Frances Mackenzie, Countess of Seaforth

Welsh-born Scottish noblewoman

The Right Honourable
The Dowager Countess of Seaforth

Born| Lady Frances Herbert
1659
Montgomeryshire, Wales
Died| 18 December 1732
Paris, France
Spouse(s)| Kenneth Mackenzie, 4th Earl of Seaforth
Issue| William Mackenzie, 5th Earl of Seaforth
Lady Mary Sempill
Parents| William Herbert, 1st Marquess of Powis
Lady Elizabeth Somerset

Frances Mackenzie, Dowager Countess of Seaforth (née Herbert; 1659 - 18 December 1732), was a Welsh-born Scottish noblewoman and wife of Kenneth Mackenzie, 4th Earl of Seaforth.[1]

## Biography

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### Early life and family

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The daughter of William Herbert, 1st Marquess of Powis, and his wife, Lady Elizabeth Somerset, Frances was born into a Roman Catholic Jacobite family. She had one brother, William, and four sisters: Mary, Anne, Lucy and Winifred. Her family played an active part in the various Jacobite risings throughout the late 17th and early 18th centuries; her father personally helped Mary of Modena and James, Prince of Wales escape after the Glorious Revolution of 1688; and her sister Winifred's husband William Maxwell, 5th Earl of Nithsdale was captured at Preston together with other Jacobite leaders, found guilty of treason and sentenced to death. Winifred famously helped him escape from the Tower of London in 1715.

### Marriage and children

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Frances married a fellow Jacobite in 1680, the Scottish Kenneth Mackenzie, 4th Earl of Seaforth. The Mackenzies had four children:[2] William, Mary, Alicia and Alexander. Ten years into their marriage, Kenneth was sent off to head a rising in Scotland. He was captured and imprisoned, however. He was released in 1697 and the family fled to Paris, where he died in January 1701.

### Later years and death

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After her husband's death, she remained in Paris, and died there on 18 December 1732, aged 73.

## Children

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Name | Birth | Death | Notes

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|
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William Mackenzie, 5th Earl of Seaforth | Unknown | 8 January 1740 | married Mary Kennet; had issue
Lady Mary Sempill | Unknown | 1740 | married firstly in 1712, John Caryll; had issue
married secondly in 1725, Francis Sempill; had issue

## Ancestry

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Ancestors of Frances Mackenzie, Countess of Seaforth

|  |  |  |  |  |  |  | 8\. William Herbert, 1st Baron Powis

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| 4\. Percy Herbert, 2nd Baron Powis|

|  |  |
| 9\. Eleanor Percy

| 2\. William Herbert, 1st Marquess of Powis|

|  |  |  |  |
| 10\. Sir William Craven

| 5\. Elizabeth Craven|

|  |  |
| 11\. Elizabeth Whitmore

| 1\. Frances Mackenzie, Countess of Seaforth|
|  |  |  |  |  |  |
| 12\. Henry Somerset, 1st Marquess of Worcester

| 6\. Edward Somerset, 2nd Marquess of Worcester|

|  |  |
| 13\. Anne Russell

| 3\. Lady Elizabeth Somerset|

|  |  |  |  |
| 14\. Sir William Dormer

| 7\. Elizabeth Dormer|

|  |  |
| 15\. Anne Molyneux

|  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |

## References

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1. ^ Mosley, Charles, editor. Burke's Peerage, Baronetage & Knightage, 107th edition, 3 volumes. Wilmington, Delaware, U.S.A.: Burke's Peerage (Genealogical Books) Ltd, 2003.
2. ^ G.E. Cokayne; with Vicary Gibbs, H.A. Doubleday, Geoffrey H. White, Duncan Warrand and Lord Howard de Walden, editors, The Complete Peerage of England, Scotland, Ireland, Great Britain and the United Kingdom, Extant, Extinct or Dormant, new ed., 13 volumes in 14 (1910-1959; reprint in 6 volumes, Gloucester, U.K.: Alan Sutton Publishing, 2000), volume XI, page 618