Sarah Sophia Child Villiers, Countess of Jersey (4 March 1785 – 26 January 1867), born Lady Sarah Fane, was an English noblewoman and banker, and through her marriage a member of the Villiers family.
Her mother was the only child of Robert Child, the principal shareholder in the banking firm Child & Co.[1]
Career
The First Quadrille at Almack's, an illustration featuring Lady Jersey, second from left
Under the terms of her grandfather's will, she was the primary legatee, and she not only inherited Osterley Park but became senior partner of Child & Co. after the death of her grandmother, Sarah Child. Her husband, George Villiers, added the surname Child by royal licence. The inheritance made her one of the richest women in England: in 1805 she was able to give £20,000 each to four family members without impairing her own income.
In politics, she was a Tory, although she lacked the passionate interest in politics shown by her cousin Harriet Arbuthnot. On hearing that the Duke of Wellington had fallen from power in 1830, she burst into tears in public. She reportedly "moved heaven and earth" against the Reform Act 1832.[2]
Lady Clementina Augusta Wellington Child Villiers (1824–1858)[4]
Lady Adela Corisande Maria Child Villiers (1828–1860), married Lt. Col. Charles Parke Ibbetson.[4] Lady Adela's scandalous elopement to Gretna Green with Captain Ibbetson increased the circulation of all the London newspapers in November 1845.
Lady Jersey was one of the patronesses of Almack's, the most exclusive social club in London, and a leader of the ton during the Regency era. Lady Jersey was known by the nickname Silence; the nickname was ironic since, famously, she almost never stopped talking.[5] The memoirist Captain Gronow, who disliked her, called her "a theatrical tragedy queen", and considered her "ill-bred and inconceivably rude".
She died at No. 38, Berkeley Square, Middlesex (now London). She had outlived not only her husband, but six of her seven children.[4]
In popular culture
She was immortalized as Zenobia in Disraeli's novel Endymion. Caroline Lamb ridiculed her in Glenarvon; in revenge Lady Jersey had her barred from Almack's, the ultimate social disgrace.[6] This, however, was unusual since she was notable for acts of kindness and generosity; and she was eventually persuaded by Caroline's family to remove the ban.[7]
She is a recurring character in the Regency novels of Georgette Heyer, where she is presented as eccentric and unpredictable, but highly intelligent and observant, and capable of kindness and generosity.
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