Grace Granville

Grace Carteret, 1st Countess Granville, was born on 13 September 1654 (Old Style date 3 September) in Lincoln's Inn Fields, London. She was the second daughter of Sir John Granville and his wife, Jane Wyche. Her father was elevated to the peerage as Earl of Bath in 1660.

In 1680, Grace married George Carteret, who was born in 1667 and died in 1695. At the time of their marriage, George was thirteen years her junior. He succeeded his grandfather as a baronet in 1680 and was elevated to the peerage as Baron Carteret in 1681.

The couple had three sons: George Carteret, born on 11 February 1689 and who died in infancy on 8 June 1689; John Carteret, later the 2nd Earl Granville, born in 1690 and died in 1763; and Philip Carteret, born on 6 November 1692 and died on 19 March 1711. John Carteret was married twice, first to Frances Worsley in 1710 and then to Lady Sophia Fermor in 1744, and had children from both marriages. Philip Carteret died unmarried while a pupil at Westminster School and was buried at Westminster Abbey.

Following the death of her father, Sir John Granville, the earldom of Bath was inherited by her nephew William, son of her brother Charles Granville, 2nd Earl of Bath, who died by suicide shortly after his father in 1701. William was a minor at the time. William's death in 1711 led to Grace inheriting the family titles. In 1714, she was created Viscountess Carteret and Countess Granville in her own right, titles which she was able to pass on to her elder son, John Carteret.

Grace Carteret held the titles of Countess Granville and Viscountess Carteret in her own right from 1714 until her death. She died on 18 October 1744 at the family estate of Hawnes in Bedfordshire, aged 77. Shortly before her death, she attended her son's second marriage to Sophia Fermor. She was buried in the vault of General Monk at Westminster Abbey.