Social Victorians/People/Meysey-Thompson

Also Known As

• Family name: Meysey-Thompson or Meysey Thompson
• Baronet Meysey-Thompson
  • Henry Meysey Meysey-Thompson, 2nd Baronet (17 May 1874 – 3 March 1929)
• 1st Baron Knaresborough
  • Henry Meysey Meysey-Thompson (26 December 1905 – 3 March 1929)

Acquaintances, Friends and Enemies

Friends

• William Ewart Gladstone

Organizations

• Eton College
• Trinity College, Cambridge

Timeline

1874 May 17, Henry Meysey Meysey-Thompson was created 2nd Baronet.

1885 April 21, Henry Meysey-Thompson and Ethel Adeline Pottinger married.

1897 July 2, Friday, Sir Henry Meysey-Thompson and Lady Ethel Meysey-Thompson attended the Duchess of Devonshire's fancy-dress ball at Devonshire House. (Lady Ethel Meysey Thompson is #391 on the list of people who attended; Sir Henry Meysey-Thompson is #116.)

1905 December 26, Henry Meysey Meysey-Thompson was created 1st Baron Knaresborough.

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

Lady Ethel Meysey-Thompson in costume as Elizabeth, Queen of Bohemia. ©National Portrait Gallery, London.

A portrait of Princess Elizabeth Stuart, daughter of James I, granddaughter of Mary, Queen of Scots

Lady Ethel Meysey Thompson

Lafayette's portrait (left) of "Ethel Adeline (née Pottinger), Lady Knaresborough as Elizabeth, Queen of Bohemia" in costume is photogravure #147 in the album presented to the Duchess of Devonshire and now in the National Portrait Gallery. The printing on the portrait says, "Lady Meysey Thompson as Elizabeth Queen of Bohemia."

Lady Ethel Meysey Thompson was dressed as Elizabeth, Queen of Bohemia.

Newspaper Descriptions

• "Elizabeth Queen of Bohemia."
• "Lady Meysey Thompson made a beautiful Elizabeth, Queen of Bohemia, in orange velvet and yellow satin, with a blue ribbon at the / waist and a quaint little velvet cape embroidered with silver."
• "Lady Meysey Thompson as Elizabeth, Queen of Bohemia, in orange velvet and yellow satin and old lace collar, the orange velvet cape sewn with silver, had a spray of lilies slung at the back."
• "Lady Meysey-Thompson (the White Rose of Bohemia), orange velvet and satin; silver lace; blue ribbon, and one white rose; cape of orange velvet, embroidered in white roses in silver."
• This description accompanies a flattering line drawing of Lady Meysey Thompson in costume (Numeral 12 below the drawing, bottom right, facing right, body turned slightly to the right, similar to costume, apparently signed by “Rook”): “Made by Mrs Mason, 4, New Burlington Street, W. … No. 12. LADY MEYSEY THOMSON [sic], the White Rose of Bavaria. — Orange velvet and satin dress, embroidered with the Stuart rose in silver.”

Elizabeth, Queen of Bohemia

Elizabeth, Queen of Bohemia (19 August 1596 – 13 February 1662) was the daughter of James VI and I, granddaughter of Mary, Queen of Scots. She was queen for one winter, when her husband, Frederick V of the Palatinate, was king, so she is often called the Winter Queen. The dress in the portrait (right) is orange, as was the dress of Lady Meysey-Thompson, but her hair is down and she is princess, not queen, so this is a younger, unmarried Elizabeth. If Lady Meysey Thompson was 20 when she married in 1885, then she was about 32 at the time of the ball. Princess Elizabeth Stuart was about 16 when she married.

Sir Henry Meysey-Thompson

Henry Meysey Meysey-Thompson, 1st Baron Knaresborough in costume as John De Witt. ©National Portrait Gallery, London.

Johan de Witt (1625-1675), Grand Pensionary of Holland, by Studio of Adriaen Hanneman

At the Duchess of Devonshire's fancy-dress ball, Sir Henry Meysey-Thompson (at 116) was dressed in the

• "(period of Charles II.), red corded silk, lined with black, and trimmed with cords of the same colour."
• "Costume of a gentleman of the period of Charles II., in deep red corded silk, lined black, and trimmed with cords of the same colour."

Lafayette's portrait of "Henry Meysey Meysey-Thompson, 1st Baron Knaresborough as John De Witt" in costume is photogravure #148 in the album presented to the Duchess of Devonshire and now in the National Portrait Gallery. The printing on the portrait says, "Sir Henry Meysey-Thompson as John DeWitt."

Johan de Witt (24 September 1625 – 20 August 1672) was a Dutch statesman opposed to William of Orange and centralized monarchy. He was Grand Pensionary (prime minister) from c. 1650 to 1672, when he and his brother were assassinated in the Hague and then their bodies at least partially eaten by pro-monarchy rioters, who were never prosecuted.

Demographics

• Nationality: British

Family

• Henry Meysey Meysey-Thompson (30 August 1845 – 3 March 1929)
• Ethel Adeline Pottinger ( – 18 August 1922)

1. Hon. Gwendolen Carlis Meysey-Thompson ( – 1989)
2. Hon. Helen Winifred Meysey-Thompson ( – 28 December 1958)
3. Hon. Violet Ethel Meysey-Thompson (15 February 1886 – 29 February 1960)
4. Hon. Claude Henry Meysey Meysey-Thompson (7 April 1887 – 17 June 1915)
5. Hon. Doris Mary Pottinger Meysey-Thompson (26 April 1899 – 27 March 1953)