Mistress of King James II. See Dictionary of National Biography. Had several children by him including James Fitzjames, Duke of Berwick.

Arabella was the child of Sir Winston Churchill (an ancestor of the Prime Minister of the same name) and Elizabeth Drake. Her brother was John Churchill, 1st Duke of Marlborough. The Churchill's loyalty to the royal household was ardent; and their only feeling about Arabella's seduction on King James II seems to have been a joyful surprise that a so plain girl had attained such high preferment.[1]

She began her relationship with James, then Duke of York, around 1665, while he was still married to Anne Hyde. Arabella became the duchess's lady-in-waiting in that year, and gave birth to two children during Anne's lifetime. Churchill was described as a "tall creature, pale-faced, and nothing but skin and bone." She often displayed the quick wit and lively intelligence which bound James to her through ten years and four children.[2] Some time after 1674, she married Charles Godfrey and had three more children. They lived happily together for 40 years.[3] Godfrey died in 1714, at the age of 67.[4]

Children

[edit]Children with James II of England
Henrietta FitzJames, (1667 – 3 April 1730)
James FitzJames, 1st Duke of Berwick, (1670 – 1734)[5]
Henry FitzJames, 1st Duke of Albemarle, (1673 – 1702)
Arabella FitzJames, (1674 – 7 November 1704), became a nun.
From her children Henrieta, Countess of Newcastle and James, Duke of Berwick, she is the ancestor of the Earls Spencer and Diana, Princess of Wales as well as of the Dukes of Berwick, the later Dukes of Alba and of Cayetana Fitz-James Stuart, 18th Duchess of Alba, the person with the most noble titles in the world.
[edit]Children with Charles Godfrey
Francis Godfrey.
Charlotte Godfrey, b. bef. 1685, married Hugh Boscawen, 1st Viscount Falmouth.
Elizabeth Godfrey, married Edmund Dunch, son of Hungerford Dunch.