Asquith family

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The Asquith family were originally a middle class family from West Yorkshire, and members of the Congregational church. The first prominent member of the family was H.H. Asquith, the British Prime Minister from 1908 to 1915. In 1925, Asquith was raised to the House of Lords with the earldom of Oxford and Asquith. His grandson Julian is the present 2nd Earl.

All of H.H. Asquith's six children achieved some prominence in national affairs. By his first wife Helen Kelsall Melland (d. 1891), he had three sons and one daughter. The eldest son Raymond, a brilliant barrister, was killed in action 1916; all of the Prime Minister's sons having volunteered for the Front early in the War. The second son Herbert is better known for his wife Cynthia; the third son Arthur became a Brigadier; the fourth son Cyril (1890-1954) became a Law Lord. The daughter Violet (1887-1969) became a Liberal politician and a Life Peeress in her own right in 1964.

By his second wife the former Margot Tennant, Asquith had two more children. His daughter Elizabeth (1897-1945) married a Romanian prince and became Princess Antoine Bibesco; his youngest son Anthony (1902-1968) became a well-known film director.

[edit] Prominent members

Living descendants are omitted, unless they are notable and/or have a separate Wikipedia entry.

• H.H. Asquith married 1stly Helen Kelsall Melland (d. 1891), issue 4 sons and 1 daughter; married 2ndly 1894 Margot Tennant, surviving issue 1 son and 1 daughter.
  • Raymond Asquith (killed in action 1916), barrister and poet; married 1907 Katherine Horner; 1 son and 2 daughters
    • Julian Asquith, 2nd Earl of Oxford and Asquith (b. 1916) married Anne Palairet (d. 1998); issue 2 sons and 3 daughters
      • Raymond Asquith, Viscount Asquith (b. 1952), British diplomat and businessman, heir apparent to the earldom; married Mary Clare Pollen; issue 1 son and 4 daughters
        • • The Honourable Mark Julian Asquith (b. 1979)
      • The Honourable Dominic Asquith, British diplomat (b. 1957), British Ambassador to Iraq from 2006; married to Louise Cotton, and has issue 2 sons and 2 daughters.
      • Lady Annunziata Asquith, former model for Burberry; unmarried.
      • Lady Katherine Page; married 1stly (divorced) Adam Ridley (himself grandson of Violet Bonham Carter, Baroness Asquith of Yarnbury; married 2ndly J.C. Page.
      • Lady Clare Asquith, unmarried.
    • Lady Helen Asquith (1908-2000) who died unmarried
    • Lady Perdita Asquith (1910-1996) who married the 4th Baron Hylton (d 1967) and had issue two sons (including the present incumbent) and one daughter
  • The Honourable Herbert Asquith (1881-1947); married to Lady Cynthia Charteris, writer, a daughter of the Earl of Wemyss and March; and had issue 3 sons
    • John Michael Asquith (9 May 1911-May 1937)
    • Michael Henry Asquith (25 Jul 1914-19 Jan 2004); twice married and had issue 2 sons and 1 daughter.
    • Simon Roland Anthony Asquith (20 Aug 1919-18 Dec 1973); m.1 Oct 1942 Vivien Lawrence Jones; they had issue 2 sons and 1 daughter.
  • Brigadier The Honourable Arthur Melland Asquith (1883–1939); married to the Honourable Betty Manners, a daughter of Lord Manners of Foston, and had issue. His descendants live at Clovelly Court, North Devon. Among them are:
    • (April) Mary Asquith(1919-decd), later The Hon. Mrs Keith Rous, later Mary, Countess of Stradbroke although did not use the name^[1]; md 1943 Hon (William) Keith Rous, later briefly 5th Earl of Stradbroke ([1907]]-1983) as his 2nd wife, and had issue 1 son and 3 daus (1 dau decd). The son now owns Clovelly Court.
    • Jean Constance Asquith (b. 1922) who married Lawrence Leif Toynbee, artist, youngest son of Arnold Toynbee (d. 1975) by his former wife Rosalind, eldest daughter of Gilbert Murray classicist by his wife Lady Mary Howard, eldest daughter of George Howard, 9th Earl of Carlisle and his wife Hon. Rosalind Stanley (an aunt of philosopher Bertrand Russell). They had issue.
    • Susan Penelope Asquith, who married 1946 Evelyn Basil Boothby, of the Boothby Baronets, and had issue. Their eldest son (John) Joseph Boothby married Isabel Rose Chancellor, a granddaughter of Christopher Chancellor and an elder sister of actress Anna Chancellor; their daughter Emily married writer Piers Paul Read.
  • Cyril Asquith, Baron Asquith of Bishopstone (1890–1954); married 1918 Anne Stephanie Pollock (1896-1964), of the Pollock Baronets descended from a former Tory Attorney-General; they had issue 2 sons and 2 daughters.
    • The Honourable Luke Asquith(b. 1919)^[2], whose daughter Anne (b. 1965)^[3] is married since 1989 to Hon. Roderick Cavendish (b. 1959), son and heir of Frederick Caryll Philip Cavendish, 7th Baron Waterpark and has issue two sons.
    • The Honourable Paul Asquith (b. 1927)^[4] married 1953 (div 1963) as her first husband Helena Mary Bridgeman (b. 1932) and has issue two children. He married 1963 Caroline Anne Carew Pole and had further issue, two children. All four children are married with issue.
    • The Honourable Jane Asquith (b. 1922) ^[5]
    • The Honourable (Frances) Rose Asquith (b. 1925)^[6] md Sir John Frederick Eustace Stephenson, Judge (d. 1998), son of Sir Guy Stephenson, and had issue.^[7]
  • Lady Violet Asquith, later Bonham Carter (1887-1969), who became Baroness Asquith of Yarnbury in 1964; she married 1916 Sir Maurice Bonham Carter (1880-1960), her father's private secretary, and had issue 2 sons and 2 daughters
    • Mark Bonham Carter, himself a Life Peer. Among his descendants are his daughter, another Life Peeress (in the third generation)
      • Jane Bonham Carter, Baroness Bonham-Carter of Yarnbury
    • Raymond Bonham Carter (19 June 1929 – 17 January 2004) married Elena Propper de Callejon; had issue 2 sons and 1 daughter
      • Edward Bonham Carter (b. 1960/1), banker, married with issue
      • Thomas Bonham Carter'
      • Helena Bonham Carter (b. 1966), actress; who has issue
  • Elizabeth Asquith(1897 - 1945) md Prince Antoine Bibesco; issue 1 daughter, Priscilla (1920 - 2004)
    • 'Priscilla Bibesco, later Padev, later Hodgson, no issue
  • Anthony Asquith, filmmaker

[edit] See also

• Earl of Oxford and Asquith

Justin Asquith- prominent University of Tennessee student

[edit] References