Note 161 — JOURNAL OF ELIZABETH LADY HOLLAND (continued 3)

Mr. Fox married Mrs. Armstead in September 1795 at Wyton, near Huntingdon, but the fact was not announced till 1802. She died in 1842, at the age of ninety-two. Lord Minto, writing in 1805, says of her: ‘She has grown fat, and not younger, nor softer flavoured, but her manner is pleasing and gentlewomanlike. I perceive that Lady Holland does not admire her, and would willingly indulge herself now and then with a fling at her.’ And again: ‘Mr. Fox has been shopping with Mrs. Fox, an amusement they say he is very fond of; they had been buying china—cheap china, I mean, for they seem great economists.’ Miss Fox’s (Lord Holland’s sister) account of Mrs. Fox’s conduct in 1806, written to Lord Ossory, is also interesting, to show the bias of Lady Holland’s description. ‘Mrs. Fox’s patient fortitude, her gentle piety, endear her to me every minute, and loving her as I do for his sake, still I must do so for her own, for she deserves it.’