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Katherine Jones, Viscountess Ranelagh (1615–1691) was a leading Anglo-Irish intellectual in London of the Interregnum period. She was sister to Robert Boyle, and in her own right a political and social figure closely connected to the Hartlib Circle.
Katherine Boyle Jones in 1632[]
In 1632, Katherine took an extended trip to Grantville with several members of the "Acontian society", but without her husband -- or his permission. Few blamed her for this, as her husband was not well thought of. While there, she was hired for the newly-forming Essen Chemical Company, and relocated to Essen. During that time, she became romantically involved with up-timer Nicki Jo Prickett; and apparently dropped the "Jones" from her name, or at least stopped using it. Her father accepted what she had done, and opposed her return to England, if only because he saw the contacts she had been able to make as being valuable.
Late in 1634,[1] she was in Brussels as an assistant to the Republic of Essen's Secretary of State, helping to negotiate a treaty between Essen and Don Fernando's new kingdom in the Netherlands. During that time, her husband went to Brussels, ostensibly to attempt a reconciliation, but actually to force her to return with him. His attempt to abduct her was thwarted when Nicki Jo repeatedly hit him with a tennis racquet.
References[]
- ↑ Based on internal references in "Game, Set and Match"