Maria Villiers, Countess of Clarendon explained

Maria Eleanor Villiers, Countess of Clarendon (23 January 1761  - 18 March 1844),^[1] formerly Maria Eleanor Forbes, was the wife of John Villiers, 3rd Earl of Clarendon.

Maria was the daughter and co-heir of Admiral Hon. John Forbes and his wife, the former Lady Mary Capell, daughter of William Capell, 3rd Earl of Essex.^[2] Her mother and the earl's mother being sisters, she and the earl were first cousins.^{[3] [4]} They married on 5 January 1791, and had one daughter, Mary-Harriet, who never married and died in 1838.^[5]

The earl died in 1838 and was succeeded by his nephew.^[5] The countess died, aged 83, at Clarendon House, North Audley Street, Westminster.

A miniature portrait of the countess was painted on ivory by Richard Cosway.^[6]

Notes and References

1. The Register of Births & Baptisms in the Parish of St James in the County of Middlesex Vol. V. 1761-1786. 15 February 1761.
2. Mosley, Charles, editor. Burke's Peerage, Baronetage & Knightage, 107th edition, 3 volumes. Wilmington, Delaware, U.S.A.: Burke's Peerage (Genealogical Books) Ltd, 2003.
3. Web site: Essex, Earl of (E, 1661). Cracroft's Peerage. 26 December 2017. live. https://web.archive.org/web/20100901070502/http://www.cracroftspeerage.co.uk/online/content/Essex1661.htm. 1 September 2010.
4. Book: John Forbes. Memoirs of the Earls of Granard. 1868. Longmans, Green, Reader and Dyer. 2–.
5. Book: A Genealogical and Heraldic Dictionary of the Peerage and Baronetage of the British Empire. 1869. Henry Colburn. 510–.
6. Web site: Past Auction. ArtNet. 26 December 2017.