Frances Crewe, Lady Crewe

Frances Crewe, by Thomas Gainsborough

Frances Anne Crewe, Lady Crewe, née Greville (November 1748 – 23 December 1818), was the daughter of Fulke Greville, envoy extraordinary to the elector of Bavaria, and his Irish wife, Frances Macartney. She was considered one of the most beautiful women of her time,^[1] and was a political hostess with a sharp wit.^[2]

Crewe Hall

In 1766, Frances married John Crewe, who became Lord Crewe. She was accustomed to entertain, at Crewe Hall, her husband's seat in Cheshire, and at her villa at Hampstead, some of the most distinguished of her contemporaries. Fox, who much admired her, Burke, Sheridan, Sir Joshua Reynolds, and Canning were frequent visitors. She was also on friendly terms with Charles Burney and Sarah Burney and Hester Thrale. Sheridan dedicated the School for Scandal to her, and some lines addressed to her by Fox were printed at the Strawberry Hill Press in 1775. Three portraits by Reynolds have been engraved, in one of which she appears with her brother as Hebe and Cupid. She died on 23 December 1818.^[1]

Notes

1. Rigg 1888, p. 90.
2. Kilburn, Matthew. "Mince-pie administration (act. 1783–1784)". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography. Oxford University Press.

References

•  This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Rigg, James McMullen (1888). "Crewe, Frances Anne". In Stephen, Leslie. Dictionary of National Biography 13. London: Smith, Elder & Co. p. 90. The entry cites:
  • Hinchliffe's Barthomley, pp. 306–10
  • D'Arblay's Memoirs
  • Piozzi's Autobiography, 2nd ed.
  • Warburton's Memoirs of Horace Walpole, ii. 223