Ruth Mary Clarisse Cholmondeley, Baroness 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. Etymology The hamlet was named in 1801, deriving its name from the six mile distance to Newmarket and its location in a bottom, an archaic term for ...

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, altho ...

'' 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 Cons ...

. She was married three times, becoming a peeress upon her third marriage to Thomas Cholmondeley, 4th Baron Delamere. Lady Delamere was the younger sister of

Edwina Mountbatten, Countess Mountbatten of Burma Edwina Cynthia Annette Mountbatten, Countess Mountbatten of Burma (' 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 Admiral The 1s ...

Early life and family

Lady Delamere was born Ruth ''Mary'' Clarisse Ashley on 22 July 1906 in

Stanmore Stanmore is part of the London Borough of Harrow in Greater London. It is centred northwest of Charing Cross, lies on the outskirts of the London urban area and includes Stanmore Hill, one of the List of highest points in London, highest point ...

. She was the youngest daughter of Colonel

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

and Amalia Mary Maud Cassel. Her older sister was

. Delamere's paternal grandfather,

Evelyn Ashley Anthony Evelyn Melbourne Ashley (24 July 1836 – 16 November 1907) was a British barrister and Liberal politician. He was private secretary to Lord Palmerston and later published a biography of him. After entering Parliament at a by-election ...

, 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 Col ...

, a Member of Parliament, 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: ''Prūsija'') was a German state centred on the North European Plain that originated from the 1525 secularization of the Prussian part of the State of the Teutonic Order. For centuries, the House of Hohenzoll ...

-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. Delamere's mother died from

tuberculosis Tuberculosis (TB), also known colloquially as the "white death", or historically as consumption, is a contagious disease usually caused by ''Mycobacterium tuberculosis'' (MTB) bacteria. Tuberculosis generally affects the lungs, but it can al ...

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 nobility, British aristocrat and relative of the British royal family. She is the younger daughter of Louis Mountbatten, 1st Earl Mountbatten of Burma (form ...

, as "rather excitable" and "flighty".

Adult life

In 1921, 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, Delamere received Six Mile Bottom Hall, a large Tudor

country house image:Blenheim - Blenheim Palace - 20210417125239.jpg, 300px, Blenheim Palace - Oxfordshire 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 Townhou ...

. 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 sons, 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 Thomas Cholmondeley, 4th Baron Delamere. 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 female given name (includes a list of people with the name) Religion * New Testament people named Mary, overview article linking to many of those below * Mary, mother of Jesus, also called the Blesse ...

Delamere British people of German-Jewish descent

Daughters of barons English socialites People from Stanmore