Mary Innes-Ker, Duchess of Roxburghe

Mary Evelyn Hungerford Innes-Ker, Duchess of Roxburghe (23 March 1915 – 2 July 2014), born Lady Mary Crewe-Milnes,[1] was a British aristocrat. She was a daughter of Robert Crewe-Milnes, 1st Marquess of Crewe, by his marriage to Lady Peggy Primrose, one of the first seven women appointed as magistrates in 1919 following the passing of the Sex Disqualification (Removal) Act 1919.[2] Her maternal grandparents were Hannah Primrose, Countess of Rosebery, and Archibald Primrose, 5th Earl of Rosebery.

Mary, Duchess of Roxburghe
Born
Lady Mary Evelyn Hungerford Crewe-Milnes

(1915-03-23)23 March 1915
Died2 July 2014(2014-07-02) (aged 99)
Spouse(s)
​
​
(m. 1935; div. 1953)​
Parent(s)Robert Crewe-Milnes, 1st Marquess of Crewe
Lady Margaret Primrose
RelativesBamber Gascoigne (great-nephew)

Marriage and divorce

A goddaughter of Mary of Teck,[3] she was the first wife of George Innes-Ker, 9th Duke of Roxburghe.[4] They were married on 24 October 1935, at Westminster Abbey, but divorced in 1953. According to The Daily Telegraph, she was best known for resisting the attempts of her husband to evict her from the family home, Floors Castle.[3]

She was a great patron of the Royal Ballet in the era of Margot Fonteyn and Frederick Ashton.[1]

West Horsley Place

In 1967 her mother, Margaret, Lady Crewe, died and left the Duchess an estate at West Horsley, Surrey, including West Horsley Place, a large country house dating from the 16th century.[3] On her own death, this was inherited by her grandnephew Bamber Gascoigne, the grandson of her much older half-sister Lady Annabel Hungerford Crewe-Milnes.[5]

Death

The Duchess of Roxburghe died aged 99 on 2 July 2014 after a long illness.[1]

Bequests

In her will, the Duchess also bequeathed her family's collection of over 7,500 books, including major and hitherto unknown works of English and French literature, to the library of Trinity College, Cambridge, where both her father and grandfather had studied.[6] Among the books was discovered a first edition of The Faerie Queene, which had been inscribed by Charles I during his imprisonment.[7]

References
  1. Obituary for Mary Innes-Ker, Duchess of Roxburghe, announcements.telegraph.co.uk; accessed 12 July 2014.
  2. Law, Cheryl (2000). Women, A Modern Political Dictionary. I B Tauris. ISBN 1 86064 502 X.
  3. "Mary, Duchess of Roxburghe - obituary". Daily Telegraph. 9 July 2014. Retrieved 10 July 2014.
  4. "Lady Mary Evelyn Hungerford Crewe-Milnes". thepeerage.com. Retrieved 20 May 2011.
  5. Bamber Gascoigne to save 500-year-old manor after accidental inheritance dated 21 March 2015 in The Daily Telegraph online edition, accessed 22 March 2015
  6. "The Crewe Collection". Trinity College Library, Cambridge. Retrieved 16 December 2016.
  7. Flood, Alison (2018-07-05). "Charles I's 'message for the future' discovered in poetry book". The Guardian.


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