Frances Gibson Shepheard Ingram

Frances Gibson Shepheard Ingram (1734-1807), Viscountess Ingram, was a wealthy heiress and landowner who was instrumental in the design of the landscape at Temple Newsam, Leeds. Lady Ingram was the illegitimate daughter of the rich Tory merchant, Samuel Shepheard; her mother was called Gibson. Samuel left £40,000 in his will to Frances stating that she must not marry a peer, an Irishman or a Scotsman. She married Charles Ingram, 9th Viscount Irwin in 1758 after several years of legal dispute. At their seat in Yorkshire, Temple Newsam, Lady Ingram insisted that Capability Brown redesign the parkland. As well as being a keen reader, she also directly supported writers such as Ann Gomersall, who dedicated her novels, Eleonora, to Frances. A resolute Tory, Lady Ingram used the burgages to dominate local politics by appointing members to the constituency and telling them how to vote; as well as controlling the local land court.