Helen Vincent, Viscountess D'Abernon
Encyclopedia
Peerage
The Peerage is a legal system of largely hereditary titles in the United Kingdom, which constitute the ranks of British nobility and is part of the British honours system...
, socialite and diarist.
Helen was the daughter of William Duncombe, 1st Earl of Feversham
William Duncombe, 1st Earl of Feversham
William Ernest Duncombe, 1st Earl of Feversham , known as The Lord Feversham between 1867 and 1868, was a British Conservative politician....
, of Ryedale and Mabel Violet Graham, born at their estate of Duncombe Park
Duncombe Park
Duncombe Park is the seat of the Duncombe family whose senior member takes the title Baron Feversham. It is situated near Helmsley, North Yorkshire, England and stands in a commanding location above deeply incised meanders of the River Rye....
in Helmsley
Helmsley
Helmsley is a market town and civil parish in the Ryedale district of North Yorkshire, England. The town is located at the point where the valleys of Bilsdale and Ryedale leave the higher moorland and join the flat Vale of Pickering. It is situated on the River Rye and lies on the A170 road, east...
, North Yorkshire
North Yorkshire
North Yorkshire is a non-metropolitan or shire county located in the Yorkshire and the Humber region of England, and a ceremonial county primarily in that region but partly in North East England. Created in 1974 by the Local Government Act 1972 it covers an area of , making it the largest...
, England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
. She and her sister, Hermione, were renowned as leading beauties in their circle.
Helen married Sir Edgar Vincent
Edgar Vincent, 1st Viscount D'Abernon
Edgar Vincent, 1st Viscount D'Abernon, GCB, GCMG, PC, FRS was a British politician, diplomat, art collector and author.-Early life:...
, then a governor of the Imperial Ottoman Bank in Constantinople
Istanbul
Istanbul , historically known as Byzantium and Constantinople , is the largest city of Turkey. Istanbul metropolitan province had 13.26 million people living in it as of December, 2010, which is 18% of Turkey's population and the 3rd largest metropolitan area in Europe after London and...
on September 24, 1890. In 1899 he was elected a Member of Parliament
Parliament of England
The Parliament of England was the legislature of the Kingdom of England. In 1066, William of Normandy introduced a feudal system, by which he sought the advice of a council of tenants-in-chief and ecclesiastics before making laws...
for Exeter
Exeter (UK Parliament constituency)
Exeter is a borough constituency represented in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It elects one Member of Parliament by the first past the post system of election....
. Lady Helen, in that period, was "the most celebrated hostess of her age and was 'by reason of her outstanding beauty, intelligence and charm, one of the most resplendent figures'". She was associated with "the Souls
The Souls
The Souls were a small, loosely-knit but distinctive social group in England, from 1885 to about 1920. Their members included many of the most distinguished English politicians and intellectuals....
", a salon of noted intellectuals of the day which included Arthur Balfour
Arthur Balfour
Arthur James Balfour, 1st Earl of Balfour, KG, OM, PC, DL was a British Conservative politician and statesman...
, George Curzon
George Curzon, 1st Marquess Curzon of Kedleston
George Nathaniel Curzon, 1st Marquess Curzon of Kedleston, KG, GCSI, GCIE, PC , known as The Lord Curzon of Kedleston between 1898 and 1911 and as The Earl Curzon of Kedleston between 1911 and 1921, was a British Conservative statesman who was Viceroy of India and Foreign Secretary...
, Henry James
Henry James
Henry James, OM was an American-born writer, regarded as one of the key figures of 19th-century literary realism. He was the son of Henry James, Sr., a clergyman, and the brother of philosopher and psychologist William James and diarist Alice James....
and Edith Wharton
Edith Wharton
Edith Wharton , was a Pulitzer Prize-winning American novelist, short story writer, and designer.- Early life and marriage:...
. She is believed to have been the model for the characters of Lady Thisbe Crowborough in Max Beerbohm
Max Beerbohm
Sir Henry Maximilian "Max" Beerbohm was an English essayist, parodist and caricaturist best known today for his 1911 novel Zuleika Dobson.-Early life:...
's story Hilary Maltby and Stephen Braxton in Seven Men
Seven Men
Seven Men is a collection of short stories written by English caricaturist, essayist and parodist Max Beerbohm. It was published in Britain in 1919 by Heinemann and in the United States in 1920 by Alfred A. Knopf, and has been described as a "masterpiece."...
(1919) and for Lady Irene Silvester in Maurice Baring
Maurice Baring
Maurice Baring was an English man of letters, known as a dramatist, poet, novelist, translator and essayist, and also as a travel writer and war correspondent...
's story "A Luncheon Party" (1925).
In 1904 during an extended visit to Venice
Venice
Venice is a city in northern Italy which is renowned for the beauty of its setting, its architecture and its artworks. It is the capital of the Veneto region...
, Lady Helen's portrait was painted by John Singer Sargent
John Singer Sargent
John Singer Sargent was an American artist, considered the "leading portrait painter of his generation" for his evocations of Edwardian era luxury. During his career, he created roughly 900 oil paintings and more than 2,000 watercolors, as well as countless sketches and charcoal drawings...
. That work is now part of the permanent collection of the Birmingham Museum of Art
Birmingham Museum of Art
Founded in 1951, the Birmingham Museum of Art in Birmingham, Alabama today has one of the finest collections in the Southeast US, with more than 24,000 paintings, sculptures, prints, drawings, and decorative arts representing a numerous diverse cultures, including Asian, European, American,...
in Birmingham, Alabama
Birmingham, Alabama
Birmingham is the largest city in Alabama. The city is the county seat of Jefferson County. According to the 2010 United States Census, Birmingham had a population of 212,237. The Birmingham-Hoover Metropolitan Area, in estimate by the U.S...
, USA.
During World War I
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
Lady Helen trained as a nurse anaesthetist and treated thousands of patients. She accompanied her husband (created 1st Baron D'Abernon in 1914) as he served on the Interallied Mission to Poland
Interallied Mission to Poland
Interallied Mission to Poland was a diplomatic mission launched by David Lloyd George on July 21, 1920, at the height of the Polish-Soviet War, weeks before the decisive Battle of Warsaw...
and as the British Ambassador to the Weimar Republic
Weimar Republic
The Weimar Republic is the name given by historians to the parliamentary republic established in 1919 in Germany to replace the imperial form of government...
in the early 1920s. During this time the Baroness kept a diary of her experiences, parts of which were published in 1946 as Red Cross and Berlin Embassy, 1915-1926: Extracts from the Diaries of Viscountess D'Abernon.
At the end of his diplomatic mission, Sir Edgar was elevated to 1st Viscount D'Abernon on 1 January 1926, and then also succeeded his brother, Francis, as 16th Baronet of Stoke d'Abernon. The Vincents did not have children and Sir Edgar's titles died with him in 1941. Lady Helen died in 1954.