Frances Sidney

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Frances Sidney is our 15th great aunt.
Janet Milburn

• "Frances Sidney, Countess of Sussex", Westminster Abbey

Notes: Frances was the seventh and youngest child of Sir William Sidney and Anne Packenham, her only brother being Sir Henry Sidney. Lady in waiting and friend of Princess Elizabeth. She was said to have had the best marriage (by rank) of her sisters. In Apr 1555, she married Thomas Radcliffe, Lord Fitzwalter, later E. of Sussex (1526-Jun 9, 1583) at Hampton Court. King Felipe attended the ceremony and participated in the tournament held afterward. At Christmas 1557, both Frances and her husband were at court and in high favor with Queen Mary.  When Mary was Queen, the Princess Elizabeth was in great danger for her life. The Sussex’s were in on a plan to help Elizabeth safely out of the country. In Sep 1565, she was delegated to escort Cecilia of Sweden to court. Frances was in Berwick during her husband's tenure as Lord President of the North. She caught smallpox there in 1571. Also in 1571, however, she twice entertained the Queen at Bermondsey House. Frances was a patron of the arts, receiving a number of dedications. After her husband’s death, she continued to sponsor his company of players, now called the Countess of Sussex’s Men. The Oxford DNB entry recounts Frances's courtship by Arthur Hall (b. 1539 - d. 29 Dec 1605) c. 1586. Rejected, he wrote a book purported to be the story of their relationship. Hungaryous Hystory offended the Queen and was suppressed. Hall was later confined in the Marshalsea, and then the Fleet (1588-9) when he continued his harrassment. Frances had Puritan leanings and a deep interest in education. In her will, Frances left a substantial sum (£5000) to endow a new college at Cambridge, called 'the Lady Frances Sussex College'. She became a passionate Puritan in later life, and perhaps intended the college to support its spread. Construction there was begun in 1596.