Sybil Cholmondeley, Marchioness of Cholmondeley

Sybil Rachel Betty Cecile Cholmondeley, Marchioness of Cholmondeley, CBE (born Sybil Rachel Betty Cecile Sassoon; 30 January 1894 – 26 December 1989) was Chief Staff Officer to Director WRNS, WRNS HQ, Admiralty (HMS Pembroke III) from 12 November 1939 until 1946. On 9 February 1945 she was appointed as Supt. of the Women's Royal Naval Service (WRNS) and the following year was made CBE. She belonged to the prominent Sassoon and Rothschild families.

The Most Honourable

The Marchioness of Cholmondeley

CBE
Sybil Sassoon, Countess of Rocksavage by John Singer Sargent, oil on canvas, 1913
Born
Sybil Rachel Betty Cecile Sassoon

(1894-01-30)30 January 1894
London
Died26 December 1989(1989-12-26) (aged 95)
Cheshire
NationalityBritish
Spouse(s)
​
(m. 1913)​
Children3
Parent(s)Edward Sassoon
Aline Caroline de Rothschild

Family
1922 portrait of Cholmondeley by Charles Sims; a preparatory work for the artist's The Countess of Rocksavage and her Son

Sassoon was born in London, to a Jewish family. She was the daughter of Sir Edward Albert Sassoon (1856–1912), 2nd Bt., and Baroness Aline Caroline de Rothschild (1865–1909). Her brother was Sir Philip Sassoon.

On 6 August 1913, she married George Cholmondeley, Earl of Rocksavage (19 May 1883 – 16 September 1968). He later succeeded as the 5th Marquess of Cholmondeley. They had two sons and one daughter:

The Sybil Sassoon Gardens at Houghton were opened to the public in 1996. Lady Sybil's grandson, the current marquess, developed the gardens in honour of his grandmother. In 2008, the garden was named Historic Houses Association and Christie's Garden of the Year.[1] In "the pool garden", the entwined initials "SS" are represented in the outlines of the clipped box-hedge which surrounds plantings of lavender and rosemary.[2] Sassoon died in Cheshire. Through her son George Hugh Cholmondeley, Sybil is the great-grandmother of actor Jack Huston.

Titles
Houghton Hall

She was identified by a number of changing titles during the several phases of her life:

  • 1894–1913: Miss Sybil Sassoon
  • 1913–1923: Countess of Rocksavage
  • 1923–1946: The Most Honourable The Marchioness of Cholmondeley
  • 1946–1968: The Most Honourable The Marchioness of Cholmondeley, CBE
  • 1968–1989: The Most Honourable The Dowager Marchioness of Cholmondeley, CBE

Honours
  • 1939–1945 Superintendent in Women's Royal Naval Service
  • 1939–1946 Chief Staff Officer in Women's Royal Naval Service
  • 1946 Birthday Honours Commander of Order of the British Empire (CBE)

See also

Notes
  1. Caroline Donald "The new garden at Houghton Hall, King’s Lynn, Norfolk", The Times (UK); 11 May 2008.
  2. Houghton Hall Gardens webpage Archived 22 March 2006 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved 26 March 2014.

References
  • Mosley, Charles Mosley. (2003). Burke's Peerage, Baronetage and Knightage. Stokesley : Burke's Peerage & Gentry, 2003. ISBN 978-0-971-19662-9; OCLC 52621466
  • Stansky, Peter. (2003). Sassoon: the Worlds of Philip and Sybil. New Haven: Yale University Press. ISBN 978-0-300-09547-0
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