Biography
Born 1672, the last of the six children of William Herbert,
Marquess and Duke of Powis (c.1626-1696), and Lady Elizabeth
Somerset (c.1634-1691).
Married William Maxwell, 5th Earl of Nithsdale (1676 - 1744) In
1699.
Had five children, of whom only two reached adulthood: Anne, who
married the 4th Baron Bellew; and William Maxwell, who successfully
reclaimed the family estate at Nithsdale in 1723.
Lived in exile with the Jacobite court, first at La Flèche, in
France, from 1717 to 1718, and then from 1718 to 1726 at Rome.
Died in Rome, 1749
Portrait of the Countess of Nithsdale by Sir John Baptiste de
Medina, before 1710.
With kind permission of Traquair House.
Winifred, Countess of Nithsdale (1672
-1749)
The Countess of Nithsdale was
born Winifred Herbert, the youngest daughter of William Herbert,
1st Marquess of Powis. At the time she met her future husband,
William Maxwell, he was paying his respects to the former King
James II in exile and her father was in exile in France. The
Nithsdales lived at Terregles in Dumfriesshire and remained loyal
to their Catholic faith.
In 1715 the Earl of Nithsdale
joined the Jacobite rebellion in support of James II's son, the
‘Old Pretender'. He was captured, sent to the Tower of London,
tried for treason and sentenced to death. The Countess fought to
obtain mercy for him and when her pleas failed, helped him to
escape and joined him in exile abroad. She recounted the full story
contained in a letter to her sister, now held as part of the
Maxwell Constable family papers at Hull University Archives
(DDEV/76/17).
On the eve of the date set for the
execution, the Countess secured the help of her maid and two other
women in a plan of escape which she had been preparing for over
several days. She had left powder, rouge and an artificial
head-dress in her husband's cell; had endeared herself to the
guards by giving them money and drink, and further allayed their
suspicions by pretending that a pardon and release were certain. On
22 February, with the help of her friends, a riding hood and cloak
were smuggled into the tower and the Countess then walked out with
her husband disguised as one of the women. Once outside the Tower
they met the Countess's maid who took her husband to a safe house.
The Countess then returned to her husband's cell and feigned both
sides of a conversation with him, before taking her leave, shutting
the door so it could only be opened on the inside. After a few days
in hiding in London, the Earl of Nithsdale was able to leave for
Calais, disguised as a liveried servant of the Venetian
Ambassador.
Once the news of the escape spread,
the Countess was suspected of involvement. She had also greatly
angered the King by her petition and "given him more trouble and
anxiety than any woman in Europe". Despite the danger she had now
to secure family papers in Scotland and arrange for the care of the
property. "As I had once exposed my life for the safety of the
father, I could not do less than hazard it once more for the
fortune of the son". She rode in secret to Traquair, secured the
papers and returned to London. Once the search for her had ceased,
she was able to leave for the continent and joined her husband in
exile in Rome, where she died in 1749.
Lady Nithsdale became a popular
heroine in early Jacobite writing. Her story formed the basis of
several popular historical accounts, plays (such as Clifford Bax's
The Immortal Lady, 1931), and a historical novel,
Winifred, Countess of Nithsdale: a Tale of the Jacobite
Wars (1869), by Barbarina Olga Brand, Lady Dacre. Lady
Nithsdale was also included in several books of distinguished
women, praised for her intrepid actions and devotion to her
husband.