Gwendolen Guinness, Countess of Iveagh
The Countess of Iveagh | |
|---|---|
| File:The Countess of Iveagh in 1937.jpg | |
| Member of Parliament for Southend | |
| In office 19 November 1927 – 13 November 1935 | |
| Preceded by | Viscount Elveden |
| Succeeded by | Henry Channon |
| Personal details | |
| Born | Gwendolen Florence Mary Onslow 22 July 1881 |
| Died | 16 February 1966 (aged 84) |
| Nationality | British |
| Political party | Conservative |
| Spouse | Rupert Guinness, 2nd Earl of Iveagh |
| Children | Honor Guinness (eldest daughter, wife of Henry Channon) |
Gwendolen Florence Mary Guinness, Countess of Iveagh (22 July 1881 – 16 February 1966), née Lady Gwendolen Florence Mary Onslow, known as Lady Gwendolen Guinness from 1903 to 1919 and Viscountess Elveden from 1919 to 1927, was a Conservative politician in the United Kingdom, and, by marriage, a member of the Anglo-Irish Guinness brewing dynasty.
Early life
She was the daughter of William Hillier Onslow, 4th Earl of Onslow (1853–1911), and Florence Coulston Onslow, née Gardner (1853–1934).
Marriage and career
She was married to the Conservative Member of Parliament (MP) for Southend, Rupert Guinness, 2nd Earl of Iveagh. In 1927, he ceased to be an MP when he succeeded to his father's earldom. The Countess of Iveagh, as Gwendolen Guinness was now known, won the Southend by-election on 19 November 1927 to replace her husband as MP. She served until her retirement at the 1935 general election.
When she retired in 1935 she was succeeded as MP by her eldest daughter Honor Guinness's husband, Henry "Chips" Channon. Another son-in-law, Alan Lennox-Boyd, was an MP (for Mid Bedfordshire 1931-60), making the first mother- and son-in-law set of MPs.
Clandon Park
In 1956 she presented her Surrey childhood home, Clandon Park, to the National Trust.
References
- Martin Pugh, "Guinness , Gwendolen Florence Mary, countess of Iveagh (1881–1966)", Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, 2004 accessed 27 May 2007
- Leigh Rayment's Peerage Pages [self-published source] [better source needed]
- Leigh Rayment's Historical List of MPs
External links
- 1881 births
- 1966 deaths
- Members of the Parliament of the United Kingdom for English constituencies
- Conservative Party (UK) MPs
- Female members of the Parliament of the United Kingdom for English constituencies
- British countesses
- Daughters of British earls
- Guinness family
- UK MPs 1924–29
- UK MPs 1929–31
- UK MPs 1931–35