Franz von Jenison-Walworth
Count Franz von Jenison-Walworth was a British-born Bavarian soldier, diplomat, and court official.
Early life
He was born as Francis Jenison in Heighington, County Durham, on 8 February 1764. He was the son of Charlotte and Francis Jenison of Walworth. Among his siblings were Countess Charlotte von Jenison-Walworth, Countess Winifred von Jenison-Walworth, Countess Octavia von Jenison-Walworth, and Countess Susan von Jenison-Walworth.His maternal grandfather was Alexander Smith of London. His paternal grandparents were John Jenison and Elizabeth Jenison. Through his sister Susan's second marriage, he was uncle to, among others, Aubrey Spencer, the first Bishop of Newfoundland, and George Spencer, the second Bishop of Madras.
Career
In 1775, his father sold their Durham estate and moved the whole family to Heidelberg, where he shortly became Chamberlain to the Elector Palatine Prince Charles Theodore and was made a Count of the Holy Roman Empire in 1791.After arriving in Heidelberg, Franz became, successively, a Page of Honour, and Colonel of the Guards to the Elector Palatine, afterwards "Colonel in the service of Hesse-Darmstadt, from which Court at the commencement of the war in 1793, and when the Princes of Germany were subsidized by Great Britain, he was appointed Envoy to the Court of St. James, and was entrusted with the negotiations which ensued respecting the continuance of Hessian troops in the English pay, and concluded with the late Marquis of Hertford, then Earl of Yarmouth, by which the stipulated contingents to the first coalition of the Continental States against Revolutionary France, was regulated and detailed."
After Prince Frederick I married Charlotte, Princess Royal in 1797, Franz was selected for the office of Grand Chamberlain of the Household at Stuttgart, a "station to which the superiority of his polished manners and refined address peculiarly qualified him." He served as Frederick I's Chamberlain until the death of the King in 1816.
Personal life
He married Baroness Charlotte von Cornet. Before their divorce, they were the parents of:- Franz Oliver von Jenison-Walworth, a Bavarian politician and diplomat; he married Countess Amalia Batthyány, older sister of Count Lajos Batthyány, in 1824. They divorced and she married his cousin, Count Karl Theodor von Westerholt und Gysenberg, in 1831.
- Mary Caroline von Jenison-Walworth, who was born in London.
- Charlotte Christine von Jenison-Walworth, who was born in Dresden.
- Christiane Mary Emilie von Jenison-Walworth, a painter who married Count Karl Heinrich Alban von Schönburg-Forderglauchau, in 1824.
- Karl Friedrich von Jenison-Walworth, who married his brother-in-law's sister, Jeromia Katharina von Schönburg-Forderglauchau, in 1836. After her death in 1843, he married Ellen Mitchell, daughter of James Mitchell and sister to the Baroness de Grothusen, in 1849.