Isabella Molyneux, Countess of Sefton
{{short description|British noblewoman}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2022}}
{{Infobox noble
| honorific_prefix =
| name = Isabella Molyneux
| title = Countess of Sefton
| honorific_suffix =
| image = Thomas Gainsborough - Isabella,Viscountess Molyneux, later Countess of Sefton - Google Art Project.jpg
| image_size = 200px
| caption = painting of Lady Isabella Stanhope by Thomas Gainsborough
| birth_name = Isabella Stanhope
| birth_date = c. 1748
| birth_place =
| death_date = 29 January 1819
| death_place =
| occupation =
| noble family = Stanhope (by birth)
Molyneux (by marriage)
| spouse = Charles Molyneux, 1st Earl of Sefton
| issue = William Molyneux, 2nd Earl of Sefton
| father = William Stanhope, 2nd Earl of Harrington
| mother = Lady Caroline FitzRoy
}}
Isabella Molyneux, Countess of Sefton, formerly Viscountess Molyneux, (née Lady Isabella Stanhope; c. 1748 – 29 January 1819) was a British peeress and society figure.
Biography
Lady Isabella Stanhope was the second child of William Stanhope, 2nd Earl of Harrington and Lady Caroline FitzRoy, a daughter of Charles FitzRoy, 2nd Duke of Grafton.{{Cite web|url=http://www.gogmsite.net/grand-ladies-of-the-eightee/lady-isabella-stanhope-daug.html|title=Lady Isabella Stanhope, daughter of the second Earl of Harrington and wife of the 1st Earl of Sefton by ? | Grand Ladies | gogm|website=www.gogmsite.net}}{{Cite web|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=qGhHAQAAMAAJ&q=Lady+Isabella+Stanhope&pg=PA288|title=The Annual Peerage of the British Empire|date=December 30, 1829|publisher=Saunders and Otley|via=Google Books}} She was an older sister of Charles Stanhope, 3rd Earl of Harrington.
According to the memoirs of Elizabeth Craven, Baroness Craven, Lady Isabella refused the hand of the Duke of Fitz-James.{{Cite web|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=fLLTAAAAMAAJ&q=Lady+Isabella+Stanhope&pg=PA23|title=The Beautiful Lady Craven: The Original Memoirs of Elizabeth, Baroness Craven, Afterwards Margravine of Anspach and Bayreuth and Princess Berkeley of the Holy Roman Empire (1750-1828)|first=Baroness Elizabeth Craven|last=Craven|date=December 30, 1914|publisher=John Lane|via=Google Books}}
On 27 November 1768 she married Charles Molyneux, 8th Viscount Molyneux, the future 1st Earl of Sefton in the Peerage of Ireland.{{cite book|title=Debrett's Complete Peerage of The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland|url=https://archive.org/details/bub_gb_Ru4UAAAAQAAJ|editor-last=Courthope|editor-first=William|editor-link =William Courthope (officer of arms)|location=London|year=1838|edition=22nd|page=555}} On 18 September 1772 Lady Sefton gave birth to a son, the future 2nd Earl of Sefton.{{Cite web|url=http://www.historyhome.co.uk/people/sefton.htm|title=Sir William Philip Molyneux 2nd Earl of Sefton (1772 - 1838)|website=www.historyhome.co.uk}}{{Cite web|url=http://archive.org/details/historygenealog00unkngoog|title=History, genealogical and biographical, of the Molyneux families|first=Nellie Zada Rice|last=Molyneux|date=December 30, 1904|publisher=Syracuse, N.Y., C. W. Bardeen|via=Internet Archive}}
File:Isabella Stanhope, later Countess of Sefton (1748-1819), by Catherine Read (1723-1778).jpg,circa 1768)]]
She was painted by notable painters including Catherine Read and Thomas Gainsborough, and engraved by the artist James Watson.{{Cite web|url=https://artuk.org/discover/artworks/isabella-17481819-viscountess-molyneux-1st-countess-of-sefton-98574|title=Isabella (1748–1819), Viscountess Molyneux, 1st Countess of Sefton | Art UK|website=artuk.org}}{{Cite web|url=http://www.liverpoolmuseums.org.uk/walker/collections/paintings/18c/item.aspx?id=244803|title=Isabella, Viscountess Molyneux, later Countess of Sefton, 18th century|website=www.liverpoolmuseums.org.uk}} A portrait of her by Gainsborough was unveiled at the inaugural exhibit of the Royal Academy of Art. A poem written in 1768 by Temple Luttrell, son of Simon Luttrell, 1st Earl of Carhampton, titled Ode to Lady Isabella Stanshope on Her Birthday, was dedicated to her.{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=4nAhCwAAQBAJ&q=Lady+Isabella+Stanhope&pg=PA491|title=The Secrets of Generation: Reproduction in the Long Eighteenth Century|first1=Raymond|last1=Stephanson|first2=Darren|last2=Wagner|date=November 26, 2015|publisher=University of Toronto Press|isbn=9781442666931|via=Google Books}}
References
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Category:18th-century British women
Category:19th-century British women