'The Duchess' and the Countess

‘The Duchess’ and the Countess

On a recent visit to the cinema to see the latest Hollywood blockbuster, The Duchess, starring Keira Knightly, some of our staff couldn't help but be reminded of the life and times of a Glamis lady - Mary Eleanor Bowes. Here's a bit of background about Mary Eleanor along with some of parallels we made to the film.

The Bowes

George Bowes, a very wealthy landowner and coal baron from the north east of England (it is said that in 1760 his income from land and coal amounted to over £4000 per week) had stipulated that anyone who married his only child, Mary Eleanor, would have to change their name to his. In 1767 the ninth Earl of Strathmore & Kinghorne addressed Parliament in order that he might obtain a change of family name from Lyon to Bowes thus enabling him to marry Ms Bowes. Still today the Earl’s family name is Bowes Lyon.

Whereas Georgiana (1757-1806) was born an aristocrat Mary Eleanor (1749-1800) was born a commoner but she was the richest heiress in Europe. Georgiana married the 5th Duke of Devonshire and, of course, Mary Eleanor married the 9th Earl of Strathmore & Kinghorne. Although both marriages seemed very fortunate ones both were to prove less than happy. The ladies were quite different from their husbands temperamentally (clash of personalities – we might say today) and both saw themselves as serious patrons of the arts. The Countess’ tombstone is in Poets’ Corner, Westminster Abbey and the Duchess entertained at her many ‘salons’. But, whereas the Countess’ other hobby was botany (which she took very seriously even sponsoring voyages to South Africa for plant specimens), the Duchess was heavily into Whig politics including women’s suffrage).

The Countess retired to a quiet country life moving from St Paul’s Walden Bury in Hertfordshire to a newly acquired estate in Hampshire and became a well loved and respected landlady. The Duchess, it is said, died deeply in debt through her lifelong obsession - gambling.

The film should prove to be an insight into a fascinating period in Britain’s social history including the life and times of a Glamis lady - Mary Eleanor Bowes.