Frances Villiers

Lady Frances Villiers was an English noblewoman and a governess to the future Queens Mary II and Anne.

Biography

Frances was the youngest daughter of Theophilus Howard, 2nd Earl of Suffolk, and his wife, the former Lady Elizabeth Home.
In 1646 she married Edward Villiers, the son of the late Sir Edward Villiers, Master of the Mint. Their children were:

Anne, who married Hans William Bentinck, 1st Earl of Portland, and had children
Katherine, who married, first, Louis-Jacques, Marquis du Puissar and second, William Villiers, a son of George Villiers, 4th Viscount Grandison, and thus her cousin
Barbara, Viscountess Fitzharding, who married John Berkeley, 4th Viscount Fitzhardinge, and had two daughters
Edward Villiers, 1st Earl of Jersey,
Elizabeth Hamilton, Countess of Orkney
Mary, who married William O'Brien, 3rd Earl of Inchiquin, and had children
Henry
Henrietta, who married John Campbell, 2nd Earl of Breadalbane and Holland, and had children

Frances became governess to the two young princesses, the daughters of the Duke of York in 1669, after the death of their mother, Anne Hyde, whose father, Edward Hyde, 1st Earl of Clarendon, was a friend of the Villiers family. She was one of many relatives of Barbara Villiers to be benefitted from the position of her niece. She was described as "gentle and kind hearted", and her daughters became the playmates of the princesses.
She did not approve of the nature of princess Mary's correspondence with Frances Aspley.
When Princess Mary left for Holland in 1677, as the wife of William of Orange, Frances's eldest son, Edward, went with the couple as Mary's Master of Horse. Frances died of smallpox at St James's Palace, where the household of the princesses was based. She was buried at Westminster Abbey. She was succeeded as royal governess by Henrietta Hyde.