Chryssie Lytton Cobbold, Baroness Cobbold
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Christine Elizabeth Lytton Cobbold, Baroness Cobbold (''née'' Stucley; 25 April 1940 – 7 April 2024), was a British aristocrat and writer. She was married to
David Lytton Cobbold, 2nd Baron Cobbold David Antony Fromanteel Lytton Cobbold, 2nd Baron Cobbold (14 July 1937 – 9 May 2022), was a British hereditary peer and member of the House of Lords. Early life He was born David Antony Fromanteel Cobbold, the elder son of Cameron "Kim" Cobb ...
; together they organised the Knebworth Festival at
Knebworth House Knebworth House is an English country house in the parish of Knebworth in Hertfordshire, England. It is a Listed building#Categories of listed building, Grade II* listed building. Its gardens are also listed Register of Historic Parks and Gar ...
.


Early life

Christine Elizabeth "Chryssie" Stucley was born on 25 April 1940 to Sir Dennis Frederic Bankes Stucley, 5th Baronet, and Sheila Margaret Warwick Bampfylde (1912–1996), daughter of
George Wentworth Warwick Bampfylde, 4th Baron Poltimore George Wentworth Warwick Bampfylde, 4th Baron Poltimore (1882–1965) (and Bampfylde Baronets, 9th Baronet) of Manor of Poltimore, Poltimore and Manor of North Molton, North Molton, Devon, was a peer and major landowner in Devonshire, whose fam ...
. She was raised at
Affeton Castle Affeton Castle is a converted late-medieval gatehouse near East Worlington, Devon, England. It was formerly part of the fortified manor house of Affeton, built by the Stucley family in about 1434, and situated on the side of a valley of the Litt ...
and Hartland Abbey. She and her four siblings grew up frequently hunting on
Exmoor Exmoor () is loosely defined as an area of hilly open moorland in west Somerset and north Devon in South West England. It is named after the River Exe, the source of which is situated in the centre of the area, two miles north-west of Simons ...
. She was educated at Southover Manor School. After school, she worked as a pattern cutter for the
House of Worth The House of Worth was a French fashion house that specialized in haute couture, ready-to-wear clothes, and perfumes. It was founded in 1858 by English designer Charles Frederick Worth. It continued to operate under his descendants until 1952 and ...
. In 1958, she became one of the last
debutantes A debutante, also spelled débutante ( ; from , ), or deb is a young woman of aristocratic or upper-class family background who has reached maturity and is presented to society at a formal "debut" ( , ; ) or possibly debutante ball. Original ...
to be presented to
Queen Elizabeth II Elizabeth II (Elizabeth Alexandra Mary; 21 April 19268 September 2022) was Queen of the United Kingdom and other Commonwealth realms from 6 February 1952 until Death and state funeral of Elizabeth II, her death in 2022. ...
. During her first
season A season is a division of the year based on changes in weather, ecology, and the number of daylight hours in a given region. On Earth, seasons are the result of the axial parallelism of Earth's axial tilt, tilted orbit around the Sun. In temperat ...
, she met David Cobbold at his 21st birthday party at
Knebworth House Knebworth House is an English country house in the parish of Knebworth in Hertfordshire, England. It is a Listed building#Categories of listed building, Grade II* listed building. Its gardens are also listed Register of Historic Parks and Gar ...
.


Marriage and family

She and Cobbold were married on 7 January 1961 at St Nectan's Church near Hartland Abbey. On 10 January 1961, he changed his family name by
deed poll A deed poll (plural: deeds poll) is a legal document binding on a single person or several persons acting jointly to express an intention or create an obligation. It is a deed, and not a contract, because it binds only one party. Etymology Th ...
to "Lytton Cobbold" to recognize
his mother ''His Mother'' is a 1912 American silent film produced by Kalem Company. It was directed by Sidney Olcott with Gene Gauntier and Jack J. Clark in the leading roles. It was one of more than a dozen films produced by the Kalem Company filmed in Ir ...
's ancestry. He succeeded his father as 2nd
Baron Cobbold Baron Cobbold, of Knebworth in the County of Hertford, is a title in the Peerage of the United Kingdom. It was created in 1960 for the banker Cameron Cobbold. He was Governor of the Bank of England from 1949 to 1961. The 2nd Baron succeeded ...
in 1987. They had four children: * Henry Lytton Cobbold, 3rd Baron Cobbold * Peter Lytton Cobbold * Richard Lytton Cobbold * Rosina Lytton Cobbold In the 1980s, the couple also informally adopted two Ugandan teenagers, friends of their eldest son from
Eton College Eton College ( ) is a Public school (United Kingdom), public school providing boarding school, boarding education for boys aged 13–18, in the small town of Eton, Berkshire, Eton, in Berkshire, in the United Kingdom. It has educated Prime Mini ...
.


Knebworth Festival

In the 1960s the Lytton Cobbolds undertook an extensive renovation of Knebworth House. They opened it to the public in 1971. The title of her best-selling 1986 memoir, ''Board Meetings in the Bath: How We Opened Knebworth House to the Public'', was inspired by the bathtub she had installed in the kitchen of their
Little Venice Little Venice is an affluent residential district in North West London, England, around the junction of the Paddington Arm, Paddington Arm of the Grand Union Canal, the Regent's Canal, and the entrance to Paddington Basin. The junction, also k ...
home. In 1974, they instituted the Knebworth Festival, a summer rock festival, at Knebworth. The first was headlined by
Van Morrison Sir George Ivan "Van" Morrison (born 31 August 1945) is a Northern Irish singer-songwriter and musician whose recording career started in the 1960s. Morrison's albums have performed well in the UK and Ireland, with more than 40 reaching the UK ...
and
The Allman Brothers Band The Allman Brothers Band was an American rock music, rock band formed in Jacksonville, Florida, in 1969. Its founding members were brothers Duane Allman (slide guitar, lead guitar) and Gregg Allman (vocals, keyboards), as well as Dickey Betts ( ...
. In August 1986, Knebworth hosted
Freddie Mercury Freddie Mercury (born Farrokh Bulsara; 5 September 1946 – 24 November 1991) was a British singer and songwriter who achieved global fame as the lead vocalist and pianist of the rock band Queen (band), Queen. Regarded as one of the gre ...
's last live performances with
Queen Queen most commonly refers to: * Queen regnant, a female monarch of a kingdom * Queen consort, the wife of a reigning king * Queen (band), a British rock band Queen or QUEEN may also refer to: Monarchy * Queen dowager, the widow of a king * Q ...
.


Death

Lady Cobbold died of
pancreatic cancer Pancreatic cancer arises when cell (biology), cells in the pancreas, a glandular organ behind the stomach, begin to multiply out of control and form a Neoplasm, mass. These cancerous cells have the malignant, ability to invade other parts of ...
on 7 April 2024, at the age of 83. She was buried in the gardens of Knebworth House beside her husband, who had died in 2022.


Publications

*


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Cobbold, Chryssie Lytton Cobbold 1940 births 2024 deaths People from North Devon (district) Daughters of baronets Chryssie Chryssie British baronesses by marriage British socialites British women non-fiction writers Deaths from pancreatic cancer in England