Social Victorians/People/Grenfell

Also Known As

• Family name: Grenfell
• Baron Desborough
  • William Henry Grenfell, 1st and last Baron Desborough (30 December 1905 – 9 January 1945)
• From Charles Seymour Grenfell family, daughter Mildred Grenfell attended the Duchess of Devonshire's 1897 fancy-dress ball.

Acquaintances, Friends and Enemies

Ettie Fane Grenfell

• Romantic relationship: Archie Ian Gordon

In Her Social Network

• Winston Churchill
• H. G. Wells
• Rosebery
• Arthur James Balfour
• Sir William Vernon Harcourt
• Asquith
• Baldwin
• Chamberlain
• Henry Irving
• Vita Sackville-West
• Albert Edward, Prince of Wales
• Patrick Shaw Stewart
• Edith Wharton
• Oscar Wilde
• Sigfried Sassoon
• Cecil Flower, Lord Battersea

Organizations

William Henry Grenfell

• Harrow School
• Balliol College, Oxford University
• Freemason
• Member of Parliament for Salisbury (1880 – 1882)
• Member of Parliament for Salisbury (1885 – 1886)
• Member of Parliament for Hereford (1892 – 1893)
• Member of Parliament for Buckinghamshire, Wycombe Division (1900 – 1905)

Ettie Fane Grenfell

• The Souls
• Lady of the Bedchamber to Mary of Teck, and then Queen Mary, Consort to King George V (1911–)

Timeline

1887 February 17, William Henry Grenfell and Ethel Anne Priscilla Fane married.

1897 February 26 or 27, Charles Cavendish-Bentinck and Cecily Mary Grenfell married.

1897 July 2, Friday, some Grenfells attended the Duchess of Devonshire's fancy-dress ball at Devonshire House: Mildred Grenfell, Cecily Mary Grenfell (who had married Charles Cavendish-Bentinck earlier in the year), William Henry Grenfell and Ethel Grenfell.

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

Mrs. W. Grenfell (Ettie Grenfell)

Mrs. Ettie Grenfell in costume as Marie de Medici; Sir William Harcourt in costume as Simon, Lord Harcourt, Lord Chancellor 1710; Arthur Balfour, 1st Earl of Balfour a gentleman of Holland. ©National Portrait Gallery, London.

Portrait of Maria de Medici

At the Duchess of Devonshire's fancy-dress ball, Ettie (Mrs. W.) Grenfell (at 200) sat at Table 10. The Morning Post says she went as Maria Cicogna, but the Album of portraits given to the Duchess of Devonshire in 1899 says she was Maria de Medici, and the Gentlewoman says she went as Vecilio.

• She was dressed as Contessa Maria Cicogna in the Venetians procession.
• Mrs. W. H. Grenfell's original costume ("Venetian robes") appeared in the Drury Lane production of The White Heather.

Ettie Grenfell was photographed in her costume with Sir William Harcourt (at 128) and Arthur Balfour (at 86). Lafayette's portrait of "Ethel Anne Priscilla ('Ettie') Grenfell (née Fane), Lady Desborough as Marie de Medici; Sir William Vernon Harcourt as Simon, Lord Harcourt, Lord Chancellor 1710; Arthur James Balfour, 1st Earl of Balfour as a gentleman of Holland" in costume is photogravure #272 in the album presented to the Duchess of Devonshire and now in the National Portrait Gallery. The printing on the portrait says, "Hon. Sir W. V. Harcourt as Simon, Lord Harcourt, Lord Chancellor 1710. Hon. A. J. Balfour, M.P. as a gentleman of Holland. Mrs Grenfell as Marie de Medici."

Maria de Medici (26 April 1575 – 3 July 1642) was Queen of France as the second wife of Henri IV, who had divorced his second wife, Marguerite de Valois. The portrait (right) of Maria Medici was painted by Frans Pourbus the Younger in 1606–1607 (but has been in the collection at the Museum of Fine Arts in Bilbao, Spain, since only 1894). The dress worn by Maria de Medici is not the original for Ettie Grenfell's dress, if one exists, but both women were about 30 years old when these portraits were made.

William Grenfell Mercutio. ©National Portrait Gallery, London.

William Henry Grenfell

Mr. William Henry Grenfell (at 222) was dressed either as Signor di Argentina in the Italian procession or as Mercutio.

Lafayette's portrait of "William Henry Grenfell, Baron Desborough as Mercutio" in costume is photogravure #271 in the album presented to the Duchess of Devonshire and now in the National Portrait Gallery. The printing on the portrait says, "Mr W. H. Grenfell as Mercutio."

Mildred Grenfell

Mildred Grenfell (at 30) is treated on the page for her family.

Demographics

• Nationality: British

Residences

• Elibank, Taplow, Buckinghamshire

Family

• William Henry Grenfell, 1st and last Baron Desborough (30 October 1855 – 9 January 1945)
• Ettie (Ethel Anne Priscilla) Fane (27 June 1867 – 28 May 1952)

1. Captain Hon. Julian Henry Francis Grenfell (30 March 1888 – 26 May 1915)
2. Lt. Hon. Gerald William Grenfell (29 March 1890 – 30 July 1915)
3. Hon. Monica Margaret Grenfell (4 August 1893 – 17 June 1973)
4. Lt. Hon. Ivo George Winifred Grenfell (5 September 1898 – 8 October 1926)
5. Hon. Alexandra Imogen Clair Grenfell (11 February 1905 – 3 January 1969)

Questions and Notes

1. The Grenfells are connected to the Cavendish-Bentincks, the family name of the Duke of Portland because Cecily Mary Grenfell married Charles Cavendish-Bentinck.
2. Neither W. H. Grenfell nor Miss Mildred Grenfell is listed as having been seated at supper, although Ethel (Mrs.) Grenfell is listed as having been seated at Table 10. Perhaps Mr. Grenfell's name is one of those missing from the supper seating lists?
3. Their son Julien Grenfell was a World War I poet.