Biography of Adele Beach Grant Countess Essex 1866-1922

New York Times 15 Dec 1893. MARRIED TO AN EARL.

Miss Adele Grant or New-York Becomes the Countess of Essex.

LONDON, Dec. 14 [1893].—The marriage of Miss Adele Grant (age 27), daughter of the late [her father] Beach Grant of New-York, to the [her husband] Earl of Essex (age 36) took place at 2:30 0'clock this afternoon at St. Margaret's Church, Westminster [Map]. Archdeacon Farrar, assisted by the Rev. Mr. Lee, the Rev. Mr. James, and the Chaplain of the Duke of Essex, the Rev. George Chapel, officiated.

The bride wore a white satin dress, the train of which was embroidered with silver sunrays. The bodice was trimmed with point d'Alençon lace. The bridal veil was of Alençon lace, which the bride's mother wore at her wedding. The only ornament worn by the bride was a diamond tiara, the gift of the Earl of Essex. Instead of a bouquet, she carried an ivory Prayer Book.

There were seven bridesmaids. Those were Edythe Grant, Alberta Paget, Mary Colebrooke, Diana Sturt, the Hon. Eustace Daunay, the Hon. Leila Daunay, and Gwenfra Williams. They wore white satin dresses, draped in soft folds and bordered with mink, and velvet toques trimmed with fur. Each of them carried a long Louis XV. stick, with a gold tip, decorated with roses, the gift of the Earl of Essex. Baron Tuyll was the best man. [her uncle] Suydam Grant, a brother [a mistake for uncle] of the bride, gave her away. The service was full choral. Sir Arthur Sullivan presided at the organ. The floral decorations were extensive and rich.

After the ceremony, a reception was given at the residence of Mrs. Grant, 35 Great Cumberland Place. It was largely attended. In the early afternoon, the newly-married couple departed for their honeymoon, which will be spent at Cassiobury, Watford.

Over 300 presents were received, many of which came from the United States and the Continent.

New York Times 29 Jul 1922. 29th July 1922. Obituary. New York Times.

Former Adele Grant of New York Stricken With Heart Attack After Dinner Party.

TRIED TO SUMMON HELP

Dowager, Once Famous Beauty, Was Model for Herkomer's "A Lady in White." [Note. This appears to be a mistake - A Lady in White]

1922 by The New York Times Company. By Wireless to The New York Times.

London, July 28. Dowager Countess Essex (deceased), who was the daughter of the late [her father] Beach Grant of New York and the second wife of the Seventh Earl of Essex, was found dead in her bath today at her home, 72 Brook Street, by one of her maids.

Lady Essex attended last night a dinner party given by the Hon. Mrs. Rupert Beckett and appeared in the best of spirits. She was driven home by Mrs. Asquith, with whom she was to have lunched today.

Apparently she took her bath before going to bed and had the seizure. She seemed to have endeavored to get help as the hanging electric bell push had been pulled into the bath. The tragedy was not discovered until this morning when Lady Essex's maid found her bed had not been slept in.

The bath room door was locked and the electric lights were full on. When the door was forced Lady Essex was found dead. She had suffered for years from a weak heart and it is presumed that she had the seizure when she could not help herself.

In her prime Lady Essex was famed for her beauty, being tall and graceful, with soft eyes and dark hair. Indeed she belonged to the group that was playfully christened "Lovely Five" and included Lady Warwick (age 60), Lady Lytton (age 80), Lady Westmoreland and the Duchess of Sutherland (age 54). She was the model for Herkomer's famous picture "A Lady in White."

A coroner's inquest into Lady Essex's death will be held on Monday.

Adele Grant. daughter of the late Beach Grant of this city, was married to the [her former husband] seventh Earl of Essex in St. Margaret's Church, Westminster [Map], Dec. 14 1893. Archdeacon Farrar performed the ceremony, the occasion being one of the brilliant social events of that Winter in London. There have been two children, Lady [her daughter] Iris Mary (age 27) and Lady [her daughter] Joan Rachel (age 23), respectively 26 and 22 years old. Presumably they will share their mother's fortune, which is not inconsiderable since her inheritance in 1915 of some $600,000 from her uncle, R. Suydam Grant, of the New York Stock Exchange.

Her husband was a widower when she married him. The present [her former step-son] Earl (age 38), son of his father's first marriage, did not have sufficient income to keep up the magnificent ancestral estate of Cassiobury Park, and last Fall it was offered for sale. On previous occasions it had been rented to Americans, among others to Otto H. Kahn.

An anecdote of the family that reveals the firmness of the Countess is that of her refusal of the tempting offers repeatedly made to her by Lady Meux, widow of Sir Henry Meux, the wealthy brewer. The story has it that Lady Meux, originally a "queen of burlesque" and aunt by marriage of the Earl of Essex, offered to make the Earl her heir if only the Countess would introduce her to society. But the Countess did not allow her thorough disapproval of the brewer's widow to be overcome by the bribe.

Before her marriage Adele Grant had been engaged to the late Earl Cairns, the unfortunate man who acquired the nickname of "Gumboil," thanks to his courtesy title of Lord Garmoyle. She broke off the match on the eve of the wedding owing to the prospective bridegrooms extortionate demands for a settlement. And, in 1920, after the death of her husband, she was reported, not on the highest authority, however, to be engaged to the Duke of Connaught (age 72), brother of Edward Vll. The affair progressed no further than the circulation of the report.

During the World War the Countess did much relief work, serving with Queen Mary's Needlework Guild, on the Urban Executive Committee of the Urban Council for War Relief, and also as President of the Soldiers and Sailors Families' Association.