Mary Soames

The Right Honourable
The Lady Soames
LG DBE FRSL

Lady Soames, taking part in the Garter Day procession to Windsor Castle on 19 June 2006
Born Mary Spencer-Churchill
(1922-09-15)15 September 1922
Chartwell, Westerham, Kent, United Kingdom
Died 31 May 2014(2014-05-31) (aged 91)
London, England, United Kingdom
Nationality British
Spouse(s) Christopher Soames, Baron Soames (1947–1987, his death)
Children Nicholas
Emma
Jeremy
Charlotte
Rupert
Parent(s) Winston Churchill (father)
Clementine Churchill (mother)

Mary Soames, Baroness Soames LG DBE FRSL (née Spencer-Churchill; 15 September 1922 – 31 May 2014) was the youngest of the five children of Winston Churchill and his wife, Clementine.[1] She was the wife of Christopher Soames, Baron Soames.

Biography

1945 photo at Potsdam Conference
Lady Soames' Garter banner at St Martin's Church, Bladon
Churchill and Soames grave at St Martin's Church, Bladon

Mary Spencer-Churchill was raised at Chartwell and educated at the Manor House at Limpsfield. She worked for the Red Cross and the Women's Voluntary Service from 1939 to 1941, and joined the Auxiliary Territorial Service with whom she served in London, Belgium and Germany in mixed anti-aircraft batteries, rising to the rank of Junior Commander (equivalent to Captain). She also accompanied her father as aide-de-camp on several of his overseas journeys, including his post-VE trip to Potsdam, where he met with Harry S. Truman and Joseph Stalin.

She served many public organisations, such as the International Churchill Society, as a Patron; Church Army and Churchill Houses; and chaired the Royal National Theatre Board of Trustees between 1989 and 1995.[2] She was Patron of the National Benevolent Fund for the Aged.

A successful author, Lady Soames wrote an acclaimed biography of her mother, Clementine Churchill, in 1979. She offered insights into the Churchill family to various biographers, prominently including Sir Martin Gilbert, who became the authorised biographer of Sir Winston Churchill after the death of Churchill's son, Randolph, in 1968. Additionally, she published a book of letters between Sir Winston and Lady Churchill, editing the letters as well as providing bridging material that placed the letters in personal, family, and historical context.[3]

One of her more notable public appearances came on 29 April 2002 when she dined with the Queen at Buckingham Palace as part of the Golden Jubilee celebrations, alongside Prime Minister Tony Blair, and the four surviving former prime ministers at the time, as well as several relatives of other deceased prime ministers.[4]

Lady Soames was made a Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire for her public service, particularly in Rhodesia.[5] She was appointed a Lady Companion of the Order of the Garter on 23 April 2005,[6] and was invested on 13 June at Windsor Castle.[7]

On 31 May 2014, Lady Soames died at her home in London at the age of 91 following a short illness.[8][9] Her ashes are buried next to those of her husband within the Churchill plot at St Martin's Church, Bladon, near Woodstock, Oxfordshire.

Family

Mary Soames married the Conservative politician Christopher Soames (later created Baron Soames) in 1947 and they had five children:

On 17 December 2014, Sotheby's London auctioned on behalf of her heirs, 255 items out of her collection, including paintings by and memorabilia attached to her father, Winston S. Churchill.

Titles from birth

A list of the titles Lady Soames held in chronological order from birth:

Arms

Arms of Mary Soames
Notes
Lady of the Garter since 2005
Coronet
A coronet of a Baroness
Escutcheon
Gules, a chevron Or, between in chief two hammers of the last and in base two wing Argent; impaled with quarterly, first and fourth Sable a Lion rampant Argent, overall on a quarter of the last a cross Gules; second and third grandquarterly 1st and 4th Argent 2nd and 3rd Gules a fret Or overall a bend Sable charged with three escallops Argent.
Supporters
Dexter: A winged lion Argent gorged Gules. Sinister: a falcon Or holding a cord Gules and Argent.
Motto
FIEL PERO DESDICHADO
Spanish: Faithful but Unfortunate
Orders
The Order of the Garter circlet.
The Order of the British Empire Commander's neck badge.[11]

Bibliography

Books written by Mary Soames (titles may vary between UK and US editions):

References

  1. "Lady Mary Soames, Winston Churchill's daughter, dies". BBC. 1 June 2014. Retrieved 1 June 2014.
  2. David Reynolds Obituary: Lady Soames, The Guardian, 1 June 2014
  3. "Mary Soames: biography". Random House Group. Retrieved 19 August 2010.
  4. "Queen dines with her prime ministers". BBC News. 29 April 2002.
  5. The London Gazette: (Supplement) no. 48212. p. 8. 13 June 1980. Retrieved 3 June 2014.
  6. The London Gazette: no. 57622. p. 5363. 25 April 2005. Retrieved 3 June 2014.
  7. "The Queen [...] today held a Chapter of the Most Noble Order of the Garter [...] Her Majesty invested the Baroness Soames with the Insignia of a Lady Companion of the Most Noble Order of the Garter." The Court Circular 13 June 2005.
  8. Mary Soames, daughter of Winston Churchill, dies at 91 - The Washington Post
  9. "Lady Soames, Winston Churchill's last surviving child, dies aged 91". The Daily Telegraph. 1 June 2014. Retrieved 1 June 2014.
  10. "Person Page 10626". Thepeerage.com. Retrieved 2013-02-05.
  11. The Heraldry Gazette. New Series 105 (September 2007), pp.1-2. ISSN 0437-2980
  12. This book engages itself with the gardens in Blenheim and Whiteknights.

External links

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