Henrietta Alice (Cadogan) Abel Smith GCVO JP (1914 - 2005)

Born 6 Jun 1914 in Cirencester, Gloucestershire, England

Ancestors

Wife of Anthony Frederick Mark Palmer 4th Bt — married 4 Sep 1939 in Portsmouth, Hampshire, England

Wife of Alexander Abel Smith KCVO TD — married 17 Feb 1953 in Westminster, London, England

Died 3 May 2005 at age 90 in Cirencester, Gloucestershire, England

Problems/Questions Profile manager: Hal Smith [send private message]

Biography

Dame Henriette Cadogan was a member of the aristocracy in England.

Henrietta Alice Cadogan was born on 6th June 1914 at Quenington Old Rectory, Cirencester, Gloucestershire, England. She was a daughter of Commander Francis Cadogan RN and Ruth Howard.^[1]

On 4th September 1939 at Portsmouth, Hampshire, she married Major Sir Anthony Frederick Mark Palmer, 4th Bt, son of Frederick Charles Palmer and Mabel Frances Hughes-Hallett.^[2] Mark was killed in action in Syria in May 1941, but not before he fathered two children:

• Antonia Mary Palmer (1940-) married Lord Christopher Thynne.
• Sir Charles Mark Palmer, 5th Bt (1941-) was born six months after his father's death, inheriting the baronetcy upon his birth.

Henriette's only sibling, brother Christopher, was lost at sea on active service in June 1941, having been evacuated at Dunkirk the previous year.

Henriette held the office of Lady-in-Waiting to Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II between 1949 and 1987; when she was appointed Extra Lady-in-Waiting to Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II.

She married, secondly, widower Brigadier Sir Alexander Abel Smith, son of Francis Abel Smith and Madeline St Maur Seymour, on 17th February 1953 at Westminster, London.^[3] Lady Henrietta and Sir Alexander had a further two children:

• Christopher Abel Smith (1954-) married Catherine Berger, daughter of Paul Berger.
• Juliet Sarah Abel Smith (1955-) married Christopher Stainforth, son of Major General Charles Stainforth.

She held the office of Justice of the Peace (JP) for Tunbridge Wells in 1955 and for Gloucestershire in 1971. She was appointed Commander of the Royal Victorian Order (CVO) in 1964 and was upgraded in 1977 to Dame Commander of the Royal Victorian Order (DCVO).

Dame Henriette, Lady Abel Smith, passed away on 3rd May 2005 at The Garden House, Cirencester, Gloucestershire, at age 90.

Sources

1. ↑ UK FreeBMD Birth Index Sep qtr 1914, vol 6a, page 694
2. ↑ UK FreeBMD Marriage Index Sep qtr 1939, vol 2b, page 2448
3. ↑ UK FreeBMD Marriage Index Mar qtr 1953, vol 5c, page 687

• The Peerage: Henriette Alice Cadogan