Mary Cavendish, Duchess of Devonshire
Mary Alice Cavendish Duchess of Devonshire, GCVO CBE (born Gascoyne-Cecil * 29. July 1895 in Hatfield , Hertfordshire , † 24. December 1988 in City of Westminster , London ) was a British nobleman and Mistress ( Mistress of the Robes ) at Queen Elizabeth II from 1953 to 1967.
Life
She was the youngest daughter of four children of the politician James Gascoyne-Cecil, 4th Marquess of Salisbury (1861-1947) and his wife Lady Cicely Alice Gore (1867-1955), a daughter of Arthur Saunders Gore, 5th Earl of Arran and Lady Edith Elizabeth Henrietta Jocelyn.
On April 21, 1917 she married in London Edward William Spencer Cavendish, Marquess of Hartington (1895-1950), the eldest son of Victor Cavendish, 9th Duke of Devonshire , and Lady Evelyn Emily Mary FitzMaurice . The marriage had five children:
- William John Robert (1917–1944), Marquess of Hartington ⚭ 1944 Kathleen Agnes Kennedy (1920–1948);
- Andrew Robert Buxton (1920–2004), 11th Duke of Devonshire ⚭ 1941 Hon. Deborah Vivien Freeman-Mitford (1920–2014);
- Mary (* / † 1922);
- Elizabeth Georgiana Alice (born 1926), lady-in-waiting to Princess Margaret, Countess of Snowdon ( Mistress of the Robes ; 1954-2002);
- Anne Evelyn Beatrice (* 1927) ⚭ 1949 Michael Lambert Tree (* 1921).
Her husband, who in the meantime had inherited the title of Duke of Devonshire from his father , died on November 26, 1950 of complications from a heart attack in the presence of his doctor John Bodkin Adams . The Duchess was Chancellor of the University of Exeter from 1955 to 1972 .
Name in different phases of life
- 1895–1917 Lady Mary Alice Gascoyne-Cecil
- 1917-1938 Mary Cavendish, Marchioness of Hartington
- 1938-1950 Mary Cavendish, Duchess of Devonshire
- 1950–1988 Mary Cavendish, Dowager Duchess of Devonshire
Awards
- 1946: Commander of the British Empire (CBE)
- 1953–1967: Lady in waiting (Mistress of the Robes) of Queen Elizabeth II.
- 1954: Hon. Doctor of Laws (LL.D.) from the University of Leeds
- 1955: Dame Grand Cross of the Royal Victorian Order (GCVO)
- 1956: Hon. Doctor of Laws (LL.D.) from the University of Exeter
- 1958: Grand Cross of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany
literature
- Duncan Warrand and Lord Howard de Walden: The Complete Peerage of England, Scotland, Ireland, Great Britain and the United Kingdom . Sutton, Gloucester 2000.
- Peter W. Hammond: The Complete Peerage or a History of the House of Lords and All its Members From the Earliest Times . Sutton, Gloucester 1998.
- Pamela V. Cullen: A Stranger in Blood: The Case Files on Dr John Bodkin Adams . Elliott & Thompson, London 2006, ISBN 1-904027-19-9 .
Web links
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Cavendish, Mary, Duchess of Devonshire |
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES | Gascoyne-Cecil, Mary Alice |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | British noblewoman and lady-in-waiting to Queen Elizabeth II. |
| DATE OF BIRTH | July 29, 1895 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Hatfield , Hertfordshire |
| DATE OF DEATH | December 24, 1988 |
| Place of death | City of Westminster |