Gwendolen Florence Mary Guinness (Onslow), Countess of Iveagh

Lady Gwendolen Florence Mary Onslow was the daughter of William Hillier Onslow, 4th Earl of Onslow and Hon. Florence Coulston Gardner.3 She married Rupert Edward Cecil Lee Guinness, 2nd Earl of Iveagh, son of Edward Cecil Guinness, 1st Earl of Iveagh and Adelaide Maria Guinness, on 8 October 1903.3 She died on 16 February 1966.

    From 8 October 1903, her married name became Guinness. She was invested as a Commander, Order of the British Empire (C.B.E.) in 1920.3 She held the office of Member of Parliament (M.P.) (Conservative) for Southend-on-Sea between 1927 and 1935.3 As a result of her marriage, Lady Gwendolen Florence Mary Onslow was styled as Countess of Iveagh on 7 October 1927. http://thepeerage.com/p10375.htm

Gwendolen Florence Mary Guinness, Countess of Iveagh - known as Gwenny - (22 July 1881 – 16 February 1966) was a Conservative politician in the United Kingdom, and by marriage a member of the Anglo-Irish Guinness brewing family.

She was the daughter of William Hillier Onslow, 4th Earl of Onslow (1853–1911) and Florence Coulston Onslow née Gardner (1853–1934).

She was married to the Conservative Member of Parliament (MP) for Southend, Rupert Guinness, 2nd Earl of Iveagh. In 1927, he ceased to be an MP when he succeeded to his father's earldom. The Countess of Iveagh, as Gwendolen Guinness was now known, won the Southend by-election on 19 November 1927 to replace her husband as MP. She served until her retirement at the 1935 general election.

When she retired in 1935 she was succeeded as MP by her eldest daughter's husband, Henry "Chips" Channon.

In 1956 she presented her Surrey childhood home, Clandon Park, to the National Trust.

References

Martin Pugh, "Guinness , Gwendolen Florence Mary, countess of Iveagh (1881–1966)", Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, 2004 accessed 27 May 2007

Leigh Rayment's Peerage Page

Parliament of the United Kingdom

Preceded by

Viscount Elveden Member of Parliament for Southend

1927–1935 Succeeded by Henry Channon