December 20, 1909
The will of the late Consuelo, Duchess of Manchester, was filed for probate today, reports the New York Times. Her bequests included "My rub and diamond bracelet, which I would ask her Majesty Queen Alexandra to be graciously pleased to accept as a token of my respected affections and regard."
The bracelet was one of several bequests in the Duchess's English estate, which was valued at $1, 624,330. The American-born Duchess left a ruby and diamond tassel to Louise, Duchess of Devonshire; a sapphire necklace to her grandson, Viscount Mandeville; other jewels were left to her granddaughter, Lady Mary Montagu, and a box marked 'Alice' was left to the second daughter of her son, the Duke of Manchester.
The Dowager Duchess also left an annual settlement of $ 5,000 to her sister, Emily Yznaga. She also made several charitable donations, including $5,000 to the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children.
She also made "provision for her grandson, Viscount Mandeville," and she settled $250,000 on the younger children of the Duke of Manchester. The Duchess "left the residue in trust" for her son, the Duke, his wife, and children, during his lifetime.
Consuelo Yznaga was born in 1853 in New York City, the second child of a Cuban diplomat, Antonio Modesto Yznaga de Valle, and Ellen Marie Clement, whose father was a steamboat captain.
One of Consuelo's childhood friends was Alva Smith, who married William Kissam Vanderbilt and, after their divorce, became the wife of Oliver Hazard Perry Belmont. The Dowager Duchess of Manchester was the godmother of Alva's daughter, Consuelo, who married the 9th Duke of Marlborough.
It was at her father's country home in Morristown, New Jersey, in late 1875, where Consuelo Ynzaga first met George Montagu, Viscount Mandeville, heir to the 7th Duke of Manchester. They were married at Grace Church in New York City on May 22, 1876. After the wedding, the couple settled in County Armagh in Ireland, where the Duke of Manchester had an estate. The marriage was not made in love but in finance, as Consuelo brought a great fortune into the marriage.
Lord Mandeville succeeded his father in 1890. He died two years later on August 18, 1892, at the age of 39.
The Duke and Duchess had three children: William Montagu, 9th Duke of Manchester, and twin daughters, Lady Jacqueline Mary Alva Montagu and Lady Alice Eleanor Louise Montagu, born in 1879. The twin sisters both died from consumption, Lady Jacqueline in 1895, and her sister five years later.
The Duchess inherited $2,000,000 from her brother, Fernando Ynzaga, after he died in 1901.
The Dowager Duchess of Manchester died in London on November 20. She was 56 years old. She is survived by her son, William, four grandchildren, Lady Mary Alice Montagu, Alexander, Viscount Mandeville, Lord Edward Montagu, and Lady Ellen Montagu, and her sisters, Lady Lister-Kay and Emily Yznaga.
