Ben Lowry: A remarkable account of the late Marchioness of Dufferin and Ava by her godson

That was the title of the owner of Clandeboye estate, Co Down, but she was known as Lindy Guinness.

One summer when I was working in San Francisco in the 1990s I read a writer in the local paper, who marvelled at the grand names in the Royal Box at Wimbledon, and singled out hers for its exotic sound. And the origins of the title are exotic. Ava is in Burma.

Lindy Guinness’s late husband, Sheridan, was the great grandson of the first marquess. He had one of the most remarkable CVs you will ever read: Britain’s top man in Canada, France, Turkey, and India.

He was born in 1826, in the pre industrial age, and lived into the 1900s age of flight. When the Bangor rail line opened in 1865, he had a station built at Helen’s Bay, and a tree-lined, three mile carriageway to Clandeboye (now a fine walk).

The first marquess’s statue is in the grounds of Belfast City Hall (will it be removed as a symbol of ‘white privilege’?).

Harry Mount, Lady Dufferin’s godson, writes movingly about her personality and how she used Clandeboye for the benefit of Northern Ireland, and conservationists.

It is an irony of progressive politics, which tends to be fiercely anti inequality, that wealthy landowners have presided over some of the last remaining unspoilt tracts of countryside.

I found Harry’s article all the more fascinating because I grew up two miles from the estate, and wondered about life within its walls, and the grand parties held there.

For years we had a framed poster at home of an image that, without realising it, was a copy of a drawing made looking out a window at Clandeboye, down the road, by David Hockney, a friend of the Dufferins.

I met Lindy Guinness a few times by chance, including at the House of Commons in the 1990s and, some years ago, sitting beside her at a lunchtime concert at Clandeboye chapel. She was bursting with warmth and apologising for her deafness.

Lady Dufferin was an instantly likable figure, as is evident from Harry’s tribute.

• Ben Lowry: Whites in America, like unionists in Northern Ireland, feel increasingly insecure, so Donald Trump could yet win

Ben Lowry (@BenLowry2) is News Letter deputy editor

——— ———

A message from the Editor:

Thank you for reading this story on our website. While I have your attention, I also have an important request to make of you.

With the coronavirus lockdown having a major impact on many of our advertisers — and consequently the revenue we receive — we are more reliant than ever on you taking out a digital subscription.

Subscribe to newsletter.co.uk and enjoy unlimited access to the best Northern Ireland and UK news and information online and on our app. With a digital subscription, you can read more than 5 articles, see fewer ads, enjoy faster load times, and get access to exclusive newsletters and content. Visit https://www.newsletter.co.uk/subscriptions now to sign up.

Our journalism costs money and we rely on advertising, print and digital revenues to help to support them. By supporting us, we are able to support you in providing trusted, fact-checked content for this website.

Alistair Bushe

Editor