Louise Campbell, Duchess of Argyll

Louise Campbell, Duchess of Argyll (27 November 1904 – 10 February 1970), formerly Louise Campbell Vanneck, née Louise Hollingsworth Morris Clews, later Mrs Timpson, was the second wife of Ian Douglas Campbell, 11th Duke of Argyll and the mother of the 12th Duke.[1]

Early life and first marriage

She was the daughter of the American-born artist Henry Clews Jr., and his first wife, the New York socialite Louise Morris Gebhard, who was descended from US President James Madison.[2]

Her first husband was the Hon. Andrew Nicholas Armstrong Vanneck, son of William Vanneck, 5th Baron Huntingfield, and his wife, the former Mary Armstrong. She married Vanneck on 1 September 1930.[3] Their married home was at Heveningham Hall.[4] They had no children, and were divorced in 1933.

Marriage to Duke of Argyll

Two years later, she married Captain Ian Campbell, whose first marriage, to Janet Aitken (daughter of Max Aitken, 1st Baron Beaverbrook), had ended in divorce in 1934.[5] There was one daughter from Campbell's marriage to Aitken, Lady Jeanne Campbell (1928-2007), who was brought up mainly by her father when her mother returned to Canada without her.[6]

Louise married Campbell on 23 November 1935. They had two sons:

During the Second World War, Campbell was in the armed forces and spent some time as a prisoner of war. His wife crossed the Pyrenees to Lisbon, where she helped with relief efforts. Among other things, she arranged for beer and Christmas puddings to be received at the POW camps.[7]

Campbell inherited his cousin's dukedom in 1949, making his wife Duchess of Argyll, but they were divorced in 1951. The duke was a notorious spendthrift, and, when asked, Louise is said to have replied "He took everything but my trust funds."[8] The duchess filed for divorce because of the duke's adultery with the woman who would become his third wife, the notorious Margaret Whigham Sweeny.[9]

Later life

She relocated to the United States following her divorce, and her third marriage was to Robert Clermont Livingston Timpson, an American investment banker, in 1954. They moved into Grasmere, a mansion in Rhinebeck, which she later opened to the public.[4]

They divorced in 1963, and the former duchess died in New York in 1970, aged 65.[4]

References

  1. ↑ "Campbell, Louise Hollingsworth Morris, Duchess of Argyll (1904 -1970)". British Armorial Bindings. University of Toronto. Retrieved 15 September 2018.
  2. ↑ "Henry Clews Jr. Marries Mrs Louise M Gebhard" (PDF). NY Times. 29 November 1901.
  3. ↑ Peter W. Hammond, editor, The Complete Peerage or a History of the House of Lords and All its Members From the Earliest Times, Volume XIV: Addenda & Corrigenda (Stroud, Gloucestershire, U.K.: Sutton Publishing, 1998), page 35.
  4. 1 2 3 "Mrs. Louise C. Timpson Dead; Former Duchess of Argyll, 65". New York Times archive. Retrieved 15 September 2018.
  5. ↑ "Eleventh Duke of Argyll, Chief of Campbells". The Glasgow Herald. 9 April 1973. p. 7. Retrieved 15 September 2018.
  6. ↑ "Lady Jeanne Campbell". Herald Scotland. 27 September 2007. Retrieved 15 September 2018.
  7. ↑ Charles Rollings (2004). Wire and Worse: RAF Prisoners of War in Laufen, Biberach, Lübeck and Warburg, 1940-42. Ian Allan. ISBN 978-0-7110-3050-3.
  8. ↑ David Randall (17 February 2013). "The scarlet Duchess of Argyll: Much more than just a Highland fling". The Independent. Retrieved 15 September 2018.
  9. ↑ "Duke of Argyll, Chief of Clan Campbell, Is Dead at 69". New York Times Archive. April 8, 1973. Retrieved 15 September 2018.
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