Biography of Countess Feodora Gleichen 1861-1922

On 24th January 1861 [his father] Prince Victor of Hohenlohe Langenburg Count Gleichen (age 27) and [his mother] Laura Seymour (age 28) were married. Their marriage was morganatic. Almost two weeks before her marriage she was created Countess von Gleichen by Ernst II, Duke of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha. In 1870 she was granted her the rank and style of the daughter of a marquess by Royal Warrant of Precedence, entitling her to prefix Lady to her name.

On 20th December 1861 Countess Feodora Gleichen was born to Prince Victor of Hohenlohe Langenburg Count Gleichen (age 28) and Princess Laura Williamina Seymour (age 29).

Life's Ebb And Flow Chapter IV. [30th April 1881]. And so the tale unfolds. Our [Francis Greville 5th Earl Warwick 5th Earl Brooke (age 28) and Frances Evelyn "Daisy" Maynard Countess Warwick (age 19)] marriage took place in the Henry VII Chapel in Westminster Abbey, and the newspapers of the day made much of the "most brilliant wedding of a dozen seasons." I remember my surprise as I drove from our house in Carlton Gardens to the Abbey to find the way lined with interested crowds.

Among the guests were the Prince (age 39) and Princess of Wales (age 36), Prince and Princess Christian, the Duke (age 30) and Duchess of Connaught (age 20), Princess Louise (age 33) (Marchioness of Lorne), Princess Mary Adelaide (age 47) (Duchess of Teck) and the Duke of Teck (parents of Queen Mary), with Prince Leopold, Duke of Albany (age 28), as my husband's best man. The crush filled the Abbey from the choir to the door.

My twelve bridesmaids were all girl friends and relatives. They were: Blanche Maynard (age 17), my sister (now Lady Algernon Gordon-Lennox (age 33)), Lady Eva Greville (age 21), my husband's only sister, my stepsisters, Millicent (age 13), Sybil (age 9), and Angela St. Clair Erskine (age 4) (later Duchess of Sutherland, Countess of Westmorland, and Lady A. Forbes), Countess Feodore Gleichen (age 19) (later a renowned sculptor), Lady Florence Bridgman (age 22) (the present Countess of Harewood and mother of Viscount Lascelles (age 34)), Miss Wombwell (age 19) (Countess of Dartrey), Miss Mills, the first Lord Hillingdon's daughter, Miss Violet Lindsay (age 25) (now Violet, Duchess of Rutland), and Miss Ethel Milner (age 30) (later Countess of Durham).

On 31st December 1891 [his father] Prince Victor of Hohenlohe Langenburg Count Gleichen (age 58) died.

On 13th February 1912 [his mother] Princess Laura Williamina Seymour (age 79) died.

On 8th January 1915 Charles Chetwynd-Talbot (age 32) died of pneumonia. He was buried at St Mary the Virgin Church, Ingestre [Map]. Monument sculpted by Countess Feodora Gleichen (age 53).

Charles Chetwynd-Talbot: On 8th September 1882 he was born to Charles Chetwynd-Talbot 20th Earl of Shrewsbury 5th Earl Talbot and Ellen Palmer Morewood Countess Shrewsbury Waterford Talbot. On 23rd April 1904 Charles Chetwynd-Talbot and Winifred Contance Hester Paget were married. He the son of Charles Chetwynd-Talbot 20th Earl of Shrewsbury 5th Earl Talbot and Ellen Palmer Morewood Countess Shrewsbury Waterford Talbot.

On 22nd February 1922 Countess Feodora Gleichen (age 60) died.

St Mary's Church, Culford [Map]. The most remarkable and memorable feature of the interior is the memorial in the chancel. It is to Lady Jane Bacon, the wife of the artist Nathaniel Bacon, whose own striking memorial is under the tower now. She sits in a central position with an infant seated on her lap, in what surely must be a conscious echo of the Blessed Virgin and Christchild. This is remarkable, because it dates from the later years of the Puritan Commonwealth, in 1656. She is flanked by her grandchildren who look unnervingly like a set of chess pieces. Sir Nicholas Bacon, their father, her son, died two years after her and lies uncomfortably at her feet. Pevsner thought it sincere, not at all aristocratic.

It is not the largest memorial here. That accolade is reserved for the large, elegant memorial to the Countess of Cadogan, who died in 1907. The north aisle was constructed to accommodate it. Railed in, beneath a dramatic arch with figures of Faith, Hope and Charity, it has echoes of the memorial at Holkham to the Countess of Leicester. The sculptor was Countess Feodora Gleichen.