Mary Elphinstone, Lady Elphinstone


Mary Frances Buller-Fullerton-Elphinstone, Lady Elphinstone DCVO, was a maternal aunt and godparent of Elizabeth II.

Early life

Lady Elphinstone was born Lady Mary Frances Bowes-Lyon on 30 August 1883 in Angus, Scotland, to Claude Bowes-Lyon, 14th Earl of Strathmore and Kinghorne and Cecilia Cavendish-Bentinck. She was an elder sister of Elizabeth Bowes-Lyon known as Queen Elizabeth of the United Kingdom.

Personal life

Lady Mary married Sidney Elphinstone, 16th Lord Elphinstone on 24 July 1910 in Westminster. Lord Elphinstone inherited extensive estates, some of which had been in the family since the reign of King David II of Scotland. He served as a governor of the Bank of Scotland, Lord Clerk Register of Scotland and Keeper of the Signet and Lord High Commissioner of the Church of Scotland. The couple had five children:
In 1937, she attended her sister and brother-in-law's coronation whereby she sat behind her niece, Princess Elizabeth, who would be the future queen, in the royal box.
Lord Elphinstone died at their home Carberry Tower, Musselburgh, on 28 November 1955. Lady Elphinstone, who served as president of the Midlothian branch of the British Red Cross, died on 8 February 1961, aged 77, also at Carberry Tower in Inveresk, Scotland.

Ancestry