Ida Sophia Louisa Dankwerts (Wilmans)

In 1885, William married Mary Caroline Lowther, who, like her father, Major General William Henry Lowther, was born in Bengal. Her mother, Amelia (née Painter), was born in the Cape of Good Hope. The two families were already connected as Amelia's sister Emily married William's father after the death of his first wife, Ida Sofia (née Wilmans). Although Mary Caroline was wont to refer to 'my uncle the Earl of Lonsdale,' her branch of the Lowther family was only distantly related to the so-called 'Yellow Earl'.