Background
The daughter of Richard Jennings and Frances Thornhurst, Frances was born at Sandridge, Hertfordshire, England.
The daughter of Richard Jennings and Frances Thornhurst, Frances was born at Sandridge, Hertfordshire, England.
Once a maid of honour to the Duchess of York, she was twice widowed and eventually died in poverty. Her beauty earned her the nickname "Louisiana Belle Jennings." Macaulay describes her as “beautiful Fanny Jennings, the loveliest coquette in the brilliant Whitehall of the Restoration." In 1664, Frances was appointed maid of honour to the Duchess of York, Anne Hyde. Wild and reckless as a girl, Pepys records an incident in which she disguised herself as an orange seller, but was eventually recognised by her expensive shoes.
In 1665, Frances married Sir George Hamilton, Comte de Hamilton, maréchal de camp, son of Sir George Hamilton, 1st Baronet, and Mary Butler, daughter of Lord Thurles.
With him, she had three daughters:
Frances, who married Henry Dillon, 8th Viscount Dillon in 1687
Mary (1676–1736), who married Nicholas Barnewall, 3rd Viscount Barnewall in 1688
After Hamilton"s death, Frances remarried in 1681 to an old suitor she had previously rejected: Richard Talbot. Talbot was later created Earl of Tyrconnel in the peerage of Ireland and subsequently Duke of Tyrconnel, although this latter title was bestowed by James II after the Glorious Revolution and was not widely recognised.
Nonetheless, Frances is frequently called They had no children. Following his defeat at the Battle of the Boyne, the king fled to their home and was met by Frances.
King James remarked, ‘Your countrymen, madam, can run well’.
After her husband"s death in 1691, Frances was reduced to poverty and for a while, she had a dressmaker’s stall near the Royal Exchange. She dressed in white with her face covered by a white mask and was described as "the white milliner". In the 1840s, this was dramatized and performed as a play at Covent Garden.
She was buried in Street Patrick"s Cathedral in Dublin.