Who was Kate/Katherine/Catherine Greville confidante to Queen Victoria.

Question

I have to be quite vague about this as I need someone to point me in the right direction in identifying this Lady.

It has come through the family that  a Great Aunty Kate lived at Kensington Palace late 19th century and up to her death abt 1948. She was related to the Greville family who resided at Beaufort Gardens, Knightsbridge and Revells Hall, Bengeo in the 1920's and 1930's. She use to send her chauffeur around in a Rolls Royce to pick up one of the young Greville boys and take him back to Kensington Palace. In the 1920's she was an elderly lady then and forever wore black in mourning over the death of Queen Victoria. She was always seen feeding the ducks in the palace lake or ponds. She was believed to be a close friend and confidante to QV, she may even have been a Lady in Waiting. I do not know if she had been married, but I got the feeling she was a spinster. She bequeathed as part of her will a comprehensive library of first editions and some personal papers relating to Mrs Greville of Polesdon Lacey to the young Peter Ascroft Fulke Greville abt 1948, but the library has gone missing. If you have any ideas as to the identification of this Lady and where to search for this library you will be praised.

Comments

Clue

http://www.genealogy.com/forum/surnames/topics/greville/94/

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There seems to be some information which refers to Catherine as Katherine Greville, the majority say Catherine but why did a Greville family member in the 1960's call her 'Great Aunty Kate'. The other information may support Brooke Greville being her father ??

The info I have is that her aunt or cousin Viscountess Enfield presented her to Queen Victoria in 1881 and they resided at Stanhope gardens, Kensington in 1881.

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Viscountess Enfield was her 2nd cousin with quite an age difference so "Aunt" kind of makes sense - Lady Alice Harriet Frederica Egerton (b. 10 Oct 1830; dsp. 22 Dec 1928), 1st dau. of Francis [Leveson-Gower later Egerton], 1st Earl of Ellesmere, by his wife Harriet Catherine Greville (b. 1 Jan 1800; d. 17 Apr 1866), only dau. of Capt Charles Greville by his wife Lady Charlotte Cavendish-Bentinck.

I'm curious about the 'Great Aunty Kate' too - hopefully this will help you figure it out.

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Thankyou Kirk for this information, it seems to validate some of the content I have submitted.

What would be good is if it was confirmed Catherine Greville actually did become a Lady-in-Waiting or had another position to Queen Victoria, or was she known as a confidante and friend to QV. Is there any record she married or did she remain single until her death because this may have been the lady who did leave an important library to her relative upon her death.

Upon what scenario would Catherine have become a Great Aunt to Peter Charles Algernon Ascroft Fulke Greville (b1916, at Ankerwycke) the eldest son of Cecil Violet Enid Greville (b1896), youngest dau of Brooke Southwell Greville Kings Messenger.

In the 1920's the Greville family lived at 7 or 9 Beaufort Gardens, Knightsbridge and they had a residence 'Revells Hall' in Bengeo. Peter Greville also had an aunty Irene (older sister to Cecil Violet Greville) living in 10 Montpelier Mews, Knightsbridge and cousins at 16 Charles St.

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On Revel's Hall (or Revells Hall), the VHS article about Benego from 1912 says it was owned by the Parker family, who owned a lot of other property including Ware Park. This website about Ware Park mentions the family sold their Hertford estates in 1919, incl. Revells Hall so I assume that's when this Greville family purchased the estate.

Answer 1

I connected you to the lines of Grevilles w/peerage title who were already in Wikitree, incl. the senior line and the Barons Greville of Clonyn. Your ancestor Maj. Southwell Greville could use some help - I would hope there are some public records available to update his profile.

On the Victoria question - this site has a list of her Lady's in Waiting and there's no Grevilles or Catherines that seem to work to my eye. Good luck!

 

Answer 2

Catherine Caroline Greville born Paris 1860.

1891,1901 resident 9 Queensgate Place, Kensington - own means.

1911 resident 25 Pennington St, Bayswater 0 own means

Died 1934 Kensington worth more than £22000.

Seems likely.

Comments

According to this will abstract, she's the da. of Brooke James Greville (son of Henry Francis Greville (P), son of Fulke Greville) (d. Nov 22 1884) and Emilie Anne, da. of Charles Bouchez and sister of "Harry" Fulke Greville. 

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Thankyou for this, it is quite possible this may be the lady. It certainly fits the area around Kensington and the dates are significant. I will do some checking, but if you come up with anything else, it will be most appreciated.

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Thankyou for this, I will endeavour to build upon this information.