Georgina, Lady Kennard (''née'' Wernher; formerly Phillips; 17 October 1919 – 28 April 2011) was a British
aristocrat
The aristocracy is historically associated with "hereditary" or "ruling" social class. In many states, the aristocracy included the upper class of people (aristocrats) with hereditary rank and titles. In some, such as ancient Greece, ancient Ro ...
who was considered "one of the best connected women in the country."
She was connected to many prominent families such as the
royal family
A royal family is the immediate family of kings/queens, emirs/emiras, sultans/ sultanas, or raja/ rani and sometimes their extended family. The term imperial family appropriately describes the family of an emperor or empress, and the term ...
and the
Mountbattens,
Grosvenors,
Hamiltons and
Burnetts.
Early life
Born Georgina Wernher in
Edinburgh,
Scotland, on 17 October 1919, she was the second child and elder daughter of
Sir Harold Augustus Wernher, 3rd Bt, and
Countess Anastasia de Torby.
She was a maternal granddaughter of
Grand Duke Michael Mikhailovich of Russia (grandson of Tsar Nicholas I and first cousin of Tsar Alexander III), and also claimed direct descent from the Russian writer
Alexander Pushkin and the
Afro-Russian military officer
Abram Petrovich Hannibal
Abram Petrovich Gannibal, also Hannibal or Ganibal, or Abram Hannibal or Abram Petrov ( ru , Абра́м Петро́вич Ганниба́л; c. 1696 – 14 May 1781), was a Russian military engineer, general-in-chief, and nobleman of Africa ...
. The family's country home was
Luton Hoo. Gina "came out" as a
debutante
A debutante, also spelled débutante, ( ; from french: débutante , "female beginner") or deb is a young woman of aristocratic or upper-class family background who has reached maturity and, as a new adult, is presented to society at a formal " ...
in the 1937 "coronation"
season, aged only 17 but already having completed her education with studies in domestic science.
On 10 October 1944, Gina Wernher married
Lt.-Col. Harold "Bunny" Phillips (1909–1980), a former lover of
Edwina, Countess Mountbatten of Burma. They had five children:
*
Alexandra Anastasia Hamilton, Duchess of Abercorn known as 'Sacha' and was god-daughter of
Lord Louis Mountbatten (27 February 1946 – 9 December 2018)
* Nicholas Harold Phillips (23 August 1947 – 1 March 1991)
* Fiona Mercedes
Burnett (born 30 March 1951), mother of
Alexander Burnett
*
Marita Georgina Crawley (born 28 May 1954)
*
Natalia Ayesha Grosvenor, Duchess of Westminster (born 8 May 1959), mother of
Lady Edwina Snow and
Hugh Grosvenor, 7th Duke of Westminster
Lady Kennard's first husband, Harold Phillips, died in 1980. She was remarried in 1992 to
Sir George Arnold Ford Kennard, 3rd Bt. (1915–1999).
Lady Kennard died at her home in London on 28 April 2011 aged 91 years old.
Ancestry
References
Sources
*
Burke's Peerage
*
Who's Who 2009
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kennard, Georgina
1919 births
2011 deaths
Daughters of baronets
Wives of baronets
Georgina
Scottish people of German descent
Scottish people of Russian descent
Nobility from Edinburgh
People from Central Bedfordshire District