Augusta Crichton-Stuart, Marchioness of Bute
Augusta Mary Monica Crichton-Stuart, Marchioness of Bute,, was an Anglo-Irish aristocrat who was a daughter of Sir Henry Bellingham, 4th Baronet, and Lady Constance Julia Eleanor Georgiana Noel, daughter of Charles Noel, 2nd Earl of Gainsborough.
Marriage and children
On 6 July 1905, she married John Crichton-Stuart, 4th Marquess of Bute, son of John Patrick Crichton-Stuart, 3rd Marquess of Bute, and Hon. Gwendolen Mary Anne Fitzalan-Howard. Their wedding was held at Castle Bellingham, in the village of Castlebellingham in County Louth, Ireland, and was followed by a party at Mount Stuart House in Scotland. A film company was hired to film the event; and it served as one of the earliest examples of the aristocratic classes making a private film.Both her father and her father-in-law were noted converts to Roman Catholicism.
After her marriage, Augusta Bellingham was styled as The Marchioness of Bute and her married name became Crichton-Stuart. She and her husband had seven children.
- Lady Mary Crichton-Stuart ; married Edward Walker and had children
- Sir John Crichton-Stuart, 5th Marquess of the County of Bute ; married Lady Eileen Beatrice Forbes and had children
- Lady Jean Crichton-Stuart ; married Lt.-Cmdr. Hon. James Bertie and had two sons; her elder son was Fra' Andrew Willoughby Ninian Bertie, Prince and Grand Master of the Sovereign Military Order of Malta from 1988 until his death in 2008.
- Lord Robert Crichton-Stuart ; married Lady Janet Egida Montgomerie, daughter of Archibald Montgomerie, 16th Earl of Eglinton, and had children.
- Lord David Crichton-Stuart ); married Ursula Packe and had children.
- Lord Patrick Crichton-Stuart ; married Jane von Bahr and had children.
- Lord Rhidian Crichton-Stuart ; married Selina van Wijk and had children.
War service
During the First World War, the marchioness opened up the family home at Mount Stuart as a military hospital. It was handed to the Admiralty and was a Naval Hospital from 1914-1918. She herself trained to carry out nursing duties, at the Scottish General Hospital at Stobhill.In recognition of her services, she was invested as a Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire in 1918. She was also invested as a Dame of Grace, Order of St. John of Jerusalem, and decorated with the Médaille de la Reine Elisabeth of Belgium. She also worked as a nurse, known as Nurse Stuart, with Professor Hepburn at the Third Western Hospital in Cardiff.