Anne Asquith

Anne Mary Celestine Asquith, Countess of Oxford and Asquith (née Palairet), was born on 14 November 1916 in Paris. Her parents were Sir Michael Palairet, a career diplomat, and Lady Mary de Vere Palairet (née Studd), who was born in 1895 and died in 1977. The family adhered to the Roman Catholic faith, which they converted to prior to her birth.

Throughout her childhood, she was raised in various countries including Japan, China, and Bucharest. Her upbringing involved engagement with diplomatic communications; she assisted her father by decoding messages sent to him. Her experiences included surviving an earthquake in Japan at the age of six and witnessing the Chinese civil war while in China. She developed a fondness for Bucharest, where she obtained her baccalaureate and learned French. She later pursued further studies in Paris and attended St Anne’s College, Oxford; however, she did not take her final examinations there.

During her time at Oxford, she met Julian Asquith, who was then the Earl of Oxford and Asquith. Their marriage took place in 1947 at the Brompton Oratory. Upon marriage, she acquired the title of Countess of Oxford and Asquith.

In the period of World War II, she was involved in code-breaking activities at Bletchley Park, utilizing her linguistic and cryptologic skills. She subsequently joined the Women's Auxiliary Air Force (WAAF). In 1945, she was stationed in Palestine. Notably, she exchanged shifts with a colleague at the King David Hotel in 1946, the day it was bombed, and was working elsewhere at the time of the explosion.

Her husband’s diplomatic career included postings in Libya, Zanzibar, and St Lucia, and he served as governor of the Seychelles. The couple had five children: two sons and three daughters. Their children are:

- Lady (Mary) Annunziata Asquith, born 28 July 1948, who was a partner of Patrick Anson, 5th Earl of Lichfield.

- Lady Katharine Rose Celestine Asquith, born 1 October 1949. She was married twice: first in 1970 to Adam Ridley, divorced in 1976, and then in 1985 to Nathaniel Page, son of Sir John Page.

- Raymond Benedict Bartholomew Asquith, born 24 August 1952, who succeeded as the 3rd Earl of Oxford and Asquith.

- Lady Clare Perpetua Frances Asquith, born 28 March 1955.

- The Hon. Sir Dominic Antony Gerard Asquith, born 7 February 1957, who served as British Ambassador to Iraq, Egypt, and Libya.

The 2nd Earl of Oxford and Asquith inherited the estate of Mells Manor from his mother, Katharine Asquith, a daughter of Sir John Horner of Mells and Lady Frances Graham. The Countess of Oxford and Asquith died in Frome in 1998. Her husband, Julian Asquith, passed away on 16 January 2011 at the age of 94. He had held his peerage titles for over eighty years, and their elder son, Raymond, succeeded him.