Frances Apsley

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Frances Apsley (married name Francis Lady Bathurst of Paulerspury ; * 1653 ; † June 7, 1727 ) was a lady-in-waiting and friend of Mary II , Queen of England , Scotland and Ireland , and her sister Anne since her early youth . The contents of the letters received between Maria and Frances give rise to the suspicion of a lesbian relationship between the two.

Life

Frances Apsley was the daughter of Sir Allen Apsley (1629–1683) and Frances Pete (1645–1698). Her father was a falconer to James II of England and in command of the Tower of London , her mother was a country noblewoman . Frances grew up with a brother.

Since she was young, Frances had spent time with the two daughters of Jacob's first marriage to Lady Anne Hyde . At the beginning of puberty, Maria developed violent feelings towards the almost ten years older, then 21-year-old lady-in-waiting. The older she got, the more intense it got. In surviving letters, Maria Frances names her “husband” and describes herself as her “wife”.

Maria was married to her cousin William of Orange in September 1677 . Although he himself continued to have relationships with both men and women, he could not accept the erotic relationship between his 15-year-old wife and another woman. He made sure that Frances no longer belonged to the court of Maria, so that Frances could not accompany the newlywed couple to Holland in November 1677. They continued to keep correspondence, but it became more and more loosely, which indicates a decrease in feelings. Frances now spent her time with Anne, who is also said to have lesbian tendencies.

According to the conventions of the time, people with a homosexual disposition also married a heterosexual partner in order to continue the family dynasty. Frances Apsley married Benjamin Bathurst of Paulerspury (1635-1704), a British MP and governor of the East Indian Company in 1688/89. With him she had the daughter Anne (died young) and the sons Allen (1684-1775, later 1st Earl of Bathurst), Peter (1687-1748) and Benjamin (1693-1767).

The formerly passionate relationship had turned into a lifelong friendship. Frances saw Mary's coronation and mourned her untimely death. She was 74 years old herself.

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b c d e Anna Eunike Röhrig : Mistresses and Favorites - A Biographical Handbook , MatrixMedia, Göttingen 2010, ISBN 978-3-932313-40-0 , p. 17f.
personal data
SURNAME Apsley, Frances
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Lady Bathurst of Paulerspury, Frances
BRIEF DESCRIPTION English lady-in-waiting
DATE OF BIRTH 1653
DATE OF DEATH June 7, 1727