Margaret Greville
Encyclopedia
Dame Margaret Helen Grenville, Hon Mrs Greville, DBE
Order of the British Empire
The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is an order of chivalry established on 4 June 1917 by George V of the United Kingdom. The Order comprises five classes in civil and military divisions...

 (1863–1942), was a British society hostess and philanthropist.

Family

Born as Margaret Helen Anderson, she was the illegitimate daughter of William McEwan (1827-1913), a brewery multimillionaire, who later was elected as an M.P. (Member of Parliament). Her mother, Helen Anderson (1835/1836 - 1906), was married to William Anderson, whose surname Margaret Greville used in her own youth. William McEwan married Helen Anderson in 1885, following the death of William Anderson. In 1891 Margaret Anderson married Hon. Ronald Henry Fulke Greville, eldest son of the 2nd Baron Greville
Baron Greville
Baron Greville, of Clonyn in the County of Westmeath, was a title in the Peerage of the United Kingdom. It was created on 15 December 1869 for the Liberal politician Fulke Southwell Greville-Nugent, Member of Parliament for Longford from 1852 to 1869...

. They had no children; he died in 1908.

She was a close friend of Queen Mary
Mary of Teck
Mary of Teck was the queen consort of the United Kingdom and the British Dominions, and Empress of India, as the wife of King-Emperor George V....

. She bequeathed all her jewels to Queen Elizabeth, The Queen Mother
Elizabeth Bowes-Lyon
Elizabeth Angela Marguerite Bowes-Lyon was the queen consort of King George VI from 1936 until her husband's death in 1952, after which she was known as Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother, to avoid confusion with her daughter, Queen Elizabeth II...

, including a diamond necklace reputedly belonging to Marie Antoinette
Marie Antoinette
Marie Antoinette ; 2 November 1755 – 16 October 1793) was an Archduchess of Austria and the Queen of France and of Navarre. She was the fifteenth and penultimate child of Holy Roman Empress Maria Theresa and Holy Roman Emperor Francis I....

, and a tiara and ruby necklace by Boucheron, all of which are currently in possession of the British Royal Family. She also left £20,000 to Princess Margaret, as well as £25,000 to Queen Victoria Eugenia of Spain.

Greville was named a Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire
Order of the British Empire
The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is an order of chivalry established on 4 June 1917 by George V of the United Kingdom. The Order comprises five classes in civil and military divisions...

 (DBE) in 1922. At her death, her estate "Polesden Lacey
Polesden Lacey
Polesden Lacey is an Edwardian house and estate. It is located on the North Downs at Great Bookham, near Dorking, Surrey, England. It is owned and run by the National Trust and is one of the Trust's most popular properties....

" in Great Bookham
Great Bookham
-Today:The village has a high street, located in Great Bookham, which is, as its name suggests, the larger of the two villages. It has two butchers, a family run fishmongers and two traditional greengrocers...

, Surrey
Surrey
Surrey is a county in the South East of England and is one of the Home Counties. The county borders Greater London, Kent, East Sussex, West Sussex, Hampshire and Berkshire. The historic county town is Guildford. Surrey County Council sits at Kingston upon Thames, although this has been part of...

, was bequeathed to the National Trust. She is buried on the grounds of Polesden Lacey
Polesden Lacey
Polesden Lacey is an Edwardian house and estate. It is located on the North Downs at Great Bookham, near Dorking, Surrey, England. It is owned and run by the National Trust and is one of the Trust's most popular properties....

.

External links

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