was written in 1676 for Lady Fanshawe's "most
dear and only *' surviving son. This Sir Richard,
the second Baronet, died in Clerkenwell in July
1694, having some years previously had the
misfortune through illness to become deaf and
dumb.
Conunent at various times has been made upon
*The ancient Lincolnshire family of Wray is mentioned in the
Introduction of ^King Monmouth *' in connection with the
remarkable portrait of the Duke after decapitation, which
formerly was in the possession of Sir Cecil Wray. Since writing
on this subject it occurs to me that it is very possible that the
picture may have come originally to the Wrays through Lady
Sarah Fanshawe, her husband being a cousin of the Duke's sister's
second husband. Mary Fanshawe, nii Walter, it is very possible
may have come into the possession of the portrait (perhaps after
Henrietta, Lady Wentworth't death, for whom there is a tradition
the picture was originally painted), and her straitened circum-
stances may have induced her to part with the work to the
relatives of her kinswoman.
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Notes on the Illustrations xxi
the inaccuracy of the printed Memoirs, but judging
from a personal inspection of the original, there
appear to be but few serious errors.*
It must, however, be pointed out that the editor,
Sir Harris Nicholas, only used a copy of the Memoirs
which was made from the original in 1766 by
Charlotte Colman, Lady Fanshawe's great grand-
daughter. The editor's transcript, though made
ten years later, was not published until half a century
afterwards, t I draw attention to this fact as the
Rev. T. L. Fanshawe, the grandfather of the present
owner of the MS., was under the impression that his
original Memoirs when lent to a friend had been
copied and printed without permission, which in the
face of the above statement could not have been the
case.!
Allan Fea.
• " Taming " for ** Trimming instruments " (in Lady Anne's
will), and such like slips. See p. 29.
t yiiU Prefiice of 1830 Edition.
XI have been indebted to Mr. Walter Crouch, Mr. R. T.
Andrews, and to Mr. H. W. King's Notes on the Fanshawe Family^
1868-72, for some of the above information.
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CONTENTS
fAom
Introduction v
Notes on the Illustrations xv
Introductory Memoir i
Memoirs op Ladt Fanshawb 33
Extracts prom the Correspondence op Sir Richard
Fanshawb illustrative op Memoir • • >39
Pedigree Showing the Relationships op the Various
Members op the Fanshawb Family Mentioned in
Lady Fanshawe's Memoirs . • Teficefagt 290
Index 291
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LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS
Anne, Lidj Ftmhawe Frontispiece
From a fainting firmerly at Far sloes
The Original Mamisaript of the Fanshawe
Memoirs , . . . . . Tofaafagt 30
Ware Park, Hertfordshire . . . . . „ 42
From an old print in the possession of R. T»
Andrews^ Esq.
Ptnloes, Essex ,,46
Present day
Sir Richard Fanshawe, Bart. ,, 80
From a painting by Le/f in the possession oj
Captain Stirling
Anne, Lady Fanshawe ,, 104
From a painting by Lely in the possession of
Captain Stirling
The arrival of Catherine of Braganza at Portsmouth,
B4ay 14, i66a » iH
From a conUmporary print
c
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xxvi List of Illustrations
The Queen's arrival at Whitehall, August 23, i66a
(ri<^ Pepys' Diar/ of that date) . . To fact page 126
From a contemporary print
Anne, Lady Fanshawe • . . . . . ^152
From an old print in the possession of E, J.
FansAawe, Esq.
Sir Richard Fanshawe, Bart ,,192
From an engraving by Fartbome in the possession
of B. 7. Fanshawe^ Esq,
All Saints' Church, Hertford . • . . ,,224
From an old print in the possession of R. T.
JndretoSf Esq.
Monument in Ware Church Erected to the
Memory of her husband hy Lady Fanshawe . ,, 232
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INTRODUCTORY MEMOIR
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INTRODUCTORY MEMOIR
It may, possibly, be thought unnecessary to prefix
to this work a biographical sketch of the persons
whose careers are faithfully related in it ; and it may
be considered an act of imprudence to place the cold
and measured statements of an Editor in juxta-posi-
tion with the nervous and glowing narrative of the
amiable historian of the lives of her husband and
herself. The latter objection, however true, ought
not to prevent such remarks being made as may
cause her labours to be better understood, and more
highly appreciated ; especially, as information can
be supplied, and in a few instances, comments sub-
* mitted, which may render that justice to the writer
it was impossible for her to do to herself.
These pages mil, however, contain a statement
of the chief events of the lives of Sir Richard and
Lady Fanshawe ; and although most of them are
mentioned in her Memoir, they are so frequently
interrupted by anecdotes and reflections, as well as
by accounts of places and ceremonies, that it is often
diflicult to follow her. This article may then be
considered as the outline of a picture, which is filled
A
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I â– .t -â– â–
lyttroiutTory Memoir
up by a far abler and more pleasing artist ; or,
perhaps, it bears a nearer resemblance to the graphic
references which generally accompany the descrip-
tions of paintings, for the purpose of illustrating
them.
The genealogy of the Fanshawe family is so fully
stated in the Memoir, that it is not requisite to
allude to the subject, farther than to observe, that
Sir Richard was descended from an ancient and
respectable house ; that many of its members filled
official situations under the Crown, and were
honoured with Knighthood ; that he was the fifth
and youngest son of Sir Henry Fanshawe, of Ware
Park, in Hertfordshire, Knight, by Elizabeth,
daughter of Thomas Smythe, Esq., Farmer of the
Customs to Queen Elizabeth, the younger son of
an ancient Wiltshire family, and ancestor of the
Viscounts Strangford; and that his eldest brother
was raised to the peerage by the title of Viscount
Fanshawe, of Dromore, in Ireland.
Sir Richard Fanshawe was born at Ware Park, in
June 1608, and was baptized on the 12th of that
month. His father having died in 161 6, when he
was little more than seven years old, the care of his
education devolved upon his mother, who placed him
under the celebrated schoolmaster, Thomas Farnaby ;
and in November 1623 he was admitted a Fellow-
commoner of Jesus College, Cambridge, where he is
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Introductory Memoir
said to have prosecuted his studies with success, and
to have evinced a taste for classical literature. Being
intended for the Bar, he was entered of the Inner
Temple on the 22nd of January 1626; but that pro-
fession ill-accorded with his genius, and he appears
to have selected it in obedience to the wishes of his
mother, rather than from his own choice. It has been
supposed that he continued his legal pursuits until
her death left him free to follow his inclination to
travel; but this is not the fact, as he had returned to
England before her decease. At what period he
abandoned the law is not known; but about 1627
he went abroad, with the view of acquiring foreign
languages. Lady Fanshawe says that the whole
stock of money with which he commenced his
travels did not exceed eighty-five pounds ; that he
proceeded first to Paris, where he remained for twelve
months, and thence went to Madrid; and that he did
not return to England for some years. In 1630 he
was appointed Secretary to Lord Aston's embassy to
the Court of Spain, in consequence of the inform-
ation which he possessed of the country; but in
attaining that knowledge he spent great part of his
patrimony, which amounted only to 50/. per annum,
and 1500/. in money.'
When Lord Aston was recalled, Mr. Fanshawe
remained as the Charg6 d'AiFaires until Sir Arthur
Hopton was nominated Ambassador to Madrid; and
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Introductory Memoir
he arrived in England in 1637 or 1638. For two
years after his return, he seems to have been in
constant expectation of some appointment, but his
views were frustrated by Secretary Windebank. At
the expiration of that time, his eldest brother re-
signed to him the situation of Remembrancer of the
G)urt of Exchequer, but upon terms which pre-
vented its being of any immediate pecuniary advan-
tage. The Civil War, however, then broke out
and being one of the King's sworn servants, he
attended his Majesty to Oxford, where he met the
fair author of these Memoirs.
Anne, the eldest daughter of Sir John Harrison,
of Bails, in the county of Hertford, by Margaret,
daughter of Robert Fanshawe, of Fanshawe Gate
Esq., great uncle of Sir Richard Fanshawe, was bom
in St. 01ave*s, Hart Street, London, on the 25th of
March 1625. Of her education and early life she
has given a pleasing description, and, until the Civil
War, her family lived in uninterrupted happiness.
Her father having warmly espoused the Royal cause,
he attended the Court to Oxford, and desired his
daughters to come to him in that city, where they
endured many privations, " living in a baker's house
in an obscure street, and sleeping in a bad bed in a
garret, with bad provisions, no money, and little
clothes.'' The picture of Oxford at that moment is
truly deplorable, and the sufferings of the royalists
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Introductory Memoir
appear to have been very severe, but which she
describes as having been borne ** mth a martyr-like
cheerfulness." The offer of a Baronetcy to her father
— ^the only return which it was then in the power of
the Crown to bestow, for the heavy losses he had
sustained — ^was gratefully declined on the ground of
poverty. In 1644 important changes took place in
her family, or, as she poetically expresses it, alluding
to the state of public affairs, " as the turbulence of
the waves disperses the splinters of the rock/' so
were they separated. Her brother William died in
consequence of a fall from his horse, which was shot
under him in a skirmish against a party of the Earl
of Essex the year before; and on the i8th of May
she became the wife of Mr. Fanshawe, in Wolvercot
Church, two miles from Oxford, being then in her
twentieth year, and her husband about thirty-six.
He was at that time Secretary at War, and was pro-
mised promotion the first opportunity. The fortune
of each was in expectation : they were, she says,
" truly merchant adventurers," their whole capital
being only twenty pounds; and, to preserve the
simile, that capital was laid out in the articles of his
trade — in pens, ink, and paper. What was wanting
in money was amply supplied by prudence and affec-
tion; and there is no difficulty in believing her
assurance, that they lived better than those whose
prospects were much brighter.
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Introductory Memoir
Whilst at Oxford, in 1644, the University con-
ferred upon Mr. Fanshawe the degree of Doctor
of Laws. In the beginning of March 1645 he
attended the Prince to Bristol, but in consequence of
his wife's confinement, she did not accompany him ;
and the circumstances of their separation are affect-
ing. She joined him in that city in May, at which
time he was appointed Secretary to the Prince of
Wales, but in consequence of the plague they quitted
Bristol, in July 1645, and proceeded with his Royal
Highness to Barnstaple, and thence to Launceston
and Truro, in G)rnwall. From Truro the Court
removed to Pendennis Castle; and early in April
1646 the Prince and his suite embarked for the
Scilly Islands. Great as their privations were at
Oxford, they were much exceeded by their sufferings
at Scilly ; and no one can peruse the description of
their voyage to and lodgings in that island with
indifference. To illness were added cold and
hunger: they were plundered by their friends in
flying from their enemies ; and to add to the misery
of their situation, Mrs. Fanshawe was very near her
confinement.
After passing three weeks in that desolate place,
the Prince and his suite went to Jersey, where they
were hospitably received ; and where Mrs. Fanshawe
gave birth to her second child. On the Prince's
quitting Jersey in July, for Paris, Mr. Fanshawe*s
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Introductory Memoir
employment ceased; and he remained in that island
with Lord Capell, Lord Hopton, and the Chancellor,
for a fortnight after his Royal Highnesses departure,
when he and his wife went to Caen, to his brother
Lord Fanshawe, who was ill, leaving their infant at
Jersey, under the care of Lady Carteret, the wife of
the Governor. From Caen, Mrs. Fanshawe was
sent to England, by her husband, to raise money :
she arrived in London early in September 1646,
where she succeeded in obtaining permission for
him to compound for his estates for the sum of
300/., and to return.
They continued in England until October 1647,
living in great seclusion ; and in July in that year,
whilst the unfortunate Charles was at Hampton
Court, Mr. Fanshawe waited upon him, and received
his instructions to proceed to Madrid. Mrs. Fan-
shawe states that she had three audiences of his
Majesty at Hampton Court, and her description of
the last interview with which she and her husband
were honoured, exhibits the injured monarch as a
husband, a father, a master, a sovereign, and a
Christian, in the most pleasing light, and is ample
evidence of the natural goodness of his heart. ** The
last time I ever saw him,*' she says, " was on taking
my leave. I could not refrain from weeping, and
when he saluted me, I prayed to God to preserve his
Majesty with long life and happy years. He stroked
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8 Introductory Memoir
me on the cheek, and said, ^ Child, if God pleaseth
it shall be so ; but both you and I must submit to
God's will, and you know in what hands I am.*
Turning to Mr. Fanshawe, he said, * Be sure, Dick,*
to tell my son all that I have said, and deliver those
letters to my wife. Pray God bless her ! I hope I
shall do well ; ' and taking him in his arms, observed,
* Thou hast ever been an honest man, and I hope
God will bless thee, and make thee a happy servant
to my son, whom I have charged in my letter to
continue his love and trust to you ; * adding, * I do
promise you, that if ever I am restored to my dignity,
I will bountifully reward you both for your services
and sufferings.' "
In the few days they passed at Portsmouth, pre-
nous to their quitting England in October 1647,
they narrowly escaped being killed by a shot fired
into the town by the Dutch fleet. From that place
they embarked for France, but returned to England,
in April 1648, by Jersey, whence they brought with
them their daughter, whom they had left under the
care of Lady Guteret. In September Mr. Fanshawe
attended the Prince of Wales on board the fleet in
• That the Royal family were accustomed to address Mr.
Fanshawe in so familiar a manner, appears from a letter from the
Duke of York, afterwards James the Second, dated at Paris,
1 8th November, 165 1, to Sir Edward Nicholas: "I have re-
ceived yours of the 8th of November from the Hague, and with it
that from 2)/Vi FanshaweP — EvilynU Correspondence^ vol. v. p. 188.
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Introductory Memoir
the Downs, in which a division existed, part being
for the King and part for the Parliament. The
Prince resolved to reduce the latter to obedience by
force, but a storm separated the ships, and prevented
an engagement. Three months afterwards, Mr.
Fanshawe went to Paris on the Prince's afi&irs,
whither he was followed by his wife; and they
passed six weeks there in the society of the Queen-
Mother and the Princess Royal and their suite,
amongst whom was the poet Waller and his wife.
From Paris they went to Calais, where they met Sir
Kenelm Digby, who related some of his extraordi-
nary stories: from that town she again went to
England with the hope of raising money for her
husband's subsistence abroad and her own at home.
Mr. Fanshawe ^was sent to Flanders ; and thence,
in the February following, into Ireland, to receive
whatever money Prince Rupert could raise by the
fleet under his command, but that eflFort proved
unsuccessful. At her husband's desire, Mrs. Fan-
shawe proceeded with her family to join him, and
landed at Youghal after a hazardous voyage. They
took up their residence at Red Abbey, a house
belonging to Dean Boyle, near Cork, and passed six
months in comparative tranquillity, receiving great
kindness from the nobility and gentry of the neigh-
bourhood.
Their happiness, however, was but transitory.
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lo Introductory Memoir
The death of their second son plunged them into
affliction ; and the landing of Cromwell obliged
Prince Rupert's fleet, the presence of which had con-
tributed to their security, to quit Ireland ; and very
shortly afterwards, in November 1649, Cork declared
for the Usurper. At that moment Mr. Fanshawe
was at Kinsale ; and her account of the danger to
which that event exposed her, and of her perilous
escape, together with her family and servants, from
Red Abbey to Kinsale, is full of interest.
A few days after this affuir, Mr. Fanshawe re-
ceived the King's commands to go to Madrid with
a letter to his Catholic Majesty : on their journey
they passed through Limerick, where he was present
when Lord Roscommon met his singular fate, of
being killed by a fall down the stairs, whilst holding
a candle to Mr. Fanshawe on his going out of the
room where they had held a consultation. His
Lordship lived only a few days after the accident,
and, just before his death, placed the Great Seal of
Ireland into Mr. Fanshawe*s hands. This accident
retarded their departure until they heard from the
King, during which time they were most courteously
treated by Lord Inchiquin ; and an extraordinary
circumstance is related by Mrs. Fanshawe, of a
vision having appeared to her whilst on a visit to a
daughter of the Earl of Thomond.
On receiving orders from his Majesty to deliver
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Introductory Memoir ii
the Seals to Lord Inchiquin, Mr. Fanshawe proceeded
on his mission, and embarked with his wife at Galway,
in February 1650, on board a Dutch ship for Malaga.
Their entry into Galway, which had been devastated
by the plague, is deserving of attention ; and an
anecdote, which is related of the conduct of the
Marquis of Worcester to the merchants of that
town, if true, reflects equal disgrace on the cause
which he espoused and on his own memory.
As if their every movement was to be attended
with peril, the ship in which they embarked was
menaced by a Turkish galley soon after it passed the
Straits of Gibraltar; on which occasion Mrs. Fan-
shawe displayed great heroism, by assuming the
dress of the cabin-boy, and placing herself on the
deck by the side of her husband. Fortunately, how-
ever, her courage was not subjected to a severer test;
for the Turk sheered off without attacking their
vessel. They arrived safely at Malaga, and set out
for Madrid, passing through Granada ; and several
pages are filled with a description of the Alhambra
near that city.
Being unsuccessful in his effort to obtain a supply
of money from the Spanish Court, his wife and him-
self embarked at St. Sebastian for France, and arrived,
at Nantz, after a dangerous passage, about the end
of October 1650, and reached Paris in the middle of
November.
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12 Introductory Memoir
On the 2nd of September in that year Mr. Fan-
shawe was created a Baronet ; and it is singular that
no other allusion should occur to the circumstance
in the Memoir than a notice of his having left the
patent in Scotland before the battle of Worcester.
The Queen received them at Paris with great
attention ; and after many acts of favour, she
despatched Sir Richard to the King, who was then
on his way to Scotland. Lady Fanshawe and her
husband proceeded to Calais, it being necessary that
she should go to England to procure money for his
journey, and in the mean time he intended to reside
in Holland; but circumstances caused him to be
immediately sent into Scotland, where he was re-
ceived with marked kindness by the King and by the
York party, who gave him the custody of the Great
Seal and Privy Signet. No persuasions could induce
him to take the Covenant ; but he performed the
duties of his office with a zeal and temper which,
we are told, obtained for him the esteem of all
parties.
Lady Fanshawe continued in London, in a state
of great uneasiness about Sir Richard, having two
young children to maintain, with very limited re-
sources; and to add to her discomfort, she was
again very near her confinement. She observes, that
she seldom went out of her lodgings, and spent her
time chiefly in prayer for the deliverance of the King
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Introductory Memoir 13
and her husband. A daughter, Elizabeth, was born
on the 24th of June, and on her recovery she went
to her brother-in-law's, at Ware Park, where the
news reached her of the battle of Worcester,
on the 3rd of September; and after some days*
suspense, she learned that Sir Richard was taken
prisoner.
She then hastened to town, intending to seek him
wherever he might be ; but on her arrival she learned
from him that he would shortly be brought to
London, and he appointed a place near Charing
Cross where she should meet him. Their interview
lasted only a few hours ; after which he was con-
veyed to Whitehall, and was closely confined there
for ten weeks, expecting daily to be put to death.
The manner in which she went secretly to his prison
at four o'clock every morning, and her unwearied
zeal to alleviate his sufferings, afford a beautiful
example of female devotion ; and it was owing to
her exertions alone that he was ultimately released
on bail.
Illness induced Sir Richard to go to Bath, in
August 1 652, the greater part of the winter of which
year they passed at Benford, in Hertfordshire ; but
having occasion to wait on the Earl of Strafford, in
Yorkshire, his Lordship offered him a house in
Tankersley Park, which he accepted. His family
removed thither in March 1652, and during his
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14 Introductory Memoir
residence there he amused himself in literary pur-
suits, and translated Luis de Camoens. The death
of their favourite daughter Anne, on the 23rd of
July 1654, at the age of between nine and ten,
made them quit Tankersley, and they proceeded to
Homerton, in Huntingdonshire, the seat of Sir
Richard Fanshawe's sister, Lady Bedell, where they
resided six months; when he being sent for to
London, and forbidden to go beyond five miles of
it, his wife and children removed to the metropolis.
Excepting a visit to Frog Pool, in Kent, the resi-
dence of Sir Philip Warwick, they remained in
London until July 1656, during which time Lady
Fanshawe had two children, and her husband suffered
severely from illness.
Tired of living in town. Sir Richard obtained per-
mission to go to Bengy, in Hertfordshire, where he
and his wife were attacked with an ague, which con-
fined her to her bed for many months, and did not
finally leave her for nearly two years, when a visit to
Bath perfectly restored them both. The news of
Cromwell's death, in September 1658, which reached
them whilst in that city, caused them to go to London,
with the hope of Sir Richard's getting released from
his bail ; and under the pretence of becoming tutor
to the son of the Earl of Pembroke, whilst on his
travels, he was permitted to leave England. On
his arrival at Paris, he wrote to Lord Clarendon,
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Introductory Memoir 15
acquainting him with his escape, and desiring him to
inform his Majesty of the circumstance. About April
1659, his Lordship replied that the King was then
going into Spain, but that on his return, which
would be in the beginning of the winter, he should
come to his Majesty, who in the meantime gave him
the situations of one of the Masters of Requests, and
Latin Secretary.
Sir Richard Fanshawe then requested his wife to
come to Paris with part of his children, but her appli-
cation for a passport was refused ; and she relates the
ingenious manner in which she imposed upon the
Government, by obtaining a pass in the name of
Anne Harrison, the pretended wife of a young
merchant, and altering the word to Fanshawe, by
which means she escaped to Calais, and joined her