Elizabeth Sutherland, 24th Countess of Sutherland


Elizabeth Millicent Sutherland, 24th Countess of Sutherland was a Scottish noblewoman. She was the holder of an earldom in the Peerage of Scotland and was chief of Clan Sutherland.

Early life

Sutherland was born in Chelsea, London, on 30 March 1921, the only child of Elizabeth Demarest, a daughter of Warren Gardener Demarest of New York City, and Major Lord Alastair Sutherland-Leveson-Gower, a son of Cromartie Sutherland-Leveson-Gower, 4th Duke of Sutherland.
Her father died while taking part in a big game expedition in Rhodesia, contracting malaria and dying there on 28 April 1921, aged 31. In 1931 her mother married Baron George Osten Driesen; she died three months after their wedding. Sutherland became a ward of her uncle George Sutherland-Leveson-Gower, 5th Duke of Sutherland, and when he died without legitimate issue, she succeeded him as the 24th Countess of Sutherland and Lady Strathnaver. The dukedom and the other titles that could only pass in the male line were inherited by the Earl of Ellesmere. She also inherited most of her uncle's large land-holdings, including Dunrobin Castle. She subsequently dropped the double-barrels in her family name, in order to be recognised as chief of Clan Sutherland.

Marriage

On 5 January 1946 Sutherland married journalist Charles Noel Janson and together they had four children:
She died on 9 December 2019 at the London home she shared with her daughter Annabel. She was aged 98. Her funeral took place at Dornoch Cathedral on 21 December.

Arms