| Lady Catherine Darnley (1681-1743)
Born 1681 Died 14 March 1743 Buried Westminster Abbey Married (1) 28 October 1699 Westminster Abbey Sep.1701 James Annesley, 3rd Earl of Anglesey, son of James Annesley, 2nd Earl of Anglesey, Viscount Valentia and Lady Elizabeth Manners baptised 13 July 1674 Died 21 January 1702 Buried Farnborough, Hants. Married (2) 16 March 1706 London John Sheffield, 1st Duke of Buckingham and Normandy, son of Edmund Sheffield, 2nd Earl of Mulgrave and Lady Elizabeth Cranfield Born 8 September 1647 Died 24 February 1721 London, Buckingham House Buried Westminster Abbey |
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Born in 1681, she married James Annesley, 3rd Earl of Anglesey, on 28 October 1699 at Westminster Abbey. However, by Act of Parliament on 12 June 1701, they were separated on grounds of his cruelty. Then on 21 January 1702 the Earl of Annesley died and, as his widow, on 16 March 1706 she married John Sheffield, Duke of Buckingham. She was known as the haughty Duchess of Buckingham. Horace Walpole described her as "more mad with pride than any mercer's wife in Bedlam." After hearing Whitefield preach, she wrote to Lady Huntingdon, "I thank your ladyship for the information concerning the Methodist preachers. Their doctrines are most repulsive, and strongly tinctured with impertinence, and disrespect towards their superiors. It is monstrous to be told that you have a heart as sinful as the common wretches that crawl the earth. I cannot but wonder that your ladyship should relish any sentiments so much at variance with high rank and good breeding." Source: Leo van de Pas |