Grace Curzon, Marchioness Curzon of Kedleston

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Grace Elvina, Marchioness Curzon of Kedleston, John Singer Sargent, 1925

Grace Elvina, Marchioness Curzon of Kedleston (1879 - 1958) was born Grace Elvina Hinds in Alabama, U.S.A., the daughter of J. Monroe Hinds, former United States Minister to Brazil. Her first husband was Alfred Hubert Duggan of Buenos Aires with whom she three children including two sons - Alfred Leo Duggan who was a fairly well-known author, and Hubert Duggan, later a Member of Parliament. She was a wealthy woman after his death and in 1917 (at age 38) married George Nathaniel Curzon, 1st Marquess Curzon of Kedleston. In later years some joked that despite his political disappointments, Curzon still enjoyed "the means of Grace".

Curzon had three children from his first marriage to Mary Victoria Leiter, Baroness Curzon of Kedleston. Despite fertility-related operations and several miscarriages, Lady Curzon was never able to give Curzon the son and heir he desperately desired, a fact that eroded their marriage, which ended in separation, though not divorce.

In 1925, soon before she was again widowed, the American Artist John Singer Sargent painted an oil on canvas (129.22 cm x 92.39 cm) portrait of Lady Curzon. This was Sargent's last oil portrait. The painting was purchased in 1936 by The Currier Museum of Art, Manchester, NH where it is currently on display.^[1]