Mary Evelyn Hungerford Innes-Ker, Duchess of Roxburghe (23 March 1915 – 2 July 2014), born Lady Mary Crewe-Milnes,Obituary for Mary Innes-Ker, Duchess of Roxburghe
announcements.telegraph.co.uk; accessed 12 July 2014. was a British aristocrat. She was a daughter of

Robert Crewe-Milnes, 1st Marquess of Crewe Robert Offley Ashburton Crewe-Milnes, 1st Marquess of Crewe, (12 January 185820 June 1945), known as The Honourable Robert Milnes from 1863 to 1885, The Lord Houghton from 1885 to 1895 and as The Earl of Crewe from 1895 to 1911, was a British L ...

, by his marriage to Lady Peggy Primrose, one of the first seven women appointed as magistrates in 1919 following the passing of the

Sex Disqualification (Removal) Act 1919 The Sex Disqualification (Removal) Act 1919 is an Act of Parliament in the United Kingdom. It became law when it received Royal Assent on 23 December 1919.''Oliver & Boyd's new Edinburgh almanac and national repository for the year 1921''. p. 213 ...

. Her maternal grandparents were

Hannah Primrose, Countess of Rosebery Hannah Primrose, Countess of Rosebery (''née'' de Rothschild; 27 July 1851 – 19 November 1890) was the daughter of Baron Mayer de Rothschild and his wife Juliana (''née'' Cohen). After inheriting her father's fortune in 1874, she bec ...

, and

Archibald Primrose, 5th Earl of Rosebery Archibald Philip Primrose, 5th Earl of Rosebery, 1st Earl of Midlothian, (7 May 1847 – 21 May 1929) was a British Liberal Party politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from March 1894 to June 1895. Between the death of ...

Marriage and divorce

A goddaughter of Queen Mary, she was the first wife of

George Innes-Ker, 9th Duke of Roxburghe George Victor Robert John Innes-Ker, 9th Duke of Roxburghe (7 September 1913 – 26 September 1974) was the son of Henry John Innes-Ker, 8th Duke of Roxburghe and Mary Goelet. He succeeded his father in 1932. Early life George Victor Robert Joh ...

. They were married on 24 October 1935, at

Westminster Abbey Westminster Abbey, formally titled the Collegiate Church of Saint Peter at Westminster, is an historic, mainly Gothic church in the City of Westminster, London, England, just to the west of the Palace of Westminster. It is one of the United ...

, but divorced in 1953. According to ''

The Daily Telegraph ''The Daily Telegraph'', known online and elsewhere as ''The Telegraph'', is a national British daily broadsheet newspaper published in London by Telegraph Media Group and distributed across the United Kingdom and internationally. It was fo ...

'', she was best known for resisting the attempts of her husband to evict her from the family home,

Floors Castle Floors Castle, in Roxburghshire, south-east Scotland, is the seat of the Duke of Roxburghe. Despite its name it is an estate house rather than a fortress. It was built in the 1720s by the architect William Adam for Duke John, possibly incorporat ...

. She was a great patron of the

Royal Ballet The Royal Ballet is a British internationally renowned classical ballet company, based at the Royal Opera House in Covent Garden, London, England. The largest of the five major ballet companies in Great Britain, the Royal Ballet was founded in ...

in the era of

Margot Fonteyn Dame Margaret Evelyn de Arias DBE (''née'' Hookham; 18 May 191921 February 1991), known by the stage name Margot Fonteyn, was an English ballerina. She spent her entire career as a dancer with the Royal Ballet (formerly the Sadler's Wells T ...

and

Frederick Ashton Sir Frederick William Mallandaine Ashton (17 September 190418 August 1988) was a British ballet dancer and choreographer. He also worked as a director and choreographer in opera, film and revue. Determined to be a dancer despite the oppositi ...

West Horsley Place

In 1967 her mother, Margaret,

Lady Crewe The word ''lady'' is a term for a girl or woman, with various connotations. Once used to describe only women of a high social class or status, the equivalent of lord, now it may refer to any adult woman, as gentleman can be used for men. Infor ...

, died and left the Duchess an estate at

West Horsley West Horsley is a semi-rural village between Guildford and Leatherhead in Surrey, England. It lies on the A246, and south of the M25 and the A3. Its civil parish ascends to an ancient woodland Sheepleas Woods which are on the northern downsl ...

Surrey Surrey () is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in South East England, bordering Greater London to the south west. Surrey has a large rural area, and several significant urban areas which form part of the Greater London Built-up Area. ...

, including

West Horsley Place West Horsley Place is a Grade I listed building in West Horsley, to the east of Guildford in Surrey. There are eight further Grade II buildings on the estate, including two mid-19th-century dog kennels. History The house dates back to the 15 ...

, a large

country house An English country house is a large house or mansion in the English countryside. Such houses were often owned by individuals who also owned a town house. This allowed them to spend time in the country and in the city—hence, for these peopl ...

dating from the 16th century. On her own death, this was inherited by her grandnephew

Bamber Gascoigne Arthur Bamber Gascoigne (24 January 1935 – 8 February 2022) was an English television presenter and author. He was the original quizmaster on ''University Challenge'', which initially ran from 1962 to 1987. Early life and education Gasco ...

, the grandson of her much older half-sister Lady Annabel Hungerford Crewe-Milnes.Bamber Gascoigne to save 500-year-old manor after accidental inheritance
dated 21 March 2015 in ''

'' online edition, accessed 22 March 2015

Death

The Duchess of Roxburghe died aged 99 on 2 July 2014 after a long illness.

Bequests

In her will, the Duchess also bequeathed her family's collection of over 7,500 books, including major and hitherto unknown works of English and French literature, to the library of

Trinity College, Cambridge Trinity College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge. Founded in 1546 by Henry VIII, King Henry VIII, Trinity is one of the largest Cambridge colleges, with the largest financial endowment of any college at either Cambridge ...

, where both her father and grandfather had studied. Among the books was discovered a first edition of ''

The Faerie Queene ''The Faerie Queene'' is an English epic poem by Edmund Spenser. Books IIII were first published in 1590, then republished in 1596 together with books IVVI. ''The Faerie Queene'' is notable for its form: at over 36,000 lines and over 4,000 sta ...

'', which had been inscribed by

Charles I Charles I may refer to: Kings and emperors * Charlemagne (742–814), numbered Charles I in the lists of Holy Roman Emperors and French kings * Charles I of Anjou (1226–1285), also king of Albania, Jerusalem, Naples and Sicily * Charles I of ...

during his imprisonment.

References

1915 births 2014 deaths British duchesses by marriage Daughters of British marquesses Place of birth missing Place of death missing {{Scotland-duke-stub