Mary Curzon, Baroness Curzon of Kedleston
Mary Victoria Curzon, Baroness Curzon of Kedleston CI (actually Mary Victoria Leiter , born May 27, 1870 in Chicago , † July 18, 1906 in London ) was a US citizen and was married to Baroness Curzon of Kedleston and later Vice Queen of India .
Life
Mary Victoria was the eldest daughter of four children of the businessman Levi Head (1834-1904) and his wife Mary Theresa Carver (1844-1913). In 1881, her family moved to Washington, DC. Her parents placed great importance on a good upbringing, so Mary received lessons in French , drawing , music , singing, and dancing . A professor from Columbia University taught her history , math, and chemistry . She later traveled to Europe with her mother and a governess . It was introduced into society in 1888. The friendship with Frances Cornelia Folsom , the future wife of the US President Grover Cleveland , lasted until her death.
Mary Leiter was introduced to London society in 1894 by the British US Ambassador Thomas Bayard. There she met the 35-year-old Sir George Nathaniel Curzon (1859-1925), Member of Parliament and eldest son of the fourth Baron Scarsdale, know and love. They were married on April 22, 1895 at St. John's Episcopal Church in Washington. The connection resulted in three daughters:
- Mary Irene (1896–1966), heiress and later 2nd Baroness Ravensdale of Kedleston
- Cynthia Blanche (1898–1933) ⚭ 1920 Sir Oswald Ernald Mosley, 6th Baronet
- Alexandra Naldera (1904–1995) ⚭ 1925 Sir Edward Dudley Metcalfe
Mary Curzon was very interested in politics and was instrumental in her husband's re-election to the British Parliament in the fall of 1895 . He later became Undersecretary of State in the India Office and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, then in 1899 he was appointed Governor General and Viceroy of India . They arrived in Bombay on December 30, 1899 and later moved to Calcutta . On the occasion of the coronation celebrations of King Edward VII and his wife Alexandra , the couple organized a large parade in Delhi and a ball in the evening. For the occasion, Lady Curzon wore an elaborate evening dress, designed by the Haute Couture House Worth in Paris , which became famous as a peacock dress and can be admired today at Kedleston Hall . Criticism arose for the enormous cost of this extravagant event and her personal lifestyle - but her defenders argued that local businesses were involved in the festival and the whole country benefited from it. Lady Curzon promoted the country's infrastructure , particularly silk weaving, embroidery and other artists who sold their products in India and to Europe . Her friend and fashion designer Lady Duff Gordon was also among the buyers . Together with Lady Hariot Hamilton-Temple-Blackwood, she reformed hospitals and the training of local doctors and nurses. The Lady Curzon Hospital was founded in Bengaluru for this purpose .
Lady Mary Curzon died in London on July 18, 1906, of an abdominal infection caused by a miscarriage in India.
Title and medal
- 1870–1895 Mary Victoria Leiter
- 1895-1906 Lady Curzon
- 1897-1906 Baroness Curzon of Kedleston
- 1898–1905 Viceroy of India
- Dame Grand Cross of the Royal Victorian Order
- Order of the Indian Empire
- Order of the Star of India
Others
- Lady Mary Curzon is said to have got into trouble on the occasion of a reception to be organized by her in honor of a high-ranking, staunch abstainer , as an English dinner without alcohol would have annoyed the other guests. So she came up with a way of hiding the sherry, popular as an aperitif, in the Consommé Lady Curzon soup , with the whipped cream serving as an odor trap. Other sources attribute the origin of the recipe to the lady's desire to hide her own alcohol addiction.
- On a tour of India she saw an Indian rhinoceros for the first time and was so fascinated by these animals that she asked her husband to build a reserve for endangered animals. This later became the Kaziranga National Park .
- In 1901 a wild rose was named Lady Curzon in her honor . The Lady Curzon is described in the rose encyclopedia as a rugosa hybrid , pure pink and more often blooming.
- Her younger sister, Margaret Daisy , married Sir Henry Howard, 19th Earl of Suffolk and Berkshire, in 1901.
literature
- Anne de Courcy: The Viceroy's Daughters, The Lives of the Curzon Sisters , Harper Collons Publishers (2003) ISBN 0-06-093557-X
- Nicolson Nigel: Lady Curzon , Harper & Row, New York (1977) ISBN 0-29-777390-9
- Bradley John: Lady Curzon's India: Letters of a Viceriene , Weidenfeld & Nicolson., London (1986) ISBN 0-29-778701-2
- David Gilmour: Curzon: Imperial Statesman , Farrar Straus Giroux (2006) ISBN 978-0374530242
Web links
- Mary Victoria Leiter on thepeerage.com , accessed September 11, 2016.
Individual evidence
- ^ Diana De Marly: Worth: Father of Haute Couture , Holmes & Meier Publishers Inc (1991) ISBN 0-8419-1242-4
- ↑ Kochlatein ( Memento of the original from October 5, 2008 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. from www.hessenkrone.de
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Curzon, Mary, Baroness Curzon of Kedleston |
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES | Head, Mary Victoria |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | Viceroy of India |
| DATE OF BIRTH | May 27, 1870 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Chicago |
| DATE OF DEATH | July 18, 1906 |
| Place of death | London |