Elizabeth Fox, Baroness Holland

Elizabeth Vassall Fox, Baroness Holland (1771 – London, November 1845) was an English political hostess and the wife of Whig politician Henry Vassall-Fox, 3rd Baron Holland. With her husband, and after his death, she hosted political and literary gatherings at their home, Holland House.

Elizabeth Vassall was born in 1771 in London, the only child and universal heiress of Richard Vassall, a planter in Jamaica and Mary Clarke, and granddaughter of Florentius Vassall, whose last will was dated 1777.

She married Sir Godfrey Webster, 4th Baronet in 1786. He was more than 20 years older than she was. They had five children:

As Lady Webster she spent much of the early 1790s travelling in Europe, visiting France, Germany, Switzerland and Italy. She enjoyed the guidance and friendship of the Duchess of Devonshire and politician Thomas Pelham.

In 1794, Lady Webster met in Naples Whig politician Henry Fox, 3rd Baron Holland, two years her junior, and they embarked on a love affair. They had seven children:

On 4 July 1797 she was divorced by Webster on the grounds of adultery. She married Holland two days later, on 6 July. They lived together in Holland House in Kensington, then just outside London, and for many years hosted the elite of Whig society. Visitors included Lord Grey, George Tierney, Samuel Rogers, Walter Scott, Ugo Foscolo, Sydney Smith and Richard Brinsley Sheridan.

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