Lady Anne Carr
| Anne Carr | |
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Portrait of Anne Carr, Countess of Bedford by Anthony van Dyck, c. 1638
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| Born | Lady Anne Carr 9 December 1615 Tower of London, London |
| Died | 10 May 1684 (aged 68) Woburn Abbey, Bedfordshire |
| Title | Countess of Bedford |
| Spouse(s) | William Russell, 5th Earl of Bedford |
| Children | Lord James Russell Francis Russell, Lord Russell William Russell, Lord Russell Margaret Russell, Countess of Orford John Russell Lord Edward Russell Diana Alington, Lady Alington |
| Parent(s) |
Robert Carr, 1st Earl of Somerset Lady Frances Howard |
Anne Carr, Countess of Bedford (9 December 1615 – 10 May 1684) was a wealthy English noblewoman, and the wife of William Russell, 5th Earl of Bedford, a peer and soldier during the English Civil War, who after her death was created Duke of Bedford. Her mother was the notorious Frances Howard who was an accomplice to murder. In about 1638, Anne was the subject of at least two portraits by Flemish painter Anthony van Dyck.
Lady Anne was born in the Tower of London on 9 December 1615, the only child and heir of Robert Carr, 1st Earl of Somerset and Frances Howard, a member of the noble Howard family. Anne was baptised on 16 December 1615 at St Martin's Church, Ludgate. At the time of her birth, her parents were imprisoned on charges of having participated in the fatal poisoning of Sir Thomas Overbury in 1613. They were both sentenced to death, but later spared execution. Her mother admitted to her complicity in the crime but her father maintained his innocence. The family remained in the Tower until January 1622 when King James I pardoned the Earl and Countess of Somerset.
Anne was described as having been virtuous and one of the three beauties of the royal court. Her beauty caught the eye of William Russell, the son and heir of Francis Russell, 4th Earl of Bedford and Catherine Brydges. Remembering the notorious scandal caused by Anne's parents; in particular, the infamous reputation of her mother, as well as the ignominy of her own birth in the Tower of London during the Somersets' imprisonment, William's father staunchly opposed the match, warning his son to be "upon his guard against the dangerous beauty of Anne Carr". A passionate attachment sprang up between William and Anne and the former refused to yield to his father's wishes in the matter. King Charles I, who favoured the marriage, eventually persuaded the earl to give his consent to the match; thus on 11 July 1637 at St. Benet's Church, Paul's Wharf, London, William Russell and Anne Carr were married. She brought him a fortune of £12,000, and the London property on which stood Southampton House, which became Bedford House and was developed later in the century as Bloomsbury Square.
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