Cecilia Bowes-Lyon, Countess of Strathmore and Kinghorne

The Right Honourable The Countess of Strathmore and Kinghorne GCVO DStJ
Born	Cecilia Cavendish-Bentinck (1862-09-11)11 September 1862 Belgravia, London
Died	38 Cumberland Mansions, Bryanston Street, London
Resting place	Glamis Castle, Angus, Scotland
Spouse(s)	Claude Bowes-Lyon, 14th Earl of Strathmore and Kinghorne (m. 1881)
Children	Violet Bowes-Lyon Mary Elphinstone, Lady Elphinstone Patrick Bowes-Lyon, 15th Earl of Strathmore and Kinghorne John Bowes-Lyon Alexander Bowes-Lyon Fergus Bowes-Lyon Rose Leveson-Gower, Countess Granville Michael Bowes-Lyon Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother David Bowes-Lyon
Parent(s)	Charles Cavendish-Bentinck Louisa Burnaby

Cecilia Nina Bowes-Lyon, Countess of Strathmore and Kinghorne, née Cavendish-Bentinck, GCVO DStJ (11 September 1862 – 23 June 1938) was the mother of Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother and maternal grandmother and godmother of Elizabeth II.

Life

She was born in Belgravia, Westminster, the eldest daughter of the Rev. Charles Cavendish-Bentinck (grandson of British Prime Minister William Cavendish-Bentinck, 3rd Duke of Portland) and his wife, Louisa (née Burnaby).

On 16 July 1881, she married Claude Bowes-Lyon, Lord Glamis, at Petersham, Surrey, and they had ten children. Claude inherited his father's title of Earl of Strathmore and Kinghorne in 1904, whereupon Cecilia became Countess of Strathmore and Kinghorne.

The Strathmore estates included two grand houses and their surroundings: Glamis Castle and St Paul's Walden Bury. Cecilia was a gregarious and accomplished hostess who played the piano exceptionally well. Her houses were run with meticulous care and a practical approach, and she was responsible for designing the Italian Garden at Glamis. She was deeply religious, a keen gardener and embroiderer, and preferred a quiet family life.

During World War I, Glamis Castle served as a convalescent hospital for the wounded, in which she took an active part until she developed cancer and was forced into invalidity. In October 1921 she underwent a hysterectomy, and by May 1922 was in recovery. In January 1923 she celebrated the engagement of her youngest daughter, Elizabeth, to the King's son, Prince Albert, Duke of York, later George VI. When asked by pressmen for a photograph during the Edward VIII abdication crisis, she reportedly said, "I shouldn't waste a photograph on me."

Issue

Name	Born	Died	Notes
The Hon. Violet Hyacinth Bowes-Lyon	17 April 1882 St Paul's Walden Bury	17 October 1893 Ham, Surrey	Died at age 11 from diphtheria. She died before her father became Earl and was therefore never styled "Lady".
Lady Mary Frances Bowes-Lyon	30 August 1883 Forfar, Angus	8 February 1961 Inveresk	Married Sidney Buller-Fullerton-Elphinstone, 16th Lord Elphinstone on 24 July 1910 in Westminster and had issue.
Patrick Bowes-Lyon, 15th Earl of Strathmore and Kinghorne	22 September 1884 St Paul's Walden Bury	25 May 1949 Angus	Known as Lord Glamis from 1904 to 1944; Married Lady Dorothy Beatrix Godolphin-Osborne on 21 November 1908 in London and had issue.
The Hon. John Herbert Bowes-Lyon	1 April 1886 St Paul's Walden Bury	7 February 1930 Glamis Castle	Served as a Lieutenant in the Black Watch during World War I; Married The Hon. Fenella Hepburn-Stuart-Forbes-Trefusis on 29 September 1914 and had issue.
The Hon. Alexander Francis Bowes-Lyon	14 April 1887 St Paul's Walden Bury	19 October 1911 Glamis Castle	Died unmarried in his sleep of a tumour at the base of the cerebrum
The Hon. Fergus Bowes-Lyon	18 April 1889 Glamis Castle	26 September 1915 Loos-en-Gohelle	Served as a Captain in the Black Watch during World War I; Married Lady Christian Norah Dawson-Damer on 17 September 1914 and had issue; Killed in the Battle of Loos.
Lady Rose Constance Bowes-Lyon	6 May 1890 Ham, Surrey	17 November 1967	Married William Leveson-Gower, 4th Earl Granville on 24 May 1916 at St James's Church, Piccadilly, and had issue.
The Hon. Michael Claude Hamilton Bowes-Lyon	1 October 1893 St Paul's Walden Bury	1 May 1953	Served as a Lieutenant-Colonel during World War I; Married Elizabeth Margaret Cator on 2 February 1928 and had issue, including the 17th Earl of Strathmore and Kinghorne.
Lady Elizabeth Angela Marguerite Bowes-Lyon	4 August 1900 London or Hitchin	30 March 2002 Royal Lodge, Old Windsor	Married Prince Albert, Duke of York, the future King George VI, on 26 April 1923 at Westminster Abbey and had issue, including Queen Elizabeth II.
The Hon. Sir David Bowes-Lyon, KCVO	2 May 1902 London	13 September 1961 Birkhall	Married Rachel Pauline Spender Clay on 6 February 1929 and had issue.

Death

She suffered a heart attack in April 1938 during the wedding of her granddaughter, Anne Bowes-Lyon, to Thomas, Viscount Anson. She died 8 weeks later, aged 75, at 38 Cumberland Mansions, Bryanston Street, in London. Lady Strathmore outlived four of her ten children. She was buried on 27 June 1938 at Glamis Castle.

Titles from birth to death

• 11 September 1862 – 16 July 1881: Miss Cecilia Cavendish-Bentinck
• 16 July 1881 – 16 February 1904: Lady Glamis
• 16 February 1904 – 23 June 1938: The Right Honourable The Countess of Strathmore and Kinghorne

Ancestry

Family of Cecilia Bowes-Lyon, Countess of Strathmore and Kinghorne

16. William Bentinck, 2nd Duke of Portland               8. William Cavendish-Bentinck, 3rd Duke of Portland                       17. Lady Margaret Harley               4. Lord Charles Cavendish-Bentinck                             18. William Cavendish, 4th Duke of Devonshire               9. Lady Dorothy Cavendish                       19. Charlotte Boyle, 6th Baroness Clifford               2. Reverend Charles Cavendish-Bentinck                                   20. Garret Wesley, 1st Earl of Mornington               10. Richard Wellesley, 1st Marquess Wellesley                       21. The Hon. Anne Hill-Trevor               5. Lady Anne Wellesley                             22. Pierre Roland               11. Hyacinthe-Gabrielle Roland                       23. Hyacinthe Gabrielle Varis               1. Cecilia Bowes-Lyon, Countess of Strathmore and Kinghorne                                         24. Andrew Burnaby               12. Edwyn Andrew Burnaby, Sr.                       25. Anne Edwyn               6. Edwyn Burnaby, of Baggrave Hall                             26. William Browne, of Leasthorpe, Leicestershire               13. Mary Browne                       27. Mary Adcock               3. Caroline Louisa Burnaby                                   28. Thomas Salisbury, of Marshfield House, Yorkshire               14. Thomas Salisbury                       29. Mary Lister               7. Anne Caroline Salisbury                             30. Francis Webb, of Oaksey, Wiltshire               15. Frances Webb                       31. Mary Garritt

Sources

• Davies, Edward J., "Some Connections of the Birds of Warwickshire", The Genealogist, 26(2012):58–76
• Forbes, Grania, My Darling Buffy: The Early Life of The Queen Mother (Headline Book Publishing, 1999) ISBN 978-0-7472-7387-5
• Vickers, Hugo, Elizabeth: The Queen Mother (Arrow Books/Random House, 2006) ISBN 978-0-09-947662-7