Mary Anne (Evans) Disraeli (1792 - 1872)

Born 11 Nov 1792 in Exeter, Devon, England

Ancestors

Wife of Wyndham Lewis — married 1815 in Clifton, Gloucestershire, England

Wife of Benjamin Disraeli KG PC — married 1839 in St. George's Hanover Square, London

Died 15 Dec 1872 at age 80 in Hughenden Manor, Buckinghamshire, England

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Biography

Mary Anne (Evans) Disraeli is Notable.

Born into a middle class family that had fallen on hard times, she was forced to work as a milliner* before her marriage to Wyndham Lewis. The experience of running a business however served her well during her second marriage to the notoriously extravagant Benjamin Disraeli.

There is no doubt that when Disraeli first proposed marriage to her, he was not purely motivated by feelings of sentiment but more by the prospect of considerable wealth. In truth however, she was not independently rich and the only actual wealth she could call upon resulted from a life interest in her first husband's estate. However, by the time of their marriage, it was clear that pure monetary concerns were taking a back seat and in the event they were happily married for 33 years. The wedding took place at St. George Hanover Square, London, in the third quarter of 1839^[1]

Where Disraeli was solemn and inscrutable, Mary Anne was lively and outwardly scatterbrained with a tendency to wear her heart on her sleeve. She was also adept at pricking the pomposities of those who she felt deserved it and her rather broad sense of humour was out of tune with the era in which she found herself. On the flip side however, she could be petty and mean over small day to day matters. Despite this she was regarded with much affection by many prominent people of the day including her husband's arch-nemesis, William Gladstone.

In her declining years, Disraeli used his close relationship with Queen Victoria to have her created Viscountess Beaconsfield - a very rare honour which had only been given once before to the wife of a serving politician.

She died of stomach cancer on 15 December 1872 at her beloved Hughenden, and is buried along with her husband in St. Michael and All Angels church, Hughenden, Buckinghamshire.^[2]

* This is disputed by Hay

Sources

1. ↑ Name: Mary Anne Lewis Event Type: Marriage Event Place: St. George Hanover Square, London, England Registration District: St. George Hanover Square County: London Registration Quarter: Jul-Aug-Sep Registration Year: 1839 Volume: 1 Page: 37 Affiliate Line Number: 141 Possible Spouse: Mary Agnes Blanch Ashburnham Possible Spouse: Joseph Henry Bennett Possible Spouse: Benjamin Disraeli Possible Spouse: Charlotte Fellowes Possible Spouse: Henry Percy Gordon Possible Spouse: Thomas Henry Clarke Terry Possible Spouse: Susan Webber Citing this Record "England and Wales Marriage Registration Index, 1837-2005," database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:2DC1-3VL : 13 December 2014), Mary Anne Lewis, 1839; from "England & Wales Marriages, 1837-2005," database, findmypast (http://www.findmypast.com : 2012); citing 1839, quarter 3, vol. 1, p. 37, St. George Hanover Square, London, England, General Register Office, Southport, England.
2. ↑ Name: Mary Anne Evans Disraeli Maiden Name: Evans Event Type: Burial Event Date: 1872 Event Place: Hughenden, Wycombe District, Buckinghamshire, England Photograph Included: Y Birth Date: 11 Nov 1792 Death Date: 15 Dec 1872 Affiliate Record Identifier: 103443349 Cemetery: St Michael and All Angels Churchyard Citing this Record "Find A Grave Index," database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:QVLG-XP4D : 11 July 2016), Mary Anne Evans Disraeli, 1872; Burial, Hughenden, Wycombe District, Buckinghamshire, England, St Michael and All Angels Churchyard; citing record ID 103443349, Find a Grave, http://www.findagrave.com.

England & Wales marriage and death indices.

Robert Blake - Disraeli (Faber & Faber);

The Lion & The Unicorn; Richard Aldous.

National Trust, Hughenden Manor, Buckinghamshire.

Daisy Hay - Mr. & Mrs. Disraeli, A Strange Romance

Whilst censuses are of use to give location of birth etc., they are little help to verify her age as she tended to understate this by up to 10 years. It is also said that her second husband was unaware of her true age.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mary_Anne_Disraeli . There is some dispute as to her maiden name. The Wikipedia article quotes it as Viney but Robert Blake quite clearly states it to be Evans and this is coroborated in the record of her marriage to Wyndham Lewis. I had always believed Viney to have been her mother's maiden name.