Venetia Stanley (1887–1948) - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

Beatrice Venetia Stanley Montagu (22 August 1887 – 3 August 1948) was a British

United Kingdom

The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...

aristocrat and socialite

Socialite

A socialite is a person who participates in social activities and spends a significant amount of time entertaining and being entertained at fashionable upper-class events....

best known for the many letters that Prime Minister

Prime Minister of the United Kingdom

The Prime Minister of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is the Head of Her Majesty's Government in the United Kingdom. The Prime Minister and Cabinet are collectively accountable for their policies and actions to the Sovereign, to Parliament, to their political party and...

Herbert Henry Asquith wrote to her between 1910 and 1915. The youngest daughter of Edward Lyulph Stanley, 4th Baron Sheffield and Stanley of Alderley, Venetia was a namesake and collateral descendant of Venetia Stanley (1600–1633)

Venetia Stanley

Venetia Anastasia Stanley Digby was a celebrated beauty of the Stuart period , renowned for her racy good looks and mysterious death...

who was renowned for her racy beauty and mysterious death.

Venetia met Asquith through her close friendship with his daughter, Violet

Violet Bonham Carter

Helen Violet Bonham Carter, Baroness Asquith of Yarnbury, DBE was a British politician and diarist. She was the daughter of H. H. Asquith, Prime Minister from 1908-1916, and later became active in Liberal politics herself, being a leading opponent of appeasement, standing for Parliament and being...

. Asquith, who enjoyed writing letters to women in high society, began his correspondence with Venetia in 1910. However, Venetia was just one of several women who received Asquith's letters until 1912, when she went on a trip to Sicily

Sicily

Sicily is a region of Italy, and is the largest island in the Mediterranean Sea. Along with the surrounding minor islands, it constitutes an autonomous region of Italy, the Regione Autonoma Siciliana Sicily has a rich and unique culture, especially with regard to the arts, music, literature,...

with Asquith, Violet and Edwin Samuel Montagu

Edwin Samuel Montagu

Edwin Samuel Montagu PC was a British Liberal politician. He notably served as Secretary of State for India between 1917 and 1922.-Background and education:...

, a Liberal

Liberal Party (UK)

The Liberal Party was one of the two major political parties of the United Kingdom during the 19th and early 20th centuries. It was a third party of negligible importance throughout the latter half of the 20th Century, before merging with the Social Democratic Party in 1988 to form the present day...

Member of Parliament

A Member of Parliament is a representative of the voters to a :parliament. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, the term applies specifically to members of the lower house, as upper houses often have a different title, such as senate, and thus also have different titles for its members,...

who was one of Asquith's protégés. It seems that on this trip, both Asquith and Montagu fell in love with Venetia.

During the next three years, Asquith wrote more and more frequently to Venetia, even during Cabinet

Cabinet (government)

A Cabinet is a body of high ranking government officials, typically representing the executive branch. It can also sometimes be referred to as the Council of Ministers, an Executive Council, or an Executive Committee.- Overview :...

meetings. Venetia seems to have written to Asquith almost as often, but Asquith apparently destroyed Venetia's letters on a regular basis to maintain confidentiality. At the same time, Montagu was attempting to court Venetia and unsuccessfully proposed marriage to her in 1913. Venetia liked Montagu but did not reciprocate his love. Also, Montagu had to marry within his Jewish

Judaism

Judaism ) is the "religion, philosophy, and way of life" of the Jewish people...

faith in order to keep his inheritance. Although Venetia was from a freethinking

Freethought

Freethought is a philosophical viewpoint that holds that opinions should be formed on the basis of science, logic, and reason, and should not be influenced by authority, tradition, or other dogmas...

family and was not a devout Anglican

Anglicanism

Anglicanism is a tradition within Christianity comprising churches with historical connections to the Church of England or similar beliefs, worship and church structures. The word Anglican originates in ecclesia anglicana, a medieval Latin phrase dating to at least 1246 that means the English...

, conversion to Judaism

Conversion to Judaism

Conversion to Judaism is a formal act undertaken by a non-Jewish person who wishes to be recognised as a full member of the Jewish community. A Jewish conversion is both a religious act and an expression of association with the Jewish people...

seemed too great a barrier.

Asquith's epistolary obsession with Venetia (by early 1915, he was writing to her between one to three times a day) was not just an emotional dependence. He also sought her advice on how to deal with his political colleagues and even on questions of military strategy

Military strategy

Military strategy is a set of ideas implemented by military organizations to pursue desired strategic goals. Derived from the Greek strategos, strategy when it appeared in use during the 18th century, was seen in its narrow sense as the "art of the general", 'the art of arrangement' of troops...

in 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...

. The letters he wrote to her during Cabinet meetings are often the only minutes of those meetings that exist and a crucial source of historical information on the formation of British strategy during the war. Although Venetia was intelligent, well-read and keenly interested in politics, she apparently felt overwhelmed by Asquith's demands. As a result, she finally accepted Montagu's proposal on 28 April 1915 and wrote to Asquith of her decision on 12 May. After converting to Judaism

Conversion to Judaism

, Venetia married Montagu on 26 July 1915.

Venetia's marriage to Montagu lasted nine years until his premature death in 1924. Despite the birth of a daughter in 1923, Venetia was unhappy in her marriage. She had affairs with Lord Beaverbrook

Max Aitken, 1st Baron Beaverbrook

William Maxwell "Max" Aitken, 1st Baron Beaverbrook, Bt, PC, was a Canadian-British business tycoon, politician, and writer.-Early career in Canada:...

and others. After Montagu's death, Venetia renewed her friendship with Asquith. Asquith's final excursion before his death in 1928 was a visit to Venetia. In 1928, the Liberal Party

Liberal Party (UK)

invited Venetia to stand as a parliamentary candidate for South Norfolk

South Norfolk (UK Parliament constituency)

South Norfolk is a county constituency represented in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. From 1868 until 1885 it returned two members but thereafter elected one Member of Parliament by the first past the post system of election....

, where she had inherited Montagu's country house in Attleborough

Attleborough

Attleborough is a market town and civil parish in Norfolk, England situated between Norwich and Thetford. The parish falls within the district of Breckland and has an area of 21.90 km² with a Mainline to both Norwich and Cambridge....

, but she declined the offer.

Venetia Stanley Montagu died of cancer in 1948, shortly before her 61st birthday.

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