Mary Constance Charteris, Countess of Wemyss and March (''

née A birth name is the name of a person given upon birth. The term may be applied to the surname, the given name, or the entire name. Where births are required to be officially registered, the entire name entered onto a birth certificate or birth re ...

'' Wyndham; 3 August 1862 – 29 April 1937), styled Lady Elcho from 1883 to 1914, was an English society hostess and an original member of

The Souls The Souls was a small loosely-knit but distinctive elite social and intellectual group in the United Kingdom from 1885 to the turn of the century. Many of the most distinguished British politicians and intellectuals of the time were members. Th ...

, an exclusive social and intellectual club.

Early life and ancestry

Mary Constance Wyndham was born on 3 August 1862 in London at her parents' home in

Belgrave Square Belgrave Square is a large 19th-century garden square in London. It is the centrepiece of Belgravia, and its architecture resembles the original scheme of property contractor Thomas Cubitt who engaged George Basevi for all of the terraces for t ...

. She was the eldest daughter of Percy Wyndham and Madeline Caroline Frances Eden Campbell. Her paternal grandfather was

George Wyndham, 1st Baron Leconfield George Wyndham, 1st Baron Leconfield (5 June 1787 – 18 March 1869), was a British soldier and peer. A direct descendant of Sir John Wyndham, he was the eldest natural son of George O'Brien Wyndham, 3rd Earl of Egremont, and Elizabeth Ili ...

. Her maternal grandfather was

Sir Guy Campbell, 1st Baronet Major-General Sir Guy Campbell, 1st Baronet, CB (22 January 1786 – 26 January 1849), was a British Army officer, the eldest son of Lieutenant-General Colin Campbell and his wife Mary, daughter of Guy Johnson (or Johnstone). His branch of the C ...

. She was a great-granddaughter of Irish revolutionary

Lord Edward FitzGerald Lord Edward FitzGerald (15 October 1763 – 4 June 1798) was an Irish aristocrat who abandoned his prospects as a distinguished veteran of British service in the American War of Independence, and as an Irish Parliamentarian, to embrace the caus ...

, the son of

James FitzGerald, 1st Duke of Leinster Lieutenant-General James FitzGerald, 1st Duke of Leinster, PC (Ire) (29 May 1722 – 19 November 1773), styled Lord Offaly until 1743 and known as The Earl of Kildare between 1743 and 1761 and as The Marquess of Kildare between 1761 and 176 ...

. Her great-great-grandmother,

Emily FitzGerald, Duchess of Leinster Emily FitzGerald, Duchess of Leinster (6 October 1731 – 27 March 1814), known before 1747 as Lady Emily Lennox, from 1747 to 1761 as The Countess of Kildare and from 1761 to 1766 as The Marchioness of Kildare, was the second of the famous Lenno ...

, was one of the

Lennox sisters The Lennox sisters were four eighteenth-century British aristocrats, the daughters of Charles Lennox, 2nd Duke of Richmond (1701–1750) by his wife Lady Sarah Cadogan (1705–1751). The four sisters were: * Caroline Fox, 1st Baroness Holland (17 ...

and a daughter of

Charles Lennox, 2nd Duke of Richmond Charles Lennox, 2nd Duke of Richmond, 2nd Duke of Lennox, 2nd Duke of Aubigny, (18 May 17018 August 1750) of Goodwood House near Chichester in Sussex, was a British nobleman and politician. He was the son of Charles Lennox, 1st Duke of Richmo ...

. Her brothers were

George Wyndham George Wyndham, PC (29 August 1863 – 8 June 1913) was a British Conservative politician, statesman, man of letters, and one of The Souls. Background and education Wyndham was the elder son of the Honourable Percy Wyndham, third son of Ge ...

and Guy Wyndham. She had two younger sisters: Madeline, the wife of

Charles Adeane Charles Robert Whorwood Adeane (2 November 1863 – 11 February 1943) was a British army officer. Background Adeane was the only son of the politician Henry John Adeane and his wife Lady Elizabeth Philippa Yorke, eldest daughter of Charles York ...

, and

Pamela Pamela may refer to: *''Pamela; or, Virtue Rewarded'', a novel written by Samuel Richardson in 1740 *Pamela (name), a given name and, rarely, a surname * Pamela Spence, a Turkish pop-rock singer. Known as her stage name "Pamela" * MSC ''Pamela'', ...

, first the wife of Edward Tennant, 1st Baron Glenconner, and later the wife of

Edward Grey, 1st Viscount Grey of Fallodon Edward Grey, 1st Viscount Grey of Fallodon, (25 April 1862 – 7 September 1933), better known as Sir Edward Grey, was a British Liberal statesman and the main force behind British foreign policy in the era of the First World War. An adher ...

Society life

Wyndham and her siblings and their spouses were members of

, an elite English social group. She and her two sisters were the subjects of

John Singer Sargent John Singer Sargent (; January 12, 1856 – April 14, 1925) was an American expatriate artist, considered the "leading portrait painter of his generation" for his evocations of Edwardian-era luxury. He created roughly 900 oil paintings and more ...

's 1899 painting '' The Wyndham Sisters: Lady Elcho, Mrs. Adeane, and Mrs. Tennant''. Her life was detailed in the book ''Those Wild Wyndhams'' by Claudia Renton.

Marriage and issue

Wyndham and Hugo Charteris, Lord Elcho, who would later inherit the titles of 11th

Earl of Wemyss Earl of Wemyss ( ) is a title in the Peerage of Scotland created in 1633. The Scottish Wemyss family had possessed the lands of Wemyss in Fife since the 12th century. Since 1823 the earldom has been held with the Earldom of March, created in ...

and 7th

Earl of March Earl of March is a title that has been created several times in the Peerage of Scotland and the Peerage of England. The title derived from the "marches" or borderlands between England and either Wales ( Welsh Marches) or Scotland (Scottish Mar ...

, were married on 9 August 1883. They had seven children: * Hugo Francis Charteris, Lord Elcho (b. 28 Dec 1884, d. 23 Apr 1916), who married

Violet Manners Marion Margaret Violet Manners, Duchess of Rutland (''née'' Lindsay; 7 March 1856 – 22 December 1937) was a British artist and noblewoman. A granddaughter of the 24th Earl of Crawford, she married Henry Manners in 1882. She was styled the ...

. * Guy Lawrence Charteris (b. 23 May 1886, d. 21 Sep 1967) * Lady Cynthia Mary Evelyn Charteris (b. 27 Sep 1887, d. 31 Mar 1960) * Colin Charteris (b. 1 Jun 1889, d. 27 Dec 1892) * Lady Mary Pamela Madeline Sibell Charteris (b. 24 Oct 1895, d. 1991) * Yvo Alan Charteris (b. 6 Oct 1896, d. 17 Oct 1915) * Lady Irene Corona Charteris (b. 31 May 1902, d. 1989) Wyndham was the paternal grandmother of society hostess Ann Charteris, of Laura Spencer-Churchill, Duchess of Marlborough and novelist

Hugo Charteris Hugo Francis Guy Charteris MC (11 December 1922 – 20 December 1970) was a noted British novelist and screenwriter, the author of nine novels, 17 television screenplays and numerous children's books and short stories. Early life Charteris wa ...

Death

She died on 29 April 1937.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Wyndham, Mary Constance 1862 births 1937 deaths English socialites Wemyss People from Belgravia

Mary Constance Wyndham Mary Constance Charteris, Countess of Wemyss and March (''née'' Wyndham; 3 August 1862 – 29 April 1937), styled Lady Elcho from 1883 to 1914, was an English society hostess and an original member of The Souls, an exclusive social and intel ...

Mary Mary may refer to: People * Mary (name), a feminine given name (includes a list of people with the name) Religious contexts * New Testament people named Mary, overview article linking to many of those below * Mary, mother of Jesus, also calle ...

Scottish socialites