Countess of Derby, left in charge of the Isle of Man when her husband went to join Charles II in 1651.

James, the seventh Earl, gave her a commission dated 6 August 1651 to act for him in every respect during his absence, and left the insular infantry under the command of William Christian and his Countess and children in Christian's care. Sir Philip Musgrave was left as governor.

What happened between her and the Island's petitioners that autumn is the disputed heart of the Christian case. The charge later laid against Christian was that he had headed an insurrection against the Countess, assuming the power to himself and depriving her, the Earl and their heirs of it. Christian's own dying speech says the opposite: that he carried the petition to her, that she accepted it, and that she came to terms with the petitioners.