Frances Bowes-Lyon, Countess Of Strathmore And Kinghorne

Frances Dora Bowes-Lyon, Countess of Strathmore and Kinghorne (née Smith), was born on 29 July 1832 and died on 5 February 1922. She was a British noblewoman and a member of the British aristocracy.

Her father was Oswald Smith (1794–1863), a banker with Smith, Payne, and Smith, associated with Blendon Hall in Bexley, Kent. Her mother was Henrietta Mildred Hodgson (1805–1891). Her paternal grandparents were George Smith and Frances Mary Mosley, daughter of Sir John Parker Mosley, 1st Baronet. She was related to the Mosley family through her maternal line, with her great-great-granduncle being Oswald Mosley, 2nd Baronet.

On 28 September 1853, Frances Smith married Claude Bowes-Lyon (21 July 1824 – 16 February 1904). At the time of her marriage, she was styled as Lady Strathmore, which changed when her husband succeeded as the 13th Earl of Strathmore and Kinghorne in 1865 following the death of his brother Thomas. Upon her husband's accession, Frances adopted the title of Countess of Strathmore and Kinghorne.

The couple had eleven children:

1. Claude Bowes-Lyon, 14th Earl of Strathmore and Kinghorne (14 March 1855 – 7 November 1944), who was the father of Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother and grandfather of Queen Elizabeth II. He married Cecilia Cavendish-Bentinck on 16 July 1881, and they had ten children.

2. Francis Bowes-Lyon (23 February 1856 – 18 February 1948), married Lady Anne Lindsay, with whom he had seven children, including Lilian Bowes Lyon.

3. Ernest Bowes-Lyon (4 August 1858 – 27 December 1891), married Isobel Hester Drummond, and they had six children, including Ernestine Bowes-Lyon.

4. Herbert Bowes-Lyon (15 August 1860 – 14 April 1897), who did not marry.

5. Patrick Bowes-Lyon (5 March 1863 – 5 October 1946), a British Army major and tennis player, married Alice Wiltshire, with whom he had four children.

6. Lady Constance Frances Bowes-Lyon (8 October 1865 – 19 November 1951), married Robert Blackburn, and they had four children.

7. Kenneth Bowes-Lyon (26 April 1867 – 9 January 1911), who did not marry.

8. Lady Mildred Marion Bowes-Lyon (1868 – 9 June 1897), a music composer known for her opera Etelinda, married Augustus Jessup, and they had two children.

9. Lady Maud Agnes Bowes-Lyon (12 June 1870 – 28 February 1941), who did not marry.

10. Lady Evelyn Mary Bowes-Lyon (16 July 1872 – 15 March 1876), who died in infancy.

11. Major Malcolm Bowes-Lyon (23 April 1874 – 23 August 1957), a lieutenant colonel in the British Army, married Winifred Gurdon-Rebow, with whom he had a daughter.

In 1904, her husband died in Liguria, Italy, at Villa Etelinda, a large estate owned by the family. Frances assumed ownership of the property after his death. The estate was sold in 1913 to Queen Margherita of Italy, the Queen Mother of Italy.

During her widowhood, her residence was at No. 19 Hans Place, Chelsea, London. She died at this residence in 1922 at the age of 89 and was buried at Glamis Castle, Angus, the family seat of the earls of Strathmore and Kinghorne.