Biography

Daughter of a leading eighteenth century diplomat, James Harris, 1st Earl of Malmesbury, Frances Harris married the recently knighted Sir Galbraith Lowry Cole in 1815. G.L. Cole was a soldier who had distinguished himself in the Peninsula War, especially at the Battle of Albucera, and had commanded the 4th Division (1809-1814) becoming a full general in 1830. He was a Member of Parliament for Enniskillen (1797-1800) and County Fermanagh (1803-1823). Collections of F. Cole arise from the period when her husband was acting governor of Mauritius (1820-1823), becoming governor (1823-1828) and governor of the Cape Colony in South Africa (1828-1833). She sent Sir Andrew Smith his only specimen of the Madagscan endemic Frances's Sparrowhawk (Accipiter francesiae Smith) which he named in her honour 'as an indication of the high respect entertained for Her Ladyship as a well known and zealous Patroness of Science'.

Biography

Daughter of a leading eighteenth century diplomat, James Harris, 1st Earl of Malmesbury, Frances Harris married the recently knighted Sir Galbraith Lowry Cole in 1815. G.L. Cole was a soldier who had distinguished himself in the Peninsula War, especially at the Battle of Albucera, and had commanded the 4th Division (1809-1814) becoming a full general in 1830. He was a Member of Parliament for Enniskillen (1797-1800) and County Fermanagh (1803-1823). Collections of F. Cole arise from the period when her husband was acting governor of Mauritius (1820-1823), becoming governor (1823-1828) and governor of the Cape Colony in South Africa (1828-1833). She sent Sir Andrew Smith his only specimen of the Madagscan endemic Frances's Sparrowhawk (Accipiter francesiae Smith) which he named in her honour 'as an indication of the high respect entertained for Her Ladyship as a well known and zealous Patroness of Science'.