and was buried with her husband at the church of St. Michael's at Stinsford.
Notes
References
- ^ Lascelles, Edward Charles Ponsonby (1936) The Life of Charles James Fox. London. p. 19.
- ^ Tillyard 1994, p. ?.
- ^ Cordner, Michael; Holland, Peter (24 November 2007). Players, Playwrights, Playhouses: Investigating Performance, 1660–1800. Springer. p. 177. ISBN 978-0-230-28719-8.
- ^ Bermingham, Ann; Brewer, John (1995). The Consumption of Culture, 1600-1800: Image, Object, Text. Psychology Press. p. 347. ISBN 978-0-415-15997-5.
- ^ Malcomson, A. P. W. (2006). The Pursuit of the Heiress: Aristocratic Marriage in Ireland 1740-1840. Ulster Historical Foundation. p. 118. ISBN 978-1-903688-65-6.
- ^ Martin 2004, pp. 39–41.
- ^ Lascelles (1936). p. 19.
- ^ a b Rands 2014, p. ?.
- Works cited
- Books and journals
- Life, Page (2004). "O'Brien, William (1738?–1815), actor and playwright". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (online ed.). Oxford University Press. doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/20470. (Subscription, Wikipedia Library access or UK public library membership required.)
- Loxton, Alice (2024). Uproar! Satire, Scandal & Printmakers in Georgian London. Icon Books Ltd. ISBN 978-178578-955-7.
- Martin, Joanna (2004). Wives and Daughters: Women and Children in the Georgian Country House. Bloomsbury Academic. ISBN 978-1852852719.
- Rands, Susan (2014). "Publicity Perpetuates the Mortification': The Marriage of William O'Brien and Lady Susan Fox-Strangways". Studies in Theatre and Performance. 21 (1): 52–56.
- Tillyard, Stella (1994). Aristocrats: Caroline, Emily, Louisa, and Sarah Lennox, 1740–1826. Chatto & Windus. ISBN 978-0374524470.
- Newspapers and web sources
Further reading
- Gould, Tony (2018). Lady Susan's Unsuitable Marriage: Pride & Privation in Georgian England. Dovecote Press. ISBN 978-0-9955462-5-7.
Content Disclaimer
Informasi ini disarikan dari Wikipedia dan disajikan kembali untuk tujuan edukasi. Konten tersedia di bawah lisensi CC BY-SA 3.0. Kami tidak bertanggung jawab atas ketidakakuratan data yang bersumber dari kontribusi publik tersebut.
- The information displayed on this website is sourced in part or in whole from Wikipedia and has been adapted for the purpose of restating it. We strive to provide accurate and relevant information, however:
- There is no guarantee of absolute accuracy. Wikipedia is an open, collaborative project that can be edited by anyone, so information is subject to change.
- It is not intended to constitute professional advice. The content displayed is for informational and educational purposes only. For important decisions (e.g., medical, legal, or financial), please consult a professional.
- Content copyright. Wikipedia is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License (CC BY-SA). This means that content may be reused with appropriate attribution and shared under a similar license.
- Responsible use. Any risk arising from the use of information from this website is entirely the responsibility of the user.