Lady Frances Jocelyn

The amateur photographer Lady Frances Jocelyn (1820-1880) was the daughter of Peter Cowper, 5th Earl Cowper. After her father’s death, her mother had married Lord Palmerston, whose mistress she had been for many years. Throughout her life there were rumours that Lady Jocelyn’s real father was in fact Lord Palmerston.

In 1838 Lady Frances was one of the trainbearers at the coronation of Queen Victoria. Two years later she was one of the Queen’s bridesmaids at her wedding to Prince Albert.

On 9 April 1841 Lady Frances married the politician, Robert Jocelyn, Viscount Jocelyn, the eldest son of Robert Jocelyn, 3rd Earl of Roden. That same year she was appointed a Lady of the Bedchamber to the Queen.

During the late 1850s and early 1860s, Lady Jocelyn was a keen amateur photographer. A frequent visitor to Palmerston’s home, Broadlands in Hampshire, she photographed many family groups and a number of the visitors who came to the estate. She worked closely with the local photographer in Romsey, William Henry Slater, and his assistant William Toogood Frost.

Lady Jocelyn outlived her husband and all four of her children; she died at Cannes on 26 March 1880.

Photographed by Camille Silvy of London.