Hilda Madeline Gordon-Lennox, Duchess of Richmond (''née'' Brassey; 16 June 1872 – 29 December 1971) was the daughter of Henry Brassey and Anna Harriet Stevenson (died 15 July 1898), and granddaughter of the railway pioneer

Thomas Brassey Thomas Brassey (7 November 18058 December 1870) was an English civil engineering contractor and manufacturer of building materials who was responsible for building much of the world's railways in the 19th century. By 1847, he had built about o ...

. She was known as Lady Settrington from 1893 to 1903, and as Countess of March from 1903 to 1928, when her husband inherited the dukedom. Lady Settrington joined her husband in South Africa in early 1900, when he served there during the

Second Boer War The Second Boer War ( af, Tweede Vryheidsoorlog, , 11 October 189931 May 1902), also known as the Boer War, the Anglo–Boer War, or the South African War, was a conflict fought between the British Empire and the two Boer Republics (the Sout ...

. She was elected a Fellow of the

Royal Horticultural Society The Royal Horticultural Society (RHS), founded in 1804 as the Horticultural Society of London, is the UK's leading gardening charity. The RHS promotes horticulture through its five gardens at Wisley (Surrey), Hyde Hall (Essex), Harlow Carr (Nort ...

in 1902, and in 1927 she became the first chairman of the

National Gardens Scheme The National Garden Scheme opens privately owned gardens in England, Northern Ireland, Wales, and the Channel Islands on selected dates for charity. It was founded in 1927 with the aim of "opening gardens of quality, character and interest to th ...

. She held the office of

Justice of the Peace A justice of the peace (JP) is a judicial officer of a lower or ''puisne'' court, elected or appointed by means of a commission ( letters patent) to keep the peace. In past centuries the term commissioner of the peace was often used with the sa ...

(JP) for

Sussex Sussex (), from the Old English (), is a historic county in South East England that was formerly an independent medieval Anglo-Saxon kingdom. It is bounded to the west by Hampshire, north by Surrey, northeast by Kent, south by the English ...

and, later,

Morayshire Moray; ( gd, Moireibh ) or Morayshire, called Elginshire until 1919, is a historic county, registration county and lieutenancy area of Scotland, bordering Nairnshire to the west, Inverness-shire to the south, and Banffshire to the east. It w ...

. She was invested as a

CBE The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations, and public service outside the civil service. It was established o ...

in the

1919 New Year Honours The 1919 New Year Honours were appointments by King George V to various orders and honours to reward and highlight good works by citizens of the British Empire. The appointments were published in ''The London Gazette'' and ''The Times'' in Jan ...

in recognition of her work with the

Soldiers' and Sailors' Families Association SSAFA – the Armed Forces charity, the Soldiers, Sailors, Airmen and Families Association, is a UK charity that provides lifelong support to serving men and women and veterans from the British Armed Forces and their families or dependents. Anyo ...

, and as DBE in the

1946 New Year Honours The 1946 New Year Honours were appointments by many of the Commonwealth Realms of King George VI to various orders and honours to reward and highlight good works by citizens of those countries, and to celebrate the passing of 1945 and the beginnin ...

in recognition of her work as Vice-President of the Soldiers', Sailors', and Airmen's Families Association. She died in 1971, aged 99.

Family

On 8 June 1893 Hilda Madeline Brassey married Charles Henry Gordon-Lennox, the 8th Duke of Richmond (born 30 December 1870 – died 7 May 1935); they had the following children: * Lady Amy Gwendoline Gordon-Lennox (5 May 1894 – 1975); married, in 1917, Sir James Stuart Coats. * Hon. Charles Henry Gordon-Lennox (15 August 1895 – 5 September 1895) * Lady Doris Hilda Gordon-Lennox (6 September 1896 – ); married Commander Clare George Vyner. She was a close friend of

Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother Elizabeth Angela Marguerite Bowes-Lyon (4 August 1900 – 30 March 2002) was Queen of the United Kingdom and the Dominions of the British Commonwealth from 11 December 1936 to 6 February 1952 as the wife of King George VI. She was the l ...

. * Charles Henry Gordon-Lennox, Lord Settrington (26 January 1899 – 24 August 1919) * Frederick Charles Gordon-Lennox, 9th Duke of Richmond, 9th Duke of Lennox, 4th Duke of Gordon (5 February 1904 – 2 November 1989)

References

* Charles Mosley, editor, Burke's Peerage, Baronetage & Knightage, 107th edition'', 3 volumes (

Wilmington, Delaware Wilmington ( Lenape: ''Paxahakink /'' ''Pakehakink)'' is the largest city in the U.S. state of Delaware. The city was built on the site of Fort Christina, the first Swedish settlement in North America. It lies at the confluence of the Christina ...

: Burke's Peerage (Genealogical Books) Ltd, 2003), volume 1, page 489. {{DEFAULTSORT:Richmond, Hilda Gordon-Lennox, Duchess of 1872 births 1971 deaths

Hilda Hilda is one of several female given names derived from the name ''Hild'', formed from Old Norse , meaning 'battle'. Hild, a Nordic-German Bellona, was a Valkyrie who conveyed fallen warriors to Valhalla. Warfare was often called Hild's Game. Th ...

English duchesses by marriage Dames Commander of the Order of the British Empire People from Sussex Fellows of the Royal Horticultural Society