Consuelo Montagu, Duchess of Manchester
Doña María Consuelo Yznaga del Valle ( * 1859 on the plantation of Ravenswood in Concordia Parish, Louisiana, † November 20, 1909 in London) was a Cuban- American heiress and by marriage Duchess of Manchester. She was known as Lady Mandeville.
Life
María Consuelo Yznaga del Valle was the eldest daughter of four children of a wealthy Cuban diplomats Don Antonia Yznaga del Valle and his wife Ellen Clements. Early on, accompanied María Consuelo together with her siblings her parents abroad, either to visit relatives or by the diplomatic obligations of her father. Her childhood revolved around perfect behavior and the social representation.
On May 22, 1876 Doña María Consuelo married at Grace Church in New York City by Bishop Potter Irish aristocrat and politician George Victor Drogo Montagu, Viscount Mandeville ( 1853-1892 ), eldest son of the politician William Montagu, 7th Duke of Manchester, and Luise Auguste Gräfin von Alten Fredericke. The marriage, which by all accounts was happy, had three children:
- William Angus Drogo (1877-1947), later 9th Duke of Manchester
- Jacqueline Mary Alva († 1895)
- Alice Eleanor Louise († 1900)
During her marriage to Lady Mandeville involved in several charitable organizations - a big concern lay in the education and health sector. In addition to the medical care they also took care of the social need of people. Since the 1890s, the couple lived apart. The reason was that her husband several years maintained a secret love affair with the theater actress and singer Bessie Bellwood.
Lady Mandeville made her childhood friend Alva Erskine Smith (1853-1933), daughter of a wealthy cotton manufacturer from the southern states, with the rich railroad magnate William Kissam Vanderbilt (1849-1920), second son of William Henry Vanderbilt and his wife, Maria Louisa Kissam known. She was also the name and godmother of Consuelo Vanderbilt (1877-1964), later Lady Spencer - Churchill, Duchess of Marlborough. She also helped her friend to raise the social status of the Vanderbilt family by trying to impress the former grand dame of New York society, Mrs. Caroline Astor (1830-1908).
In the unfinished novel The Buccaneers by Edith Wharton (1862-1937) life and work of Lady Mandeville under the pseudonym Conchita Closson has been described.
Name in different stages of life
Worth mentioning
- Her husband's family came from Robert of Mortain (1031-1090) from the House Contender Ville, half brother of the first Norman king William the Conqueror, from.