Frances Dora Bowes-Lyon, Countess of Strathmore and Kinghorne (née Smith; 29 July 1832 – 5 February 1922) was a British noblewoman. She was the paternal grandmother of Queen Elizabeth, the Queen Mother and thus a great grandmother of the current monarch, Queen Elizabeth II.
Her father was Oswald Smith, of Blendon Hall (7 July 1794–18 June 1863), and her mother was Henrietta Mildred Hodgson (c. 1805–1891). Her paternal grandparents were George Smith and wife Frances Mary Mosley, daughter of Sir John Parker Mosley, 1st Baronet, and wife Elizabeth Bayley, granddaughter of Nicholas Mosley and wife Elizabeth Parker, and sister of Sir Oswald Mosley, 2nd Baronet, great-great-grandfather of Oswald Mosley.
On 28 September 1853, she married Claude Bowes-Lyon. He became the 13th holder of the Earldom of Strathmore and Kinghorne following the death of his brother Thomas in 1865. Frances then assumed the title and style of Countess of Strathmore and Kinghorne. Together the couple had 11 children.[1]
| Name | Birth | Death | Spouse(s) | Issue |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Claude Bowes-Lyon | 14 March 1855 | 7 November 1944 | Cecilia Cavendish-Bentinck (1862–1938) | Violet Bowes-Lyon (1882–1893) Mary Bowes-Lyon (1883–1961) Patrick Bowes-Lyon (1884–1949) John Bowes-Lyon (1886–1930) Alexander Bowes-Lyon (1887–1911) Fergus Bowes-Lyon (1889–1915) Rose Bowes-Lyon (1890–1967) Michael Bowes-Lyon (1893–1953) Elizabeth Bowes-Lyon (1900–2002) David Bowes-Lyon (1902–1961) |
| Francis Bowes-Lyon | 23 February 1856 | 18 February 1948 | Anne Lindsay (1858–1936) | Muriel Bowes-Lyon (1884–1968) Charles Bowes-Lyon (1885–1914) Capt. Geoffrey Bowes-Lyon (1886–1951) Doris Bowes-Lyon (1887–1918) Winnifred Bowes-Lyon (1889–1968) Capt. Ronald Bowes-Lyon (1893–1960) Lillian Bowes-Lyon (1895–1949) |
| Ernest Bowes-Lyon | 4 August 1858 | 27 December 1891 | Isobel Hester Drummond (1860–1945) | Capt. Hubert Bowes-Lyon (1883–1959) Susan Bowes-Lyon (1884–1885) Dorothea Bowes-Lyon (1886–1886) Joan Bowes-Lyon (1888–1954) Marjorie Bowes-Lyon (1889–1981) Ernestine Bowes-Lyon (1891–19??) |
| Herbert Bowes-Lyon | 15 August 1860 | 14 April 1897 | Not married | No issue |
| Maj. Patrick Bowes-Lyon | 5 March 1863 | 5 October 1946 | Alice Wiltshire (d 1953) | Lt. Gavin Bowes-Lyon (1895–1917) Angus Bowes-Lyon (1899–1923) Jean Bowes-Lyon (1904–1963) Margaret Bowes-Lyon (1907–1999) |
| Lady Constance Bowes-Lyon | 1865 | 19 November 1951 | Robert Francis Leslie Blackburn (d 1944) | Phyllis Frances Agnes Blackburn (b 1894) Leslie Herbert Blackburn (b 1901) Hilda Constance Helen Blackburn (b 1902) Claudia Blackburn (1908–2001) |
| Kenneth Bowes-Lyon | 26 April 1867 | 9 January 1911 | Not married | No issue |
| Mildred Marion Bowes-Lyon | 1868 | 9 June 1897 | Augustus Edward Jessup | Alfred Claude Jessup (b 1891) Alexander Marion Jessup (b 1895) |
| Maud Agness Bowes-Lyon | 1870 | 28 February 1941 | Not married | No issue |
| Evelyn Mary Bowes-Lyon | 1872 | 15 March 1876 | Not married | Died young |
| Maj. Malcolm Bowes-Lyon | 23 April 1874 | 23 August 1957 | Winifred Gurdon Rebow (d 1957) | Clodagh Bowes-Lyon (1908–2003) |
She died at 19 Hans Place, Chelsea, London on 5 February 1922, aged 90. She was buried at Glamis Castle, Angus, the family seat of the Earls of Strathmore and Kinghorne.