Frances Elizabeth Jocelyn, Viscountess Jocelyn, VA (née Cowper; 1820 – 26 March 1880) was a British courtier and amateur photographer. She was born as the youngest daughter of Peter Cowper, 5th Earl Cowper and his wife Emily Lamb. However, some have speculated that she and her brother William were fathered by Henry John Temple, 3rd Viscount Palmerston, whom Lady Cowper married in 1839, after Cowper's death. Before her marriage, Lady Frances served as one of the trainbearers at the coronation of Queen Victoria, and she also served as a bridesmaid at the wedding of the queen to Prince Albert in 1840. In 1841, she became a Lady of the Bedchamber to the queen later that year, holding the position until 1867.
Lady Frances married Robert Jocelyn, Viscount Jocelyn, the son and heir of the 3rd Earl of Roden, and moved to Northern Ireland. They had five children together.
Children of Lady Frances Elizabeth Cowper and Robert Jocelyn, Viscount Jocelyn:
Lord Jocelyn died in 1854, devastating his wife. Lady Jocelyn later turned to photography, focusing on domesticity, a subject that was common for women photographers in the Victorian era. The Encyclopaedia of Nineteenth-century Photography has written that her photographic collages – collections of cut-up images re-inserted onto painted backdrops – and use of watercolours "subverted the realistic nature of photography".
Viscountess Jocelyn's interest in photography declined in the 1870s. She spent much of her time travelling with her children, visiting seaside resorts in England and France for her health. She died on 24 March 1880 in Cannes, France. All five of her children died before their mother.
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