Nina Caroline Ogilvie-Grant, 12th Countess of Seafield (17 April 1906 – 30 September 1969) was a Scottish peeress and landowner.

Early life

Nina Seafield was born on 17 April 1906 in

Nice Nice ( ; ) is a city in and the prefecture of the Alpes-Maritimes department in France. The Nice agglomeration extends far beyond the administrative city limits, with a population of nearly one million Provence Provence is a geographical region and historical province of southeastern France, which stretches from the left bank of the lower Rhône to the west to the France–Italy border, Italian border to the east; it is bordered by the Mediterrane ...

, France. She was the only child of

James Ogilvie-Grant, 11th Earl of Seafield Captain (British Army and Royal Marines), Captain James Ogilvie-Grant, 11th Earl of Seafield, (18 April 1876 – 12 November 1915), styled Viscount Reidhaven in 1888, was a Scottish peer and soldier. He is numbered as the 30th Chief of Clan Gra ...

and the

New Zealand New Zealand () is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and List of islands of New Zealand, over 600 smaller islands. It is the List of isla ...

heiress Mary Elizabeth Nina Townend (1876–1962). One of the family seats was Castle Grant, Morayshire. She rented out the castle to American financier and railroad executive George Jay Gould in 1922. She was a friend of

Nancy Mitford Nancy Freeman-Mitford (28 November 1904 – 30 June 1973) was an English novelist, biographer, and journalist. The eldest of the Mitford family#Mitford sisters, Mitford sisters, she was regarded as one of the "bright young things" on the ...

and especially close with Mark Ogilvie-Grant, a cousin who at one point considered marrying her. Her paternal grandparents were Francis William Ogilvie-Grant, 10th Earl of Seafield and the former Anne Trevor Corry Evans. Her maternal grandparents were Dr. Joseph Henry Townend and Harriet ( Cox) Townend, of

Christchurch Christchurch (; ) is the largest city in the South Island and the List of cities in New Zealand, second-largest city by urban area population in New Zealand. Christchurch has an urban population of , and a metropolitan population of over hal ...

Peerage

Her father was killed in action on 12 November 1915 in France during

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

and Nina succeeded, ''

suo jure ''Suo jure'' is a Latin phrase, used in English to mean 'in his own right' or 'in her own right'. In most nobility-related contexts, it means 'in her own right', since in those situations the phrase is normally used of women; in practice, especi ...

'', to the earldom of Seafield in the

Peerage of Scotland The Peerage of Scotland (; ) is one of the five divisions of peerages in the United Kingdom and for those peers created by the King of Scots before 1707. Following that year's Treaty of Union 1707, Treaty of Union, the Kingdom of Scots and the ...

. Her uncle, Trevor Ogilvie-Grant, succeeded to the barony of Strathspey in the

Peerage of the United Kingdom The Peerage of the United Kingdom is one of the five peerages in the United Kingdom. It comprises most peerages created in the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland after the Acts of Union in 1801, when it replaced the Peerage of Great B ...

, and as Chief of the

Clan Grant Clan Grant is a Highland Scottish clan, with one main branch, Grant of Grant, and several cadet branches, such as Grant of Glenmoriston. History Origins The Chiefs of Clan Grant descended from Normans who arrived in Scotland during the medie ...

Personal life

On 2 January 1930, Lady Seafield's engagement was announced to Derek Herbert Studley-Herbert (1907–1960), son of John Tatchell Studley and Beatrice de Chair. They married on 24 January 1930 in London. Before their divorce in 1957, they were the parents of: * Ian Derek Francis Ogilvie-Grant, 13th Earl of Seafield (born 1939), who married firstly Mary Dawn Mackenzie Illingworth, daughter of Henry George Coats Illingworth (son of Sir

Percy Illingworth Percy Holden Illingworth (19 March 1869 – 3 January 1915) was a British Liberal politician. He served as Parliamentary Secretary to the Treasury under H. H. Asquith between 1912 and 1915. Background and education Illingworth was the third an ...

), in 1960. They divorced in 1971 and he married secondly Leila Refaat, daughter of Mahmoud Refaat, in 1971. * Lady Pauline Anne Ogilvie-Grant (1944–2010), who married firstly her brother-in-law James Henry Harcourt Illingworth in 1964. They divorced in 1970 and she married secondly Sir William Gordon-Cumming, 6th Baronet in 1972. They were divorced in 1976 and she married thirdly Hugh Richard Sykes in 1976. They too divorced and she married finally David John Nicholson in 1989.Mosley, Charles, editor. ''Burke's Peerage, Baronetage & Knightage, 107th edition, 3 volumes.''

Wilmington, Delaware Wilmington is the List of municipalities in Delaware, most populous city in the U.S. state of Delaware. The city was built on the site of Fort Christina, the first Swedish colonization of the Americas, Swedish settlement in North America. It lie ...

Burke's Peerage Burke's Peerage Limited is a British genealogical publisher, considered an authority on the order of precedence of noble families and information on the lesser nobility of the United Kingdom. It was founded in 1826, when the Anglo-Irish genea ...

(Genealogical Books) Ltd, 2003, volume 3, page 3552. A month after her divorce, her engagement to Armar E. Archbold was announced. Archbold, heir to a

Standard Oil Standard Oil Company was a Trust (business), corporate trust in the petroleum industry that existed from 1882 to 1911. The origins of the trust lay in the operations of the Standard Oil of Ohio, Standard Oil Company (Ohio), which had been founde ...

fortune, however, died before they were wed. Her former husband died of cancer on 26 March 1960 in

Jamaica Jamaica is an island country in the Caribbean Sea and the West Indies. At , it is the third-largest island—after Cuba and Hispaniola—of the Greater Antilles and the Caribbean. Jamaica lies about south of Cuba, west of Hispaniola (the is ...

. Lady Seafield died of cancer in a London hospital on 30 September 1969 and was succeeded in the earldom of Seafield by her only son Ian.

Reputed wealth

The Countess of Seafield was allegedly the second richest woman in Britain after

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. ...

. At the time of her death, she was said to have earned $250,000 a year and owned "300 square miles in the shires of Banff,

Moray Moray ( ; or ) is one of the 32 council areas of Scotland. It lies in the north-east of the country, with a coastline on the Moray Firth, and borders the council areas of Aberdeenshire and Highland. Its council is based in Elgin, the area' ...

and

Inverness Inverness (; ; from the , meaning "Mouth of the River Ness") is a city in the Scottish Highlands, having been granted city status in 2000. It is the administrative centre for The Highland Council and is regarded as the capital of the Highland ...

." She owned Cullen House and Castle Grant, but spent most of her time in

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

and the

Bahamas The Bahamas, officially the Commonwealth of The Bahamas, is an archipelagic and island country within the Lucayan Archipelago of the Atlantic Ocean. It contains 97 per cent of the archipelago's land area and 88 per cent of its population. ...

where she owned properties.

References

External links

Nina Caroline Studley-Herbert (née Ogilvie-Grant), Countess of Seafield (1906-1969), Wife of Derek Herbert Ogilvie-Grant-Studley-Herbert; daughter of 11th Earl of Seafield
at the

National Portrait Gallery, London The National Portrait Gallery (NPG) is an art gallery in London that houses a collection of portraits of historically important and famous British people. When it opened in 1856, it was arguably the first national public gallery in the world th ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Seafield, Nina Ogilvie-Grant, 12th Countess of 1906 births 1969 deaths 20th-century Scottish women Daughters of Scottish earls Scottish countesses 12 Hereditary women peers Deaths from cancer in England British socialites 20th-century Scottish landowners Scottish people of New Zealand descent Scottish women landowners