LA BELLE ASSEMBLÉE, FOR JUNE, 1826. ILLUSTRATIVE MEMOIR OF THE MOST NOBLE FRANCES ANNE, MARCHIONESS OF LONDONDERRY. THIS illustrious lady, whose portrait, from the exquisite pencil of Sir Thomas Lawrence, is here presented, is a descendant from two ancient families: her father was the late Sir Henry Vane Tempest, Bart.; her mother is Countess of Antrim in her own right. Her Ladyship was born on the 16th of January, 1800; and, on the 3d of April, 1819, she was married to the Most Noble Charles William Vane Stewart, Marquess and Earl of Londonderry, in Ireland; Earl Vane, Viscount Seaham, and Baron Stewart, of the United Kingdom; a Lieutenant-General in the army, and Colonel of the 10th Dragoons; a Lord of the Bedchamber; Governor and Custos Rotulorum of the Counties of Londonderry and Down; late Ambassador at Vienna; G.C.B., G.C.H., K.T.S., K.S.G., K.R.E., K.B.E., K.S., &c. In our Illustrative Memoir of the Right Honourable the Countess of Jersey,* it has been shewn that Howel ap Vane, of Monmouthshire, living before the time of William the Conqueror,, was the common ancestor of the Earls of Westmorland and of Darlington. From the same stock as the latter family, the Marchioness of Londonderry has the honour of being descended. • Vide page 93. No. 19.-Vol. IV. Sir Henry Fane, of Raby Castle, in the county of Durham, knighted by James I., in the year 1611, assumed the ancient name of his ancestors, writing himself Vane; an orthography which has been ever since continued by his posterity. This gentleman held many important offices, and was employed on several important embassies, in the reigns of James I. and Charles I. Appearing, however, in the prosecution of the Earl of Strafford, his Majesty (Charles I.) was so offended, that he removed him from his places of Treasurer of his Household, and Secretary of State, though, in the patent granting to him the latter office, he was to hold it during life. He afterwards appears to have espoused the cause of the Parliament, but without accepting any employment or commission. He and his sons, however, most strenuously opposed the murder of the King. Sir Henry Vane died at his seat at Raby Castle, in the year 1654. He had married Frances, daughter and coheir of Thomas Darcy, of the county of Essex, Esq., by whom he had four sons and five daughters. Of the sons, the first and second died in infancy; the third, Henry, was his heir and successor; the fourth, George, was ancestor of the Marchioness of Londonderry. This Henry, ancestor of the Earl of Dar B This gentleman, born in the year 1620,|| of Durham, he married Elizabeth, daughter was knighted at Whitehall, in 1640. Seat- and sole heir of Sir Lionel Maddison, ed at Long Newton, in the County Palatine Knight, of Rogerly, in that county, by whom he had issue lington and Viscount Vane, was knighted in the year 1640. He is described by Lord Claren don, in his History of the Rebellion, as of great natural parts, and a quick conception, and very ready, sharp, and weighty expression." It was to him that Milton addressed his celebrated sonnet, commencing Vane, young in years, but in sage counsel, old." Lord Clarendon farther observes:-" that, within a very short time after he returned from his studies in Magdalen College, in Oxford, where, though he was under the care of a very worthy tutor, he lived not with great exactness, he spent some little time in France, and more in Geneva; and, after his return into England, contracted a full prejudice and bitterness against the church, both against the form of the government, and against the liturgy. On this giddiness, which then much displeased his father, who still appeared highly conformable, and exceeding sharp against those who were not, he transported himself [in 1635] into New England. He was no sooner landed there, but his parts made him quickly taken notice of, and very probably his quality, being the eldest son of a Privy Counsellor, might give him some advantage; insomuch, that when the next season came for the election of their magistrates, he was chosen their Governor; in which place he had not the fortune to please them long; and he being unsatisfied with them, and they with him, he thereupon returned to England. When, being reformed from his extravagancies, he, with his father's approbation and direction, married a lady of a good family; and, by his father's credit with the Earl of Northumberland, who was High Admiral of England, was joined with Sir William Russell, in the office of Treasurer of the Navy (a place of great trust and profit), which he equally shared with the other (and surviving him, had it solely), and seemed well satisfied, and composed to the government." | ment was effected, and a fixed salary has been ever since attached to the office. Hostile to all tyrannical governments, he incurred the hatred of Cromwell; who, in 1653, when he turned out the Speaker and the members from the House of Commons, ordering them to give place to honester men, seized him by the cloak, exclaiming—" Thou art a juggling fellow!" On the restoration of Charles II. he was considered as a dangerous person; and, having been tried upon a charge of high treason, he was found guilty, sentenced to death, and beheaded on Tower Hill, on the 14th of June, 1662. Sir Christopher, his eldest surviving son, by Frances, daughter of Sir Christopher Wray, of Ashby, in the county of Lincoln, Bart., appears to have been in some measure compensated for the sufferings of his father. He was knighted by Charles II.; sworn of the Privy Council to James II.; and created (July 8, 1699) Lord Barnard, of Barnard Castle, in the Bishopric of Durham. He was a man of excellent understanding, but of retired habits-a great economist, a most exact mana He, as well as his father, acted a distin-ger of his private affairs; "yet, on special guishing part in the civil wars. When Treasurer of the Navy, he set a rare example of honour and integrity. The fees of his office amounted, at the rate of fourpence in the pound, to nearly £30,000 per annum. Regarding this as too much for a private subject,|| he generously gave up his patent (granted for life by Charles I.) to the Parliament, desiring only £2,000 per annum, for an agent, and the remainder to go to the public. This arrange occasions, he shewed instances of a very gene-' rous liberality, to a degree uncommon, and, in a word, as much concealed from the world as possible."-His Lordship rebuilt "the decayed church of Shipborn [in Kent] in a very regular, beautiful, and sumptuous manner, a work which will, as a precious ornament, embalm his memory to after ages."-Vide Funeral Sermon, preached at the church of Wrotham, in Kent, by the Rev. Thomas Curteis. Sir Henry, of Winyard, in the county of Durham. He married, on the 28th of April, 1799, the Right Honourable Anne Catherine Mac Donnell, Countess of Antrim, Viscountess Dunluce.* This lady, born on the 11th of February, 1778, had succeeded her father, Randal William, the late Marquess, in the Earldom and Viscounty (the Marquisate having become extinct on his death) in the year 1791.+ The offspring of this marriage was an only daughter, Frances Anne, now Marchioness of Londonderry. George, the second son, married Anne, Court, where he erected the Castle of daughter of William Machon, of Durham,|| Ballylawn) took an active part in the tranand was father of the late Rev. Sir Henry sactions in the North, to prevent the subVane, D.D., Prebendary of Durham, who version of the Constitution, which James was created a Baronet on the 3d of August,|| II. and his Chief Governor, Lord Tyrcon1782. He married Frances, daughter and nel, were attempting to effect: he raised a heiress of John Tempest, Esq., whose name troop of horse at his own expense when he took. He died in 1794. By that lady the city of Londonderry was invested, and he had a son and successor, did essential service to the Protestant interest in that part, by protecting those who were well affected to King William III., and was appointed Lieutenant-Colonel in the regiment commanded by Sir William Stewart, Viscount Mountjoy: he married the daughter of Sir William Stewart, of Fort Stewart, in the county of Donegal, grandson of Sir William Stewart, Bart., Privy Councillor to James I., whose descendant, Sir William Stewart, Bart., was created Baron of Ramalton and Viscount Mountjoy, 19th March 1682." His eldest son and heir, Thomas, who succeeded him at Ballylawn Castle, served as a Captain in Lord Mountjoy's regiment. He married Mary, second daughter of Bernard Ward, Esq. (ancestor of the Viscounts Bangor) by Mary, sister of Michael Ward, Bishop of Derry. Dying without issue, in 1740, he was succeeded by his only brother, Alexander, who represented the city of Londonderry in Parliament, and purchased the estate of Mount Stuart, in the county of Down, from the Colville family. He married his cousin, Mary, only daughter of John Cowan, of Londonderry, Esq. (by Anne Stewart, second daughter of Alexander Stewart, of Ballylawn Castle, Esq.) and sister and sole heiress of Robert Cowan, Governor of Bombay. By that lady, who survived him seven years, and died in 1788, he had issue The branch of the noble house of Stewart, to which the Marquess of Londonderry belongs, claims its descent from Sir Thomas Stewart, of Minto, second son of Sir William Stewart, of Garlies, ancestor to the Earl of Galloway. "William Stewart, of Ballylawn Castle, in the county of Donegal, Esq. (great grandson of John Stewart, Esq., who had a grant from Charles I. of the manor of Stewart's • Randal Mac Donnell, of Dunluce, descended from the Macdonalds, Lords of the Isles, was created Earl of Antrim, in the year 1620. Randal William, the sixth Earl, born in 1749, obtained a new patent for the earldom, in the year 1785, with remainder to his female issue, and their issue male. He was subsequently (1789) created Marquess of Antrim. He married, July 3, 1774, Letitia Morres, eldest daughter of Hervey, first Viscount 1. Robert, first Marquess of Londonderry; Mountmorres, and relict of the Hon. Arthur-2. William, died in 1742;-3. John, died in Trevor, only son of Arthur, Viscount Dungannon. By that lady, who died in 1801, he had issue:-1. Anne Catherine, the present Countess; -2. Letitia Mary, twin with her sister; -3. Charlotte, born in 1779, married Lord Mark Robert Kerr, second son of William, fifth Marquess of Lothian. 1762;-4. Alexander, married, in 1791, Mary Moore, third daughter of Charles, Marquess of Drogheda, by Anne, eldest daughter of Francis Seymour, first Marquess of Hertford ;-5. Anne, died in 1781;-6. Francis ;-7. Mary, died young. Robert, the eldest, was created Baron Stewart, in the year 1789; Viscount Castlereagh, in 1795; Earl of Londonderry, in 1796; and Marquess of Londonderry in 1816. He married, first, in 1766, Sarah Frances Seymour, second daughter of |