Biography of Deborah Vivien Mitford Duchess Devonshire 1920-2014

In February 1904 [her father] David Freeman-Mitford 2nd Baron Redesdale [aged 25] and [her mother] Sydney Bowles Baroness Redesdale [aged 24] were married.

On 31st March 1920 Deborah Vivien Mitford Duchess Devonshire was born to [her father] David Freeman-Mitford 2nd Baron Redesdale [aged 42] and [her mother] Sydney Bowles Baroness Redesdale [aged 40].

6th February 1929. The Sketch. The marriage of Mr. Bryan Guinness [aged 23], son of the Hon. Walter Guinness, to the Hon. Diana Mitford [aged 18], third daughter of Lord and Lady Redesdale, was solemnised at St. Margaret's, Westminster [Map]. The lovely nineteen-year-old bride was attended by eleven bridesmaids.

Note. Her sisters Nancy [aged 24] and Unity [aged 14] were two of the eleven bridesmaid. Her younger sisters Jessica Lucy Freeman-Mitford [aged 11] and Deborah Vivien Mitford Duchess Devonshire [aged 8] were unwell but threw rice as her car passed.

On 18th May 1937 Esmond Romilly [aged 18] and [her sister] Jessica Lucy Freeman-Mitford [aged 19] were married in a civil ceremony in Bayonne. Both mothers, Sydney Bowles Baroness Redesdale [aged 57] and Nellie Hozier [aged 49] attended the ceremony. They were second cousins.

13th April 1938. The Bystander. Photograph of Deborah Mitford [aged 18].

On 19th April 1941 Andrew Cavendish 11th Duke Devonshire [aged 21] and Deborah Mitford [aged 21] were married. He the son of Edward William Spencer Cavendish 10th Duke Devonshire [aged 45] and Mary Alice Gascoyne-Cecil Duchess Devonshire [aged 45].

At the commencement of their honeymoon Deborah 'stopped the car when starting on her honeymoon and registered at a small Labour Exchange for National Service,' as per The Sketch.

On 26th March 1943 [her daughter] Emma Cavendish was born to [her husband] Andrew Cavendish 11th Duke Devonshire [aged 23] and Deborah Vivien Mitford Duchess Devonshire [aged 22] She married 3rd September 1963 Tobias Tennant, son of Christopher Tennant 2nd Baron Glenconner, and had issue.

On 27th April 1944 [her son] Peregrine Cavendish 12th Duke of Devonshire was born to [her husband] Andrew Cavendish 11th Duke Devonshire [aged 24] and Deborah Vivien Mitford Duchess Devonshire [aged 24] at Chatsworth House, Derbyshire [Map]. He was educated at Eton College, Exeter College, Oxford, where he read history, and at the Royal Agricultural College (now the Royal Agricultural University), Cirencester. He married 28th June 1967 Amanda Carmen Heywood-Lonsdale Duchess of Devonshire and had issue.

On 9th September 1944 [her brother-in-law] William Cavendish [aged 26] was killed in action by a sniper whilst leading a company trying to capture the town of Heppen in Belgium. He was buried at the Leopoldsburg War Cemetery.

Before 31st August 1945. William Acton [aged 39]. Portrait of Deborah Vivien Mitford Duchess Devonshire [aged 25].

On 26th November 1950 [her father-in-law] Edward William Spencer Cavendish 10th Duke Devonshire [aged 55] died. His son [her husband] Andrew [aged 30] succeeded 11th Duke Devonshire, 14th Earl Devonshire, 6th Earl Burlington, 14th Baron Cavendish Hardwick. Deborah Vivien Mitford Duchess Devonshire [aged 30] by marriage Duchess Devonshire. On 24th December 1988 [her mother-in-law] Mary Alice Gascoyne-Cecil Duchess Devonshire [aged 55] died. Both the Duke and Duchess were buried in the Cavendish Plot, St Peter's Church, Edensor [Map].

On 18th March 1957 [her daughter] Sophia Cavendish was born to [her husband] Andrew Cavendish 11th Duke Devonshire [aged 37] and Deborah Vivien Mitford Duchess Devonshire [aged 36] She married (1) 19th July 1988 her third cousin Alastair Morrison 3rd Baron Margadale, son of James Morrison 2nd Baron Margadale.

On 17th March 1958 [her father] David Freeman-Mitford 2nd Baron Redesdale [aged 80] died. His brother [her uncle] Bertram [aged 78] succeeded 3rd Baron Redesdale of Redesdale in Northumberland.

In 1963 [her mother] Sydney Bowles Baroness Redesdale [aged 83] died.

On 3rd September 1963 [her son-in-law] Tobias Tennant [aged 22] and Emma Cavendish [aged 20] were married. She the daughter of Andrew Cavendish 11th Duke Devonshire [aged 43] and Deborah Vivien Mitford Duchess Devonshire [aged 43].

On 28th June 1967 Peregrine Cavendish 12th Duke of Devonshire [aged 23] and Amanda Carmen Heywood-Lonsdale Duchess of Devonshire [aged 23] were married. He the son of Andrew Cavendish 11th Duke Devonshire [aged 47] and Deborah Vivien Mitford Duchess Devonshire [aged 47].

On 19th July 1988 [her son-in-law] Alastair Morrison 3rd Baron Margadale [aged 30] and Sophia Cavendish [aged 31] were married. She the daughter of Andrew Cavendish 11th Duke Devonshire [aged 68] and Deborah Vivien Mitford Duchess Devonshire [aged 68]. They were third cousins.

Before 2nd September 1999 [her son-in-law] Alastair Morrison 3rd Baron Margadale [aged 41] and [her daughter] Sophia Cavendish [aged 42] were divorced.

On 3rd May 2004 [her husband] Andrew Cavendish 11th Duke Devonshire [aged 84] died. His son Peregrine [aged 60] succeeded 12th Duke Devonshire, 15th Earl Devonshire, 15th Baron Cavendish Hardwick, 7th Earl Burlington. Amanda Carmen Heywood-Lonsdale Duchess of Devonshire [aged 60] by marriage Duchess Devonshire.

After 3rd May 2004. Cavendish Plot, St Peter's Church, Edensor [Map]. [her former husband] Andrew Cavendish 11th Duke Devonshire [deceased] and Deborah Vivien Mitford Duchess Devonshire [aged 84].

On 24th September 2014 Deborah Vivien Mitford Duchess Devonshire [aged 94] died.