Lady Marian Alford
Lady Marian Alford 1818 - 1888
1818 Marianne Margaret Alford was born in Rome, the elder daughter of the second Marquis of Northampton. Her childhood was spent in Italy, where she frequently returned on visits after moving to England in 1830.
1841 She married John Hume Cust, Viscount Alford, elder son of the first Earl Brownlow who was heir to Ashridge Estate.
1851 Her husband died, leaving her with two young sons, the first of whom, John, succeeded to the Earldom aged 11.
Lady Marian took over the administration of the estate and much of what can be seen today at Ashridge and in the village of Little Gaddesden can be attributed to her. She extended the gardens to create pleasure grounds and improved the principal rooms of the house, eg plaster decorations above the bookcases in the morning room, by Matthew Digby Wyatt.
The monogram from the roundel was used in the frontispiece of Lady Marian's book, 'Needlework as Art'.
1867 John died unmarried and her second son, Adelbert, succeeded to the title, becoming 3rd Earl Brownlow, aged 22. He married Lady Adelaide Talbot and, together with Lady Marian, they developed the estate and took a keen interest in tenants and employees, maintaining property, building new cottages, village halls, restoring churches, making roads and encouraging industry.
1872 Marian was an accredited English artist, patron of the arts and an author. She was especially interested in embroidery, its history and how women had used it as a form of employment. Together with her friend Princess Louise, daughter of Queen Victoria, she was involved in the setting up of the School of Art Needlework, which later became the Royal School of Needlework in Kensington. As part of the Arts and Crafts movement's efforts to make arts and crafts more accessible to a wider audience, the school published the Handbook of Embroidery in 1880, which Lady Marian edited.
1886 Needlework as Art by Lady Marian, was published. (still available, free, from website Project Gutenberg.) Note the MA monogram, taken from the detail from the roundel above the bookcase in Ashridge and also seen on the embroidery presented to Edlesborough Church in 1868.
1888 Lady Marian died at Ashridge and was buried at Belton House, Lincolnshire.
