Katharine Asquith

Katharine Frances Asquith (née Horner) was born on September 9, 1885, at Mells Park, Somerset, England. She was the younger daughter of Frances (née Graham) and Sir John Horner. Her family belonged to the aristocratic social circle known as "The Souls," and her parents had four children, including Katharine’s siblings: Cicely Margaret Horner (1883–1972), who married the Hon. George Lambton; Edward William Horner (1888–1917), who was killed at the Battle of Cambrai; and Mark George Horner (1891–1908), who died of scarlet fever. Katharine’s upbringing involved education by governesses and periods of travel, during which she cultivated interests in poetry and philosophy, and gained proficiency in Greek.

She married Raymond Asquith, eldest son of wartime Prime Minister H. H. Asquith, in 1907. Their courtship began in 1901 at Mells. The couple shared interests in poetry, which contributed to their relationship. Due to her parents’ wishes that Katharine acquire more worldly experience and potential suitors, immediate marriage was delayed; Raymond’s family provided him with an allowance to support himself. They became engaged in February 1907 and married on July 25, 1907, at St Margaret's, Westminster. The couple resided at 49 Bedford Square in Bloomsbury and Mells Manor. Raymond died in 1916 during World War I, and her father, Sir John Horner, died in 1927.

Katharine and Raymond had three children: Lady Helen Asquith (1908–2000), a teacher and school inspector; Lady Perdita Asquith (1910–1996), who married William Jolliffe, 4th Baron Hylton, and had three children, including actress Anna Chancellor; and Julian Asquith, 2nd Earl of Oxford and Asquith (1916–2011), who married Anne Palairet and fathered Raymond Asquith, 3rd Earl of Oxford and Asquith.

During World War I, Katharine served as a Voluntary Aid Detachment (VAD) nurse, alongside her friend Lady Diana Manners. She worked at the Duchess of Sutherland's Hospital in Saint-Omer, France, in April 1918. Her nursing efforts were recognized with a recommendation for the British Empire Medal.

Raymond Asquith was killed on September 15, 1916, during the Battle of the Somme. Following his death, Katharine experienced profound grief; her father-in-law observed that she was "stunned and shattered." She chose not to remarry and continued her life at Mells. In 1923, she converted to Catholicism and raised her children in the Catholic faith, commissioning a private chapel at Mells Manor. With her brothers deceased, she inherited Mells Manor after her parents’ deaths.

Katharine hosted and befriended notable Catholic writers and intellectuals, including Evelyn Waugh, Siegfried Sassoon, Hilaire Belloc, and Ronald Knox. She met Evelyn Waugh during a Hellenic cruise in September 1933; Waugh valued heropinions highly. She was the godmother to Waugh’s son, Auberon. Waugh dedicated his biography of Ronald Knox to her and Lady Daphne Acton. Sassoon, who converted to Catholicism in 1957, was buried in the churchyard of St Andrew’s Church at Mells, where Katharine was also laid to rest upon her death on July 9, 1976. She died at the age of 90. Both Katharine and Raymond Asquith are depicted in Phoebe Traquair's apse mural at All Saints, Thorney Hill, Hampshire.