Cynthia Spencer, Countess Spencer

Cynthia Spencer, Countess Spencer
Cynthia Spencer, Countess Spencer, by John Singer Sargent.
Born	Cynthia Hamilton 16 August 1897(1897-08-16)
Died	4 December 1972(1972-12-04) (aged 75)
Spouse	Albert Spencer
Children	Anne Spencer Edward Spencer
Parents	James Hamilton Rosalind Bingham
Relatives	Diana, Princess of Wales (granddaughter)

Cynthia Elinor Beatrix Spencer, Countess Spencer, DCVO, OBE (16 August 1897 – 4 December 1972), known as Lady Cynthia Hamilton until her marriage, and from then as Viscountess Althorp until 1922 when her husband inherited his father's title of Earl Spencer, was a British peeress and the paternal grandmother of Diana, Princess of Wales.

Life and family

She was the daughter of James, Marquess of Hamilton, later 3rd Duke of Abercorn (30 November 1869 – 12 September 1953) and Lady Rosalind Cecilia Caroline Bingham (26 February 1869 – 18 January 1958). Her maternal grandparents were Charles Bingham, 4th Earl of Lucan and Lady Cecilia Catherine Gordon-Lennox, a daughter of Charles Gordon-Lennox, 5th Duke of Richmond and Lady Caroline Paget.

Cynthia Hamilton married Viscount Althorp on 26 February 1919 at St. James's, Piccadilly, London.^[1]

They had two children:

• Lady Anne Spencer (born 4 August 1920) who married Christopher Balwin Hughes Wake-Walker, a Captain of the Royal Navy.
• Edward John Spencer, 8th Earl Spencer (24 January 1924 – 29 March 1992).

Countess Spencer was a Lady of the Bedchamber to Queen Elizabeth from 1937 to her death^[2], and was the grandmother of Diana, Princess of Wales. Lady Spencer died at the Spencer’s ancestral home, Althorp^[3] of a brain tumour, aged 75.

She was little known outside court and local circles until, twenty years after her death, Andrew Morton wrote that the Princess of Wales "believes that her grandmother looks after her in the spirit world."^[4]

Notes and sources

1. ^ Williamson, D The Ancestry of Lady Diana Spencer In: Genealogist’s Magazine, 1981; Vol. 20 (#6) pp. 192–199, and Vol. 20 (#8) pp. 281–282
2. ^ Mosley, C (ed.) Burke’s Peerage & Baronetage, 106th edition (Burke’s Peerage, Crans, Switzerland, 1999) vol. 2 p. 2673
3. ^ The Times (London), Wednesday, 6 December 1972; p. 32 col. A
4. ^ Andrew Morton, Diana: Her True Story (BCA, 1992) p. 24

References

• G.E. Cokayne; with Vicary Gibbs, H.A. Doubleday, Geoffrey H. White, Duncan Warrand and Lord Howard de Walden, editors, The Complete Peerage of England, Scotland, Ireland, Great Britain and the United Kingdom, Extant, Extinct or Dormant, new ed., 13 volumes in 14 (1910–1959; reprint in 6 volumes, Gloucester: Alan Sutton Publishing, 2000), vol. XIII, p. 39.
• Charles Mosley, Burke's Peerage and Baronetage, 106th edition, (Crans, Switzerland: Burke's Peerage (Genealogical Books) Ltd., 1999), vol. I p. 6 and vol. 2 p. 2673
• C.F.J. Hankinson, editor, DeBretts Peerage, Baronetage, Knightage and Companionage, 147th year (London: Odhams Press, 1949), p. 1007.

External links

• Peerage

Persondata
Name	Spencer, Cynthia Spencer, Countess
Alternative names
Short description
Date of birth	16 August 1897
Place of birth
Date of death	4 December 1972
Place of death