Sarah Fane, Countess of Westmorland


Sarah Anne Fane, Countess of Westmorland was an English noblewoman.
She was the only child of Robert Child, the owner of Osterley Park and principal shareholder in the banking firm Child & Co, and Sarah Child. She married John Fane, 10th Earl of Westmorland, on 20 May 1782 at Gretna Green after they eloped together. Her parents were dissatisfied with the match: Sarah Anne being an only child, her father wanted her to marry a commoner who would take the Child name; but Sarah Anne told her mother, "A bird in the hand is worth two in the bush." Her father cut her out of his will, leaving his house and fortune to Sarah Anne's second son or eldest daughter, instead of the Westmorland heir.
Sarah Anne and the earl's surviving children were:
As only one son of the marriage survived, most of Child's fortune eventually went to his eldest granddaughter, Lady Sarah Sophia.
Seven years after Sarah's death, the Earl of Westmorland married Jane Saunders, an heiress, and had further children.