Maud Petty-Fitzmaurice, Marchioness of Lansdowne

Maud Evelyn Petty-Fitzmaurice, Marchioness of Lansdowne, VA, CI, GBE, CH, GCStJ (née Hamilton; 17 December 1850 – 21 October 1932), was a British aristocrat and courtier. She was the wife of Henry Charles Keith Petty-FitzMaurice, 5th Marquess of Lansdowne, Governor General of Canada from 1883 to 1888. She was then Vicereine of India from 1888 to 1894 while her husband was Viceroy.

Her Excellency The Most Honourable The Marchioness of Lansdowne VA CI GBE CH GCStJ
Lady of the Bedchamber to Queen Alexandra
In office 1905–1910
Viceregal-Consort of India
In office 10 December 1888 – 11 October 1894
Monarch	Queen Victoria
Preceded by	The Countess of Dufferin
Succeeded by	The Countess of Elgin
Personal details
Born	Lady Maud Evelyn Hamilton (1850-12-17)17 December 1850 St George Hanover Square, London, England
Died	21 October 1932(1932-10-21) (aged 81) St George Hanover Square, London, England
Spouse	Henry Petty-Fitzmaurice, 5th Marquess of Lansdowne ​ ​ (m. 1869; died 1927)​
Children	Evelyn Cavendish, Duchess of Devonshire Henry Petty-Fitzmaurice, 6th Marquess of Lansdowne Lord Charles Petty-Fitzmaurice Beatrix Beauclerk, Duchess of St Albans
Parents	James Hamilton, 1st Duke of Abercorn (father) Lady Louisa Russell (mother)

Marriage

Lady Lansdowne was a daughter of James Hamilton, 1st Duke of Abercorn, and Lady Louisa Jane Russell.^[1] On 8 November 1869, she married Henry Petty-Fitzmaurice, 5th Marquess of Lansdowne, at Westminster Abbey and they had four children:^[1]

• Lady Evelyn Emily Mary Fitzmaurice (27 August 1870 – 2 April 1960)
• Henry William Edmund Petty-Fitzmaurice, Earl of Kerry (14 January 1872 – 5 March 1936)
• Lord Charles George Francis Fitzmaurice (12 February 1874 – 30 October 1914)
• Lady Beatrix Frances Fitzmaurice (25 March 1877 – 5 August 1953)

Later years

From 1905 to 1909 she was a Lady of the Bedchamber to Queen Alexandra; she was Extra Lady from 1910 to 1925. During the First World War she set up the Officers' Families Fund and served as its president, and she and her husband lent their house, Lansdowne House in Berkeley Square, London, to serve as its headquarters. She had previously done the same in the Second Boer War.^[2] She also set up an auxiliary Red Cross hospital in the Orangery at Bowood House on their Wiltshire estate.^[3]

For this and other charitable services, she was appointed Dame Grand Cross of the Order of the British Empire (GBE) in the 1920 civilian war honours. ^[4]

Death

She died in 1932, aged 81, and was buried (as her husband had been, five years earlier) at Derry Hill church, at the gates of their Bowood estate.^[5]

Ancestry

Ancestors of Maud Petty-Fitzmaurice, Marchioness of Lansdowne

16. Captain The Hon. John Hamilton 8. John Hamilton, 1st Marquess of Abercorn 17. Harriet Craggs 4. James Hamilton, Viscount Hamilton 18. Sir Joseph Copley, 1st Baronet 9. Catherine Copley 19. Mary Buller 2. James Hamilton, 1st Duke of Abercorn 20. James Douglas, 14th Earl of Morton 10. The Hon. John Douglas 21. Bridget Heathcote 5. Harriet Douglas 22. Edward Lascelles, 1st Earl of Harewood 11. Lady Frances Lascelles 23. Anne Chaloner 1. Maud Petty-Fitzmaurice, Marchioness of Lansdowne 24. John Russell, 4th Duke of Bedford 12. Francis Russell, Marquess of Tavistock 25. The Hon. Gertrude Leveson-Gower 6. John Russell, 6th Duke of Bedford 26. Willem van Keppel, 2nd Earl of Albemarle 13. Lady Elizabeth Keppel 27. Lady Anne Lennox 3. Lady Louisa Jane Russell 28. Cosmo Gordon, 3rd Duke of Gordon 14. Alexander Gordon, 4th Duke of Gordon 29. Lady Catherine Gordon 7. Lady Georgina Gordon 30. Sir William Maxwell, 3rd Baronet of Monreith, Wigtownshire 15. Jane Maxwell 31. Magdalen Blair

References

1. Mosley, Charles, ed. (2003). Burke's Peerage, Baronetage & Knighthood (107 ed.). Burke’s Peerage & Gentry. p. 2240. ISBN 0-9711966-2-1.
2. "Officers' Families' Fund". The Times. 16 January 1900. p. 5.
3. "Bowood home front exhibition marking First World War centenary". This is Wiltshire.
4. "No. 31840". The London Gazette (Supplement). 30 March 1920. p. 3757.
5. Historic England. "Christ Church (1253593)". National Heritage List for England. Retrieved 28 February 2022.

• Obituary, The Times, 22 October 1932.

Honorary titles
Preceded by Princess Louise	Viceregal consort of Canada 1883–1888	Succeeded by The Countess of Derby