Sybil Rachel Betty Cecile Cholmondeley, Marchioness of Cholmondeley (born Sybil Rachel Betty Cecile Sassoon; 30 January 1894 – 26 December 1989), styled Countess of Rocksavage from 1913 to 1923, was a British socialite, patron of the arts, and Chief Staff Officer in the

Women's Royal Naval Service The Women's Royal Naval Service (WRNS; popularly and officially known as the Wrens) was the women's branch of the United Kingdom's Royal Navy. First formed in 1917 for the First World War, it was disbanded in 1919, then revived in 1939 at the ...

(WRNS) during the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposi ...

. She belonged to the prominent Sassoon and

Rothschild Rothschild () is a name derived from the German ''zum rothen Schild'' (with the old spelling "th"), meaning "with the red sign", in reference to the houses where these family members lived or had lived. At the time, houses were designated by sign ...

families.

Family and life

Sassoon was born in London, to a

Jewish Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""The ...

family. She was the daughter of Sir Edward Sassoon (1856–1912), 2nd Bt., and Baroness Aline Caroline de Rothschild (1865–1909). Her brother was Sir Philip Sassoon. On 6 August 1913, she married George Cholmondeley, Earl of Rocksavage (19 May 1883 – 16 September 1968). He later succeeded as the 5th Marquess of Cholmondeley. They had two sons and one daughter: * Lady Aline Caroline Cholmondeley (5 October 1916 – 30 June 2015) * George ''Hugh'' Cholmondeley, 6th Marquess of Cholmondeley (24 April 1919 – 13 March 1990) * Lord John George Cholmondeley (15 November 1920 – October 1986) Sassoon was largely responsible for restoring her husband's family estate,

Houghton Hall Houghton Hall ( ) is a country house in the parish of Houghton in Norfolk, England. It is the residence of David Cholmondeley, 7th Marquess of Cholmondeley. It was commissioned by the ''de facto'' first British Prime Minister, Sir Robert Wa ...

, to its former glory. She was a generous patron of the arts and had an extensive art collection by the time of her death. The Sybil Sassoon Gardens at Houghton were opened to the public in 1996. Lady Sybil's grandson, the current marquess, developed the gardens in honour of his grandmother. In 2008, the garden was named

Historic Houses Association Historic Houses (formerly, and still for legal purposes, known as the Historic Houses Association or HHA) is a not-for-profit organisation that represents more than 1,650 privately owned historic country houses, castles and gardens throughout th ...

and Christie's Garden of the Year. In "the pool garden", the entwined initials "SS" are represented in the outlines of the clipped box-hedge which surrounds plantings of lavender and rosemary. Sassoon died in Cheshire. She is buried in the Church of St Martin on the Houghton Hall estate. Through her son George Hugh Cholmondeley, Sybil is the great-grandmother of actor Jack Huston. She was Chief Staff Officer to Director WRNS from 12 November 1939 until 1946. On 9 February 1945 she was appointed as Superintendent of the

(WRNS) and the following year was made

CBE 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 ...

Titles

She was identified by a number of changing titles during the several phases of her life: * 1894–1913: ''Miss'' Sybil Sassoon * 1913–1923: Countess of Rocksavage * 1923–1946: ''The Most Honourable'' The Marchioness of Cholmondeley * 1946–1968: ''The Most Honourable'' The Marchioness of Cholmondeley,

* 1968–1989: ''The Most Honourable'' The Dowager Marchioness of Cholmondeley,

Honours

* 1939–1945 ''Superintendent'' in ''Women's Royal Naval Service'' * 1939–1946 ''Chief Staff Officer'' in ''Women's Royal Naval Service'' * 1946 Birthday Honours ''

Commander of Order of the British Empire Commander (commonly abbreviated as Cmdr.) is a common naval officer rank. Commander is also used as a rank or title in other formal organizations, including several police forces. In several countries this naval rank is termed frigate captain. ...

'' (CBE)

Notes

References

* Mosley, Charles Mosley. (2003). ''Burke's Peerage, Baronetage and Knightage.'' Stokesley : Burke's Peerage & Gentry, 2003. ; * Stansky, Peter. (2003)
''Sassoon: the Worlds of Philip and Sybil.''
New Haven:

Yale University Press Yale University Press is the university press of Yale University. It was founded in 1908 by George Parmly Day, and became an official department of Yale University in 1961, but it remains financially and operationally autonomous. , Yale Universi ...

External links