Ruth Mary Clarisse Cholmondeley, Lady Delamere (''née'' Ashley, formerly Cunningham-Reid and Gardner; 22 July 1906 – 10 October 1986) was a British heiress and socialite. A granddaughter of German-Jewish banker Sir Ernest Cassel, she inherited an estate including a large manor house in

Six Mile Bottom Six Mile Bottom is a hamlet within the parish of Little Wilbraham, near Cambridge in England. History In the 1790s the only building at Six Mile Bottom was a paddock run by a stable keeper. In 1802, a sizeable country house was built nearby. Ea ...

and half of her grandfather's fortune (valued at approximately £50 million in 2020). ''

The Cincinnati Enquirer ''The Cincinnati Enquirer'' is a morning daily newspaper published by Gannett in Cincinnati, Ohio, United States. First published in 1841, the ''Enquirer'' is the last remaining daily newspaper in Greater Cincinnati and Northern Kentucky, al ...

'' referred to her as "England's wealthiest girl" when reporting on her first marriage to Captain

Alec Cunningham-Reid Captain Alec Stratford Cunningham-Reid (20 April 1895 – 26 March 1977), known in his early life as Alec Stratford Reid, was a British First World War flying ace credited with seven aerial victories. After the war, he entered politics as a Co ...

. She was married three times, becoming a peeress after her third marriage to

Thomas Cholmondeley, 4th Baron Delamere Captain Thomas Pitt Hamilton Cholmondeley, 4th Baron Delamere (; 19 August 1900 – 13 April 1979), styled The Honourable Thomas Cholmondeley from birth until 1931, was a British peer. Popularly known (from 1931) as Tom Delamere, he lived on an ...

. Lady Delamere was the younger sister of

Edwina Mountbatten, Countess Mountbatten of Burma Edwina Cynthia Annette Mountbatten, Countess Mountbatten of Burma, (''née'' Ashley; 28 November 1901 – 21 February 1960), was an English heiress, socialite, relief worker and the last vicereine of India as the wife of (the then) Rear Admira ...

Early life and family

Lady Delamere was born Ruth ''Mary'' Clarisse Ashley on 22 July 1906 in Stanmore. She was the youngest daughter of Colonel

Wilfrid Ashley, 1st Baron Mount Temple Colonel Wilfrid William Ashley, 1st Baron Mount Temple, PC (13 September 1867 – 3 July 1939) was a British soldier and Conservative politician. He served as Minister of Transport between 1924 and 1929 under Stanley Baldwin. Background and e ...

and Amalia Mary Maud Cassel. Her older sister was

. Lady Delamere's paternal grandfather, Evelyn Ashley, was

Under-Secretary of State for the Colonies The Under-Secretary of State for the Colonies was a junior Ministerial post in the United Kingdom government, subordinate to the Secretary of State for the Colonies and, from 1948, also to a Minister of State. Under-Secretaries of State for the Co ...

, a

Member of Parliament A member of parliament (MP) is the representative in parliament of the people who live in their electoral district. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, this term refers only to members of the lower house since upper house members o ...

, and the younger son of

Anthony Ashley-Cooper, 7th Earl of Shaftesbury Anthony Ashley Cooper, 7th Earl of Shaftesbury (28 April 1801 – 1 October 1885), styled Lord Ashley from 1811 to 1851, was a British Tory politician, philanthropist, and social reformer. He was the eldest son of The 6th Earl of Shaftesbury ...

. Her maternal grandfather, Sir Ernest Cassel, was a

Prussian Prussia, , Old Prussian: ''Prūsa'' or ''Prūsija'' was a German state on the southeast coast of the Baltic Sea. It formed the German Empire under Prussian rule when it united the German states in 1871. It was ''de facto'' dissolved by an e ...

-born Jewish banker and capitalist who became a British subject and converted to Catholicism. She was a first cousin of Sir Felix Cassel, 1st Baronet. Lady Delamere's mother died from

tuberculosis Tuberculosis (TB) is an infectious disease usually caused by '' Mycobacterium tuberculosis'' (MTB) bacteria. Tuberculosis generally affects the lungs, but it can also affect other parts of the body. Most infections show no symptoms, i ...

in 1911, and her father married a second time to Muriel Forbes-Sempill. She was described by her niece,

Lady Pamela Hicks Lady Pamela Carmen Louise Hicks (''née'' Mountbatten; born 19 April 1929) is a British aristocrat and relative of the British royal family. She is the younger daughter of Louis Mountbatten, 1st Earl Mountbatten of Burma (formerly Prince Loui ...

, as "rather excitable" and "flighty".

Adult life

In 1921, Lady Delamere's grandfather, Sir Ernest Cassel, died, leaving her sister and her the majority of his estate (worth around £50 million in 2020). As part of her inheritance, Lady Delamere received Six Mile Bottom Hall, a large Tudor country house in

. On 12 May 1927, she married Captain

, a military officer and politician. The couple was described by ''

'' as "England's wealthiest girl and handsomest man", They had two children, Michael Duncan Alec Cunningham-Reid and Noel Robert Cunningham-Reid. On their honeymoon, she insisted that they share her wealth because "no decent woman likes to have a man live with her in charity", but when they divorced in 1940, Cunningham-Reid sued for half of her $400,000 annual income. On 3 September 1940, she married a second time to Major Ernest Laurie Gardner. They divorced in 1943. She married a third time, on 15 June 1944, to

. She and Lord Delamere divorced in 1955.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Cholmondeley, Mary 1906 births 1986 deaths 20th-century English women

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 ...

Delamere British people of German-Jewish descent

Daughters of barons English socialites People from Stanmore