Agnes Duff, Countess Fife

Agnes Duff, Countess Fife (12 May 1829 – 18 December 1869), was an Irish-Scottish aristocrat.

The Right Honourable The Countess Fife
Born	12 May 1829
Died	18 December 1869(1869-12-18) (aged 40)
Spouse(s)	James Duff, 5th Earl Fife ( m. 1846)
Children	Lady Ida Wilson Anne Townshend, Marchioness Townshend Alexander Duff, 1st Duke of Fife Lady Alexina Coventry Lady Agnes Cooper Lady Mary Duff
Parent(s)	William Hay, 18th Earl of Erroll Elizabeth FitzClarence

Lady Agnes Georgiana Elizabeth Hay was born at Dublin, Ireland. She was the third child of William Hay, 18th Earl of Erroll, and Elizabeth FitzClarence, one of the illegitimate children of William IV and his mistress Dorothea Jordan.[1]

Agnes died at the age of 40.[2] Her only son, Alexander, married Princess Louise of Wales, the eldest daughter of Albert Edward, Prince of Wales (later Edward VII) and Alexandra of Denmark (later Queen Alexandra) in 1889 and was created Duke of Fife by Queen Victoria.[3] Through her fourth daughter, also named Agnes, she is an ancestor of British prime minister David Cameron.

Marriage and family

She married James Duff, 5th Earl Fife, son of General Hon. Sir Alexander Duff and Anne Stein, on 16 March 1846 at British Embassy, Paris, France.[4]

They had six children

• Lady Ida Louisa Alice Duff (1848 – 29 May 1918) she married Adrian Elias Hope on 3 June 1867 and they were divorced. They have one daughter. She remarried William Wilson on 20 September 1880.
  • Agnes Henriette Ida Mary Hope (1881 – 15 Jul 1920) she married Edwin Joseph Lisle March‑Phillipps de Lisle on 28 August 1889.
• Lady Anne Elizabeth Clementina Duff (16 August 1847 – 31 December 1925) she married John Townshend, 5th Marquess Townshend 17 October 1865. They have two children:
  • John James Dudley Stuart Townshend, 6th Marquess Townshend (17 October 1866 – 17 November 1921) he married Gwladys Sutherst on 9 August 1905. They have two children:
    • George John Patrick Dominic Townshend, 7th Marquess Townshend (13 May 1916 – 23 April 2010) he married Elizabeth Luby on 2 September 1939 and they were divorced in 1960. They have three children. He remarried Ann Darlow on 22 December 1960. They have two children. He married, lastly, Philippa Montgomerie of Southannan in 2004.
    • Elizabeth Mary Gladys Townshend (16 October 1917 – 31 December 1950) she married Sir Eric Meadows White, 2nd Bt.on 20 October 1939 and they were divorced in 1947. They have one son. She remarried John Roberts on 15 March 1949.
      • Sir Christopher Robert Meadows White, 3rd Bt (26 August 1940 – 2015) he married Anne Brown on 14 April 1962 and they were divorced. He remarried Dinah Mary Sutton in 1968 and they were divorced in 1972. He married, lastly, Ingrid Jowett in 1976.
  • Lady Agnes Elizabeth Audrey Townshend (12 December 1870 – 15 March 1955) she married James Cuninghame Durham, son of Reverend James Durham on 2 December 1903. They have two children:
    • Nicholas Durham (13 January 1905) he married Joyce du Pré in 1934.
    • Victoria Durham (1908)
• Alexander William George Duff, 1st Duke of Fife (10 November 1849 – 29 January 1912)
• Lady Alexina Duff (20 March 1851 – 30 April 1882 d.s.p.) married Henry Coventry.
• Lady Agnes Cecil Emmeline Duff (18 May 1852 – 11 January 1925), married firstly George Hay-Drummond, son of George Hay-Drummond, 12th Earl of Kinnoull, and had issue. Married secondly Herbert Flower, with no issue. Married thirdly Alfred Cooper, with issue. David Cameron, the former British prime minister, is a descendant of this third marriage.
• Lady Mary Hamilton Duff (20 February 1854 – 20 March 1854)

Titles and styles

• Lady Agnes Georgiana Elizabeth Hay (1829–1846)
• The Countess Fife (1846–1869)

Ancestry

Ancestors of Agnes Duff, Countess Fife
8. James Hay, 15th Earl of Erroll 4. William Hay, 17th Earl of Erroll 9. Isabella Carr 2. William Hay, 18th Earl of Erroll 10. Samuel Eliot 5. Alicia Eliot 11. Alice Byam 1. Agnes Duff, Countess Fife 12. George III of the United Kingdom 6. William IV of the United Kingdom 13. Duchess Charlotte of Mecklenburg-Strelitz 3. Elizabeth FitzClarence 14. Francis Bland 7. Dorothea Bland 15. Grace Phillips

Notes and sources

1. Marlene A. Eilers, Queen Victoria's Descendants, page 179.
2. Charles Mosley, editor, Burke's Peerage, Baronetage & Knightage, 107th edition, 3 volumes (Wilmington, Delaware, U.S.A.: Burke's Peerage (Genealogical Books) Ltd, 2003), volume 1, page 1337. Hereinafter cited as Burke's Peerage and Baronetage, 107th edition.
3. The Peerage – Sir Alexander William George Duff, 1st Duke of Fife
4. 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, U.K.: Alan Sutton Publishing, 2000), volume V, page 379. Hereinafter cited as The Complete Peerage.