Margaret Elizabeth Child Villiers, Countess of Jersey, (née Leigh; 29 October 1849 – 22 May 1945), was an English noblewoman, activist, writer and hymn-writer.

Family

Born Margaret Elizabeth Leigh, she was the daughter and eldest child of

William Henry Leigh, 2nd Baron Leigh William Henry Leigh, 2nd Baron Leigh, (17 January 1824 – 21 October 1905) was a British politician. Life He was the eldest of three sons born to Chandos Leigh, 1st Baron Leigh and his wife Margarette Willes. He was Lord of the Manor of Hunn ...

. On 19 September 1872 she married

Victor Child Villiers, 7th Earl of Jersey Victor Albert George Child Villiers, 7th Earl of Jersey, (20 March 1845 – 31 May 1915) was a British banker, Conservative politician and colonial administrator from the Villiers family. He served as Governor of New South Wales between 1891 and ...

. They had six children: * George Henry Robert Child Villiers, 8th Earl of Jersey (1873–1923) * Lady Margaret Child Villiers (1874–1874), died in infancy. * Lady Margaret Child Villiers (1875–1959), married

Walter Rice, 7th Baron Dynevor Walter FitzUryan Rice, 7th Baron Dynevor (17 August 1873 – 8 June 1956) was a British military officer, civil servant and Conservative politician. He was the only son and heir of the 6th Baron Dynevor. Early life and family He was educated at ...

, and had issue. * Lady Mary Julia Child Villiers (1877–1933), married

Thomas Pakenham, 5th Earl of Longford Thomas Pakenham, 5th Earl of Longford, KP, MVO (19 October 1864 – 21 August 1915), known as Lord Silchester until 1887, was an Irish peer and soldier. Biography Born in Dublin, Longford was the eldest son of William Pakenham, 4th Earl of Lo ...

, and had issue. * Lady Beatrice Child Villiers (1880–1970), married

Edward Plunkett, 18th Baron of Dunsany Edward John Moreton Drax Plunkett, 18th Baron of Dunsany (; 24 July 1878 – 25 October 1957, usually Lord Dunsany) was an Anglo-Irish writer and dramatist. Over 90 volumes of fiction, essays, poems and plays appeared in his lifetime.Lanham, ...

, and had issue. * Hon. Arthur George Child Villiers (1883–1969)thepeerage.com Victor Albert George Child-Villiers, 7th Earl of Island of Jersey
/ref>

Charitable work and opposition to women's suffrage

She was the founding president (1901–1914) of the

Victoria League The Victoria League for Commonwealth Friendship (1901–present) is a voluntary charitable organisation that connects people from Commonwealth countries. There are currently branches in the UK, Australia, and New Zealand with affiliated organisatio ...

and was known as an opponent of women's suffrage. In 1903, she laid the foundation stone of

Brentford Library Brentford Library is a Grade II listed building at Boston Manor Road, Brentford, London. It was built in 1903 by Joseph Dorey and Co; for the then Brentford District Council. The benefactor was Andrew Carnegie and the architect was Nowell Pa ...

, and five years later she formally opened

Hove Hove is a seaside resort and one of the two main parts of the city of Brighton and Hove, along with Brighton in East Sussex, England. Originally a "small but ancient fishing village" surrounded by open farmland, it grew rapidly in the 19th cen ...

Library.

Writings

She was the author of travel articles, children's plays, verse and hymns. In 1871 the Religious Tract Society published a small collection of her hymns and poems under the title of ''Hymns and Poems for very Little Children''. A second series under the same title appeared in 1875. Six of these hymns were included in W. R. Stevenson's School Hymnal, 1880. Some of these are also included in ''The Voice of Praise: for Sunday School and home'' (London S. S. Union) and other collections. In 1920 she published ''A brief history of Osterley Park'' (her husband's seat) and in 1922 ''Fifty-One Years of Victorian Life''.A brief history of Osterly Park
by the Dowager Countess of Jersey, 1920, from The Metropolitan Museum of Art (fully available online as PDF)

Honours

She was appointed

Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire 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 ...

(DBE) in 1927.

Later life and death

Having suffered a stroke in 1909, Lord Jersey died at

Osterley Park Osterley Park and House is a Georgian country estate in west London, that straddles the London boroughs of Ealing and Hounslow. Originally dating from the 1570s, the estate contains a number of Grade I and II listed buildings, with the park l ...

Middlesex Middlesex (; abbreviation: Middx) is a Historic counties of England, historic county in South East England, southeast England. Its area is almost entirely within the wider urbanised area of London and mostly within the Ceremonial counties of ...

,''Australian Dictionary of Biography, Online Edition'': Jersey, seventh Earl of (1845–1915)
/ref> in May 1915, aged 70. She survived her husband by 30 years and died at Middleton Park, Oxfordshire, in May 1945, aged 95.

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Jersey, Margaret Child Villiers, Countess of 1849 births 1945 deaths People from Oxfordshire People from Warwickshire 19th-century English women writers 19th-century British writers 20th-century English women writers 20th-century English writers Anti-suffragists British activists British women activists

Jersey Jersey ( , ; nrf, Jèrri, label=Jèrriais ), officially the Bailiwick of Jersey (french: Bailliage de Jersey, links=no; Jèrriais: ), is an island country and self-governing Crown Dependencies, Crown Dependency near the coast of north-west F ...

British women historians Daughters of barons Church of England hymnwriters Dames Commander of the Order of the British Empire English children's writers English women poets English women dramatists and playwrights Victorian women writers Victorian writers

Margaret Margaret is a female first name, derived via French () and Latin () from grc, μαργαρίτης () meaning "pearl". The Greek is borrowed from Persian. Margaret has been an English name since the 11th century, and remained popular througho ...

Women autobiographers British women hymnwriters