HISTORY & HERITAGE PUBLIC LECTURES: 5 April 2017

‘The Great Whore of Babylon’: Charlotte de la Trémoille, Countess of Derby

Dr Jennifer Kewley Draskau

So fierce was the resistance put up by the Royalist heroine Lady Derby when Cromwell’s forces besieged her home at Lathom that her enemies denounced her as ‘the Great Whore of Babylon.’

Who was Charlotte, descendant of crusaders, assassinated statesmen and nuns?

The Roundheads claimed that three women ruined the kingdom: Eve, the fount of temptation and evil; Queen Henrietta Maria, wilful, volatile, Catholic, and also French; and the Countess of Derby, staunch, resolute and fearless.

For the Manx, other questions remain: how far did Lady Derby’s attitude add fuel to the patriotic flames of the 1651 Manx Rising, led by Illiam Dhone and others?

Did Lady Derby later vengefully pursue Illiam Dhone, resulting in his death by firing squad in 1663?


Charlotte de la Trémoille, Countess of Derby. Courtesy of Manx National Heritage (P.0721)
Charlotte de la Trémoille, Countess of Derby. Courtesy of Manx National Heritage (P.0721)