Mary Cavendish, Duchess of Devonshire

Her Grace
The Duchess of Devonshire
GCVO CBE
Mistress of the Robes to
Queen Elizabeth II Duchess of Devonshire, GCVO CBE, Hon. LLD (Exon)
In office
1953–1967
Monarch Elizabeth II
Personal details
Born 25 July 1895
Hatfield, Hertfordshire
Died 24 December 1988 (aged 93)
Westminster, London

Mary Cavendish, Duchess of Devonshire, GCVO CBE (29 July 1895 in Hatfield, Hertfordshire[1] – 24 December 1988 in Westminster, London [2]) was born Lady Mary Alice Gascoyne-Cecil, daughter of James Gascoyne-Cecil, 4th Marquess of Salisbury. She was married on 21 April 1917 to Edward Cavendish, Lord Hartington, who succeeded his father as 10th Duke of Devonshire in 1938, whereupon Mary became Duchess of Devonshire. She was Mistress of the Robes to Elizabeth II from 1953 to 1967 [3] and Chancellor of the University of Exeter from 1955 to 1972. She was awarded Hon. LLD (Exon) in 1956.

Husband

On 26 November 1950, her husband Edward Cavendish, the 10th Duke of Devonshire had a heart attack and died while being attended by John Bodkin Adams, the suspected serial killer. In the process of transferring his assets to his son, the death of the Duke fell 10 weeks prior to a required 5-year period, and his estate was subjected to taxes of 80%.[4]

References

  1. ↑ GRO Register of Births: SEP 1895 3a 582 HATFIELD - Mary Alice Gascoyne-Cecil
  2. ↑ GRO Register of Deaths: DEC 1988 15 1567 WESTMINSTER - Mary Alice Devonshire aged 93 born Jul 1895
  3. ↑ Demoskoff, Yvonne (1998). "Yvonne's Royalty Home Page: Queen Elizabeth II's Coronation Attendants". Retrieved 2014-07-24.
  4. ↑ Lowell, Mary., "The Sisters: Saga of the Mitford Family"

External Links

Media related to Mary Cavendish, Duchess of Devonshire at Wikimedia Commons

Court offices
Preceded by
—		 Mistress of the Robes to
Queen Elizabeth II
1953–1967 		Succeeded by
The Duchess of Grafton
Academic offices
Preceded by
—		 Chancellor of the
University of Exeter
1955–1972 		Succeeded by
The Viscount Amory