Anne Parsons

Anne Maynard
"in Turkish Dress" in 1771
Born	Anne Parsons c.1735
Died	1814/5 Paris
Nationality	Kingdom of Great Britain
Other names	Nancy Parsons; Mrs Horton
Known for	successful courtesan
Spouse(s)	Charles Maynard, second Viscount Maynard
Partner(s)	Earl of Shelburne, Arnold Nesbitt, Richard Rigby, Augustus FitzRoy, 3rd Duke of Grafton, John Sackville, 3rd Duke of Dorset, Francis Russell, 5th Duke of Bedford

Anne Maynard or Anne, Viscountess Maynard; Anne Parsons; Nancy Parsons; Nancy Maynard; Mrs Horton (c.1735 – 1814/5) was a Kingdom of Great Britain successful courtesan and political mistress. She was de facto first lady, entertaining guests for her lover, the First Minister (Prime Minister).

Her birth is estimated to be 1735 and one account says that her father was a tailor in Bond Street in London. She is thought to have first been a prostitute. She is said to have gone to Jamaica with a man called Horton or Houghton and according to some accounts they married and he may have died. When she returned she used a married name of "Mrs Horton".

In 1760 she was a high-class prostitute to members of the aristocracy including the Earl of Shelburne, a contractor Arnold Nesbitt, and Richard Rigby who was a Privy Council member.

In 1764, she had a scandalous affair with Augustus FitzRoy, 3rd Duke of Grafton whilst his wife Anne FitzPatrick was pregnant. FitzRoy kept Parsons at his town house and took her to the opera. This brazen lack of convention offended society's standards. Parsons was openly living on the duke's estates and meanwhile the Duke became Secretary of State in 1765.

Parsons was entertaining his guests and they reported on her informed conversation. In 1767 the Duke became first minister and she had the influence, if not the position, of a First Lady in her country. Richard Rigby used her influence to turn opinions against the Duke's wife. There was further gossip when the Duchess of Grafton become pregnant by her lover, the Earl of Upper Ossory, she and the Duke were divorced by Act of Parliament on the 23 March 1769. Parsons may have become the First Minister's wife had he not discovered that Parsons was having an affair with John Sackville, 3rd Duke of Dorset.