There I was, reading an early-twentieth century biography of Charles II's queen, Catherine of Braganza, when I saw a footnote that specified the names of the women in her household. This is actually really interesting, because we can see the influences around the queen during her time in England as well as her links to members of the aristocracy. It might also be useful to anyone researching their own family histories who recognise their names. Catherine would have been surrounded by these women day and, potentially, night, as they fulfilled every task and assisted her in every wish. They also would have known the king, as we know they attended events with the royal couple, such as the launch of the new warship The Royal Catherine, in 1664.
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| Catherine of Braganza by Sir Peter Lely. Wikimedia Commons. |
The footnote, in Lillias Campbell Davidson's Catherine of Braganza of 1908 records the following women in the queen's household:
Lady Suffolk (Lady of the Robes), Mrs Charlotte Killigrew (Keeper of the Secret Coffers) and Maids of Honour: Mrs Frances Sheldon, Mrs Anne Howard, Mrs Phillipa Tomlyn, Mrs Cary Fraser, Mrs Cecilia Swan and Mrs Joan Widdrington. Lady Sanderson was Mother of the Maids. Catherine also had Chamberers, or Ladies of the Bedchamber: Lady Bellings, Lady Killigrew, Lady Fraser, Lady Clinton, Mrs Loliswood Cranmer, Lady Luke, Mrs Winifred Wyndham and Mrs Mary Crane. There was also Lady Weych and Mrs Anne Roper.
Davidson also specifies the queen's Portuguese ladies, or rather those who had remained after Charles dismissed them over an early argument in their marriage. Catherine had complained about the visible presence of his mistress Barbara Palmer. Catherine threatened to go back to Portugal if he kept seeing her, and so he stroppily sent many of her Portuguese ladies back to Lisbon, in retaliation. The ones that remained to serve Catherine were: Donna Anna de Quintana, who appears to have come to England with her daughters; and Donna Armada and Donna Maria. There is also named Donna Louisa de Vasconcelles and Donna Francesca de Vasconcelles. These last two women remained with the queen when she returned to Portugal in 1692, and therefore seem to have not only travelled with her in 1662 to England, but stayed with her for her entire life. In Catherine's will of 1699 she names them both, giving them 'the management of my clothes, apparel and other particular things of my use, and by reason of the great trust and satisfaction which I have of their fidelity and zeal with which they always served me, I am certain that they will execute in this part all that I have declared to them to be my will'. She added that these two women alone were to dispose of her belongings as she stipulated, and 'which are under their keys'. No person too, was to ask them what was disposed and how.
These Portuguese women were regarded by the English on their arrival at Portsmouth in Hampshire as unattractive, but this was probably down to their unusual hairstyles and the big 'farthingale' dresses they wore. The Countess of Panetra was with the queen, and was Catherine's Lady of the Bedchamber. The Count of Gramont, visiting the court at the time of the new queen's introduction in 1662, described her maids of honour unkindly as 'six frights'. He also mentioned the 'duenna, another monster, who took the title of governess to those extraordinary beauties'.
In addition to these women, Catherine had laundresses of the body, and it is remarkable that their names have survived to us today. Mrs Elizabeth Nunn was the chief laundress, and she had three maids. The four of them received £211 in payment for their services. Elizabeth was also employed as a starcher, and Elizabeth Elliott was the queen's seamstress.
In addition to these, there was Mary Rotz, a baker and Joan Story, the dairymaid.
In another account, Catherine's maids of honour in 1669 were recorded as Simona Carew, Catherine Bainton, Henrietta Maria Price and Winifred Wells. Lady Sanderson still remained as Mother of the Maids.
Enjoyed this? You might also like Book Review: Charles II's Favourite Mistress, Louise de Kerouaille and How Charles Dealt with the Plague in 1665.
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This will really help in my research! Thanks for a great article. It's good to acknowledge the people in the margins. Many times, the women's names are harder to find. So I'm very grateful you took the time to find those women's names that helped Queen Catherine a lot.
ReplyDeleteThat's great, I'm glad it was useful :)
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