The Dowager Lady Hesketh: remembering the razor-sharp, ‘rugby hooligan’ chatelaine who endured tragedy early in life before a remarkable second act

At the age of 20, she married Frederick Fermor-Hesketh (or ‘Freddy’), 2nd Lord Hesketh, a scion of the family that once owned Rufford Hall, where it is reported that William Shakespeare once performed with the Hesketh troupe. Following the wedding, the new Lady Hesketh became chatelaine of Easton Neston, where her introduction to life in one of Britain’s…