Mary Stanley, Countess of Derby (previously known as Mary Gascoyne-Cecil, Marchioness of Salisbury, née Lady Mary Sackville-West; 23 July 1824 – 6 December 1900) was an English

grande dame Grande means "large" or "great" in many of the Romance languages. It may also refer to: Places * Grande, Germany, a municipality in Germany *Grande Communications, a telecommunications firm based in Texas *Grande-Rivière (disambiguation) *Arroi ...

and political hostess.

Family

Daughter of

George Sackville-West, 5th Earl De La Warr George John Sackville-West, 5th Earl de la Warr, PC (26 October 1791 – 23 February 1869), styled Viscount Cantelupe until 1795, was a British courtier and Tory politician. Background Sackville-West was the son of John West, 4th Earl De La ...

. Sixth of his nine children. She married firstly

James Gascoyne-Cecil, 2nd Marquess of Salisbury James Brownlow William Gascoyne-Cecil, 2nd Marquess of Salisbury, (17 April 1791 – 12 April 1868), styled Viscount Cranborne until 1823, was a British Conservative politician. He held office under The Earl of Derby as Lord Privy Seal in 185 ...

in 1847 with whom she had 5 children: * Lord Sackville Arthur Cecil (16 March 1848 – 29 January 1898) * Lady Mary Arabella Arthur Cecil (26 April 1850 – 18 August 1903), married Alan Stewart, 10th Earl of Galloway * Lady Margaret Elizabeth Cecil (1850 – 11 March 1919) * Lord Arthur Cecil (3 July 1851 – 16 July 1913) *

Lieutenant-Colonel Lieutenant colonel ( , ) is a rank of commissioned officers in the armies, most marine forces and some air forces of the world, above a major and below a colonel. Several police forces in the United States use the rank of lieutenant colonel. ...

Lord Lionel Cecil (21 March 1853 – 13 January 1901) Lord Salisbury died in April 1868, aged 76 and was succeeded by his son from his first marriage. Lady Mary remarried

Edward Henry Stanley, 15th Earl of Derby Edward Henry Stanley, 15th Earl of Derby, (21 July 182621 April 1893; known as Lord Stanley from 1851 to 1869) was a British statesman. He served as Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs twice, from 1866 to 1868 and from 1874 to 1878, and also ...

in 1870.

Politics

She was heavily involved in Victorian politics. Her father was a friend of the

Duchess of Kent Duchess of Kent is the principal courtesy title used by the wife of the Duke of Kent. There have been four titles referring to Kent since the 18th century. The current duchess is Katharine, the wife of Prince Edward. He inherited the dukedom o ...

which meant she was part of Victoria's circle while growing up. As a result of her strong family connections, while she was married to the marquess of Salisbury, she turned their house, Hatfield House, into a strong Tory base. Frequent visitors to the home were

Lord Carnarvon Earl of Carnarvon is a title that has been created three times in British history. The current holder is George Herbert, 8th Earl of Carnarvon. The town and county in Wales to which the title refers are historically spelled ''Caernarfon,'' havi ...

, Disraeli, and Hugh Cairns. After the death of her first husband and her second marriage she lost Hatfield but continued her strong presence in British politics. She influenced Cabinet members and foreign ambassadors at times a matter of some concern. She was rumoured to have leaked confidential information to the Russian Ambassador Count Shuvalov, though the certainty of this is unclear. However, Disraeli nonetheless used the idea to alienate Lord Derby amongst the cabinet colleagues, in an effort to gather support for a firmer approach against Russia in the

Russo-Turkish War (1877–1878) The Russo-Turkish War of 1877–1878 ( tr, 93 Harbi, lit=War of ’93, named for the year 1293 in the Islamic calendar; russian: Русско-турецкая война, Russko-turetskaya voyna, "Russian–Turkish war") was a conflict between th ...

. Jennifer Davey regards Lady Derby's political involvement in the

Eastern Crisis Eastern may refer to: Transportation *China Eastern Airlines, a current Chinese airline based in Shanghai * Eastern Air, former name of Zambia Skyways * Eastern Air Lines, a defunct American airline that operated from 1926 to 1991 *Eastern Air ...

to have almost destroyed her husband's career, who resigned twice as Foreign Secretary between January and March 1878 before defecting to the Liberal Party. Lady Derby was also in regular correspondence with her friends who included

Charles Darwin Charles Robert Darwin ( ; 12 February 1809 – 19 April 1882) was an English naturalist, geologist, and biologist, widely known for his contributions to evolutionary biology. His proposition that all species of life have descended fr ...

, the Duke of Wellington and Sir

Henry Irving Sir Henry Irving (6 February 1838 – 13 October 1905), christened John Henry Brodribb, sometimes known as J. H. Irving, was an English stage actor in the Victorian era, known as an actor-manager because he took complete responsibility ( ...

. Her letters were gathered in a book. Her papers are also available through the national archives. She was a well enough known figure to have been mentioned by

Virginia Woolf Adeline Virginia Woolf (; ; 25 January 1882 28 March 1941) was an English writer, considered one of the most important modernist 20th-century authors and a pioneer in the use of stream of consciousness as a narrative device. Woolf was born i ...

in Orlando: A Biography

References

1900 deaths 1824 births Salisbury, Mary Gascoyne-Cecil, Marchioness of English countesses Spouses of British politicians Mary Mary English political hostesses Daughters of British earls Daughters of barons {{England-earl-stub