Frances Talbot, Countess of Tyrconnell

Frances was born about 1649{{Sfn|Sergeant|1913a|p=[https://archive.org/details/littlejenningsfi01serg/page/6/ 6, line 19]|ps=. "... she was her brother's junior rather than his senior, so that we may conjecture him to have been born about 1647 and her about 1649."}} at Sandridge, Hertfordshire, England, as the third of the nine children, four sons and five daughters{{Sfn|Sergeant|1913a|p=[https://archive.org/details/littlejenningsfi01serg/page/2/ 2, line 14]|ps=. "Of the nine children, four sons and five daughters, born to her parents ..."}} of Richard Jennings and his wife Frances Thornhurst. Her father was a landowner and a Member of Parliament, and so had been her grandfather. Both sat for the Borough of St Albans. Her father sided with the Parliament during the English Civil War.

Her mother was a daughter of Sir Gifford Thornhurst, the first and last Baronet Thornhurst of Agnes Court, and Susan Temple. Frances's parents had married in 1643.{{Sfn|Green|1967|p=[https://archive.org/details/sarahchurchilldu0000fiel/page/24/ 24]|ps=. "... she [Frances Thornhurst] had married Richard Jennings (then spelled Jenyns) in 1643"}} Of the nine children only Frances and her sister Sarah are noteworthy. Sarah would become Duchess of Marlborogh.

{{Chart top|width=auto|collapsed=no|align=right|clear=right|Family tree}}

{{Tree chart/start|style=clear: both; font-size: 90%; width: 48em;}}

{{Tree chart|Txt|Txt=Frances Jennings with her two husbands, her parents, her married daughters (the three viscountesses), her sons-in-law, and other selected relatives.{{Efn|This family tree is partly derived from the Abercorn pedigree pictured in Cokayne.{{Sfn|G. E. C.|1910|p=[https://archive.org/details/completepeerageo01coka/page/4/ 4]|ps=. "Tabular pedigree of the Earls of Abercorn"}} Also see the list of children in the text.}}|boxstyle_Txt=border: 0 solid white; text-align: left;}}

{{Tree chart/end}}

{{Tree chart/start}}

{{Tree chart| |JmsA1|y|MrnBd| | | | |JhnJg|boxstyle=border-width: 1px; border-radius: 0.5em;

|JmsA1=James
1st Earl
Abercorn
1575–1618|boxstyle_JmsA1=border-width: 1px; border-radius: 0.5em; background: gainsboro;

|MrnBd=Marion
Boyd
{{Died in|1632
Recusant}}

|JhnJg=John
Jennings
{{Died in|1642
MP}}}}

{{Tree chart| |,|-|-|^|.| | | | | | |,|'}}

{{Tree chart|JmsA2| |GrgD1| | | | |RchJg|y|FrnTh|boxstyle=border-width: 1px; border-radius: 0.5em;

|JmsA2=James
2nd Earl
{{Died in|{{Circa|1670}}}}|boxstyle_JmsA2=border-width: 1px; border-radius: 0.5em; background: gainsboro;

|GrgD1=George
1st Bt.
Donalong
{{Circa|1607 – 1679}}

|RchJg=Richard
Jennings
{{Circa|1619 – 1668
MP}}

|FrnTh=Frances
Thornhurst}}

{{Tree chart| | |,|-|-|^|v|-|-|-|.| | | |!}}

{{Tree chart| |James| |ElzGr| |GrgHm|y|Sbjct|~|Trcnl|boxstyle=border-width: 1px; border-radius: 0.5em;

|James=James
{{Circa|1630 – 1673
Courtier}}

|ElzGr=Elizabeth
1641–1708
Beauty

|GrgHm=George
{{Died in|1676
Soldier}}

|Sbjct=Frances
Jennings
{{Circa|1647 – 1731}}|boxstyle_Sbjct=border: 2px solid red; border-radius: 0.5em;

|Trcnl=Richard
Talbot
Earl
Tyrconnell
1630–1691|boxstyle_Trcnl=border-width: 1px; border-radius: 0.5em; background: wheat;}}

{{Tree chart| | | | | |,|-|-|-|-|-|-|^|v|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|.| }}

{{Tree chart|RchR1|y|ElzHm| |HryD8|y|FrnHm| |NchB3|y|MryHm|boxstyle=border-width: 1px; border-radius: 0.5em;

|RchR1=Richard
1st Viscount
Rosse
1657–1703|boxstyle_RchR1=border-width: 1px; border-radius: 0.5em; background: lavender;

|ElzHm=Elizabeth
1667–1724

|FrnHm=Frances
{{Died in|1751}}

|HryD8=Henry
8th Viscount
Dillon
{{Died in|1713}}|boxstyle_HryD8=border-width: 1px; border-radius: 0.5em; background: lightcyan;

|NchB3=Nicholas
3rd Viscount
Barnewall
1668–1725|boxstyle_NchB3=border-width: 1px; border-radius: 0.5em; background: beige;

|MryHm=Mary
1676–1736}}

{{Tree chart| | | |!| | | | | | | |!| | | | | | | |!}}

{{Tree chart| | |RchR2| | | | | |RchD9| | | | | |HryB4|boxstyle=border-width: 1px; border-radius: 0.5em;

|RchR2=Richard
1st Earl
{{Died in|1741}}|boxstyle_RchR2=border-width: 1px; border-radius: 0.5em; background: lavender;

|RchD9=Richard
9th Viscount
{{Died in|1737}}|boxstyle_RchD9=border-width: 1px; border-radius: 0.5em; background: lightcyan;

|HryB4=Henry
4th Viscount
1708–1774|boxstyle_HryB4=border-width: 1px; border-radius: 0.5em; background: beige;}}

{{Tree chart/end}}

{{Tree chart/start|style=clear: both;}}

{{Tree chart|Leg|Leg=Legend|boxstyle_Leg=border: 0 solid white;}}

{{Tree chart/end}}

{{Tree chart/start|style=clear: both;}}

{{Tree chart|SbjBx|SbjTx| |Bk1Bx|Bk1Tx| |Bk2Bx|Bk2Tx

|SbjBx=XXX|boxstyle_SbjBx=border: 2px solid red; border-radius: 0.5em; color: white;

|SbjTx=Subject of
the article|boxstyle_SbjTx=border: 0 solid white; text-align: left;

|Bk1Bx=XXX|boxstyle_Bk1Bx=background: gainsboro; border-radius: 0.5em; border-width: 1px; color: gainsboro;

|Bk1Tx=Earls of
Abercorn|boxstyle_Bk1Tx=border: 0 solid white; text-align: left;

|Bk2Bx=XXX||boxstyle_Bk2Bx=background: wheat; border-radius: 0.5em; border-width: 1px; color: wheat;

|Bk2Tx=Earls of
Tyrconnell|boxstyle_Bk2Tx=border: 0 solid white; text-align: left;}}

{{Tree chart|}}

{{Tree chart/end}}

{{Tree chart/start|style=clear: both;}}

{{Tree chart|Bk3Bx|Bk3Tx| |Bk4Bx|Bk4Tx| |Bk5Bx|Bk5Tx

|Bk3Bx=XXX|boxstyle_Bk3Bx=background: lavender; border-radius: 0.5em; border-width: 1px; color: lavender;

|Bk3Tx=Viscounts &
earls of Rosse|boxstyle_Bk3Tx=border: 0 solid white; text-align: left;

|Bk4Bx=XXX|boxstyle_Bk4Bx=background: lightcyan; border-radius: 0.5em; border-width: 1px; color: lightcyan;

|Bk4Tx=Viscounts
Dillon|boxstyle_Bk4Tx=border: 0 solid white; text-align: left;

|Bk5Bx=XXX|boxstyle_Bk5Bx=background: beige; border-radius: 0.5em; border-width: 1px; color: beige;

|Bk5Tx=Viscounts
Barnewall|boxstyle_Bk5Tx=border: 0 solid white; text-align: left;}}

{{Tree chart/end}}

{{Chart bottom}}

The spelling of her maiden name varies widely. All the three following forms were used during her lifetime: Jennings,{{Efn|The memorial plaque in the church of the Scots College in Paris spells her name Jennings.}} Jenings,{{Sfn|Pepys|1894|p=[https://archive.org/details/diaryofsamuelpep04pepy/page/359/ 359, line 8]|ps=. "... that Mrs. Jenings ..."}} Jenyns.{{Sfn|Wauchope|2004|p=[https://archive.org/details/isbn_0198614039/page/688/ 688]|ps=. "... née Jenyns ..."}}

Frances Jennings was about 11 when the Restoration (1660) brought the end of the Commonwealth and put Charles II on the throne. In 1664, aged about 15, Jennings was appointed maid of honour to Anne Hyde, the Duchess of York. Anne was the first wife of the James, Duke of York, the younger brother of the King and future King James II. Frances's beauty earned her the nickname "La Belle Jennings."{{Sfn|Hamilton|1713|p=[https://archive.org/details/mmoiresdelavied00hamigoog/page/n342/ 335]|ps=. "La belle Jennings, un peu rassurée ..."}} Macaulay describes her as “beautiful Fanny Jennings, the loveliest coquette in the brilliant Whitehall of the Restoration".{{Sfn|Macaulay|1898|p=[https://archive.org/details/workslordmacaul27macagoog/page/412/ 412]}} She figures in the Mémoires du comte de Grammont (Memoirs for short), written by Anthony Hamilton, younger brother of her future husband George Hamilton, which describes the life at the Restoration court. The three oldest of the six Hamilton brothers, James, George, and Anthony, belonged to the inner circle around the King at Whitehall, as they were fashionable young men and had been in exile with him.

An incident in which Jennings disguised herself as an orange seller is told in the Memoirs and also, with less detail, in Pepys's diary. According to the Memoirs, she and her friend Miss Price wanted to consult a fortune-teller incognito. They went out disguising themselves as orange sellers.{{Sfn|Hamilton|1888|p=[https://archive.org/details/memoirsofcountgr00hami/page/291/ 291]|ps=. "the best disguise they could think of was to dress themselves as orange girls."}}{{Sfn|Pepys|1894|p=[https://archive.org/details/diaryofsamuelpep04pepy/page/359/ 359, line 7]|ps=. "What freaks the mayds of Honour at Court have: that Mrs. Jenings, one of the Duchesse's mayds, the other day dressed herself like an orange wench, and went up and down and cried oranges; till falling down, or by such accident, though in the evening, her fine shoes were discerned and she put to a great deale of shame;"}}

Jennings was courted by the Duke of York, the future James II, who thought his wife's maids of honour to be his property, but she refused to play such a role.{{Sfn|Hamilton|1888|p=[https://archive.org/details/memoirsofcountgr00hami/page/256/ 256]|ps=. "The Duke of York having persuaded himself that she was part of his property, resolved to pursue his claim by the same title whereby his brother had appropriated to himself the favors of Miss Wells ; but he did not find her inclined to enter into his service ..."}} She was also courted by Richard Talbot and by George Hamilton, second son of Sir George Hamilton.

In 1665 Frances Jennings married George Hamilton.{{Sfn|Burke|Burke|1915|p=[https://archive.org/details/b3136410x/page/54/ 54, right column, line 48]|ps=. "George (Sir), Count of France, and Maréchal du Camp; m. [married] 1665 Frances dau. [daughter] and co-heir of Richard Jennings ..."}}{{Sfn|Sergeant|1913a|p=[https://archive.org/details/littlejenningsfi01serg/page/n227/ 201]|ps=. "The date of this grant was April 20th, 1666, so that the wedding evidently took place in the spring of that year."}} At that time George was an officer in the Life Guards.{{Sfn|Paul|1904|p=[https://archive.org/details/scotspeeragefoun01paul/page/53/ 53, line 27]|ps=. "... and after the Restoration [George] was an officer in the Horse Guards till 1667 ...."}} Her marriage resembled that of her husband's elder brother James, for whom the king arranged a marriage with a Protestant girl with the purpose of converting him to that religion. The King seemed to have been concerned about the future of his Catholic friends in the army. The King granted the couple a pension of £500 per year.{{Sfn|Sergeant|1913a|p=[https://archive.org/details/littlejenningsfi01serg/page/201 201]|ps=. "... the King in particular hastened to show his approval of the marriage by bestowing on Hamilton a pension of £500 a year."}} Hers is the sixth of the seven marriages with which end the Memoirs,{{Sfn|Hamilton|1888|p=[https://archive.org/details/memoirsofcountgr00hami/page/365 365]|ps=. "George Hamilton, under more favourable auspices, married the lovely Jennings;"}} written by her husband's brother Antoine Hamilton.

Elizabeth, their first child, was born in 1667 and baptised on 21 March at St Margaret's, Westminster, in an Anglican ceremony.{{Sfn|Sergeant|1913a|p=[https://archive.org/details/littlejenningsfi01serg/page/n229/ 202]|ps=. "... before a year had passed, a child was born. On March 21, 1667, a daughter was baptized at St Margaret's, Westminster, under the name of Elizabeth ..."}}

On 28 September 1667, all Catholic soldiers were dismissed from the Life Guards.{{Sfn|Clark|1921|p=[https://archive.org/details/anthonyhamiltonh00claruoft/page/29/ 29]|ps=. "It therefore became necessary to cashier all Roman Catholics serving in the Royal Guards, and, on the 28th of September, 1667, on the ground that they refused to take the Oath of Supremacy, they were dismissed."}} Hamilton then took French service. She followed him to France and converted to the Catholic religion.{{Sfn|Wauchope|2004|p=[https://archive.org/details/isbn_0198614039/page/688/ 688, left column]|ps=. "At some time after the birth of her first child, in 1667, she converted to Catholicism and moved to Paris ..."}}{{Sfn|Clark|1921|p=[https://archive.org/details/anthonyhamiltonh00claruoft/page/28/ 28]|ps=. "This marriage too, like James Hamilton's, involved a change of religion, but this time it was the bride who changed, becoming a Roman Catholic."}}

File:Frances_Jennings.jpg, {{Circa|1675}}}}]]

In 1671 Hamilton recruited a regiment in Ireland{{Sfn|O Ciardha|2009|loc=4th paragraph, 1st sentence |ps=. "Charles instructed the lords Justices of Ireland to give Hamilton permission to raise a regiment in Ireland of 1,500 men"}} and served under Turenne and then under his successors, first Condé and then Luxembourg. Her husband was considered a count in France and she therefore became comtesse Hamilton.

{{Anchor|chldrn}}

The couple seems to have had six children,{{Sfn|Bagwell|1898|p=[https://archive.org/details/dictionaryofnati55stepuoft/page/332/ 332, right column]|ps=. "His [Richard Talbot's] wife died in Dublin in 1679 and before the year was out he married in Paris his old love Lady Hamilton whose husband had been killed in 1676 leaving her with six children."}} but the only ones known by name seem to be the following four daughters:

1. Elizabeth (1667–1724), married Richard Parsons, 1st Viscount Rosse in 1685, and was mother of Richard Parsons, 1st Earl of Rosse{{Sfn|Burke|1869|p=[https://archive.org/details/genealogicalhera00inburk/page/3/ 3, left column, line 18]|ps=. "Elizabeth, m. to Richard, viscount Ross;"}}{{Sfn|Burke|Burke|1915|p=[https://archive.org/details/b3136410x/page/1721/ 1721, right column, line 11]|ps=. "Richard, 1st Viscount Rosse, who was elevated to the peerage, 2 July 1681, as Baron of Oxmantown and Viscount Rosse with remainder to the male issue of his great-grandfather; m. [married] 1stly, by licence 27 Feb. 1676-7, Anne (d.s.p.) [died childless], dau. [daughter] of Thomas Walsingham, m. 2ndly, 14 Oct. 1681, Catherine Brydges (d.s.p. 24 Aug. 1682), dau. of George, Lord Chandos. He m. [married] 3rdly, 1685, Elizabeth, eldest dau. [daughter] of Sir George Hamilton (and niece of Sarah, Duchess of Marlborough), by whom he had two sons and three daus. He d. [died] 30 Jan 1702-3 and was s. [succeeded] by his elder son."}}
2. Frances ({{Died in|1751)}}, married Henry Dillon, 8th Viscount Dillon in 1687{{Sfn|Burke|1869|p=[https://archive.org/details/genealogicalhera00inburk/page/3/ 3, left column, line 19]|ps=. "Frances, m. [married] to Henry, Viscount Dillon;"}}{{Sfn|Burke|Burke|1915|p=[https://archive.org/details/b3136410x/page/646/ 646, right column, line 44]|ps=. "Henry, 8th Viscount Dillon, M.P. Westmeath in James II's Parliament in Dublin, Lieut, of Roscommon 1689, and col. [colonel] in James's army and gov. [governor] of Galway, m. [married] July 1687, Frances, 2nd dau. [daughter] of Count Sir George Hamilton, by his wife, Frances Jennings, afterwards Duchess of Tyrconnel; by whom, who m. 2ndly, Patrick, eld. [eldest] son of Sir John Bellew, Bt., of Barmeath, he, dying 13 Jan, 1713, left issue a son his successor."}}
3. Mary (1676–1736), married Nicholas Barnewall, 3rd Viscount Barnewall in 1688{{Sfn|Burke|1869|p=[https://archive.org/details/genealogicalhera00inburk/page/3/ 3, left column, line 20]|ps=. "... Mary, m. [married] to Nicholas, Viscount Kingsland."}}{{Sfn|G. E. C.|1910|p=[https://archive.org/details/completepeerageo01coka/page/428/ 428]|ps=. "Nicholas (Barnewall) Viscount Barnewall of Kingsland &c [I. [Ireland]], s. [son] and h. [heir] by his 2nd wife. He was b. [born] 15 Apr. 1668. He sat in King James's Parl. [I.] in May 1689. He m. [married], 15 May 1688, Mary, 3rd and yst. [youngest] da. [daughter] and coh. [coheir] of Sir George Hamilton (Comte Hamilton and Maréchal du Camp in France), by Frances ..."}}
4. Henrietta seems to have been younger than the three listed above. Not much more is known about her.{{Sfn|Daniell|1911|p=[https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=mdp.39015066345607&view=1up&seq=306 236]|ps=. "... the creation of Dame Frances Hamilton, the relict of Sir George Hamilton, to be Countess of Berehaven in Ireland, ordaining that Elizabeth, Mary, Frances and Henrietta Hamilton, the daughters of the said Sir George, should enjoy the privileges and precedence of the daughters of a Countess of Ireland."}}

Elizabeth, the first daughter, was born in England and baptised following the Anglican rite. She married Viscount Rosse, a Protestant loyal to James II in 1685.{{Sfn|Burke|Burke|1915|p=[https://archive.org/details/b3136410x/page/1721/ 1721, right column, line 11]|ps=. "Richard, 1st Viscount Rosse, who was elevated to the peerage, 2 July 1681, as Baron of Oxmantown and Viscount Rosse with remainder to the male issue of his great-grandfather; m. [married] 1stly, by licence 27 Feb. 1676-7, Anne (d.s.p.) [died childless], dau. [daughter] of Thomas Walsingham, m. 2ndly, 14 Oct. 1681, Catherine Brydges (d.s.p. 24 Aug. 1682), dau. of George, Lord Chandos. He m. [married] 3rdly, 1685, Elizabeth, eldest dau. [daughter] of Sir George Hamilton (and niece of Sarah, Duchess of Marlborough), by whom he had two sons and three daus. He d. [died] 30 Jan 1702-3 and was s. [succeeded] by his elder son."}} Her husband was one of the only five Protestant lay members of the Irish House of Lords of the Patriot Parliament summoned by James II in 1688.{{Sfn|Simms|1986|p=[https://archive.org/details/warpoliticsinire0000simm/page/69/ 69]|ps=. "There were five Protestant lay lords—Granard, Langford, Barrymore, Howth and Rosse."}} The younger daughters were born in France and baptised in the Catholic church. Frances and Mary married Catholic men. Henrietta does not seem to have married.

Early in June 1676 comte Hamilton was killed by a musket-shot in a rear-guard action at the Col de Saverne{{Sfn|Sergeant|1913a|p=[https://archive.org/details/littlejenningsfi01serg/page/n243/ 217]|ps=. "At the beginning of June he took part in the battle of Zebernstieg and was engaged in covering the French retreat on Saverne when he was killed by a musket-shot."}} and she was widowed.

On 7 July Charles II created the widow Baroness Rosse and Countess of Bantry "for life".{{Sfn|Bryan|2009|loc=|ps=. "... on 7 July 1676 Charles II granted the new widow the titles of Baroness Hamilton of Rosse and countess of Bantry for life."}}

File:Miss_Jennings.png

Frances remarried in 1681 in Paris, taking as her second husband an old suitor she had previously rejected: Richard Talbot. Her husband was appointed Lord Deputy of Ireland (viceroy) and the couple lived in Dublin.{{Sfn|Fryde|Greenway|Porter|Roy|1986|p=[https://archive.org/details/handbookofbritis0000unse/page/170/ 170, line 10]|ps=. "1687, 8 Jan. / 12 Feb. / Richard, 1st e. [earl] of Tyrconnell L.D. [Lord Deputy of Ireland]"}} He oversaw a dramatic expansion of the Irish Army, transforming it from a mainly Protestant to a Catholic force. Talbot was created Earl of Tyrconnell in the peerage of Ireland in 1685 and she became Countess of Tyrconnell.{{Sfn|Burke|Burke|1915|p=[https://archive.org/details/b3136410x/page/1934/ 1934, left column, line 9]|ps=. (8) Richard, Earl and Duke of Tyrconnell, who by Patent, dated 20 June 1685, was created Baron of Talbot's town, Viscount of Baltinglas, and Earl of Tyrconnell, with remainder in tail-male for his nephews;}}

In 1688 during the Glorious Revolution James II fled England and was replaced with Queen Mary and King William. However, in 1689 James II landed in Ireland trying to regain his kingdoms. Soon after his arrival, on 20 March 1689, he made Tyrconnell a duke and she became duchess.{{Sfn|Burke|Burke|1915|p=[https://archive.org/details/b3136410x/page/1934/ 1934, left column, line 12 ]|ps=. "[Richard Talbot] was subsequently, 20 March 1689, advanced to the dignity of Marquess and Duke of Tyrconnell by James II ...}} This title is in the Jacobite peerage. Nonetheless, Frances is frequently called Duchess of Tyrconnell.For example in the catalogue of the National Portrait Gallery They had no children.

In 1690, after James II's defeat at the Battle of the Boyne, the king fled to their home and was met by Frances.{{Sfn|Story|1693|p=[https://archive.org/details/impartialhistory00stor/page/n105/ 88]|ps=. "My Lady Tyrconnell met him at the Castle-gate, and after he was up stairs, her Ladiship ask'd him what he would have for Supper; who then gave her an Account of what a breakfast he had got, which made him have but little Stomach to his Supper: ..."}} According to later sources, King James remarked, ‘Your countrymen, madam, can run well’ and Lady Tyrconnell replied, ‘Not quite so well as your majesty, for I see that you have won the race’.{{Sfn|Simms|1969|p=[https://archive.org/details/jacobiteireland10000simm_q8v1/page/153/ 153], footnote|ps=. "There is no contemporary record of the well-known story that James said to Lady Tyrconnell 'Your countrymen, madam, can run well' and she replied 'not quite as well as Your Majesty, for I see you have won the race.'"}}{{Sfn|Anonymous|1833|p=[https://archive.org/details/jstor-30004212/page/n1/ 325]|ps=. "'Your countrymen, (the Irish) Madam' said James, as he was ascending the stairs 'can run well.' ..."}}

In August 1690 Lady Tyrconnell fled to France with her daughters and 40,000 gold coins.{{Sfn|Wauchope|2004|p=[https://archive.org/details/isbn_0198614039/page/688/ 688, right column]|ps=. "Frances sailed to France in August 1690 with her daughters and 40,000 gold coins."}} She became one of the ladies-in-waiting of Mary of Modena, exiled Queen of England at the Château of Saint-Germain-en-Laye.{{Sfn|Haile|1905|p=[https://archive.org/details/warpoliticsinire0000simm/page/69/ 69]|ps=. "Among the ladies who shone at Mary Beatrice's court, none was more beautiful than 'la belle Jennings,' Duchess of Tyrconnell ..."}} Her husband stayed in Ireland and died during the Siege of Limerick on 14 August 1691.

File:Frances_Jennings_by_Lely.png of a painting by Peter Lely of Frances Jennings{{Sfn|Hamilton|1811|p=[https://archive.org/details/memoiresducomted02hami/page/n229/ before 161]|ps=. "Miss Jennings London Published 1810 by W. Miller and J. Carpenter"}}]]

In 1691 or 1692, after her husband's death, she was allowed to visit England to petition for the possession of the Irish lands that had been settled upon her as her jointure when she married Tyrconnell{{Sfn|Sergeant|1913b|p=[https://archive.org/details/littlejenningsfi02serg/page/568/ 568–569]|ps=. "... she claimed that after her husbands death she had become entitled to her jointure-lands ..."}} and which had been confiscated after his attainder in 1689. It might have been at this visit to London that, out of necessity, she had a dressmaker's stall at the New Exchange{{Sfn|Weinreb|Hibbert|2008|p=[https://archive.org/details/londonencycloped00ias/page/539 539, right column]|ps=. "New Exchange Strand. Built 1608–9 on parts of the garden of Durham Place which had been leased to Robert Cecil. King James opened the exchange and gave it the name 'Britain's Burse'."}} in the Strand in Westminster. She dressed in white with her face covered by a white mask and was described as "the white milliner".{{Sfn|Walford|1887|p=[https://archive.org/details/oldnewlondonnarr03thor_0/page/104/ 104, left column, bottom]|ps=. "The duchess of Tyrconnell, wife of Richard Talbot, Lord Deputy of Ireland under James II, after the abdication of the one and the death of the other, is said to have supported herself for a short time in one of the trades of the place; and she is commemorated by Horace Walpole with his usual piquancy. Pennant speaks of her as 'a female suspected to have been his duchess,' adding that she 'supported herself her for a few days, till she was known and otherwise provided for, by the trade of the place, for she had delicacy enough to wish not to be detected.' She sat in a white mask and a white dress and was known as 'White Milliner.'"}} This episode was dramatised by Douglas Jerrold and performed at Covent Garden in 1841 under the title "The white Milliner: A Comedy in two Acts".{{Sfn|Jerrold|1841}}

{{Infobox UK legislation

| short_title = Relief of Charlotte Talbot for Forfeited Estates in Ireland Act 1702

| type = Act

| parliament = Parliament of England

| long_title = An Act for the Relief of Charlotte Talbot, with relation to the forfeited Estates in Ireland.

| year = 1702

| citation = 1 Ann. c. 70 {{small|Pr.}}

| introduced_commons =

| introduced_lords =

| territorial_extent =

| royal_assent = 25 May 1702

| commencement =

| expiry_date =

| repeal_date =

| amends =

| replaces =

| amendments =

| repealing_legislation =

| related_legislation =

| status =

| legislation_history =

| theyworkforyou =

| millbankhansard =

| original_text =

| revised_text =

| use_new_UK-LEG =

| UK-LEG_title =

| collapsed = yes

}}

Lady Tyrconnell returned to France and was then in 1693 indicted herself of high treason.{{clarify-inline|date=July 2024}} After Queen Anne had acceded the throne in 1702, she and her stepdaughter, Charlotte Talbot, eventually recovered the lands due to them in 1703 by a private act of Parliament, the {{visible anchor|Relief of Charlotte Talbot for Forfeited Estates in Ireland Act 1702}} (1 Ann. c. 70 {{small|Pr.}}) — presumably through her sister Sarah's influence with the Queen. Eventually she retired to the Dominican Convent at Channel Row, Dublin,{{Sfn|O'Heyne|1902|p=[https://archive.org/details/TheIrishDominicans/page/n404/ 78, line 15]|ps=. "... eight of them [nuns] came to Dublin in March 1717. In September of the same year they took a house in Channel Row (now North Great Brunswick street) where they settled down permanently and opened a school."}} and lived there as a parlour boarder from 1723–1724.{{Sfn|Sisters|1894|p=[35]|ps=. "At this period, 1723–1724, the duchess of Tyrconnell was a parlour boarder."}} She then built a house on North King Street and obtained the permission to establish a Poor Clares convent in it.{{Sfn|Burke|Burke|1915|p=[https://archive.org/details/b3136410x/page/1934/ 1934, left column, line 21]|ps=. "After the death of the Duke, the Duchess was permitted to erect a house (still standing) in King Street, Dublin, as a nunnery for Poor Clares;"}}

File:Memory plaque Frances Jennings of Tyrconnell.jpg in Paris]]

In 1731 Frances died in Dublin at the Poor Clares convent that she had founded.{{Sfn|Sergeant|1913b|p=[https://archive.org/details/littlejenningsfi02serg/page/584/ 384, line 1]|ps=. "This [her death] took place on March 6th (old style), 1731."}} She was buried on 9 March in St Patrick's Cathedral in Dublin.{{Sfn|Burke|Burke|1915|p=[https://archive.org/details/b3136410x/page/1934/ 1934, left column, line 23]|ps=. "... and in this obscure retirement, burying all the attractions and graces which once so adorned the Court of England, she d. at the age of 92, and was interred in St. Patrick's Cathedral, 9 March 1730 "}}{{Efn|name=AaD|Burke states that Frances Talbot was 92 when she died.{{Sfn|Burke|Burke|1915|p=[https://archive.org/details/b3136410x/page/1934/ 1934, left column, line 23]|ps=. "... and in this obscure retirement, burying all the attractions and graces which once so adorned the Court of England, she d. at the age of 92, and was interred in St. Patrick's Cathedral, 9 March 1730 "}} This age is certainly exaggerated as we know that her parents married in 1643.}}

She also funded a mass to be celebrated daily for ever at the chapel of the Scots College in Paris for the benefit of her soul and for those of both her husbands as can still be read on the memorial plaque affixed to the wall of this church (see photo). The Latin inscription translates into English as:

To God, most good, most great.

To the most illustrious and noble Lady

Frances Jennings,

Duchess of Tyrconnell,

Lady-in-waiting of the Queen of Great Britain,

benefactrice of this College,

who founded a daily mass in this sanctuary

to be celebrated for ever

for her soul and those of Sir George

Hamilton of Abercorn, knight

her first husband, and Sir Richard Talbot,

duke of Tyrconnell, Viceroy of Ireland,

her second husband.

She died on 17 March 1731.

May she rest in peace.{{Efn|The original Latin inscription reads: D. O. M. Aeternae memoriae Illustrissiae et Nobilissimae Dominae Franciscae Jennings Ducissae de Tyrconnell Reginae Mag. Brit. Matronae Honorariae, Huius Collegi Benefactricis, quae Missam quotidianam in hoc Sacrario fundavit perpetuo celebrandam, Pro Anima sua et Animabus Dni Georgii Hamilton de Abercorne Equitis Aurati Conjugis sui primi, et Dni Richardi Talbot Ducis de Tyrconnell, Proregis Hiberniæ secundi sui Conjugis. Obiit Die XVII Martii Anno Domini MDCCXXXI. Requiescat in pace.}}

As the memorial plaque is in France, the text gives the date of her death according to the Gregorian calendar, which had been adopted in France in 1582 but would be adopted in England only in 1752. This new-style date of death (17 March 1731) differs from the old-style one usually found in English texts (6 March 1731).

{{Notelist}}

{{Reflist}}

{{Refbegin|30em|indent=yes}}

• {{Cite magazine|author=Anonymous |date=1833 |title=King James the Second |magazine=Dublin Penny Journal |volume=1 |publisher=Smith Elder & Co |location=Dublin |pages=325–326 |url=https://archive.org/details/jstor-30004212/}}
• {{Cite encyclopedia|last=Bagwell |first=Richard |author-link=Richard Bagwell |editor-last=Lee |editor-first=Sidney |editor-link=Sidney Lee |date=1898 |title=Talbot, Richard, Earl and titular Duke of Tyrconnel (1630–1691) |encyclopedia=Dictionary of National Biography |volume=LV |publisher=Smith, Elder, & Co. |location=London |pages=331–336 |oclc=8544105 |url=https://archive.org/details/dictionaryofnati55stepuoft/page/331/}}
• {{Cite web|last=Bryan |first=Deidre |date=October 2009 |title=Talbot, Frances |website=Dictionary of Irish Biography |url=https://www.dib.ie/biography/talbot-frances-a8447 |access-date=16 October 2022}}
• {{Cite book|last=Burke |first=Bernard |author-link=Bernard Burke |date=1869 |title=A Genealogical and Heraldic Dictionary of the Peerage and Baronetage of the British Empire |edition=31st |publisher=Harrison |location=London |oclc=1045624502 |url=https://archive.org/details/genealogicalhera00inburk/}} (for siblings Elizabeth, Thomas, John, Lucia, Margaret and daughters)
• {{Cite book|last1=Burke |first1=Bernard |author1-link=Bernard Burke |last2=Burke |first2=Ashworth P. |date=1915 |title=A Genealogical and Heraldic History of the Peerage and Baronetage, the Privy Council, Knightage and Companionage |edition=77th |publisher=Harrison |location=London |oclc=1155471554 |url=https://archive.org/details/b3136410x/}}
• {{Cite book|last=Clark |first=Ruth |date=1921 |title=Anthony Hamilton: his Life and Works and his Family |publisher=John Lane |location=London |oclc=459281163 |url=https://archive.org/details/anthonyhamiltonh00claruoft/}}
• {{Cite book|editor-last=Daniell |editor-first=F. H. Blackburne |editor-link=Francis Henry Blackburne Daniell |date=1911 |title=Calendar of State Papers, Domestic Series, March 1st, 1677, to February 28th, 1678 |publisher=His/Her Majesty's Stationery Office |location=London |oclc=271079796 |url=https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=mdp.39015066345607& }} – 1677 to 1678 (for daughter Henrietta)
• {{Cite book|last=Debrett |first=John |author-link=John Debrett |date=1828 |title=Peerage of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland |edition=17th |volume=I |publisher=F. C. and J. Rivington |location=London |oclc=54499602 |url=https://archive.org/details/debrettspeerage03debrgoog/}} – England
• {{Cite book|editor-last=Fryde |editor-first=E. B. |editor2-last=Greenway |editor2-first=D. E. |editor3-last=Porter |editor3-first=S. |editor4-last=Roy |editor4-first=I. |date=1986 |title=Handbook of British Chronology |publisher=Offices of the Royal Historical Society |edition=3rd |series=Royal Historical Society Guides and Handbooks, No. 2 |location=London |isbn=0-86193-106-8 |url=https://archive.org/details/handbookofbritis0000unse/ |url-access=registration}} – (for timeline)
• {{Cite book|author=G. E. C. |author-link=George Edward Cokayne |editor-last=Gibbs |editor-first=Vicary |editor-link=Vicary Gibbs (St Albans MP) |date=1910 |title=The Complete Peerage of England, Scotland, Ireland, Great Britain and the United Kingdom, Extant, Extinct, or Dormant |edition=2nd |volume=I |publisher=The St Catherine Press |location=London |oclc=1042385438 |url=https://archive.org/details/completepeerageo01coka/}} – Ab-Adam to Basing (for Barnewall)

• {{Cite book|last=Green |first=David |date=1967 |title=Sarah Churchill, Duchess of Marlborough |publisher=Charles Scribner's Sons |location=New York |isbn=0-684-12467-X |url=https://archive.org/details/sarahchurchilldu0000fiel/ |url-access=registration}}
• {{Cite book|last=Haile |first=Martin |date=1905 |title=Queen Mary of Modena, her Life and her Letters |publisher=J. M. Dent & Co |location=London |oclc=457559782 |url=https://archive.org/details/QueenMaryOfModena/}}
• {{Cite book|last=Hamilton |first=Anthony |author-link=Antoine Hamilton |date=1713 |title=Mémoires de la vie du comte de Grammont |publisher=Pierre Marteau |location=Cologne |language=fr |oclc=1135254578 |url=https://archive.org/details/mmoiresdelavied00hamigoog}} – Princeps (for "la belle Jennings")
• {{Cite book|last=Hamilton |first=Anthony |author-link=Antoine Hamilton |date=1811 |title=Mémoires de la vie du comte de Grammont |volume=II |publisher=William Miller |location=London |language=fr |oclc=719396809 |url=https://archive.org/details/memoiresducomted02hami/}} (for the picture)
• {{Cite book|last=Hamilton |first=Anthony |author-link=Antoine Hamilton |translator-last=Walpole |translator-first=Horace |translator-link=Horace Walpole |date=1888 |title=Memoirs of Count Grammont |publisher=Gebbie & Co |location=Philadelphia |oclc=1048777116 |url=https://archive.org/details/memoirsofcountgr00hami/}} (for English text)
• {{Cite book|last=Jerrold |first=Douglas |author-link=Douglas Jerrold |date=1841 |title=The White milliner: A Comedy in two Acts |publisher=Thomas Hailes Lacy |location=London |oclc=1013410956 |url=https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=iau.31858023972809}}
• {{Cite book|author=Macaulay |author-link=Thomas Babington Macaulay |date=1898 |title=The History of England from the Accession of James the Second |edition=Albany |volume=IV |publisher=Longman, Green, Longman, Roberts, & Green |location=London |oclc=487364786 |url= https://archive.org/details/workslordmacaul27macagoog/}} – to end of 1690 (for "loveliest coquette")
• {{Cite encyclopedia|last=Ó Ciardha |first=Éamonn |author-link=Éamonn Ó Ciardha |editor1-last=McGuire |editor1-first=James |editor2-last=Quinn |editor2-first=James |date=October 2009 |title=Hamilton, Sir George |edition=online |encyclopedia=Dictionary of Irish Biography |url=https://www.dib.ie/biography/hamilton-sir-george-a3739 |access-date=18 April 2021 |ref={{SfnRef|O Ciardha|2009}}}}
• {{Cite book|last=O'Heyne |first=John |author-link=John O'Heyne |editor-last=Coleman |editor-first=Ambrose |date=1902 |title=The Irish Dominicans of the Seventeenth Century |publisher=William Tempest |location=Dundalk |oclc=3455671 |url=https://archive.org/details/TheIrishDominicans/}} – Translation from the original Latin published in Louvain in 1706
• {{Cite book|editor-last=Paul |editor-first=James Balfour |editor-link=James Balfour Paul |date=1904 |title=The Scots Peerage, Founded on Wood's Edition of Sir Robert Douglas's Peerage of Scotland |volume=I |publisher=David Douglas |location=Edinburgh |oclc=505064285 |url=https://archive.org/details/scotspeeragefoun01paul/}} – Abercorn to Balmerino
• {{Cite book|last=Pepys |first=Samuel |author-link=Samuel Pepys |editor-last=Wheatley |editor-first=Henry Benjamin |editor-link=Henry B. Wheatley |date=1894 |title=The Diary of Samuel Pepys |volume=IV |publisher=George Bell and Sons |location=London |oclc=503692830 |url=https://archive.org/details/diaryofsamuelpep04pepy/}} – 1 January 1664 to 29/30 June 1665
• {{Cite book|last=Sergeant |first=Philip W. |author-link=Philip Walsingham Sergeant |date=1913a |title=Little Jennings and Fighting Dick Talbot: A Life of the Duke and Duchess of Tyrconnel |volume=I |publisher=Hutchinson & Co. |location=London |oclc=474495830 |url=https://archive.org/details/littlejenningsfi01serg/}} – 1643 to 1685
• {{Cite book|last=Sergeant |first=Philip W. |author-link=Philip Walsingham Sergeant |date=1913b |title=Little Jennings and Fighting Dick Talbot: A Life of the Duke and Duchess of Tyrconnel |volume=II |publisher=Hutchinson & Co. |location=London |oclc=474495830 |url=https://archive.org/details/littlejenningsfi02serg/}} – 1686 to 1702, notes, & appendices
• {{Cite book|last=Simms |first=J. G. |date=1969 |title=Jacobite Ireland, 1685–91 |publisher=Routledge & Kegan Paul |location=London |isbn=978-0-7100-6446-2 |url=https://archive.org/details/jacobiteireland10000simm_q8v1/ |url-access=registration}}
• {{Cite book|last=Simms |first=J. G. |date=1986 |title=War and Politics in Ireland 1649–1730 |publisher=The Hambledon Press |location=London |isbn=0-907628-72-9 |url=https://archive.org/details/warpoliticsinire0000simm/ |url-access=registration}}
• {{Cite book|last=Sisters |first=The |date=1894 |title=Annals of the Dominican Convent of St. Mary's, Cabra, with some Account of its Origin: 1647–1912 |publisher=St. Mary's, Cabra |location=Dublin |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=FdYwAQAAMAAJ}}
• {{Cite book|last=Story |first=George |author-link=George Story (priest) |year=1693 |title=An Impartial History of the Wars of Ireland |publisher=Richard Chiswell |location=London |oclc=858717314 |url=https://archive.org/details/impartialhistory00stor/}}
• {{Cite book|last=Walford |first=Edward |date=1887 |title=Old and New London |volume=III |publisher=Cassell, Petter, Galpin & Co. |location=London |oclc=1049974157 |url=https://archive.org/details/oldnewlondonnarr03thor_0/}} – Westminster and the western suburbs
• {{Cite encyclopedia|last=Wauchope |first=Piers |editor1-last=Matthew |editor1-first=Colin |editor1-link=Colin Matthew |editor2-last=Harrison |editor2-first=Brian |editor2-link=Brian Harrison (historian) |date=2004 |title=Talbot [née Jenyns; other married name Hamilton], Frances, duchess of Tyrconnell (1648–1731) |encyclopedia=Oxford Dictionary of National Biography |volume=53 |publisher=Oxford University Press |location=New York |pages=688–689 |isbn=0-19-861403-9 |url=https://archive.org/details/isbn_0198614039/page/688/ |url-access=registration}}
• {{Cite book|last1=Weinreb |first1=Ben |last2=Hibbert |first2=Christopher |date=2008 |title=The London Encyclopædia |publisher=Adler & Adler |location=Bethesda, ML |isbn=978-0-917561-07-8 |url=https://archive.org/details/londonencycloped00ias/ |url-access=registration}}
• {{Cite book|last=Witherow |first=Thomas |author-link=Thomas Witherow |date=1879 |title=Derry and Enniskillen in the Year 1689 |publisher=William Mallan & Son |location=London & Belfast |oclc=82779901 |url=https://archive.org/stream/derryandenniski01withgoog/}}

{{Refend}}

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Tyrconnel, Frances Talbot, Countess of}}

Category:1640s births

Category:1730 deaths

Category:17th-century English women

Category:17th-century English people

Category:18th-century English people

Category:18th-century English women

Category:British maids of honour

Category:Court of Charles II of England

Category:English Jacobites

Category:Irish countesses by marriage

Category:People from the City of St Albans

Frances

Category:Viceregal consorts of Ireland