Winifred Maxwell, Countess of Nithsdale

Winifred Maxwell, Countess of Nithsdale (née Lady Winifred Herbert; c. 1680—1749), is best known for arranging the daring escape of her husband from the Tower of London in 1716.

Winifred Maxwell
Countess of Nithsdale
Tenure	1699—1716
Predecessor	Lucy Douglas
Successor	Title forfeited
Born	Winifred Herbert c. 1680
Died	1749 (aged 68–69) Rome, Italy
Noble family	Herbert (by birth) Maxwell (by marriage)
Spouse(s)	William Maxwell, 5th Earl of Nithsdale (m. 1699; died 1744)
Father	William Herbert, 1st Marquess of Powis
Mother	Lady Elizabeth Somerset
Religion	Roman Catholic

Her father was the 1st Marquess of Powis, and she married, on 2 March 1699, the 5th Earl of Nithsdale, a Catholic nobleman. The couple had met at the French court, where Lady Winifred's father was in exile, while Nithsdale was paying his respects to the former King James II of England (James VII of Scotland). While resident at Terregles, Dumfriesshire, Scotland, the couple had five children.

In 1715, Nithsdale joined the Jacobite rebellion, but he was captured at the Battle of Preston and sent to the Tower of London. Having been tried for treason, he was sentenced to death, despite Lady Nithsdale's personal appeal to King George I. On the night before his execution, she persuaded the guards to let her see him, dressed him in women's clothing (including the "Nithsdale Cloak", which is still held by the family) and smuggled him out. They escaped to France, and went from there to Rome in the retinue of the Old Pretender.