Mary Russell, Duchess of Bedford
Encyclopedia
Order of the British Empire
The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is an order of chivalry established on 4 June 1917 by George V of the United Kingdom. The Order comprises five classes in civil and military divisions...
Mary Russell, Duchess of Bedford, DBE
Order of the British Empire
The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is an order of chivalry established on 4 June 1917 by George V of the United Kingdom. The Order comprises five classes in civil and military divisions...
, RRC
Royal Red Cross
The Royal Red Cross is a military decoration awarded in the United Kingdom and Commonwealth for exceptional services in military nursing.The award was established on 27 April 1883 by Queen Victoria, with a single class of Member...
, FLS
Linnean Society of London
The Linnean Society of London is the world's premier society for the study and dissemination of taxonomy and natural history. It publishes a zoological journal, as well as botanical and biological journals...
(26 September 1865 – ca. 22 March 1937) was an English
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...
aviatrix
Aviator
An aviator is a person who flies an aircraft. The first recorded use of the term was in 1887, as a variation of 'aviation', from the Latin avis , coined in 1863 by G. de la Landelle in Aviation Ou Navigation Aérienne...
and ornithologist.
Early and personal life
Born as Mary Du Caurroy Tribe at Stockbridge, HampshireStockbridge, Hampshire
Stockbridge is a small town and civil parish in Hampshire, England. It has an acreage of and a population of little under 600 people according to the 2001 census in Hampshire, England. It lies on the River Test, in the Test Valley district and renowned for trout fishing. The A30 road goes through...
, she was the daughter of Walter Harry Tribe, Anglican Archdeacon of Lahore
Lahore
Lahore is the capital of the Pakistani province of Punjab and the second largest city in the country. With a rich and fabulous history dating back to over a thousand years ago, Lahore is no doubt Pakistan's cultural capital. One of the most densely populated cities in the world, Lahore remains a...
. On 31 January 1888, she married Lord Herbrand Russell
Herbrand Russell, 11th Duke of Bedford
Herbrand Arthur Russell, 11th Duke of Bedford KG KBE DL LLD FRS FSA was the son of Francis Russell, 9th Duke of Bedford.-Family:...
at Barrackpore
Barrackpore
Barrackpore or Barrackpur is headquarters of Barrackpore subdivision in North 24 Parganas district in the Indian state of West Bengal. The town was a military and administrative center under British rule, and was the scene of several acts of rebellion against Britain during the 19th century...
, India
India
India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...
. When Lord Herbrand inherited his childless brother's titles in 1893, she was styled as the Duchess of Bedford.. Her only child, Hastings
Hastings Russell, 12th Duke of Bedford
Hastings William Sackville Russell, 12th Duke of Bedford MA , nicknamed Spinach Tavistock, was the son of Herbrand Russell, 11th Duke of Bedford....
, was born on 21 December 1888.
Work and activism
A major area of organisation and work for the duchess was in founding four hospitals in WoburnWoburn, Bedfordshire
Woburn is a small Saxon village and civil parish in Bedfordshire, England. It is situated about southeast of the centre of Milton Keynes, and about south of junction 13 of the M1 motorway and is a popular tourist attraction.-History:...
and in the grounds of Woburn Abbey
Woburn Abbey
Woburn Abbey , near Woburn, Bedfordshire, England, is a country house, the seat of the Duke of Bedford and the location of the Woburn Safari Park.- Pre-20th century :...
. The principal establishment was the Abbey Hospital that she financed and built in 1914, and where she worked as a nurse and radiographer through to the 1930s.
The duchess was a collector and watcher of birds
Ornithology
Ornithology is a branch of zoology that concerns the study of birds. Several aspects of ornithology differ from related disciplines, due partly to the high visibility and the aesthetic appeal of birds...
, and took an interest in bird migration. Between 1909 and 1914 she spent much time on Fair Isle
Fair Isle
Fair Isle is an island in northern Scotland, lying around halfway between mainland Shetland and the Orkney islands. It is famous for its bird observatory and a traditional style of knitting.-Geography:...
, often in the company of William Eagle Clarke
William Eagle Clarke
Dr William Eagle Clarke I.S.O LL.D. was a British ornithologist.Clarke was born in Leeds where his father William Clarke was a solicitor and educated at the Grammar School and at Yorkshire College, Leeds where he studied under Professor L C Miall. He was originally a civil engineer and surveyor,...
. Her journal, A Bird-watcher's Diary, was privately published in 1938 after her death.
She was a member of the Women's Tax Resistance League
Women's Tax Resistance League
The Women’s Tax Resistance League was a direct action group associated with the Women's Freedom League that used tax resistance to protest the disenfranchisement of women during the British women’s suffrage movement....
, a group associated with the Women’s Social and Political Union
Women's Social and Political Union
The Women's Social and Political Union was the leading militant organisation campaigning for Women's suffrage in the United Kingdom...
that used tax resistance
Tax resistance
Tax resistance is the refusal to pay tax because of opposition to the government that is imposing the tax or to government policy.Tax resistance is a form of civil disobedience and direct action...
to protest the disenfranchisement of women during the British women's suffrage
Women's suffrage
Women's suffrage or woman suffrage is the right of women to vote and to run for office. The expression is also used for the economic and political reform movement aimed at extending these rights to women and without any restrictions or qualifications such as property ownership, payment of tax, or...
movement.
Honours
She was appointed a Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire in 1928.She was also Dame of Grace of the Order of Saint JohnVenerable Order of Saint John
The Most Venerable Order of the Hospital of Saint John of Jerusalem , is a royal order of chivalry established in 1831 and found today throughout the Commonwealth of Nations, Hong Kong, Ireland and the United States of America, with the world-wide mission "to prevent and relieve sickness and...
(DGStJ) and a Fellow of the Linnean Society of the Imperial College (FLS).
Aviation
Late in life, the duchess became interested in aviation, that she claimed gave her some relief from her constant tinnitusTinnitus
Tinnitus |ringing]]") is the perception of sound within the human ear in the absence of corresponding external sound.Tinnitus is not a disease, but a symptom that can result from a wide range of underlying causes: abnormally loud sounds in the ear canal for even the briefest period , ear...
, although she eventually became totally deaf. On 2 August 1929, she departed on a record-breaking flight of 10,000 miles from Lympne Airport
Lympne Airport
Lympne Airport , , was a military and later civil airfield at Lympne, Kent, United Kingdom, which operated from 1916 to 1984. RFC Lympne was originally an acceptance point for aircraft being delivered to, and returning from, France during the First World War...
to Karachi
Karachi
Karachi is the largest city, main seaport and the main financial centre of Pakistan, as well as the capital of the province of Sindh. The city has an estimated population of 13 to 15 million, while the total metropolitan area has a population of over 18 million...
(then in India) and return to Croydon Airport
Croydon Airport
Croydon Airport was an airport in South London which straddled the boundary between what are now the London boroughs of Croydon and Sutton. It was the main airport for London before it was replaced by Northolt Aerodrome, London Heathrow Airport and London Gatwick Airport...
in eight days. She was accompanied in her single-engined Fokker F.VII
Fokker F.VII
The Fokker F.VII, also known as the Fokker Trimotor, was an airliner produced in the 1920s by the Dutch aircraft manufacturer Fokker, Fokker's American subsidiary Atlantic Aircraft Corporation, and other companies under licence....
(G-EBTS, named "Spider") by her personal pilot C.D.Barnard and mechanic Robert Little. On 8 April 1930 she made her first solo flight, in her DH.60G Moth
De Havilland DH.60 Moth
The de Havilland DH 60 Moth was a 1920s British two-seat touring and training aircraft that was developed into a series of aircraft by the de Havilland Aircraft Company.-Development:The DH 60 was developed from the larger DH 51 biplane...
(G-AAAO). On 10 April 1930 she embarked on a record-breaking flight from Lympne Airport to Cape Town
Cape Town
Cape Town is the second-most populous city in South Africa, and the provincial capital and primate city of the Western Cape. As the seat of the National Parliament, it is also the legislative capital of the country. It forms part of the City of Cape Town metropolitan municipality...
, in the "Spider", flying 9,000 miles in 100 flying hours over 10 days, accompanied by C.D.Barnard.
Death
The duchess died in 1937, aged 71, after leaving Woburn Abbey in a DH.60GIII Moth MajorDe Havilland DH.60 Moth
The de Havilland DH 60 Moth was a 1920s British two-seat touring and training aircraft that was developed into a series of aircraft by the de Havilland Aircraft Company.-Development:The DH 60 was developed from the larger DH 51 biplane...
(G-ACUR), that crashed into the North Sea
North Sea
In the southwest, beyond the Straits of Dover, the North Sea becomes the English Channel connecting to the Atlantic Ocean. In the east, it connects to the Baltic Sea via the Skagerrak and Kattegat, narrow straits that separate Denmark from Norway and Sweden respectively...
off Great Yarmouth
Great Yarmouth
Great Yarmouth, often known to locals as Yarmouth, is a coastal town in Norfolk, England. It is at the mouth of the River Yare, east of Norwich.It has been a seaside resort since 1760, and is the gateway from the Norfolk Broads to the sea...
; her body was never recovered.