ABSTRACT
Rachael Fane (1613-1680, Figure 8.1) was the daughter of Sir Francis Fane (later first Earl of Westmorland) and Mary, the only child of Sir Anthony and Lady Grace Mildmay of Apethorpe, Northamptonshire. By the beginning of the seventeenth century the Mildmays were part of the landed elites with court connections. James I was entertained at Apethorpe at least seven times, on two of these occasions for three nights. 1 After his marriage, Sir Francis Fane lived at Mereworth Castle, Kent. Rachael was born at Mereworth and baptised there on 28 January 1613, the ninth or tenth of 14 children. Following the death of Sir Anthony Mildmay in 1617, the Fane family moved to Apethorpe to live with Lady Grace. illtimately the estate passed to Rachael's mother Mary, Grace's only child.
