This article needs additional citations for verification .(October 2022) |
Susan Elizabeth Mary Jeune, Baroness St Helier, DBE (née Mackenzie, previously Stanley; 18 May 1845 – 25 January 1931) was a London County Council alderman and the wife of Francis Jeune, 1st Baron St Helier.
Susan Elizabeth Mary Stewart-Mackenzie was born in Munich, daughter of Keith William Stewart-Mackenzie, of Brahan Castle in the northern Highlands of Scotland, and his wife, Hannah Charlotte Hope-Vere, daughter of James Joseph Hope-Vere. She was the eldest of three children. Her sister Julia Charlotte Sophia (1846–1937) married three times: the soldier and ornithologist Arthur Hay, 9th Marquess of Tweeddale; the Scottish-Canadian businessman and politician Sir John Rose, 1st Baronet; and the politician Sir William Eden Evans-Gordon. [1] Her brother was the soldier James Stewart-Mackenzie, 1st Baron Seaforth.
She was married, firstly, to Colonel John Constantine Stanley (30 September 1837 – 23 April 1878), son of Edward Stanley, 2nd Baron Stanley of Alderley and Henrietta Maria (née Dillon-Lee), on 15 August 1871. By this marriage she had two daughters:
She married, secondly, Francis Jeune, later Baron St Helier, on 17 August 1881. Their only child, a son, Francis Jeune, was born in 1882. He died of enteric fever in Poona, India on 19 August 1904.
An indefatigable London hostess, she was a friend of many of the celebrities of her day. The American novelist Edith Wharton mentions her with affection in her memoir 'A Backward Glance' (Chapter 10), and American journalist Ida B. Wells mentions how Lady Jeune supported her anti-lynching campaign by hosting a 'drawing room meeting of her friends' in her autobiography 'Crusade for Justice' (Chapter 20)
During World War I, Lady St Helier befriended a Canadian ex-cavalry officer named William Avery Bishop and used her connections to speed his acceptance into flight school. Billy Bishop went on to become one of the most successful and revered fighter pilots of all time. [2]
In her later years, Lady St Helier resided at Poplar House in the village of Cold Ash, West Berkshire. She donated land for the village's parish room, an early form of community centre, which opened in 1911. [3]
Lady St Helier was a London County Council alderman from 1910 to 1927. She was a very involved philanthropist, founding the All Saints Mission in Islington. [4]
She wrote at least 50 periodical essays, which challenge the idea that Victorian middle and upper-middle class women were not capable of serious nonfiction writing. [2]
Some of her essays have been republished, including "The Revolt of Daughters" (1894) in A New Woman Reader (2001). In 1909, she published a book, Memories of Fifty Years. [2] [5] [6] [7]
She was appointed a Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) in 1920 and elevated to Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire (DBE) in 1925.[ citation needed ]
Lady St Helier appears as a character in the Canadian stage musical Billy Bishop Goes to War .[ citation needed ]
Lady St Helier died on 25 January 1931, aged 85, of unknown causes. She is buried with her husband in St Mary the Virgin churchyard, Chieveley, Berkshire, UK. The estate of St Helier, London was named after her.[ citation needed ]
Edith Helen Vane-Tempest-Stewart, Marchioness of Londonderry, DBE was a noted and influential society hostess in the United Kingdom between World War I and World War II, a friend of the first Labour prime minister, Ramsay MacDonald. She was a noted gardener and a writer and editor of the works of others.
William St John Fremantle Brodrick, 1st Earl of Midleton, KP, PC, DL, styled as St John Brodrick until 1907 and as Viscount Midleton between 1907 and 1920, was a British Conservative and Irish Unionist Alliance politician. He served as a Member of Parliament (MP) from 1880 to 1906, as a government minister from 1886 to 1892 and from 1895 to 1900, and as a Cabinet minister from 1900 to 1905.
William Bingham Baring, 2nd Baron Ashburton, was a British businessman and a Whig politician who later became a Tory.
George Hay, 7th Marquess of Tweeddale DL was a Scottish peer.
Francis Henry Jeune, 1st Baron St Helier,, known as Sir Francis Jeune (1891–1905), was a British judge. He was President of the Probate, Divorce and Admiralty Division of the High Court of Justice (1892–1905) and Judge Advocate General (1892–1905).
James Alexander Stewart-Mackenzie was a Scottish politician and British colonial administrator.
Mary Elizabeth Frederica Mackenzie was the eldest daughter and heiress of Francis Mackenzie, 1st Baron Seaforth. Also known as "Lady Hood Mackenzie", or by the sobriquet "The Hooded Lassie", she was married in turn to Vice Admiral Sir Samuel Hood and James Alexander Stewart of Glasserton.
Louisa Augusta Beatrice Acheson, Countess of Gosford, was the wife of the 4th Earl of Gosford.
Colonel James Alexander Francis Humberston Stewart-Mackenzie, 1st Baron Seaforth, was a Scottish soldier, who was regarded by many as chief of Clan Mackenzie.
Olive, Lady Baillie was an Anglo-American heiress, landowner and hostess. She is best known as the owner of Leeds Castle, near Maidstone, Kent, England. On her death the castle was bequeathed to a charitable trust to enable it to be open to the public.
Bridget Norris, Countess of Berkshire was an English noblewoman, the daughter of Edward de Vere, 17th Earl of Oxford. Bridget was brought up by her maternal grandfather, the powerful statesman William Cecil, 1st Baron Burghley. She was also styled Lady Norris of Rycote and Viscountess Thame. She married Francis Norris, 1st Earl of Berkshire; however, the marriage was not a success, and they separated in 1606.
Elizabeth Stanley, Countess of Derby, Lord of Mann, was an English noblewoman and the eldest daughter of the Elizabethan courtier and poet Edward de Vere, 17th Earl of Oxford.
Anne de Vere, Countess of Oxford was the daughter of the statesman William Cecil, 1st Baron Burghley, chief adviser to Queen Elizabeth I of England, and the translator Mildred Cooke. In 1571 she became the first wife of Edward de Vere, 17th Earl of Oxford. She served as a Maid of Honour to Queen Elizabeth before her marriage.
Susan Herbert, Countess of Montgomery, was an English court office holder. She served as lady-in-waiting to the queen consort of England, Anne of Denmark. She was the youngest daughter of Elizabethan courtier, and poet Edward de Vere, 17th Earl of Oxford.
The Rt Hon. Elizabeth Mary Margaret Burke-Plunkett, Countess of Fingall (1862–1944), was born in Moycullen, a daughter of George Edmond Burke of Danesfield and his wife Theresa Quin. She became an activist in Irish industrial, charitable and cultural groups, serving as second president of the Camogie Association and first president of the Irish Countrywomen's Association. She was also a noted literary hostess, whose salon at Earlsfort House was a centre of Dublin intellectual life for many years.
Augustus Henry Eden Allhusen was an English Conservative Party politician. He sat in the House of Commons from 1897 to 1906.
Sir Robert Loder, 1st Baronet, DL, JP was an English landowner, magistrate and Conservative politician.
Elizabeth FitzHugh was an English noblewoman. She is best known for being the grandmother of Katherine Parr, sixth queen consort to Henry VIII, and her siblings Anne Herbert, Countess of Pembroke, and William Parr, 1st Marquess of Northampton.
George John Trevor Spencer was an Anglican bishop in the 19th century and a member of the Spencer family.
Henrietta Maria Stanley, Baroness Stanley of Alderley, was a British Canadian-born political hostess and campaigner for the education of women in England.