Agnes Duff, Countess Fife

Lady Agnes Georgiana Elizabeth Hay (12 May 1829 – 18 December 1869) was an Irish-Scottish aristocrat.

Agnes was born at Dublin, Ireland.^[1] She was the third child of William Hay, 18th Earl of Erroll and Elizabeth FitzClarence, one of the illegitimate children of William IV and his mistress Dorothea Jordan.^[2]

Agnes died at the age of 40.^[3] Her only son, Alexander, married Princess Louise of Wales, the eldest daughter of Albert Edward, Prince of Wales (later Edward VII) and Alexandra of Denmark (later Queen Alexandra) in 1889 and was created Duke of Fife by Queen Victoria.^[4] Through her fourth daughter, also named Agnes, she is an ancestor of British prime minister David Cameron.

Marriage and family

She married James Duff, 5th Earl Fife, son of General Hon. Sir Alexander Duff and Anne Stein, on 16 March 1846 at British Embassy, Paris, France.^[5]

They had six children

• Lady Ida Louisa Alice Duff (???? – 29 May 1918)
• Lady Anne Elizabeth Clementina Duff (16 August 1847 – 31 December 1925), married John Townshend, 5th Marquess Townshend and had issue.
• Alexander William George Duff, 1st Duke of Fife (10 November 1849 – 29 January 1912)
• Lady Alexina Duff (20 March 1851 – 30 Apr 1882)
• Lady Agnes Cecil Emmeline Duff (18 May 1852 – 11 January 1925), married Sir Alfred Cooper (1838 – 3 March 1908)
• Lady Mary Hamilton Duff (20 February 1854 – 20 March 1854)

Ancestry

Ancestors of Agnes Duff, Countess Fife

16. William Boyd, 4th Earl of Kilmarnock               8. James Hay, 15th Earl of Erroll                       17. Anne Livingston               4. William Hay, 17th Earl of Erroll                             18. William Carr               9. Isabella Carr                       2. William Hay, 18th Earl of Erroll                                   10. Samuel Eliot                       5. Alicia Eliot                             22. William Byam               11. Alice Byam                       23. Anne Gunthorpe               1. Agnes Duff, Countess Fife                                         24. Frederick, Prince of Wales               12. George III of the United Kingdom                       25. Princess Augusta of Saxe-Gotha               6. William IV of the United Kingdom                             26. Duke Charles Louis Frederick of Mecklenburg-Strelitz               13. Duchess Charlotte of Mecklenburg-Strelitz                       27. Princess Elizabeth Albertine of Saxe-Hildburghausen               3. Elizabeth FitzClarence                                   28. James Bland               14. Francis Bland                       29. Lucy Brewster               7. Dorothea Bland                             15. Grace Phillips

Titles and styles

• Lady Agnes Georgiana Elizabeth Hay (1829–1846)
• The Countess Fife (1846–1869)

Notes and sources

1. Genealogics - Leo van de Pas: Lady Agnes Hay
2. Marlene A. Eilers, Queen Victoria's Descendants, page 179.
3. Charles Mosley, editor, Burke's Peerage, Baronetage & Knightage, 107th edition, 3 volumes (Wilmington, Delaware, U.S.A.: Burke's Peerage (Genealogical Books) Ltd, 2003), volume 1, page 1337. Hereinafter cited as Burke's Peerage and Baronetage, 107th edition.
4. The Peerage – Sir Alexander William George Duff, 1st Duke of Fife
5. G.E. Cokayne; with Vicary Gibbs, H.A. Doubleday, Geoffrey H. White, Duncan Warrand and Lord Howard de Walden, editors, The Complete Peerage of England, Scotland, Ireland, Great Britain and the United Kingdom, Extant, Extinct or Dormant, new ed., 13 volumes in 14 (1910-1959; reprint in 6 volumes, Gloucester, U.K.: Alan Sutton Publishing, 2000), volume V, page 379. Hereinafter cited as The Complete Peerage.