Social Victorians/People/Ormonde

Also Known As

• Family name: Butler
• Marquess of Ormonde

Timeline

1897 July 2, Friday, the Marchioness of Ormonde (Elizabeth Grosvenor Butler) and her daughters, Beatrice and Constance Butler, attended the Duchess of Devonshire's fancy-dress ball at Devonshire House.

Costume at the Duchess of Devonshire's 2 July 1897 Fancy-dress Ball

Elizabeth Butler, Marchioness of Ormonde

At the Duchess of Devonshire's fancy-dress ball, Elizabeth Butler, Marchioness of Ormonde (at 373), was dressed as Guinevere, leading the 21-person procession of Queen Guinevere and the Knights of the Round Table of King Arthur. It is surprising that no newspaper accounts exist of her costume, the Lafayette archive does not include photographs of her in costume, and her portrait did not appear in the album presented to the Duchess of Devonshire and now in the National Portrait Gallery.

Lady Beatrice Butler

Lady Beatrice Butler was an archduchess in the Austrian procession and attended Theresa Vane-Tempest-Stewart, Marchioness of Londonderry, who led that procession as Marie Thérèse, Holy Roman Empress — along with Lady Mary Stewart, Helen Mary Theresa Vane-Tempest-Stewart, Lady Alexandra Hamilton, Miss Stirling, and Lady Beatrix Fitzmaurice. Lady Mary Stewart was 20 years old, as were Lady Beatrix Petty-Fitzmaurice and Lady Beatrice Butler; Lady Alexandra Hamilton was 21 and Miss Stirling, if she was Evelyn Mary Caroline Lilah Stirling, was 19. All these young women were dressed alike:

• Lady Beatrice Butler and Lady Ormonde (at 373) are listed together as guests in the Times report.
• Lady Beatrice Butler was dressed as Archduchess Marie-Karoline in the Austrian Court of Maria Theresa Quadrille.
• "Lady Helen Stewart, Lady Beatrix Fitzmaurice, Lady Beatrice Butler, Lady Alexandra Hamilton and Miss Stirling as Archduchesses in Waiting on Marie Thérèse were dressed alike in stiff silver brocatelle, with deep-pointed bodices of silver tissue, veiled with white lisse and half hoops of old-fashioned blue satin riband; large flounces of white lisse, and quaint sleeves, with frills and bows of blue riband."
• "Lady Helen Stewart, Lady Beatrix Fitzmaurice, Lady Beatrice Butler, Lady Alexandra Hamilton and Miss Stirling as Archduchesses in waiting on Marie Thérèse — were dressed alike in stiff silver brocatelle, with deep pointed bodices of silver tissue, veiled with white lisse and half-hoops of old-fashioned blue satin ribbon, large paniers of white lisse, and quaint sleeves with frills and bows of blue ribbon."
• "Lady Londonderry was attended by five Arch-Duchesses, Lady Helen Stewart, Lady Alexandra Hamilton, Lady Beatrice Butler, Lady Beatrix Fitzmaurice, and Miss Stirling, dressed alike in gowns of white and silver, with bodices of silver gauze, trimmed with blue ribbon and masses of white chiffon."
• "The archduchesses were Lady Helen Stewart, Lady Alexandra Hamilton, Lady Beatrice Fitzmaurice, Lady Beatrice Butler, and Miss Seymour [sic]. Their dresses were particularly admired, and were of beautiful silver brocade, made with corsages of silver cloth under soft lisse, and with wide blue ribbons tied high at the side."
• "Lady Londonderry, as the Empress Thèrése of Austria, was dressed in cream-coloured satin, and was attended by five Archduchesses and five Archdukes. The former, all attired exactly alike in white and silver brocade, were Lady Helen Stewart, Lady Beatrice Butler, Lady Beatrix FitzMaurice, Lady Alexandra Hamilton, and Miss Stirling."

Lady Constance Butler

Constance Butler (at 374) was dressed as Elaine in the Round Table of King Arthur Procession. The Times report says she was Lynette in the Queen Guinevere and the Knights of the Round Table procession, but it is the only newspaper that does.

• She is called Elaine in the Round Table procession in the London Daily News.
• "Lady Constance Butler and Miss Chaplin each assumed the character of "Elaine," the former in a white crêpe de chine robe flowing from a band of gold and silver embroidery at the bust, and with long angel sleeves; and the latter in white art silk under chiffon, embroidered in gold, and with a gold girdle."
• The Westminster Gazette says, "Lady Constance Butler and Miss Chaplin were pretty as 'Elaine.'"
• "Lady Constance Butler and Miss Chaplin were both charming 'Elaines' — the former in a white crepe de chine robe, flowing from a band of gold and silver embroidery at the bust, and with long angel sleeves."

Notes and Questions

1. Lady Beatrice Butler was #45 in the on the list of people who attended the Duchess of Devonshire's 1897 fancy-dress ball at Devonshire House.

Archives and Memoirs

• Butler Family, Marquesses of Ormonde, deeds, family and estate papers, 12th-20th cent, NRA catalogue reference: NRA 11148 Butler; Other reference: See Annual Report 1951-2, 1973-4, 1977; Accessions to Repositories 1978. Email: info@nli.ie. Kildare Street, Dublin, Republic of Ireland 2. ARCHON code: 624.

Demographics

• Nationality: the title is in the Irish peerage.

Residences

• Kilkenny Castle, County Kilkenny, Ireland
• 32 Upper Brook Street, London, leased from the Duke of Westminster (1881–1921)

Family

• James Edward William Theobald Butler, 3rd Marquess of Ormonde (5 October 1844 – 26 October 1919)
• Elizabeth Harriet Grosvenor (11 October 1856 – 25 March 1928)

1. Beatrice Frances Elizabeth Butler (28 December 1876 – 29 February 1952)
2. Constance Mary Butler (26 March 1879 – 20 April 1949)