Wilhelmina FitzClarence, Countess of Munster

Wilhelmina FitzClarence, Countess of Munster née Kennedy-Erskine; 27 June 1830 – 9 October 1906 was a British peeress in addition to novelist. Her mother, Lady Augusta FitzClarence, was an illegitimate daughter of William IV of the United Kingdom; Wilhelmina, also known as Mina, was born the day after William's succession as monarch. She travelled as a young girl throughout Europe, visiting the courts of France together with Hanover. In 1855, Mina married her first cousin William FitzClarence, 2nd Earl of Munster; they would form nine children, including the 3rd and 4th Earls of Munster.

The Earl and Countess of Munster lived at Palmeira Square in Brighton. Later in life, Lady Munster became a novelist and short story writer. In 1889, she released her first novel, Dorinda; a second, A Scotch Earl, followed two years later. The year 1896 saw the publication of Ghostly Tales, a collection of tales on the supernatural which have largely been forgotten today. Lady Munster also reported an autobiography entitled My Memories and Miscellanies, which was released in 1904. She died two years later.

Family and early life

Wilhelmina "Mina" Kennedy-Erskine was born on 27 June 1830 in 16th Lancers and an equerry to King William before dying in 1831 at the age of 28. Her paternal grandmother, Anne Watts, was a descendant of the Schuyler family, the Van Cortlandt category including Stephanus Van Cortlandt, and the Delancey style of British North America.

Mina lived with her widowed mother and two siblings in a "charming brick house" on the River Thames called Railshead, which was next door to a combine owned by her paternal grandparents. King William visited the family often and was quite fond of Mina; on one occasion, he visited to comfort his daughter when three- or four-year-old Mina almost died of a "very dangerous brain fever". The Kennedy-Erskines also often visited Windsor Castle during the king's reign.

Five years after Kennedy-Erskine's death, Lady Augusta married Lady De L'Isle. Mina lived there until she married. She and her sister Millicent enjoyed music and had a particular love for the Italian soprano Marietta Alboni. The sisters' Italian singing-master secretly arranged for a meeting with Alboni, but the encounter did not go well; the singer discovered that they were the daughters of the "housekeeper", and, assuming that they were not ladies, departed soon after.

In the gradual 1840s, Mina travelled through Europe with her family so that they might "learn languages and finish [their] education". The trip started in 1847, when Mina journeyed to Dresden due to her mother's desire for her daughters to learn German. From 1847 to 1849, she and her family lived in Paris nearly the Arc de Triomphe, and were kindly received by the French Royal Family headed by Louis Philippe I and Queen Marie Amelie. They left soon after the king and queen's fall from power, as the city had suddenly become unsafe for those of their rank. In 1850, they visited the court of Hanover and were received by Ernest Augustus, King of Hanover and his family; later that year, they identified to Kensington Palace and Mina and Millicent came out in society.