Anne Carr, Countess of Bedford

Anne Carr
Portrait of Anne Carr, Countess of Bedford by Anthony van Dyck, c. 1638
Born	Lady Anne Carr (1615-12-09)9 December 1615 Tower of London, London
Died	Woburn Abbey, Bedfordshire
Title	Countess of Bedford
Spouse(s)	William Russell, 5th Earl of Bedford
Children	Lord James Russell Francis Russell, Lord Russell William Russell, Lord Russell Margaret Russell, Countess of Orford John Russell Lord Edward Russell Diana Alington, Lady Alington
Parent(s)	Robert Carr, 1st Earl of Somerset Lady Frances Howard

Anne Carr, Countess of Bedford (9 December 1615 – 10 May 1684) was a wealthy English noblewoman, and the wife of William Russell, 5th Earl of Bedford, a peer and soldier during the English Civil War, who after her death was created Duke of Bedford. Her mother was the notorious Frances Howard who was an accomplice to murder. In about 1638, Anne was the subject of at least two portraits by Flemish painter Anthony van Dyck.

Family

Lady Anne was born in the Tower of London on 9 December 1615, the only child and heir of Robert Carr, 1st Earl of Somerset and Frances Howard, a member of the noble Howard family. Anne was baptised on 16 December 1615 at St Martin's Church, Ludgate. At the time of her birth, her parents were imprisoned on charges of having participated in the fatal poisoning of Sir Thomas Overbury in 1613. They were both sentenced to death, but later spared execution. Her mother admitted to her complicity in the crime but her father maintained his innocence. The family remained in the Tower until January 1622 when King James I pardoned the Earl and Countess of Somerset.

Marriage and issue

Anne was described as having been virtuous and one of the three beauties of the royal court. Her beauty caught the eye of William Russell, the son and heir of Francis Russell, 4th Earl of Bedford and Catherine Brydges. Remembering the notorious scandal caused by Anne's parents; in particular, the infamous reputation of her mother, as well as the ignominy of her own birth in the Tower of London during the Somersets' imprisonment, William's father staunchly opposed the match, warning his son to be "upon his guard against the dangerous beauty of Anne Carr". A passionate attachment sprang up between William and Anne and the former refused to yield to his father's wishes in the matter. King Charles I, who favoured the marriage, eventually persuaded the earl to give his consent to the match; thus on 11 July 1637 at St. Benet's Church, Paul's Wharf, London, William Russell and Anne Carr were married. She brought him a fortune of £12,000, and the London property on which stood Southampton House, which became Bedford House and was developed later in the century as Bloomsbury Square.

In about 1638, the celebrated Flemish artist, Anthony van Dyck painted at least two portraits of Anne.

When William succeeded as the 5th Earl of Bedford on 9 May 1641 upon the death of his father, Anne was thereafter styled as Countess of Bedford. She was never the Duchess of Bedford as William was not created a duke until ten years following her death.

The couple resided at Woburn Abbey in Bedfordshire, and their marriage was said to have been happy.

Together William and Anne had seven children, six of whom lived into adulthood:

• Lord James Russell (died 22 June 1712), married Elizabeth Lloyd, by whom he had issue.
• Francis Russell, Lord Russell (1638- 14 January 1678), died unmarried
• William Russell, Lord Russell (29 September 1639 – 21 July 1683), married Lady Rachel Wriothesley daughter of Thomas Wriothesley, 4th Earl of Southampton, by whom he had issue. He was executed for treason.
• Lady Margaret Russell, married her cousin Edward Russell, 1st Earl of Orford grandson of Francis Russell, 4th Earl of Bedford
• John Russell, died in infancy
• Lord Edward Russell (c.1642- 1714), married Frances Williams
• Lady Diana Russell (c.1652- 13 December 1701), married firstly, Greville Verney, 9th Baron Willoughby de Broke, by whom she had issue; she married secondly, William Alington, 3rd Baron Alington of Killard, by whom she had issue.

Death

Anne died on 10 May 1684 at Woburn Abbey. Her death occurred a year after her son, William became one of the conspirators in the Rye House Plot; he was later arrested and beheaded on 21 July 1683 for treason against the King (Charles II) and the Duke of York (later James II). It was believed at the time that her death was brought about by the shock she received at the execution of William; from that moment onwards, her health had visibly declined and she never recovered. She was buried in the Bedford Chapel at Chenies parish church, Buckinghamshire on 16 May.

A splendid white marble monument to Anne and her husband occupies the west wall of the chapel. She is represented beside her husband in classical drapery on a high pedestal, seated in an attitude intended to express grief.

Titles and styles

• 9 December 1615 – 11 July 1637: Lady Anne Carr
• 11 July 1637 – 9 May 1641: Lady Russell
• 9 May 1641 – 10 May 1684: The Right Honourable The Countess of Bedford

See also

• Frances Carr, Countess of Somerset
• Thomas Overbury

Ancestry

Family of Anne Carr, Countess of Bedford

Sir Andrew Kerr               Sir John Kerr                       Janet Home               Sir Thomas Kerr of Ferniehurst                             Sir Andrew Kerr               Catherine Kerr                       Agnes Crichton               Robert Carr, 1st Earl of Somerset                                   Sir Walter Scott of Branxholme and Buccleuch               Sir William Scott of Kincurd                       Elizabeth Carmichael               Janet Scott                             Sir John Beaton, 2nd Laird of Creich               Grisel Beaton                       Janet Hay               Anne Carr                                         Henry Howard, Earl of Surrey               Thomas Howard, 4th Duke of Norfolk                       Frances de Vere               Thomas Howard, 1st Earl of Suffolk                             Thomas Audley, 1st Baron Audley of Walden               Margaret Audley                       Lady Elizabeth Grey, daughter of Thomas Grey, 2nd Marquess of Dorset               Lady Frances Howard                                   Sir Henry Knyvet               Sir Henry Knyvet                       Anne Pickering               Catherine Knyvet                             Sir James Stumpe               Elizabeth Stumpe                       Bridget Baynton

References

• thePeerage.com
• G. E. Cokayne, The Complete Peerage, Volume II, p. 80
• Jeremiah Holmes Wiffen, Historical Memoirs of the House of Russell:from the time of the Norman Conquest, Volume 2, Google Books, retrieved on 29-10-09