Abigail Masham, Baroness Masham (née Hill; 6 December 1734), was an English courtier. She was a favourite of Queen Anne, and a cousin of Sarah, Duchess of Marlborough. Life Early life Abigail Hill was the daughter of Francis Hill, a London merchant, and Elizabeth Hill (née Jennings). Elizabeth Hill was an aunt of Sarah Jennings, later Duchess of Marlborough. The family was reduced to poor circumstances through her father's speculations, and Abigail was forced to work as a servant for Sir John Rivers of Kent. Abigail was befriended by her first cousin Sarah Jennings, or Lady Churchill (as the duchess was then known), who was Lady of the Bedchamber to Princess Anne. Sarah's friendship towards Abigail may have derived from embarrassment that her cousin had fallen on such hard times rather than being based on any genuine affection. Sarah Churchill's claim that she had only recently, and quite by chance, become aware of Abigail's existence was justifiable, as their mutual grandfather Sir John Jennings had 22 children, and Sarah may well not have known of all her numerous first cousins. Sarah Churchill took Abigail into her own household at St. Albans. After the accession of Princess Anne to the throne in 1702, Abigail received an appointment in the Queen's Household about the year 1704. The Queen's favourite By 1704, the Queen had grown weary of both the frequent absences of Sarah, Duchess of Marlborough (as Sarah had now become), from the Court and her political lectures. There was a significant difference between them because Sarah, the Duchess, was a Whig and Anne was a Tory. Sarah wanted Queen Anne to appoint more Whig ministers, the majority of whom were in favour of the 1st Duke of Marlborough's campaigns in The War Of Spanish Succession. The Queen, not prepared to abandon the "Church Party" (as the Tories were commonly known, and religion being Anne's chief concern) even for her favourite, confided to her Lord Treasurer, the 1st Earl of Godolphin, that she did not feel that she and Sarah could ever be true friends again. It was not long before Abigail Hill began to supplant her powerful and imperious kinswoman in the favour of Queen Anne. Whether Abigail was guilty of the deliberate ingratitude charged against her by Sarah, Duchess of Marlborough, is uncertain. It is likely that Abigail's influence over the Queen was not so much due to subtle scheming