Biography of Sybil Mary St Clair-Erskine Countess of Westmorland 1871-1910

On 13th October 1860 Charles Henry Maynard (age 46) and [her mother] Blanche Adeliza Fitzroy (age 21) were married. The difference in their ages was 25 years.

On 8th November 1866 [her father] Robert St Clair-Erskine 4th Earl of Rosslyn (age 33) and [her mother] Blanche Adeliza Fitzroy (age 27) were married.

On 20th August 1871 Sybil Mary St Clair-Erskine Countess of Westmorland was born to [her father] Robert St Clair-Erskine 4th Earl of Rosslyn (age 38) and [her mother] Blanche Adeliza Fitzroy (age 31).

On 30th April 1881 [her brother-in-law] Francis Greville 5th Earl Warwick 5th Earl Brooke (age 28) and [her half-sister] Frances Evelyn "Daisy" Maynard Countess Warwick (age 19) were married at the King Henry VII Chapel, Westminster Abbey [Map]. See her autobiography Life's Ebb and Flow Page 38. He the son of George Greville 4th Earl Warwick 4th Earl Brooke (age 63) and Anne Charteris Countess Warwick (age 52). They were fourth cousin once removed.

Life's Ebb And Flow Chapter IV. [30th April 1881]. And so the tale unfolds. Our [[her brother-in-law] Francis Greville 5th Earl Warwick 5th Earl Brooke (age 28) and [her half-sister] Frances Evelyn "Daisy" Maynard Countess Warwick (age 19)] marriage took place in the Henry VII Chapel in Westminster Abbey, and the newspapers of the day made much of the "most brilliant wedding of a dozen seasons." I remember my surprise as I drove from our house in Carlton Gardens to the Abbey to find the way lined with interested crowds.

Among the guests were the Prince (age 39) and Princess of Wales (age 36), Prince and Princess Christian, the Duke (age 30) and Duchess of Connaught (age 20), Princess Louise (age 33) (Marchioness of Lorne), Princess Mary Adelaide (age 47) (Duchess of Teck) and the Duke of Teck (parents of Queen Mary), with Prince Leopold, Duke of Albany (age 28), as my husband's best man. The crush filled the Abbey from the choir to the door.

My twelve bridesmaids were all girl friends and relatives. They were: Blanche Maynard (age 17), my sister (now Lady Algernon Gordon-Lennox (age 33)), Lady Eva Greville (age 21), my husband's only sister, my stepsisters, [her sister] Millicent (age 13), Sybil (age 9), and [her brother] Angela St. Clair Erskine (age 4) (later Duchess of Sutherland, Countess of Westmorland, and Lady A. Forbes), Countess Feodore Gleichen (age 19) (later a renowned sculptor), Lady Florence Bridgman (age 22) (the present Countess of Harewood and mother of Viscount Lascelles (age 34)), Miss Wombwell (age 19) (Countess of Dartrey), Miss Mills, the first Lord Hillingdon's daughter, Miss Violet Lindsay (age 25) (now Violet, Duchess of Rutland), and Miss Ethel Milner (age 30) (later Countess of Durham).

On 20th October 1884 [her brother-in-law] Cromartie Sutherland-Leveson-Gower 4th Duke of Sutherland (age 33) and [her sister] Millicent Fanny St Clair-Erskine Duchess of Sutherland (age 17) were married; her seventeenth birthday. He the son of George Leveson-Gower 3rd Duke Sutherland (age 55) and Anne Hay Mackenzie Duchess Sutherland (age 55). They were fourth cousin once removed.

On 6th September 1890 [her father] Robert St Clair-Erskine 4th Earl of Rosslyn (age 57) died. Memorial at the Rosslyn Chapel [Map]

Robert St Clair-Erskine 4th Earl of Rosslyn: On 2nd March 1833 he was born. On 8th November 1866 he and Blanche Adeliza Fitzroy were married.

On 3rd August 1891 Francis William Henry Fane 12th Earl of Westmoreland (age 65) died. His son [her future husband] Anthony (age 31) succeeded 13th Earl of Westmoreland.

In 1903 [her future mother-in-law] Adelaide Ida Curzon Howe Countess of Westmoreland (age 68) died.

Memorial in the Church of St Leonard, Apethorpe [Map] and graves in churchyard.

Anthony Fane 13th Earl of Westmoreland: On 16th August 1859 he was born to Francis William Henry Fane 12th Earl of Westmoreland and Adelaide Ida Curzon Howe Countess of Westmoreland. On 28th May 1892 Anthony Fane 13th Earl of Westmoreland and Sybil Mary St Clair-Erskine Countess of Westmorland were married. She by marriage Countess of Westmoreland. He the son of Francis William Henry Fane 12th Earl of Westmoreland and Adelaide Ida Curzon Howe Countess of Westmoreland. On 9th June 1922 Anthony Fane 13th Earl of Westmoreland died. His son Vere succeeded 14th Earl of Westmoreland.

On 28th May 1892 Anthony Fane 13th Earl of Westmoreland (age 32) and Sybil Mary St Clair-Erskine Countess of Westmorland (age 20) were married. She by marriage Countess of Westmoreland. He the son of Francis William Henry Fane 12th Earl of Westmoreland and Adelaide Ida Curzon Howe Countess of Westmoreland (age 57).

On 22nd September 1892 George Leveson-Gower 3rd Duke Sutherland (age 63) died. His son [her brother-in-law] Cromartie (age 41) succeeded 4th Duke Sutherland, 5th Marquess Stafford, 22nd Earl Sutherland, 6th Earl Gower, 7th Baron Gower, 11th Baronet Gower of Stittenham in Yorkshire. [her sister] Millicent Fanny St Clair-Erskine Duchess of Sutherland (age 24) by marriage Duchess Sutherland.

On 25th March 1893 [her son] Vere Fane 14th Earl of Westmoreland was born to [her husband] Anthony Fane 13th Earl of Westmoreland (age 33) and Sybil Mary St Clair-Erskine Countess of Westmorland (age 21). He married 1923 Diana Lister Countess of Westmoreland, daughter of Thomas Lister 4th Baron Ribblesdale and Charlotte Monckton "Charty" Tennant, and had issue.

On 2nd December 1893 George Greville 4th Earl Warwick 4th Earl Brooke (age 75) died at Warwick Castle [Map]. His son [her brother-in-law] Francis (age 40) succeeded 5th Earl Warwick, 5th Earl Brooke Warwick Castle, 12th Baron Brooke of Beauchamps Court in Warwickshire. [her half-sister] Frances Evelyn "Daisy" Maynard Countess Warwick (age 31) by marriage Countess Warwick.

1900. Ellis William Roberts (age 39). Portrait of Sybil Mary St Clair-Erskine Countess of Westmorland (age 28).

14th February 1900. James Lafayette (age 47). Photograph of Sybil Mary St Clair-Erskine Countess of Westmorland (age 28)

14th February 1900. James Lafayette (age 47). Detail of photograph of Sybil Mary St Clair-Erskine Countess of Westmorland (age 28)

On 19th April 1900 William Henry Forester Denison 1st Earl Londesborough (age 65) died. His son William (age 35) succeeded 2nd Earl Londesborough in Yorkshire, 3rd Baron Londesborough of Londesborough in the East Riding of Yorkshire. [her sister-in-law] Grace Adelaide Fane Countess Londesborough (age 39) by marriage Countess Londesborough in Yorkshire.

Before 19th November 1902 Arthur Hill 6th Marquess of Downshire (age 31) and Katherine Mary "Kitty" Hare Marchioness Downshire (age 30) were divorced as a consequence of her affair with Joseph Frederick Laycock (age 35). Laycock was also having an affair with [her half-sister] Frances Evelyn "Daisy" Maynard Countess Warwick (age 40) with whom he possibly fathered two children: [her nephew] Maynard Greville (age 4) and [her niece] Mercy Greville.

On 21st July 1910 Sybil Mary St Clair-Erskine Countess of Westmorland (age 38) died.

On 9th June 1922 [her former husband] Anthony Fane 13th Earl of Westmoreland (age 62) died. His son [her son] Vere (age 29) succeeded 14th Earl of Westmoreland.