Sarah Sophia Child Villiers, Countess of Jersey (4 March 1785 – 26 January 1867), born Lady Sarah Fane, was an English noblewoman and banker, and through her marriage a member of the Villiers family.
Contents
Early life
She was the eldest daughter of John Fane, 10th Earl of Westmorland, and Sarah Anne Child. Her younger sister Maria married John Ponsonby, Viscount Duncannon, later the 4th Earl of Bessborough, a brother of Lady Caroline Lamb. Her other sister, Lady Augusta, married firstly the 2nd Baron Boringdon and in 1809 she scandalously eloped with and later, after her divorce from Lord Boringdon was finalised, finally married Sir Arthur Paget.
Her mother was the only child of Robert Child, the principal shareholder in the banking firm Child & Co.
Career
Under the terms of her grandfather's will, she was the primary legatee, and she not only inherited Osterley Park but became senior partner of Child & Co. after the death of her grandmother, Sarah Child. Her husband, George Villiers, added the surname Child by royal licence. The inheritance made her one of the richest women in England: in 1805 she was able to give £20,000 each to four family members without impairing her own income. In politics, she was a Tory, although she lacked the passionate interest in politics shown by her cousin Harriet Arbuthnot. On hearing that the Duke of Wellington had fallen from power in 1830, she burst into tears in public. She reportedly "moved heaven and earth" against the Reform Act 1832.