1. Overview
Claude George Bowes-Lyon, 14th and 1st Earl of Strathmore and Kinghorne was a British peer and landowner who served as the father of Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother and the maternal grandfather of Queen Elizabeth II. Styled as Lord Glamis from 1865 to 1904, he was known for his unpretentious and humble character, his careful management of his extensive estates, and his remarkably kind and fair treatment of his tenants. His life saw his family become intimately connected with the British royal family through his daughter's marriage.
2. Early Life and Education
Claude George Bowes-Lyon's early life was marked by his birth into a prominent noble family and his education at a prestigious institution.
2.1. Birth and Family Background
Claude George Bowes-Lyon was born on 14 March 1855, in Lowndes Square, London, within the Belgravia area. He was the eldest son of Claude Bowes-Lyon, 13th Earl of Strathmore and Kinghorne, and Frances Dora Smith. His younger brother, Patrick Bowes-Lyon, later became a notable tennis player, winning the Wimbledon doubles in 1887.
2.2. Education
He received his formal education at Eton College, attending the renowned public school from 1869 to 1872.
3. Early Career and Military Service
After completing his education, Claude George Bowes-Lyon embarked on a career in military service before his eventual succession to the Earldom.
3.1. Military Service
In 1876, he received a commission in the 2nd Life Guards, a regiment of the British Army. He served with this unit for six years, concluding his military service the year after his marriage. Beyond his initial commission, he remained an active member of the Territorial Army and held the honorary position of colonel for the 4th/5th Battalion of the Black Watch, an infantry regiment of the British Army.
4. Marriage and Issue
Claude George Bowes-Lyon's personal life centered around his marriage and the large family he raised.
4.1. Marriage
He married Cecilia Cavendish-Bentinck on 16 July 1881. The wedding took place in Petersham, a village in Surrey, England. Cecilia was the daughter of the clergyman Charles Cavendish-Bentinck. Their marriage was known to be very good, and it is recounted that the Earl would theatrically but courteously part his moustache before kissing his children.
4.2. Issue
The couple had a large family of ten children. Their names and brief biographical details are as follows:
| Name | Birth | Death | Age | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| The Hon. Violet Hyacinth Bowes-Lyon | 17 April 1882 | 17 October 1893 | 11 years | She died from diphtheria and was buried at St Andrew's Church, Ham. She was never styled 'Lady' as she died before her father succeeded to the Earldom. |
| Lady Mary Frances Bowes-Lyon | 30 August 1883 | 8 February 1961 | 77 years | She married Sidney Elphinstone, 16th Lord Elphinstone in 1910, and had issue. |
| Patrick Bowes-Lyon, Lord Glamis | 22 September 1884 | 25 May 1949 | 64 years | He married Lady Dorothy Osborne (daughter of George Osborne, 10th Duke of Leeds) in 1908, and had issue. He succeeded his father as the 15th and 2nd Earl of Strathmore and Kinghorne in 1944. |
| Lieutenant The Hon. John Bowes-Lyon | 1 April 1886 | 7 February 1930 | 43 years | Known as Jock, he served in the Black Watch infantry regiment alongside his brothers Patrick and Fergus. He married The Hon. Fenella Hepburn-Stuart-Forbes-Trefusis (daughter of Charles Hepburn-Stuart-Forbes-Trefusis, 21st Baron Clinton) in 1914, and had issue, including Anne Bowes-Lyon and Nerissa and Katherine Bowes-Lyon. |
| The Hon. Alexander Francis Bowes-Lyon | 14 April 1887 | 19 October 1911 | 24 years | Known as Alec, he died in his sleep from a tumor at the base of the cerebrum, unmarried. |
| Captain The Hon. Fergus Bowes-Lyon | 18 April 1889 | 27 September 1915 | 26 years | He married Lady Christian Norah Dawson-Damer (daughter of George Dawson-Damer, 5th Earl of Portarlington) in 1914, and had issue. He was killed in the early stages of the Battle of Loos during World War I. |
| Lady Rose Constance Bowes-Lyon | 6 May 1890 | 17 November 1967 | 77 years | She married William Leveson-Gower, 4th Earl Granville in 1916, and had issue. |
| Lieutenant-Colonel The Hon. Michael Claude Hamilton Bowes-Lyon | 1 October 1893 | 1 May 1953 | 59 years | Known as Mickie, he was a prisoner of war at Holzminden prisoner-of-war camp during World War I. He married Elizabeth Cator in 1928, who had been a bridesmaid at the wedding of his sister Elizabeth and Prince Albert in 1923. Their children included Fergus Bowes-Lyon, 17th Earl of Strathmore and Kinghorne, Lady Mary Colman, Lady Patricia Tetley, and Albemarle Bowes-Lyon. He died of asthma and heart failure in Bedfordshire. |
| Lady Elizabeth Angela Marguerite Bowes-Lyon | 4 August 1900 | 30 March 2002 | 101 years | In 1923, she married the Duke of York, the future King George VI. This marriage, described as a love match, led to her becoming queen consort in 1936. She had issue, including Queen Elizabeth II. After her husband's death, she became known as Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother. |
| The Hon. Sir David Bowes-Lyon | 2 May 1902 | 13 September 1961 | 59 years | He married Rachel Clay in 1929, and had issue. During World War II, he worked for the Political Warfare Executive, a department responsible for psychological propaganda operations against Germany. |
5. Life as a Peer and Landowner
As an Earl, Claude George Bowes-Lyon managed vast estates and was known for his distinctive personal qualities and his considerate approach to his tenants.
5.1. Succession and Estate Management
He succeeded his father as the 14th Earl of Strathmore and Kinghorne on 16 February 1904. This succession brought with it the inheritance of extensive estates located across both Scotland and England. Among these were historic properties such as Glamis Castle, St Paul's Walden Bury, Gibside Hall, and Streatlam Castle in County Durham, as well as Woolmers Park near Hertford. He was appointed Lord Lieutenant of Angus, an office he held until 1936, when his daughter became queen. (The county of Angus was known as Forfarshire until 1928.) He harbored a keen interest in forestry and is recognized as one of the pioneers in Britain to successfully cultivate larch trees from seed.
5.2. Personal Character and Tenant Relations
His contemporaries frequently described him as an unpretentious and humble individual, a trait that often led to amusing situations. There are anecdotes of visitors mistaking him for a common labourer due to his enjoyment of physical labor on his estates and his simple attire, often seen in "an old macintosh tied with a piece of twine". He maintained a down-to-earth lifestyle, making his own cocoa for breakfast and keeping a jug of water at dinner to dilute his wine. His estates contained a significant number of smallholders, and he garnered a strong reputation for being unusually kind and fair in his dealings with his tenants, demonstrating a considerate approach to their welfare.
6. Royal Connections and Public Role
The marriage of his youngest daughter significantly elevated his family's status, leading to a closer connection with the British royal family and the bestowal of various public offices and honours.
6.1. Daughter's Marriage and Royal Kinship
Despite his own reservations about royalty, his youngest daughter, Elizabeth, married Prince Albert, Duke of York, the second son of King George V and Queen Mary, in April 1923. This marriage was a significant event, bringing the Bowes-Lyon family into direct kinship with the British royal family. His granddaughter, Princess Elizabeth (who would later become Queen Elizabeth II), was born at his London home, 17 Bruton Street, Mayfair, in April 1926.
6.2. Public Offices and Honours
To mark his daughter's marriage, Lord Strathmore was made a Knight Grand Cross of the Royal Victorian Order in 1923. Five years later, in 1928, he was honored as a Knight of the Thistle. In 1936, his son-in-law ascended the throne as King George VI, further elevating the family's standing. As the father of the new Queen, he was created a Knight Companion of the Garter in the Coronation Honours of 1937. Concurrently, he was created the 1st Earl of Strathmore and Kinghorne in the peerage of the United Kingdom, a separate title from his Scottish Earldom (where he was the 14th Earl). This new United Kingdom peerage was significant because it enabled him to sit in the House of Lords as an Earl, whereas Scottish peers did not automatically hold seats in the House of Lords unless they also held a peerage of Great Britain or the United Kingdom. (Previously, he had only sat as a baron through the Barony of Bowes, which was created for his father.) He was also awarded the TD and the Knight of Grace of the Order of Saint John in 1938. At the coronation of his daughter and son-in-law, the Earl and Countess sat in the royal box, alongside Queen Mary and their shared granddaughters, Princesses Elizabeth and Margaret.
7. Later Life and Death
In his later years, Claude George Bowes-Lyon continued to reside at Glamis Castle, where he eventually passed away.
7.1. Later Life
As he aged, Lord Strathmore experienced increasing deafness. His wife, Lady Strathmore, passed away in 1938.
7.2. Death
Claude George Bowes-Lyon died on 7 November 1944, at the age of 89, from bronchitis at Glamis Castle. He was subsequently buried there on 10 November. Upon his death, his son, Patrick Bowes-Lyon, succeeded him as the 15th Earl of Strathmore and Kinghorne.
8. Ancestry
The ancestry of Claude George Bowes-Lyon, 14th Earl of Strathmore and Kinghorne, can be traced through several generations of notable families:
- 1. Claude George Bowes-Lyon, 14th Earl of Strathmore and Kinghorne
- 2. Claude Bowes-Lyon, 13th Earl of Strathmore and Kinghorne
- 3. Frances Dora Smith
- 4. Thomas Lyon-Bowes, Lord Glamis
- 5. Charlotte Grimstead
- 6. Oswald Smith
- 7. Henrietta Mildred Hodgson
- 8. Thomas Lyon-Bowes, 11th Earl of Strathmore and Kinghorne
- 9. Mary Elizabeth Louisa Carpenter
- 10. Joseph Valentine Grimstead
- 11. Charlotte Jane Sarah Walsh
- 12. George Smith
- 13. Frances Mary Mosley
- 14. Robert Hodgson, Dean of Carlisle
- 15. Mary Tucker
9. Arms
The arms of Claude George Bowes-Lyon, as Earl of Strathmore and Kinghorne, are notable for their design elements, which include a canting (punning) reference to the family name.
- Crest: Within two branches of laurel a lady to the girdle habited and holding in her right hand the royal thistle all proper.
- Coronet: An Earl's Coronet.
- Escutcheon: Quarterly 1 and 4 argent a lion rampant azure, armed and langued gules within a double tressure flory counter-flory of the second (for Lyon); 2 and 3 ermine three bows stringed palewise in fess proper (for Bowes).
- Supporters: Dexter, a unicorn argent armed and unguled or; Sinister, a lion per fess or and gules.
- Motto: In Te, Domine, SperaviIn You, Lord, I have hoped.Latin
- Symbolism: The Arms of the Earls of Strathmore and Kinghorne are famously canting, featuring bows and lions to represent the family name of Bowes-Lyon.
10. Legacy and Historical Assessment
Claude George Bowes-Lyon is remembered not only as the father of Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother and the maternal grandfather of Queen Elizabeth II, but also for his distinctly unpretentious character and his principled approach to landownership. His personal qualities, such as his humility and genuine concern for his tenants, set him apart from many of his noble contemporaries. He actively participated in the physical labor of his estates and was known for his simple lifestyle, which reflected a deep connection to the land and the people who worked on it. This grounded nature, combined with his family's unexpected rise to the inner circle of the British monarchy through his daughter's love match with Prince Albert, paints a unique portrait of a peer who balanced traditional aristocratic responsibilities with a strikingly down-to-earth demeanor. His legacy underscores the enduring impact of personal character on public perception and the unexpected turns that can shape historical lineages.