Social Victorians/People/Mount Stephen

Also Known As

 * Family name: Tufnell, Mount Stephen
 * Baron Mount Stephen, of Mount Stephen, in the Province of British Columbia and Dominion of Canada, and of Dufftown, co. Banff (U.K. peerage)
 * George Stephen, 1st Baron Mount Stephen (23 June 1891 – 29 November 1921)
 * Baronet Stephen (U.K. peerage)
 * George Stephen, 1st Baronet Stephen (3 March 1886 – 23 June 1891)

George, Lord Mount Stephen and Charlotte, Lady Mount Stephen

 * Albert Edward, Prince of Wales
 * Alexandra, Princess of Wales
 * Prince Leopold, Duke of Albany, whom Charlotte, Lady Mount Stephen nursed back to health in Montreal
 * Duke and Duchess of Connaught
 * Princess Mary Adelaide, Duchess of Teck

Gian Tufnell Stephen, Lady Mount Stephen

 * Mary of Teck (the future Queen Mary), "lifelong friend and confidante"
 * Georgina, Marchioness of Salisbury

George, Lord Mount Stephen

 * President, Bank of Montreal
 * First President, Canadian Pacific Railway ( – 1888)

Gian Tufnell Stephen, Lady Mount Stephen

 * Lady in Waiting to Princess Mary Adelaide, Duchess of Teck

Timeline
1853 March 8, George Stephen and Charlotte Annie Kane married.

1860 March 6, Robert George Tufnell and Jessie Isabel Curtis married.

1873 October 2, Alice Stephen and Henry Stafford Northcote married.

1885 November 7, the last spike of the Canadian-Pacific Railroad was hammered in, at Craigellachie, British Columbia (by Donald Smith, not by George Stephen).

1888, George Stephen returned to England from Canada.

1891 June 23, George Stephen was "the first Canadian to be elevated to the Peerage of the United Kingdom," although he was born in Scotland and returned to the UK from Canada in 1888.

1892 July 19, Gertrude Augusta Tufnell and William Freke Maxwell Williams married.

1896, George Stephen, 1st Baron Mount Stephen and Georgiana Mary Tufnell married.

1897 July 2, Friday, Miss Tufnell attended the Duchess of Devonshire's fancy-dress ball.

1897 October 27, Wednesday, Mary Adelaide of Cambridge, Duchess of Teck, died.

1897 October 30, Saturday, the Gentlewoman published this little blurb about Miss Gian Tufnell:"L ORD M OUNT -S TEPHEN, whose engagement to Miss Gian Tufnell has just been announced, has not long been a widower, and his only daughter is married to Sir Stafford Northcote. Miss Tufnell lived at one time entirely with the late Lady Wolverton, and since her death has been much at White Lodge with Princess Mary of Teck. Lord Mount-Stephen has been for some years the tenant of Brocket, one of Lord Cowper's lovely places in Hertfordshire."1897 November 3, Tuesday, the Blyth News published this, which got the death of the first Lady Mount Stephen wrong:"Lord Mount-Stephen's marriage was a great surprise to every one. Lady Northcote is his adopted daughter, and it was never supposed that he would marry again, but that she would inherit his huge fortune. Miss Tufnell, who has been a sort of lady in waiting to the Duchess of Teck, is a delightful person, very bright and clever, and very popular and she will make him an excellent wife. The late Lady Mount-Stephen died nearly ten years ago, and Lord Mount-Stephen then made over his house in St. James's Place to Lady Northcote, with the understanding that she and Sir Stafford should take charge of the London menage, and that Lord Mount-Stephen should take charge of the one in the country, as he has leased Brocket from Lord Cowper for some years."1897 December 4, Saturday, the wedding of Miss Gian Tufnell and George, Baron Mount-Stephen:"The marriage of Miss Gian Tufnell was very quiet, owing to the mourning for the Duchess of Teck, one of whose Iadies she was. Miss Tufnell is daughter of a commander the Navy. Her bridegroom, Lord Mount-Stephen, is sixty-eight, and a widower, his first wife having died in 1896. He has no children, but the wife Sir Stafford Northcote is his adopted daughter. Lord Mount-Stephen has held a number of posts in British Columbia and Canada, and was created a baronet in 1886 and a peer in 1891. He has a beautiful seat near Quebec, Canada, and is a wealthy man."

Costume at the Duchess of Devonshire's 2 July 1897 Fancy-dress Ball
"Miss Tufnell" (at 630) was present at the Duchess of Devonshire's fancy-dress ball, attending Mary Adelaide, Duchess of Teck.


 * "The Duchess of Teck ... was attended by Miss Tufnell, who made a delightful lady-in-waiting, in a gown of white satin and gold."

Nationality

 * Gian Tufnell, Lady Mount Stephen: British
 * George, Baron Mount Stephen: Scots, then Canadian, then British

Residences

 * Brocket Hall, Hertfordshire
 * 17 Carlton House Terrace, London

Family

 * Captain Robert George Tufnell ( – 9 November 1895 )
 * Jessie Isabel Curtis (10 February 1832 – 9 May 1876)
 * Gertrude Augusta Tufnell (24 October 1862 – 4 May 1935 )
 * Gian (Georgiana Mary) Tufnell (24 October 1862 – 1 May 1933)


 * George Stephen, 1st Baron Mount Stephen (5 June 1829 – 29 November 1921)
 * Charlotte Annie Kane (1830 – 10 April 1896)
 * Alice Brooke Stephen ( – 1 June 1934)
 * Gian (Georgiana Mary) Tufnell (1864 – 1 May 1933)
 * Stillborn daughter Stephen (1900–1900)



Relations

 * Lady Wolverton

Notes and Questions

 * 1) Alice Stephen was the adopted daughter of Charlotte Kane and George Stephen.
 * 2) The Miss Tufnell in the Pall Mall Gazette in 1897 is very likely Gian (Georgiana Mary) Tufnell, who later in 1897 married George, Baron Mount Stephen. She had been in the newspapers for many years as attendant on Princess Mary Adelaide, Duchess of Teck and her lady in waiting.
 * 3) "Gian, Lady Mount Stephen gave Queen Mary a diamond riviere necklace, which was later given to Princess Margaret, who wore it on her wedding day."
 * 4) W. F. Tufnell was Gentleman Usher Quarterly Waiter and Extra Gentleman Usher Quarterly Waiter in 1899 in Queen Victoria's household.