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Helena Keith-Falconer, Countess of Kintore

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The Right Honourable
The Countess of Kintore
Photographic portrait, 1912
Personal details
Born
Helena Zimmerman

(1878-09-25)25 September 1878
Cincinnati, Ohio, U.S.
Died15 December 1971(1971-12-15) (aged 93)
Keith Hall, Inverurie, Scotland
Spouse(s)
​
​
(m. 1900; div. 1931)​

​
​
(m. 1937; died 1966)​
RelationsSidney Montagu, 11th Duke of Manchester (grandson)
Angus Montagu, 12th Duke of Manchester (grandson)
Other namesThe Duchess of Manchester (1900–1931)
Parent(s)Eugene Zimmerman
Marietta Evans

Helena Keith-Falconer, Countess of Kintore, formerly Helena Montagu, Duchess of Manchester (née Zimmerman; 25 September 1878 – 15 December 1971), was an American heiress who twice married into the British aristocracy, firstly to the 9th Duke of Manchester and then to the 10th Earl of Kintore.

Early life

Helena was born in Cincinnati, Ohio on 25 September 1878. She was the only child of Eugene Zimmerman and Marietta (née Evans) Zimmerman, who died of peritonitis in 1882 when Helena was just four years old.[1]

Her father had been born in Vicksburg, Mississippi, where his father owned a factory. During the Civil War, his factory burned down and he enlisted in the Union Navy, serving with distinction. After the war, her Eugene went into the oil business, acquiring extensive holdings which he sold to John D. Rockefeller in exchange for shares in Standard Oil where he became a substantial stockholder and gained seat on the company's board. He used his income to invest in railroads, becoming president of several lines, including the Cincinnati, Hamilton and Dayton Railway and the Ann Arbor Railroad, and incredibly wealthy.[1]

Her father sent her to France, where she lived for many years, was educated and became accomplished in horsemanship and fencing.[1]

Personal life

Her first husband, the 9th Duke of Manchester, 1900.

While attending a costume ball at a Brittany coast resort in Dinard, France, the twenty-one year old Helena met William Angus Drogo Montagu, 9th Duke of Manchester, who was then twenty-three. He was the only son of the late 8th Duke of Manchester and his wife, the Cuban American heiress Consuelo Yznaga.[2] On 14 November 1900, they married at Marylebone Church in London without her father or his mother present. Reportedly, the Duke's mother did not believe reports of the marriage and "envinced extreme displeasure at the idea of her son marrying Miss Zimmerman."[3] In 1903, her father bought them Kylemore Castle in Connemara, Ireland.[4] In addition, the Manchester's owned a house in London, a country estate known as Kimbolton Castle and Tandragee Castle in Northern Ireland. In 1906, he was a Privy Councillor and from 1906 to 1907, he was a Captain of the Yeomen of the Guard. From their marriage, she was the mother of four, including:[5]

  • Lady Mary Alice Montagu (1901–1962), who married Fendall Littlepage Gregory of Cuernavaca in 1949.[5]
  • Alexander Montagu, 10th Duke of Manchester (1902–1977), who married an Australian, Nell Vere Stead in 1927. After her death in 1966, he married the American Elizabeth (née Fullerton) Coleman Crocker (1913–2007) in 1969.[6]
  • Lord Edward Eugene Fernando Montagu (1906–1954), who married Norah Macfarlane Potter, a daughter of Albert Edward Potter, in 1929. They divorced in 1937 and he remarried to Dorothy Vera Peters in 1937. They divorced in 1947 and he married Martha Bowen the same year. After her death in 1951, he married Baroness Cora Kellie in 1952. His fifth marriage was to Roberta Herold Joughlin in 1953.[5]
  • Lady Ellen Millicent Louise Montagu (1908–1948), who married Herman Martin Hofer, second son of John Jacob Hofer of Zurich, in 1936.[7] They divorced in 1944 and she married Maj. John Norman Shairp, son of Col. Alexander Shairp, in 1945.[5]

The Duke's family, long prominent in British society and politics had little wealth left despite a $1,000,000 trust left for him by his mother (which she inherited from her brother, the banker Fernando Yznaga).[8][9] This was compounded by the Duke's profligate gambling and spending on other women.[1] In 1920, because of the Duke's gambling debts, they were forced to sell Kylemore Castle to Benedictine nuns who established a monastery on the grounds. Helena's father gave her a fixed allowance, and was careful to set up his will so the Duke received nothing.[1] Her father died in Cincinnati in December 1914 leaving an estate valued at $10,000,000 in trust.[10] By 1918, sixty-six petitions of bankruptcy had been filed against the Duke in the English courts.[11]

After rumors in 1908,[10] and separation proceedings in 1915, 1921, and 1925 (when it was announced an estrangement had existed since 1914),[12] they were eventually divorced in December 1931 after the Duke absconded to Cuba in November to apply for a divorce there.[11] Her remarried almost immediately to another American, the former actress Kathleen Dawes of Connecticut.[13] The Duke died in Seaford, Sussex in February 1947.[14]

Second marriage

On 23 November 1937, The Duchess of Manchester remarried to Arthur Keith-Falconer, 10th Earl of Kintore.[15] Lord Kintore, the second son of Algernon Keith-Falconer, 9th Earl of Kintore (the Governor of South Australia in the 1890s)[16] and the former Lady Sydney Montagu (second daughter of George Montagu, 6th Duke of Manchester), fought in the Boer War between 1900 and 1902 with the Cameron Highlanders with the Scots Guard during World War I.[17]

Lord Kintore died in London on 26 May 1966.[18] As they had no children together, her husband's older sister, Lady Ethel Sydney Keith-Falconer (the wife of John Baird, 1st Viscount Stonehaven) became the suo jure 11th Countess of Kintore.[19] The Dowager Countess of Kintore died at Keith Hall in Inverurie on 15 December 1971 and was buried alongside her second husband at the Keith Hall Burial Ground in Inverurie.[20]

Descendants

Through her eldest son, she was a grandmother of Sidney Montagu, 11th Duke of Manchester (1929–1985), who married twice but died without issue, and Angus Montagu, 12th Duke of Manchester (1938–2002), who married four times and had three children.[5] Through her second son, she was a grandmother of Roderick Edward Drogo Montagu.[20]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e Brownlee, Amy Knueven (3 January 2016). "Cincinnati's Helena Zimmerman: The "Real" Downton Abbey Heiress?". Cincinnati Magazine. Retrieved 6 April 2020.
  2. ^ "Lord Mandeville's Wedding.; a Brilliant Affair at Grace Church-- Lord Mandeville, of England, and Miss Yznaga, of the City, Joined in Wedlock--the Ceremony, the Guests, and the Presents". The New York Times. 23 May 1876. Retrieved 7 April 2020.
  3. ^ "DUKE OF MANCHESTER WEDS MISS ZIMMERMAN; Married to Daughter of Cincinnati Railway Man Nov. 14. RELATIVES NOT NOTIFIED Dowager Duchess Did Not Credit Report Until Examination of Register of London Church Convinced Her It Was True" (PDF). The New York Times. 20 November 1900. Retrieved 13 April 2017.
  4. ^ "MANCHESTER BUYS A CASTLE.; The Duke Pays $315,000 for the Beautiful Kylemore Estate in Connemara". The New York Times. 22 September 1903. Retrieved 7 April 2020.
  5. ^ a b c d e "Manchester, Duke of (GB, 1719)". www.cracroftspeerage.co.uk. Heraldic Media Limited. Retrieved 26 February 2020.
  6. ^ "Mrs. Crocker Is Wed To Duke of Manchester". The New York Times. 11 February 1969. Retrieved 7 April 2020.
  7. ^ "ELLEN MONTAGU FAIRFIELD BRIDE; Younger Daughter of Duke of Manchester Wed to Martin Hofer in Connecticut, HER MOTHER AN AMERICAN Duchess Is the Former Helena Zimmerman -- Ceremony Is Performed by Judge,". The New York Times. 18 June 1936. Retrieved 7 April 2020.
  8. ^ "FERNANDO YZNAGA ESTATE; Its Value Over $1,000,000 More Than Estimated. His Net Personal Property Found by the Appraisers to Have Been $2,298,898 -- Dowager Duchess of Manchester Sole Beneficiary". The New York Times. 17 December 1902. Retrieved 6 April 2020.
  9. ^ "YZNAGA FORTUNE TAXED.; Estate of Late Duchess of Manchester Must Pay $300,000 Legacy Duty". The New York Times. 13 February 1912. Retrieved 14 April 2017.
  10. ^ a b Times, Special to The New York (21 December 1914). "EUGENE ZIMMERMAN DROPS DEAD AT CLUB; Financier Had Just Been Laughing Over Woman's Suit for Breach of Promise. FORTUNE FROM RAILROADS Father of Duchess of Manchester Ventured Outdoors Against Advice of His Physician". The New York Times. Retrieved 7 April 2020.
  11. ^ a b TIMES, Wireless to THE NEW YORK (20 November 1931). "DUKE TO BRING SUIT FOR DIVORCE IN CUBA; Duke of Manchester Hopes for Decree Before That Granted to Wife Becomes Final. DUCHESS AMERICAN-BORN Daughter of Eugene Zimmerman, Cincinnati Multi-Millionaire, in Runaway Marriage In 1901". The New York Times. Retrieved 7 April 2020.
  12. ^ "DEMANDS TRIAL IN FRANCE.; Duke of Manchester Insists on Divorce Suit Hearing There". The New York Times. 15 August 1925. Retrieved 7 April 2020.
  13. ^ TIMES, Wireless to THE NEW YORK (8 December 1931). "DUKE OF MANCHESTER DIVORCE IS NOW FINAL; London Decree Made Absolute-- Duke Reported Planning to Marry Actress Here" (PDF). The New York Times. Retrieved 2 March 2020.
  14. ^ "W. MONTAGU, DUKE OF MANCHESTER, 69; Former Husband of Cincinnati Rail Heiress Dies --Had Been Actor and Reporter Here". The New York Times. 10 February 1947. Retrieved 7 April 2020.
  15. ^ "MANCHESTER EX-WIFE MARRIED TO KINTORE; Duchess, Cincinnati Heiress, Secretly Wed to Scottish Earl in Edinburgh". The New York Times. 25 November 1937. Retrieved 6 April 2020.
  16. ^ TIMES, Wireless to THE NEW YORK (4 March 1930). "EARL OF KINTORE DIES IN 78TH YEAR; Governor and Commander-in-Chief of South Australia for Several Years. TENTH TO HOLD THE TITLE Served as Government Whip in the House of Lords at London and as Deputy Speaker". The New York Times. Retrieved 6 April 2020.
  17. ^ "Arthur George Keith-Falconer, 11th Earl of Kintore". www.npg.org.uk. National Portrait Gallery, London. Retrieved 6 April 2020.
  18. ^ "EARL OF KINTORE DIES". Dayton Daily News. 28 May 1966. p. 5. Retrieved 6 April 2020.
  19. ^ "Kintore, Earl of (S, 1677)". www.cracroftspeerage.co.uk. Heraldic Media Limited. Retrieved 6 April 2020.
  20. ^ a b "Helena, Countess of Kintore, 95; Former Duchess of Manchester". The New York Times. 16 December 1971. Retrieved 6 April 2020.
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