Lady Mary Trefusis

Lady Mary Trefusis, née Lygon (26 February 1869–12 September 1927) was an English hymnwriter and courtier. She was also known as Lady Mary Forbes-Trefusis. She was a daughter of the 6th Earl Beauchamp and the wife of Lt.-Col. Henry Hepburn-Stuart-Forbes-Trefusis (a son of the 20th Baron Clinton) in 1905 and had issue. Lady Mary was a close friend and correspondent of her brother Lord Beauchamp. She was a friend and promoter of the composer Edward Elgar and is thought to be commemorated anonymously in one of his Enigma Variations entitled "Romanza (***)". She was the first Secretary of the English Folk Dance Society (founded 1911) and was for a time a collector of English folk dances. Trefusis Hall in the EFDSS HQ, Cecil Sharp House, is named after her. She was also Lady of the Bedchamber to Queen Mary[1] (having joined her household while Mary was Princess of Wales), directed a number of choirs and was the joint founder of the Association of Competitive Festivals in 1904 (Mary Wakefield was the other founder).

Lady Mary Trefusis
Born1869 
Died1927  (aged 57–58)
Spouse(s)Lieut.-Col. Hon. Henry Walter Hepburn-Stuart-Forbes-Trefusis 
ChildrenHenry Trefusis 
Parent(s)
FamilyWilliam Lygon, Lady Susan Lygon, Margaret Russell, Hon. Edward Hugh Lygon 

Foxlease

Lady Mary was instrumental in the acquisition of the house of Foxlease by the Girl Guides Association. During the preparations for the marriage of Princess Mary, who happened to be President of the Girl Guides Association Rose Kerr was contacted by Lady Mary Trefusis (Lady of the Bedchamber to HM Queen Mary[2]), because Olave Baden-Powell, the World Chief Guide, was not in London. Lady Mary Trefusis was on the committee of a fund to which all the Marys of the British Empire had contributed, for a wedding present to the Princess. The Princess insisted that she could only accept a proportion of the fund as a personal gift. Trefusis proposed to Kerr that the remainder be spent buying a training centre for the Girl Guides, a cause close to the Princess's heart. Kerr suggested that the fund could furnish and equip Foxlease, but this was not immediately accepted as the Fund wanted a place that would be associated with Princess Mary's name. As the matter had to be settled by the next day, Kerr gave Trefusis the phone number of Pax Hill, the Baden-Powells' home.

Footnotes
  1. Seddon British Women Composers and Instrumental Chamber Music in the Early Twentieth Century; Trefusis, Mary
  2. "Person Page". www.thepeerage.com.
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