Social Victorians/People/Ilchester

Also Known As

 * Family name: Fox-Strangways
 * Fox-Strangeways, though this is a misspelling
 * Earl of Ilchester
 * Henry Fox-Strangways, 5th Earl of Ilchester (10 January 1865 – 6 December 1905)
 * Giles Stephen Holland Fox-Strangways, 6th Earl of Ilchester (6 December 1905 – 29 October 1959)
 * Lady Ilchester
 * Countess Mary Eleanor Anne Dawson Fox-Strangways (8 February 1872 – 1905)
 * Lord Stavordale
 * Giles Fox-Strangways, Lord Stavordale (1874–1905)

Timeline
1872 February 8, Henry Fox-Strangeways and Lady Mary Dawson married.

1874, Henry Fox-Strangeways inherited the Holland House estate in London from a distant cousin in the Holland barony.

1897 July 2, Friday, Giles Fox-Strangways, Lord Stavordale and Lady Muriel Fox-Strangways, who were brother and sister, attended the Duchess of Devonshire's fancy-dress ball at Devonshire House.

1902 January 25, Giles Fox-Strangways and Lady Helen Vane-Tempest-Stewart married.

Giles Fox-Strangways, Lord Stavordale
At the Duchess of Devonshire's fancy-dress ball, Giles Fox-Strangways, Lord Stavordale (at 78) was dressed as Petrarch in the Italian procession: Lafayette Lafayette's portrait of "Giles Stephen Holland Fox-Strangways, 6th Earl of Ilchester when Lord Stavordale as Petrarch" in costume is photogravure #90 in the album presented to the Duchess of Devonshire and now in the National Portrait Gallery. The printing on the portrait says, "Lord Stavordale as Petrarch."
 * "Young Petrarch. Violet tunic and long mantle with a red velvet hood, crowned with a wreath of golden laurel."
 * He was in the Italian procession as Petrarch, escorting Lady Alice Montagu as Laura.

The costume worn by Lady Alice Montagu as Laura is similar to this costume worn by Giles, Lord Stavordale in that it seems general to the early 14th century and does not seem to reference a particular work of art. And because Petrarch and Laura have been the subjects of so much art, which does not reference a particular woman or man, they are not historical figures but abstract or idealized images of distance and devotion.

Lady Muriel Fox Strangways
Lady Muriel Fox Strangways (at 403) was present, called Lady M. Fox-Strangways or Lady M. Fox-Strangeways by the newspapers. Henry Van der Weyde's portrait of "Lady Muriel Augusta Digby (née Fox-Srangways [sic]) as Lady Sarah Lennox, one of the bridesmaids of Queen Charlotte A.D. 1761" in costume is photogravure #210 in the album presented to the Duchess of Devonshire and now in the National Portrait Gallery. The printing on the portrait says, "Lady Muriel Fox Strangeways [sic] as Lady Sarah Lennox one of the bridesmaids of Queen Charlotte A.D. 1761."
 * Lady Muriel Fox-Strangways, "as Lady Sarah Lennox, one of Queen Charlotte's bridesmaids, wore a bodice of white satin covered with silver. The sleeves were of old lace, and the dress was embroidered to match the bodice."
 * Lady Muriel Fox-Strangways, "as 'Lady Sarah Lennox,' one of Queen Charlotte's bridesmaids, wore a bodice of white satin covered with silver. The sleeves were of old lace, and the dress was embroidered to match the bodice."
 * "An interesting feature of the dress worn by Lady Muriel Fox-Strangeways [sic] was that it was the same bodice as her ancestress — Lady Sarah Lennox — wore when she acted as bridesmaid to Queen Charlotte."

The Joshua Reynolds portrait (right) is not of Lady Sarah Lennox (14 February 1745 – August 1826) but of Lady Elizabeth Keppel (1739–1768), who was also one of the ten bridesmaids for Charlotte of Mecklenburg-Strelitz in her 1761 wedding to King George III. It does, however, show what Lady Keppel, in any event, wore as bridesmaid. This 1761 portrait is not a painting of the wedding, but Lady Keppel wore her bridesmaid dress for the sitting. Lady Keppel's attendant in this painting was one of Reynolds' subjects on her own; we do not know her name or her relationship to Lady Keppel. Between the preservation of Lady Sarah Lennox's bodice in her family and this Reynolds portrait of Lady Keppel, the two dresses seem to be similar enough that this portrait could have played a role in the construction of Lady Fox-Strangways' costume. They Reynolds portrait is currently in the Reynolds Room of Woburn Abbey, home of the Duke and Duchess of Bedford.

Demographics

 * Nationality: British

Family

 * Henry Edward Fox-Strangways, 5th Earl of Ilchester (13 February 1847 – 6 December 1905)
 * Lady Mary Eleanor Anne Dawson (1852 – 25 October 1935)
 * 1) Giles Stephen Holland Fox-Strangways, 6th Earl of Ilchester (31 May 1874 – 29 October 1959)
 * 2) Lady Muriel Augusta Fox-Strangways (23 November 1876 – 7 January 1920)
 * 3) Hon. Denzil Vesey Fox-Strangways (26 February 1879 – 7 March 1901)


 * Giles Stephen Holland Fox-Strangways, 6th Earl of Ilchester (31 May 1874 – 29 October 1959)
 * Lady Helen Mary Theresa Vane-Tempest-Stewart Fox-Strangways (8 September 1876 — 14 January 1956)
 * 1) Lady Mary Theresa Fox-Strangways (23 January 1903 – 26 January 1948)
 * 2) Edward Henry Charles James Fox-Strangways, 7th Earl of Ilchester (1 October 1905 – 21 August 1964)
 * 3) Hon. John Denzil Fox-Strangways (21 March 1908 – 28 June 1961)
 * 4) Lady Mabel Edith Fox-Strangway (17 February 1918 – )


 * Lady Muriel Augusta Fox-Strangways (23 November 1876 – 7 January 1920)
 * Major George Hugh Digby (21 September 1867 – 20 October 1914)

Questions and Notes

 * 1) Major George Hugh Digby died in an accident in 1914 and not, apparently, in World War I.