David Bowes-Lyon

The Honourable
Sir David Bowes-Lyon
KCVO
The Honourable Sir David Bowes-Lyon KCVO
	Portrait by Philip de László, 1931
High Sheriff of Hertfordshire
	In office; 1950
Monarch	George VI
Prime Minister	Clement Attlee
Preceded by	Walter Hugh Crosland
Succeeded by	Sir William Acland, Bt
Lord Lieutenant of Hertfordshire
	In office; 1952–1961
Monarchs	George VI; Elizabeth II
Prime Minister	Winston Churchill; Anthony Eden; Harold Macmillan
Preceded by	The Viscount Hampden
Succeeded by	Sir George Burns
Personal details
Born	2 May 1902
Died	13 September 1961 (aged 59); Birkhall, Royal Deeside, Aberdeenshire, Scotland
Resting place	St. Paul's Walden Bury
Spouse	Rachel Spender-Clay (m. 1929)
Children	Davina Dalrymple, Countess of Stair; Simon Bowes-Lyon
Parent(s)	Claude Bowes-Lyon, 14th Earl of Strathmore and Kinghorne; Cecilia Nina Cavendish-Bentinck
Relatives	Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother (sister); Elizabeth II (niece); Princess Margaret, Countess of Snowdon (niece)

Sir David Bowes-Lyon KCVO (2 May 1902 – 13 September 1961) was a British aristocrat who was the younger brother of Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother and uncle to Queen Elizabeth II.^[1]

Early life

Bowes-Lyon was born on 2 May 1902.^[2] He was the tenth and youngest child, and the sixth son, of Claude Bowes-Lyon, 14th Earl of Strathmore and Kinghorne, and Cecilia Nina Cavendish-Bentinck.

His paternal grandparents were Claude Bowes-Lyon, 13th Earl of Strathmore and Kinghorne, and the former Frances Smith.^[3] His maternal grandparents were the Rev. Charles Cavendish-Bentinck (grandson of the British Prime Minister, the 3rd Duke of Portland) and his wife, Louisa Burnaby (a daughter of courtier Edwyn Burnaby).

Career

During World War II, Bowes-Lyon was a member of the secret propaganda department Political Warfare Executive. He was High Sheriff of Hertfordshire in 1950 and Lord Lieutenant of Hertfordshire from 1 July 1952^[4] until his death.

On 15 December 1948, Bowes-Lyon attended the christening of his great-nephew Prince Charles. He was one of eight sponsors of the prince, along with King George VI, King Haakon VII of Norway, Queen Mary, Princess Margaret, the Dowager Marchioness of Milford Haven, Patricia, Lady Brabourne, and Prince George of Greece and Denmark. ^[5]

As a keen gardener, Bowes-Lyon was awarded the Victoria Medal of Honour in 1953 and served as president of the Royal Horticultural Society from 1953 to 1961.^[6]^[7] In 1960, he commanded the third World Orchid Conference.^[8]

Bowes-Lyon was made a Knight Commander of the Royal Victorian Order in the 1959 Birthday Honours.

Personal life

On 6 February 1929, David Bowes-Lyon married Rachel Pauline Spender-Clay (1907–1996), younger daughter of Herbert Henry Spender-Clay. Together, they had two children:

Davina Katherine Bowes-Lyon (1930–2017), who married John Aymer Dalrymple, Viscount Dalrymple, later 13th Earl of Stair (1906–1996), in 1960.
Sir Simon Alexander Bowes-Lyon (b. 1932), who married Caroline Mary Viktoria Pike (b. 1940) in 1966.

Bowes-Lyon died at his sister Elizabeth's home, Birkhall, on the Balmoral estate, of a heart attack after suffering from hemiplegia on 13 September 1961, aged 59.^[9] The Queen Mother discovered him dead in bed.^[10] The funeral was held at Ballater, and he was buried at St Paul's Walden Bury. His widow died thirty-four years later on 21 January 1996, aged 89.

Ancestry

Ancestors of David Bowes-Lyon

16. Thomas Lyon-Bowes, 11th Earl of Strathmore and Kinghorne

8. Thomas George Lyon-Bowes, Lord Glamis

17. Mary Elizabeth Louisa Carpenter

4. Claude Bowes-Lyon, 13th Earl of Strathmore and Kinghorne

18. Joseph Valentine Grimstead

9. Charlotte Grimstead

19. Charlotte Jane Sarah Walsh

2. Claude Bowes-Lyon, 14th Earl of Strathmore and Kinghorne

20. George Smith

10. Oswald Smith

21. Frances Mary Mosley

5. Frances Dora Smith

22. Robert Hodgson, Dean of Carlisle

11. Henrietta Mildred Hodgson

23. Mary Tucker

1. David Bowes-Lyon

24. William Cavendish-Bentinck, 3rd Duke of Portland

12. Lord Charles Bentinck

25. Lady Dorothy Cavendish

6. Charles William Frederick Cavendish-Bentinck

26. Richard Wellesley, 1st Marquess Wellesley

13. Anne Wellesley

27. Hyacinthe-Gabrielle Roland

3. Cecilia Cavendish-Bentinck

28. Edwyn Andrew Burnaby

14. Edwyn Burnaby

29. Mary Browne

7. Caroline Louisa Burnaby

30. Thomas Salisbury

15. Anne Caroline Salisbury

31. Frances Webb

References

^ Gardeners Chronicle & New Horticulturist. Haymarket Publishing. 1954. Retrieved 29 July 2013.
^ Thornton, Michael (September 1985). Royal feud: the Queen Mother and the Duchess of Windsor. M. Joseph. ISBN 9780718126001. Retrieved 29 July 2013.
^ White, Geoffrey and Cokayne, G. E., The Complete Peerage, St Catherine's Press, London, 1953; vol. XII, pp. 402–3.
^ "No. 239587". The London Gazette. 1 July 1952. p. 3587.
^ "The Christening of Prince Charles". Royal Collection Trust. Retrieved 18 February 2022.
^ Fletcher, Harold Roy (1969). The story of the Royal Horticultural Society, 1804–1968. Oxford U. P. for the Royal Horticultural Society. ISBN 978-0-19-212944-4. Retrieved 29 July 2013.
^ The Lily Year Book. Royal Horticultural Society. 1959. Retrieved 29 July 2013.
^ Proceedings of the Third World Orchid Conference. Royal Horticultural Society. 1960. Retrieved 29 July 2013.
^ "Sir David Bowes Lyon is Dead; Headed Mission to U. S. in War; Coordinated Intelligence and Propaganda--Uncle of the Queen Was Horticulturist". The New York Times. 14 September 1961. Retrieved 30 October 2024.
^ Vickers, Hugo (2006). Elizabeth: The Queen Mother. Arrow Books/Random House. p. 394. ISBN 978-0-09-947662-7.

Honorary titles
Preceded by Walter Hugh Crosland	High Sheriff of Hertfordshire 1950	Succeeded by Sir William Acland, Bt
Preceded by The Viscount Hampden	Lord Lieutenant of Hertfordshire 1952–1961	Succeeded by Sir George Burns

[1] Gardeners Chronicle & New Horticulturist. Haymarket Publishing. 1954. Retrieved 29 July 2013.

[Thornton1985-2] Thornton, Michael (September 1985). Royal feud: the Queen Mother and the Duchess of Windsor. M. Joseph. ISBN 9780718126001. Retrieved 29 July 2013.

[cp-3] White, Geoffrey and Cokayne, G. E., The Complete Peerage, St Catherine's Press, London, 1953; vol. XII, pp. 402–3.

[4] "No. 239587". The London Gazette. 1 July 1952. p. 3587.

[uh-5] "The Christening of Prince Charles". Royal Collection Trust. Retrieved 18 February 2022.

[Fletcher1969-6] Fletcher, Harold Roy (1969). The story of the Royal Horticultural Society, 1804–1968. Oxford U. P. for the Royal Horticultural Society. ISBN 978-0-19-212944-4. Retrieved 29 July 2013.

[7] The Lily Year Book. Royal Horticultural Society. 1959. Retrieved 29 July 2013.

[8] Proceedings of the Third World Orchid Conference. Royal Horticultural Society. 1960. Retrieved 29 July 2013.

[SirDBLObit1961-9] "Sir David Bowes Lyon is Dead; Headed Mission to U. S. in War; Coordinated Intelligence and Propaganda--Uncle of the Queen Was Horticulturist". The New York Times. 14 September 1961. Retrieved 30 October 2024.

[10] Vickers, Hugo (2006). Elizabeth: The Queen Mother. Arrow Books/Random House. p. 394. ISBN 978-0-09-947662-7.

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