Biography of Rachael Fane Countess Bath and Middlesex 1613-1680

On 15th February 1598 [her father] Francis Fane 1st Earl of Westmoreland (age 18) and [her mother] Mary Mildmay Countess of Westmoreland (age 16) were married.

On or before 28th January 1613 Rachael Fane Countess Bath and Middlesex was born to [her father] Francis Fane 1st Earl of Westmoreland (age 32) and [her mother] Mary Mildmay Countess of Westmoreland (age 31) at Mereworth Castle. She was baptised at Mereworth on 28th January 1613.

On 29th December 1624 [her father] Francis Fane 1st Earl of Westmoreland (age 44) was created 1st Earl of Westmoreland, 1st Baron Burghesh in Suffolk. [her mother] Mary Mildmay Countess of Westmoreland (age 42) by marriage Countess of Westmoreland.

After 18th May 1625 [her brother-in-law] Dutton Gerard 3rd Baron Gerard (age 12) and [her sister] Mary Fane Baroness Gerard (age 19) were married. She by marriage Baroness Gerard of Gerard's Bromley. She the daughter of [her father] Francis Fane 1st Earl of Westmoreland (age 45) and [her mother] Mary Mildmay Countess of Westmoreland (age 43).

In 1626 [her brother-in-law] James Home 2nd Earl of Home (age 19) and [her sister] Grace Fane Countess Home were married. She by marriage Countess of Home. She the daughter of [her father] Francis Fane 1st Earl of Westmoreland (age 45) and [her mother] Mary Mildmay Countess of Westmoreland (age 44). He the son of Alexander Home 1st Earl of Home and Mary Dudley Countess Home (age 40). They were sixth cousins.

On 28th June 1626 [her grandmother] Mary Neville 7th and 5th Baroness Abergavenny 3rd Baroness Despencer (age 72) died. She was buried at Mereworth, Kent. Her son [her father] Francis (age 46) succeeded 4th Baron Despencer, 8th Baron Abergavenny, 6th Baron Abergavenny. [her mother] Mary Mildmay Countess of Westmoreland (age 44) by marriage Baroness Despencer, Baroness Abergavenny, Baroness Abergavenny.

On 6th July 1626 [her brother] Mildmay Fane 2nd Earl of Westmoreland (age 24) and [her sister-in-law] Grace Thornhurst Countess of Westmoreland (age 22) were married. He the son of [her father] Francis Fane 1st Earl of Westmoreland (age 46) and [her mother] Mary Mildmay Countess of Westmoreland (age 44). They were fourth cousins.

On 23rd March 1629 [her father] Francis Fane 1st Earl of Westmoreland (age 49) died. His son [her brother] Mildmay (age 27) succeeded 2nd Earl of Westmoreland, 5th Baron Despencer, 9th Baron Abergavenny, 7th Baron Abergavenny, 2nd Baron Burghesh in Suffolk. [her sister-in-law] Grace Thornhurst Countess of Westmoreland (age 25) by marriage Countess of Westmoreland.

[her brother] Francis Fane (age 18) inherited Fulbeck Hall. The Hall was confiscated from him during the Commonwealth; he bought it back.

In 1633 [her sister] Grace Fane Countess Home died at Apethorpe Hall, Northamptonshire.

In 1634 [her sister] Mary Fane Baroness Gerard (age 28) died.

On 2nd March 1637 Edward Bourchier 4th Earl Bath (age 47) died. He was buried at St Peter's Church, Tawstock [Map]. His first cousin once removed [her future husband] Henry (age 50) succeeded 5th Earl Bath. Baron Daubeney and Baron Fitzwarin abeyant between his three daughters Elizabeth Bourchier Countess Denbigh (age 11), Dorothy Bourchier (age 10) and Anne Bourchier Countess Middlesex (age 6) and their coheirs.

On 21st June 1638 [her brother] Mildmay Fane 2nd Earl of Westmoreland (age 36) and [her sister-in-law] Mary Vere Countess of Westmoreland (age 30) were married at Hackney. She by marriage Countess of Westmoreland. He the son of [her father] Francis Fane 1st Earl of Westmoreland and [her mother] Mary Mildmay Countess of Westmoreland (age 56).

On 18th December 1638 Henry Bourchier 5th Earl Bath (age 51) and Rachael Fane Countess Bath and Middlesex (age 25) were married at Church of St Bartholomew the Great. She by marriage Countess Bath, Countess Eu. The difference in their ages was 26 years. She the daughter of Francis Fane 1st Earl of Westmoreland and Mary Mildmay Countess of Westmoreland (age 56). They were second cousin twice removed.

On 9th April 1640 [her mother] Mary Mildmay Countess of Westmoreland (age 58) died.

On 22nd January 1644 [her husband] Henry Bourchier 5th Earl Bath (age 57) was appointed Lord Privy Seal.

On 16th September 1651 James Cranfield 2nd Earl Middlesex (age 30) died. His brother [her future husband] Lionel (age 26) succeeded 3rd Earl Middlesex, 3rd Baron Cranfield of Cranfield in Bedfordshire.

On 16th August 1654 [her husband] Henry Bourchier 5th Earl Bath (age 67) died. Earl Bath extinct. His Irish estates passed to his widow Rachael Fane Countess Bath and Middlesex (age 41), then to her nephew Henry Fane (age 4), then to his son Charles Fane 1st Viscount Fane.

On 1st May 1655 Lionel Cranfield 3rd Earl Middlesex (age 30) and Rachael Fane Countess Bath and Middlesex (age 42) were married at St Bride's Church, Fleet Street. She by marriage Countess Middlesex. She the daughter of Francis Fane 1st Earl of Westmoreland and Mary Mildmay Countess of Westmoreland. He the son of Lionel Cranfield 1st Earl Middlesex and Anne Brett Countess Middlesex.

On 13th June 1661 Lionel Cranfield 3rd Earl Middlesex (age 36) and Rachael Fane Countess Bath and Middlesex (age 48) were divorced by decree of the Court of Arches having previously obtained a royal warrant dated 19 Mar 1661 to retain her precedency as Countess of Bath.

On 12th February 1666 [her brother] Mildmay Fane 2nd Earl of Westmoreland (age 64) died. His son [her nephew] Charles (age 31) succeeded 3rd Earl of Westmoreland, 6th Baron Despencer, 10th Baron Abergavenny, 8th Baron Abergavenny, 3rd Baron Burghesh in Suffolk.

Samuel Pepys' Diary. 2nd December 1666. Lord's Day. Up, and to church, and after church home to dinner, where I met Betty Michell and her husband, very merry at dinner, and after dinner, having borrowed Sir W. Pen's (age 45) coach, we to Westminster, they two and my wife and I to Mr. Martin's, where find the company almost all come to the christening of Mrs. Martin's child, a girl. A great deal of good plain company. After sitting long, till the church was done, the Parson comes, and then we to christen the child. I was Godfather, and Mrs. Holder (her husband, a good man, I know well), and a pretty lady, that waits, it seems, on my Lady Bath (age 53), at White Hall, her name, Mrs. Noble, were Godmothers. After the christening comes in the wine and the sweetmeats, and then to prate and tattle, and then very good company they were, and I among them. Here was old Mrs. Michell and Howlett, and several married women of the Hall, whom I knew mayds. Here was also Mrs. Burroughs and Mrs. Bales, the young widow, whom I led home, and having staid till the moon was up, I took my pretty gossip to White Hall with us, and I saw her in her lodging, and then my owne company again took coach, and no sooner in the coach but something broke, that we were fain there to stay till a smith could be fetched, which was above an hour, and then it costing me 6s. to mend.

On 26th October 1674 [her former husband] Lionel Cranfield 3rd Earl Middlesex (age 49) died without issue. Earl Middlesex, Baron Cranfield of Cranfield in Bedfordshire extinct.

On 11th November 1680 Rachael Fane Countess Bath and Middlesex (age 67) died.

On 20th January 1681 Rachael Fane Countess Bath and Middlesex was buried at St Peter's Church, Tawstock [Map]. Inscription: "Rachel the Countess, worthy of [her former husband] Henry, scarcely was there another of her sex equal to her either in spirit or in virtue, in domestic affairs, civil matters, and sacred concerns, with an intellect more than manly, yet maternal, than which in her time scarcely anything greater was granted upon earth. A humble and devoted daughter of the English Church, and in unjust times the mother of expelled fathers and here almost their sole patron. The one thing to be lamented was that the noble name of Bourchier would have perished in her, had she not possessed virtue enough to render it immortal. And although childless, she was the parent of more than a thousand children, whom she most liberally educated, endowed, consecrated, and ennobled. She still lives, and will never die, so long as grateful hearts remain in these regions.".

Inscription Rachel Comitissa Henrico digna, vix altera e sexu vel animo, vel virtute aequipollens Rebus demisticis civilibus sacris, ingenio pluaquam virili, at materno (quo suo tempore vix maius dabatur in terris) Ecclesiae Anglicanae Filia humilis, et devota, et iniquis temporibus eiectorum Patrum mater et hie pene unica fautrix Unicum Lugendum quod in se perjisset nobile Bourchieri nomen, ni sat illa habuit virtutum vel illu immortale reddere Er liset improlis plus mille liberorum Parens, quos liberalissime educavit, doravit, sacravit, et nobilitavir Adhuc vivit et nunquam moritura dum his Regionibus