[4] Her husband became "Commander of the Southern Plantation" in 1662, serving in that role for two years; in 1667 he became governor of Albemarle, holding that position until dying in 1670.

[1] At his death she inherited a plantation, called Balthrope or Boldrup, in Warwick County, a provision which had been agreed to before their marriage; unusually for a woman at the time she managed the estate herself instead of handing it over to a man.

Long admired, his popularity had waned by the time of his marriage, and he was ridiculed by many for taking a wife half his age.

[1] That she wielded considerable influence can be seen by the fact that she was able to obtain a pardon for one Jones, condemned by the governor for his participation in the rebellion, at the request of Sir Francis Moryson.

[2] Lady Berkeley's role in public life was widely known at the time, and some believed that the errors made by her husband in his last years could be laid at her feet instead.

[1] Upon the death of her husband, Frances, by now the richest woman in Virginia if not in all of British North America,[6] rallied a group of his supporters at Green Spring and encouraged them to maneuver against Herbert Jeffreys, the new governor, and English attempts to curb the colonists' freedoms;[5] among them were Thomas Ballard, Robert Beverley, Edward Hill, and her future husband, Philip Ludwell, then secretary of the colony.

She persisted for some time in her attempts to collect the salary which Berkeley had been due at his death, enlisting the Virginia General Assembly in her efforts.

[2] Through her second husband's will, Frances Culpeper Berkeley became a Lord Proprietor of the province of Carolina; "by a curious combination of circumstances .