Social Victorians/People/Ancaster

Also Known As

• Family name
  • Heathcote-Drummond-Willoughby, sometimes just Willoughby
  • Ewart
• Earl of Ancaster
  • Gilbert Henry Heathcote-Drummond-Willoughby, 1st Earl of Ancaster (22 August 1892 – 24 December 1910)
• Baron Willoughby de Eresby
  • Clementina Elizabeth Drummond-Willoughby, 24th Baroness Willoughby de Eresby (2 September 1809 – 13 November 1888)
  • Gilbert Henry Heathcote-Drummond-Willoughby, 25th Baron Aveland (13 November 1888 – 22 August 1892)
  • Hon. Gilbert Heathcote-Drummond-Willoughby, 2nd Earl of Ancaster (22 August 1892 – 24 December 1910)
• Baron Aveland
  • Gilbert Henry Heathcote-Drummond-Willoughby, 2nd Baron Aveland (1867 – 13 November 1888)

Acquaintances, Friends and Enemies

Friends

• Muriel Wilson and Hon. Gilbert Heathcote-Drummond-Willoughby, Baron Willoughby de Eresby, were reported to be engaged on 18 August 1894.

Organizations

Gilbert Henry Heathcote-Drummond-Willoughby, 1st Earl of Ancaster

• Harrow School
• Trinity College, Cambridge
• Deputy Lord Great Chamberlain (24 January 1871 – 22 January 1901)

Sir Henry Peter Ewart

• Crown Equerry to Queen Victoria

Timeline

1863 July 14, Gilbert Henry Heathcote and Lady Evelyn Elizabeth Gordon married.

1872, Gilbert Henry Heathcote assumed Drummond and Willoughby by Royal licence.

1888 November 3, Lady Evelyn Clementina Heathcote-Drummond-Willoughby and Sir Henry Peter Ewart married.

1888 November 13, Clementina Elizabeth Drummond-Willoughby, 24th Baroness Willoughby de Eresby died; her suo jure title then went to her son.

1892 August 22, David Cannadine says, "In 1892, Gilbert Henry Heathcote-Drummond-Willoughby, who had recently succeeded his father as Lord Aveland and his mother as Lord Willoughby d'Eresby, was created Earl of Ancaster in his own right, for no other reason than that he had inherited estates amounting to 160,000 acres in seven counties."

1894 August 18, Muriel Wilson and Hon. Willoughby de Eresby announce their engagement, wedding set for November sometime (details in 1894). An announcement that it had been cancelled appeared on 18 September 1894 with more discussion on 6 October 1894.

1897 July 2, Friday, Lady Evelyn Ewart and Sir Henry Ewart attended the Duchess of Devonshire's fancy-dress ball at Devonshire House, as did a Mr. C. Willoughby. (Lady Evelyn Ewart is #401 on the list of people who were present; Sir Henry Ewart is #430; Mr. C. Willoughby is #358.)

1903 January 7, Hon. Charles Strathavon Heathcote-Drummond-Willoughby and Lady Muriel Agnes Stuart Erskine married.

Costume at the Duchess of Devonshire's 2 July 1897 Fancy-dress Ball

Mary Bertie, Duchess of Ancaster and Kesteven, by Thomas Hudson, 1757

Lady Evelyn Ewart

Lady Evelyn Ewart as Duchess of Ancaster, Mistress of the Robes to Queen Charlotte, 1757, after a picture by Hudson. ©National Portrait Gallery, London.

Lady Evelyn Ewart attended the Duchess of Devonshire's fancy-dress ball as the Duchess of Ancaster.

Henry Bullingham's portrait (left) of "Lady Evelyn Clementia Ewart (née Heathcote-Drummond-Willoughby) as the Duchess of Ancaster, Mistress of the Robes to Queen Charlotte, 1757, after a picture by Hudson" in costume is photogravure #169 in the album presented to the Duchess of Devonshire and now in the National Portrait Gallery. The printing on the portrait says, "Lady Evelyn Ewart as the Duchess of Ancaster, Mistress of the Robes to Queen Charlotte, 1757, after a picture by Hudson," with a Long S in Duchess.

The dress worn by Mary Bertie, Duchess of Ancaster and Kesteven in the 1757 Hudson portrait (right) is the original of this costume, showing how unpredictable blue appears in these black-and-white photographs.

Newspaper Accounts of Her Costume

• Lady Ewart "was very successful as an ancestress of her own, 'Countess of Ancaster,' in a becoming blue satin skirt, puckered up at the seam. There was an over dress to match, bordered with blue gimp passementerie and very picturesque bodice and sleeves, filled in with muslin and old lace. A jewelled girdle and a fawn hat, with long plumes, completed the toilet."
• "Lady Evelyn Ewart appeared as an ancestress of her own, Countess of Ancaster, in a blue satin skirt, puckered up at the seams. There was an over dress to match, bordered with blue gimp passementerie, and bodice and sleeves filled in with fine muslin and old lace. A jewelled girdle and a fawn hat with long plumes completed the toilet. Lady Southampton's Beatrice was carried out in daffodil satin and silver cloth."
• Lady Ewart, "as the Countess of Ancaster, 1795, might have stepped out of the frame of the picture she represented, so faithfully was the dress carried out."
• Lady Ewart "was very successful as an ancestress of her own, 'Countess of Ancester,' in a becoming blue satin skirt puckered up at the seams. There was an over dress to match bordered with blue gimp passementerie, and a very picturesque bodice and sleeves filled in with fine muslin and old lace. A jewelled girdle and a fawn hat with long plumes completed the toilet."
• "There is a new style of trimming on full-dress gowns which we are adopting from the 'days that are no more,' and they date as far back as a century ago. It is braiding in cord made of silk, and somewhat coarse. This treatment was much admired in the costume made for Lady Evelyn Ewart, for the Devonshire blouse ball, by Miss Metcalfe, of Hanover-square; it was copied from a picture of an ancestor, the Duchess of Ancaster, in the eighteenth century, and was carried out entirely in blue satin. The skirt was distended with hoops, the material gathered horizontally at each seam beneath this cord, which formed a pattern not only round the skirt, but in a point at the [Col. 2c / 3a] waist, immediately in front, meeting the same treatment on the beautiful rucked bodice cut low, but reaching to the throat by means of thin chiffon, which had a triple row of Brussels lace falling downwards, and above it a close ruffle of lace. The sleeves were puffed, but ended above the elbow in tucked chiffon, which fitted the arm, and there was an over-dress of the same satin, with the cording carried all round it. This beautiful dress had real pearls looped across the bodice, and was accompanied by a black velvet hat."

Sir Henry Ewart

Sir Henry Ewart attended with Lady Ewart, but we know nothing about his costume.

Mr. C. Willoughby

A Mr. C. Willoughby (at 358) was dressed as "Grand Duke Charles of Tuscany," in the Austrian Court of Maria Theresa Quadrille. Maria-Theresa reigned in one role or another between 1740 and 1780, and some form of a court would likely have been in place before 1740. No Grand Duke of Tuscany was named Charles or Carlo during this time. Perhaps the Charles is a suggestion that Mr. C. Willoughby is Mr. Charles Willoughby?

The honorific Mr. suggests that his father did not have a title. Willoughbys show up in a number of families at this time.

Demographics

• Nationality: British

Family

• Gilbert Henry Heathcote-Drummond-Willoughby, 1st Earl of Ancaster (1 October 1830 – 24 December 1910)
• Lady Evelyn Elizabeth Gordon (22 March 1846 – 16 March 1921)

1. Lady Evelyn Clementina Heathcote-Drummond-Willoughby (1864–1924)
2. Lady Margaret Mary Heathcote-Drummond-Willoughby (1866–1956)
3. Hon. Gilbert Heathcote-Drummond-Willoughby, 2nd Earl of Ancaster (20 July 1867 – 19 September 1951)
4. Lady Nina Heathcote-Drummond-Willoughby (1869–1940)
5. Brig.-Gen. Hon. Charles Strathavon Heathcote-Drummond-Willoughby (18 May 1870 – 15 December 1949)
6. Lt.-Col. Hon. Claud Heathcote-Drummond-Willoughby (15 October 1872 – 24 February 1950)
7. Lady Cecilie Heathcote-Drummond-Willoughby (1874 – )
8. Lady Alice Heathcote-Drummond-Willoughby (1876–1951)
9. Lady Mary Adelaide Heathcote-Drummond (25 April 1878 – 23 May 1960)
10. Lt.-Cdr. Hon. Peter Robert Willoughby (2 November 1885 – 1 November 1914)

• Lady Evelyn Clementina Heathcote-Drummond-Willoughby (1864–1924)
• Major-General Sir Henry Peter Ewart, 1st Baronet (20 August 1838 – April 1928)

1. Victor Alexander Ewart ( – 1916)

• Brig.-Gen. Hon. Charles Strathavon Heathcote-Drummond-Willoughby (18 May 1870 – 15 December 1949)
• Lady Muriel Agnes Stuart Erskine (15 April 1879 – 23 October 1967)

1. Rosalie Heathcote-Drummond-Willoughby ( – July 1994)

Relations

• Clementina Elizabeth Drummond-Willoughby, 24th Baroness Willoughby de Eresby was Gilbert Henry Heathcote-Drummond-Willoughby's mother.

Notes and Questions

1. Clementina Elizabeth Drummond-Willoughby, 24th Baroness Willoughby de Eresby was Baroness suo jure.