Frances Bowes-Lyon, Countess of Strathmore and Kinghorne
Quick Facts
LeoBiography
Frances Dora Bowes-Lyon, Countess of Strathmore and Kinghorne (née Smith; 29 July 1832–5 February 1922) was a British noblewoman. She was the paternal grandmother of Queen Elizabeth, the Queen Mother, and thus a great-grandmother of Queen Elizabeth II.
Her father was Oswald Smith (7 July 1794–18 June 1863), of Blendon Hall, Bexley, Kent (Bexley being annexed to London only in 1894) and her mother was Henrietta Mildred Hodgson (6 January 1805–19 November 1891). Her paternal grandparents were George Smith and wife Frances Mary Mosley, daughter of Sir John Parker Mosley, 1st Baronet, and wife Elizabeth Bayley, granddaughter of Nicholas Mosley and wife Elizabeth Parker, and sister of Oswald Mosley, 2nd Baronet, great-great-grandfather of Oswald Mosley.
On 28 September 1853, she married Claude Bowes-Lyon. He became the 13th holder of the Earldom of Strathmore and Kinghorne following the death of his brother Thomas in 1865. Frances then assumed the title and style of Countess of Strathmore and Kinghorne. Together the couple had 11 children:
- Claude Bowes-Lyon, 14th Earl of Strathmore and Kinghorne (14 March 1855 - 7 November 1944), the father of Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother and grandfather of Queen Elizabeth II.
- Francis Bowes-Lyon (23 February 1856 - 18 February 1948)
- Ernest Bowes-Lyon (4 August 1858 - 27 December 1891)
- Herbert Bowes-Lyon (15 August 1860 - 14 April 1897)
- Patrick Bowes-Lyon (5 March 1863 - 5 October 1946), a major of the British Army
- Constance Frances Bowes-Lyon (1865 - 19 November 1951)
- Kenneth Bowes-Lyon (26 April 1867 - 9 January 1911)
- Mildred Marion Bowes-Lyon (1868 - 9 June 1897)
- Maud Agness Bowes-Lyon (1870 - 28 February 1941)
- Evelyn Mary Bowes-Lyon (1872 - 15 March 1876)
- Malcolm Bowes-Lyon (23 April 1874 - 23 August 1957), a lieutenant colonel of the British Army
Death
The Earl of Strathmore and Kinghorne died on 16 February 1904. The Countess survived him by almost eighteen years. She died at 19 Hans Place, Chelsea, London on 5 February 1922, aged 89. She was buried at Glamis Castle, Angus, the family seat of the earls of Strathmore and Kinghorne.
