Memoirs of Lady Fanshawe | Page 6

Notes on
the Fanshawe Family, 1868-72, for some of the above information.]
ALLAN FEA.

CONTENTS

INTRODUCTION
NOTES ON THE ILLUSTRATIONS
INTRODUCTORY MEMOIR

MEMOIRS OF LADY FANSHAWE
EXTRACTS FROM THE CORRESPONDENCE OF SIR RICHARD
FANSHAWE ILLUSTRATIVE OF MEMOIR
PEDIGREE SHOWING THE RELATIONSHIPS OF THE VARIOUS
MEMBERS OF THE FANSHAWE FAMILY MENTIONED IN
LADY FANSHAWE'S MEMOIRS
INDEX

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS

Anne, Lady Fanshawe....Frontispiece From a painting formerly at
Parsloes
The Original Manuscript of the Fanshawe Memoirs
Ware Park, Hertfordshire From an old print in the possession of R. T.
Andrews, Esq.
Parsloes, Essex Present day
Sir Richard Fanshawe, Bart From a painting by Lely in the possession
of Captain Stirling
Anne, Lady Fanshawe From a painting by Lely in the possession of
Captain Stirling
The arrival of Catherine of Braganza at Portsmouth, on May 14, 1662
From a contemporary print
The Queen's arrival at Whitehall, August 23, 1662 (vide Pepys' Diary
of that date) From a contemporary print
Anne, Lady Fanshawe From an old print in the possession of E. J.
Fanshawe, Esq.
Sir Richard Fanshawe, Bart From an engraving by Farthorne in the
possession of E. J. Fanshawe, Esq.
All Saints' Church, Hertford From an old print in the possession of R. T.
Andrews, Esq.
Monument in Ware Church Erected to the Memory of her husband by
Lady Fanshawe

INTRODUCTORY MEMOIR

It may, possibly, be thought unnecessary to prefix to this work a

biographical sketch of the persons whose careers are faithfully related
in it; and it may be considered an act of imprudence to place the cold
and measured statements of an Editor in juxta-position with the nervous
and glowing narrative of the amiable historian of the lives of her
husband and herself. The latter objection, however true, ought not to
prevent such remarks being made as may cause her labours to be better
understood, and more highly appreciated; especially, as information
can be supplied, and in a few instances, comments submitted, which
may render that justice to the writer it was impossible for her to do to
herself.
These pages will, however, contain a statement of the chief events of
the lives of Sir Richard and Lady Fanshawe; and although most of them
are mentioned in her Memoir, they are so frequently interrupted by
anecdotes and reflections, as well as by accounts of places and
ceremonies, that it is often difficult to follow her. This article may then
be considered as the outline of a picture, which is filled up by a far
abler and more pleasing artist; or, perhaps, it bears a nearer
resemblance to the graphic references which generally accompany the
descriptions of paintings, for the purpose of illustrating them.
The genealogy of the Fanshawe family is so fully stated in the Memoir,
that it is not requisite to allude to the subject, farther than to observe,
that Sir Richard was descended from an ancient and respectable house;
that many of its members filled official situations under the Crown, and
were honoured with Knighthood; that he was the fifth and youngest son
of Sir Henry Fanshawe, of Ware Park, in Hertfordshire, Knight, by
Elizabeth, daughter of Thomas Smythe, Esq., Farmer of the Customs to
Queen Elizabeth, the younger son of an ancient Wiltshire family, and
ancestor of the Viscounts Strangford; and that his eldest brother was
raised to the peerage by the title of Viscount Fanshawe, of Dromore, in
Ireland.
Sir Richard Fanshawe was born at Ware Park, in June 1608, and was
baptized on the 12th of that month. His father having died in 1616,
when he was little more than seven years old, the care of his education
devolved upon his mother, who placed him under the celebrated
schoolmaster, Thomas Farnaby; and in November 1623 he was
admitted a Fellow-commoner of Jesus College, Cambridge, where he is
said to have prosecuted his studies with success, and to have evinced a

taste for classical literature. Being intended for the Bar, he was entered
of the Inner Temple on the 22nd of January 1626; but that profession
ill-accorded with his genius, and he appears to have selected it in
obedience to the wishes of his mother, rather than from his own choice.
It has been supposed that he continued his legal pursuits until her death
left him free to follow his inclination to travel; but this is not the fact,
as he had returned to England before her decease. At what period he
abandoned the law is not known; but about 1627 he went abroad, with
the view of acquiring foreign languages. Lady Fanshawe says that the
whole stock of money with which he commenced his travels did not
exceed eighty-five pounds; that he proceeded first to Paris, where he
remained for twelve months, and thence went to Madrid; and that he
did not