Mary Cavendish, Duchess of Devonshire

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Mary Cavendish, Duchess of Devonshire bigraphy, stories - Duchess of Devonshire

Mary Cavendish, Duchess of Devonshire : biography

25 July 1895 – 24 December 1988

Mary Cavendish, Duchess of Devonshire, GCVO, CBE (29 July 1895 Hatfield, HertfordshireGRO Register of Births: SEP 1895 3a 582 HATFIELD – Mary Alice Gascoyne-Cecil – 24 December 1988 Westminster, London GRO Register of Deaths: DEC 1988 15 1567 WESTMINSTER – Mary Alice Devonshire aged 93 born Jul 1895) was born Lady Mary Alice Gascoyne-Cecil, daughter of James Gascoyne-Cecil, 4th Marquess of Salisbury. She was married on 21 April 1917 to Edward Cavendish, Lord Hartington, who succeeded his father as 10th Duke of Devonshire in 1938, whereupon Mary became Duchess of Devonshire. She was Mistress of the Robes to Elizabeth II from 1953 to 1967 http://users.uniserve.com/~canyon/qecoronation.htm and Chancellor of the University of Exeter from 1955 to 1972. She was awarded Hon. LLD (Exon) in 1956.

Husband

On 26 November 1950, her husband Edward Cavendish, the 10th Duke of Devonshire had a heart attack and died while being attended by John Bodkin Adams, the suspected serial killer. In the process of transferring his assets to his son, the death of the Duke fell 10 weeks prior to a required 5-year period, and his estate was subjected to taxes of 80%.Lowell, Mary., "The Sisters: Saga of the Mitford Family" 13 days before his death, Edith Alice Morrell, another patient of Adams, had also died. Adams was tried in 1957 for her murder but acquitted. Home office pathologist Francis Camps, however, linked Adams to 163 suspicious deaths in total.Cullen, Pamela V., "A Stranger in Blood: The Case Files on Dr John Bodkin Adams", London, Elliott & Thompson, 2006, ISBN 1-904027-19-9