Frances Seymour, Duchess of Somerset (born 1699)

Frances Seymour, Countess of Hertford (née Thynne; 10 May 1699 – 7 July 1754), later the Duchess of Somerset, was a British courtier and the wife of Algernon Seymour, Earl of Hertford, who became the 7th Duke of Somerset in 1748. She was also known as a poet, literary patron and woman of letters. Her great-aunt by marriage, Anne Finch, Countess of Winchilsea, influenced her literary development. She was also influenced by the poet Elizabeth Singer (later Rowe), with whom she became acquainted in her youth at Longleat, where she grew up.