Identity:
Frances Isabella, Lady Donoughmore, née Stephens, was the daughter of Lieutenant General Stephens. She married John Luke George Hely-Hutchinson, the fifth Earl of Donoughmore in 1874. Their seat was at Knocklofty, Clonmel, Co Tipperary. They had a son and two daughters: Richard Walter John, Viscount Suirdale (b. 1875) who became the sixth Earl of Donoughmore; Lady Evelyn (b. 1877) and Lady Norah (b. 1880).
Life:
Lady Donoughmore and her husband were close friends of JW's and were invited to his famous breakfasts in Chelsea (#07927). Lady Donoughmore and Whistler were in correspondence from 1884 until 1903. JW wrote her a touching letter of condolence at her husband's death in 1900, in which he remarked on their kindness to him following the death of his wife (#11206).
Bibliography:
Burke, Bernard, A Genealogical and Heraldic History of the Landed Gentry of Great Britain and Ireland, 2 vols, London, 1894; Debrett's Peerage, Baronetage and Knightage, London, 1896; Who's Who, London, 1905; Young, Andrew McLaren, Margaret F. MacDonald, Robin Spencer and Hamish Miles, The Paintings of James McNeill Whistler, New Haven and London, 1980.