Elizabeth Hester Douglas-Home, Baroness Home of the Hirsel (; 6 November 1909 – 3 September 1990) was the wife of British politician and prime minister

Alec Douglas-Home Alexander Frederick Douglas-Home, Baron Home of the Hirsel ( ; 2 July 1903 – 9 October 1995), known as Lord Dunglass from 1918 to 1951 and the Earl of Home from 1951 to 1963, was a British statesman and Conservative Party (UK), Conservative ...

Biography

She was born Elizabeth Hester Alington, the second daughter of the Very Rev Cyril Alington—headmaster of

Shrewsbury School Shrewsbury School is a Public school (United Kingdom), public school in Shrewsbury. Founded in 1552 by Edward VI by royal charter, to replace the town's Saxon collegiate foundations which were disestablished in the sixteenth century, Shrewsb ...

and

Eton College Eton College ( ) is a Public school (United Kingdom), public school providing boarding school, boarding education for boys aged 13–18, in the small town of Eton, Berkshire, Eton, in Berkshire, in the United Kingdom. It has educated Prime Mini ...

successively, as well as

chaplain A chaplain is, traditionally, a cleric (such as a minister, priest, pastor, rabbi, purohit, or imam), or a lay representative of a religious tradition, attached to a secular institution (such as a hospital, prison, military unit, intellige ...

King George V George V (George Frederick Ernest Albert; 3 June 1865 – 20 January 1936) was King of the United Kingdom and the British Dominions, and Emperor of India, from 6 May 1910 until his death in 1936. George was born during the reign of his pa ...

—and his wife, Hester Margaret Lyttelton, daughter of

George Lyttelton, 4th Baron Lyttelton George William Lyttelton, 4th Baron Lyttelton, 4th Baron Westcote, (31 March 1817 – 19 April 1876) was an English aristocrat and Conservative politician from the Lyttelton family. He was chairman of the Canterbury Association, which encoura ...

. Elizabeth was the first woman to become a fellow (governor) of Eton. She married

on 3 October 1936. Thanks to her husband acquiring and renouncing various titles, she had, according to ''

The Guinness Book of Records ''Guinness World Records'', known from its inception in 1955 until 1999 as ''The Guinness Book of Records'' and in previous United States editions as ''The Guinness Book of World Records'', is a British reference book published annually, listi ...

'', more names successively in her lifetime than any other once-married, British-only woman. The couple had four children: * Lady (Lavinia) Caroline Douglas-Home DL (b. 11 Oct 1937), who served as a Lady-in-Waiting to various members of the Royal Family * Lady Meriel Kathleen Douglas-Home (b. 27 Nov 1939), m. Adrian Darby, Bursar of

Keble College Keble College () is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in England. Its main buildings are on Parks Road, opposite the University Museum and the University Parks. The college is bordered to the north by Keble Road, to ...

, Oxford * Lady Diana Lucy Douglas-Home (18 Dec 1940 - 22 August 2024), m. James Wolfe Murray * David Alexander Cospatrick Douglas-Home, 15th Earl of Home (20 Nov 1943–22 Aug 2022). She died on 3 September 1990 at the age of 80. Her husband outlived her by just over five years. They had been married for nearly 54 years.

References

Bibliography

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External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Douglas-Home, Elizabeth 1909 births 1990 deaths 20th-century British people 20th-century British women Spouses of prime ministers of the United Kingdom Home of the Hirsel

Home A home, or domicile, is a space used as a permanent or semi-permanent residence for one or more human occupants, and sometimes various companion animals. Homes provide sheltered spaces, for instance rooms, where domestic activity can be p ...

Spouses of life peers Wives of knights Alec Douglas-Home