Dame Louise Margaret Leila Wemyss, Lady Paget, GBE (born 9 October 1881 – died 24 September 1958) was a British humanitarian, active in the cause of

Serbia , image_flag = Flag of Serbia.svg , national_motto = , image_coat = Coat of arms of Serbia.svg , national_anthem = () , image_map = , map_caption = Location of Serbia (gree ...

n relief, beginning in World War I, leading the first Serbian Relief Fund unit to

Skoplje Skopje ( , ; ; , sq-definite, Shkupi) is the capital and largest city of North Macedonia. It lies in the northern part of the country, in the Skopje Valley along the Vardar River, and is the political, economic, and cultural center of t ...

in November 1914.

Family

The daughter of General Sir Arthur Henry Fitzroy Paget (1851–1928) and his wife, Mary Fiske Paget (née Stevens; died 1919), she married her third cousin once removed, Sir Ralph Spencer Paget, son of

Sir ''Sir'' is a formal honorific address in English for men, derived from Sire in the High Middle Ages. Both are derived from the old French "" (Lord), brought to England by the French-speaking Normans, and which now exist in French only as part ...

Augustus Berkeley Paget Sir Augustus Berkeley Paget GCB (16 April 1823 – 11 July 1896) was a British diplomat. In 1876, Paget was appointed a member of Queen Victoria's privy council. Biography Augustus Berkeley Paget was born on 16 April 1823, member of the Pa ...

and Countess Walburga Ehrengarde Helena von Hohenthal, on 28 October 1907; the union was childless. Louise was great-granddaughter of Henry Paget, Earl of Uxbridge.

Philanthropic work

Ralph Spencer Paget was appointed

Knight Commander of the Order of St Michael and St George The Most Distinguished Order of Saint Michael and Saint George is a British order of chivalry founded on 28 April 1818 by George, Prince of Wales (the future King George IV), while he was acting as prince regent for his father, King George III ...

(KCMG) in 1909 and Louise encouraged him to accept a transfer to the Balkan

Kingdom of Serbia The Kingdom of Serbia was a country located in the Balkans which was created when the ruler of the Principality of Serbia, Milan I of Serbia, Milan I, was proclaimed king in 1882. Since 1817, the Principality was ruled by the Obrenović dynast ...

in July 1910. Encouraged by Mabel Grujić, the

American American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, p ...

wife of Slavko Grujić,

Serbia , image_flag = Flag of Serbia.svg , national_motto = , image_coat = Coat of arms of Serbia.svg , national_anthem = () , image_map = , map_caption = Location of Serbia (gree ...

n Undersecretary for Foreign Affairs, Lady Paget helped set up a military hospital in

Belgrade Belgrade is the Capital city, capital and List of cities in Serbia, largest city of Serbia. It is located at the confluence of the Sava and Danube rivers and at the crossroads of the Pannonian Basin, Pannonian Plain and the Balkan Peninsula. T ...

during the

First Balkan War The First Balkan War lasted from October 1912 to May 1913 and involved actions of the Balkan League (the Kingdoms of Kingdom of Bulgaria, Bulgaria, Kingdom of Serbia, Serbia, Kingdom of Greece, Greece and Kingdom of Montenegro, Montenegro) agai ...

(1912–13). In 1914, Paget became the president of the

American Women's War Relief Fund American Women's War Relief Fund was an expatriate organization in the United Kingdom started by United States, American women to fund and aid World War I support efforts. The group was made up of wealthy socialites, politicians' wives and Human ...

. The group, dedicated to helping those hurt in the war, was conceived of as an idea by Paget only three days after the

First World War World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

broke out. In 1915 she set up a hospital in

Skopje Skopje ( , ; ; , sq-definite, Shkupi) is the capital and largest city of North Macedonia. It lies in the northern part of the country, in the Skopje Basin, Skopje Valley along the Vardar River, and is the political, economic, and cultura ...

to treat wounded Serbs, but also to help fight the epidemic spreading through Serbia. Lady Paget contracted

typhoid fever Typhoid fever, also known simply as typhoid, is a disease caused by '' Salmonella enterica'' serotype Typhi bacteria, also called ''Salmonella'' Typhi. Symptoms vary from mild to severe, and usually begin six to 30 days after exposure. Often th ...

, but recovered. Paget also helped raise money to support the needs of wounded servicemembers. Dame Louise Paget was the first recipient of the Medal of Honor of the Federation of Women's Clubs of New York City in 1917; other recipients included humanitarian Evelyn Smalley (1919), activist

Carrie Chapman Catt Carrie Chapman Catt (born Carrie Clinton Lane; January 9, 1859#Fowler, Fowler, p. 3 – March 9, 1947) was an American women's suffrage leader who campaigned for the Nineteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution, which gave U.S. women t ...

(1922, decoration without the eagle), physicist

Marie Curie Maria Salomea Skłodowska-Curie (; ; 7 November 1867 – 4 July 1934), known simply as Marie Curie ( ; ), was a Polish and naturalised-French physicist and chemist who conducted pioneering research on radioactivity. She was List of female ...

(1929),

Madame Chiang Kai-shek Soong Mei-ling (also spelled Soong May-ling; March 4, 1898 – October 23, 2003), also known as Madame Chiang (), was a Chinese political figure and socialite. The youngest of the Soong sisters, she married Chiang Kai-shek and played a prom ...

, First Lady of the Republic of China (1939), and Austrian-born pioneer atomic scientist

Lise Meitner Elise Lise Meitner ( ; ; 7 November 1878 – 27 October 1968) was an Austrian-Swedish nuclear physicist who was instrumental in the discovery of nuclear fission. After completing her doctoral research in 1906, Meitner became the second woman ...

(1949).

Honours

Louise, Lady Paget was invested as a Dame Grand Cross, Order of the British Empire (GBE) in 1917. In April 1915, she was decorated with the Grand Cordon, Order of St Sava.

Death

She died on 24 September 1958, aged 76, at

Kingston-upon-Thames Kingston upon Thames, colloquially known as Kingston, is a town in the Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames, south-west London, England. It is situated on the River Thames, south-west of Charing Cross. It is an ancient market town, notable as ...

Citations

Charles Mosley, editor, ''Burke's Peerage and Baronetage, 106th edition'', 2 volumes (Crans, Switzerland: Burke's Peerage (Genealogical Books) Ltd, 1999), volume 1, pp. 73, 77.

References