Georgina Ward, Countess of Dudley
Georgina Elisabeth Ward, Countess of Dudley RRC DStJ (née Moncreiffe; 9 August 1846 – 2 February 1929)[1] was the wife of William Ward, 1st Earl of Dudley, and a noted beauty of the Victorian era.[2]
She was a daughter of Sir Thomas Moncreiffe of that Ilk, 7th Baronet, and Lady Louisa Hay-Drummond, daughter of Thomas Hay-Drummond, 11th Earl of Kinnoull. Her sister Harriet became Lady Mordaunt; another sister, Louisa, married John Stewart-Murray, 7th Duke of Atholl.
Georgina Moncreiffe married the William Ward, 1st Earl of Dudley on 21 November 1865. He died on 7 May 1885.
During the Boer War and World War I, Lady Dudley served with the British Red Cross Society. In late 1900, she was involved in running the Mayfair nursing home for disabled officers under its auspices. Her actions at that time proved to be pivotal in ensuring Captain Trenchard (later to become Marshal of the Royal Air Force) recovered from a wound he had received in action.[3]
She died at her home at Pembroke Lodge, Richmond Park in February 1929[4] at the age of 82, having spent over half her life as a widow.
Theft of Lady Dudley's jewels
The theft of Lady Dudley's jewels on 12 December 1874 at Paddington Station was a famous crime in Victorian England. The jewels worth perhaps £25000 were never recovered.[5][6]
Family life
She and her husband the Earl of Dudley had six sons and one daughter:[1]
- William Humble Ward, 2nd Earl of Dudley (25 May 1867 – 29 June 1932)
- Hon. Sir John Hubert Ward (20 Mar 1870 – 2 December 1938)
- Hon. Robert Arthur Ward (23 February 1871 – 14 June 1942)
- Lady Edith Amelia Ward (16 September 1872 – 6 June 1956)
- Captain Hon. Reginald Ward (11 June 1874 – 7 March 1904)
- Captain Hon. Cyril Augustus Ward (31 January 1876 – 11 January 1930)
- Hon. Gerald Ernest Francis Ward MVO[7] (9 November 1877 – 30 October 1914), a first class-cricketer for Marylebone Cricket Club,[8] who served in the Ist Life Guards during the First World War and was killed in action[7] at Zandvoorde, Belgium
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 "Georgina Elisabeth Moncreiffe". www.thepeerage.com. 31 March 2011. Retrieved 2 June 2014.
- ↑ NYPL Digital Gallery | Detail ID 1224498 at digitalgallery.nypl.org
- ↑ Boyle, Andrew (1962). "Chapter 3". Trenchard Man of Vision. St. James's Place London: Collins. pp. 58 and 59.
- ↑ "Death of Georgina, Lady Dudley: A Great Lady of the Victorian Age". Glasgow Herald. 9 February 1929.
- ↑ Griffiths, Arthur (1889). "Jewels stolen in transit". Mysteries of the Police and Crime. vol. 2. pp. 254–255.
- ↑ "Lady Dudley's Jewels. The Story of the Theft". The West Australian. 28 July 1891.
- ↑ 7.0 7.1 "Ward, the Hon. Gerald Ernest Francis". Commonwealth War Graves Commission. Retrieved 2 June 2014.
- ↑ "Gerald Ward". Cricket Archive. Retrieved 2 June 2014.
External links
- BBC Your Paintings – Georgina Ward (1846–1929), Countess of Dudley (Oil on canvas full length portrait of Georgina Ward)
- National Portrait Gallery – Georgina Elizabeth Ward (née Moncreiffe), Countess of Dudley (National Portrait Gallery collection)