Miss F. Arkwright
(1796-1863)
21 June 1862

Volume 7, page 176, sitting number 8950. 

[The sitter is identified as ‘Miss F. Arkwright’ in the Silvy daybooks. From the context of the album, she is clearly a relation of John Hungerford Arkwright of Hampton Court in Herefordshire. The likeliest match for a fuller identification is either his aunt Frances, born in 1796, or his sister Frances Catherine Arkwright, born in 1841. Given the apparent age of the sitter, I think she is more likely to be the aunt than the sister.]

Born at Matlock in Derbyshire on 23 August 1796, Frances Arkwright was the daughter of Richard Arkwright and his wife Mary née Simpson. Her grandfather was Sir Richard Arkwright (1732-1792), inventor of the spinning frame and father of the factor system.

She appears on the 1861 census, aged 64, living at Oak Hill, her residence at Cromford in Derbyshire. The household also included Anne J. Willdey, described as both a ‘Friend’ and a ‘Companion’ on the census, and four female servants. 

Frances Arkwright died, aged 67, in Cromford on 4 November 1863, leaving an estate valued at £3000. She was buried in the churchyard of St Mary’s in Cromford.