Grace Carteret, 1st Countess Granville

Grace Carteret, 1st Countess Granville (13 September [O.S. 3 September] 1654 – 18 October 1744), styled Lady Grace Granville from 1660–80, was Countess Granville in her own right and the wife of George Carteret, 1st Baron Carteret. 13 September 1654

Early life

Grace was born in Lincoln's Inn Fields, London, the second daughter of Sir John Granville, and his wife, Jane Wyche.[1][2] In 1660, her father was raised to the peerage as Earl of Bath.

Marriage and issue

In 1680, Grace married George Carteret, 1st Baron Carteret (1667–1695), 13 years her junior, who succeeded to his grandfather's baronetcy in 1680. In 1681, he was raised to the status of Baron Carteret.

The Carterets had three sons:

• George Carteret (11 February 1689 – 8 June 1689), died in infancy
• John Carteret, later 2nd Earl Granville (1690–1763), who was married twice: first, to Frances Worsley in 1710, and second, to Lady Sophia Fermor, in 1744. He had children by both marriages.
• Philip Carteret (6 November 1692 – 19 March 1711), who died unmarried while a pupil at Westminster School and was buried at Westminster Abbey.[3]

Lord Carteret died, aged 28 (or 26), in 1695.[4]

Countess Granville

In 1701, Grace's brother, Charles Granville, 2nd Earl of Bath, died by suicide a fortnight after the death of their father, and the earldom was inherited by his son, William, a minor. Following William's death in 1711, all Grace's elder siblings having predeceased her, she was created Viscountess Carteret and Countess Granville in her own right in 1714.[5] She was able to pass on both titles to her elder son, John.

Grace Carteret died at the family seat of Hawnes in Bedfordshire, aged 77, a few months after attending her son's second marriage, to Sophia Fermor.[6] She was buried in the vault of General Monk at Westminster Abbey.[3]

References

1. Baptismal entry, Kilkhampton, Cornwall: "Grace the second daughter of the Right Wor. Sir John Grenvile & Dame Jane his wife was borne in Lyncolne Inn feildes in the pshe of St. Giles in London on the 03 Sep 1654 and baptized the 03 Sep 1654". Register Booke of the Parrishe of Kilkehamptonie for Baptisinge, Weddinge and Burryeinge, 1539–1839
2. "Grace (née Granville), Countess Granville and Viscountess Carteret". National Portrait Gallery. Retrieved 2 October 2018.
3. "Carteret family". Westminster Abbey. Retrieved 2 October 2018.
4. Joseph Lemuel Chester (1876). The Marriage, Baptismal, and Burial Registers of the Collegiate Church Or Abbey of St. Peter, Westminster. Harleian Society. pp. 367–.
5. A companion and key to the history of England; consisting of copious genealogical details of the British sovereigns, with an appendix, exhibiting a chronological epitome of the successive holders of the several titles of the ... nobility, etc, with their armorial bearings. 1832. pp. 563–.
6. Horace Walpole (1866). The Letters of Horace Walpole, Earl of Orford. Bohn. pp. 299–.

Peerage of Great Britain
New creation	Countess Granville 1715–1744	Succeeded by John Carteret