Gwendolen Guinness, Countess of Iveagh

Gwendolen Florence Mary Guinness, Countess of Iveagh (22 July 1881 – 16 February 1966), née Lady Gwendolen Florence Mary Onslow, known as Lady Gwendolen Guinness from 1903 to 1919 and Viscountess Elveden from 1919 to 1927, was a Conservative politician in the United Kingdom, and, by marriage, a member of the Anglo-Irish Guinness brewing dynasty.

Early life

She was the daughter of William Hillier Onslow, 4th Earl of Onslow (1853–1911), and Florence Coulston Onslow, née Gardner (1853–1934).

Marriage and career

She was married to the Conservative Member of Parliament (MP) for Southend, Rupert Guinness, 2nd Earl of Iveagh. In 1927, he ceased to be an MP when he succeeded to his father's earldom. The Countess of Iveagh, as Gwendolen Guinness was now known, won the Southend by-election on 19 November 1927 to replace her husband as MP. She served until her retirement at the 1935 general election.

When she retired in 1935 she was succeeded as MP by her eldest daughter Honor Guinness's husband, Henry "Chips" Channon. Another son-in-law, Alan Lennox-Boyd, was an MP (for Mid Bedfordshire 1931-60), making the first mother- and son-in-law set of MPs.

Clandon Park

In 1956 she presented her Surrey childhood home, Clandon Park, to the National Trust.