Catherine Mommand
American heiress (1900–1977)
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Anne Catherine Tredick Mommand (née Wendell, previously known as the Countess of Carnarvon and Mrs Geoffrey Grenfell; November 25, 1900 – 1977) was an American heiress and descendant of the Lee Family of Virginia who married into the British aristocracy.
25 November 1900
Lady Penelope van der Woude
Catherine Mommand | |
|---|---|
| Born | Anne Catherine Tredick Wendell 25 November 1900 |
| Died | 1977 (aged 76 or 77) |
| Spouses | Geoffrey Seymour Grenfell
(m. 1938; died 1940)Don Stuart Mommand
(m. 1950; died 1977) |
| Children | Henry Herbert, 7th Earl of Carnarvon Lady Penelope van der Woude |
| Parent(s) | Marian Fendall Jacob Wendell III |
| Relatives | George Herbert, 8th Earl of Carnarvon (grandson) Barrett Wendell (uncle) Philippa Stewart, Countess of Galloway (sister) |
Early life
Catherine was born on November 25, 1900. She was the eldest daughter of Marian (née Fendall) Wendell (d. 1949)[1] and Jacob Wendell III (d. 1911), of New York and Sandridgebury, Sandridge, Hertfordshire.[2] Her maternal grandfather, Philip Richard Fendall III, was the grandson of Philip Richard Fendall I and Mary Lee, of the Lee family of Virginia. Her younger sister, Philippa Fendall Wendell, was the wife of Randolph Stewart, 12th Earl of Galloway.[3] Her brothers were Jacob Wendell (who married Eileen V. Carr) and Reginald L. Wendell.[4][5]
Her father, a Harvard graduate and Broadway actor, died of pneumonia shortly before he was to appear in the leading role in What the Doctor Ordered at the Astor Theatre.[6][7] Her maternal grandfather was Union soldier, Philip Richard Fendall III, and her great-grandparents were Elizabeth Mary (née Young) Fendall and Philip Richard Fendall II, the District Attorney of the District of Columbia. Her paternal grandfather was Jacob Wendell of Jacob Wendell Co.[8]
Personal life
On 17 July 1922, Catherine was married to Lord Porchester at St Margaret's, Westminster.[9][4] He was the son and heir of George Herbert, 5th Earl of Carnarvon and Almina Herbert, Countess of Carnarvon and upon his father's death on 5 April 1923, Henry became the 6th Earl of Carnarvon and Catherine became Countess of Carnarvon.[10] Before their divorce in 1936,[11] they were the parents of two children:[12]
- Henry George Reginald Molyneux Herbert, 7th Earl of Carnarvon (1924–2001), who married Jean Margaret Wallop, daughter of Hon. Oliver Malcolm Wallop, in 1956.[13]
- Lady Anne Penelope Marian Herbert (1925–1990),[5] who married her second cousin, Capt. Reinier Gerrit Anton van der Woude, son of R.A.G van der Woude and Mary Wendell (daughter of Harvard professor Barrett Wendell) in 1945.[14]
After their divorce, Lady Carnarvon married, as his second wife, Lt.-Cdr. Geoffrey Seymour Grenfell (1898–1940) in 1938.[15] Geoffrey was a son of Riversdale Francis John Grenfell (son of Charles Seymour Grenfell) and Cecil Blanche (née Lubbock) Grenfell.[16] Grenfell died in action during World War II just two years after their marriage.[17][18]
Ten years after his death, she married Don Stuart Momand (d. 1977) in 1950,[19] who had previously been married to Virginia Ten Eyck Rice (a daughter of William Lowe Rice).[20]
Catherine Mommand died in 1977.[19]
Descendants
Through her son Henry, she was a grandmother of George Herbert, 8th Earl of Carnarvon, Henry "Harry" Herbert, and Lady Carolyn Herbert.[19]
Through her daughter Penelope, she was a grandmother of Michael Gerrit van der Woude, David Anthony van der Woude, and Penelope Catherine Mary van der Woude.[19]